Correction to the previous chapter: Foreman's brother is Marcus, not Martin – in case you read it before I corrected it. Thanks for your reviews again :).

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"We shouldn't have left him," Cameron hissed at Chase trying to make sure House couldn't hear her. "He must be so upset over this!"

"Serves him right," Chase answered in his normal voice. He didn't care if his voice carried to House's office or not. "Teaches him to be so holier than thou about family. And I don't think he is so much upset over his brother being ill as he is over him being here, in PPTH."

"Chase! It's his brother," Cameron insisted.

"Yeah, and did you even know he had one until now?" Chase queried.

"Well, no, not really," Cameron shrugged. "I think I had a general idea that he wasn't an only child and that there was a brother, at least, but I didn't know his name or anything. But that is beside the point. Just because he hasn't been very forthcoming about his family, does not mean he doesn't care about them."

"True, that doesn't," Chase admitted. "But the way he reacted to House's words, does. He was angry, not worried. He clearly did not want his brother anywhere near him and he was upset that now everyone at the hospital would know that he has a brother in prison."

"But that's not his fault," Cameron was indignant. "So his brother has made some bad choices; so what. It has nothing to do with Foreman. He turned his life around and is now a respectable and respected doctor."

"Even so, he is not comfortable having the not so respectable side of his family so close by," Chase observed.

"Ok, I get it, you're not in the least sympathetic towards him, but I still think we should have brought him with us," Cameron wouldn't let go. "Even if he can't take part in the differential he could have visited his brother find out why he is here. House wasn't exactly a fountain of information!"

"That's because I didn't have any information," House inserted from the doorway. He limped in with Marcus' file he had been reading in his office. "Though Eric wasn't exactly pestering me with a lot of questions, either. I wonder why that was? I almost got the impression that he didn't really care. But that could be just me."

"And me," Chase muttered as he reached for the file House had flung on the table.

"He was upset," Cameron maintained. "You totally ambushed him with the information that his brother was in the hospital."

"So I did," House smiled. "And wasn't his face something!"

"Can't you show any sympathy?" Cameron huffed. "His brother could be dying!"

"We are all dying," House observed dryly. "Some are just doing it faster than others. Of course, if Marcus is dying really fast, I have to make sure to tell Foreman so that he can have his warm and fuzzy moment with his dying brother."

"That is a horrible thing to say!" Cameron accused.

"Maybe," House didn't really sound like he cared. "When he thought I was dying, he felt the need to tell me that he likes me, to have the obligatory, conventional, expected reconciliation scene with the dying man. He needed it to feel better about himself. That I didn't want it – and I would not have wanted it even if I actually had been dying – didn't matter to him. He did what is expected. And if Marcus is dying he will do the same with him, though he hates his brother almost as much as he hates me."

"I wouldn't say he hates you," Chase protested.

"No?" House raised his eyebrow at Chase. "I quite thought that was what your argument with him was all about today."

"There is a difference in hating someone and not liking him," Chase pointed out. "He finds you annoying and he may even hate the kind of human being he thinks you are, but that is not the same as hating you."

"You're splitting hairs," House said patronisingly. "But if it makes you happy, be my guest. Though I do notice you are not denying that he hates his brother. But don't let that interfere with the diagnosis. Not that we will have a lot of diagnosing to do with this case. More like damage assessment."

"What do you mean?" Cameron wanted to know as she pulled the file from Chase's hands ("Hey! I was reading that!").

"He has used pretty much every drug there is out there," House explained. "Plenty of fighting; he's been shot twice, several knife wounds, lots of breaks and bruises, a few concussions... Rough life all in all."

"So what do we do?" Chase asked.

"Get as much information as possible," House shrugged. "I want to see what his brains, his heart, his liver and kidneys look like. Not very hot, I should imagine."

"Why did they send him here," Chase asked. "I mean why is he not in the sick ward in the prison?"

"Because they suspect something is wrong with his brain and they don't have the equipment to test for it there," House said.

"What were his symptoms then?" Cameron asked.

"According to the report he has always been aggressive and almost always right in the middle of every fight, but usually there has been a reason no matter how small," House described. "Now he was having fits of rage without any apparent reason. He has also had episodes of confusion, short memory loss and absent seizures."

"Right, we'll do whatever tests we can think of," Chase shrugged and got up.

"Schedule an MRI for his brain," House instructed.

"Doesn't he have tattoos that would cause problems?" Cameron asked. "Prison tattoos are often magnetic."

"I doubt he has any on his head," House mused. "And if he has, tell him to bite the bullet and suffer like a man."

"You said he is aggressive..." Chase suddenly remembered.

"He has a guard with him and you have my permission to sedate him as long as it doesn't interfere with the results," House threw over his shoulder as he limped back into his office.

"Why were we called in," Cameron called after him before he quite made it into his office. "This does not look like a case you'd normally be interested in. There really isn't any indication of a puzzle of any sort."

"There is a court order that says we have to take him," House sighed. "This hospital, I mean, not us specifically. Sheridan was all for assigning him to another doctor, but Miss Hill told him to ask me first as I have no other patients right now. It's more than likely that there will be no medical puzzle to solve, but I'm more interested in the fact that he is Foreman's brother. Eric's reactions are most entertaining." With that House closed his door.

"You know," Chase pondered. "I'm beginning to see why Foreman can't really stand him some of the time."

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Once Chase and Cameron had left to get the tests House dialled a number on his phone. Once it was picked up in the other end he identified himself.

"Mr Foreman, This is Dr House."

"Dr House! Is something wrong with my son?" Foreman's father asked worried.

"Eric is fine," House replied. "It's your other son, Marcus, that I'm calling about. He has just been brought in and I'm his doctor. He is not in any imminent danger, so no need for alarm, but his general condition is not very good."

"He has been in fights again then?" Rodney Foreman sighed.

"I understand that that is normal for him, but it is not what brought him in this time," House explained. "He is having periods of disorientation, memory loss and other indications that not everything is quite right in his brains. Of course it's possible that we are dealing with an old injury sustained in a fight, but as yet I don't know enough. We haven't had time to run any tests yet."

"I better come over there, then, if my son needs me," Rodney Foreman concluded.

"Right now I think your wife needs you more than your son," House told him. "I will keep you posted and once I know more I will be able to tell you when and if you are needed here. I will make sure that he has a phone in his room so that you can call him. Given his situation he won't be able to call you and the calls needs to be screened, but I'm sure you don't mind?"

"I know he has done wrong," Rodney sighed. "He did not go into prison for no reason. So whatever they need to do they need to do. But he is still my son. I appreciate your call and I will take your advice. I will call my son when I can."

"Good," House prepared to end the call.

"Is Eric with him now?" Rodney asked before House could hang up.

"Right now?" House stalled for time a little. "No, not right now. My team is doing tests on Marcus and as Eric is a close relative he cannot be part of that. So right now he is not with Marcus."

"Thank you, Dr House," Rodney uttered. "But there is no need to cover for my son. I know Eric very well. I love him dearly, but I know he is not a very forgiving man. Not to others, not even to himself."

"I may have noticed something like that in him," House appreciated.

"I suppose he takes after me in that," Rodney mused sadly.

"Really?" House was surprised. "I would have thought you were very good at forgiving."

"I'm not so sure," Rodney doubted. "I'm better at resignation. It may seem like the same thing, but it isn't. I've prayed about it, but ... Well, never mind that. I'm sure you are not really interested in that. I will let you get back to your work. Thank you, Dr House, for calling me."

"Part of the job," House lied shamelessly. "I'm sure Eric will be in touch with you soon, too. Good night." He hung up. As he looked up from the phone he saw Miss Hill at the door.

"You called Foreman's father yourself?" Anna wondered.

"He's a good man," House shrugged. "And as Cuddy isn't here to do the calling, I though I'd do it. I've met him and this kinds of news comes better from someone you know - and he seems to trust me."

"I would have thought Eric would have been the natural choice to call his father," Anna suggested.

"I'm sure he will," House agreed. "I'm just not sure when he gets round to it. He has issues right now."

"Eric Foreman has the potential to be a very good doctor and a very good human being," Anna stated. "If he can only dig his head out of his own ass."

"Ooo," House smiled. "That was pretty hard ass-essment of the man! Mind you, I don't care about his humanity, but I do agree with you on the good doctor part of your opinion. He is still too conscious about appearances, about how others see him and his actions, to be all he can be as a doctor. His ambitions and insecurities still cloud his judgement some of the time."

"I think he does know that," Anna pronounced. "That is why he is sometimes so angry at you. You make him conscious of it."

"I suppose," House nodded. "And now that his brother is here, we can expect a lot more of his insecurities to surface and he'll be even angrier than before."

"Well, if he thinks he can take his anger out on me, he will have another thought coming," Anna declared. "But enough of him. I wanted to know how Lisa is doing?"

"Better," House told her. "A little sad still, but at least I managed to convince her that it wasn't her fault. And also that we are not alone in this - thankfully."

"And how are you doing?" Anna queried.

"Wondering what the Hell I was thinking at the time to see it as a good idea to give Cuddy her kid," House sighed with feeling. "But here we are and we better make the best of it we can."

"I don't have children," Anna stated the obvious. "So I'm really not an expert, but from what I have seen of you and Lisa and when I compare that to other families I know and other people who have children, I think you will do just fine." With that she left House alone in his office - a little stunned at this endorsement from the dragon.