Snowmelt Chapter 4- Part 3
Grabbing his jacket and hat, House kept looking down at her chart, wondering what they were missing to put the puzzle together. Taub drove them in his Lexis, telling House about Maia's past, including her coke rage and her speech from the roof of her office.
House, going over the chart in his hands shrugged, "Well, if you're going to walk on thin ice you might as well dance. Sounds like she was break dancing."
House was now even more curious about the woman who had stripped for the cameras, yelled that the insurance companies owned the courts and judicial system and then sang the National Anthem while the media filmed every minute. When they arrived at the building, Mr. Umbatu, just returning from work, greeted the doctors with a big smile.
Mr. Umbatu smiled broadly, "Doctors, good to see you. Are you here to follow up?"
"We're here to see," House looked down at the chart in his hand, "Ms. Connolly." House replied.
"Maia? Is something wrong with her?"
House nodded, "She's very sick."
"Can I be of any help?"
Taub spoke up, "No, we'll take care of it."
House knocked on Apartment 4 with his cane. There was no response. He knocked again. But after waiting a minute, he looked at Taub. Mr. Umbatu stepped forward. "We have a key to her apartment. She left it with us when she had to go away for a week. I'll go get it."
Mr. Umbatu rushed back with the key and handed it to Taub, who knocked one last time. When there was no answer, House grabbed the key and unlocked the door. Entering, he immediately noted that the apartment was rather bare. There was no stereo, but there appeared to be wires for one. He also determined that there was no television in the living room. He called out, but there was no answer. Taub went back to the bedroom, but she wasn't there.
"She's not home! Where do you think she went?"
"Maybe to get some beer? It's the reason I wake up in the afternoons. She's probably visiting someone in the building. You and Mr. Umbatu knock on some doors and see if anyone has seen her."
Taub and the African left to make the rounds. House sat down on the sofa and stared into space. He didn't know why he felt that he was looking at the solution to a puzzle, but he did. Problem was, what puzzle? He took her chart and started to read it again.
December 25th, miscarriage, D&C, recovery. No television, no microwave, no stereo. Not home last night when I called. Her voice sounds familiar. She can't be Cali?
House got up and looked around. In the bedroom he found two telephones. One was turquoise with fluorescent keys and a timer. He pulled open the drawer by her bed and found a card file. There were dozens of cards in alphabetical order with names on them. House went though the cards, Barry, Bob, David, EvanFredster… he stopped at the next card.
G. Man. (jazz –nice voice-witty-dry humor)
March 28 - Piano sex (plays piano)
May 5 – shower sex
June 1- sex talk
November 21 – just talked, no sex
November 24 – sex talk
December 25 – no charge
At the bottom there were notes, G. or G. Man, likes girls young. Knows about miscarriage, boyfriend leaving…wanted to meet. Likes brunettes
House had to sit down. He felt tingling, a numbing feeling. He sat on the edge of Maia's bed and looked around. It was a tiny bedroom. The only way the full size bed could fit in the room was up against the wall. There was a night stand and a small chest of drawers. He stood up and walked over to the only closet in the room. The closet was less than five feet wide with little in it except for a file of documents that appeared to deal with an administrative case against her by the New Jersey State Bar. In another, larger box, he discovered six plaques, two from Trenton as trial lawyer of the year, one from Princeton for the Bernstein Award for Civic Duty, and three New Jersey Bar Association awards for Outstanding Trial Lawyer. He put the box away in its position next to her shoes. He saw a photograph album and started thumbing through it. Inside were some recent photos. He looked at one, which showed her dressed in a skirt and blouse. She looked fresh and pretty. Her nose was sprinkled with freckles. Her smile was sweet, almost shy. She looked like she was weary, that smiling wasn't something she did very often.
House pocketed the photograph and put everything away. He went back out to the kitchen and saw the box that the pears had come in, pulled it out of the trash and as he turned around caught a glimpse of someone moving. In front of him stood a very angry Maia, fists resting on her hips and her lips tightly shut together.
Her eyes were narrowed, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"How are you feeling?" He asked, trying to deflect her anger.
"Answer my question." She responded.
"I'm here because we got your lab tests back and there's a problem. You need to come back to the hospital with me. Now, how are you feeling?"
"I'm calling the cops." She reached for the phone.
House grabbed the cordless phone first, held it out to her and glared. Wrinkling his nose he smiled, "You could call, but one word from me and you're in quarantine until I let you out."
Her mouth fell open and her shoulders dropped, "Quarantine?"
"We know you have an infection, but you shouldn't be running a fever with it. Which means you have two infections competing for your somewhat unsavory body."
She pulled her head back and frowned, "Unsavory body? I have an unsavory body? Have you looked in the mirror? I suspect you've gotten a lot of mileage off of those blue eyes in the past. Well, enjoy it now; you're quickly approaching a point where even your blue eyes aren't going to get you a second glance. "
He batted his eyes at her, "So you like my blue eyes?"
She frowned, "Like you? Like you? You stole my keys, broke into my house and are searching through my trash. You want to know if I like you?" Maia sighed and sat down on the sofa, resting her head back on the back of the couch.
House walked over and poked her with his cane, "Hey, wake up."
She grabbed his cane and yanked on it. Gritting her teeth she hissed, "I am awake. I'm just worn out, I want to go to sleep."
He held out the box from the pears, the slats where the pears had sat were stained. House thought it was probably pear juice, but he wanted to have the lab test the box. He pulled the cane back and poked her again to keep her from falling asleep. He almost called her Cali, but refrained at the last second.
"Is this the pear box that your pears came in?"
She opened up an eye, looked at the box and nodded.
He reached over and touched her forehead, "You still have a high fever. It should have dropped by now. Christ, whatever the second infection is, you're not responding to the big guns."
"Now are you my doctor?"
House realized quickly that, considering their unique 'business contact', it wouldn't be a good idea for him to treat her. "No, but Dr. Taub is in the building, he'd tell you the same thing…I think. Yeah, he's smart enough; he'd tell you the same thing."
"Dr. House, I'm so tired, I really would like for you to leave so that I can go to sleep."
"You're coming back with us to the hospital."
She opened an eye again, realizing that he was actually very handsome. But she felt so crappy, she didn't even look to see if he had a wedding ring, "Honey, I ain'tgoin' nowhere but this couch or that bed in there. I keep trying to tell you, I can't afford your hospital." Maia crawled up on the couch.
"We have a few programs for the indigent—"He looked around the apartment, "-- sure looks like you qualify. Hell, where's your television?"
"I donated it to a more needy asshole."
House poked her with more vigor, "Look counselor, get your scrawny ass up and let's get going."
"Scrawny ass?" She rolled over on the couch, "See, there's nothing scrawny about that ass. It may not be J-Lo quality, but I can shake it like J-Lo. Now, obviously you think of that cane as an extension of your penis. If you poke me again, I'll give you a hand job that you won't forget."
Taub had returned and was standing near them. House nodded at Maia, "I'm trying to convince her to come to the hospital." House gave her one last poke in the upper arm. She turned and reached up, grabbed his ball sac and yanked. House doubled over screaming. He fell onto her and the couch.
Maia was trying to push him off of her, but he was still writhing in pain. A pang of guilt flashed through her and she stopped flailing at him. He finally rolled to the end of the sofa and sat up.
Still wincing he looked at her, "I'm trying to save your miserable life."
She sat up and looked shamefully at House, "I'm sorry. I have this authority complex. I hate being told what to do. I can see that you've gone out of your way to treat me, to help me. I just can't afford to be hospitalized."
Taub walked over and sat across from her on the coffee table, "We have a couple of indigent programs that we can get your hospitalization paid for through them."
Maia's face was filled with emotion, she could hardly whisper, "I'm just not used to being called, 'indigent.' I've always worked hard and supported myself. I've never needed nor asked for any handouts. I'm sorry I yelled at you Dr. House."
"Yeah, well it's your big mouth that got you in trouble…no, wait, it was your big nose that got you in trouble."
"Do I really need to be hospitalized? I'm feeling better."
House barked, "You're lying. You may think you feel better, but you're going to crash. Have you eaten?"
She shook her head.
"Had anything to drink?"
She nodded.
"You threw it up, didn't you?"
She nodded. "I'm going to get dehydrated, aren't I?"
"Finally, you're starting to sound like a college graduate. Get your things."
They left for the hospital, Taub and House sitting up front, Maia laying down in the back seat. By the time they got to the hospital, Maia was shivering. House opened the door to the back seat and, to Taub's surprise, extended a hand to her. She got out and they walked into the hospital.
House grabbed a wheelchair. "You need to sit while we get Administration to find you a bed."
Taub talked to the clerk in administration. House started to walk back to his office, but stopped. He turned and looked at her sitting quietly in the wheelchair. He remembered that she was alone, more alone than he was in this world. House went over to the vending machine, purchased a bottle of water, walked back and sat down next to her. He was holding the bag with the pear box in one hand and the bottle of water in the other.
"Here, you need to see if you can keep any water down." He handed her the water.
She took the bottle, "Thank you." Then she took a drink. "What's with the pear box? Do you think I got the E. Coli from the pears. "
"Possibly." House watched for any sign that she was going to throw the water up. She looked uncomfortable. "Are you going to throw up?"
"It feels like it."
He got up and grabbed a trash can, took it over to her, just in time. She wretched over the can and a portion of the water came back up, mixed with green bile.
"You need an IV."
She took a deep breath and looked at him, wondering why he was sticking around. "You're a big shot around here, aren't you?"
He hummed and hawed, "Uh, let's just say I carry a big stick." He held up his cane. "When you're not giving speeches in your underwear, what do you do?"
She closed he eyes and shook her head, "I'm a…a counselor of sorts."
House almost burst out laughing, "Who do you counsel?"
"Anyone who needs it."
He tried to sound sober, interested, "Do you have an office?"
"I'm kind of a life coach, I help them over the phone."
"What do you help them with?"
She looked at her hands which were folded around the water bottle, "I help them with confidence issues. I help them by using imagery. Walking through things they'd like to do, but sometimes don't have the confidence to do."
Confidence to do? I just don't have the warm body next to me. "I was thinking about using a life coach. I want to move forward, so I can speak confidently at medical conferences, but I'm having trouble imagining me doing that. Maybe I could hire you?"
Maia blushed, "Oh, uh…I'm not taking any new clients."
"Really? Business didn't look that good when I was in your apartment. Seems like you could use a life coach."
Maia was angry, she had only been advertising for the last year and she was told it usually takes a couple of years before you were really successful in the sex talk business. "I'm still building my clientele." As soon as she said it, she knew she had just contradicted herself. She looked at him, her mouth open, eyes wide.
He started laughing at her.
"Leave me alone."
Taub came over to them, surprised to find House laughing, but patiently waiting with her. Taub gave him a strange look. "You're still here?"
House pulled his head back and gave Taub a funny look, "Why wouldn't I be?"
Maia looked over at House, "Because, as you're so fond of pointing out, "I'm not your patient."
"True, but he is my employee. I'm just overseeing his work here."
"That would make me your patient."
House narrowed his eyes, "Is that the Life Coach or attorney talking?"
"Attorney."
"In that case, I was just being charming and waiting with my new found life coach. I'm out of here. Do whatever you need to do Taub." House jumped up and made his way to the elevator, turned quietly to look back only to see both Taub and Maia staring at him with wide eyes. House quickly turned back, not wanting to acknowledge their curiosity.