Chapter 15. Lunch is Served

"I'd better go back to Vivian," Cameron told House. "And I think Pete's anxious for you to get back to your game. Call me when you have the results."

But before she could leave, there was a knock on the door. Cameron was closest and opened it to Linda, laden with several bags that emanated a delicious odor.

"Mo sent over lunch while there's a lull in the storm," she said, placing one of the bags on the only clear spot left on the table. "There's soup and sandwiches and more coffee and bottled water."

Just then the phone rang. It was so unexpected that no one answered until the second ring.

"Yeah?" House asked the caller.

"Doctor, it's Harry," whined the patient. "No one's come to check on me since I got here!"

House groaned and mouthed 'Harry' to Cameron and Linda. "I'll be there in a little while. Have to check on the other patients, too, but I'll be bringing lunch."

"I'm thirsty," Harry complained.

"Yeah, I'll bring you water, too." House motioned to Linda to give him the bags of food as he hung up. "Linda, stay here with Pete. I'll deliver lunch and see how the other patients are doing."

"I'm going with you," Cameron insisted. In addition to wanting to see them all for herself, since they were really her patients, she wondered what House was up to.

He hesitated, then agreed. "OK. We'll start next door with the girls." He turned to Pete. "Eat your lunch. I'll be back before long."

House and Cameron took the bags of food and headed out again. They hadn't really dried off from their last foray, and were getting used to cold, wet cloth on their skin. As they left, they chuckled, hearing Pete ask Linda, "How 'bout some poker while I eat, Linnie."

House knocked on the next door and opened it as Chrissy called 'Come in'. "Don't you care who you invite into your motel room? I could be an ax murderer!"

The teen laughed. "I think even ax murderers are staying in today. Did you bring lunch?"

"Yes. I'm afraid it's probably not cheeseburgers." He placed a bag on the table and started taking out containers of soup and wrapped sandwiches. "Tomato soup or chicken noodle," he read off the top of the containers. "And it looks like ham and cheese," he announced.

"Isn't chicken soup supposed to be good when you're sick?" Pam asked.

"That's what my Jewish mother always told me," House said.

"Your mother isn't Jewish," Cameron objected.

"I was referring to Wilson," House told her and she laughed. But he'd been thinking about something else. He asked Pam, "Where were you between eight and nine in the morning on Monday?" That was when the spraying occurred.

"Monday?" The question surprised the girl.

"We think you were exposed to an insecticide," Cameron explained.

"Oh. Monday mornings we have gym," she said. "It was a sunny day, so our gym teachers took us out to play volleyball and basketball," she said.

House and Cameron exchanged a knowing look. "You any good?" House had to ask.

Pam smiled. "I'm too short to be good, but I like volleyball."

He nodded and Cameron said, "We have to deliver these lunches to the other patients, but one of us will check in on you again later."

"Thanks," Chrissy told her. She'd been studying Cameron's drenched attire, but still she hesitated. Finally she said, "If you need some dry clothes, I think some of mine might fit you." She walked over to an open backpack and pulled out some jeans and a cropped T-shirt.

House looked at the pants and said with a smirk, "I always wanted to see you in low rise jeans."

Cameron tried to smirk too, but it turned into a smile as she took the clothes from Chrissy. "Thanks!" She put them in a plastic bag to keep them dry until she'd finished her 'rounds'. She picked up the other bags of food and turned to House.

He was staring at the yellow slicker draped around a chair. "Chrissy, can Dr. Cameron take your slicker, too?"

"Sure. I'm not going anywhere in it!"

Cameron gratefully put on the waterproof raincoat. "Ready to brave the elements?"

"Whenever you are," he replied. "I'll have to ask Pete whether he was outside Monday morning," he said, raising his voice as he opened the door.

"I bet he was," Cameron shouted.

They were only outside long enough to go to the next room, where Vivian was trying to sit up in bed and smiled when she saw them.

"We brought you some food," Cameron said, taking out a container of soup and a spoon and bringing them to the sick woman. "There are also sandwiches and some bottles of water."

"I've been so thirsty and I was starting to get hungry," Vivian said in a weak voice. "That's a good sign, isn't it?"

"Yes," House said. He was studying her as Cameron helped her sit up enough to eat.

"You're the man who helped Dr. Cameron get me in here, aren't you?" she said, just as interested in him as he was in her. "She said you're a doctor too."

"I understand you're a teacher," House said rather than talk about himself. "Where were you Monday morning at, say, eight thirty?"

Vivian hesitated. "Is it important?" she asked.

"Yes it is," Cameron said. "Please answer Dr. House."

"I'm free first period on Mondays," Vivian said. "I...I went outside for some fresh air."

A burst of laughter escaped House's mouth. "Fresh air!"

"House!" Cameron admonished.

"You're sure that's why you went out?" he asked.

Vivian looked from one doctor to the other, then sighed. "I went out for a cigarette," she admitted. "I've tried to give up, but since my husband left, I don't have the incentive anymore."

"Well, that explains that," House said. "Smoking has weakened your lungs, and when you went out, we think you were exposed to an insecticide that was being sprayed Monday morning."

"The mosquito spraying," Vivian said, nodding. "But I thought that was safe."

"We don't know why, yet, but we think anyone outside was exposed to the spray," House explained. "Maybe the concentration was too high. Maybe there was something left in Seth Davis' plane from crop dusting. Whatever it is affected the airways, especially of anyone with weakened lungs. Maybe that'll be your incentive to quit."