Session 4: Companions
As promised, I asked Thirteen about the origin of her unusual nickname. As it turns out, the name was coined by dr. House himself based on dr. Hadley's "application number" (13) and she did not object, happy to remain a mystery when no one remembered her true name. Even though she is also known as dr. Hadley now, most people still call her Thirteen – as she introduced herself the first time. Presumably only her team and her patients know her "true identity". My conclusion is that the patient will use any excuse to keep others from sticking their nose into her business, which accounts even for such trivialities as a name.
Her parents seem to be quite a touchy subject. Thirteen will talk about her father in a way that makes it clear the two were close until her mother's death, after which they "naturally" drifted apart. On the other hand, she seems to hold a slight grudge against her mother, probably blaming her for her impending death sentence, even though she refuses to admit it. However, I can tell from the way she stares into nothing when mentioning her.
I shall now compare my newfound knowledge of her family to the newest chapter of Thirteen's fairytale.
The daisy wept and wept, giving up all hope of ever seeing the light again. It yearned for comfort and companionship. All of a sudden, a bumblebee found its way to the flowerpot and sat beside the broken daisy.
"Cheer up, little daisy, my dear," it hummed playfully as it caressed the flower with its wings. "Your problems won't go away on their own; you have to make them! Say, would you mind me keeping you company? If you face your troubles with a friend, you might find they're not that significant after all."
And the bumblebee stayed and the two became friends, and the daisy would laugh and joke through the day again. But even though its owner saw it was no longer alone, he knew the flower wasn't truly happy every time it glanced out of the window.
The tale could have ended right there with a happy ending, but Thirteen added another sentence explaining the daisy's situation and leaving it open one more time, which leads me to believe that she herself wants me to figure out the meaning of this story! I've spoken with her enough to know she is not an expert in terms of verbal communication face-to-face, but she is telling me wonders about herself in those short paragraphs.
Let's summarize what we know: There is someone the daisy admired but could never reach, and that someone disappeared one day. Along came the bumblebee to comfort the daisy and possibly replace the missing sun, but to no avail. The daisy's owner is the great overseer who knows all about the situation but does nothing.
If we go by the assumption that dr. Cameron is indeed the sun and Thirteen the daisy, the only possible choice for the bumblebee would be dr. Foreman, as Thirteen's colleague and only good friend. As the story implies, however, she still seeks the sun while with the bumblebee, with whom she is only friends, from Daisy's – Thirteen's – point of view. I am curious as to if the daisy is burdened by any feelings of guilt. It seems rather unlikely. Who the overseer is, however, I am unable to figure out.