Chapter Two
As House entered his team's diagnostic area he heard them arguing, "They have to be connected, each of these women had similar symptoms and eventually lost their immunity to their surroundings." Foreman insisted.
"They can't be connected. I did a thorough history and these girls had nothing in common. They all came from different backgrounds, there is no shared family history, and they did not travel together or live in the same area. They all came from completely different parts of the country; one wasn't even in this country but became sick while vacationing here from Canada." Cameron argued.
"Which is odd, why are cases so similar turning up here? That alone implies a connection," Chase hypothesized.
"The reason is because Cameron's history of these girls is not complete." House interjected dropping the file on the table.
"I would argue against that," Cameron began.
"Don't you know by now my little innocent? Everyone lies. We have just been assigned by the hospital to solve this mystery and apparently more girls are on the way. Differential diagnostic time people, what do we have?" House asked as he walked to his whiteboard.
"It could be a brain infection or a metabolic disorder." Foreman offered.
"Prescription or recreational drug use," offered Chase, "or it could be Lupus."
"It could be structural damage to the brain or exposure to toxins. I noticed this girl and the one that came in earlier had abnormal scars on their bodies as though they were used to physical combat." Cameron theorized.
"Ok team we now have too many possible causes and not enough information. The girl needs to have an MRI, an EEG, a lumbar puncture and start running the blood work."
"And what are you going to do?" asked Foreman.
"Unfortunately I'm scheduled for clinic duty for the next two hours and after that I'm going to research the acronym 'SWC'. Our new sponsor is making a generous contribution to this hospital and has a vested interested in healing these girls. I want to know what we are dealing with and what they aren't telling us. They may somehow be the cause of the girl's illness."
As House started walking towards his dreaded clinic duty he limped by the windows facing the outdoor courtyard, noticing Giles and Buffy conferring quietly with each other. "Interesting," he mused "I wonder what type of relationship they have?"