House and Chase were in the waiting room throwing around ideas when Foreman arrived.

"Influenza obviously has something to do with it," Chase was saying as Foreman approached them.

"Dr. Chase, Dr. House." Foreman said significantly, having recognized House from the hall.

"Shhh!" House said, mockingly, "My code name is Dr. Outlaw." When Foreman gave him a cold look, he said, "Too obvious? How about Magnus…Switchblade?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Foreman snapped.

"Everyone is so hung up on me being dead when we have a dying patient." House said, defensively.

"Dr. Cuddy is the patient?" Foreman said doubtfully.

"I thought you'd me more likely to help if I dropped some big names."

"So, it's not Dr. Cuddy?"

"It is." House handed Foreman the file.

Foreman took it with his eyes suspicious, but they softened as he began reading, "With the weakness in the arms and legs it could be the central nervous system shutting down. Stroke?"

"Leave it to the neurologist to suspect a brain disorder." House quipped, "At least you got over your excitement of seeing me again and got right down to the differential. I was there when it happened, no stroke."

Both Foreman and Chase reacted to the fact that House had been with Cuddy before she was brought to the hospital.

"Why are you so nonplussed that I'm not six feet under?" House speculated.

Foreman gave House a meaningful glance, "Found your calling card. Any disease that causes paralysis is not going to be a good diagnosis." Foreman warned, moving on despite Chase's confused look.

"It's localized weakness, not paralysis." House corrected, "The patient reports feeling in all limbs but an inability to control the muscles."

"Parkinsons often presents with weakness but which is actually a loss of motor function." Foreman pointed out, noting how House was treating Cuddy like any other patient that he just wanted to solve but not have any attachment to.

"It's not Parkinson's." House snapped a little too harsh.

Then again, maybe not, Foreman thought, "It's attacking the nervous system, that points to a brain issue."

House nodded slowly, "Then we need a PET scan of the brain." He stood and walked away, heading toward Cuddy's room again.

Arlene turned and gave him daggers, "I thought I recognized the sound of that limp behind me."

"Mom..." Cuddy protested.

"I can see you haven't lost your sense of humor or those endearing neck folds." House shot back.

"House." Cuddy scolded.

Arlene sighed, "We're not going to get anywhere on opposite sides, Greg." She admitted, "I want my daughter to get well and I think you can do that. I'm not making any promises of my actions after that, though."

"Very touching, but that doesn't protect me from the wonderful world of Julia, does it?"

"I'll see to her when she gets here, just stay out of sight until then." Arlene said, her voice suddenly had less of an edge and the worry showed through.

"Easy enough." He said, a shaking agreement made, "You need a PET scan." He told Cuddy.

After shooing away Arlene, House helped Cuddy into a wheelchair, gently pulling her from the bed. He noted that her legs were almost completely useless now and her hands wouldn't flex at all.

"Dr. Kincaid hasn't been back?" House asked.

"I told him that you had authorization over my care." She said, simply, feeling lousy that Kincaid was someone she considered a friend and House couldn't care less, but that he was her best chance. She closed her eyes, banning such thoughts. Why should it concern her if House cared or not?

"Convenient being the boss, isn't it?" House said, cheerfully.

"It was never convenient being your boss." Cuddy answered back, feeling bitter again.

"It was never convenient screwing my boss." House stung back. He instantly regretted it and there was silence between them the rest of the way. Even so, he helped her onto the machine as gently as he could, "Don't go anywhere." He said when she was settled, as if she could move.

In spite of herself, she gave him a smile.

"PET scan shows nothing. No abnormalities at all." Foreman was saying while as House approached the screen.

"And I had such high hopes that it was the brain too." House said, covering his relief. There were no brain disorders that were good news, especially presented with arm and leg weakness or, if he was honest with himself, possible paralysis. He motioned for the nurses to take Cuddy back to her room, he didn't trust himself not to say something else offensive and mean.

"It's moving too fast to be Parkisons anyway." Chase pointed out.

"It is moving very fast." Foreman agreed, "I would imagine she won't be able to breathe on her own in the next day or so."

"It's not a parasite, brain is clear, there is no infection, but there used to be…" House mumbled.

"What about trauma?" Chase suggested, "She may have not realized she hurt her spine if she had been in a small fender-bender or something."

"And she failed to mention it after paralysis set in? That's a long shot." Foreman tossed back, ignoring how sensitive House had been to the possibility that Cuddy might be paralyzed.

"But not impossible." House said, unwilling to let any theory go that was even in the slightest range of possibility, "Alright, get some x-rays of her spine and I'll go check her home for thongs."

Both men stared at him.

"Did I say thongs? I meant environmental agents." He gave them an innocent look.

Limping into Cuddy's room again, he found Arlene, Julia, and Rachel this time. Rachel's blue eyes grew huge, "House?" She had grown a lot and House suppressed a smile. Her hair was long and straight and she jumped from Arlene's lap to approach House.

"Hey." House said, not knowing what else to do. Julia's jaw set, but she kept silent and refused to look at him. Apparently Arlene had indeed reined in her younger daughter. House put his hand on the top of Rachel's small brunette head affectionately and the little girl smiled widely.

"She remembers you." Cuddy said, her voice unreadable. Julia said something under her breath and House ignored her. He wasn't looking forward to the onslaught of harpy squawking when all of this was over, but that wouldn't stop him from saving Cuddy's life as fast as he could.

"Chase and Foreman are going to give you an X-Ray." He said before walking out. House took a cab back to Cuddy's house, where he never thought he'd be twice in this day. Inside her home again, House hobbled around slowly. He looked through the usual places; under the sink, in the refrigerator, in the closets. When he went into the bedroom he took a breath of preparation. Most of it was different, but some things were the same. There was a quilt that he remembered hanging over a quilt rack, the oak vanity was the same as well, a Cuddy family heirloom. He rifled through a few drawers before opening the closet where the door wafted the familiar scent of Lisa Cuddy. On a higher shelf, he spotted a hat box and pulled it down. Inside were pictures. Family photos took up most of the box and House had to suppress a smile when he saw teenage Cuddy and her sister in tacky prom dresses. He nearly put the box back when he spotted the corner of one of the photos. It was clearly his piano. Cuddy was sitting on the piano like a lounge singer posing. He knew that he had taken the photo. Beneath it was another, both of them were on the piano bench and she was kissing his cheek while he attempted a photo with both of them. It hadn't turned out very well as half of each face was cut off, but it made House's chest warm and his stomach stir. He placed the lid back on the box, but couldn't bring himself to replace the photo of her kissing him. Placing it carefully in his shirt pocket, he left the house.