Chapter 42

"Ah, Dr. Foreman, where is Lisa? Is she alright?" Jay asked. He looked worried.

"Dr. Cuddy will join us for the lunch, Dr. Chase stayed with her, so don't worry and enjoy the conference."

"Dr. Chase is with her?! But…"

"Is there a problem, Mr. Jay?"

"No, no. I just hope that Lisa will be there for the prize-giving ceremony. Well, see you later, Dr. Foreman, if you don't mind, I have some business to do."

Foreman watched Jay going out. He looked frustrated. Foreman didn't like this guy, House and Cuddy should be very careful with him. Foreman took his cell phone and typed a message to House: Be careful with Jay, he's plotting something .I try to get more information. I'll keep you posted.

Ooooo

Taub, MacCoy and Jones had the blood test results.

"We observed fragments of the red blood cells and some of red blood cells are smaller and rounder than usual."

"The level of LDH is elevated."

"And the level of the B cell lymphocytes too"

"I listen to you, any suggestion?"

"Urinary infection can cause fever and sometimes heart failure" Jones said.

"What about the muscle soreness?"

"I…"

"MacCoy, what do you think?" House asked the young intern.

"Well, I"

Suddenly their pager bleeped. It was Caroline's room. They all ran to the room. House remained in his office.

Caroline writhed in pain. Bee-beep, bee-beep, bee-beep…

"She fibrillated!" Taub exclaimed. "I need the defibrillator!"

After three electric discharges, Caroline's heart became normal again.

"Okay, her condition is stable, but we have to find what cause all this. And quickly."

"Hey, look at this!" MacCoy exclaimed suddenly. "She suffers jaundice!"

Taub looked at Caroline. Her skin was yellow. He lifted up the eyelid: the conjunctive membrane was yellow too. Taub took the sheet off and began to examine Caroline's body. "There is an abdominal mass here"

Ooooooo

"So, new symptoms: jaundice, violent abdominal pain, splenic rub, fever. I listen to you" House said and turned to his fellows.

"Splenomegaly" Jones said.

"Oh really? I haven't thought of it!" House replied annoyed.

"But"

"Make an ultrasound to confirm it. But what can cause it?"

"Hodgkin's lymphoma?" Taub added. "It would explain fever, splenomegaly, fatigue, nephritic syndrome"

"Did you make the chest X-ray?"

"Not yet."

"Do it and look at the lymph nodes of the chest."

"Do we make a lymph node biopsy to confirm the Hodgkin?"

"Yes."

Oooooo

"Cuddy, are you feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you. We can go to the symposium to get our prize" she said with a smile.

"Our?" Chase asked intrigued.

"I have an intuition" she replied in a mysterious tone. "Let's go, I don't want to be late at the airport. The sooner I'll be back in Chicago, the better it will be."

Chase looked at her and nodded.

About twenty minutes later, Chase and Cuddy arrived at the symposium. They found Foreman in the conference room. He was on the phone.

"Anything wrong?" Chase asked him.

"No, I just forgot to cancel an appointment. Cuddy, are you feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you. Was the lecture interesting?"

"Not really. What about having lunch?"

"Good idea!"

Once they sat at a table, Chase asked: "At what time is the prize-giving ceremony?"

"At 2.00 pm." Foreman replied. "And I think we're gonna have a good surprise"

"What do you mean?"

"This morning, one of the organizers came to me, he wanted to be sure that we'll be there for the ceremony. So…" Foreman answered with a smile.

"If we win, your guy will be very disappointed, Cuddy. I hope you're not in the same plane."

"No, he told me that he wanted to spend a few more days in Miami." After a while she added: "Well, I hope he will."

"Speaking of Jay, where is he? I thought he would have pounced on Cuddy as soon as she arrived."

"I saw him earlier but he told me he had some things to do." Foreman replied. "This guy is plotting something, Cuddy, you have to be on your guard."

"Thanks for the information, Foreman. I thought he gave up on me. He told me yesterday that he was with … I don't remember her name, but apparently he was with a girl."

"When did he tell you that?"

"Oh, he called me at the hotel when we went back, he wanted to know if I had a message from the organizers, he's so sure that he'll win"

"and he told you he was with a girl?!"

"Yes. And why not? He had flirted with many women at the party, maybe he seduced one of them."

"Maybe"

"Do you know… something? You seem skeptical"

"I just find it weird that this guy called you to let you know he's with a girl."

"Chase is right, it's not normal. Usually when a guy seduces a girl, he doesn't call another girl to tell her… unless he hopes she'll be jealous…"

"Now that you say it, he was convinced that I was jealous. So you think nothing is true."

"I think Jay hasn't given up on you, Cuddy, he just tries something else to get you and I'm afraid that if he doesn't get what he wants, he will do … bad things. You should maybe tell the police about him."

"What could I say? Mr. Jay, one of the patron of the hospital, went with me to a symposium and what? He didn't really pay attention to me at the party… They're gonna find me paranoid. Without saying that Jay has much influence. No, I can't go to the police."

"You really have to be careful, don't stay alone with him"

They remained silent for a while. Chase looked at Cuddy, she knew what he thought: that Jay was implicated in the photos of House and the girl. And somehow she felt relieved.

"I think it's time to go to the ceremony" she said and stood up.

Oooooo

House was standing in the hall in front of Caroline's room. He observed her, she was quite calm thanks to sedative.

"What can cause all her symptoms? Lupus? Cancer?" a voice said suddenly behind him. House was so lost in thoughts that he hadn't heard Robert coming.

"Sorry? You said?"

"House, I… I know we have some … disagreement, I don't like you and you don't like me but… this patient is my sister, she's the only family I have…"

"Since Cuddy dumped you"

Robert looked at House. His eyes reflected pain. "Yes" he whispered back.

House looked at this guy. The great and charming surgeon looked fragile, he probably didn't sleep well since many days and his face was pale and tired.

"House, please, save her"

"Robert, you know as well as I that sometimes"

"No!" Robert exclaimed and fear shined in his eyes. "You can't tell that, you have to find what she has, I'm sure we can treat her, I'm…"

"Hey, I never said she was dead, but… her state gets worse."

"Do you have an idea?"

"Maybe Hodgkin. My team made a biopsy, I'm waiting for the test results."

"Thank you. I'll be in my office" Robert replied and left.

House looked at him then at Caroline. She sat in her bed and bent over her knee. House went to her and called nurses.

"Does it hurt?" he asked staring at her.

"Yes, here" she moaned and showed the upper-right side of her abdomen.

"What happened?" Taub asked. He was followed by MacCoy and Jones.

"Do an ultrasound scan of her abdomen." House said and left to his office.

Taub and MacCoy followed him. "The biopsy doesn't confirm the Hodgkin. We have to find something else"

"Any idea? I listen to you!" House shouted and sat down. He rubbed his leg and saw an envelope on his desk.

"Lupus?" Taub said. "It can explain kidneys, anemia, and fatigue"

"Make a blood test"

Once his fellows had left his office, House took the envelope. He couldn't believe what he saw. In the envelope there were two photos: on the first one, Jay was kissing Cuddy. On the second one, he was going out of a room, smiling, and his shirt showed out of his fly. On the back of the photo stood Cuddy's room. While you look after her kids, she has fun! No, it couldn't be true. Cuddy didn't want to go to Miami with Jay, she was worried about being alone with him, she was scared, she told him how much she hated this guy. But he, House, convinced her to go there because he knew that she will reproach herself for not going there to win the one million dollars prize for the hospital. House called Foreman and Chase, he asked them to watch over her, so what happened? The photos seemed to be real, no photomontage. He had to know. He took his phone and saw that Chase tried to call him earlier and that Foreman sent him a message. Could it be possible that…?

"She has gallstones." Jones said and came in. She stared at House. "Is there a problem?"

"No. Why?"

"You seem… upset and disconcerted."

"I'm fine. So new symptom: gallstones. I listen to you, what cause chest pain, muscle soreness, kidneys failure, jaundice, heart failure, splenomegaly and now gallstones?"

"…"

"If you want to work for me, you have to suggest something!"

"Leukemia? Autoimmune disease?"

"Go to the lab and look for something! The patient is dying!" House shouted.

He needed to be alone. He sat on his lounge chair. His leg hurt and he decided to swallow two pills of Vicodine. For the pain in his leg but also because of the pain in his heart. He felt betrayed. How could she tell him that she loved him and made out with another one as soon as she was away from him?! WHY?! He shouted. He should have known: she hadn't forgiven him, she wanted him to be hurt like she was when he married Domenica. And he saw nothing. He believed all she told him. He should have known it wasn't true, she wasn't afraid of Jay, she just wanted him to believe it. And he insisted that she went to Miami with him. Her plan was Machiavellian, first she was due to a lightning-trip, then she had to spend one night in Miami. And he didn't suspect anything. All was well planned. WHY?! He repeated and hit violently the window next to him.

"House, are you okay?" a voice said. Charlotte stood on the threshold. She looked worried. "Is something wrong?" she added and went to him. "Does your leg hurt?"

He looked at her. Could he talk to her? If Wilson was still alive, he could have talked to him, he could have asked him for advice, but Wilson was dead. House felt so alone and desperate.

"House, talk to me, can I help you? You seem so… " Charlotte said and kneeled next to him. Then she stroked his hand and looked at him straight in the eyes. "Is it because of me? Did Jones tell you something?"

House looked at her surprised. "No, why?"

"I just try to figure out what bother you. I don't like when you're sad."

House didn't reply.

"May I sit next to you?"

He nodded. He could feel her perfume. She smiled at him.

"Why… why do you care about me?"

She stared at him. Suddenly she hugged him, he let her do. He needed some comfort, he needed somebody's shoulder to cry on. "I… I don't know" she whispered. "Maybe because I…I trust you."

Trust… just one word but so many things behind it. Trust, faith… He trusted Cuddy, she was the only one he trusted and yet… could it possible that she betrayed him? He had doubts about it. He refused to believe it. She was always there for him, she always gave him another chance. So why would she cheat on him, and with Jay?! They were so happy altogether with the kids. They even made plans for the future. No, there must be an explanation for these photos. She would be soon here, then they could talk.