Hello people! :)
As I said, the next chapter is ready!
Cameron finds out what is wrong with Haley and House finally meets with her parents. Not officially but he has a small conversation with them. :p
I am already working on the next chapter so it will be up tomorrow or the day after.
Thank you all for reading this story and, of course, for taking the time to write what you think about it.
I hope you will enjoy reading this chapter as well.
On with the story then...
Disclaimer: I don't own House MD...
Uncle Greg
.
Four days had passed since Haley was admitted to the hospital and after many tests Cameron still hadn't figured out what was wrong.
Her seizures were more frequent and she was complaining about headaches all the time. Her fever hadn't spiked up again but stayed at low levels. But the list of the symptoms had grown and ataxia was one of the new ones.
Cameron knew that something was missing but the problem was that she didn't know what. Her assumption about acute meningitis due to the fever and neck stiffness was wrong so now she was back to square one.
Her parents' insistence to talk to her about the things that had happened in the past wasn't helping her at all. So she had moved to House's office, praying that no one would rat her out.
They still hadn't met House and Cameron was trying to delay that for as long as she could. She didn't want to have to deal with that too.
So now she was in the conference room, Haley's symptoms on the whiteboard and she was trying to figure out what was wrong.
"It could be MS." House's voice made her turn to look at the door of his office.
"And it developed in a matter of days? I don't think so…" she replied looking straight into his eyes.
He puffed out his cheeks with air and moved it from cheek to cheek for a while before exhaling loudly. He walked towards her and sat down on a chair next to Cameron's, studying the white board.
"You ruled out acute meningitis?" he asked and she nodded.
"First thing I did. Now I sent my team to do an MRI and hopefully it will give as something else." She replied.
They stayed there silent just studying the whiteboard when one of Cameron's doctors barged into the conference room.
"She's in a coma." He announced before Cameron could ask what was going on.
"Perfect!" said House sarcastically and Cameron rubbed her hand over her face.
"Did you do the MRI?" she asked.
"Yeah, they will send the images to your office." He replied and Cameron nodded.
"Go and check her vitals, I'll be there in some minutes." She said and the other doctor left leaving House and Cameron alone.
"Are you sure about that? I don't think it's the best time for you to go and talk to them." He said but she shook her head no.
"I can handle it." She said confidently.
"I could go. Just, go to your office and check the MRI images and I'll deal with them." he said and she looked at him warily.
"I'll try not to have a fight with them." He tried to reassure her.
"You think that it's possible? They'll say something, you will say something and then you'll be accusing them for everything that has happened between me and them." She explained and he frowned.
"So you are just trying to delay the inevitable." He said, looking straight into her eyes and she nodded.
He caught her hand in his and gave it a squeeze.
"Just go check those images and let me deal with them for now. I won't say anything." He said reassuringly and although she seemed reluctant she gave in.
"Fine… you can go." She said with a sigh. "I'll come and find you when I have something new." She said and exited the office.
House grabbed his cane and made his way to Haley's room where Cameron's parents were sitting by the bed.
He slid the door open and entered making them both turn to look at him.
"Who are you?" asked Helen, standing up in order to walk towards him.
"I'm a doctor. Dr. Cameron told me to check on Haley." He explained, moving towards the bed.
"You are the other doctor that would help with the case?" Jason asked, studying House.
House made a face, pretending to be thinking before answering the question.
"I think so." He said, checking the monitors.
"Where is Dr. Cameron?" asked Helen.
"She is coming, I guess." House replied without looking at her.
"Are you always this rude with patient's family?" Jason asked, looking at him disapprovingly.
"No, usually I'm a lot worse." He replied and took one of the chairs in order to sit down.
"Sorry, cripple here." He explained, picking up his cane in order to show it to them.
Cameron's father was ready to say something but House shot him a glare and he stayed silent.
"Are you actually going to help find out what's wrong with our little girl?" Helen asked in frustration and House smirked.
"You are smiling? What's wrong with you?" asked her father and House was very pleased with the reaction he had managed to draw from him.
"I don't know, they are still looking into it." House replied, the smirk never leaving his lips.
"Are you crazy or something? Do you even know what we are going through? Do you even have a kid in order to know?" he asked, clearly angry by House's behavior.
"Hey, watch it! You are the last one who should be asking those questions to me! Because last time I checked your parental skills weren't the best in the world." He said with a glare making Jason look at him in shock.
"How did you…" Helen didn't have the time to complete her sentence since Cameron stormed into the room, MRI images in hand.
She immediately knew that something wasn't right when she entered the room and saw the look on House's face but decided to dismiss it for the time being.
Instead of asking him what was going on she turned to her parents.
"Was Haley sick lately?" she asked persistently. "Was she?" she asked again, seeing that her parents were still looking at House.
"Yeah… her pediatrician said she had a viral infection but he didn't think there was a connection." Helen explained making Cameron sigh and House snort.
"Pediatricians are idiots." He commented but the look he received from Cameron made him stop.
"What did the MRI show?" he asked, turning serious once again.
"Inflammatory brain lesions. And I'm sure that if I do an LP she'll have abnormally elevated levels of white blood cells and protein." She said surely and he understood where this was going.
"So, you found out what's wrong with her?" Helen asked looking pleadingly at her.
"She has acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. It's an immune mediated disease of the brain. That's why we confused it with acute meningitis and MS at the beginning." Cameron explained.
"Is it treatable?" asked her father, worry etched in his voice.
"Yes… 50 to 75% have a full recovery while up to 70 to 90% recover with some minor residual disability. We'll start her on corticosteroids and if she doesn't come out of the coma we are going to start plasmapheresis."
"How long will she stay in the hospital?" asked Helen, looking at her.
"We can't know that. The average time to recover is one to six months so we'll see how she goes." She explained.
"See? I didn't have to help after all." House commented, looking pointedly to her father.
Cameron placed her hand on his bicep catching his attention and he turned to look at her.
"Not now, please." She said in a low tone and although he really needed to say some things he nodded his head.
"We are not done." He said to Jason who looked at him questioningly.
He looked at Cameron one more time and he left the room without another word.
"Who is that man?" asked Helen, her eyes connecting with Cameron's.
"I think you lost the right to ask those kinds of questions a long time ago." Cameron replied.
"I'll send someone to start her treatment." She said and she followed House out of the room.
xOxOx
Haley responded to the treatment and during the next few days was doing a lot better. They all knew that she needed a lot of time to reach full recovery but things looked good for her.
Cameron would check her when her parents weren't in the room and she would only talk to them when it was really necessary.
House, on the other hand, really wanted to go in there and have a word with them but he knew that this was the last thing Cameron needed so he stayed back, watching everything from a distance.
He only dropped by Haley's room when Cameron was in there to check on her.
Now he was on the grounds of the hospital, a cup of coffee in his hand when a small voice caught his attention.
"Hello cool doctor." Sounded Haley's voice and he turned to look at her with a smile.
"Look who is out." He commented, taking a sip from his coffee.
Haley was in a wheelchair while one of Cameron's interns was wheeling her around the hospital.
"Aunt Allison said I could take a walk outside and Dr. Harrison said that he could take me." She explained with a grin.
"You sure you can handle this thing?" House asked Harrison, pointing at the wheelchair.
"I think I can handle it." Harrison defended himself.
"Just to be sure I'll take over now." He said and stood up, handing his cane to Haley.
Harrison seemed a little reluctant but stepped away from the wheelchair allowing House to take over.
"Where are your grandparents?" he asked as he walked away, leaving Harrison behind.
"I think they went home. They'll come back at twelve." She replied and House nodded although Haley couldn't see him.
"How are you feeling now?" he asked in concern.
"I'm a lot better! Aunt Allison found out what was wrong with me and she says that I'm going to be fine." She said with a grin "Can we sit over there?" she asked pointing at a bench and House wheeled her over there.
He sat down and the bench and took his cane in order to place it on the bench.
"It's nice here." Haley commented with a smile.
"Yeap, and a very good hiding place!" House exclaimed making Haley giggle.
"House?"
"Jimmy boy!" House exclaimed when he saw his best friend walking towards them.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm hiding from your evil girlfriend." He responded and Wilson rolled his eyes.
"You must be Haley. Hi, I'm James." He said looking at the little girl with a smile.
"Nice to meet you." Haley said shyly.
"Aren't you going to get in trouble if her grandparents see you with her out here?" he asked taking a sit next to him on the bench.
"Why are you going to get in trouble?" Haley asked questioningly.
"Apparently they don't like me." House explained to Haley and shot a glare to Wilson.
"But you are nice!" she exclaimed making Wilson snort.
"I don't hear that often. I mean the last girl who said that you are nice was Beth and she is biased because she is your daughter." Wilson said an amused smile on his lips.
"Hey, Allison likes me too!" House protested.
"Yeah, your daughter and your wife." Wilson replied with a small laugh and House rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, I've got to go, Lisa is waiting for me. Plus I have to go take your daughter from school. I'll see you later." He said and both House and Haley waved at him.
"Sooo…" started Haley and House raised an eyebrow in question.
"You are my Aunt's husband!" Haley exclaimed and House nodded.
"And that makes you my Uncle, right?" she asked waiting for his response.
"Yes…" he dragged out and Haley grinned widely.
"But you can't tell your grandparents. Especially the fact that your Aunt and I have a daughter." He said making Haley frown.
"Why?" she asked curiously and House sighed.
"Because it's a complicated story and Aunt Allison should be the one to tell them when and if she is ready to do so." He explained and Haley nodded her head.
"Ok, I won't say anything." She said honestly.
"Scouts' honor?" he asked, placing his palm on his chest and making her giggle.
"Scouts' honor." She said, mimicking his stance.
"But… can I call you Uncle Greg when they are not around?" she asked hopefully and he considered it for a while.
"The 'cool doctor' makes me look so cooler but I guess it's ok." He said with a theatrical sigh and Haley smiled.
"Come on; let's go to your room now because your grandparents are going to return soon." He said and got up from the bench.
He handed his cane to Haley again and he wheeled her back to the hospital and to her room.