Chapter 31

Nuts and Bolts

I didn't know if she was loony or just a genius. I was familiar with some of the research because I kept abreast of the latest in neuroscience because of my leg. It didn't sound too farfetched to me. But I thought we were years away from what she was suggesting. I finally realized that I was a big boy and I could come back home if I reviewed her work and it looked shady. If she was right, I might get some relief from the pain that had crippled more than just my leg. That would be worth taking a chance, a big chance. I got on the plane and we flew off into the night. Exhausted, Kenna slept on the plane but I couldn't. I was too excited and worried at the same time. I had to keep my excitement in check just in case I reviewed the studies and realized it wasn't going to work. I looked at her; she was sleeping like a baby. She had no apprehensions whatsoever; she had full faith in what she was doing and that made me...well, it made me hopeful. I'm not a hopeful man, but only Kenna could make me feel that way. Kenna was never wrong when it came to her research and work. She was meticulous and methodical. When she woke up I asked her, "What about work, PPTH?"

"You're going to have to call Cuddy and tell her you need two weeks off. Actually, it is going to be more, but just ask for two weeks. Don't tell her anything to begin with, ok?"

I nodded. The whole hospital and Wilson were all going to think that we ran off together. He was going to think I was having an affair with her and that's why she left him. What a mess.

We arrived in Merida and right away it was a pleasant change from the cold February in New Jersey. We drove to her labs, which looked like two one story buildings in the middle of a tropical paradise. She ran her security card through the reader and we stepped inside. Before we could enter the laboratory itself, we had to dress in clean room attire and scrub for several minutes. It was beyond my expectations. There were four doctors/researchers, two from Germany (husband and wife), one from Mexico and one from England. They were happy to see me because I was the patient that they had devoted the last five years to, or so they said. I looked at the artificial nerve and tissue growing in the nutrient. It was unbelievably beautiful, long strands were growing in elongated petri dishes of warm nutrients. I sat down and spent four hours with the doctors/scientists going over everything. By the time we were done, I was convinced that I probably had a 33% chance of growing muscle mass, but a good 75% chance of getting some relief from the pain. I was more than willing to take those odds.

I called Cuddy. "I'm going to need two weeks off. I'm having a penis implant and I need to try it out before I get back."

"House, this isn't funny. Kenna is missing and you're gone. The whole hospital is buzzing with rumors that you two ran off to get married. Wilson is barely functioning. You need to get back here to put these rumors to rest."

"Sorry, but I need the two weeks off or I'm giving you my resignation."

It was quiet on the other end. Finally she said, "Just tell me that you're not with Kenna."

"I can't say that. But I can tell you we aren't getting married and we aren't doing the nasty. Look, I'll call you back in a few days and tell you everything."

"All right, but I hope you know what you're doing to your best friend."

"I know, but trust me; he'll forgive both of us."

"Tell Kenna she needs to call me, right now she's AWOL."

After I hung up I wondered why Kenna hadn't told Cuddy that she needed the time off too?

I was booked for the surgery at the private hospital for Thursday. It was Monday and Kenna had informed me that I needed to stop taking the Vicodin. When I did, I went through 72 hours of detox hell. It wasn't pretty, but Kenna stayed with me through the entire ordeal except when she had to go to the lab to make sure everything was being prepared properly.

Kenna checked me into the small six bed hospital on Wednesday night and, after I was settled, gave me the protocol releases to sign, which I did. I also signed a release allowing them to digitally record and publish the operation. Kenna shaved my thighs and a portion of my scalp before going home to get a good night's sleep. They stopped all food and liquids at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. The next morning Kenna showed up and personally put the catheter and intravenous lines in, smiling at me and giving me a Midwestern pep talk. I pretended that she hurt me when she stuck the needled into the back of my hand, but there was no sympathy. She simply told me to grow up. When she came up to the side of the gurney and looked down at me, she put one very soft and gentle hand on my cheek. I reached up and put my hand on her cheek. She closed her eyes and then opened them again. I think she was praying.

"I'll take good care of you Greg," she promised, her voice quivering.

"I know you will Kenna, I trust you."

She nodded to the orderlies and they started to wheel me away. I couldn't take it, I yelled for her.

She came running down the hall. "What is it?"

"I should have told you this sixteen years ago, but I've always loved you. I never stopped."

She narrowed her eyes and yelled at me, "Oh damn Greg, don't tell me that now. I can't deal with that now..."

"Sorry, but I really wanted you to know."

She had these big tears in her eyes and she nodded. Bending down, she gave me a quick kiss on the lips and then told the orderlies in Spanish to get me into the O.R. When I was rolled into the O.R. there was an anesthetist, two assisting surgeons flown in from Germany and several surgical nurses. I was given the anesthesia and the next thing I recall is waking up to a morphine drip and lots of bags hanging including a pint of my own blood which they had drawn the night I arrived in Merida.

-oxoxoxoxox-

The surgery had gone off without a hitch and Kenna had been extremely pleased. She had replaced the nerve tissue and applied the new ligament to the area with microstitches. Then she drilled a hole into House's skull and inserted small pellets of GDNF into the areas of his brain that were deficient in endomorphin production. She allowed the plastic surgeon to finish with a skin graft to the right thigh with skin from off of the left thigh. Kenna checked on him an hour after the surgery and then went home to her apartment and collapsed. The surgery had taken ten hours. When she woke up she showered and went back to the hospital to look at his lab results. The nurses came to get her; she was informed that House was coming to. She ran down the hall, rushed into the patient room and smiled at the very drowsy Greg. He was trying hard to keep his eyes open and fixed on her.

"Howwww'd it gooo?" He slurred his words.

"It was perfect. We just have to wait now to see if it works. The pellets in your head should start working in a week or two. Until then, we have you on morphine. I removed a lot of dead and damaged nerves from your thigh."

He had drifted asleep again so she rubbed his cheek, smiled and left. A week later, the staff had been making a very agitated House walk to keep from getting clots and to keep his lungs clear. Kenna also forced him to wear leg cuffs in bed that applied pressure, released it and applied it again to keep the blood circulating to his toes. He was in pain, but even he admitted it was getting better.

"I need to call Cuddy and tell her," House said.

"There's no need. I called her yesterday, told her what I had done and told her that I was transferring you back to PPTH next Monday."

"That was quick...we're going home on Monday? What did she say?"

"Oh, let's just say she's not happy."

He saw the look on her face. She was trying to keep her emotions in check "Why, what aren't you telling me?"

"Oh she's just worried because I told her your recuperation would require that you be in the hospital another week and outpatient rehabilitation for the next three months."

"Oh, that's no big deal. I can diagnose patients from my bed. I've done it before."

-oxoxoxoxoxoxo-

For the next few days Kenna would bring in DVDs to watch with House. They played cards and board games together. He had a hard time winning because she was so good at numbers that meant she could count cards. It was that mathematical brain of hers. House had wanted to watch television but Kenna told him the satellite was down so they both spent time reading medical journals. On Saturday night he rang Wilson from his hospital bed.

"Hello?"

"It's House."

"House...Christ House, how could you do this?"

"Do this? I thought you'd be happy for me. The surgery and the recovery have been great. They did a nerve induction test and the new nerve fibers are conducting impulses. Do you know what that means? It means I'm at least growing new, pain free nerves. I'm also releasing substantially more endomorphins and so I'm off morphine and soon I'll be off all pain relief."

"But at what cost...how could you do it?"

"I'm not following? What cost?"

"She didn't tell you?"

"She? Who? Tell me what?"

"Kenna. Her career in the States is over. She can't come back, if she comes back, she'll be arrested."

House was quiet, not sure he understood. He thought he was part of a new protocol. "Wilson, what are you saying? This is an experimental protocol, I had to sign FDA releases."

"No it isn't. Kenna had no authority from the FDA or the AMA to do what she did. She smuggled experimental drugs and genes to Mexico and conducted stem cell research without any authorization. The AMA and FDA are holding hearings about what she did. It's the biggest thing in the news. Half the world is excited about the tremendous breakthrough and half the world is screaming about her ethical violations. Cuddy's been hounded by the press day and night. The neurology department, your department and I have been questioned by the FBI and Attorney General's office."

"She didn't know. She couldn't have known. I'm sure she thought she had the authority to do this."

"Of course she knew. She closed all of her bank accounts, cleaned out her desk, shipped everything to Mexico and transferred her money to off shore accounts. She just had the patents for her last breakthrough transferred to PPTH to make up for the rest of her contract and the publicity." He paused and sighed. "It sounds like you didn't know, did you?"

House was cold and clammy, his pulse had soared and his blood pressure was high. "No, I didn't know, I wouldn't have gone through with it." The phone went quiet while House thought.

"When do you come home?"

"Monday. Look, I have to go." He hung up before Wilson could say goodbye. House stared down at the floor, stunned by what he had heard. What a fool he was. Of course it wasn't sanctioned; she hadn't mentioned anything about the FDA overseeing the operation, that's why they had to go to Mexico, why she was so secretive. Now she had several felony charges hanging over her head and there was no doubt that the FDA and AMA would want to make her an example, especially since she was so well known. He looked up and saw her out at the nurse's desk with his chart.

"Kenna!" he screamed.

She turned around, he looked anxious. She went into his room and could tell from the monitor that something was up, he was very agitated. "Greg, calm down. Don't put that much pressure on your system."

He looked as if he was about to fall apart. "How could you do this? How could you not tell me? How can I live with this, knowing that you've just lost your career, your life's work? Even worse," his voice caught, "now you can't go home with me."

"It was a small price to pay, Greg. When I saw the pain you were in, I knew it was the right thing to do. And don't be so dramatic. What have I got in the USA anyway? My parents are dead, they left the farm to my brother who sold it and moved to Hawaii. There's nothing for me there. I'm not married; I have no children who need me. So what if I can't be a doctor in the USA? There's plenty of countries that would love to have me. And even if I couldn't practice medicine, I have enough money to open my own clinic or bioengineering firm here. Don't worry about me, what have I lost?"

"Your country?" he said, grimacing from the surge of pain in his head. "Besides, I wanted you to come home with me."

"Oh Greg, I wish you wouldn't say things like that. You don't really want that. You're going to be able to golf in a year and walk without a cane and dance with women. You're going to have a full life; you'll find someone who has more to offer you than I do."

"Do you need your ears candled? Didn't you hear what I told you before I went into surgery? I've loved you all of this time. Even when I was with Stacey and Lisa there was a part of me that I couldn't give to them because you had it." He paused and looked away. "Christ, what have I done?"

"Greg, stop this. You didn't do anything. I did it and I'm happy that I did it. It's the greatest achievement of my life. Please don't take that away from me because you're feeling guilty. I wanted to do this."

"I don't want to go back without you."

"Don't be ridiculous, of course you do. I've been in contact with Foreman. I sent him a copy of the tape of your operation and directions for your rehabilitation. I also informed the authorities that you were unaware that I did not have FDA approval. I even faxed them the phony consent form I had you sign."

"You've really planned this out haven't you?"

"I tried to think of everything. Now, get some sleep, you're recovery requires plenty of rest mixed with physical therapy."

He grabbed her hand as she turned to leave. Looking down at his hand wrapped around hers, she felt a rush of warmth and need, a desire to let herself love this man again. But she fought it. He needed the therapy that the United States could offer, that she knew Foreman could and would give him.

On Monday, Kenna drove down to the airport in the ambulance holding House's hand. When they arrived at the airpot, she handed the authorities the transportation papers and stepped aboard the plane to make sure House was settled. She gave the nurse directions and then turned to House, giving him a smile and telling him, "I'm so proud of what I've done. I just hope it works. I know that your pain has decreased, I just hope that the new ligament works and doesn't have to be removed. Your leg will never be 100%, but it should help considerably." She handed him his chart and other documents to give to the university lab. She leaned over and gave him a good ol' Greg House French kiss. Pulling back, Kenna's face was highlighted by a bittersweet smile. "See, I still remember how. I was taught by a pro."

He looked up at her and a tear fell down his cheek to the pillow. He quickly wiped it and had to stay quiet for a moment to compose himself. He finally looked her in the eye and said, "You never said it to me."

Her voice became soft, "Because if I do, I won't be able to tolerate the rest of my life without you." She squeezed his hand and practically ran out of the plane. When she reached the tarmac Kenna turned around and watched the plane taxi away. The tears were pouring down her face. She hadn't expected him to tell her he loved her. If she had known months ago things might have been different. Kenna cursed under her breath for crying over a man.