Chapter 29.

Ellie went along when they took Christopher for his hearing test. I think she understood that the problem we described for her was manageable. Maybe not easily, but within reason. She also seemed to understand that, depending on the cause of his hyperacusis, it could still be a serious condition that would require even more treatment than the hearing condition.

Not so Petey. He was even denser than I thought. Both of his sisters had told me he was smart, but I didn't see any evidence of it. OK, Jess had admitted he'd been a good student only because he worked at it, not because of any inherent intelligence. I was beginning to wonder whether Jess was the only brainy one in the family.

"I think I'd better head back home as soon as we get Christopher's results," she said. "Dad will be furious that I've been away this long without telling him I was leaving. And he'll really hit the roof if he ever finds out where I've been. Petey, you want to come with me?" She knew that would make things even worse with her father, but had to offer.

"I don't have anything in Dorsey anymore," he said.

"You have a father and two sisters who care about you," she objected.

"You've all had a fine way of showing it!" he shouted angrily.

"Jess is just trying to help," Thirteen said. "Whatever problems you have with your family, she's been very supportive of Ellie and the baby, and she's been worried about you."

"Thanks, Remy," Jess said. "I know Petey's mad at Dad for how he was treated, and I don't blame him. Nina and I didn't help in the past."

"Jess, he should know how much you've done," Thirteen said.

"I'm not sure it will make any difference." Jess sighed. "So, what are you going to do?" she asked her brother.

"I guess I'll just head back to Florida," he said.

"And your hyperacusis?"

"I'm managing just fine," Petey insisted.

"But we still don't know the underlying cause," I told him. "You're going to have to stick around until we get the results of the genetic tests."

"And who's gonna make me?" he asked, hands on hips.

"Petey, you're here. You might as well listen to Dr. House and stay," Jess advised him. "It won't be long and then you can take off." She sighed once more. "If you'd like, I'll stay in Princeton too."

I watched Petey's face, wondering how he'd take his sister's offer. I had an idea how much it might cost her in the long run if she stayed any longer. It didn't look like Petey did, though.

"Jess, you can stay with me," Thirteen offered.

I was sure Jess didn't swing that way, but it wasn't the optimal situation. We'd been able to arrange for Ellie to stay at the hospital, but that wouldn't work for Jess either. It was one of those moments I wished I had a spare room, myself.

"Thanks Remy, but I think it would be best if Petey and I get rooms at the nearest motel," Jess said, settling the issue herself. I tried not to smile.

Petey frowned at all of us. "How much longer do you think it'll be?" he asked me.

"It can take as much as a week or two, but we've rushed things and told the lab techs to focus on particular chromosomes," I said. "We may have the initial results late tomorrow, the next day at the latest."

"I guess I can hang around that long," he said.

Foreman had been the one to accompany Ellie and the baby to see Finnegan and finally he returned. "Finnegan confirmed that the baby has hyperacusis, too," he said. "He's not sure what caused it. though."

At least we knew we were on the right track finally, and we'd verified that both Christopher and his father had the same condition.

"Now what?" Jess asked.

"Now we wait for the genetic testing results. Luckily, we don't have to do a full genome sequencing, 'cause that'd take a long time. The lab will just look at certain chromosomes and the genes on them for mutations and defects. For instance, originally I was leaning toward Turner Syndrome, which is associated with changes in the X chromosome, and Foreman is probably still thinking it may be 22q13 Deletion Syndrome..." I looked at Petey and Jess and saw that I was right on the money about who would understand, and who hadn't a clue. "As the name implies, that's caused by a deletion in the 22q chromosome." I felt like I was giving a med school lecture, and decided to stop there.

Jess nodded. It looked like she really did get it. Petey seemed to be bored to tears. "Can we get outta here now?" he asked his sister.

Jess sighed. "OK. We'll be back in the morning," she said. "And thanks, all of you, for everything you're doing for Chris and Ellie." She smiled. "You're going to tell me that you'd do the same for all of your patients, but I don't buy that," she said with a smirk. "See ya!" she called as she led her brother out.

I watched them go, trying to deny to myself that the prospect of seeing her again the next day made everything seem better.

It had been a long day, and there wasn't much more that any of us could do. We'd made some progress in diagnosing Christopher. Now we had to wait for the results of the genetic testing.

"I'm going home," I told my team. "Call me if there are any developments," I added, but I didn't expect any.

There was little traffic and I reached my place quickly. It was good to be back in my own apartment again. Two days away and the mail had begun to accumulate, but I tossed it on the kitchen counter knowing I wasn't in the mood to go through it, got myself a beer and leafed through the take-out menus, trying to decide on dinner. Dinner alone. Why did that seem like a dismal idea?

I shrugged and settled for Chinese food, calling Peking Garden and ordering my usual dumplings and Szechuan beef.

I sat on the couch, found the remote and watched a program on the birth of the blues that I'd DVR'd. It was distracting enough that I was able to relax. My dinner arrived and that helped, too. It was good to be alone, doing what I wanted and not thinking about anything or anyone else, or so I told myself.

The program ended and I finished all of my food. Now what was I going to do? I could always go back out, find a bar and get drunk, but somehow that didn't appeal to me.

In the end, I just got ready for bed. I stared at the ceiling for a long time before I was able to fall asleep.