Chapter 54.

It took a while for Foreman and Taub to get preliminary results on the patient, and when they did, the numbers didn't prove any of the possible causes for the high platelet count or other symptoms. That would have been too easy.

"Can we get back to the hyperacusis study and have Chase and Hadley do the next set of tests on Mrs. Allen?" Taub asked.

"You'd rather work on the study?"

"Well..."

"OK. Tell them I said it was time to play musical patients."

Taub was grinning when they left, but Foreman's face was as impassive as ever. They were barely out the door when Bonnie called. I expected it would be the last call from her for the day. Sure enough she said, "I couldn't reach the other bidder. We'll have to wait until tomorrow."

I smiled although I knew she was lying, and wondered why, but I didn't want to call her on it. "OK. But you have two days to decide who you're gonna sell this place to and if you don't, I'll find another real estate agent." I hoped that would convince her how serious I was.

"Oh, I'll have an answer for you by then."

Her behavior through all of this was unusual. It was time to see what Wilson had to say. Maybe he knew why she was so eager. The minute I finished talking to her, I headed for his office. He tried to put me off by saying he was busy, but that never stopped me before, so why would he expect it to now?

"Bonnie's given up on trying to dissuade me from bidding on the apartment, but now she's really pushing the sale. Any ideas why?"

"Believe me, House, if I understood why Bonnie ever did anything, our marriage might have turned out quite differently. So you're determined to buy it? I know for a fact that it's the same one Jess is bidding on. Are you just trying to keep her from getting it?"

"Would I do something like that?"

His glare said it all.

I shrugged. "She and her beau can find another place, maybe the first one I saw that had a really neat flight of stairs. I'm sure he's not a cripple like I am."

"What do you know that I don't?" he asked. I knew that suspicious look on his face. I might have overplayed my hand.

"About Miss Giordano? Nothing! Well, gotta go." I high-tailed it out of there before I said anything else for him to analyze.

That encounter convinced me of the fact that I had to come up with a cool way to tell people about Jess and me, and soon. I don't really mean 'tell' because I never do anything that straightforward. Certainly the more shocked everyone was, the more entertaining their reactions. I could just show up with her when she 'brings her boyfriend' to see the apartment, and let a stunned Bonnie pass the word on to Wilson, but what would be the fun of that?

We could arrange for Wilson or a member of my team to find us in a compromising position. That would be fun, the position part I mean, but the impact would only be momentary. No, it had to be more theatrical than that.

Whatever we did, it had to happen when everyone least expected it.

I had to push those thoughts to the back of my mind when Chase approached before I'd even returned to my desk. "There are no signs of amyloid proteins. It's not any form of amyloidosis."

"I knew once you and Thirteen took over the case you'd get more decisive results. One down, a gazillion to go."

"On the other hand, Mrs. Allen's developed a fever. Along with the CBC, that points towards an infection."

"Then we have to pinpoint what kind. Start her on a broad-spectrum antibiotic and check for any rashes."

Chase nodded and left again. I knew the team could diagnose her given enough time, and she was far from critical. Our patient was the least of my worries.

To prove my point, my phone rang. It was Bonnie again. Now what did she want? "I thought you weren't going to hear from the other bidder until tomorrow at the soonest."

"House, we've got a problem."

A problem to Bonnie could be anything from a hangnail to the sky falling. "Be more specific."

"You know that the condo was a multiple-listing, right?"

"Yes." I pressed my eyes shut as my mind anticipated what she was going to say.

"Someone else is bidding on it besides you and Jess." Then she caught herself. "I probably shouldn't have mentioned her name."

"That's OK. I know who the other bidder is, I mean Ms. Giordano. What's the bid from the third party?"

"Two eighty."

I thought about that a minute, wondering if there was a way to find out who the other person was. Then a notion occurred to me. Wilson. Would he make a bid on the place so that Jess could get it rather than me? It sounded like something he might do, although I wasn't sure how that would work.

Of course, if it was Wilson, and he thought he was acting for Jess, if I dropped out now, we'd get the place anyway. The problem was, what if it wasn't Wilson? And how could I find out?

"Are you going to talk to Ms. Giordano, tell her about the other offer?"

"I have to."

I wasn't supposed to know about Jess' delaying tactic, so I couldn't ask whether Bonnie would still show the place to her boyfriend. "Well, keep me posted."

I stared at the phone after I ended the call. This was becoming much more complicated than it had to be. I had to talk to Jess yet again. She might be able to approach Wilson and find out what he was up to. Last time when I went to talk to her, she was alone, but I couldn't count on that being the case again. I decided to use the fact that Bonnie and Wilson knew that I knew that Jess was bidding against me.

I returned to the room being used for the study. Sure enough, Foreman and Taub were there with Jess. I burst through the door and shouted at her, "I'm sure you can find another place to buy than the one I'm bidding on!"

To Jess' credit, she quickly realized that something had happened and that we had to talk about it in private. "You're the other bidder?"

I nodded. "And now there's still another person in the mix."

That gave her pause. "Oh!"

"You two are bidding on the same condo?" Taub asked with a grin on his face. "This should be fun!"

Jess and I turned on him and simultaneously said, "Stay out of it!"

"I think it's time to start processing the next patients," Foreman said. He motioned for Taub to follow him out.

"I thought we'd never get rid of them," I said with an exaggerated sigh of relief.

"Greg, tell me it isn't true. There's someone else who wants our place?"

"Maybe. Bonnie called to tell me there'd been another offer made. She'll probably call you any minute now."

"But?" She'd obvious interpreted my skeptical expression correctly.

"I think it might be Wilson trying to pull a fast one."

"What would it accomplish if he bid on the place?"

"He could then sell it to you and cut me out of the picture."

"But he has to know I wouldn't pay what he's offering, doesn't he?"

I shrugged. "Money's not the issue here. He wants you to have the condo almost as much as he wants me to not have it."

"But he's your friend."

"There are all kinds of friendships. He's probably doing it because he wants to teach me a lesson or something."

"So what are we going to do?"

I grinned slyly. "Two, or rather three can play his game. We might have to clue someone in on our little secret to make this work, but I have an idea."