2005

A few weeks later, Wilson brought them a case. Chase looked at the file and then looked up at Wilson. "She's got cancer," he said.

"Thank you, Doctor Obvious, for your brilliant insight," House said as he sat with his feet propped up on the conference table. Suddenly, he sneezed several times. He pulled out a wad of tissues from his suit pocket and wiped his nose. "Damn cold. She's hallucinating." He sneezed again.

"She has Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma. It probably moved to her brain which would explain the hallucinations. Have you taken some Benedryl? It's probably allergies," Chase responded sullenly.

"I already took one thousand milligrams," House told him and sneezed three more times. "Brain is clear. It's not the rhabdo."

"If you can fix whatever's wrong with her," Wilson told them. "She could have another year which is a pretty long time for a nine-year-old."

Cameron brought him his red mug. He took it from her and looked over the patient file open in his lap. "Chase, go get an MRI and a tox screen." He drank from his mug and nearly spit the liquid out as he grimaced. He looked up at Cameron. "What the hell is this?"

She looked at him. "Black walnut and ginger tea. For your cold."

He nodded and tried to smile. "It's nice."

She smiled serenely.

House and Reilly were sitting in his office talking when Chase walked in.

"-boxcutters to do it," House said and then sneezed four times.

"Ewww," Reilly responded with a grimace.

House looked up at Chase. "Well?"

"She's clean. No infection, nothing."

"Her oxygen saturation is at ninety-four percent," House told him.

"That points to a problem with her lungs," Reilly said.

"Do all the usual tests and when they come back negative, snake a catheter in her lungs." House told Chase and stood up. "I'm going home. If I don't sleep in, I'll bring bagels."

The next morning they all sat around the table in the conference room. A box of bagels was open in the center of it among all the paperwork.

"Everything came back clean," Reilly mused as she looked over the test results. "It's got to be something else." She took a bite of her bagel and stared off into space.

"What do you think it is?" House asked her leaning forward.

"Well…" she began and shook her head. "No, Andi's nine."

"Share with the class," House prompted.

"Neurosyphilis."

"No," Chase said adamantly. "She hasn't had sex. She's nine for Christ's sake!"

"If the infection moved to her cerebral cortex, then all her peripheral functions could be compromised," Cameron told them. "Maybe she's been molested. She's spent most of her life around adults."

"Time to break out the rape kit," House responded.

"She hasn't had sex!" Chase replied heatedly.

House and Reilly exchanged a look. She nodded slightly.

"You sound awfully sure of that. Did you read it in her diary?" House asked with a touch of sarcasm.

"She told me she's never been kissed," Chase said a tinge of pink staining his cheeks. "If she's never been kissed then it's a sure bet she hasn't had sex."

"You kissed her," Reilly gasped.

Chase hung his head. "It was one small kiss for a dying girl. It wasn't sick."

Cameron stared at him wide eyed with her hands over her mouth. Reilly shivered and closed her eyes.

"You and your hair are never to come near my daughters," she told him as House laughed.

Chase groaned and left the room.

Reilly stood up. "Come on, Allison. Let's go see if Chase's new girlfriend had sex."

The rape kit came back negative. When her oxygen saturation level dropped another percent, House suggested she might have Tuberous Sclerosis. As they all listened to Andi's heartbeat in the locker room, Cameron heard an extra flap on Andi's tricuspid valve. The tumor was found and removed but Andi developed a bleed in her eye. Finally, House got permission from Cuddy to basically kill Andi so they could remove half her blood and find the tumor in her brain. The procedure worked and the tumor was removed. As she was leaving the hospital, Andi hugged House and suggested he go outside and walk in the sunshine. Reilly leaned on the counter behind him and watched her leave with her mother.

"Wanna go for a walk?" he asked her.

"Sure," she told him.

They ended up taking her car to get lunch and then walked along the street. House stopped when he saw a motorcycle store. Several motorcycles were sitting out on the sidewalk.

"You interested?" a young man asked him. "You can still ride." He inclined his head toward House's cane. "We've got excellent financing right now. It lists for ten eight but I'll let you steal it out the door for ten three."

"You've always wanted one," Reilly commented as she looked over a brightly painted Repsol. She looked up at the salesman. "This one is scratched pretty badly. I think you can do a lot better than ten three."

He smiled slightly but didn't respond. Reilly looked at House. "I know another dealership where you can get a better deal than that," she told him.

"Why don't you take it for a test ride?" the man suggested quickly.

"Yeah," Reilly said. "Take it for a test ride to make sure it's only scratched."

While House was test driving the Repsol, Reilly got the owner of the store to drop the price to five one with three percent interest. House returned an hour later and bought the bike.

A few weeks later, House called Reilly into his office.

"Close the blinds," he told her.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise but closed them. "What's wrong?" she asked as she sat down in his lounger and put her feet up.

"They're coming," he told her. "He took her to Europe and they have a layover here. Mom wants to meet Cameron. She wants us to have dinner together."

"And you don't want to subject Allison to Uncle John."

"I don't want to be subjected to my faux father," House told her.

"Well, when will they be here?"

"Thursday."

"That's tomorrow!"

"You gotta get us out of it," he pleaded. "I already asked Wilson but he's all pissy about the five grand he loaned me."

Reilly frowned. "Why did he loan you five thousand dollars?"

"For the bike," he said giving her a "duh" look.

"You already paid for the bike with a check which I know for a fact has already cleared your bank," she told him.

"Which left me with five thousand less in my account," he told her. She looked at him incredulously. "Oh, don't looked shocked. I told him and that's why he won't give me an excuse not to have dinner with the parental units and my girlfriend. So, that leaves you."

"Well, tell them to come here. Our patient, Carnell, is getting worse and we're no closer to a diagnosis. We'll have dinner in the cafeteria and I'll bring Sarah and Jenny. They haven't seen Aunt Blythe and Uncle John since we moved here," she told him. "That way he can't be too nasty to you."

"Thank you," he said sincerely.

The next night, Reilly, Sarah, Jenny, Cameron and House waited in the conference room. Sarah and Jenny sat at the computer playing a game. Reilly, House and Cameron sat at the table as they looked at Carnell's chart.

"Why do people lie to me?" House wondered aloud. "This kid and his dad do nothing but lie. They lie to each other and to us. Now, the kid is probably going to die. All of this could have been prevented if they just told us the truth."

The door opened and his parents walked in. Blythe smiled when she saw them. Reilly stood and smiled. House slowly rose and walked over to his mother. He looked down at her and then very gently hugged her. John watched them with a blank look on his face.

House stepped back from his mother and inclined his head at John. Then he turned to Cameron.

"This is my girlfriend, Allison Cameron," he told them.

"How nice to finally meet you, Allison," Blythe said as Cameron moved forward to hug her.

"It's good to meet you, too, Mrs. House," Cameron said. She looked at John and held out her hand. "Mr. House." John took her hand and shook it.

"You pregnant yet?" he asked her.

She stared at him in shock. "Well...we've...I…" she stammered

"No, Dad," House told him stonily.

"I'm sorry. I like to tease my son," John told her with a slight emphasis on the word son.

Reilly hugged Blythe. "It's so good to see you, Aunt Blythe." She pulled back and called her daughters over. They threw their arms around Blythe's waist. She smiled and held them close.

"Let me look at you two," she said as they stepped back and smiled at her. They completely ignored John. "You two have grown so much since the last time I saw you. We brought you gifts but they're in the car." She turned to John. "Will you go get the gifts for Jenny and Sarah?"

He nodded curtly and left. Blythe looked at Cameron. "I want to apologize for my husband."

"No need," Cameron assured her.

Blythe walked over to House who stood near the whiteboard. "I'm glad you were able to make time for me," she told him.

"Come on, Mom, don't try to make me feel guilty."

She reached up and stroked his cheek. "I'm not. I am glad you were able to make time for me. All things considered, I didn't think you would."

"I will always have time for you," he assured her.

"So, you and Reilly are working together," she smiled. "I'm glad."

House nodded. Cameron's and Reilly's pagers went off. They pulled them out and looked at them. Cameron went over to the desk and picked up the phone. She turned her back on them and spoke quietly. She hung up the phone and turned to face them.

"Carnell's prepped for surgery," she told House. "I'll go observe."

House shook his head. "Chase can do it."

"He's gone home."

"Then get him back."

Cameron sighed and turned back to the phone.

"We're keeping you from your job," Blythe said to House.

He shook his head. "It's fine."

John returned carrying a shopping bag. He handed it to Blythe. Sarah and Jenny crowded around her. She pulled out a box and gave it to Sarah and then pulled out another that she gave to Jenny. Inside each box was a silver Celtic knot on a slender silver chain. The girls gasped as they took them out of the boxes.

"Oh, it's so beautiful!" Sarah smiled.

"I'll always wear it!" Jenny told her.

"Thank you, Aunt Blythe," they said.

Reilly helped them fasten the necklaces around their necks. She hugged Blythe again. "Thank you," she whispered in her ear.

They all went down to the cafeteria and ordered sandwiches and soft drinks. Reilly and Cameron kept both Blythe and John engaged in conversation so House didn't have to do much talking. As they walked out to the parking lot, Blythe pulled House to one side.

"I'm glad Reilly's back in your life and that you have Allison, too," she told him.

"So am I," he responded with a smile.

"You know your dad just wants to help you, right?" she asked searching his eyes.

"I don't need help," he told her.

"Well, I know that," she smiled. "You're absolutely perfect just the way you are." She stretched up and kissed his cheek.

"Have a safe trip home, Mom," he whispered.

She nodded and walked to the car.