Rachel had gone to three diagnostic meetings at that point. She still had to do rounds and do her usual procedures under supervision by other doctors, but she always looked forward to it. House assisted her through bluetooth.
"Patient, a thirty year old female, suddenly had slurred speech and was confused while at work," Dr. Chase told the team.
"Slurred speech and confusion. Sounds like a stroke," Rachel said out loud so House could hear. The team had gotten used to Rachel speaking out loud for diagnoses very quickly, and just accepted that it was a normal thing. And the bluetooth in her ear. That was just assumed to be a 'young tech-savvy people trend.'
"Anything else?" Rachel heard over the bluetooth. She kept quiet so she wouldn't have to say 'no' to herself and hoped he got the hint.
"It is a stroke, actually, from something blocking the artery. They treated her with blood thinners, but not much happened. She got a little better, but they still have to remove the blockage."
"So then, it's probably a large clot?" Dr. Adams asked.
"I think something else would be causing the blockage. A fat embolism is possible. Or something along those lines. We should just get it removed asap." Rachel crossed her arms, and there was a certain urgency to diagnosing this patient, since the stroke could definitely kill her soon.
"There's already a team going in to remove whatever's blocking her brain. But I got this case because I had a feeling this would be interesting. I think we're done here for now. We just have to wait until those surgeons are done removing whatever's in there to check it out and brainstorm."
The entire team took that as an invitation to leave, and they all rushed out the room, Rachel slowly going out last. Chase put a hand on her shoulder.
"Uh, hi?" Rachel was confused.
"How's your mother?" he asked. Well, that's random.
"Fine, I guess?" So many questions.
"Alright," he said finally, and sent her on her way.
Rachel quickly administered the flu shot to a young man in the clinic, her supervisor, Dr. Clemens, watching her like a hawk. She could almost hear him yapping about whatever she could have done better. God, I need a break from this guy. Rachel wished for someone else. Just her luck for her to get the worst doctor, by far, in the whole hospital. She had already gotten three earfuls from him in just an hour, and his advice always sucked.
"There you go," Rachel told the man while pressing a bit of gauze to his arm to soak up any blood. "You might want to move it a bit so it won't get too sore." She put on a tiny bandage, he thanked her, and he left. Dr. Clemens got closer and started to vent.
"You tilted the-" He was interrupted by Rachel's phone ringing, which she checked. Chase and the team. Perfect timing.
"Sorry. Gotta go to the diagnostic meeting!" Rachel eagerly rushed out the room, leaving Dr. Clemens confused and steam hissing out his ears.
Rachel didn't bother calling House. This was probably just an update on what happened.
When she arrived, all the doctors were seated.
"She had a stroke from a septic embolism," Dr. Chase told her.
"Oh, well then we can treat that."
"Yeah, she's on the way to septic shock, started on antibiotics, but she had a seizure and is delirious.
Rachel, what is your stance on illegally breaking and entering homes for the greater good of the patient?"
Thirty minutes later, Rachel, Dr. Adams, and Dr. Chase stood at the front door of a house, all wearing gloves, clambering over the side fence door, which led to the garden.
"Why are we going this route?" Dr. Adams asked. "We usually just-"
"Why are we doing this in broad daylight?" Rachel asked. "And how often do you do this?"
"A long time ago, a lot. Now, still a lot." Dr. Chase didn't answer her first question, just slung his messenger bag over his shoulder as he pulled out the fly screen off a wide open window and climbed in. Dr. Adams and Rachel followed suit, trampling some bell-shaped flowers.
They searched the house, room by room, until they got to the pantry. There, there was a box full of empty bottles of various alcoholic drinks. It stank heavily, and on the shelf was a multitude of half-drunken containers, all the same brand of alcohol.
Chase gave a tight smile, and said, "Well, I guess we found her poison."
"She's doing better after we treated her for alcohol withdrawal. She could be discharged in a week or so, then go into rehab," Dr. Park stated.
Rachel wasn't really paying attention. She was looking at medically-related internet memes.
"Rachel? Hello?" Dr. Masters shook her hand in front of Rachel. She snapped out of it.
"What? Oh, she's better? That's great," Rachel perked nonchalantly.
As if on cue, their phones all started blaring.
Room 206 in ICU
The team had all rushed to the patient at the same time, the EKG beeping crazily and irregularly like a pretentious four year old in need of attention. Nurses scrambled around, and everyone but Rachel had rushed ahead, charging paddles.
Rachel had a vague memory. House. She was watching The Pirate Booty, and House was there. There was a lot of redness, but it didn't really bother her, except that it came from Houses' leg. It was like strawberry jam, but smelled funny.
Her memory skipped some time, and she was sitting in the ER with her mom, House in a bed. A familiar beeping.
Rachel was sent back to the present, the EKG back at a normal pace. There was a temporary pacemaker, a white pad, moving up and down with the woman's heartbeat.
What the heck happened?
"I'd say we're back to square one. Add heart arrhythmias and cardiac arrest on the list," Dr. Adams sighed.
Come on, Rachel, think. Too bad I can't call House right now. Maybe later. Do we have enough time for that? This woman's gonna die soon if we don't figure out what's wrong.
"We're missing something," Chase said. The whole room fell silent.
Go back to the house. Anything.
Normal everything, except the alcohol bottles. Sepsis embolisms are often caused by infected intravenous drug use. Could be drugs, but I don't think we found anything.
How about the garden?
Roses with thorns.
Pansies. Those are pretty safe.
Drooping bell-shaped flowers. Foxglove.
Foxglove.
Rachel's eyes widened. The whole room stared at her.
"It's FOXGLOVE!" Rachel shouted. She jumped out of her seat. "It's DIGITOXIN POISONING!"