Season 2 X 21 : Euphoria (Part 2)

Original Airdate: 5/3/2006
Written by: Garret Lerner, Russel Friend & David Shore
Directed by: Deran Sarafian
Transcript by: Mari

BEGINNING

(House barges into Cuddy's office.)

HOUSE: I need a bone saw.

CUDDY: I'm sorry-

HOUSE: You said-

CUDDY: -I wish I could.

HOUSE: I just want a little tiny slice of this guy's brain. That's all I need. Just enough to tell me what's killing Foreman.

CUDDY: A thin slice of Joe's brain could also cause a public health crisis.

HOUSE: S'not a good idea to scream fire every time somebody lights a match.

CUDDY: Don't downplay this, House! You put both of them in isolation for a reason. Joe's death elevates this situation to a bio-safety level 3.

HOUSE: Ooh, level 3. D'you call Jack Bauer?

CUDDY: I called the CDC.

HOUSE: We'll tell 'em that we'll be really, really careful.

CUDDY: We don't have the proper equipment for you to be really, really careful. You can do whatever you want to Foreman but the CDC will do this autopsy.

HOUSE: Whatever. The point is you'll be lucky to get results in 3 days!

CUDDY: I told them how urgent this is!

HOUSE: And they told you...?

CUDDY: We'll have the results... in 3 days.

HOUSE: Awww. That's a shame. Because Foreman will never get to know what it was 'cause he'll be dead in 36 hours. Maybe this is a toxin. Maybe it's not contagious at all. You're killing Foreman because of a maybe.

CUDDY: You have 36 hours to figure out which one it is.

(Shot of Joe's dead body and a depressed-looking Foreman. House arrives with some tools.)

HOUSE: Foreman. Come 'ere, fast.

FOREMAN: What's going on? When are they doing the autopsy?

HOUSE: You're doing it. Now. Ever study how they used to do ice pick labotomies?

FOREMAN: Read about it in Med School. Why would I-

HOUSE: Shove an ice pick into the eye socket, just above the tear duct. Bang on it a couple times with a hammer, get a sample.

FOREMAN: What's going on, House?

CUDDY: (from down the hall) Foreman, you can't do it! It would be in violation of-

HOUSE: Can't do the time if you're not alive.

(Foreman grabs tools.)

CUDDY: (to nurse) I need you to suit up. Get that equipment away from Dr. Foreman.

(Foreman approaches Joe's bed, tools in one hand, pushing his IV with the other.)

HOUSE: Take your time, guys. (to Cuddy) Just tell him to go slow, won't be your fault.

CUDDY: Foreman, we don't even know what kind of contagion we're dealing with!

HOUSE: That's why we need to chop into the guy's head.

CUDDY: It's dangerous!

HOUSE: Not to you, Foreman.

CUDDY: There are other ways to diagnose you!

HOUSE: Yeah? You have the answer? (House sees that 2 nurses are almost suited up.) Foreman, do it now.

CUDDY: I am warning you, do not-

(Thud. Foreman taps the ice pick with the hammer. Cuddy and House look confused. We see that the ice pick isn't even in the guy's head. It's in the mattress.)

HOUSE: What are you doing?

FOREMAN: That didn't feel right.

CUDDY: He's blind.

(Foreman extracts some cotton from the mattress, thinking that it's a tissue sample.)

HOUSE: But he thinks he can see. Same as the cop.

FOREMAN: Need something to bag this sample.

HOUSE: Forget it. You just biopsy'd a mattress.

FOREMAN: No, no, I'm fine. House, there's the sample. Get it, test it.

(House looks disappointed.)

FOREMAN: You gotta test that sample!

HOUSE: Apparently I was optomistic about the 36 hours. Intractable, unbearable pain is up next. Sure you don't wanna reconsider that whole autopsy thing?

(Cuddy looks fearful.)

(OPENING CREDITS. LA LA LA LA.)

(Diagnostics office.)

CHASE: Physically, his eyes are fine. Problem is isolated to his brain. Damage to the occipital lobe extends from the visual primary cortex-

CAMERON: We should retest him for bacterial meningitus.

HOUSE: If it was meningitus, we'd all be sick.

CAMERON: His CSF might show signs of-

HOUSE: LP is pointless. We already did a brain biopsy, it was negative.

(Extreme close-up of Foreman's eyes during the brain biopsy. Scary drilling sounds in the background.)

(Back to the office.)

CHASE: Toxic mold.

CAMERON: If it was toxic mold, I'd be sick.

HOUSE: How do we know you're not sick?

CAMERON: (not amused) Do I seem happy to you?

HOUSE: Never.

CHASE: Tsk.

(Looks from House and Cameron.)

CHASE: It was funny.

HOUSE: Let's assume it's not blood-born. If you start cracking jokes, we'll reaccess. In the mean time, stay away from people and animals that you care about.

(Dramatic shot of Foreman's empty chair.)

CAMERON: Guillain-Barre.

CHASE: Neither of them had any sort of paralysis.

CAMERON: Joe could've died before the paralysis had a chance to present.

CHASE: What about Arbovirus?

HOUSE: Start treatment. (Stands up.)

CAMERON: For Arbovirus? You think our Jersey beat cop had been spending a lot of time exploring deep, dark Africa?

HOUSE: Treatment for everything, likely or unlikely. If you can think of it, treat for it.

CHASE: Mixing that many meds will create all sorts of toxic interactions.

CAMERON: We'll box his live, trash his kidneys! There's gotta be a better way!

HOUSE: (whips around and shouts) Of course there's a better way!! It's that body sitting in the room with him that Cuddy won't let us touch! (Calms down) Bacterials, virals, toxins, fungals, parasites. It's gotta be one of them. (Turns around.)

CAMERON: Where are you going?

HOUSE: See if I can find another brain to biopsy. (Exits.)

(Joe's body is being collected from his room by some people in suits.)

CHASE: They're gonna lock Joe up downstairs until the CDC gets here. Foreman, you can't see.

FOREMAN: Right.

CHASE: House wants to start you on some meds. They're in the air lock.

FOREMAN: For what?

CHASE: Leading candidate is toxic mold.

FOREMAN: (dumps the pills onto a table under the air lock) Is Cameron sick?

CAMERON: I'm fine. (Glare.) Thanks for asking.

FOREMAN: (feels the shape of each pill) (Mumbles something I couldn't make out) ...toxic mold, don't you?

CAMERON: Guillain-Barre is also on the table.

FOREMAN: Oval-shaped... That's either an L or a 7... I'm guessing an L... (Mumble, mumble) ...can't rule out bacteria... Zero, Zero. ...Acyclovir, viral... Square. No, more like rhombus. That's Fluconazole for fungus. There's about eight others here! You're treating me for everything. You have no idea what I've got.

CHASE: House thinks this is the best course of action.

FOREMAN: House is desperate. House is never desperate.

CAMERON: Something we give you will work.

FOREMAN: Yeah. We should start treating all patients this way. When they get sick, they just take everything.

CHASE: It's better than doing nothing.

(Grabs the pills and dry swallows them, House-with-Vicodin style. Chase and Cameron exchange looks of doubt.)

(Foreman is lying on his back on his bed, arms out. He's jerking and twitching. Obviously, that "Intractable, unbearable pain" that House mentioned earlier has now begun. The phone rings. Foreman struggles to get out of bed, feeling his way around with his hands. He gets to the phone.

FOREMAN: Hello.

HOUSE: (wearing a bio-hazard suit) I'm at the cop's place. I need to re-trace your steps.

FOREMAN: You don't think the treat-him-for-everything approach is enough?

HOUSE: Where did you start your search? (Takes rat wheel and rat out of cage. Is that Steve?!)

FOREMAN: The kitchen.

HOUSE: You're gonna tell me everything you did, everything you touched. If you went to the john, I wanna know when and why. (Is holding the rat in his hands as he walks.)

FOREMAN: I started with samples from the mold in his sink.

HOUSE: (Lets the rat have a go at the sink, fridge and bathroom. He takes the rat to Joe's indoor marijuana greenhouse.) What next?

FOREMAN: That's it. Then I left. What do we do now?

HOUSE: Wait for Steve McQueen to get giddy.

FOREMAN: Excellent plan. (Puts head back in pain. Dials another number on the phone and lays down.) Hey Dad. I'm not doin' too good.

(House's office. Wilson enters. House is watching something on his laptop.)

WILSON: How's Foreman? (Walks around to see what he is watching.) You're accessing a webcam?

HOUSE: Cuddy's shower. Are you a fan of the Brazilian? I, eh... (expression of distaste)

WILSON: (looks closer) Is that your kitchen? (It's Steve in his cage in House's kitchen.)

HOUSE: Obviously I couldn't bring him here. He's been exposed to whatever Foreman's got.

WILSON: You infected Steve?! Why didn't you just get a rat from the pet store?

HOUSE: 'Cause I needed one with a clean medical history. Who knows what kind of antibiotics they give those rats.

WILSON: So, this is your plan? Just sit here and watch your rat all day?

HOUSE: It shouldn't take long. I've got the AC blasting, soaked the floor of his cage. As soon as he gets sick, I do an autopsy.

WILSON: As soon as he's dead.

HOUSE: The day after he gets sick, there's a good chance he'll get hit on the head with a... cane-shaped object.

WILSON: Normally, you'd just use your patients as lab rats. That's a nice change. (pulls up a stool and watches webcam)

HOUSE: First symptom is euphoria.

WILSON: How d'you know if the rat's euphoric?

HOUSE: He doesn't usually climb on his water bottle like that, does he?

(Clinic. House is still watching webcam.)

MOTHER: The seizures only seem to happen when she's in her car seat. She starts to rock and grunt.

HOUSE: She responsive?

MOTHER: It's like she's in a zone and her abdominal muscles become dystonic.

HOUSE: Big word. Someone's been in the interweb.

MOTHER: I looked up a few articles on epilepsy. Y'know, there's actually some really great youth soccer leagues that would cater specifically to her special needs and I think it might explain why she's been having a hard time in pre-school.

HOUSE: Let's confirm her diagnosis before you have her held back. (Flicks light off) Strobing lights and high-pitched sounds can provoke a seizure. (Waves a flashlight in the little girl's face while making a weird, ghoulish sound that I've never heard anywhere else before.)

DAUGHTER: You're a goof!

HOUSE: Takes one to know one, loser. Wait, that means I'm a loser. Scratch that. (Turns lights back on.) These episodes, she get sweaty afterwards?

MOTHER: Soaking wet.

HOUSE: And does she seem upset or just tired?

MOTHER: Actually she kinda thinks it's funny.

HOUSE: If you mix rocking, grunting, sweating and dystonia with concerned parents and you get an amateur diagnosis of epilepsy. In actuality, all your little girl is doing is... saying yoo-hoo to the hoo-hoo.

MOTHER: She's what?

HOUSE: Marching the penguin. Ya-yaing the sisterhood. Finding Nemo.

(The little girl giggles and the mother realizes what he's talking about.)

DAUGHTER: That was funny.

HOUSE: It's called gratification disorder. Sort of a misnomer. When one is unable to gratify oneself, that would be a disorder.

MOTHER: (covers her daughter's ears) Are you saying she's masterbating?

HOUSE: (out of the corner of his mouth) I was trying to be discreet. There's a child in the room.

MOTHER: Oh, this is horrifying.

HOUSE: Epilepsy is horrifying. Teach your girl about privacy and she'll be fine. Here ay go. (Hands her a red sucker.)

DAUGHTER: Thank you.

(House gives the girl a high-five.)

(Outside of clinic.)

CUDDY: One afternoon and you're on pace to set the record for most patients seen in a month.

HOUSE: You're upset that I'm doing clinic hours? Wow, that is so like rain on your wedding day.

CUDDY: For the past 3 hours I've been on the phone with the CDC while you are-

HOUSE: How's that going, by the way?

CUDDY: They promised to expedite-

HOUSE: Tough to do an autopsy when they haven't even picked up the body.

CUDDY: It's tough to treat your patient when you're not even on the same floor. Go, clinic is covered.

HOUSE: I can watch the meds drip into his IV. Think that'll make the treatment for faster?

CUDDY: Go to your office. Play with your ball. Write on your white board. Insult your team. Do whatever it is that you do to figure things out.

HOUSE: Feeling guilty? It's not too late to change your mind. Go call the CDC. Tell 'em you were just joshing.

CUDDY: Keep avoiding Foreman's case until he dies. Then I'll drown in guilt. (Exits.)

(Foreman's room. He's in bed, under a blanket. He doesn't seem to be in pain. Cameron is suited up and at his side.)

CAMERON: Feeling any better?

FOREMAN: How are you doing?

CAMERON: I'm not the patient.

FOREMAN: Is your SED rate elevated?

CAMERON: No. So far it looks like I lucked out.

FOREMAN: Cameron. Looks like you left the tourniquet on the bed. (OMG! He's right! HE CAN SEE!!)

CAMERON: You can see again?

FOREMAN: Treatment's working.

(House's office. House is sitting behind his desk, Cameron is sitting at the side.)

HOUSE: Question is, which treatment?

CAMERON: We'll start weaning him off of one at a time. Which one do we start with?

HOUSE: I don't care if you do it alphabetically. Just stay on top of his vision. First sign of regression means we've taken him off the wrong one.

(Chase enters in a hurry.)

CHASE: Foreman's blood work. Foreman's MI's and lipase levels are three times normal.

CAMERON: Pancreas is failing.

CHASE: Toxic side effect of his meds.

(Foreman's room. Oh, yummy. We get a close-and-personal shot of Foreman puking up yellow. Great. He looks up to the mirror above the skin and covers one eye and then the other. House, Cameron and Chase are watching him.)

HOUSE: Philosophical question. How do you wanna die?

FOREMAN: Old-age.

HOUSE: Your choice is currently four hours from now or fourteen hours from now. I'm assuming that you want the latter.

FOREMAN: The cocktail's working. My vision is almost completely restored.

HOUSE: The meds are curing what's in your head but they're trashing your pancreas. That's why you're puking and you can't stand up without screaming.

FOREMAN: So lower the dosages. Less stress on my pancreas, still battling the infection.

CHASE: Lower dosages will still be toxic to-

FOREMAN: I don't care!! I can handle the pain of the pancreatitis.

HOUSE: Think you can handle life without a pancreas... We keep you on these meds, you'll spend the last four hours of your life being able to see. Take you off, you'll go blind again but it'll give us time to figure out what's eating your brain.

FOREMAN: (deep breath) Fine. What do we do next?

RODNEY (Foreman's dad): (off camera) Eric?

FOREMAN: (squinting) Dad?

HOUSE: Yeah. You two can get caught up later. Sir, I need you to come with me. (Leads Rodney to...)

(Cuddy's Office)

CUDDY: House. Uh, what is this?

HOUSE: He's not a what, he's a who. They even have the right to vote now. Rodney Foreman, Cuddy. Cuddy, Rodney Foreman.

RODNEY: (while shaking Cuddy's hand) Nice to meet you ma'am.

HOUSE: This is Foreman's dad.

CUDDY: Yeah. I got that.

HOUSE: And Dr. Cuddy here is the Dean of Medicine. Remember that cool autopsy I was telling you about. The one that would save your son's life. She's the one that can give us the green light to do it.

RODNEY: I understand that you don't want them to do it. Dr. House didn't seem to know why.

CUDDY: Mr. Foreman, I'm doing everything I can to get the CDC to-

HOUSE: Won't be soon enough.

CUDDY: And my decision to follow public safety health protocools-

HOUSE: Oh, don't blame the rules. Don't hang this on policy and protocool.

CUDDY: I'm well aware that it may cost your son his life, just as I am well aware that my decision has a devastating effect on family and friends (to House) without having them paraded in front of me. (to Rodney) Your son has an unknown, contagious, deadly infection. If we don't contain it here, even more people could be at risk. And I am capable of empathizing with those people too (back to House) without having them paraded in front of me.

RODNEY: I understand.

(House looks defeated and exits.)

(Lovely outer shot of hispital. Tra la la.)

(Foreman's room. He's still in a lot of pain. His father is standing on the other side of the glass.)

RODNEY: What's wrong with your head?

FOREMAN: It's called a muscle contractor.

RODNEY: I thought this thing was in your brain.

FOREMAN: It is. It just means that the infection has moved to the primary motor cortex which controls the muscles... Aren't you glad you sent me to med school?

RODNEY: Does it hurt?

FOREMAN: No.

RODNEY: Is it gonna?

FOREMAN: The... The other guy... He didn't seem to suffer too much. He just went in his sleep. (LIAR!!)

(Morgue. House is on a stake-out. Wilson finds him.)

WILSON: Steve's still acting normal. No sign of contractors.

HOUSE: They've got the cop's body in a locked, air-tight bag.

WILSON: And a guard on the door. Those feds aer seriously paranoid.

HOUSE: He hasn't gotten up to pee in hours. He's due.

WILSON: You haven't sprinkled (something) granules on his donut? His bowels would open up like the red sea.

HOUSE: He wouldn't eat the donut.

WILSON: Have you seriously been down here for hours?

HOUSE: No. I had to pee a couple times.

WILSON: You've gotta stop blaming Cuddy for this.

HOUSE: Given that it is her fault, it's appropriate.

WILSON: That part is her fault. The part where somebody wasted his time in a basement plotting the overthrow of a government agency, that one's on you.

HOUSE: Only thing I can do is think. You can pretty much do that anywhere... As long as no one is bugging me.

(Wilson gets the hint and exits.)

(Back to Foreman and Rodney.)

RODNEY: Did you call your brother?

FOREMAN: No. Did you?

RODNEY: No.

FOREMAN: It's not a big deal. Sure would like to see Mom though.

RODNEY: You know she can't travel anymore.

FOREMAN: You tell her?

RODNEY: Why? Just upset her for a while. Then she wouldn't remember for a while.

FOREMAN: (very upset) She should know.

RODNEY: She's lost a lot of who she was. She can't deal with something like this.

FOREMAN: And you can?

RODNEY: I still know you're going to a better place.

FOREMAN: (He doesn't seem convinced.) It's easy for you, isn't it? As long as you believe I'm going to a better place, dying ain't so bad.

RODNEY: I don't want you to be afraid.

FOREMAN: If I'm not afraid if dyin', what the hell should I be afraid of, Dad?

RODNEY: I thought you believed.

FOREMAN: I did. I'm not so sure anymore.

RODNEY: I'm going to pray for you, son. I suggest you do the same.

(Another outside shot of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.)

(Inside of the hospital's chapel. I guess they must've installed stain glass windows since "Damned If You Do". How odd...)

(Shot of Foreman struggling with his IV- and back to the chapel again. We see Rodney is inside.)

(Shot of Foreman in pain. Shot of Cuddy, who looks very upset. Back to Foreman. Back to Cuddy, who wipes a tear away. We see House watching the CDC boys taking Joe's body out of the morgue. House's cell rings.)

(Foreman's room. Foreman is sweating and twitching with pain in his bed.)

CHASE: Feild of vision is regressing and he's reached an 8 on the pain scale.

(House's office.)

CAMERON: The disease's pattern is following the exact same course as Joe's.

CHASE: Only it's moving much faster in Foreman.

HOUSE: Good! (Cameron and Chase looked genuinely shocked.) It's an anomoly. Anomolies tell us things. Why would this go faster in Foreman? What's different?

CAMERON: Could be a different straign of the same disease.

HOUSE: Right! We were wasting all this time looking for an unknown disease, we should be looking for a different straign of an unknown disease! (Sarcasm much.)

CHASE: Joe's a cop. He's into physical fitness, he could've had a more powerful immune system, strong metabolism.

CAMERON: Foreman's black.

HOUSE: What?! How long have you been sitting on this information?

CAMERON: Lupus, gout, glaucoma, osteoarthritus, hyper-tension, diabetes, stop me any time, they all effect black people more than whites.

HOUSE: Check everything. Bacterials, fungal, toxins, parasites. Look for anything with a documented racial disparaody.

(Cameron and Chase start to exit...)

(House flicks on his laptop to see the webcam.)

HOUSE: Wait.

(Cameron and Chase stop.)

CAMERON: The rat showing symptoms?

HOUSE: No. He's completely healthy. Maybe that's the difference between Foreman and the cop.

(Foreman's room. Cuddy approaches.)

CUDDY: How ya feeling?

FOREMAN: Why are you here?

CUDDY: Because you're a friend. And I should be here.

(Foreman sits up.)

FOREMAN: I'm sorry House used my dad to try and manipulate you. You've got integrity, you're not going to change your mind just because you're confronted by my father.

CUDDY: Thank you.

FOREMAN: Just like I'm not gonna forgive you just because you come by here and ask how I'm feeling.

CUDDY: You know I've had no choice.

FOREMAN: (angry now) Of course you had a choice!

CUDDY: Regulations are clear.

FOREMAN: And the punishment for violating those regulations?! Is it death?! Hm?! Because frankly, I'm okay if you get a fine, a suspenion- hell, you can spend a couple o' years in jail if it saves my life!!

HOUSE: (enters) You're dying too fast.

FOREMAN: Couldn't agree more.

HOUSE: Hey Cuddy. Having a nice visit? (puts a vile in his mouth while rifling through papers)

CUDDY: What's that?

HOUSE: (with vile in his mouth) Legenell- (takes vile out) Legionella pnumophylum(???)-

CUDDY: And why are you carrying a vile of it around with you?

HOUSE: Foreman was perfectly healthy before he got this infection. Our cop wasn't. He had Legionnaires' disease. Our cop didn't turn into brain food until we cured the Legionella. Legionella slowed down the disease.

FOREMAN: Why would that happen?

HOUSE: No idea. I just know that it did.

CUDDY: So, you wanna infect Foreman?

HOUSE: You gonna tattle to the CDC?

FOREMAN: The meds can't help me but a disease can?! Forget it! Just take the pain away, put me under!

HOUSE: If I put you under, I can't monitor your pain. If I can't monitor your pain, I won't know if the Legionella is working.

FOREMAN: I'm not consenting to you giving me-

(House tosses the vile into Foreman's room. It smashes onto the floor.)

FOREMAN: What was that?

HOUSE: Hmm. Wish there coulda been a puff of smoke or something. It would've been much more dramatic.

(Foreman backs up and sits on his bed, looking a little scared.)

HOUSE: Keep your slippers on. Wouldn't want you to cut your foot.

(COMMERCIALS)

CAMERON: Are you feeling any better?

FOREMAN: (has a thermometer in his mouth) I can't breathe, I'm dizzy, I can barely hear anything over the sound of my lungs crackling.

CAMERON: That's the Legionella.

FOREMAN: Wow. You figure that out from the symptoms or from the vile of stuff tossed in my room.

CAMERON: I'm trying to be a professional here. There's no reason to be nasty.

FOREMAN: I'm in pain!

CAMERON: So is House.

FOREMAN: And he's a delight!

CAMERON: He doesn't try to kill his colleagues. You can remove the thermometer now.

(He makes his way over to the glass and shows Cameron the thermomter.)

CAMERON: It's almost down a whole degree! How's the pain?

FOREMAN: Great. It's the good kind.

CAMERON: How bad is it compared to an hour ago?

FOREMAN: No worse.

(House's office.)

WILSON: The Legionella helping?

HOUSE: Yeah.

WILSON: Good.

HOUSE: But not great. Didn't fix anything, just slowed it down. My plan was to give Steve a little more time to get sick.

WILSON: What are you gonna do if he never gets sick?

HOUSE: Brilliant. (exits)

(Lab)

HOUSE: Cameron. What kind of illnesses affect humans but not rats?

CAMERON: Why are you asking me that?

HOUSE: Because I'm sure that you spent the first 12 years of your life dreaming about being a vet. The rat is not getting sick. Cameron is not getting sick.

CAMERON: Sorry.

HOUSE: That's okay. It's not your fault. Presumably you're still healthy because whatever it is, is not blood-born. Steve has no excuse, he did everything that Foreman did.

CHASE: Some bacterial infections don't affect rats.

CAMERON: Foreman tested negative for every bacterial infection that would affect his brain.

HOUSE: And what infections could he be positive for but would test negative for? (Chase and Cameron exchange looks) When we test for infections, we look for antibodies. (CGI shot of Foreman's insides.) But what if the patient is infected, but has no antibodies? What if the body is not fighting the infection?

CAMERON: Why would-

HOUSE: Eeee-eee. I ask first. Let's start with the what, we'll deal with the why later.

CHASE: If the body doesn't recognize the infection, ours tests come back negative and the disease rampages through the body unstopped.

HOUSE: Exactly like the cop and exactly like Foreman. What if the patient was then exposed to a second infection, like Legionella? The body recognized that infection, increase the white count and send in the troops to start fighting and the initial infection would get caught in the cross-fire. So, the question becomes what type of bacterial infection affects humans but not rats and the human body would unlikely be able to recognize?

(Close-up shot of Foreman. We're now in Foreman's room, he's in a wheelchair.)

HOUSE: The answer is listeria. I'm starting you on (something).

FOREMAN: So you're basing this theory on the test being negative and you're rat being healthy?

HOUSE: The fact that Legionerres' is helping you.

FOREMAN: But the medicine you are giving me will put an end to it.

HOUSE: Yeah.

FOREMAN: And if it's not listeria, all the (something) will do is cure the Legionerres' Disease and put whatever it is killing me back into over-drive.

HOUSE: Stop asking me questions based on the premise that I'm wrong. (opens the air-lock and puts the meds inside) The antibiotics are in the air-lock.

FOREMAN: I think the first biopsy didn't give us the answer because you didn't go deep enough. I want you to do a white matter brain biopsy.

HOUSE: Absolutely. Don't blame you. The world is such a complicated place if you've got a higher reasoning skill. I'm awfully jealous of small animals and retarded children. Take the antibiotics.

FOREMAN: There can be minimal damage if it's done right. If the surgeons drill where I tell them to drill-

HOUSE: One slip and you could spend the rest of your life not being about to keep your drool in your mouth.

FOREMAN: I'd rather be disabled than dead.

HOUSE: Sure, I make it look oh-so-sexy but it's actually not as glamorous as you might think.

FOREMAN: The biopsy will tell us for sure what's wrong.

HOUSE: he antibiotics could do the same thing!

FOREMAN: Could, not will!

HOUSE: We try it, we see!

FOREMAN: The antibiotics will bring back the pain!!

HOUSE: ...Pain makes us make bad decisions. Fear of pain is almost as big a motivator. We still have time. I'll do that biopsy if I have to but not a moment before.

(Foreman opens the air-lock and downs the pills.)

(Diagnostics)

HOUSE: Start Foreman on IV antibiotics. Where's his dad?

CAMERON: Where you're supposed to be when your son is dying.

HOUSE: He's not with him.

CAMERON: He's in the chapel.

(Chapel)

HOUSE: I've started your son on a new course of treatment. If it works, he'll get better. If it doesn't, he won't. While he's not getting better, he's going to experience so much pain that we'll have to put him in a chemically-indused coma while we figure out what to do next.

RODNEY: My son says you're a manipulative bastard.

HOUSE: It's a pet name. I call him Dr. Bling.

RODNEY: I assume you're here for a reason. What d'you want from me?

HOUSE: When your son is in a coma, you're the one who'll have to make the medical decisions for him.

RODNEY: Whatever you decide is fine.

HOUSE: You don't care what I do?

RODNEY: I'm not a doctor. What do I know? Except what Eric tells me. Says you're the best doctor he's ever worked with.

(House seems genuinely surprised to hear this. He exits.)

(Foreman's room. Cameron is suited up, attending to him while he is in bed. The pain is back.)

(Cameron starts to leave but Foreman slaps his hand on hers.)

FOREMAN: I need your help.

CAMERON: There's nothing I can give you for the pain.

FOREMAN: I wanna be put out.

CAMERON: I can have a nurse in here in five minutes.

FOREMAN: No. Once I'm out, I might not come back. I've never done a will.

CAMERON: I'll call a lawyer for you.

FOREMAN: I want you to be my medical proxy.

(Cameron is shocked.)

FOREMAN: All the things that piss me off about you in House's office; you're too emotional, too caring, too cautious. They're all good things on this floor.

CAMERON: Your dad is-

FOREMAN: No.

CAMERON: He cares about you.

FOREMAN: So do you.

CAMERON: I can't do this.

FOREMAN: We expect family members to make decisions about their loved ones after a ten minute briefing. Then we're left agonizing over ten years of medical experience.

CAMERON: That's from my article.

FOREMAN: I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stolen you're article. I shouldn't have exposed you. You were a friend. I need to know that we're okay.

CAMERON: No. I'll be your proxy but we're not okay. You're scared you're dying, that's the only reason you wanna set things right. We're gonna get you better first, and then, if you still wanna apologize, I'll be around. I'll call that lawyer. (exits)

(House is standing outside of the little room as Cameron takes the suit off.)

HOUSE: Any improvements?

CAMERON: No. As far as we can tell, the only thing the antibiotics are treating is the Leionella. I think we need to consider alternate theories.

HOUSE: Like what?

CAMERON: We do the biopsy. We-

HOUSE: Give the antibiotics more time.

CAMERON: There is no more time! The pain is almost unbearable already!

HOUSE: So he's almost in unbearable pain! He's not almost dead! Which means we have more time.

(Chapel. Chase enters.)

CHASE: Mr. Foreman? We need to put your son in a coma. You should be there.

RODNEY: It's a medical procedure, right?

CHASE: Yeah. But once we put him out, if we don't solve this, he won't wake up.

RODNEY: What should I say? Should I talk to him like it's going to be okay? Or should I be saying goodbye? I need to know what people say when-

CHASE: Just tell him you love him.

(Foreman's room. He is being prepared to be put into a coma and is surrounded by people in suits.)

RODNEY: Hey son.

FOREMAN: Hey Dad.

RODNEY: It's going to be okay.

FOREMAN: You don't know that.

RODNEY: I know.

FOREMAN: Ya don't.

RODNEY: I don't wanna miss you.

FOREMAN: I love you too, Dad.

(Foreman raises his hand and Rodney holds it.)

FOREMAN: Hey. It's gonna be okay... Can we do this now?

CAMERON: yeah, of course.

(She administers whatever into his IV.)

CAMERON: I accept your apology.

(He smiles, his hand drops and his eyes flicker shut.)

(Commercials.)

(House's office. House is pacing. Wilson enters.)

WILSON: Why weren't you with Foreman?

HOUSE: I hang out in the basement, you rag on me. I stay in my office, you rag on me. Honkey just can't buy a break.

WILSON: Do the biopsy.

HOUSE: Based on the cop's progression, I figure we've got another four hours before-

WILSON: You figure? You're playing Russian Roulette but the gun's pointed at him.

HOUSE: No, cutting open his head is what's dangerous.

WILSON: Oh, it's dangerous. Well, what would people think? The reason you don't see patients is because you know them, you'll give a crap about them.

HOUSE: I know you.

WILSON: If you give a crap, you stop making outrageous calls. If this was any other patient, you'd have damned the risk and cut their head open a long time ago.

CAMERON: (enters) He's out. The EEG shows that he's still in pain, the antibiotics have had more than enough time. We're doing the brain biopsy.

HOUSE: Not unless you people can't come up with something clever in the next three hours-

CAMERON: Now! We're doing it now!

HOUSE: Well, who died and made you boss?

CAMERON: (flaps a paper at House) Foreman.

HOUSE: (takes the paper, inspects it for himself)

(Cuddy's office)

CUDDY: It's legal.

HOUSE: He's out of his mind. Yesterday he was giggling about a hole in a guy's head.

CUDDY: Hire a lawyer and challenge it. In the meantime, Cameron's in charge.

RODNEY: Why would he sign that?

CAMERON: It's nothing personal, Mr. Foreman.

RODNEY: My son doesn't trust me. How exactly is that not personal?

CAMERON: ...I'm sorry.

HOUSE: You're sorry? You're talking about this man's son! You're denying him the right to be a part of-

CUDDY: Oh, shut up, House. (to Cameron) If you wanna do the biopsy, do the biopsy. If House tries to interfere, let me know and I will take care of it.

CAMERON: Yeah, you're a hero. If it weren't for you, we'd be cutting into a dead guy's head instead of Foreman's! (WHOA THERE CAMERON!) ...Sorry. Thanks. (exits)

(House and Cuddy exchange looks. House follows Cameron passed the clinic.)

HOUSE: That was great!

CAMERON: It was rude and unnecessary.

HOUSE: Yeah!

CAMERON: Go away.

HOUSE: Gimme time.

CAMERON: We're out of time.

HOUSE: An hour.

CAMERON: What does "out of time" mean?

HOUSE: His O-2 starts are 94 right now. As long as they're above 90, danger of fatal eurythmia doesn't increase.

CAMERON: So what? There's no point in waiting.

HOUSE: Right. We should be cutting into a corpse's head.

CAMERON: Yeah! We should be except the CDC's got the cop's body-

HOUSE: There's got to be other bodies.

CAMERON: You think this thing has killed other people?

HOUSE: No. That apartment was a dump. Just because Steve McQueen didn't get sick doesn't mean some other varment didn't. You give me an hour, I go back there, I find a dead animal, I cut its head open instead of Foreman's.

CAMERON: Foreman's already at 100% oxygen. Once his O-2 stats hit 90, I can't wait any longer. (House starts to exit) Where's your suit?

HOUSE: (turns around) Either you'll find the answer or I'll find the answer. Doesn't matter.

(OR)

CHASE: Prep the drill. We've gotta be ready to go if we get the signal.

(Shots of Rodney, Cameron and Foreman. His o-2 starts drop to 93.)

(Joe's apartment. House looks around. He sees some pigeons and watches as one flies into a wall.)

(OR. Cameron's cell rings.)

CAMERON: 92.

HOUSE: (at Joe's) Found a blind bird.

CAMERON: (in OR) Great. How fast can you get it in here?

HOUSE: (at Joe's) I'll know in about 30 seconds.

(Things are still being prepped in the OR. It's all very serious and overdramatic.)

(Meanwhile, back at Joe's, House is going after the bird with his cane held high. Before he can get it, the bird takes off. He hears some sort of pump switch on and he goes to investigate. He sees a dripping water pipe.)

CAMERON: (cell phone rings) Better have the bird, the surgical team's in place.

HOUSE: (in Joe's marijuana room) I screwed up.

CAMERON: (OR) How can you not capture a blind bird?

HOUSE: (Joe's) That's not what I meant. I screwed up the first time through this place.

CAMERON: (OR) Foreman told you everywhere he went.

HOUSE: Not where, it's when. He came here early afternoon. Me and Steve came in two hours too late. You were six hours early. The water, the irrigation system only pumps-

CAMERON: House! I tested the water! The water's clean!

(Joe's: House doesn't say anything. Closes his cell.)

(OR: Cameron watches at Foreman's O-2 stats drop to 89. The surgical team looks to her.)

(Joe's: House looks at the sink and surrounding area and up at the pipes on the ceiling. He climbs a ladder to see where some pipes lead- that can't be easy with a bum leg. He sees some pigeons standing around an open water pipe thing.)

(Cameron's cell rings again.)

CAMERON: House?

HOUSE: We tested the wrong water. He stole cable, he stole fertilizer and he stole water. It's riddled with Naegleria.

CAMERON: I know.

HOUSE: You already did the biopsy.

CAMERON: I thought I had no choice.

(Both of them look a little bewildered.)

(Chapel. Cameron enters and sit in the pew behind Rodney.)

RODNEY: How's my son?

CAMERON: He has primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. It's a parasite that goes through the nose and migrates to the brain and feeds on brain cells. The Legionella attacked the parasite, that's why the disease slowed down.

RODNEY: Is it treatable?

CAMERON: We started him on an anti-parasitic and the amoebas will clear out of his system.

RODNEY: And he'll be okay?

CAMERON: Then-then we'll wean him out of the coma-

RODNEY: Will he be okay?!

CAMERON: There'll be no lasting damage from the parasite.

RODNEY: But the surgery...

CAMERON: ...We don't know.

(Lovely outer shot of PPTH.)

(Foreman's room- now a regular hospital room instead of a glass cage. Rodney is holding Foreman's hand and Cameron is there. Later, Chase checks his vitals. Then Cuddy takes a turn checking on him. A light is shon in his eyes and they slowly open. We see that it is House is hovering above him.)

HOUSE: Up and at 'em.

CAMERON: How you feeling? Can you talk?

FOREMAN: (whispers) I don't feel anything.

RODNEY: Are you numb?

FOREMAN: No. I mean I don't feel any pain.

(Cameron looks about ready to cry.)

HOUSE: Keep your head still, follow my finger. (Does the finger in front of the eyes thing.)

FOREMAN: Okay.

HOUSE: Your breath stinks, you're peeing into a bag. What are our names?

FOREMAN: You did the biopsy?

(Cameron nods.)

FOREMAN: Thank you.

HOUSE: Names?

FOREMAN: Cameron. (She sheds a tear.) My dad. (Rodney nods.) And the manipulative bastard.

HOUSE: You remembered. (Smiles.)

FOREMAN: How ya doin' Dad?

RODNEY: Great. Relieved. (Big smile.) Great.

FOREMAN: What did I have?

CAMERON: Naegleria. Biopsy showed the amoeba. CDC autopsy eventually found the amoeba and House found it in the water on the cop's roof. (While she is talking, House is checking Foreman's reflexes.)

HOUSE: (moves blanket) Wiggle your left toes.

FOREMAN: You went back and... she did the biopsy?

HOUSE: Your left toes, Foreman.

FOREMAN: I just did.

(Cameron's face goes blank. Uh-oh!)

HOUSE: No you didn't.

(Glances exchanged.)

RODNEY: He can't move his toes.

HOUSE: He can move them. Raise your right arm.

(Foreman raises his left arm. House looks at Cameron.)

FOREMAN: What?

(More looks exchanged and then...)

THE END