Thirteen and a woman are getting hot and heavy in her apartment. Her date has a seizure. She’s taken to Cameron in the ER, Thirteen doesn’t know her name. Juicy.
Cameron brings House the case: tonic-clonic seizure, history of fatigue, retinal vein occlusion, no history of hypertension, not diabetic.
House enters Wilson’s office enthusiastically to find his chair’s collapsed.
“My way of saying ‘welcome back.'”
House is intrigued by Thirteen’s affair, which involves alcohol and ecstasy. Naturally, he accompanies Thirteen to examine her.
“You’re Dr. House?”
“I assume my name came up last night in the form of a moan?”
Spencer (the patient) has been trying to get House to take her case for a year, and used Thirteen to get to him. She is constantly fatigued, and no doctor has found anything wrong with her yet. She followed Thirteen to a bar the night before in hopes of getting close to House. Thirteen admits to having a history of one night stands.
House tells Lucas to investigate Wilson again because of his sudden change in diet. This could be one of several lifestyle changes–which makes House uneasy. Lucas says that House is worried about how the friendship has changed, if at all.
Spencer goes into cardiac arrest. Because of the sudden heart issue, Thirteen believes the patient may have taken prescription drugs from her place, and House and Foreman leave to search her apartment. House finds a brown recluse, the venom of which can cause both seizures and heart problems.
During a sexually tense physical exam to find a spider bite, Spencer’s right hip goes numb. Low potassium levels explain numbness in Spencer’s hip, which leads Thirteen to suspect a kidney problem. Thirteen suggests Renal tubular acidosis–kidneys are not filtering properly. Surgery is required to remove calcifications.
House and Lucas are spying outside Wilson’s apartment and witness him let a prostitute in.
Foreman has found lab results that reveal that Thirteen has less time to live than originally thought after she was first diagnosed with Huntington’s. This explains her self-destructive behavior. During surgery, Spencer stops breathing after Chase removes the calcifications. The lungs appear to be working properly so the team suggests airway failure. Taub and Kutner leave to confirm via a procedure involving slicing her affected airway open.
Cuddy finds Thirteen in an exam room with an IV in her arm.
Foreman has begun to wonder why House hasn’t had him investigated as he did the rest of the team. House tells him it’s because he hasn’t “done anything stupid since he was seventeen, and that’s sad.”
Cuddy wants Thirteen to submit to drug testing. House excuses her from the test, but fires her right outside Cuddy’s office, saving her career in the process.
Wilson tells House that he’s started seeing someone. Debbie is indeed a prostitute, but has since reformed. House was half right.
“House, you are a drug addict, you go to prostitutes, you can’t be judgemental…”
“And yet…”
Foreman tries to help Thirteen get caught up on the differential diagnosis, she believes lung cysts are the culprits. Any procedure performed on her airway may rupture the cysts and cause her lungs to collapse. She enters the room just in time and manages to reinflate her lung. A lung biopsy finds lymphangioleiomyomatosis–LAM. House has Thirteen tell the patient she has only ten years to live. The present cysts can be surgically removed, but more will reemerge.
Chase and his team remove as many cysts as possible. Thirteen sits at Spencer’s bedside and relates her own shortened lifespan to her.
“How long do you have?”
“Maybe a little more than you, maybe a little less. I’ll race you.”
Spencer suddenly develops symptoms of aplastic anemia, which takes LAM off the table. The team tests for everything. Thirteen stays at the hospital, unable to participate in her care, but still taking part in the differentials. Foreman asks Chase if he thinks he’s boring. Chase tells him that Foreman is never out of control, doesn’t push his limits, and doesn’t let other people’s problems affect him, so yes. Where exactly is this subplot going?
As a last resort, House suggests a bone marrow transplant.
Lucas brings to House Wilson’s trashbag full of syringes. House smiles and Wilson admits it’s a ruse to throw him off. They both seem happy that he’s back, and Wilson suddenly seems better adjusted. House rehires Thirteen. House notices her chapped lips jumps to a diagnosis of Sjogran’s syndrome which can cause lung cysts, renal tubular acidosis, and lack of salivation/tearing. Sjogren’s is confirmed by an onion peeling.
“Another life saved by girl on girl action.”
House meets Cuddy and Wilson and a baby store and she reveals that she’s adopting a baby. House is less than enthused, and refuses to congratulate her.
The last scene shows Thirteen with another woman, signifying that she will continue her downward spiral.
I never thought I’d find the old cast to be dead weight, but the subplot with Foreman questioning his lifestyle went absolutely nowhere. Hopefully it’s a precursor to a future Foreman storyline. That aside, the rest was actually pretty well balanced. Nice consistency with Lucas returning, enabling House’s obsession with superfluous information, and good use of Thirteen. Decent revelation at the end with Cuddy adopting, and next week looks like it’ll sport a few more surprises.
Mike Trevino is a rabid fan of House and The Office and blogs out of San Antonio, TX.
