House (2004–2012): Season 2, Episode 5 - Daddy's Boy - full transcript
The team takes care of a student with inexplicable electrical shocks, and House's parents visit.
I ought to have this framed.
My last bill from Princeton.
And I thought
we were celebrating
the fact
that I actually graduated.
I always knew
you'd be able to graduate.
What I didn't know was whether
I would be able to pay for it.
Your mom,
she'd be so proud of you.
You always say that.
I'm so proud of you.
Always was.
Come on, Dad, you're gonna cry.
You wanna be embarrassed?
You got it!
Look, don't party
too hard tonight.
Your grandmother wants a picture
of you getting that sheepskin,
and it'd be nice if you didn't
look completely hung over.
Oh, no, don't worry,
I've had enough alcohol
in the past week
- to last me another four years.
- Good, I think.
Drink! Drink! Drink!
More! More!
Drink! Drink! Drink!
12:55!
Man!
- You are the man!
- Tell me something I don't know!
- Hey, that's not funny, man.
- What?
- Yeah, right, you shocked me.
- With what? I got nothing.
Well, hey, whoever's
doing that better cut it out!
What the hell's going on?
Maybe there's a short somewhere,
the floor's covered with beer.
No way, no,
the outlets are GFI,
plus he's got
rubber-soled shoes on.
- Oh, my God!
- Somebody call 911!
Patient experiences
shock-like sensations
as well as headaches, nausea,
and drowsiness.
Shocks?
Excruciatingly painful shocks.
ER docs referred him
to a neurologist,
who referred him to five other
doctors in the last seven days.
Shocks could be Lhermitte's sign.
Early symptom of MS.
No. MRI showed
no white matter lesions,
and the shocks aren't
accompanied by neck flexing.
- Good morning!
- It's almost noon.
Really? That must be
why I'm so hungry.
Who's up for lunch?
What's with the jacket?
It keeps me warm and cool.
How does it know?
We're discussing
your new patient.
Must be a boring discussion, seeing
as I haven't accepted a new patient.
You accepted him the moment
I loaned you 5 grand.
Oh, wait, wait.
When I said I'd do anything for the
money, obviously I didn't mean it.
You're gonna like this. The kid's
getting shocked every few minutes.
Why would you need $5,000?
Bad night at poker,
or great night with a hooker?
Thank you for saving me
the trouble
of deflecting that personal
question with a joke.
College student?
Nitrous oxide's fun at parties.
Caused the shocks, and drinking
till we puke every night
can cause everything else.
- Give him some B12.
- Been there, done that.
Also ruled out cancer,
MS, pyridoxine toxicity,
and all the popular
neuropathies.
- Cervical spondylosis.
- Doesn't explain the low white count.
He's black.
I'm assuming he's not just really
dirty, but is of African descent,
which means he'd have
a lower white count.
- Not this low.
- He's a wrestler.
Probably uses diuretics
to cut weight.
That can also cause
low white count.
Not this low. "Not this low."
Behcet's. No skin lesions.
- Cervical herpes zoster, myelitis...
- No external outbreak.
Something's missing.
Find out what it is.
- I don't even know what that means.
- Well, figure it out.
Find it out, and then find me.
I'll be at lunch.
- No ideas?
- Lots of ideas.
Too many ideas,
that's why so many tests.
Have you used
any recreational drugs?
What? I'm gonna get
mad at you for getting stoned?
Not today, not here.
At Christmas, one of the
guys had some ecstasy,
I mean, I... It was...
Son of a bitch!
ANA is negative for lupus,
again.
House wants more information, not the
same information done over again.
"Find what's missing."
For all we know, the kid is dying
and he's giving us riddles?
Did a more detailed history,
went back three generations.
- And?
- His mom died in a car accident,
his mom's mom had arthritis,
and his mom's mom's dad
served in an all-black
tank battalion under Patton.
Fascinating. If it's not a
tumor, it has to be MS.
Wilson already ruled out...
MRI can't rule out
MS 100% of the time.
- Doesn't explain the low white count.
- Alcoholism does.
On admission, his BAC was 2.0,
liver enzymes off the chart.
It was graduation weekend. He barely
drank in the weeks before that,
and he didn't drink at all
during his wrestling season.
- If you believe him.
- I did a tox screen...
It doesn't matter if she believes him
or not, it's already in the chart.
We're supposed to find out
what's missing.
Well, this... This is perfect.
Invite me to dinner
on Thursday night.
Come on, we haven't had
a nice meal together since...
Yesterday, when I loaned you
$5,000 to buy a new car.
My treat.
Two-wheeled vehicles
that travel 150 miles an hour
don't really go well with crippled,
irresponsible drug addicts.
Actually, two-wheeled vehicles that go
180 miles an hour do not go well
with healthy,
responsible architects
who don't know how to
separate braking and turning.
Good news is, it brings
the price right down.
- You're taking it back.
- Mom!
How about we talk
about this over dinner?
Forget dinner,
you're gonna kill yourself!
- Nice bike!
- Thank you.
See, that's how you do it.
Compliments, dinner.
What do you do with your cane?
If he buys me dinner,
he'll find out.
Evel Knievel
had the same setup.
And he broke every bone
in his body.
We went through all the imaging
studies and redid the blood cultures.
I don't want hand-me-downs,
I want brand-new stuff.
Well, there's nothing...
There's nothing missing!
Sorry, I didn't
catch that last part!
There's... There's...
There's nothing else we can do.
- Did you check the police report?
- On what?
On his mom's car accident.
That was 15 years ago. The
kid wasn't even in the car.
She veered off a straight,
dry road in broad daylight.
That doesn't seem odd to you?
She probably got distracted changing
radio stations or something.
That's what the police thought.
Of course, they didn't know
that she has a family member
who is frequently incapacitated
by shock-like sensations.
- A genetic component seems unlikely.
- But it's interesting.
Type II neurofibromatosis
could cause the shocks.
You knew this was missing?
I knew something was missing,
maybe this, maybe something else.
Get a DNA analysis of the
long arm of chromosome 22.
You'd rather have dinner with your wife?
Yes, I would.
If she were speaking to me.
Unlike her, I could make
it worth your while.
Fine.
Shall I drive?
No.
And I'm not letting you in my
car until I see your wallet.
NF2. It's an inherited disease.
It could cause abnormal growths
on the cranial nerves.
It would explain the shocks
and other symptoms.
DNA analysis will show
whether your son
has the specific
chromosome mutation
which causes the disease.
But if it's inherited, that means someone
else in our family would have it.
We think your wife
may have had it.
No. She never had
any sort of health problems.
No odd-looking freckles,
nodules in the iris?
Nothing. I mean, why would
you think she was sick?
We think it may have been
what caused her car accident.
Wait, what do you mean? My mom's
car was hit by a drunk driver.
That's not what
the police report indicated.
Well, you must have gotten
the wrong report.
No. They didn't.
When you started driving...
I...
You lied about how Mom died?
I figured if her death could
somehow mean something, it...
How does lying about it
mean something?
How could you use her
like that, Dad? Her death?
- I was just trying to protect you.
- What else isn't true?
She wasn't a teacher,
you just wanted me to read?
What's that smell?
I don't smell...
We're gonna need a nurse.
- What the hell?
- It's okay. We'll take care of it.
You didn't feel anything?
No.
- You feel that?
- Yeah.
But you didn't feel
any of this?
No.
Sphincter paralysis plus shocks
equals Miller Fisher Syndrome.
Not if you add
the stool sample,
which is negative
for C. Jejuni.
He lied to his son
about how his mom died?
He was just protecting him.
Manipulating him.
- That's what parents do.
- They lie to us because they love us.
Who's getting teary?
Mom's death is irrelevant.
DNA revealed no NF2 markers
or any other inherited disease.
Apparently, she really did
fall asleep at the wheel.
So, what exactly
are we talking about here?
A little peeker, or did the prairie
dog actually come out to play?
- Excuse me?
- Are we talking explosive?
The hemoccult
was negative for blood,
and I wouldn't say he actually exploded.
More like gushed?
Good, then we're
getting somewhere.
Yeah? Where?
I have no idea.
- Of course.
- Hello?
- Love the riddles.
- Hi, Mom.
Look, I have a business
dinner on Thursday night.
I can't get out of it.
I know, I really
wanted to see you, too.
Actually, can I call you back?
I'm in a meeting right now.
Okay, thanks.
Who was that?
Angelina Jolie.
I call her "Mom".
Who thinks that's sexy?
So, explosive or gushing...
She never calls here,
is everything okay?
Great, yeah.
My dad's taking her to Europe.
They got a nine-hour layover
in Newark on Thursday.
- If it's gastrointestinal...
- You lied to avoid seeing your own mom.
Are you kidding?
I can't lie to my mom.
Seriously, I can't.
Wilson's invited me to dinner.
It'd be rude to stand up a guy
who just loaned me 5 grand.
Transverse myelitis.
Could cause numbness,
anal sphincter dysfunction,
and the shocks.
Thank you for taking
no interest in my mother.
But that begs the question,
what caused
the transverse myelitis?
Well, we've ruled out
cancer and MS.
Leaves infection.
If there was infection,
there'd be a fever.
And his blood and CSF cultures
are all negative.
Maybe the infection's gone
but the memory remains.
Molecular mimicry.
Nice.
Okay, get an immunoglobulin
level and electrophoresis.
You're good, my friend.
I'm sure we'll meet again.
Do you really think
that was his mom on the phone?
Probably, don't know
why he'd lie about that.
Who cares?
You're not the least bit curious
what his parents are like?
I'm sure his mom's
a piece of work.
Only a mother
could do that much damage.
My bet's he was born
the way he is.
Probably tormented his parents,
not the other way around.
Yeah, he was either a fast
runner or one hell of a fighter.
Where are you going?
You guys can handle
the tests, right?
Is there something important that you
and House need to discuss over dinner?
Other than the skyrocketing
interest rates
on personal loans?
You know, this is the fourth
time I've loaned him money.
Not lunch money, money-money.
House's parents.
They have a layover
in Newark Thursday evening.
- I'm canceling dinner.
- No.
I thought maybe you could just
invite a few more people.
An infectious agent's
molecular structure
can resemble the spinal cord's.
And when the immune system
attacks the infection,
it ends up attacking
the spinal cord's as well.
So he has an infection?
They just said I don't.
Even after the infection is gone,
it goes right on attacking
because the spinal cord
is still there.
Is there a treatment?
Depends on what
the original infection was.
All right, you're done.
You need to lay flat after a
lumbar puncture for about an hour.
I feel like I'm gonna throw up.
Hey, Dad, can you get me
a Coke, please?
Yeah, that usually helps.
You're done.
If you're nauseous...
No, I'm not nauseous.
I just want him out of here.
He's your dad.
He's gonna be around.
Yeah, I know.
It's not that, it's...
Are these people
completely incapable
of telling the truth
to each other?
He went to Jamaica
with his friends.
No wonder he lied.
Children aren't supposed
to have good times.
One of his friends
flew them down.
Carnell's dad has this thing about him
accepting stuff from rich friends.
He wants him to remember who
he is, where he came from.
Where have you been?
Making dinner plans. What's up?
The boys have uncovered
the shocking fact
that the patient has a crappy
relationship with his dad.
- They seem to actually care.
- Well, I don't.
There's only one reason any kid
with a plane flies to Jamaica.
It wasn't for marijuana. He
doesn't do anything but drink.
He said that to you
or his pops?
Tox screen was negative
for THC.
Spring break was over
a month ago.
Even pot would have
washed out by now.
Even if he'd smoked,
no way marijuana
causes transverse myelitis.
True. But the stuff
they put on it does.
Pesticides.
Well, why would he come clean about
the trip but lie about smoking pot?
He wouldn't necessarily have to
smoke to get pesticide poisoning.
He could have eaten fruit
that'd been sprayed,
or been exposed
through his skin on a hike.
Or he could have smoked it.
A lot of it.
Then lied about it because
that's what this family does.
Start him on IV pralidoxime.
Two grams per liter,
and then one gram every eight hours
until you see some improvement.
You have no evidence to support
a poisoning diagnosis.
Which is why it's gonna be so
cool when I turn out to be right.
Cameron.
Who are you making
dinner plans with?
No one.
You bastard.
You invited my parents
to dinner.
Cameron's got a big mouth.
Not as big as yours.
Hey! You used me
to avoid seeing your parents.
- Well, what do you care?
- I don't.
I just thought it might be
interesting to find out why.
- You could've just asked.
- You would've lied.
And you would've believed me.
Which would've kept us
both happy.
You want your money back?
Is that what this is about?
No!
Wait, have you got the money?
If you have the money, then
why did you need the loan?
I didn't. I just wanted to
see if you'd give it to me.
I've been borrowing
increasing amounts
ever since you lent me
$40 a year ago.
A little experiment,
to see where you draw the line.
You're trying
to objectively measure
how much
I value our friendship?
Hey, it's 5 grand. You've got
nothing to be ashamed of.
So, what do you say? One little
phone call, one big check?
Fine.
Thanks.
Now, be a grownup
and either tell Mommy and Daddy
you don't wanna see them,
or I'm picking you up
at 7:00 for dinner.
What do you mean?
You just said that...
I lied.
I've been lying to you
in increasing amounts
ever since I told you you looked
good unshaved a year ago.
It's a little experiment,
you know,
to see where you draw the line.
How's the patient?
Haven't been in yet, today.
As long as he hasn't gotten
any worse.
We're treating him
for pesticide poisoning
without any proof
of pesticides.
I'm gonna have a hell of a time
explaining that to our lawyer.
I told House not to...
Wow.
Lawyer's not gonna
believe this.
He's got his appetite back.
Whatever you did, it's working.
He's healthy,
so all is forgiven.
Now I'm feeling nauseous.
He is not healthy.
Nausea and diarrhea
were not his only symptoms.
The shocks have also decreased.
But not disappeared.
And he's out of the diaper,
which is good news
for everyone.
What about his low white count?
Well, the little buggers
need time to grow.
Don't worry, our wrestling
Rastafarian will be back on his feet
and sneaking around behind
Pop's back again in no time.
Yeah.
Check it again.
I'll be right there.
What happened?
Apparently I can save money
by switching to another
long-distance carrier.
Oh, I was right, wasn't I?
Oh, yeah, it's always
about you, isn't it?
He has the chills
and his temperature's spiking.
- It's nearly 106.
- What's that mean?
I mean, what's happening?
You want the truth,
or you want me to make
something up to protect you?
We think a drunk driver
broke into his room...
What's happening to my son?
The truth is I have no idea.
There's the fever
that Cameron was looking for.
We knew if it was myelitis,
there had to be an "-itis".
This must be the infection
that set it off.
Yeah. Except in this universe,
effect follows cause.
I've complained about it,
but...
Maybe the tests were wrong.
No. The tests were right. Yesterday
he had no fever, no infection.
So he just happened to catch
a bug while he was here?
That's all this is?
Yeah.
Because his white blood cell count
was down, he was vulnerable.
Because it's really down,
it might kill him.
That's all this is.
Is he still pooping his pants?
It just started again.
Again?
It stopped
when he was getting better.
When he was feeling better.
He was never getting better.
So, all we have to answer is,
what causes a 22-year-old kid
to become immunocompromised
with GI involvement and shocks?
Just stop and start
for no apparent reason.
And we need to find an answer
before this infection
kills him.
That would be the ideal.
You. Intravenous
broad spectrum antibiotics.
You get a cervical, thoracic, and
lumbar T2-weighted fast spin-echo MRI.
And you, track down all those
Richie Rich's who went to Jamaica,
see if any of them have got the
shocks, the trots or the hots.
The hots, it's the fever.
You guys gonna join us
for dinner Thursday?
Gotta do my laundry.
You're not curious?
I'm curious about crocs, but I don't
stick my head in their mouths.
I'm out, too.
Look, House is a freak!
There's no virus that causes
that, no DNA mutation.
You're gonna have
one dinner with two people.
Sixty minutes, most of it spent
chewing or talking about the weather.
Unless they say something like,
"Do you prefer the
chardonnay or the merlot?"
and, "Oh, we kept Greg locked
in a closet for 17 years".
You're not gonna
learn anything.
Okay.
We'd like to talk
to some of your friends,
see if they have
any similar symptoms.
The doctors in the ER
already asked me that.
We understand,
but they didn't have all the
information that we have now.
What kind of information?
Would you mind if I spoke with
Carnell alone for a minute?
Is this bad news?
No. It's just confidential.
Why is something
suddenly confidential?
I mean, if you know
something about my son,
I need to know what's going on.
I'm sorry, I have to insist.
I'm his father,
and if I'm going to take care of
him, I need to know the truth.
Dad.
She wants to know
who I went to Jamaica with.
You've never been to Jamaica.
Taddy's dad flew a bunch of
us down over spring break.
You told me you had two papers
to write over the break.
'Cause I didn't want to come
home and work my ass off.
I wanted an actual break
during a break for once.
I shouldn't have lied to you.
No, what you should have done
is come home
instead of partying
with your rich friends.
I'm sorry, we need those names.
What do you want?
To apologize.
I realize that my attention to the
clinic has been somewhat lax of late,
and I wanna make amends.
How about tomorrow night?
I take the night shift.
The clinic's closed at night.
Yeah, but I'm sure there's
plenty of things to be done,
there's charts to be reviewed,
supplies inventoried...
Dinners avoided.
You're going, too?
I love their Cobb Salad.
Give me a reason
to get out of this,
and I'll tell you
who started the rumor
about you being a transsexual.
- There is no such rumor.
- There will be,
unless you get me
out of this dinner.
No one's making you
do this, House.
Just do what
everybody else does.
Lie to them.
You lie to your mother?
Only since I was 12!
My mom's a human polygraph.
My dad should be taking her
to Vegas, not the Louvre.
Trust me, your mom
would much rather think
you have a business meeting
than you hate her.
I don't hate her. I hate him.
We all had headaches,
nausea, vomiting.
You know,
we figured it was connected
to the massive amounts
of drinking.
What, you think
what happened to Carnell
has something
to do with the trip?
Don't know.
You haven't had
any unexplained pain
or strange feelings
since you got back?
No, except for a little
athlete's foot, I'm fine.
Can I see it?
- See what?
- Your feet.
There's a common parasite
in Jamaica
that can resemble foot fungus.
It's not really my feet.
You know,
I figured fungus is fungus.
It's my groin.
I'm going to need
to take a look at that.
Now?
Unless you wanna come down
to the hospital with me.
No, no, I can't. I mean,
I just started two days ago.
We're right in the middle
of a big merger...
Then drop your pants.
Reilly, I need the...
What the hell's going on here?
She's a doctor.
I'm a doctor, he has a rash,
and a friend of his is...
Right. Well, as soon as
she's done treating your rash,
I need the numbers
on D-Port Technology.
Yes, sir.
And, Doctor, why don't you
leave a card on your way out?
Except for one guy with a rash,
no one else on the trip
has any health issues.
What kind of rash?
I don't know,
I took some scrapings,
it doesn't
appear to be ringworm.
What did it look like,
aside from "not ringworm"?
Basically like diaper rash.
He's been working
around the clock,
he said he hasn't changed
his clothes in three days.
Kaposi's Sarcoma
can look like diaper rash.
Any discoloration
around the edges?
Get him in here.
We all wanna take a look.
Even if it is Kaposi's,
it's not related.
Our patient doesn't
have any skin symptoms
and we've already
ruled out cancer.
What are the odds
of two friends
who just returned from a
trip outside the country
coming down with unexplained
but unrelated illnesses?
- Get him in here.
- He won't come.
Just started a new job
after graduation,
they're working
on some big merger.
Tell him his friend's life
hangs in the balance.
That's what I told him
the first time.
Still wound up
driving into Manhattan.
Tell him his life
hangs in the balance.
Tell him the rash
is flesh-eating,
and the next course on the
menu is his frank and beans.
Where's Stacy?
Speaking at a conference in Baltimore.
Why, what do you need?
Can I subpoena a patient?
House wants me to lie to the
kid to get him in here.
Well, then you'll be the one
getting the subpoena.
Well, we do need him
to diagnose his friend.
Take the test to the kid.
There is no test, House
just wants to look at it.
Then take House to it.
Yeah, like that's gonna happen.
Tell House his parents called.
Said they were coming in early.
He'll go anywhere
just to avoid them.
So, it's okay to lie to House
but not to a patient?
Yup.
- What's wrong?
- His stomach's getting a lot worse.
It's rigid!
He's bleeding into his abdomen!
What's going on?
- We need a surgeon and an OR, stat!
- On it.
Try to hang in there, Carnell.
The infection caused a perforation
in his sigmoid colon.
It's repairable.
But it means the antibiotics
aren't working.
Double the dose,
and add Tygacil to the list.
Soon as he's out of surgery.
Where's Richie Rich?
He said he can't leave work.
Yeah, you told me that
two hours ago.
I'm not gonna lie.
Why, 'cause it's wrong?
Or because you're a coward?
Tough choice.
You'd be wasting two hours
of the kid's time.
Is that deeply and unforgivably
morally wrong? No.
Because it's not a waste of his time.
Unless we're wrong.
Unless his condition's got
nothing to do with his friend's.
You're just afraid
of being wrong.
Your parents called.
- They had to catch an earlier...
- You don't have to lie to him.
Kid's on his way here.
He got off work?
Yeah, by vomiting blood.
Ambulance is 10 minutes out.
- You Taddy?
- Why?
Love the name.
If I ever had a dog.
Take off his pants.
Hey.
Don't talk to her,
listen to me.
He's vomited in excess
of three units of blood.
- He needs to be admitted before...
- If you wanted to be a doctor,
maybe you should have buckled down
a little more in high school.
- Bite me.
- What are you doing?
Exactly how close
were you and Carnell?
Not so close.
Spend a lot of time together
in Jamaica?
Share a room?
Wait, you don't think...
Look, we're not gay.
- I'm not saying you're gay.
- I'm saying you had sex.
Look, we're not gay.
We hardly even hung out.
Right. Guess you just
flew him down to Jamaica
'cause he won a contest.
No, he's in my frat.
All right,
between school and wrestling
and going home every break to
work in his father's junkyard,
Carnell didn't have any time
to hang out with anybody.
It's not fungus.
I already told you that.
There's no pustules,
it's not staph.
His dad's what?
His dad owns a scrap metal
salvage yard.
Carnell worked there
during breaks.
You lied.
What are you talking about?
Oh, yeah, of course,
in this family,
you probably
need more specifics.
You told us you owned a construction
company, not a salvage yard.
I know the way things work.
The better my job, the
better my son gets treated.
Right, that's why I'm mad,
we wasted all that
filet mignon on you.
Did your kid find anything unusual
the last time he worked for you?
No.
Braided wire?
Metal weights on each end, a
lead canister, maybe just a lid.
Probably used it as a doorstop
or a paperweight.
Why would he wanna...
Okay, here it comes.
I gave him
an early graduation gift,
an old plumb I found,
looks like a fishing weight.
Put it on a keychain, so he'd
always remember where he came from.
So he could lie about it later?
- Where's the keychain?
- I don't know, he never used it.
Just kept it
as a good luck charm.
- Kept it where?
- I don't know.
Why? Why does it matter?
Where are the kid's clothes?
In the bureau
back in his regular room.
- You two, get it to radiology.
- His clothes?
The bureau. Don't open it.
You, come with me.
Set it down there.
Now get out of here,
this thing's radioactive.
The chances of radiation
causing CNS symptoms?
Whoa.
Call the boys
in the lead pajamas.
The radiation measurements
weren't high enough
to cause central
nervous system damage.
It mightn't have caused
nerve damage,
but it definitely destroyed
his immune system.
And caused tumors.
We don't know that. None of
the MRis showed anything.
Do a PET scan.
Check his cervical spine.
It's not gonna be good news.
Mr. Hall, it's not good news.
The piece of metal
you gave Carnell
was from an industrial device
used to test wells.
People aren't supposed to just
dump radioactive material.
But they do.
So, what now?
I mean, what do you do?
Anyone who's had
contact with the source
will have to immediately get
treatment for radiation sickness.
Taddy carried it
on his lap on the flight.
So there is a treatment?
Transfusions.
And we try to get the fluids
and electrolytes balanced.
Carnell,
he's had much more exposure.
The equivalent of about
70,000 chest X rays.
His ability to create white blood
cells has been completely destroyed.
And that's why he can't
fight off this infection?
Yeah. He's gonna need
a bone marrow transplant.
And we did another PET scan.
There's a cavernous angioma within
his spinal cord, it's a tumor.
That's what's been causing
the shocks and CNS symptoms.
He has a tumor
inside of his spinal cord?
The cord is made of strands
put together,
sort of like a kite string.
The surgeon should be able to pull the
strands apart and excise the tumor.
But surgery on someone who's as
hemopoetically compromised as your son
is extremely risky.
And,
if you don't do the surgery?
I mean...
The tumor could cause
his breathing to stop.
Possibly his heart as well.
There's no way
you could have known.
Now, you're gonna
have to come with us.
You need to start
treatment yourself.
No. No, no.
I can start my treatment later.
But he can't.
He needs to be in a sterile isolation
room to prevent further infections.
- Mom.
- We're early.
- It's great to see you.
- Oh, Greg, don't lie.
We came at a bad time,
didn't we?
Actually, yeah, I think
I have to take a rain check.
Oh, plans have been made.
Wilson made them.
I asked him to cancel.
I'm dealing with a kind of a
complicated case right now so...
Well, we'll just come back
when things aren't
so out of control.
My team is busy.
You don't wanna see us.
Mom, don't make me feel guilty.
No, no, of course not. Sorry.
I've got a patient who's probably
gonna die of radiation poisoning.
So that means you can't eat?
Come on, let's grab a
bite in the cafeteria.
I'll buy you a Reuben.
Well, I guess
I got time for a sandwich.
Good.
Yeah?
I just wanted to let you know
that Carnell's prepped
for surgery.
Thank you.
Hi, I'm Allison Cameron.
I work with your son.
Greg's told us all about you.
Really?
New, huh?
Nope, just gullible.
I'm sorry, I was just
making fun of my son,
not of you.
We were just about to go
to get something to eat,
would you care to join us?
You don't have
a lot of time with your son.
Maybe another time.
- Do you like the Beatles?
- They're all right.
My 12-year-old just turned
me back on to them.
McCartney's gotta have
more money than God.
I think that's all of it.
Reverse him.
How's he doing?
- Looks pretty good down here.
- Do I rock, or what?
His pressure's dropping!
- Give him another two units.
- I did already!
His heart rate's falling.
He's hemorrhaging.
They're talking about Mom's
last trip to the dentist.
Grown children
talking to their parents,
nothing gets talked about.
Trust me,
you're not missing anything.
So, besides work,
what you been up to?
Not much.
You always say that,
"Not much".
It's always the answer.
Any new babes
you might wanna tell me about?
Leave him alone, John.
Got a new motorcycle.
Might have seen it out front,
it's orange
with a gigantic scrape.
Is it the one
in the handicapped parking?
Yeah.
Looks like crap,
but it drives great.
Well, you'll be careful, right?
Last I checked,
you still have two legs.
Actually, three.
You know what
your problem is, Greg?
Shifting gears?
You just don't know
how lucky you are.
Where's the head?
Well, good thing
we got that cleared up.
Oh, he was just trying to help.
I don't need help.
I know.
You're absolutely perfect
just the way you are.
Thank you.
So, how much longer do you
think he'll be in surgery?
It's hard to say.
You know, he just
started school when Ann died.
I was a mess.
Still adjusting to being a parent,
much less a single parent.
You know, I used to put cold
pancakes in his lunch box.
I mean, that was the only thing
I could make that he would eat.
- You did okay, he's a good kid.
- Yeah.
Hey. So, how is he?
Well, the surgeon
has removed the tumor
without damaging
the spinal cord.
But, the infection has caused
another intestinal perforation.
We stopped the bleeding,
but his white count
keeps falling.
Okay.
So what now? Another drug,
antibiotics, what?
I'm sorry.
The reality is,
no matter what we give him,
it's unlikely he's gonna be able
to fight off the infections.
Okay, okay.
The father and the friend are
responding well to treatment.
Things aren't looking
so good for Carnell.
Thank you,
for not eating.
It was none of my business.
They seem perfectly pleasant,
don't they?
They are.
He was a marine pilot.
She was a housewife.
Married 47 years,
they had one child.
Mom is just like everyone else,
she's nice enough,
no great sense of humor,
hates confrontation.
My dad's just like you.
Not the caring till
your eyes pop out part,
just the insane moral compass
that won't let you lie
to anybody about anything.
It's a great quality
for Boy Scouts
and police witnesses.
Crappy quality for a dad.
Hey.
How you doing?
I'm hanging in there.
I'm sorry
I lied to you about Mom.
I'm sorry I lied to you, too.
There was nothing good
that came out of her dying.
I'm not mad.
I know why you did it.
It worked.
I never drink and drive.
I'm scared, Dad.
Come on.
There's nothing
to be scared of.
You're gonna be just fine.
Don't play me.
I wanna know the truth.
I'm telling you the truth.
You're gonna be fine, I swear.
I love you, Dad.
I love you, too.
Why does he hate
seeing his parents?
So his dad tells the truth,
he can't handle that?
He hates
being a disappointment.
He's a doctor, world famous.
How disappointed can they be?
You know what I figure is worse
than watching your son
become crippled?
Watching him be miserable.
My last bill from Princeton.
And I thought
we were celebrating
the fact
that I actually graduated.
I always knew
you'd be able to graduate.
What I didn't know was whether
I would be able to pay for it.
Your mom,
she'd be so proud of you.
You always say that.
I'm so proud of you.
Always was.
Come on, Dad, you're gonna cry.
You wanna be embarrassed?
You got it!
Look, don't party
too hard tonight.
Your grandmother wants a picture
of you getting that sheepskin,
and it'd be nice if you didn't
look completely hung over.
Oh, no, don't worry,
I've had enough alcohol
in the past week
- to last me another four years.
- Good, I think.
Drink! Drink! Drink!
More! More!
Drink! Drink! Drink!
12:55!
Man!
- You are the man!
- Tell me something I don't know!
- Hey, that's not funny, man.
- What?
- Yeah, right, you shocked me.
- With what? I got nothing.
Well, hey, whoever's
doing that better cut it out!
What the hell's going on?
Maybe there's a short somewhere,
the floor's covered with beer.
No way, no,
the outlets are GFI,
plus he's got
rubber-soled shoes on.
- Oh, my God!
- Somebody call 911!
Patient experiences
shock-like sensations
as well as headaches, nausea,
and drowsiness.
Shocks?
Excruciatingly painful shocks.
ER docs referred him
to a neurologist,
who referred him to five other
doctors in the last seven days.
Shocks could be Lhermitte's sign.
Early symptom of MS.
No. MRI showed
no white matter lesions,
and the shocks aren't
accompanied by neck flexing.
- Good morning!
- It's almost noon.
Really? That must be
why I'm so hungry.
Who's up for lunch?
What's with the jacket?
It keeps me warm and cool.
How does it know?
We're discussing
your new patient.
Must be a boring discussion, seeing
as I haven't accepted a new patient.
You accepted him the moment
I loaned you 5 grand.
Oh, wait, wait.
When I said I'd do anything for the
money, obviously I didn't mean it.
You're gonna like this. The kid's
getting shocked every few minutes.
Why would you need $5,000?
Bad night at poker,
or great night with a hooker?
Thank you for saving me
the trouble
of deflecting that personal
question with a joke.
College student?
Nitrous oxide's fun at parties.
Caused the shocks, and drinking
till we puke every night
can cause everything else.
- Give him some B12.
- Been there, done that.
Also ruled out cancer,
MS, pyridoxine toxicity,
and all the popular
neuropathies.
- Cervical spondylosis.
- Doesn't explain the low white count.
He's black.
I'm assuming he's not just really
dirty, but is of African descent,
which means he'd have
a lower white count.
- Not this low.
- He's a wrestler.
Probably uses diuretics
to cut weight.
That can also cause
low white count.
Not this low. "Not this low."
Behcet's. No skin lesions.
- Cervical herpes zoster, myelitis...
- No external outbreak.
Something's missing.
Find out what it is.
- I don't even know what that means.
- Well, figure it out.
Find it out, and then find me.
I'll be at lunch.
- No ideas?
- Lots of ideas.
Too many ideas,
that's why so many tests.
Have you used
any recreational drugs?
What? I'm gonna get
mad at you for getting stoned?
Not today, not here.
At Christmas, one of the
guys had some ecstasy,
I mean, I... It was...
Son of a bitch!
ANA is negative for lupus,
again.
House wants more information, not the
same information done over again.
"Find what's missing."
For all we know, the kid is dying
and he's giving us riddles?
Did a more detailed history,
went back three generations.
- And?
- His mom died in a car accident,
his mom's mom had arthritis,
and his mom's mom's dad
served in an all-black
tank battalion under Patton.
Fascinating. If it's not a
tumor, it has to be MS.
Wilson already ruled out...
MRI can't rule out
MS 100% of the time.
- Doesn't explain the low white count.
- Alcoholism does.
On admission, his BAC was 2.0,
liver enzymes off the chart.
It was graduation weekend. He barely
drank in the weeks before that,
and he didn't drink at all
during his wrestling season.
- If you believe him.
- I did a tox screen...
It doesn't matter if she believes him
or not, it's already in the chart.
We're supposed to find out
what's missing.
Well, this... This is perfect.
Invite me to dinner
on Thursday night.
Come on, we haven't had
a nice meal together since...
Yesterday, when I loaned you
$5,000 to buy a new car.
My treat.
Two-wheeled vehicles
that travel 150 miles an hour
don't really go well with crippled,
irresponsible drug addicts.
Actually, two-wheeled vehicles that go
180 miles an hour do not go well
with healthy,
responsible architects
who don't know how to
separate braking and turning.
Good news is, it brings
the price right down.
- You're taking it back.
- Mom!
How about we talk
about this over dinner?
Forget dinner,
you're gonna kill yourself!
- Nice bike!
- Thank you.
See, that's how you do it.
Compliments, dinner.
What do you do with your cane?
If he buys me dinner,
he'll find out.
Evel Knievel
had the same setup.
And he broke every bone
in his body.
We went through all the imaging
studies and redid the blood cultures.
I don't want hand-me-downs,
I want brand-new stuff.
Well, there's nothing...
There's nothing missing!
Sorry, I didn't
catch that last part!
There's... There's...
There's nothing else we can do.
- Did you check the police report?
- On what?
On his mom's car accident.
That was 15 years ago. The
kid wasn't even in the car.
She veered off a straight,
dry road in broad daylight.
That doesn't seem odd to you?
She probably got distracted changing
radio stations or something.
That's what the police thought.
Of course, they didn't know
that she has a family member
who is frequently incapacitated
by shock-like sensations.
- A genetic component seems unlikely.
- But it's interesting.
Type II neurofibromatosis
could cause the shocks.
You knew this was missing?
I knew something was missing,
maybe this, maybe something else.
Get a DNA analysis of the
long arm of chromosome 22.
You'd rather have dinner with your wife?
Yes, I would.
If she were speaking to me.
Unlike her, I could make
it worth your while.
Fine.
Shall I drive?
No.
And I'm not letting you in my
car until I see your wallet.
NF2. It's an inherited disease.
It could cause abnormal growths
on the cranial nerves.
It would explain the shocks
and other symptoms.
DNA analysis will show
whether your son
has the specific
chromosome mutation
which causes the disease.
But if it's inherited, that means someone
else in our family would have it.
We think your wife
may have had it.
No. She never had
any sort of health problems.
No odd-looking freckles,
nodules in the iris?
Nothing. I mean, why would
you think she was sick?
We think it may have been
what caused her car accident.
Wait, what do you mean? My mom's
car was hit by a drunk driver.
That's not what
the police report indicated.
Well, you must have gotten
the wrong report.
No. They didn't.
When you started driving...
I...
You lied about how Mom died?
I figured if her death could
somehow mean something, it...
How does lying about it
mean something?
How could you use her
like that, Dad? Her death?
- I was just trying to protect you.
- What else isn't true?
She wasn't a teacher,
you just wanted me to read?
What's that smell?
I don't smell...
We're gonna need a nurse.
- What the hell?
- It's okay. We'll take care of it.
You didn't feel anything?
No.
- You feel that?
- Yeah.
But you didn't feel
any of this?
No.
Sphincter paralysis plus shocks
equals Miller Fisher Syndrome.
Not if you add
the stool sample,
which is negative
for C. Jejuni.
He lied to his son
about how his mom died?
He was just protecting him.
Manipulating him.
- That's what parents do.
- They lie to us because they love us.
Who's getting teary?
Mom's death is irrelevant.
DNA revealed no NF2 markers
or any other inherited disease.
Apparently, she really did
fall asleep at the wheel.
So, what exactly
are we talking about here?
A little peeker, or did the prairie
dog actually come out to play?
- Excuse me?
- Are we talking explosive?
The hemoccult
was negative for blood,
and I wouldn't say he actually exploded.
More like gushed?
Good, then we're
getting somewhere.
Yeah? Where?
I have no idea.
- Of course.
- Hello?
- Love the riddles.
- Hi, Mom.
Look, I have a business
dinner on Thursday night.
I can't get out of it.
I know, I really
wanted to see you, too.
Actually, can I call you back?
I'm in a meeting right now.
Okay, thanks.
Who was that?
Angelina Jolie.
I call her "Mom".
Who thinks that's sexy?
So, explosive or gushing...
She never calls here,
is everything okay?
Great, yeah.
My dad's taking her to Europe.
They got a nine-hour layover
in Newark on Thursday.
- If it's gastrointestinal...
- You lied to avoid seeing your own mom.
Are you kidding?
I can't lie to my mom.
Seriously, I can't.
Wilson's invited me to dinner.
It'd be rude to stand up a guy
who just loaned me 5 grand.
Transverse myelitis.
Could cause numbness,
anal sphincter dysfunction,
and the shocks.
Thank you for taking
no interest in my mother.
But that begs the question,
what caused
the transverse myelitis?
Well, we've ruled out
cancer and MS.
Leaves infection.
If there was infection,
there'd be a fever.
And his blood and CSF cultures
are all negative.
Maybe the infection's gone
but the memory remains.
Molecular mimicry.
Nice.
Okay, get an immunoglobulin
level and electrophoresis.
You're good, my friend.
I'm sure we'll meet again.
Do you really think
that was his mom on the phone?
Probably, don't know
why he'd lie about that.
Who cares?
You're not the least bit curious
what his parents are like?
I'm sure his mom's
a piece of work.
Only a mother
could do that much damage.
My bet's he was born
the way he is.
Probably tormented his parents,
not the other way around.
Yeah, he was either a fast
runner or one hell of a fighter.
Where are you going?
You guys can handle
the tests, right?
Is there something important that you
and House need to discuss over dinner?
Other than the skyrocketing
interest rates
on personal loans?
You know, this is the fourth
time I've loaned him money.
Not lunch money, money-money.
House's parents.
They have a layover
in Newark Thursday evening.
- I'm canceling dinner.
- No.
I thought maybe you could just
invite a few more people.
An infectious agent's
molecular structure
can resemble the spinal cord's.
And when the immune system
attacks the infection,
it ends up attacking
the spinal cord's as well.
So he has an infection?
They just said I don't.
Even after the infection is gone,
it goes right on attacking
because the spinal cord
is still there.
Is there a treatment?
Depends on what
the original infection was.
All right, you're done.
You need to lay flat after a
lumbar puncture for about an hour.
I feel like I'm gonna throw up.
Hey, Dad, can you get me
a Coke, please?
Yeah, that usually helps.
You're done.
If you're nauseous...
No, I'm not nauseous.
I just want him out of here.
He's your dad.
He's gonna be around.
Yeah, I know.
It's not that, it's...
Are these people
completely incapable
of telling the truth
to each other?
He went to Jamaica
with his friends.
No wonder he lied.
Children aren't supposed
to have good times.
One of his friends
flew them down.
Carnell's dad has this thing about him
accepting stuff from rich friends.
He wants him to remember who
he is, where he came from.
Where have you been?
Making dinner plans. What's up?
The boys have uncovered
the shocking fact
that the patient has a crappy
relationship with his dad.
- They seem to actually care.
- Well, I don't.
There's only one reason any kid
with a plane flies to Jamaica.
It wasn't for marijuana. He
doesn't do anything but drink.
He said that to you
or his pops?
Tox screen was negative
for THC.
Spring break was over
a month ago.
Even pot would have
washed out by now.
Even if he'd smoked,
no way marijuana
causes transverse myelitis.
True. But the stuff
they put on it does.
Pesticides.
Well, why would he come clean about
the trip but lie about smoking pot?
He wouldn't necessarily have to
smoke to get pesticide poisoning.
He could have eaten fruit
that'd been sprayed,
or been exposed
through his skin on a hike.
Or he could have smoked it.
A lot of it.
Then lied about it because
that's what this family does.
Start him on IV pralidoxime.
Two grams per liter,
and then one gram every eight hours
until you see some improvement.
You have no evidence to support
a poisoning diagnosis.
Which is why it's gonna be so
cool when I turn out to be right.
Cameron.
Who are you making
dinner plans with?
No one.
You bastard.
You invited my parents
to dinner.
Cameron's got a big mouth.
Not as big as yours.
Hey! You used me
to avoid seeing your parents.
- Well, what do you care?
- I don't.
I just thought it might be
interesting to find out why.
- You could've just asked.
- You would've lied.
And you would've believed me.
Which would've kept us
both happy.
You want your money back?
Is that what this is about?
No!
Wait, have you got the money?
If you have the money, then
why did you need the loan?
I didn't. I just wanted to
see if you'd give it to me.
I've been borrowing
increasing amounts
ever since you lent me
$40 a year ago.
A little experiment,
to see where you draw the line.
You're trying
to objectively measure
how much
I value our friendship?
Hey, it's 5 grand. You've got
nothing to be ashamed of.
So, what do you say? One little
phone call, one big check?
Fine.
Thanks.
Now, be a grownup
and either tell Mommy and Daddy
you don't wanna see them,
or I'm picking you up
at 7:00 for dinner.
What do you mean?
You just said that...
I lied.
I've been lying to you
in increasing amounts
ever since I told you you looked
good unshaved a year ago.
It's a little experiment,
you know,
to see where you draw the line.
How's the patient?
Haven't been in yet, today.
As long as he hasn't gotten
any worse.
We're treating him
for pesticide poisoning
without any proof
of pesticides.
I'm gonna have a hell of a time
explaining that to our lawyer.
I told House not to...
Wow.
Lawyer's not gonna
believe this.
He's got his appetite back.
Whatever you did, it's working.
He's healthy,
so all is forgiven.
Now I'm feeling nauseous.
He is not healthy.
Nausea and diarrhea
were not his only symptoms.
The shocks have also decreased.
But not disappeared.
And he's out of the diaper,
which is good news
for everyone.
What about his low white count?
Well, the little buggers
need time to grow.
Don't worry, our wrestling
Rastafarian will be back on his feet
and sneaking around behind
Pop's back again in no time.
Yeah.
Check it again.
I'll be right there.
What happened?
Apparently I can save money
by switching to another
long-distance carrier.
Oh, I was right, wasn't I?
Oh, yeah, it's always
about you, isn't it?
He has the chills
and his temperature's spiking.
- It's nearly 106.
- What's that mean?
I mean, what's happening?
You want the truth,
or you want me to make
something up to protect you?
We think a drunk driver
broke into his room...
What's happening to my son?
The truth is I have no idea.
There's the fever
that Cameron was looking for.
We knew if it was myelitis,
there had to be an "-itis".
This must be the infection
that set it off.
Yeah. Except in this universe,
effect follows cause.
I've complained about it,
but...
Maybe the tests were wrong.
No. The tests were right. Yesterday
he had no fever, no infection.
So he just happened to catch
a bug while he was here?
That's all this is?
Yeah.
Because his white blood cell count
was down, he was vulnerable.
Because it's really down,
it might kill him.
That's all this is.
Is he still pooping his pants?
It just started again.
Again?
It stopped
when he was getting better.
When he was feeling better.
He was never getting better.
So, all we have to answer is,
what causes a 22-year-old kid
to become immunocompromised
with GI involvement and shocks?
Just stop and start
for no apparent reason.
And we need to find an answer
before this infection
kills him.
That would be the ideal.
You. Intravenous
broad spectrum antibiotics.
You get a cervical, thoracic, and
lumbar T2-weighted fast spin-echo MRI.
And you, track down all those
Richie Rich's who went to Jamaica,
see if any of them have got the
shocks, the trots or the hots.
The hots, it's the fever.
You guys gonna join us
for dinner Thursday?
Gotta do my laundry.
You're not curious?
I'm curious about crocs, but I don't
stick my head in their mouths.
I'm out, too.
Look, House is a freak!
There's no virus that causes
that, no DNA mutation.
You're gonna have
one dinner with two people.
Sixty minutes, most of it spent
chewing or talking about the weather.
Unless they say something like,
"Do you prefer the
chardonnay or the merlot?"
and, "Oh, we kept Greg locked
in a closet for 17 years".
You're not gonna
learn anything.
Okay.
We'd like to talk
to some of your friends,
see if they have
any similar symptoms.
The doctors in the ER
already asked me that.
We understand,
but they didn't have all the
information that we have now.
What kind of information?
Would you mind if I spoke with
Carnell alone for a minute?
Is this bad news?
No. It's just confidential.
Why is something
suddenly confidential?
I mean, if you know
something about my son,
I need to know what's going on.
I'm sorry, I have to insist.
I'm his father,
and if I'm going to take care of
him, I need to know the truth.
Dad.
She wants to know
who I went to Jamaica with.
You've never been to Jamaica.
Taddy's dad flew a bunch of
us down over spring break.
You told me you had two papers
to write over the break.
'Cause I didn't want to come
home and work my ass off.
I wanted an actual break
during a break for once.
I shouldn't have lied to you.
No, what you should have done
is come home
instead of partying
with your rich friends.
I'm sorry, we need those names.
What do you want?
To apologize.
I realize that my attention to the
clinic has been somewhat lax of late,
and I wanna make amends.
How about tomorrow night?
I take the night shift.
The clinic's closed at night.
Yeah, but I'm sure there's
plenty of things to be done,
there's charts to be reviewed,
supplies inventoried...
Dinners avoided.
You're going, too?
I love their Cobb Salad.
Give me a reason
to get out of this,
and I'll tell you
who started the rumor
about you being a transsexual.
- There is no such rumor.
- There will be,
unless you get me
out of this dinner.
No one's making you
do this, House.
Just do what
everybody else does.
Lie to them.
You lie to your mother?
Only since I was 12!
My mom's a human polygraph.
My dad should be taking her
to Vegas, not the Louvre.
Trust me, your mom
would much rather think
you have a business meeting
than you hate her.
I don't hate her. I hate him.
We all had headaches,
nausea, vomiting.
You know,
we figured it was connected
to the massive amounts
of drinking.
What, you think
what happened to Carnell
has something
to do with the trip?
Don't know.
You haven't had
any unexplained pain
or strange feelings
since you got back?
No, except for a little
athlete's foot, I'm fine.
Can I see it?
- See what?
- Your feet.
There's a common parasite
in Jamaica
that can resemble foot fungus.
It's not really my feet.
You know,
I figured fungus is fungus.
It's my groin.
I'm going to need
to take a look at that.
Now?
Unless you wanna come down
to the hospital with me.
No, no, I can't. I mean,
I just started two days ago.
We're right in the middle
of a big merger...
Then drop your pants.
Reilly, I need the...
What the hell's going on here?
She's a doctor.
I'm a doctor, he has a rash,
and a friend of his is...
Right. Well, as soon as
she's done treating your rash,
I need the numbers
on D-Port Technology.
Yes, sir.
And, Doctor, why don't you
leave a card on your way out?
Except for one guy with a rash,
no one else on the trip
has any health issues.
What kind of rash?
I don't know,
I took some scrapings,
it doesn't
appear to be ringworm.
What did it look like,
aside from "not ringworm"?
Basically like diaper rash.
He's been working
around the clock,
he said he hasn't changed
his clothes in three days.
Kaposi's Sarcoma
can look like diaper rash.
Any discoloration
around the edges?
Get him in here.
We all wanna take a look.
Even if it is Kaposi's,
it's not related.
Our patient doesn't
have any skin symptoms
and we've already
ruled out cancer.
What are the odds
of two friends
who just returned from a
trip outside the country
coming down with unexplained
but unrelated illnesses?
- Get him in here.
- He won't come.
Just started a new job
after graduation,
they're working
on some big merger.
Tell him his friend's life
hangs in the balance.
That's what I told him
the first time.
Still wound up
driving into Manhattan.
Tell him his life
hangs in the balance.
Tell him the rash
is flesh-eating,
and the next course on the
menu is his frank and beans.
Where's Stacy?
Speaking at a conference in Baltimore.
Why, what do you need?
Can I subpoena a patient?
House wants me to lie to the
kid to get him in here.
Well, then you'll be the one
getting the subpoena.
Well, we do need him
to diagnose his friend.
Take the test to the kid.
There is no test, House
just wants to look at it.
Then take House to it.
Yeah, like that's gonna happen.
Tell House his parents called.
Said they were coming in early.
He'll go anywhere
just to avoid them.
So, it's okay to lie to House
but not to a patient?
Yup.
- What's wrong?
- His stomach's getting a lot worse.
It's rigid!
He's bleeding into his abdomen!
What's going on?
- We need a surgeon and an OR, stat!
- On it.
Try to hang in there, Carnell.
The infection caused a perforation
in his sigmoid colon.
It's repairable.
But it means the antibiotics
aren't working.
Double the dose,
and add Tygacil to the list.
Soon as he's out of surgery.
Where's Richie Rich?
He said he can't leave work.
Yeah, you told me that
two hours ago.
I'm not gonna lie.
Why, 'cause it's wrong?
Or because you're a coward?
Tough choice.
You'd be wasting two hours
of the kid's time.
Is that deeply and unforgivably
morally wrong? No.
Because it's not a waste of his time.
Unless we're wrong.
Unless his condition's got
nothing to do with his friend's.
You're just afraid
of being wrong.
Your parents called.
- They had to catch an earlier...
- You don't have to lie to him.
Kid's on his way here.
He got off work?
Yeah, by vomiting blood.
Ambulance is 10 minutes out.
- You Taddy?
- Why?
Love the name.
If I ever had a dog.
Take off his pants.
Hey.
Don't talk to her,
listen to me.
He's vomited in excess
of three units of blood.
- He needs to be admitted before...
- If you wanted to be a doctor,
maybe you should have buckled down
a little more in high school.
- Bite me.
- What are you doing?
Exactly how close
were you and Carnell?
Not so close.
Spend a lot of time together
in Jamaica?
Share a room?
Wait, you don't think...
Look, we're not gay.
- I'm not saying you're gay.
- I'm saying you had sex.
Look, we're not gay.
We hardly even hung out.
Right. Guess you just
flew him down to Jamaica
'cause he won a contest.
No, he's in my frat.
All right,
between school and wrestling
and going home every break to
work in his father's junkyard,
Carnell didn't have any time
to hang out with anybody.
It's not fungus.
I already told you that.
There's no pustules,
it's not staph.
His dad's what?
His dad owns a scrap metal
salvage yard.
Carnell worked there
during breaks.
You lied.
What are you talking about?
Oh, yeah, of course,
in this family,
you probably
need more specifics.
You told us you owned a construction
company, not a salvage yard.
I know the way things work.
The better my job, the
better my son gets treated.
Right, that's why I'm mad,
we wasted all that
filet mignon on you.
Did your kid find anything unusual
the last time he worked for you?
No.
Braided wire?
Metal weights on each end, a
lead canister, maybe just a lid.
Probably used it as a doorstop
or a paperweight.
Why would he wanna...
Okay, here it comes.
I gave him
an early graduation gift,
an old plumb I found,
looks like a fishing weight.
Put it on a keychain, so he'd
always remember where he came from.
So he could lie about it later?
- Where's the keychain?
- I don't know, he never used it.
Just kept it
as a good luck charm.
- Kept it where?
- I don't know.
Why? Why does it matter?
Where are the kid's clothes?
In the bureau
back in his regular room.
- You two, get it to radiology.
- His clothes?
The bureau. Don't open it.
You, come with me.
Set it down there.
Now get out of here,
this thing's radioactive.
The chances of radiation
causing CNS symptoms?
Whoa.
Call the boys
in the lead pajamas.
The radiation measurements
weren't high enough
to cause central
nervous system damage.
It mightn't have caused
nerve damage,
but it definitely destroyed
his immune system.
And caused tumors.
We don't know that. None of
the MRis showed anything.
Do a PET scan.
Check his cervical spine.
It's not gonna be good news.
Mr. Hall, it's not good news.
The piece of metal
you gave Carnell
was from an industrial device
used to test wells.
People aren't supposed to just
dump radioactive material.
But they do.
So, what now?
I mean, what do you do?
Anyone who's had
contact with the source
will have to immediately get
treatment for radiation sickness.
Taddy carried it
on his lap on the flight.
So there is a treatment?
Transfusions.
And we try to get the fluids
and electrolytes balanced.
Carnell,
he's had much more exposure.
The equivalent of about
70,000 chest X rays.
His ability to create white blood
cells has been completely destroyed.
And that's why he can't
fight off this infection?
Yeah. He's gonna need
a bone marrow transplant.
And we did another PET scan.
There's a cavernous angioma within
his spinal cord, it's a tumor.
That's what's been causing
the shocks and CNS symptoms.
He has a tumor
inside of his spinal cord?
The cord is made of strands
put together,
sort of like a kite string.
The surgeon should be able to pull the
strands apart and excise the tumor.
But surgery on someone who's as
hemopoetically compromised as your son
is extremely risky.
And,
if you don't do the surgery?
I mean...
The tumor could cause
his breathing to stop.
Possibly his heart as well.
There's no way
you could have known.
Now, you're gonna
have to come with us.
You need to start
treatment yourself.
No. No, no.
I can start my treatment later.
But he can't.
He needs to be in a sterile isolation
room to prevent further infections.
- Mom.
- We're early.
- It's great to see you.
- Oh, Greg, don't lie.
We came at a bad time,
didn't we?
Actually, yeah, I think
I have to take a rain check.
Oh, plans have been made.
Wilson made them.
I asked him to cancel.
I'm dealing with a kind of a
complicated case right now so...
Well, we'll just come back
when things aren't
so out of control.
My team is busy.
You don't wanna see us.
Mom, don't make me feel guilty.
No, no, of course not. Sorry.
I've got a patient who's probably
gonna die of radiation poisoning.
So that means you can't eat?
Come on, let's grab a
bite in the cafeteria.
I'll buy you a Reuben.
Well, I guess
I got time for a sandwich.
Good.
Yeah?
I just wanted to let you know
that Carnell's prepped
for surgery.
Thank you.
Hi, I'm Allison Cameron.
I work with your son.
Greg's told us all about you.
Really?
New, huh?
Nope, just gullible.
I'm sorry, I was just
making fun of my son,
not of you.
We were just about to go
to get something to eat,
would you care to join us?
You don't have
a lot of time with your son.
Maybe another time.
- Do you like the Beatles?
- They're all right.
My 12-year-old just turned
me back on to them.
McCartney's gotta have
more money than God.
I think that's all of it.
Reverse him.
How's he doing?
- Looks pretty good down here.
- Do I rock, or what?
His pressure's dropping!
- Give him another two units.
- I did already!
His heart rate's falling.
He's hemorrhaging.
They're talking about Mom's
last trip to the dentist.
Grown children
talking to their parents,
nothing gets talked about.
Trust me,
you're not missing anything.
So, besides work,
what you been up to?
Not much.
You always say that,
"Not much".
It's always the answer.
Any new babes
you might wanna tell me about?
Leave him alone, John.
Got a new motorcycle.
Might have seen it out front,
it's orange
with a gigantic scrape.
Is it the one
in the handicapped parking?
Yeah.
Looks like crap,
but it drives great.
Well, you'll be careful, right?
Last I checked,
you still have two legs.
Actually, three.
You know what
your problem is, Greg?
Shifting gears?
You just don't know
how lucky you are.
Where's the head?
Well, good thing
we got that cleared up.
Oh, he was just trying to help.
I don't need help.
I know.
You're absolutely perfect
just the way you are.
Thank you.
So, how much longer do you
think he'll be in surgery?
It's hard to say.
You know, he just
started school when Ann died.
I was a mess.
Still adjusting to being a parent,
much less a single parent.
You know, I used to put cold
pancakes in his lunch box.
I mean, that was the only thing
I could make that he would eat.
- You did okay, he's a good kid.
- Yeah.
Hey. So, how is he?
Well, the surgeon
has removed the tumor
without damaging
the spinal cord.
But, the infection has caused
another intestinal perforation.
We stopped the bleeding,
but his white count
keeps falling.
Okay.
So what now? Another drug,
antibiotics, what?
I'm sorry.
The reality is,
no matter what we give him,
it's unlikely he's gonna be able
to fight off the infections.
Okay, okay.
The father and the friend are
responding well to treatment.
Things aren't looking
so good for Carnell.
Thank you,
for not eating.
It was none of my business.
They seem perfectly pleasant,
don't they?
They are.
He was a marine pilot.
She was a housewife.
Married 47 years,
they had one child.
Mom is just like everyone else,
she's nice enough,
no great sense of humor,
hates confrontation.
My dad's just like you.
Not the caring till
your eyes pop out part,
just the insane moral compass
that won't let you lie
to anybody about anything.
It's a great quality
for Boy Scouts
and police witnesses.
Crappy quality for a dad.
Hey.
How you doing?
I'm hanging in there.
I'm sorry
I lied to you about Mom.
I'm sorry I lied to you, too.
There was nothing good
that came out of her dying.
I'm not mad.
I know why you did it.
It worked.
I never drink and drive.
I'm scared, Dad.
Come on.
There's nothing
to be scared of.
You're gonna be just fine.
Don't play me.
I wanna know the truth.
I'm telling you the truth.
You're gonna be fine, I swear.
I love you, Dad.
I love you, too.
Why does he hate
seeing his parents?
So his dad tells the truth,
he can't handle that?
He hates
being a disappointment.
He's a doctor, world famous.
How disappointed can they be?
You know what I figure is worse
than watching your son
become crippled?
Watching him be miserable.