Watching House

Sorry for the delay on the recap! It’s here now - though - better late than never, right?!

The shows starts at PPTH in slow motion – watching the doctors and the patients. Eventually time speeds back up to normal. A man tries to get Thirteen to give him a refill on his migraine medication but she says that he’s not an emergency.

Foreman approaches Thirteen about clinical trials, including one that is a Huntington trial and that can help to slow the progression of the disease. She says that she’s not following any type of program for her disease.

A man is looking into Cuddy’s office and sees House searching through her desk. He goes in and asks for Dr. Cuddy.

House: She’s either not here, or she’s under the desk. Either way you’re going to have to wait outside until I’m finished.

He starts to leave and asks when she’ll return before he walks away. House just says that she will, not when she will. The man walks back outside and pulls out a gun. Thirteen and a bunch of other people come into Cuddy’s office, followed by the man with the gun. He says that he’s sick and that he wants the best doctor in the hospital to help him or he’ll start killing people.

House: What seems to be the problem?

The man instructs the people to barricade them all into Cuddy’s office. He tells House that he’s been to 16 doctors in 3 years and has had tons of tests in order to get the answer. He says he can’t breathe and that he’s constantly tired. He gets skin rashes, heart palpitations and insomnia.

House: That’s a cool constellation of symptoms. Could be something minor. At least compared to life in prison, which is what you seem to prefer than seeing 16 more specialists.

He gives house the file and throws his cane to the side. Meanwhile the entire ground floor is being evacuated and Cuddy walks into a mess.

The rest of the recap is below the cut!

Back in the room, house is checking the man over and says that he’s not looking at the files because the tests were all negative and the symptoms are what is important. One of the hostages says that his pregnant wife is sick to her stomach.

House: Next time pack some heat and maybe we’ll look into it.

The phone rings and the patient hangs it up. House wants a specific type of machine but since there’s none in the office, he settles for a lighter, which a teenage boy has (bad teenage boy!). He has the patient hold it out as far as he can and try to blow it out. He can’t. House says that the patient has pulmonary scleroderma and that it can be fixed.

The phone rings again and the patient has House answer it. It’s Cuddy and House tells her he needs a special medication in order to diagnose the pulmonary scleroderma. The patient wants Cuddy to bring it in because she’s not a guard or cop.

House: She might be armed. I’d have her deliver it shirtless.

House takes the package from Cuddy and prepares a syringe. The patient wants House to give the medication to someone else first. One of the patients tries to get House to give the meds to Thirteen, but as she’s sick, House says he can’t. He gives the meds to the larger guy who had the migraine in the beginning and tells the patient to roll up his sleeve. Before he can, however, the hostage passes out.

The patient pulls the gun on House.

House: You’re not going to do anything. You need me.
POtW: You’re right. I need you. I also need you to know that you can’t screw with me.

He moves the gun and shoots one of the hostages in the side. The phone rings again as we go to commercial.

Back form commercial and it’s still ringing. Thirteen is trying to help the gunshot victim. The patient tries hanging up the phone but Cuddy keeps calling him back. The hostage negotiator finally shows up and says that they need to set up perimeters.

Cuddy: By perimeters you mean snipers? We need to get those people out of there.
Negotiator: Got a husband or a loved one in there?
Cuddy: Um, no.
Negotiator: Don’t worry. We’ll decide when it’s time to start shooting.

Cameron is with Taub and Kutner when house pages Kutner. Foreman calls him back with all of the ducklings, both new and old, with him. Chase, however, isn’t having any of it.

Chase: You think he’s the only guy in New Jersey with an unsolved illness and a pistol? I’m not playing this game.

Chase walks out of the office. Cameron, however, says that he’s still there. House takes down some of Cuddy’s artwork and starts using it as his white board. He instructs Foreman to get the test supplies needed for bloodwork, Cameron to comb through his past medical history, and Taub and Kutner to go to his apartment to check for toxins. The patient gives his address quickly, and House notes that since he’s willing to give it, he’s not going back there, which means he has “an end game.”

The phone rings in the lobby and Lt. Bowman (our hostage negotiator) answers the phone. House has the nurse who was taken hostage draw his blood and after she’s done, the patient suddenly hangs up the phone and tells the hostage to open the blinds a little bit. Thirteen ends up doing it and they see snipers by the window. They back up once the patient says that he will kill Thirteen if they don’t back away.

House says that it’s interesting that the patient could hear the snipers, as no one else could, and that the patient has hyperacusis. House believes that this means that it is a nerve problem. The patient is able to smile but it is lopsided. House says that there is a test that they can do to check for the herpes disease that he believes that the patient has, but the test is painful, while the treatment is painless. The patient wants the test.

The phone rings and it’s Lt. Bowman. Lt. Bowman says that he won’t send in the capcasin unless the POtW is willing to give something back. He says that they can have two hostages, but that Cuddy has to bring everything in. Lt. Bowman says that it’s not going to happen, and keeps using the POtW’s name – Jason.

House: First, don’t use his name so much. It doesn’t sound reassuring, it just sounds creepy. Second, come on, he’s not going to shoot the one person he trusts to bring in his medication. He’s going to shoot the hostages if she doesn’t bring it in.

Lt. Bowman simply says that he’ll get back to them and hangs up the phone. Cuddy is fine with doing the transfers. She brings a wheelchair for the patient who was shot and takes out him and the big guy who was zonked out by the meds.

The child in the room says that he’ll take the shot, which is supposed to be painful, but House is going to give it to another guy. Thirteen, however, stands up and says that she’ll take it.

House gives the medication to Thirteen who crumbles to the ground in pain, a sign that she doesn’t have herpes.

House: Wow. I would’ve laid $20 that you had herpes.

He goes to give the POtW the shot and figures that the patient was defined by his work, and that he missed time and messed something up, which is why he’s so desperate for an answer. He gives him the shot and he’s in pain from it, proving that it’s not nerve damage and he doesn’t have herpes.

Meanwhile Taub and Kutner are in the guy’s apartment. Everything is laid out for them to see, making Taub remark that the guy was waiting for them. Kutner finds that the patient is thousands of dollars in debt with medical bills.

Taub: I’ve got debt too, you don’t see me acting like a lunatic.
Kutner: There’s no excuse for what he’s doing, but if you’ve got millions of people thousands of dollars in debt because they’re sick, at least one of thems going to do something inexcusable. Especially if it works.

Foreman and Cameron are checking the blood and the white count is normal, ruling out infection. While they’re diagnosing, Thirteen notices that the patient has a distended jugular, and that his heart is racing. House does a massage to try to help but it doesn’t work. The patient wants paddles so that they can slow his heart down, but House refuses because he’s got his finger on the trigger and the shock will pull the trigger. The patient refuses to give up his gun, however, leaving them at an impasse.

Thirteen suggests cardioverting chemically. She says that she’ll go get the meds. The guy gives her thirty seconds to get them from the crash cart. As she’s getting them, the sniper is at the door to the clinic.

House thinks she’s going to go, and that she should go. He almost shoots the boy – and then a nurse who puts herself in the line of fire (and then says “don’t shoot me” – which House finds intriguing). Thirteen comes back. The patient wants her to take the meds, but it slows the heart and House says that it isn’t okay when you’re dealing with a normal heart rhythm. Thirteen injects herself and falls to the floor.

House gives the patient the meds and his heart slows. House notices that the patient is sweating on one side of the heart but not the other, and says that it means that he has lung cancer.

Thirteen’s heart is below 50, and House says to help her up and to move her around. The POtW says that he needs proof that it’s cancer, so, of course, House calls Wilson. The patient can’t spit on the floor because his mouth is dry due to the lung cancer metastasizing. The patient, however, wants a test to prove it.

House: Good idea. Oh, damn, I left my CT machine in my other pants.

The patient willingly gives up two more hostages in order to get to radiology. He ties up Thirteen, House, the teen boy, the nurse, and another male hostage and they walk together slowly to radiology. House is trying to figure out what happened to make the guy snap. His answer?

POtW: I just want an answer. That’s all.

House looks at him strangely.

They slowly shuffle to radiology and get untied. Meanwhile the swat team is slowly creeping up into the CT hallway.

The patient has House get the machine (the computer) from the other room and bring it into the CT room. House refuses to believe that curiousity is not enough of a reason for the patient to have snapped.

POtW: This is my body. My life. There’s a truth out there. I’d rather rot in jail knowing than…I can’t handle not knowing.
House: Yeah.

House says that the metal from the gun is causing the CT to not work properly and shows the POtW the screen. He refuses and pulls the gun on House. Some hostages run out because he finally gives up the gun. The teenager, however, is still there. He says he’s stayed because he’s curious.

The phone is ringing in the background as House looks at the POtW after the CT scan. House says that there isn’t a tumor on the screen, and that he doesn’t know what the POtW has. House gives the patient back his gun. Wait, let me type that again, HOUSE GIVES THE PATIENT HIS GUN BACK.

House answers the ringing phone and says “he overpowered me, got the gun back.” Thirteen is upset that he’s given the gun back to the patient. House, however, says that he’s not scared, he’s arrogant, and that Thirteen is scared…of death.

The ducklings and Wilson (minus Chase) are back in House’s office. They’re trying to diagnose when Foreman leaves because he thinks House is going to kill someone. While the POtW is answering questions, House notices that he’s turning his head and favoring the right ear.

The patient gives up the teenager in order to get the meds to test. The patient wants House to give Thirteen the meds – he refuses, but Thirteen grabs the meds and gives it to herself. House then gives the patient the meds. The patient thinks that Thirteen should do something for her disease.

House: I can’t decide which is riskier. Taking crazy risks or taking advice on crazy risks from a crazed risk taker.

Thirteen’s heart is racing and she’s got a fever, while the patient’s breathing is unchanged. Thirteen’s kidney’s are shutting down due to the meds.

House tries diagnosing with the ducklings and Cameron says that maybe something is protecting the guy’s kidneys.

House: I need to slap you. For diagnostic purposes. Seriously. If I were jerking you around I’d say that I needed to kick you in the groin.

House slaps the patient realizes that he’s got calcium deficiency – and that he has something that has a long incubation period. Cameron thinks it’s Melioidosis, except that you can’t have it unless you’ve been to a tropical climate. He swears he hasn’t.

POtW: I’ve never been anywhere south of Florida.
House: You idiot.
POtW: Florida counts?
House: Well not to the supreme court, but it’s warm enough for germs. You’ve been blaming doctors and you can’t even give a halfway decent history.

The patient says that he can have Dr. house as a hostage. House would rather he let thirteen go and he take the meds. He says that they’ll kill Thirteen if he gives them to her. House says that he’s not leaving even though thirteen wants him to.

Thirteen: Who’s the martyr now? Either the drugs kill me, or he kills me, it doesn’t seem to make a lot of difference.

The SWAT guys come with the meds and House shuffles out.

It’s thirteen and the POtW sitting in the CT room and she’s talking to him. He says that she wants to die but that she doesn’t have the nerve to do it herself. She starts to inject herself but begs that he not make her do it. She goes to stick the needle in again and can’t do it.

Thirteen: I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die.

The man throws down his gun and goes to inject himself when a blast destroys the wall and they both are knocked down. The SWAT team rushes in and finds them both laying on the ground. House rushes in to check on Thirteen and finds that she’s still alive.

The SWAT team cuffs the patient and hauls him out.

House: Why are you still alive?
Thirteen: He didn’t make me take it.

As the POtW is leaving, he realizes that he can breathe and smiles at House.

Thirteen is laying in a bed and Foreman is next to her. She’s on dialysis due to the kidney failure, but it’s only temporary. She hints that she’d like to be in on the drug trial.

Cuddy goes into her office to see it wrecked, with blood on the walls and House’s writing on them as well. He comes back in to get his cane and House says that he understands why the patient did what he did.

House hints at a relationship, but doesn’t come clean about wanting to have one. Cuddy goes to open her desk…the drawer falls open because House rearranged it to be upside down.