Differential Diagnosis III

[chasemd]

[Posting order Chase, Thirteen, Foreman, Amber]Chase knew he was inevitably going to get a mixed reaction when he walked into the Diagnostics office after calling a differential. Compounding the issue was the fact he had Amber tow. When Cuddy told him the Diagnostics patient was apparently deteriorating and he had to step up to the plate with House

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[chasemd]

Chase looked between them all and then merely gave Foreman a small wave. "Bye then," he said dryly and turned his attention back to the rest of the team. "Anyone think to ultrasound the kidneys to look for nephritis? Not that I'm trying to tell you how to do your job or anything. Oh wait, yes I am. I'm the boss." He threw Foreman a pointed look, almost challenging him to say something else on the matter.

He turned to the whiteboard and scrawled 'US Kidneys' down the side and then added underneath. "Check for inflammation, cysts, stones, tumours." He rose again, turning back to the team. "Have you tested for TB? It would explain the lung symptoms and the hematuria." He added 'Hemoglobin electrophoresis' under the ultrasound annotation and pointed at it. "Check for Sickle Cell Anemia, too. What else, guys? Come on, hit me with it. I'm not House, I don't give a shit how stupid it sounds. The guy is coughing up blood and now he's peeing it. I'd like to get the answer before he has multiple organ failure. And while we're at it, may as well throw a second hypothetical case at you. Lets call him... Horace." He drew a line across the whiteboard, splitting it in two and then started listing 'Confusion', 'headache', '?hallucinations', 'recent history of head trauma' on the second half of the board. It wasn't like House was in any condition to diagnose himself right now, was it?

[innerthirteen]

The power-play was interesting to watch, but as it didn't directly involve her yet, Thirteen was smart enough to stay out of it. Although she was amused. Boys.

She glanced at Amber as Chase started writing the second part on the whiteboard. House? No. But it certainly would explain why House wasn't there and Chase was in the driver's seat. Did he really expect any of them not to get it?

"We're doing two cases at once now?" Not that she had a problem with that, but she wanted to know if this was a test or if they were going to solve the other and if it was an actual patient.

[neurologydoc]

Foreman knew there wasn't much point arguing the fact that Cuddy selected Chase to run this Diagnostics case. A lot of Cuddy's decisions when it came to House were questionable or unexplainable. And then, maybe very explainable. Maybe she just did it to piss everyone off, and if that was the case, then she had succeeded. It wasn't that he disliked Chase, even if he had told the guy as much to his face a year ago. In fact, since Chase got fired and went to another department to work, they had gotten along much better. Now they were thrust back into being direct colleagues again, but Foreman was just rubbed the wrong way supposedly being Chase's subordinate.

"Of course it's House," he deduced, pushing back from the conference table and crossing his arms. "Why else would Chase be here? House is either dead or toying with death for him not to be here. Cuddy has taken him off the case. Chase... doesn't want to be here," he realised from the look on the Aussie's face. "Interesting."

[cutthroatbitch]

Amber's eyes flicked between the two separate lists on the board. "If Horace had a recent and severe head trauma, hypothetically, that could explain a lot. And it wouldn't be at all surprising if he was, say, hemorrhaging in the brain and unconscious. Couple that with intracranial pressure, then I would say he has one hell of a headache and is probably glad to be unconscious. I also think considering Horace as a reputation for being an ass that we should actually focus on the real non-hypothetical patient before he claims a place in the morgue. With the right treatment, Horace will be fine. Our other patient, however, could be heading towards organ failure and we're all here wasting our time on Horace, who is, remember, hypothetical."

She pointed at the whiteboard with her pen. "What about Legionella, or Hemosiderosis?"

[chasemd]

Chase was losing patience already. How the hell was he supposed to pull of running this department? He had no interest in being in charge. If he turned it down, though, he could well be out of a job. "Horace could die a lot quicker than this patient if no one can figure out why his brain is bleeding," he said pointedly. He pointed around the circle with the marker. "And then we'll all be up shit creek without a paddle. He might be an ass, but with him out of action, who else is going to manage to find a diagnosis? Oh look at that! Look what the door says! Funny that. Diagnostics. Do you think that means, uh, diagnosing people?"

He shook his head. "Find out where he has been regularly in the last few months. Workplaces, family places, all that. Go there, check the water and ventilation systems. Take a gram stain to check for the infection." He rubbed his head. "You know what, just split into two groups, do the tests, you know what they are, and I want you to test for Cystic Fibrosis, too. Come back when they're done and we'll see if we're any closer to a result." If he wasn't down in the ICU belting House up with the IV line, that is.

[innerthirteen]

Oh. Well, this was bad. House was sick enough to have Chase run a transparently-fake diagnosis. Yeah, House was an ass, but she didn't want him to die. Especially not from something like a bleed in his head. Besides, it would be a challenge, especially from a patient as...uncooperative as House.

"Let me guess. Me and Foreman are pulling the fieldtrips." She waited a beat. "And let's just change it to House. You know he'll get it if he happens to come by anyway."

Still, it was kind of exciting. Diagnosing the boss. Assuming he let them and didn't catch on, anyway.