House Call

Brian walked up to the apartment door and knocked. He had a smirk on his face as he stood there with a suitcase on the ground next to him and a duffel bag over his shoulder. He was actually in town for a couple of different client meetings but he didn’t see a point in getting a hotel room when he could just stay with Justin. Of course, Justin didn’t know any of that. This made it no surprise to Brian when Justin opened the door and was completely shocked.
 

“Brian, what are you doing here?” He smiled brightly and hugged the man still standing out in his hall.
 

“I have some business I have to take care of and I thought I’d stay a little while longer than necessary.” He smiled back, his arms wrapped around Justin’s waist. They stood there for a second before he moved back. “As much as I love having you in my arms, I’d like it better with a little privacy,” he smirked.
 

“Oh! Sorry,” Justin said with a blush. He smiled and moved back into the apartment and out of the way so Brian could come inside.

The apartment was much nicer than Justin could afford on his own but Brian insisted that he get it. He didn’t want Justin living in a dangerous part of town. Brian called it part of the joys of being married. Justin played with the ring on his finger, still unable to believe they’d finally gotten married the year before, even though he was still in New York and Brian was still in Pittsburgh. “So, how long are you staying?” Justin asked.
 

“Well, I’ve got about six days worth of clothes so I figure a month or so,” Brian replied with a smirk, pulling Justin into his arms. He had more than one surprise up his sleeve for the blond this weekend. Part of the reason Brian was in town was because he was getting ready to open a New York office of Kinnetik. He was originally going to do that shortly after Justin moved to New York but decided that it would be best to start in Chicago. It made things a lot easier on Leo Brown, who was one of their biggest clients. They didn’t have enough money to open more than one remote office so New York had to wait. It didn’t keep Brian from spending as much time there as possible. “Besides, isn’t there some really important date coming up sometime around now?” Brian asked, smirk still firmly in place.
 

“You mean you actually want to celebrate our anniversary?” Justin asked with a raised eyebrow. “Are you feeling well?” he asked, placing his hand on Brian’s forehead. The older man moved back a little and chuckled. He leaned in and gave Justin a kiss, then rested his forehead against the blond’s. He stopped for a second and looked at Justin.
 

“Seems I could ask you the same question,” Brian said, his brow furrowed a little. He reached up and touched Justin’s forehead. He was a bit warm.
 

“I’m fine; it’s just a little fever, that’s all.” He smiled. He really didn’t want Brian to worry, especially if he had business he needed to take care of. The last thing Brian needed was a distraction from work.
 

“You sure?” Brian asked with a raised eyebrow. Normally he’d have ordered Justin to take some Tylenol to get the fever down but that wasn’t an option with Justin.
 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He smiled again and kissed Brian on the cheek. “I went to the doctor this morning and he said it was nothing.”
 

“Alright,” Brian said with a nod. He still wasn’t convinced, though. He decided not to worry about it strictly because Justin didn’t want him to.

*****

 

Two days later Justin woke up with a pounding headache. They hadn’t been drinking or drugging the night before. He hadn’t had any alcohol or recreational drugs in months. He figured maybe it was just a stress headache. He was trying to get ready for a show. He needed four more paintings before the deadline that was only two months away. He wasn’t sure if he could do it. He spent hours in his studio trying to force himself to paint and it just wasn’t working. On top of that, his hand wasn’t cooperating. It wasn’t any different than usual, but it was still frustrating as hell. He decided to just pop a couple pain killers and go on about his day.
 

“How’d the meeting go?” he asked Brian when he called around lunch.
 

“Fantastic. We got the account, of course.” He smiled though Justin couldn’t see it.
 

“That’s great,” Justin said. He hoped that his voice didn’t sound strained. He was trying to hide the fact that his head was still pounding regardless of the pain medication.
 

“You okay?” Brian asked, hearing the forced tone.
 

“I’m fine. Just a headache. No big deal.” He tried to sound as reassuring as possible.
 

“How about I come home and give you a nice massage?” Brian asked, looking at his watch. He had a meeting at three but he could postpone it if he needed to.
 

“No, I’m fine. I’m just gonna take a nap. See if I can sleep it off. I’ll see you later, okay?” Justin said with a smile on his lips.
 

“Okay. But you call me if you need me.” He didn’t try to hide the worry in his tone.
 

“I will. Love you,” Justin replied.
 

“Love you.” Brian answered, then hung up the phone. He couldn’t help but think something was wrong but he knew how stubborn Justin could be. He also knew that Justin would go to the doctor if he thought it was really bad. When Brian got home after the meetings he noticed that all the lights were off. The curtains were drawn and the apartment was almost completely dark.

“Justin?” he asked, loosening his tie as he looked around.
 

“Don’t turn the light on.” Justin’s voice came from the area of the couch. Brian made his way over and saw Justin lying on the couch, an ice pack on his forehead. He knelt down and took Justin’s hand. Justin smiled a little bit, but didn’t open his eyes.
 

“Migraine?” Brian asked. Justin was known to have one occasionally.
 

“Yeah,” he said softly. “I tried calling you but your cell phone was off.”
 

“I was in a meeting,” Brian said with a sigh. He knew better than to turn his phone off but he hadn’t wanted any interruptions. He felt bad that he’d let work get before Justin yet again. He reached up and started lightly massaging Justin’s scalp. He heard a small sigh come from the blond.
 

“That feels good,” Justin said, squeezing Brian’s hand. Brian smiled but was thankful that Justin’s eyes were closed so he wouldn’t see the worry on his face.
 

“Maybe you should go to the doctor…” Brian started.
 

“It’s just a migraine. I took some Zomig my doctor gave me for just this occasion. I’ll be fine in a little while.” He finally opened his eyes and looked at Brian, reaching up and touching his cheek. Brian looked him in the eye. Justin saw love and concern in the beautiful hazel eyes and he couldn’t keep from smiling. Brian smiled back just a little bit and leaned down to kiss Justin. “I’ll be okay.” Justin tried to sound reassuring. Brian nodded, continuing to massage Justin’s scalp.

 

*****

The headache seemed to get better but it just wouldn’t go away. At least it was no longer debilitating. Justin could still wake up in the morning and paint while Brian was at meetings with clients. He’d ended up with a lot more meetings than originally anticipated but Justin didn’t care. The more work Brian had to do, the longer he stayed in New York. Sure, Justin knew he could paint from Pittsburgh but he also knew that he wouldn’t get as well known from there. He needed to really make a name for himself before he could go back to stay. Even after three years he’d gotten his name out there in the art world but he hadn’t quite gotten to where he could paint wherever he wanted.
 

He’d only been painting for about twenty minutes when his hand started to spasm. It usually took a lot longer than twenty minutes and it usually hurt. This time it was just a spasm, not a cramp, but he couldn’t get his fingers to straighten out. He tried massaging it, but nothing worked. He couldn’t get the spasm to stop. He sighed. He wouldn’t be able to get anything done until his hand started cooperating and it looked like that wasn’t going to be happening any time soon. He decided to watch some TV.
 

Brian called the apartment after his meeting was over. Yet another client signed. He wanted to get Justin and celebrate. He frowned when it rolled over to voicemail. Justin always answered his phone when he called. He decided to leave a message telling the blond that he was on his way. Justin needed to either be dressed to go out or completely naked to stay in, but either way they were going to celebrate. He smiled a little to himself. He definitely wouldn’t mind going home to find the blonde completely naked in the middle of the bed.
 

He walked into the apartment and set his briefcase down beside the door. Brian heard music coming from the studio and figured Justin must have been painting. That would explain why he didn’t answer his phone. There were times when nothing could tear Justin away from a canvas, not even near starvation. Brian smiled a little and made his way to the studio. He stopped in the doorway when he saw Justin massaging his hand. He wondered how long Justin had been working if his hand was bothering him. Brian was about to ask exactly that when he noticed Justin’s whole body go stiff.
 

“Justin…” He started to move forward. As Brian took his second step toward Justin, the blond collapsed and started seizing. “Fuck!” Brian yelled. To the best of his knowledge Justin had never had a seizure. He remembered some stuff that the neurologist told him at a previous visit. He rolled Justin onto his side. He needed to give the blond something to bite on but the only thing he could come up with that wouldn’t block his airway was one of his fingers. Figuring he could regret it later, he shoved two fingers into Justin’s mouth while dialing his cell phone with the other hand, calling 911.

 

*****

Dr. Gregory House was sitting in his office, headphones on, listening to one of his favorite albums. He was drumming his fingers on the desk, his eyes closed, completely lost in the music. That was, until, it suddenly stopped. He opened one eye and saw Dr. Lisa Cuddy standing next to the stereo, the headphone jack in her hand.
 

“I’ve been calling you for five minutes,” she said, looking extremely annoyed.
 

“Well, I obviously couldn’t hear you,” he replied, the tiniest hint of a mischievous grin on his lips. “To what do I owe this interruption?” he asked. He then stared down at the file she almost literally threw onto his desk.
 

“I thought this might interest you.” She raised an eyebrow as she looked at him. House picked up the file and started looking through it. He looked up at her with a questioning expression.
 

“Why do you think this might interest me?” He couldn’t see anything that a neurologist couldn’t handle.
 

“Spasms but no pain in his right hand, seizure, headache, fever…..all with no explanation,” Cuddy replied.
 

“That’s what neurologists are for,” House answered.
 

“And, you’ve got one of his paintings hanging in your office.” She pointed to the abstract on the wall to her left. It really was a beautiful painting. She’d noticed when he added it the year before.
 

“This is that Justin Taylor?” He raised an eyebrow. This was curious indeed. He’d been to a gallery show of the young man’s work and loved everything he saw. It was very difficult deciding on the one painting. He then looked at Cuddy for a minute. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
 

“He’s been to three different doctors, in the emergency room twice, no one can figure out what’s wrong with him. And…..the hospital’s been promised a significant donation if, and I quote, ‘you can find out what the fuck is wrong and fix it’.” She sighed at the amused expression on House’s face.
 

“Did you just drop the F bomb?” His eyes went wide and he put a hand to his chest.
 

“Just look at it,” she ordered, then turned to leave. House was about to say something, but looking at the file again he decided against it. This was definitely going to be an interesting case.
 

*****
 

“I don’t really care what you think,” Dr Chase said as he looked at Dr Foreman.
 

“I just love to hear that first thing in the morning,” House said as he walked into the room. All eyes turned to him. He threw the file at Dr Foreman, then moved over and positioned himself in front of his dry erase board. “Twenty-six year old male. Presented with a fever. Two days later he develops a migraine. Couple days after that the headache is better but not gone and he goes into a seizure after experiencing spasms in his right hand. All of this is seemingly completely unexplained.”
 

“It says here he’s seen three different doctors,” Foreman commented.
 

“All of them diagnosed him incorrectly,” House answered.
 

“The fever could have caused the seizure,” Chase stated.
 

“Never got above 101.8,” House answered.
 

“Meningitis?” Dr Cameron asked. House shook his head.
 

“They did an LP. Test - came back negative. They also ruled out infection of any kind. Cameron, Chase, I want you two to go get as thorough a history as possible. There’s something he’s not telling us. Once that’s done, we’ll have more to go on.” The two doctors nodded and left the room. Foreman looked at him a little confused.
 

“What about me?”
 

“You can do some research on neurological disorders and see what you can come up with given the existing symptoms.” House then went into his office.

*****

Brian sat in a chair by the bed, holding Justin’s hand. He was trying to hide the fact that he was scared shitless. Something was wrong with Justin and there was nothing he could do but wait. See what the doctors had to say. He hated this feeling. He started to remember the last time he felt this way and he really didn’t want to think about that. Justin was sleeping. He loved to watch him sleep. Although he didn’t understand how Justin could sleep in a hospital with the beeping heart monitor. He shook his head and sighed. That’s when he noticed the movement outside the room. He stood up and kissed Justin’s forehead, frowning because he was still a little warm. He then went outside the room to find out what was going on.
 

*****
 

“There’s no way he’s twenty-six,” Cameron said as they got closer to the room.
 

“He does look a bit young,” Chase agreed.
 

“A bit young? He looks like he’s twelve.” She shook her head. “And who’s that in there with him?”
 

“Well…” Chase said. “Judging from the matching wedding bands I’d say that’s his husband.” He smirked just a little bit.
 

“His….husband,” Cameron said, looking like she just swallowed a bug. Chase looked at her, a bit shocked.
 

“You can’t be serious. Miss ‘I tolerate anything’ is a homophobe?” he asked, unable to hide his slight amusement.
 

“I just….don’t get it,” she said with a slight shudder.
 

“Well, it doesn’t matter. He’s our patient now, that’s all that counts,” Chase said.

And that’s what Brian heard as he came out of the room. He could see the look on the young woman’s face and knew it immediately. That immediately put him on the defensive.

“I’m Dr Chase, this is Dr Cameron,” Chase introduced.
 

“Brian Kinney,” he replied in way of introduction.
 

“We’re going to be taking over your husband’s case,” Chase said calmly, as if it were no big deal. Brian was already starting to like him. It was usually the guys that had a problem with the relationship. He noticed that Dr Cameron refused to look at him.
 

“We’d like to talk to your husband about his medical history,” Cameron said, hesitating on the word husband. She internally shuddered yet again at the thought.
 

“I can tell you anything you want to know,” Brian replied with a raised eyebrow.
 

“We’d like to talk to him directly,” Chase said.
 

“He’s resting and I know his medical history so you can talk to me.” Brian’s tone left no room for argument. Chase nodded and opened the file, getting his pen ready to take some notes.
 

“Alright then,” Chase said. Cameron just looked at him for a minute and started to open her mouth to say something. Brian glared at her and she closed it quickly. It was obvious he was very protective of Justin.
 

“He has allergies,” Brian said before Chase could ask any questions.
 

“What kinds of allergies?” Chase asked, making notes as Brian spoke.
 

“Codeine, morphine, penicillin, acetaminophen…” Brian started.
 

“Acetaminophen?” Cameron asked. “No one’s allergic to acetaminophen.” She noticed the smirk form on Brian’s face.
 

“That’s what I told him when he first told me that, but it’s true. Deathly allergic as a matter of fact. Justin doesn’t have any mild allergies to anything.” He then turned his attention back to Chase. “He’s also allergic to shell fish, strawberries…I can write out a complete list for you. Otherwise we’ll be standing here all day.”
 

“That would be great.” Chase nodded. It was apparently a very long list. “Has he suffered any trauma?” Chase asked. He noticed that Brian got very tense when that question was asked.
 

“Severe head injury when he was eighteen. Caused the loss of fine motor skills in his right hand. But that’s not what’s causing the spasms this time,” Brian answered.
 

“How do you know?” Cameron asked.
 

“You don’t spend nine years of your life with someone and not know,” Brian replied, glaring at her once again. Chase made a note of that. The length of their relationship could come in handy later. “Anything else you need to know?” Brian asked Chase.
 

“Not at this time. We’ll come back if there are any more questions. If you could give a list of his allergies to the nurse she’ll make sure we get them,” Chase replied.
 

“Just out of curiosity, why are there two of you? Justin’s rarely seen more than one doctor at a time.” Brian was a little worried.
 

“We’re actually a team,” Chase said. “We work for Dr. Gregory House. He’s the best diagnostician on the east coast.”
 

“So you’re here because none of the other doctors could figure out what’s wrong, but they’re all confident this Dr House can?” Brian asked with a raised eyebrow.
 

“He’s a brilliant doctor and I can guarantee you he’ll find out what’s wrong with Justin,” Cameron said. It was the first time she’d looked Brian in the eye during the entire conversation. He could see there was a truth to her words. At the very least, she believed them. Brian simply nodded.
 

“Have the nurse page us when he’s awake,” Chase said.
 

“Why? I told you what you need to know,” Brian asked.
 

“We’d just like to talk to him about a few things. Maybe some things you don’t know about. From when he was a child or something,” Cameron answered before Chase could say a word.

Brian nodded, then went back into the room. He planned to make sure that only Dr Chase was paged.

 

*****

“So, what did you find out?” Dr House asked his staff about twenty minutes later. He pulled the prescription bottle out of his pocket and opened it, swallowing a pill without any water. Rather than saying anything, Chase handed him the list of allergies Brian had written out for them. “Well, this is interesting. So, besides being allergic to most of the pharmacy and half of the world, what else have you got?” He threw the paper down on the table.
 

“Severe head trauma when he was eighteen,” Chase answered.
 

“What kind of trauma?” House asked.
 

“The husband didn’t say,” Cameron replied, once again looking like she swallowed a bug.
 

“Of course the patient wouldn’t say...” House said.
 

“Not the patient. The um….patient’s husband,” Chase clarified. House looked between Chase and Cameron for a minute, then nodded.
 

“So he’s gay,” Foreman said more than asked.
 

“As if that hadn’t just been made blatantly obvious,” House replied, rolling his eyes. He turned to the dry erase board and started writing symptoms.

“We need to find out what kind of trauma he suffered. It could be relevant.”
 

“The husband doesn’t think it is,” Chase said.
 

“The patients and their families never think anything is relevant, but it usually is. Cameron, find out what kind of trauma it was.”
 

“I’d rather not,” Cameron replied. House turned and looked at her.
 

“What was that?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.
 

“I’d rather Chase do it.” She wouldn’t look at him. Chase smirked.
 

“Our little miss congeniality is a bit of a homophobe,” he said. Foreman looked at Cameron in complete shock.
 

“I would have expected something like this from Chase, but you?” House said, feigning shock. “I don’t care about your personal beliefs. I don’t care if you think they’re an abomination to God or whatever your problem with homosexuals is. Go find out what kind of trauma. He’s our patient. Deal with it.” He then turned back to the board. She sighed and left the room. “Foreman, I want you to draw some blood. Rerun all the tests. Maybe they missed something. Chase, contact his next of kin. We need to get his parents’ medical history and I somehow doubt the husband has that information.” The two men nodded and left.

 

*****

“Hey, baby,” Brian said with a smile as Justin slowly woke up. He’d been worried because Justin had been asleep for almost eighteen hours. He reached up and started stroking the soft blond hair. He was still worried about the fever. They couldn’t seem to make it go down. Justin smiled up at him, gently squeezing the hand that was holding his.
 

“Hey.” His voice was soft, almost a whisper. Brian leaned down and kissed him lightly on the lips. Justin reached his hand up and held Brian in place as he started to move away, extending and deepening the kiss. He blushed furiously when he heard someone clear their throat. Justin let go and Brian sat up, looking at the doctor that was now in the room. He wasn’t Chase or Cameron.
 

“Who are you?” Brian asked with a raised eyebrow.

Foreman looked at him. His body was tense and he looked ready to attack. “I’m Dr Foreman. I work with Dr Chase and Dr Cameron.” He said as he started to slip on some gloves.
 

“Ah yes, the lovely, homophobic Dr Cameron. I’m afraid I was less than cooperative when she came back and asked some more questions.” Brian smirked. Justin reached out and backhanded his arm. Brian winced and rubbed the spot where Justin had just hit him. The interaction caused Foreman to smile a little. “So, what are you here for?”
 

“I’m going to take some blood for some tests,” he said, pulling out the needle. He noticed that Justin went a little pale. Brian reached over and slid an arm behind his shoulders, taking his hand and holding him tight. Justin buried his face against Brian’s neck.
 

“He’s got a little problem with needles,” Brian explained, answering Foreman’s unasked question.
 

“So Cameron wasn’t able to get accurate information from you?” he asked as he started to draw the blood.
 

“Brian’s very particular about who he talks to,” Justin replied, his voice muffled against Brian’s neck.
 

“I don’t talk to homophobic doctors,” Brian replied matter of factly.
 

“Dr House would like to know what kind of trauma you suffered,” Foreman said to Justin. Before Justin could open his mouth, though, Brian spoke.
 

“It doesn’t matter. You have all the information you need.”
 

“Dr House doesn’t think so,” Foreman said. He removed that vial and started to fill another.
 

“Dr House can suck my dick if he doesn’t like it,” Brian replied. Foreman looked a little shocked but he heard Justin chuckle.
 

“He can be very…..persistent when he wants to know something,” Foreman warned. He finished taking the blood and put the needles away. “All done.” He smiled when Justin looked up.
 

“I can be very persistent too,” Brian said. Justin sighed heavily.
 

“Brian, can you go get me a soda or something? I’m kind of thirsty.” He smiled sweetly. Brian looked between Justin and Foreman before he nodded. He knew a diversionary tactic when he saw one. He kissed Justin’s temple, then went to leave the room. “Sorry about that.”
 

“It’s okay. He obviously cares about you a lot. He’s very protective,” Foreman said with a slight smile.
 

“Yes, he is. But I love him anyway.” Justin smiled back.
 

“How long have you two been together?” Foreman asked.
 

“It depends who you ask,” Justin replied with a chuckle. He decided to explain when Foreman looked at him confused. “Brian and I met about nine years ago. By my standards we were in a relationship. But Brian didn’t do relationships back when we first met. Or so he said. By Brian’s standards, we’ve only been officially a couple for the last four years.”
 

“Sounds like an interesting relationship,” Foreman said.
 

“It’s had its ups and downs, but we’ve come through it together. Took me five years to get him to ask me to marry him,” Justin said.
 

“So you’ve been married for four years?” Foreman was mentally taking notes. Justin laughed.
 

“No, we’ve only been married for a little over a year. I said it took him five years to ask.” He laughed again and Foreman laughed with him. “We have been completely monogamous for the last three years, though, which was a big step for Brian. Bigger step than marriage.”
 

“Really. So you weren’t monogamous at first?” This could be pertinent information, Foreman thought. Justin shook his head.
 

“Like I said, Brian didn’t think we were in a relationship. He’d fuck anything that moved and had a dick. Gay, straight, didn’t matter. If there was a willing orifice, he’d stick his dick in it. He never did the same man twice, either. Until me that is.” He smiled proudly. Foreman looked at Justin for a minute.
 

“So, how many men has Brian been with?” He raised an eyebrow.
 

“Total, or just since I’ve met him?” Justin asked.
 

“Total,” Foreman asked.
 

“Rough estimate I’d say about….five or six thousand.” It was said so matter of factly that Foreman almost missed the last word.
 

“Five or six thousand?” he asked, completely shocked. Justin nodded.
 

“That is, of course, taking into consideration the fact that he’s been sexually active since he was fourteen, and he was with anywhere from one to three different partners a day. He was well into the quadruple digits when I met him,” Justin answered.
 

“How old is Brian?” Foreman asked.
 

“Thirty-eight,” Justin replied. Foreman looked a little shocked, but he just nodded.
 

“I need to get this to the lab,” Foreman said. Justin nodded and lay back, closing his eyes. Foreman couldn’t believe how nonchalantly Justin had given him all that information about his husband. And the age difference. He shuddered at the thought.

 

*****

“We have to take that into account,” Chase said as they sat around the table.
 

“What does the husband’s former sexual activity have to do with the patient?” Foreman asked. Cameron walked in followed closely by Dr House.
 

“It has a lot to do with it,” Cameron said as she took a seat. “We need to test for sexually transmitted infections.”
 

“But they’ve been monogamous for the last three years,” Foreman said.
 

“They’d know by now if they had an STI,” Chase agreed.
 

“They said they’ve been monogamous,” Cameron said. “And patients always lie.”
 

“But why lie now?” House said, looking at the three doctors.
 

“What do you mean?” Cameron asked.
 

“Foreman, how long have they been together?”
 

“Nine years,” Foreman answered. House then looked at Cameron.
 

“Why would they admit to the fact that they weren’t monogamous for the first six years of their relationship but lie about it for the last three?” House questioned with a raised eyebrow.
 

“I still think we should test for sexually transmitted infections,” Cameron insisted.
 

“What do you think?” House asked Foreman and Chase.
 

“I think they’re telling the truth,” Foreman said. “Justin said that monogamy was a big step for Brian. He wouldn’t lie about that.”
 

“And you suddenly know the patient so well,” Cameron said, rolling her eyes.
 

“I talked to him. He was very open about the fact that his husband had been with literally thousands of men before they even met. Why would he cover anything up?” Foreman said. Chase looked a bit shocked at the comment.
 

“Maybe because he doesn’t know,” Cameron said.
 

“So he knew about the other men before,” House said more than asked. Foreman nodded. “And they’re still together so the husband would have no reason to lie if he were fooling around now.”
“But you said all patients lie,” Cameron pointed out.
 

“All patients do lie, but they don’t necessarily lie about everything.” House turned back to the board. He was about to write something when they all got paged. Cameron, Chase and Foreman looked at each other before getting up and going to Justin’s room. Brian was holding a trash can while Justin vomited into it.
 

“When did this start?” Foreman asked as he came over. Brian was rubbing Justin’s back.
 

“After he ate lunch. It just started out of nowhere. He hasn’t been sick like this before.” He sounded worried.
 

“We can give him something for the nausea,” Chase said. He went and got a needle out of one of the drawers, injecting it directly into the IV. Justin continued to vomit into the trash can until all that was coming up was stomach acid. Finally, after about half an hour, he stopped. Chase gave him another dose of the same medication. “That should help.”
 

“What’s wrong with me?” Justin asked in a weak voice, almost whimpering. He reached out and grabbed Brian’s arm with his left hand, his right hand starting to spasm again. Chase and Foreman looked at the hand, then looked at each other.
 

“We’re going to have to do an MRI,” Cameron said before either of them could. Justin nodded, still holding onto Brian. They noticed that Brian reached over and started to massage Justin’s hand. He leaned down and started to whisper in Justin’s ear and it seemed to calm the younger man.

“I’ll go make sure it’s available,” Cameron said before leaving the room. Chase and Foreman checked Justin’s vitals.
 

“She really needs to get laid,” Brian said with a smirk. Justin, Chase and Foreman all laughed. “I win,” Brian said softly to Justin. Justin smiled a little and kissed Brian. Chase suddenly felt like he was intruding on a private moment so he finished what he was doing and left, dragging Foreman along with him.
 

“They really do care about each other,” Chase said as they walked down the hall. Foreman simply nodded his agreement.

*****

“So, let’s see. We have fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle spasms in the previously affected hand. Before we do the MRI, any suggestions?” House asked as he wrote on the board. “What could cause all of these?”
 

“It could be encephalitis,” Chase said.
 

“That doesn’t explain the spasms,” Foreman commented.
 

“It could if it were aggravating his previous injury,” Cameron pointed out.
 

“Alright test for encephalitis, then we’ll run the MRI,” House said, making some more notes on the board. They wondered why he’d given in so easily. Maybe he knew something they didn’t.
 

“The test came back negative,” Chase said with a sigh.
 

“What about MS?” Cameron asked.
 

“He’s not suffering paralysis though, just spasms,” Foreman said.
 

“It could still be MS,” she offered.
 

“We’ll know when we run the MRI,” House replied. “Besides, MS doesn’t explain the other symptoms.”

 

*****

“Alright, Justin, I need you to hold perfectly still,” Cameron said into the microphone as they started to move him into the MRI machine.
 

“Where’s Brian? I need Brian…” Justin was trying not to panic.
 

“I’m right here, Sunshine,” Brian said over the microphone. His voice calmed Justin almost instantly. Foreman and Chase looked at each other, both mouthing “sunshine”. Foreman shook his head and Chase smirked.
 

“We’re going to start the scan now, it shouldn’t take long,” Cameron said.
 

“Okay,” Justin replied. He tried to remain as still as possible. He really hated small spaces but he knew the test was necessary. Just knowing Brian was there seemed to help, though. About halfway through the test, his heart rate started to rise a little.
 

“He’s getting scared, let me talk to him,” Brian said. He’d insisted that the only way to keep Justin calm was for him to be as close as possible. Cameron moved so Brian could access the microphone. “How you doing in there, Sunshine?” Brian asked. He heard Chase stifle a chuckle but he didn’t say anything.
 

“I’m okay,” Justin replied, his voice shaking a little.
 

“You know, I’m looking at the screens here. Turns out you do have a brain in there after all. We’ve got proof now.” He smiled a little when he heard Justin chuckle.
 

“You’re such an asshole.” There was affection in his voice as he said it.
 

“There’s the old injury,” Foreman said as that section of Justin’s brain came onto the screen. Brian moved back so he could look at it. He’d never seen any of Justin’s previous MRI images. He cringed when he saw the very obviously damaged area of Justin’s brain. “Doesn’t look like there are any other lesions though.”
 

“That’s good, right?” Brian asked.
 

“It rules out MS,” Chase commented. Brian sighed a little. That was definitely good news. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Justin’s heart rate skyrocketed.
 

“He’s seizing!” Cameron said as she started to move into the room. Chase and Foreman pushed the buttons that moved the bed back out of the machine. They made their way into the room, insisting that Brian stay back.
 

Brian watched in horror as Justin’s body convulsed on the little bed. He wanted to go in there and help, but he knew he’d just be in the way. They injected Justin with something and his heart rate started to go down. The seizure stopped moments after that. The doctors were talking to each other but Brian wasn’t really paying attention to what they were saying. He was too worried about Justin.

 

*****

“So, we’ve ruled out MS,” House said as he looked at the MRI scans.
 

“He did seize while he was in the machine,” Cameron pointed out.
 

“Maybe delayed epilepsy?” Chase threw out there.
 

“Are you just going through every disease and disorder you can think of that causes seizures and throwing it out there hoping you might be right?” House asked with a raised eyebrow.
 

“Sort of,” Chase admitted, blushing a little bit.
 

“Good. It’s more than these two are doing.” He looked at Foreman and Cameron. Chase gave them a smug smile.
 

“What about Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis? It explains the muscle spasms as well as the fever, nausea, fatigue and seizures,” Foreman asked. He’d been looking it up earlier.
 

“That does sound right,” Cameron agreed. Chase simply nodded.
 

"It mainly affects prepubertal kids, though," Foreman threw out.
 

"Have you seen him?" Cameron asked. Chase chuckled.
 

"Mainly is the key word there. It's not entirely unheard of in adults, jut uncommon," House said. Chase and Cameron nodded.
 

"It's possible," Foreman said.
 

“So we’re agreed then?” House asked. The three nodded. “Alright, start him on Dexamethasone. If it is ADEM, he should be fine in a couple of days,” House said. Foreman and Cameron went to administer the drug. Chase stayed behind and looked at House for a minute. “Yes?”
 

“You said if…” Chase said.
 

“And?”
 

“Do you think it might be something else?” Chase asked matter of factly.
 

“It’s entirely possible. We’ll know for sure in a few hours. I’d still like to know what caused the serious head injury.”
 

“According to Foreman, the husband said it doesn’t matter and when Foreman said you thought it did matter, the husband said that you could suck his dick if you didn’t like it,” Chase replied with a smirk.
 

“And why isn’t Foreman telling me this?” House asked, slightly amused but refusing to show it.
 

“He felt it wasn’t relevant information,” Chase replied. House just nodded.
 

“I’m apparently going to have to talk to the patient myself.”
 

“You’re going to have to get past the husband to do it,” Chase warned before going to run some more tests. House simply nodded. He’d gotten past stubborn family members before.

 

*****

“And what is this going to do?” Brian asked as they hooked up the drug.
 

“Justin has a condition known as ADEM. Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis,” Forman answered.
 

“It’s a disease that’s kind of like a combination of encephalitis and MS, but it is actually curable. It just has similar symptoms,” Chase said.
 

“We’re giving you a drug called Dexamethasone. It’s a corticosteroid that helps with the inflammation of the brain. You should be fine to go home in a day or two,” Cameron said directly to Justin.
 

“You can expect a full recovery in as little as a week,” Foreman said with a smile. Justin returned the smile, squeezing Brian’s hand.
 

“Thank you,” Justin said, looking at all three of them. Chase and Foreman smiled, leaving the room. Cameron stayed behind and checked out Justin’s vitals.
 

“We’ve been taking bets on how long it’s been since the last time you got laid,” Brian commented to her. She looked up and blushed a little. Justin swatted him.
 

“He’s just kidding,” Justin said. Cameron nodded.
 

“You know, I’ve got this friend who’s a lawyer. Very nice. I think you two would get along very well.” Brian winked.
 

“Brian!” Justin said, trying not to laugh. Cameron looked up, actually seeming a bit interested.
 

“Oh really?” Cameron asked, trying not to sound too eager.
 

“Yeah, her name is Melanie,” Brian said. Cameron looked absolutely scandalized and practically ran out of the room. Brian couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer.
 

“You’re evil!” Justin said with a chuckle.
 

“I’m sweet,” Brian replied. He leaned down and gave Justin a kiss. He sat back and smiled at Justin, but the smile faded when the heart monitor started to go crazy. Justin was gasping for breath and grabbing at his chest. “Justin…” Brian just held onto the blond with one arm as he pushed the call button for the nurse. Cameron, Chase and Foreman ran back into the room together. Brian got up and got out of the way.
 

“What’s going on?” Brian asked.
 

“He’s going into cardiac arrest,” Chase said. Brian watched as they started to work on Justin. All he could do was stand back and stay out of the way.
 

“What caused this?” Brian asked.
 

“We’re not sure,” Foreman said. Brian’s eyes went wide as they rolled over the defibrillator. He cringed as they started to shock Justin.
 

“Please don’t leave me….” he said softly as he watched. It was on the fourth shock that Justin’s heart finally started beating again. Brian just stood there watching as the machines started reading normal, as if nothing had happened. The only clue that something was wrong was that Justin was still unconscious.

 

*****

“Cardiac arrest,” House said as he wrote it on the board. He looked at the list of symptoms.
 

“Could the Dexamethasone have caused the cardiac arrest?” Cameron asked.
 

“It’s known to occasionally cause arrhythmia but not cardiac arrest,” Foreman said.
 

“Unless the Dexamethasone induced arrhythmia aggravated his existing condition which caused the decline into cardiac arrest,” Chase stated.
 

“Can we please stop saying cardiac arrest?” House said without looking at his staff. He started looking at the list of symptoms. “I need to find out what caused the previous head injury.”
 

“I really don’t see how that matters,” Cameron said.
 

“It’s entirely possible that all of this is just a delayed reaction to the previous head injury,” House said. He then started to leave the room. He headed toward the patients’ room, his staff following.

Brian was sitting by the bed, holding Justin’s hand. He looked up at the three other doctors.

“Hello, I’m Dr House. We need to have a little chat.” He looked at Brian.
 

“About what?” Brian asked, standing up and immediately on the defensive.
 

“About what caused the prior head injury,” House said, looking Brian in the eye.
 

“That doesn’t matter. It was eight years ago,” Brian said.

House looked slightly stunned by that. Maybe he was off, but he needed to know for sure. “You see, I think it does matter.” As he said that, he pulled the bottle of Vicodin out of his pocket and took one. Brian looked at the bottle longingly for just a second; having been able to read the label, but it was short enough that nobody noticed.
 

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think,” Brian replied.
 

“Here’s the thing. I’m the doctor that is trying to save your husband’s life. In order for me to do that, you have to tell me what caused the previous trauma because he’ll die unless I know exactly what I’m dealing with.”
 

“I still don’t see why it matters what did it, just that it happened. That’s all you really need to know,” Brian answered. He was really starting to get irritated with this Dr House. He reminded him a little too much of…well…himself.
 

“You may not think it matters. But you see, what you think doesn’t matter to me. All that I care about is getting all of the necessary information to save your husband’s life.” House was getting seriously annoyed with this man.
 

“Listen to me you insensitive, self centered, pill popping, gimp asshole! If I say it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter. Period.” Brian crossed his arms over his chest.
 

“You’re really one to talk about popping pills. Did the ecstasy actually help calm your nerves or is it just your own form of pain management? Either way, it’s not helping your husband!” House replied.
 

“None of this is helping him,” Cameron interrupted. “Mr. Kinney. It’s entirely possible that all of this is a delayed reaction to the previous head injury but we can’t know that unless you tell us what caused it.” She was trying to stay calm, but it was difficult. Both men were being extremely stubborn. She watched as Brian’s shoulders slumped and he almost melted into the chair. He ran his fingers through his hair as he looked up at Dr House.
 

“He was hit in the head with a baseball bat when he was eighteen.” There was a haunted look in Brian’s eyes as he said it. He could almost hear the crack of the bat hitting Justin’s skull, even all these years later. Even House stood there looking shocked at Brian’s response. “Is it relevant?” Brian asked.
 

“No. No it’s not,” House shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
 

“Yeah, well. Sorry’s bullshit,” Brian replied, looking at Justin on the bed. He took his hand and then looked back at the doctors. “Please, just…..find out what’s wrong with him.” He bit his lip to keep it from quivering. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if he lost Justin.
 

“He’s an artist, right?” House asked. Brian nodded. “Any history of drug use?” he asked. Brian couldn’t understand why they were asking these questions now.
 

“He used to do E and poppers. And the occasional joint. But he hasn’t done that in at least six months,” Brian replied. House again nodded.
 

“We’re going to do everything we can to save your husband,” Cameron commented. They all turned and left the room.
 

“Is the drug use relevant?” Chase asked as they walked toward the office.
 

“Not those drugs, no.” House shook his head. They went back into the room and he looked at the board. He couldn’t think of what could be wrong. It always bugged him when he was sure of himself and then proven wrong. It had to be something. He kept looking at the symptoms. Then he remembered something. “Where’s his file?” House asked.
 

“Right here.” Cameron said, pulling it over to her and opening it.
 

“What was the progression of symptoms again?” he asked, turning back to the board.
 

“Fever, which still hasn’t gone down. Two days later a migraine and then two days after that, the first seizure,” she replied. House circled the fever and the migraine.
 

“What if the fever has nothing to do with what’s causing the seizures?” He turned and looked at his staff.
 

“That doesn’t make any sense…” Foreman said.
 

“If we exclude the fever as a symptom, what do we have?” House asked, ignoring Foreman.
 

“We can’t exclude the fever; they haven’t gotten it to go down yet,” Cameron pointed out.
 

“Give him some Tylenol, it’ll go down,” House commented absently.
 

“He’s allergic to Tylenol. It’s on the list,” Chase pointed out. House stopped a second. He picked up the list of allergies. It was a very long list.
“History of severe and extensive allergies, seizure, spasms, fatigue, nausea…..” He started to think. The allergies had to be relevant but he would have presented with something before then. Unless he was exposed to something he didn’t know he was allergic too. “What if all of this is an allergic reaction?” House asked.
 

“That’s crazy,” Chase said.
 

“An allergic reaction?” Foreman questioned. Cameron looked thoughtful. She looked up at House.
 

“The husband said that Justin doesn’t have any minor allergic reactions. Everything he’s allergic to is severe,” she pointed out.
 

“But he’s gotten worse as he’s spent time here,” Foreman said. House thought for a second. A smile slowly crept onto his face.
 

“And who has been by his side nearly every minute that he's been in this hospital? Did anyone notice that smell when we walked into the room?” he asked. They looked at each other before looking at him.
 

“It just smelled like cologne,” Cameron said.
 

“And you noticed that the husband was clean. It’s obvious he’s been taking showers,” House said.
 

“He goes home every night to shower and change clothes before coming back up here,” Chase said. House smiled and started to walk back down the hall. “What’s going on?” Chase asked the other two. Both of them shrugged and started to follow House. When he walked into the room, Brian looked up a bit startled. He could tell Dr House was sniffing the air.
 

“What’s that smell?” House asked.
 

“It’s my soap,” Brian replied with a raised eyebrow.
 

“And how long have you been using that soap?” House asked, quirking the same eyebrow. It amused him how much he and Mr Kinney had in common.
 

“It’s new. I’ve only had it for about a month….” Brian stopped, staring at House. He’d gotten it before he came to visit Justin. He hadn’t been using it before then.
 

“I suggest you go home and throw it out,” House said.
 

“That’s what’s causing all this? But he had the fever before I got here,” Brian tried to defend himself. He didn’t want to think he was the reason Justin was sick.
 

“Before you got here?” House asked.
 

“We have a commuter marriage. I live in Pittsburgh, he lives in New York. He had the fever for a couple of days before I showed up,” Brian answered.
 

“The fever is incidental and has nothing to do with this. You said yourself that Justin doesn’t have minor allergic reactions to anything. And none of this started until after he was exposed to that soap,” House said.
 

“But…I….” Brian couldn’t think of what to say.
 

“Do me a favor. Go back to your apartment. Throw out the soap and stay away for two days. If his condition doesn’t improve, we’ll try something else. If it does, the soap stays gone,” House said. Brian looked like he was about to cry. He was tired, hungry, and very worried about Justin.
 

“You couldn’t have known…” Cameron started. She still had a problem with the fact that they were both men but it was obvious that they loved each other very much. It was also obvious that Brian was going to blame himself for this.
 

“I should have checked…” Brian said.
 

“It’s entirely possible that there’s an ingredient in the soap that Justin didn’t know he was allergic to…” Chase said.
 

“Go home, get new soap. I’ll call you in forty eight hours,” House said. Brian nodded. He leaned down and kissed Justin’s forehead before walking out the door. “Start him on diphenhydramine and loratidine. I’m not taking any chances,” House said. Cameron, Chase and Foreman all nodded, going to do as they were told.

*****

Two days later Brian walked into the hospital tentatively. Part of him was praying that Justin was better but part of him was hoping he wasn’t. It was a mean way to think but he didn’t want to deal with the fact that he had caused Justin’s problems. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he saw Justin sitting up in bed, sketching. He was talking to Dr Cameron. Brian was a little surprised, but he knew that Justin was willing to talk to anyone that would listen. And Dr Cameron had lightened up a little bit.
 

“Hey,” Brian said as he came into the room. Justin lit up with his sunshine smile, causing Brian to smile in return.
 

“Hey,” he said. Brian walked over and sat down on the bed, taking the blond into his arms and holding him tight. He’d made a list of all of the ingredients of the soap before throwing it away, intent on never endangering Justin’s life again. He’d make sure that anything he bought in the future had as few of the chemicals on the list as possible. Cameron got up and left the room, watching as Brian moved to lie beside Justin on the bed. They started to look through the sketch pad together. Chase and Foreman were standing outside the room watching the two.
 

“With a smile like that it’s really no wonder he calls him Sunshine,” Cameron said before she walked off. Chase and Foreman just shook their heads and followed.



Three weeks later



Dr Cuddy was sitting in her office. She saw that there was a letter from Brian Kinney. She thought a second as she tried to remember the name. Then it came to her. Justin Taylor’s partner. She closed her eyes as she opened the letter, praying that it wasn’t a lawsuit, given Justin’s reaction to the drugs they’d administered. Her eyes went very wide as she pulled out only a check. The check was for five hundred thousand dollars. She couldn’t keep herself from letting out a relieved laugh.


Dr House was sitting in his office when there was a knock on the door. He looked up and saw a man that looked like a courier, carrying a large, square package. With a confused look on his face he went and signed for the package, then took it into his office. He rested it on the coffee table as he unwrapped it. He tore away the paper to reveal one of the most beautiful abstract paintings he'd ever seen. There were browns and greens and blues mixed together in a swirl, but they looked like they belonged together. Like each color would cease to exist without the other. He got completely lost in the painting for a good five minutes before he saw the little brass name plate on the bottom of the frame. He noticed Justin Taylor's signature in the bottom corner of the painting and a smile came to his lips at the title. The little brass name plate showed the title of the painting to be "Thank you."
 

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