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Post by Dr. Gregory House on Nov 18, 2008 17:36:17 GMT -5
House's gaze ventured back to the woman as the outburst lept out of her as if off immediate impulse. Well, that wasn't any surprise. It wasn't everyday that a patient just coming in for a visit with her brother was unlucky enough to hear that she was being admitted. Still, his eyebrows raised,not in a negative manner, but much rather more criticizing than anything. Rather than offer his harsh opinion, he waited in tense silence for her to clear her panicked thoughts and think this through like a normal human being. He listened impatiently as she murmured and swore at herself. The panic passed, and then the wave of reality seemed to come over her. It happened with good timing too. The now defeated manner she held would be much easier for Dr. House to deal with.
A small click sounded as he pulled the door to a close. Rather than give any more orders or explanations to the nurses, he left them to simply do what he said whenever or however they willed. As for the patient, he kept his face hard, although the cruel mannerisms seemed to be put on hold for the moment. His eyes drifted to hers for a pregnant few seconds. Then, he cut off the eye contact by looking towards his feet for another second, this time devoted to thought. His jaw shifted a few times in contemplation before he spoke.
"I need a few answers first before I can figure out a productive test or theory," he stated distantly while he bothered to look up. House only had a limited amount of information to deal with at this second. That factor made it both hard and frustrating for them both. Now he had to spend time getting to know his patient before he could create an accurate enough diagnosis.
"Have you or anyone you're close to been out of the country recently? Any drug use, are you sexually active, all of that fun stuff," he grumbled. There was a reason why he sent his team to do all of the talking. House wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of sitting around just talking about this with a potentially horrified or dying person, but it was necessary. Besides, even while he spoke and listened, the gears were always turning in his head.
(OOC: What a wimpy post. Sorry. )
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Post by Nikole Ross on Nov 19, 2008 3:01:12 GMT -5
[[ooc;; yours isn't bad. heh, i didn't give ya much to work with x3 ]] Nikole was glad he didn't say anything in her panic, she was certain what ever he would have to say would only make matters worse. At the same time silence certainly didn't help, her mind was free to race. Sick...she was sick! It just didn't register right to her. Why her? Why now? What could she have? What else could happen? Was she over reacting? Probably, but then she wasn't a very subtle person.
When she heard the door click closed her attention returned to him. Nik wondered what on earth he could be thinking now; he seemed to be processing. Her fingers pulled and tugged at the skirt of her dress, now in a much more nervous manner than before. The doctor seemed oddly apathetic, but then she didn't expect much sympathy from him. Now she wondered if she wanted to thank him or hit him.
Nikole cleared her throat in an attempt to kill the itch, still not willing to cough in fear of more blood. She did taste some blood, which sent an obvious shiver down her spine.
"I need a few answers first before I can figure out a productive test or theory," he replied. Nik let out a small huff, not fond of his answer. It wasn't helpful, for one, and for another she didn't like any questions about her. She didn't like the answers to such questions. All the same, she waited for him to ask away.
"No one I know travels. I don't do drugs or alcohol. Well, not a lot of alcohol. Just insane amounts of chocolate. I don't even smoke. You can test me if you don't believe me." Well, why should he believe her? The first thing he thought when he saw her was that she was a druggie. Grant, she probably looked like one, but that was beside the point. "Some...sexual activty. None for a while though." She cringed slightly at the thought of having a sexually transmitted disease. Nikole already thought she should hunt down who ever gave her an STD and 'fix' them. Though that would be quite difficult... Pregnancy didn't matter, since she miscarried once as a teen she always used protection and hadn't skipped any periods recently.
"Coughing up blood isn't related to an STD though, is it? Jamie failed to mention that one." She made a face, remembering the slightly disturbing STD talk her big brother gave her after her miscarriage in hopes of deterring her from sex (which obviously didn't work, but she now didn't tell him when she had sex).
One hand raised, her fingers brushing back a few loose locks of hair. Apparently the ribbon was falling loose, so she decided to just pull it out. Nikole proceeded to twist the red cloth around her fingers and hands, trying to sort through her thoughts. She was sure she should have told him about being Bipolar and taking Lithium for it, in all honesty she wasn't sure why she didn't. Well, she hated being Bipolar, it was something she didn't like to tell anyone (considering most who found out picked up their stuff and left), yet she was sure the doctor would find out. If not by some silly lab test, from Jamie. But she figured (mentally defending herself) that coughing up blood was unrelated to the disorder and Lithium. Her brother went through all the symptoms and side effects, making sure she was completely and fully aware of them. So if it was unrelated to the bloody coughs, then he didn't need to know, she told herself.
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Post by Dr. Gregory House on Nov 26, 2008 15:01:14 GMT -5
Distaste flashed in House's expression towards her responses. What she had just said was completely inconclusive. Actually, let me rephrase that; What she didn't say was inconclusive. It wasn't as if what she did say really mattered at all actually, unless she was either freakishly honest or really, really scared. Obviously, neither one was the case. At least she made things a bit easier by acknowledging the fact that he wasn't about to believe her. He shifted his weight a bit while he thought about all of the possibilities there may be if she was lying. The bit about smoking was obviously true. She didn't smell or look like a smoker and surely having a doctor for a brother would complicate things.
Then it struck him. There was a witness, and right within the hospital too. If anyone was going to give direct answers about this woman, it'd be her brother. What made the idea even better was that he was a doctor. As embarrassing as some confessions may be, he'd know just how valuable answers would be. House licked his lips, another oral signal of deep thinking. So when in doubt, he had someone to run to. That made things a lot easier. However, he had to deal with what they had now.
Every outward sign of panic reflected in the patient, but the doctor's face was still plastered with apathy. It wasn't that he didn't care about the situation. He just didn't care about the patient. Not yet anyway. A few thoughts and theories were now effected by her claims and her little STD comment spurred an idea. Without thinking it through all the way, he said it out loud, not really to her, but rather himself. He just needed to see if it sounded reasonable.
"It's not related to an STD," he confirmed. "But it could be caused by a minor ailment blown completely out of proportion by an STD," There was a pause. "Except usually, most people realize they have HIV before they develop full blown AIDs..." The moment of silence prior was just to realize how stupid that theory was. Ah, what the hell. Might as well get that completely cleared.
"Have you had any diarrhea, unexplained weight loss, a rash, and/or headaches recently?" While he threw that idea out there for her to ponder, he pondered a few more of his own up. "You also said that no one you know has been out of the country recently. That only decreases the chance of Tuberculosis. It doesn't completely dismiss it. It could also be pneumonia... Any chest pain, fever...?"
The questions just seemed to keep forming. The only way he knew he would get a certain answer was to run tests. It was just a matter of which tests to narrow it down to now. House's thoughts progressed, even as he kept his ears open for his answers.
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Post by Nikole Ross on Dec 2, 2008 1:06:37 GMT -5
Over and over her thoughts raced, beginning at one point and going through a thousand more before circling back to the beginning again. Mimicking her racing thoughts, Nik twisted and pulled and circled her red ribbon around her fingers, a canine pressed sharply on the corner of her bottom lip. Usually her thoughts kept going back to, 'I need chocolate.' The more times that thought struck the more determined she was to get some chocolate.
His expression caused her to narrow her eyes a bit. He didn't believe her? Did he know she was keeping something from him? Sure, she wasn't a good liar, but she wasn't so bad that she gave away not lying! She had admitted having sex, everyone lied about that, surely that was a little off-putting? Well, this could..possibly...somehow be related to an STD, she didn't really need to lie. Perhaps she should just stop justifying herself. When she felt another cough coming on she decided to tough out the icky blood and grabbed another tissue from off the counter. This time she made sure to keep her gaze away from the cloth; the sight of her own blood would only freak her out again.
"It's not related to an STD," he began and Nik tilted her head to the side, blinking once. "But it could be caused by a minor ailment blown completely out of proportion by an STD." She let out a 'huff,' already planning the murder of one of her...sex partners. "Except usually, most people realize they have HIV before they develop full blown AIDs..." So then it wasn't an STD? He was musing out loud, she figured, so kept quiet. For now.
Still. She needed some damn chocolate!
"Have you had any diarrhea, unexplained weight loss, a rash, and/or headaches recently?" Again she bit her lip, trying to think. Her weight almost always bounced up and down, more toward the latter, but it was explained easily: when Jamie didn't cook she would forget to eat. Headaches? Well, now she had one, but she was pretty sure it was due to lack of caffeine. Before she could come up with an answer he continued with questions. "You also said that no one you know has been out of the country recently. That only decreases the chance of Tuberculosis. It doesn't completely dismiss it. It could also be pneumonia... Any chest pain, fever...?" Another huff at the questions. God, she hated questions.
Nikole lifted the ribbon, pressing her lips over it and tilting her head back, eyes on the ceiling. Thinking....fever? Possibly, she went from hot to cold all the time. Chest pain? A bit, but only after she worked out. That could have been because she was out of shape. Still justifying, maybe they were all symptoms. If it was pneumonia it wouldn't be so bad, though. Dammit she just needed chocolate!
Since she had that thought at least ten times in the past two minutes she got it in her head to get some. Yet another mood swing swept over her; the mere thought of having some chocolate made her feel better. A candy bar wouldn't do any harm. Or at least not a lot of harm. And she was in the hospital and with a hopefully very qualified doctor. If anything did happen she was only two seconds away from being saved.
"Headaches, maybe a fever I'm not sure, only chest pain after I work out or something. That could be because I'm out of shape. I think the headache is 'cause I haven't had any chocolate in almost twenty-four hours. Hm, I know, I shouldn't justify everything, but I hate the thought of it all being symptoms." She rambled, letting the ribbon fall from her lips. A slight smile appeared on her face as she swept up her small hand-purse, making half a skip to the door and swinging it open.
"Follow! I promise to go at your pace." Nik said, a bit too brightly, and nodded at his cane. Last she was here she had bought a Snickers bar from the vending machine down the hall. Hopefully she'd have enough change for another. Well, she would, she always had change.
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Post by Dr. Gregory House on Mar 20, 2009 10:56:43 GMT -5
House watched his patient carefully as she spoke, his expression locked in a calculating stare. The information swirled and twisted in his thoughts every which way, some being sorted into potential scenarios, while some slipped into the background, not to be forgotten. The symptoms she gave, however, were not the only things he was observing. Each of her interesting mannerisms were taken into account. He spotted it all, from her constant hand movement to the distracted manner which she spat out her words. Usually, someone would go into panicked detail about even the smallest cough they had after they discover that they're coughing up blood. This woman seemed to actually be dismissing some potential symptoms. That, and she seemed to be rushing through them. Perhaps this was a part of living with a doctor. Or maybe it was linked to the mood swings she's been more than happy to display recently.
It seemed that while he was mentally on the subject of mood swings, one ironically seemed to kick in. Before House could even state his next hypothesis, the girl seemed more than ready to walk out of the door. Immediately, he readied himself to stick out his cane between her and potential escape, but first of all, she was too fast, and second, she had stopped herself. Gregory stared her down with annoyance even before she began to speak. The moment she barked out a command to him, he let out an obvious moan.
"Sure," he began sarcastically. "Because if there's a chance of you passing out any second now, what better place to do it than in the middle of a busy hospital hallway?" Needless to say, House stood his ground. Neither he, nor his stare moved. "What's so important that you feel the need to leave the room?" his tone dropped to something more serious and critical. "Do you think big brother's going to swoop in and make a scene any second now?" It wasn't impossible. After all, House barely knew Dr. Ross as anything other than another random face in the hall. Who knew how he was going to react once, or if he got down there. There may be some accusing, some truths or suspicions spilling out, or who knows what. He wasn't about to make any solid suspicions though until he got the woman's response.
"Sit back down before it gets ugly," he sighed. To make his point, he lifted his cane and pointed the tip at the now empty examination table. Then, he continued to diagnose as if nothing else had happened. "There's a good chance of pneumonia, but that wouldn't explain the mood swings," Now he really didn't want to avert his gaze. After bringing that symptom up, he wanted to see her reaction. Call it a test if you will. He just wanted to know if she was aware of these swings or was just randomly a bitch at any given moment.
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