Note: While in the hospital, the patient of the week, Lee, cannot speak. The audience hears his thoughts as if they were voice-overs and they will therefore be noted as [VO].

[Open on a grid of blurry white squares with circles in them. Cut to a multi-colored striped thing. Cut to a woman’s face, slightly blurry, leaning over the camera. Cut to an IV bag. Cut to the woman turning off the light directly overhead. The grid becomes identifiable as a light fixture in the ceiling. With the light off, the screen goes black momentarily. When the “lights” come one again, everything is blurry and white.

Lee: [VO, groggy] Hey. How long have I…

[Emergency room background noise is heard. The striped thing is the curtain around the patient bay Lee is in. The camera shows his point of view. Dr. Kurtz, talking to another doctor, comes into focus. Lee overhears bits and pieces of the conversation as he begins to think aloud.]

Kurtz: Blunt force trauma to the head did the fatal damage. Since the accident, he's had a continuous…

Lee: [VO] I can't get up?

Kurtz: No episodes of hyperten…

Lee: [VO] What's wrong with my legs?

Kurtz: EKG's show normal…

Lee: [VO] Hey. Someone talk to me. You don't hear me talking to you?

Kurtz: Normal feeling, pressure, normal C.K. Troponin… [He comes over and looks at Lee.] Great heart for transplant.

Lee: [VO] Who. My heart? Oh, God! They don't know I'm in here.

House: [VO] Hey, genius. I think it violates certain ethical laws to rip the organs out of a guy who's still alive. Possibly certain law laws too.

[Lee looks around, but House is outside his field of vision. Dr. Kurtz is frowning.]

Lee: [VO] Thank you. Thank you.

Kurtz: Could you, um, get back in your bed, please, Mr. House?

House: It's actually Doctor House. [House comes into view or, rather, his blue shirt does. The left elbow is ripped and bloody.]

Lee: [VO] This guy's a doctor?

House: There's also navy seal House. But you're going to have to save up for that one.

Kurtz: Really? Well, that's interesting, but… you're here because you crashed your motorcycle, not because I need a consult. So, get back in bed.

House: Scraped my elbow. I just need a truckload of Vicodin. Whereas, this guy…

Kurtz: He's brain d*ad.

Lee: [VO] No, I'm not!

Kurtz: So drop it.

House: See that?

Kurtz: Minimal brain waves don't mean he's alive.

Lee: [VO, shouting over Kurtz’s voice] I am alive! I'm here!

Kurtz: No EKG response to painful stimuli, hot or cold. What you're seeing is random, barely discernable.

House: I discerned it.

Lee: [VO] Listen to him, please.

Kurtz: No, that's just the amplifier's internal noise level. It's on increased sensitivity. [He starts to leave.]

Lee: [VO] No, no, no, it's not! It's me.

House: Then why is his eye following you?

Lee: [VO] Exactly.

Kurtz: [turning back] Following motion's an involuntary reflex.

Lee: [VO] No.

Kurtz: You're a doctor… you should know these things. [He leaves.]

Lee: [VO] No, no, I'm not d*ad. I need help. I'm here!

[House leans over Lee, who can see his face for the first time.]

House: I also know about locked-in syndrome… That things are either involuntary… or voluntary. Blink if you can hear me.

Lee: [VO] I hear you. [The screen goes dark for a second as Lee blinks.]

House: Oh, this is going to be fun.

[Opening Credits]

[Back in the ER. Dr. Kurtz turns on a small flashlight and moves it from side to side.]

Kurtz: Eye movement is deliberate. Can you blink once for "yes," twice for "no?"

Lee: [VO, blinking once] I hope so.

House: The square root of nine? [three blinks] He got that faster than you. Brain is fully functional. [House has an ugly bruise on his left cheekbone, directly under the eye.]

Kurtz: Lee…

Lee: [VO] Where's Molly?

Kurtz: You were in an accident.

[Cut to Lee riding a bike. He’s wearing a hoodie. He sees a car door open in front of him.]

Lee: [VO] Lee, h*t the brake, h*t the brake, h*t the brake!

[Lee’s hands don’t move toward the brake as he gets closer and closer to the car.]

[Cut back to the present and the ER]

Kurtz: You've sustained a traumatic injury to your brain stem, which has cut off your brain's ability to communicate with the rest of your body.

Lee: [VO] Can you fix me? Where's Molly?

Kurtz: You still have movement in your eyes. So we can get you to a rehab facility where they can teach you how to communicate.

Lee: [VO] No, I can't be stuck like this.

House: Unless… the crash didn't cause the brain damage. Maybe the brain damage caused the crash.

Lee: [VO] Yeah. I couldn't stop. Why couldn't I stop?

House: [checking Lee’s hands] Look at his palms. No scrapes. He didn't even try to protect himself. Suggests slowed reflexes… or no reflexes.

Kurtz: You're not a doctor in this hospital. You are a patient.

Lee: [VO] Yeah, and you're the guy who wants to cut out my organs, and he's the guy who doesn't.

House: [ignoring Kurtz] Get me the scans. Stroke, cancer, even a simple infection. Anything that insults the central pons could do this.

Lee: [VO] Then that means that I could be fixed.

Kurtz: You're giving him false hope. He needs to accept what's happened. And work on making the most of it. [He leaves.]

[Cut to Molly standing next to Lee’s bed. She’s trying not to cry.]

Lee: [VO] Molly.

Molly: Hey.

Lee: [VO] Don't look at me like that. That's not making me feel better. I love you.

Molly: I don't know how God is going to get us through this. But he will.

House: Stop it. I'm blushing.

[He’s standing a few feet away reading an x-ray. His bloody button down shirt is gone. He’s wearing a t-shirt and has a bandage covering a large part of his forearm. A little blood has seeped through. Dr. Kurtz enters.]

Kurtz: What are you doing?

House: Just looking for some reading material for the crapper. These CTs —

Kurtz: Get back in your bed. Come on.

Molly: The children are in the waiting area. Can I bring them in?

Lee: [VO] No. No, don't. [two blinks]

Molly: You don't want to see them? [two blinks]

Lee: [VO] I don't want them having nightmares. I don't want to scare them, Molly.

Molly: You don't want them to see you? [one blink] It's okay. I understand. You're going to be better soon enough. [She leans over and kisses him.]

Lee: [VO] You really that sure? Why are you so sure, babe? How'd you get so sure?

[Cut to House reading Lee’s chart. Foreman, Kutner and Thirteen enter.]

Foreman: You okay?

House: Never better.

Kutner: Here's your burger.

House: If you can't bring Mohammed to Princeton, bring Princeton to Mohammed. That's my diagnostics posse. Hot, dark and darker. [He gestures using a French fry.]

Lee: [VO] Talk about getting me better, please.

Thirteen: What are you doing up in Middletown?

Lee: [VO] Who cares?

House: Buying a Gibson '57 Goldtop. It's the guitar Duane Allman used to play.

Foreman: Next to the trauma, the mostly likely causes of a sudden onset of locked-in syndrome are basilar artery stroke and brain hemorrhage.

House: CT was clean.

Lee: [VO] Man, those fries look good.

Foreman: Certain circulatory diseases.

House: Guy's an active bike rider, his heart's fine.

Thirteen A well-placed tumor could explain it.

[House answers her.]

Lee: [VO] Jeez, is the last thing I ate gonna be the last thing I ate?

Thirteen: It could evade the CT and still show up on an MRI with contrast.

Lee: [VO] It was a melted PowerBar.

House: She's the smart one. I just keep dark and darker to fill out the quota. If we find it, treat it, you could be fine.

Lee: [VO] I never thought I'd be praying for a brain tumor, but please, dear God.

House: If you're praying in there, stop it right now.

Kutner: We'll get his doctor to order an MRI.

House: His doctor's busy teaching him how to blink out "k*ll me" in Morse code. Luckily, I found some forms under the mattress. [He pulls them out. Kutner hands him a pen and he signs them.]

[Cut to MRI.]

Kutner: Check it out, they have those MRI video goggles. I heard these were awesome.

Thirteen: What do you see?

Kutner: It's a beach. Oh, look, there's Taub… drinking a margarita and mocking us for driving all the way up here.

Lee: [VO] Easy, I can still feel in here.

Thirteen: Excuse Dr. Kutner. He gets a little excited about new technology. It can get loud in there, and a little closed off. These will put you in a quiet place. You can create a relaxing scenario for yourself. [She puts the goggles on Lee.]

Lee: I hope they… [white clouds are seen] work… wow. [It’s a beach. House is there in a beach chair with a bottle of beer at hand.] You're in my relaxing scenario?

House: I guess you like me.

Lee: Either that or you got sent here.

House: What? By God?

Lee: I'm not sure if I believe in God.

House: You spend an awful lot of time in church for someone who doesn't.

Lee: I don't not believe either.

House: It's either one or the other.

Lee: I go to church mainly to keep my wife happy, but… I don't know, I've never actually thought that God could reach out and affect my life. But getting a brilliant doctor in the bed next to me?

House: God is also the guy who opened his car door in front of you.

Lee: I think Molly was right. I think you were sent here to make me get better.

House: I think so.

[Lee looks over and sees his children playing in the sand. He joins them.]

Lee: Hey.

Drake: Hey, Dad. Making a volcano.

Lee: You're making a volcano? Looks like it. What you doing, baby?

[Cut to Lee’s room. House enters wearing a hospital gown and carrying a metal cane.]

Lee: [VO] What time is it?

House: Hope you don't mind. My new roommate snores. And my new room doesn't have you. [He turns on the light.] Your MRI showed a lesion in the central pons. [Pulls out MRI film.]

Lee: [VO] What is that? What does that mean?

House: See it there? [He points to a spot on the film.]

Lee: [VO] No.

House: Mm, that's what they said. But it's there. Which means no way head trauma did this. It's cancer, causing a paraneoplastic syndrome. Unfortunately, your current doctor thinks its diffuse nature means an infection. Now the bad news is, the antivirals he's got you on might k*ll you.

Lee: [VO] I'm not gonna die.

House: But the good news is if they just almost k*ll you, then Dr. Idiot will realize that his name is not a coincidence and he'll let me do whatever I want.

Lee: [VO] Thank you.

House: See, the irony here is… you're kind of fascinating. So many questions. But if you could answer any of them, then you wouldn't be fascinating.

Lee: [VO] I get it. You're a little nuts, aren't you?

House: Your wife is the one getting you through this. Your wife and me. Although frankly, the MRI was a lot more useful than four hours of hand-holding. I think.

Lee: [VO] If he had a wife, he’d know why it matters.

House: You're a good guy. Easy to talk to.

Lee: [VO] Wait, something's happening. What's happening to me? [From Lee’s point of view, everything is shaking like the room has been it by an earthquake.]

House: Need some help in here! Your patient is seizing.

[Cut to Molly talking to Dr. Kurtz.]

Molly: Why would he have a seizure?

House: Because he has cancer!

Kurtz: His brain stem is compromised.

Lee: [VO] Why are you still arguing with this guy? You thought I was d*ad.

House: Welcome back. And nicely played. You almost died. [Out of side of his mouth as if he it was a secret, but at normal speaking volume.] Exactly as we planned.

Molly: You knew this was going to happen?

House: It usually happens when you treat cancer by pretending it's not cancer. Right, doctor? My turn?

Molly: It's cancer?

Kurtz: No, it isn't.

Lee: [VO] Yes!

House: A small tumor in his brain stem, causing paraneoplastic syndrome. He needs plasmapheresis.

Molly: Can you give that to him?

Kurtz: No no, I'm sorry, I completely disagree with Dr. House.

Lee: [VO] Please shut up.

House: I don't. Which means I can treat him.

Lee: [VO] Let him. Let him.

Molly: Is that what you want? [She leans in close to Lee’s face.]

Lee: [VO] Absolutely. [one blink]

House: Would you send up a couple of bellboys?

[Cut to PPTH ER. Lee sees the ceiling, House and an EMT who are wheeling Lee in.]

Cuddy: I got the transfer papers. Plasmapheresis is all set up. Are you okay? [She touches the bruise on House’s cheek.]

House: Fresh infusion of macho. You like?

Lee: [VO] I can't move, and she's worried about his boo-boo?

Cuddy: What were you doing up there, anyway?

House: Antiquing. I found you a late Victorian corset. Come by later, I'll tie you up.

Lee: [VO] Is he hitting on her? [Cuddy stops to sign some papers a nurse hands her.] If she turns around, she's into him too. [She turns] And there you have it.

Taub: [enters] Sorry I didn't show up in Middletown. I didn't get the message.

House: Probably because there was no message. I've decided to accept your resignation.

Taub: Uh, I thought we were past this. I decided to stay.

House: No, you didn't. You had it decided for you. So now you're stuck here with a boss who knows that you want to be somewhere else. Which means you're no longer motivated to impress me, which means you're no longer motivated to come up with good ideas. Unless I'm wrong. Save the cheerleader. Save your world. [They reach the elevator.] I got it from here.

Lee: [VO] I thought you already solved this. You thinking you might be wrong? What's going on?

[House pushes for the elevator then checks his beeper, which is going off.]

Wilson: [approaches] Hey, just curious… what’re you driving up to Middletown for?

House: What do you care?

Lee: [VO] Why does he care?

Wilson: Because I'm your friend.

House: I was buying a guitar.

Wilson: Yeah, I heard that. It used to belong to a guitarist who died in a motorcycle accident. It just reeks of you screwing with people. Your crash was ten miles from the Orange County Progressive Pain Clinic.

House: You live ten miles from Mary's Dress Shop. And yet, that's not even on my list of reasons that I think you're secretly a tr*nsv*stite.

Wilson: If you're going to another state to get more narcotics…

Lee: [VO] He's on drugs?

House: I went to visit your ex-ex-ex-wife…

Lee: [VO] What?

House: …who lives in Thompson Ridge. I let her know about the extra money you're making on the lecture circuit. So she'll be sure to adjust your alimony.

Wilson: You wouldn't do that.

House: Yeah. I wouldn't do that.

Wilson: Would you?

Lee: [VO] You guys are friends?

[House pulls the gurney into the elevator.]

[Cut to Lee’s room. Taub is there. Kutner enters.]

Kutner: Shouldn't we be entertaining our patient?

Taub: I performed Euripides with sock puppets. You just missed it.

Kutner: House said we should. The mind is like a muscle. If you don't exercise it, it'll atrophy, just like anything else. Whoever's with him needs to talk. Keep his mind active. And it'll show House you still care.

Taub: Not sure if I do.

Lee: [VO] Jeez, you're my doctor?

Kutner: Then why don't you just quit?

Taub: I'm not sure I want to do that, either.

Kutner: Oh. Maybe you should figure it out before House figures it out for you.

Lee: [VO] Yeah, maybe you should have your midlife crisis after I'm better.

Taub: Kutner… [He nods toward Lee. Kutner looks.]

Kutner: We'll be right back.

Lee: [VO] Wait. Wait, what did you just see?

[Cut to Lee’s room a short time later. House enters with Taub.]

Taub: Do you drink?

House: He's a roofer. Alcohol hardly proves your theory.

[Thirteen, Foreman and Kutner are on the other side of the bed. House and Taub must have blocked Lee’s view of their entrance.]

Thirteen: Marchiafava bignami disease fits.

Foreman: LFT's are normal.

Lee: [VO] Speak English. Is it fixable? What does that mean? [Thirteen starts bending Lee’s wrist back and forth.] That hurts.

Thirteen: No tremors.

Foreman: How much do you drink? A six-pack a day?

Lee: [VO] I hate beer, I don't even drink beer.

Thirteen: Could mean he drinks more or less, or maybe something else.

Kutner: It may not be alcohol at all. Street opiates could also cause locked-in…

Lee: [VO] I don't get high.

Kutner: …MPPP.

House: Either we play 20,000 questions with every street drug, or instead of talking to him, we talk to the lesion.

Lee: [VO] Talk to me.

Taub: We're going to biopsy the brain stem?

House: For the record, that doesn't count as your inspired idea. It's sort of where I was heading.

Lee: [VO] You're going to cut into my head? Why? Stop treating me like a piece of furniture! I have a right to know what's going on!

[They all leave. House slides the door closed behind him.]

[Cut to Thirteen’s hand. She’s wearing gloves, cuffed down. Her bracelet lies on top of the cuff. She’s holding a tube.]

Lee: [VO] Where's that going?

Thirteen: Blood in your urine clogged up your old catheter.

Lee: [VO] Peeing blood? That must be what the insecure doctor saw. [She starts changing the catheter] Ahhhhhhh.

Thirteen: Every new clue gets us closer to the answer.

Lee: [VO] Damn it.

Thirteen: The surgery will get us more clues. [She flushes out the new tube with a syringe of saline.] You have visitors.

[Molly is at the door with Drake and Jolie.]

Lee: [VO] No. Oh, Molly.

Thirteen: You can come in.

Jolie: Daddy!

Drake: Daddy!

Lee: [VO] I told you not to bring them.

Molly: Well, they wanted to see their father.

Lee: [VO] I can't even hug them.

Molly: They can handle it. It's going to be all right.

Lee: [VO] You're not so sure anymore, are you? They must've told you that it's dangerous. That I could die. And that's why you brought them in here.

[Molly helps Jolie take her backpack off and takes some papers out of it while Drake pulls his test results from his backpack.]

Drake: I got an A+ on my test.

Lee: [VO] To see me before I die.

Drake: I love you, Daddy.

Lee: [VO] Daddy loves you too.

Jolie: I want to show you my drawings.

Lee: [VO] Kids just want a dad. Even if he's just a lump.

Thirteen: Maybe you should go now.

Lee: [VO] Oh, no. They can stay, please. Let them stay.

Jolie: Bye, Daddy.

Drake: [after a pause] Bye, Daddy.

[Molly, near tears, herds them out.]

Thirteen: Sorry. You were crying.

Lee: [VO] Damn.

[Cut to OR]

Chase: We're going to put you out, just so we can drill the hole.

Lee: [VO] Oh, that's very thoughtful of you.

Chase: Then we'll wake you back up. We need you to answer some simple yes or no questions while we're cutting, to make sure we're not cutting anything…

Lee: [VO] It seems to be working.

Chase: Deep breaths. In about ten seconds, you'll feel lightheaded. And by now… you should be floating…

[Cut to the beach. Lee is laughing and running around with the kids. They run ahead. Suddenly, House is next to Lee.]

Lee: How come I'm not better? God's not supposed to work in trial and error.

House: God's mistakes are well-documented. If he'd done everything right the first time, there'd have been one plague and zero great floods.

Lee: Those were because of human mistakes.

House: You think your doctor has an apartment on Mount Olympus?

Lee: God put me with you for a reason. I'm gonna be all right still, right?

House: [pause] I don't know.

[Lee watches the kids running far ahead. They’re by the waterline.]

[Cut to OR]

Chase: Lee. You with me now? Easy questions. You'll be done before you know it. Is this equation correct?

[He holds up a card with “2+2=5” on it. Blink, blink.]

Lee: [VO] What, so if you make a mistake, I'm not going to know that anymore?

Chase: Are these lines parallel? [Another card. Blink.] Spatial relationships intact. Take a look at this circle. Is more than half of it shaded?

Lee: [VO] Of course.

[The circle is three-quarters shaded. Lee doesn’t blink.]

Chase: Don't forget to blink. Is more than half of the circle shaded?

Lee: [VO] Sorry, yes.

Chase: Look at me, Lee. Again. Is more than half of this circle shaded?

Lee: [VO] Blink. Come on, Lee, blink.

Chase: Foreman, back out.

Lee: [VO] Why can't I blink? Why can't I blink?

[Cut to the recovery room. The camera is looking at Lee rather than from his point of view. He is totally expressionless and motionless. House is checks his eyes with a flashlight and Foreman puts eye drops in.]

Molly: Why aren't his eyes moving?

House: Two options: My neurologist screwed up, or else something the hospital lawyer's going to have to come up with when you sue us.

Foreman: Blinking and eye movements are controlled by a small cluster of nerves just millimeters from the biopsy site.

Molly: But he's still in there, right? I mean, he just can't communicate?

House: It's possible. Also possible is that the surgery caused so much swelling in his brain stem, that he's just gone.

[Cut to hallway. House bursts through a door, followed by Foreman.]

House: He had one way to communicate and now that's gone. Well played.

Foreman: Brain biopsy revealed severe damage to the myelin sheath. Question is, why?

Taub: Epstein-Barr, picornaviruses, malaria.

Kutner: He runs a business, meets a lot of people he could've picked up rotavirus.

House: Did he report having bloody diarrhea?

Thirteen: The wife's not sure, says he doesn't complain.

House: Did you ask him?

Thirteen: We've prioritized. He can only blink, a real history would've taken weeks.

House: If he had Epstein-Barr, he'd have belly pains. If he had picornavirus, he'd have headaches. Five other yes/no questions, and maybe we'd know what treatment to give. And what treatment would k*ll him. Unless he's already d*ad.

Taub: Maybe there's another way.

[Cut to Lee’s room. Taub is adjusting a band with electrodes on Lee’s head.]

Taub: Brain computer interface… better known as BCI. The goal is to get you to move that cursor with your mind. When you think "up" the computer records the pattern. Think "up" enough times, it eventually learns what you're thinking. So… start thinking "up."

[Time lapse. Taub adjusts the IV and checks the monitor. Later he drinks some water and checks the monitor. Later still he sits at the foot of the bed. Next he puts eye drops in Lee’s eyes.]

Taub: You in there? Are you trying?

[He sighs and sits down. The monitor shows the cursor in exactly the same position as it was when Lee was first hooked up.]

[Cut to House’s office. He’s reading. Wilson enters.]

Wilson: I called the ex-ex-ex-wife. She was at a sweat lodge in New Mexico last week. What were you really doing in New York?

House: You know how you hate it when I meddle in your lies? I mean your life.

Wilson: Why are you being so evasive? Unless you have something to evade.

House: Interesting. This has nothing to do with you, your ex-wife, or my pain. I was heading to the Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill.

Wilson: One of your hookers arrange a conjugal visit?

House: It's where Foreman's brother is being held.

[Wilson looks surprised.]

[Cut to Lee’s room. Taub looks like he’s spent the whole night there.]

Taub: This is going to mean months of sleepless nights, wondering if I could've done something differently. Maybe it's not that I'm sick of House. It's that I'm sick of being scared out of my mind to go to work every day. Sorry. [He gets up to leave. There’s a beep. He turns back.] Did that just… Was that you? [There’s another beep as the cursor moves up.]

[Cut to Taub bringing Molly into the room. She sits next to Lee.]

Molly: Are you really in there? [She turns to see the cursor go up as it beeps.] I knew you were in there.

Lee: [VO] I was scared.

Molly: Thank God.

Lee: [VO] I am scared. Molly, I love you so much.

[Cut to the team at Lee’s bedside. House is doing the patient history.]

House: Have you had any bloody diarrhea in the last two weeks?

[There’s a “no” beep that’s lower in tone than the previous ones.]

Kutner: Rotavirus out.

House: Any recent joint pain?

Thirteen: Epstein-Barr's out.

Taub: Have you traveled out of the country lately?

[“No” beep as the cursor goes down on the screen.]

Kutner: What about inside the country?

[“No” beep]

Molly: He was in St. Louis.

[“Yes” beep]

House: Good. Could be Missouri malaria. Let's start treatment.

[“No” beep]

Molly: He was… he was there. The machine must not be working.

House: Hmmm. Either that or he lied to you about it. People do that sometimes. For example, I just lied to him about Missouri malaria.

Molly: Did you go to St. Louis?

Lee: [VO] I should've told you. Why didn't I just tell you? Down. [“No” beep]

[Cut to Lee’s room, later. Molly is gone. The camera is showing Lee’s point of view again. House is in his face, literally.]

House: When you weren't in St. Louis for two days, I assume you were getting some strange for two days.

Lee: [VO] So does she. [“No” beep] You have to tell her I wasn't.

House: Amazing. A man who only has two blips at his disposal can still lie.

Lee: [VO] I'm not lying.

House: If you were getting some really strange strange, you could've contracted neurosyphilis. Infection went to your brain, froze you right up. Good news is it's treatable. You'll be up and moving in time to sign the divorce papers.

Lee: [VO] Why would I tell you the truth about being in St. Louis, [“No” beep] and then not tell you the truth about this?

Taub: He just admitted he wasn't in St. Louis in front of his wife, and you think he's lying when she's not even in here?

Lee: [VO] I'm liking this one more and more. Don't f*re him.

House: Were you out of the state?

Lee: [VO] I never left. [“No” beep]

House: Were you within 20 miles of your house?

Lee: [VO] Yes. [“Yes” beep]

[The camera pulls in for close up of Lee’s eye which turns into a satellite image of the earth. As the camera zooms closer and closer to the planet, House continues the questions.]

House: [VO] Were you within five miles?

Lee: [VO] Yes.

House: [VO] Within two miles?

[House and Lee are in a suburban yard. They stand still but the camera keeps circling, showing them superimposed on a variety of backgrounds.]

Lee: Yes.

House: Did you stay at a hotel?

[They’re in a downtown commercial area, The camera circles, showing various buildings.]

Lee: No.

House: You had to sleep somewhere. Your car?

[They’re in a parking lot.]

Lee: [VO] No.

House: A friend's house?

[They’re on a suburban street. Lee nods as he answers.]

Lee: Yes. Yes.

House: That narrows it down, depending on how popular you are. Tell the wife to stop crying, get in here. [Molly enters the picture as the camera continues to circle around all three of them on the suburban street.] He says that when he was supposed to be in St. Louis, he was staying at a friend's house.

Molly: Really. [She crosses her arms and glares at Lee.]

Lee: Yes.

House: Let's assume that you believe him for the moment. Name your friends within two miles.

Molly: Martin and Kim's?

Lee: No.

House: Guess someone who doesn't have a wife.

Molly: Dave?

Lee: Yes.

House: Got an address?

[Cut to Dave’s basement. Taub and Kutner have just arrived.]

Taub: If this is where he got sick, someone else here should have symptoms.

Kutner: Not if Lee was the only one coming down to the basement.

Taub: Furnace is rusty, but no gas leaks.

Kutner: Resumes and cover letters here… some are weeks old. He's been spending time here for a while.

[Lee is sitting on the bed in a corner. Molly stands next to him.]

Lee: Business wasn't going good. I didn't want you and the kids to worry. I was trying to protect you. [He stands] Molly… I wish you could hear me. I wish I could make all of this better.

Kutner: Looks like he temped a few times. As a janitor. Factory out on Route 10.

[Cut to the factory. Lee is sweeping up. Taub and Kutner walk past him.]

Taub: Factory foreman says they make rechargeable batteries. Mostly for cell phones.

Kutner: Big step down from running your own business, to sweeping up.

Lee: Doing what I had to do.

Kutner: [taking a sample from the floor] Metal filings. Judging by the color, I'd say cadmium.

Taub: Which he'd aerosolize with the broom, then right into his lungs. Heavy metal poisoning explains everything.

[They walk out. Lee continues sweeping up.]

[Cut to Lee’s room. Taub puts Lee’s eye drops in.]

Taub: The chelation will scrub the heavy metals out of your blood. If we are right about the cause, we should see some movement in about a day or so.

Lee: [VO] Can't put this thing on turbo? I'm getting a little anxious in here.

Taub: Somebody will be here at all times to uh, irrigate our eyes, keep you company. Hopefully, it'll help make the time go quicker.

Lee: [VO] My eyes still feel really dry.

Taub: Thank you… for thinking "up." For helping me find you in there. Man, when you moved that cursor… [He smiles.]

[Fade to Foreman keeping Lee company.]

Foreman: Bought my first girlfriend a necklace. It was silver. It cost 180 bucks… had to save for six months. She hated it.

Lee: [VO] Really, seriously? Did you tell this story to someone who could walk away?

Foreman: Never bought another girlfriend jewelry again. Until Dr. Hadley.

Lee: [VO] You're dating her? You might want to start all your stories with that.

Foreman: Same thing. She didn't even wear it.

Lee: The diamond thing? She was wearing it the other day.

Foreman: If she doesn't like it, she doesn't like it. Apparently, I suck at picking out jewelry, but least have the guts to tell me.

Lee: Okay, getting boring again. How long till we know if this treatment is working?

[Cut to Molly by the bedside.]

Molly: You lied to me.

Lee: I wasn't having an affair.

Molly: So we needed money. Who cares?

Lee: Last time business was slow, you got migraines every day.

Molly: Why would you do that to me?

Lee: I'm sorry, I was… I was stupid. I was… don't go! Don't! [She leaves.] Damn it, somebody… put "I'm sorry" on this stupid computer. My eye is k*lling me.

[With no one for Lee to look at, the camera switches from his point of view and shows him lying there like a lump.]

[Cut to House’s office. Taub enters.]

Taub: I want to keep my job.

House: Great. All you gotta do is come up with a good idea.

Taub: How about we hook the guy's brain to a computer, so he can communicate?

House: That's a great idea. For the guy who invented the computer that can read minds. Your idea was to use his idea.

Taub: You didn't come up with it. No one else came up with it. If I didn't re-establish communication, we never would have found —

House: What's interesting is why you're here now. Not when I gave you the ultimatum. Was it something the patient said?

Taub: I realized that what we do here… terrifies me. And… overcoming that is the only way I can matter.

House: Kutner found the battery factory. Kutner came up with the cadmium. Maybe you don't matter.

[House turns away. Taub leaves.]

[Cut to Lee’s room. Foreman is there. Thirteen enters.]

Thirteen: I'm going to close your eyes so you can get some sleep. Hopefully, when you wake up, we'll see some improvement.

Lee: [VO] Hope that includes my eye feeling better.

[She looks at him closely.]

Thirteen: [to Foreman] Hand me the flourescein stain.

Lee: [VO] What's that mean?

Thirteen: Epithelium looks torn. These drops sting.

Lee: [VO] Ow!

Thirteen: I'm going to close your left eye to keep it protected. I'm going to blink your eye a few times to distribute the dye. [She does and then looks at his eye through a lens.] Ulcerative keratitis.

Foreman: Means it's not cadmium poisoning.

Lee: [VO] Which means you don't know what's wrong. Again.

[Cut to House’s office. He is studying the white board which has “Locked-In,” Kidney Fail” and “Ulcerative Keratitis” on it. Cameron enters, carrying a medical kit.]

Cameron: When's the last time you changed that dressing? [She reaches him and makes a face.] Judging by the smell of it, I'd say never.

House: [sticks his arm out without looking away from the white board] He's locked-in, his kidneys blew a fuse, and now his eye is oozing puss.

Cameron: I assume you went over all of that with your team. I also assume they didn't have any brilliant ideas, or you wouldn't still be muttering to yourself. This is going to hurt. [She pulls off the old bandage.]

House: Ow! [He looks at the bruise on his elbow for a minute then returns to the white board.] The way he's losing his myelin makes an infection most likely. Could be varicella —

Cameron: Road debris has come to the surface. I'm going to have to scrub it out.

House: But the initial acyclovir would've treated that. Which pushes me towards an autoimmune disease. Like Behcet's.

Cameron: Here… this is going to hurt even more. [She gives him a paper cup with pills in it.] Take two now, two later.

House: [He empties the cup into his mouth.] Oops. [She scrubs the bruise.] Ho! Of course, if the varicella was resistant, it wouldn't matter what they did up in Middletown.

Cameron: Do an LP.

House: You've been in the ER too long. When the patient had head trauma, white blood cells only indicate that he had head trauma.

Cameron: Or you could use the LP for something useful. If you find polys, it's varicella. Lymphs, Behcet's.

House: Why did I f*re you again?

Cameron: You didn't. I quit. [She finishes and rolls his sleeve down.]

[Cut to cafeteria at night. Wilson sits down at House’s table.]

Wilson: You weren't visiting Foreman's brother, either.

House: Busy. Kutner's doing an LP, so I have to focus.

Wilson: I had prison security check visitor logs, phone records. You've never had any contact with anyone at Fishkill. So, I ask again… What were you doing up in Middletown?

House: You know what's more interesting than what I was doing? The reason you are so obsessed with what I was doing.

Wilson: Stop deflecting, House.

House: Says the deflector. The reason I was up there is the reason you're scared I was up there. I was checking out your dirty, little secret. How long have you been sleeping with her?

Wilson: How… how did you know?

House: Your only secrets are the girls you find embarrassing. And the only embarrassing girl you've met recently is the one at your brother's cuckoo facility.

Wilson: We've only been out a few times.

House: She's a caregiver. Like all of your other failed exes. And someone who takes care of your brother. Who was the last person who took care of your brother?

Wilson: [laughs] You think this is Oedipal?

House: Actually, I was thinking masturbatory, but I guess your mom took care of him first. So, the safe course is to gouge your eyes out.

[House leaves. Wilson plants his face in his hands.]

[Cut to Lee’s room. Foreman is there.]

Foreman: LP stands for lumbar puncture. We use this needle to collect fluid from your spine.

Lee: [VO] That's a really big needle.

Foreman: You're going to feel some extreme pressure in your back.

Lee: [VO] I already feel pressure in my front… my chest hurts.

Foreman: …your chest, sort of in the fetal position.

Lee: [VO] Something's wrong.

Foreman: …the best angle into your spine.

Lee: [VO] No, my chest! Something's wrong. I think I'm hav…

Foreman: Pull the needle out.

Lee: [VO] Oh, God! I’m flatlining.

Foreman: [looking at Lee’s face] Call a code.

[Kutner is charging up the defibrillator.]

[Cut to the beach. Lee is lying on the sand almost in the position for an LP.]

Lee: There is no God. You don't know what's wrong with me.

House: [sitting in a beach chair] It doesn't seem that way.

Lee: So am I d*ad?

House: Not yet. [pause as medical monitor can be heard beeping] But you're about to be.

Lee: Okay.

[Cut to Lee’s room.]

Kutner: Charging… clear. Again… clear.

Foreman: He's back.

Lee: [VO] No. No. Let me go. He can't fix me. I've been here for three days, everything hurts.

House: [simultaneously, almost inaudibly] The arrest means the demyelination h*t the area in his brainstem that controls heart rhythm. We need answers fast, ‘cause this is going to happen again.

Kutner: We need to get him started on steroids.

Lee: [VO] It's okay, just… just…

House: Not without the results of the LP.

Lee: [VO] …stop fighting. [He sees Molly in the hallway.] She's got to go on with her life. The kids don't need this. I can't do nothing for them… I can't… scratch this foot… Wow, that really, really itches.

[House, Kutner and Foreman have been arguing about the treatment in the background. Suddenly what they are saying can be heard.]

Foreman: So we should try —

Kutner: So we put in a temporary pacer, it’s not gonna —

House: Shut up, shut up. [Lee’s computer is beeping “no,” “yes,” “no,” “yes.”] He's trying to talk. [“Yes” beep] Is something bothering you?

[“Yes” beep]

Foreman: If there's still tightness in your chest, it's expected.

[“No” beep]

Kutner: Is it your eye?

[“No, no, no” beeps]

Foreman: Why is he saying "no" three times? You only asked one question.

Kutner: Maybe he's not saying "no," maybe he's saying "down." [“Yes” beep] Are you saying that the pain is lower? [“Yes” beep] How low, your leg? [“No” beep] Your foot? [“Yes” beep]

House: Left foot? [“No” beep] Check his… let me see now… yeah, his right foot.

Foreman: No bruises, no rashes, no cuts.

House: Then there should be no pain. Is it a tingling sensation? [“No” beep] Is it itching? [“Yes” beep]

[Cut to the hallway. The entire team is following House.]

House: Itchy foot means liver failure.

Taub: The liver's fine. His enzymes have been normal since we admitted him.

House: I didn't say "failing," I said "failure." Just like you. Liver's like a cruise ship taking on water. As it starts to sink, it sends out an S.O.S. Only instead of radio waves, it uses enzymes. The more enzymes in the blood, the worse the liver is. And once the ship has sunk, there's no more S.O.S. You think the liver's fine, but it's already at the bottom of the sea.

Thirteen: So dying liver released toxins, damaged the nerves, led to locked-in syndrome.

House: Now we just need to know what's causing the liver failure.

Foreman: Liver, plus eye, plus kidney… most likely sclerosing cholangitis.

House: Oh, God, if only Taub had said that, it would've been a happy ending. Do a biopsy to confirm.

[He leaves. Taub, tight-faced, follows Thirteen in the other direction.]

[Cut to Lee’s room. Thirteen, Taub, Kutner and Foreman are there.]

Taub: I'm going to numb up the area where we'll go in for the punch biopsy.

Kutner: Where's the new bracelet?

Foreman: She was wearing the bracelet?

Thirteen: You didn't notice that I was wearing it?

Foreman: Because you weren't.

Thirteen: He noticed, and you didn't?

Foreman: If you don't like it, it's fine. It's not a big deal.

Thirteen: I like it, that's the point. I'd rather have it at home in the jewelry box than getting peed on at work.

Kutner: You got the patient's urine on that arm?

Thirteen: When I was putting in the catheter. Why?

Kutner: You've got a rash.

Foreman: The bracelet's real.

Kutner: I figured. So what if the rash isn't just a rash? What if it's an infection? If there were rats in that basement, then the liver failure could be caused by leptospirosis. It transfers through urine. Rat pee to him, his pee to you. The infection would need an entry point. Look for any recent scratches, cuts.

[They start inspecting Lee.]

Taub: Look. Next to his fingernail.

Kutner: The infection destroyed your liver, which released toxins that caused the locked-in syndrome. You were dying of a paper cut.

Lee: [VO] I hope you're right this time.

Kutner: Let’s start him on high dose penicillin G.

[Cut to Lee’s room later.]

Kutner: We found rats in your buddy Dave's basement. Tested positive for leptospirosis. That means we're on the right treatment. So… try moving a finger. Your brain needs to get used to doing its job again. Try harder. I'm sure you've lost hope. I know we've told you several times that we knew what this was, but this time we're right. Concentrate. Move one finger for me. [Lee’s right forefinger moves. Kutner smiles and raises Lee’s hand so he can see his finger moving.] Welcome back.

Lee: [VO] I did it.

[Cut to locker room]

House: Rat pee. Very nice idea. Who came up with it?

Taub: I did. [Kutner nods slightly at him.]

House: Good. [Taub leaves.] You okay with him claiming the credit?

Kutner: It was his idea. He saw the rash —

House: If he did, he'd have hung a "mission accomplished" banner in my outer office.

Kutner: Don't toy with him. If you're going to f*re him —

House: The fact that he stole your idea means that he cares enough to lie. That's all I needed to know. Rat pee. That's a very nice idea.

[Cut to House walking down the hallway. Wilson catches up with him.]

Wilson: House. You left this in my office. [He hands House a cell phone.]

House: No, I didn't. So either I have a hole in my pocket —

Wilson: Oh, that's right I remember now, I stole it. Because if you had gone up there to check out my girlfriend, you wouldn't have come back here and lied to me about it. You would've thrown her right in my face.

House: You underestimate the entertainment value of your obsessions.

Wilson: And then there were all those calls you weren't taking in front of me. [House stops and turns to look at Wilson.] So I dialed the number of the calls you weren't taking. You're seeing a psychiatrist.

[House turns and walks off quickly.]

[Cut to Lee’s room. Molly is there. House enters, followed by Wilson.]

House: You had no right to inv*de my privacy. [He reaches under Lee’s pillow and pulls out a recorder out.]

Wilson: Is… is that…?

House: Yeah. It's irony.

[Lee flops his arm over to touch House. He speaks very slowly.]

Lee: Hey. God sent you.

House: Suddenly, you're not so fascinating. [He leaves.]

[Cut to House and Wilson walking down the hallway.]

Wilson: You're spying on your team.

House: Prioritize, Wilson. Is that what you really want to t*rture me about right now?

Wilson: I don't want to t*rture you at all. I think this is a great thing. Not something you have to drive an hour out of town to shroud in mystery.

House: Yeah. Whining on someone's couch. That's an excellent use of my time. Maybe I'll discover that my childhood wasn't perfect.

Wilson: So your attitude about therapy clearly hasn't changed. And yet you went. Which leads me to believe that maybe something else has changed. [The stop by the elevator.] Maybe you think you can change. Credit Cuddy with that.

House: Not much credit to take, because I'm not going back.

Wilson: Oh, House, please… I assume you went because you're tired of screwing up every chance you get at happiness.

House: [fiddling with his phone] Delete contact.

Wilson: Do not let the fact that I found out about it —

House: Don't b*at yourself up. I'm not going back because it doesn't work. [He enters the elevator and pushes the key to confirm the delete.]

Wilson: You'll end up alone.

[The elevator door closes between them.]

[The End]
{"type": "series", "show": "House", "episode": "05x19 - Locked In"}