Histories (House episode)

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House episode
"Histories"

Episode no.	HOU-110
Airdate	February 8, 2005
Writer(s)	Joel Thompson
Director(s)	Dan Attias
House Season 1 November 2004 - May 2005
Pilot Paternity Occam's Razor Maternity Damned If You Do The Socratic Method Fidelity Poison DNR Histories Detox Sports Medicine Cursed Control Mob Rules Heavy Role Model Babies & Bathwater Kids Love Hurts Three Stories Honeymoon
All House episodes

Histories is the tenth episode of the first season of House, which premiered on the FOX network on February 8, 2005. When a homeless woman has a seizure, some of the employees at Princeton-Plainsboro think that she is faking her seizures in hopes of getting a free meal. However, Wilson takes her under his wing and convinces House to take the case.

1 Synopsis
2 Quotes
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A woman is desperate to score some drugs. She heads to a house rave to get her fix, but doesn’t have the $20 to get in. She begs to be allowed in to see her dealer, James. Once inside, the cops bust the party and the woman freaks out.

Wilson sums up her case for Foreman. A homeless woman was admitted with a suspected overdose. She has no ID and doesn’t seem to know her name. She’s got lesions on her skin and a twitchy wrist. Foreman is not happy to be handed this case. When the women seizes, he is skeptical that she’s not merely acting. Foreman inspects her purse for insulin, suspecting diabetes.

Wilson goes to House for a second opinion. Foreman refuses to back down. House is more interested in who this woman is and her history. The next day, Chase sees the woman drawing and asks, “Who’s James?” She freaks out and bites Foreman when he tries to help, drawing blood. Foreman bucks the rules to get the patient into an immediate MRI, using another person’s name and appointment time. Cuddy shuts the MRI down before they can proceed because a CT scan shows that the patient has a surgical pin in her arm. The MRI would’ve ripped it out of her body. They can’t proceed until they know who this woman is.

Using one of the woman’s sketches as a clue, Foreman checks out a neighborhood. A homeless man directs him to a box where she lived. Foreman finds the box infested with bats. He also finds more sketches.

House removes the surgical pin and runs the serial number on it to learn that the patient broke her arm in a car accident on October 2, 2002. House confesses that he only wanted the MRI so he’d have an excuse to take out the surgical pin. The patient’s name is Victoria Matson. Foreman checks out Victoria’s blood work and realizes that she’s allergic to iron dextran, which they were administering to treat low magnesium and electrolytes. They find Victoria in respiratory arrest due to the allergic reaction, but the doctors are able to save her.

Cameron has various records for Victoria Matson from area hospitals. There is nothing alarming, except for one ultrasound performed and one ultrasound appointment cancelled. Wilson suspects that doctors were looking for ovarian cancer. House orders an ultrasound of her ovaries. The test indeed shows cancer. House wonders if it’s a tuberculoma mass, admitting that it’s a long shot. He instructs his charge to start Victoria on INH, rifampin and streptomycin to treat tuberculoma.

Foreman tries to give Victoria some antibiotics, and inquires about James. She has another fit. Victoria now thinks the sunlight is burning her and that the water they gave her is poison. Foreman sedates her, reporting to House that she has a fever of 105. It can’t be tuberculoma, because the treatment isn’t working. Chase has the lab report from Victoria’s biopsy. It is tuberculoma. House is confused why he was right about the diagnosis but its treatment is killing Victoria.

The team sets off to figure out what else Victoria has that would cause this reaction. If it’s bacterial infection, then they would need to order a blood and urine test, plus a chest X-ray. The doctors also put her on an ice bath to fight the fever. The tests show nothing significant. House’s crew suspects meningitis, but when they go to Victoria’s room she is gone. Yet she drew a comic strip on the wall depicting a superhero who is searching for James. After a time, paramedics bring a semi-conscious Victoria into the hospital. Her heart is racing.

House realizes that Victoria’s heart was racing because a cop tasered her. However, she didn’t feel it hit her thigh because she has no sensitivity there. He takes a needle and pokes Foreman in the wrist where Victoria bit him earlier. He doesn’t feel it either. Finally, Houses knows that it is rabies that has been afflicting Victoria. Although it is incredibly rare, a homeless person wouldn’t get shots after being bitten. The bats in Victoria’s cardboard box are the most likely culprit. Unfortunately, it’s too late for treatment and Victoria will die in the next day or two.

Foreman, meanwhile, gets a shot in the gut to treat his rabies and then sets out to find the mysterious James. Foreman and Wilson head to the rave party house, and using more of Victoria’s sketches as a guide, find a strongbox that contains photos of a normal Victoria looking happy with some man. They also find a marriage certificate for Victoria and a man named Paul, as well as a birth certificate for James, her son. They dig up a newspaper clipping about the car crash in which Victoria broke her arm. Paul and James were killed in the wreck where she was driving.

Foreman goes to Victoria’s bedside, claiming to be Paul. He tells her that he’s come to forgive her for the accident. In her stupor, she believes him and tearfully apologizes.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Quotes

Female MED Student: "You're reading a comic book"
Dr House: "And you're calling attention to your bosom by wearing a low cut top. Oh! I'm sorry. I thought we were having a "state the obvious" contest. I'm competitive by nature"