Brave Heart - Recap

Donny and his partner are part of a police chase as they pursue a parkour expert, Boutain, on foot through alleyways. Boutain takes to the rooftops and Donny is forced to jump across an alleyway to get to him. Donny makes the jump against the advice of his partner, and falls three stories.

At Princeton, Cameron checks Donny out and his partner notes that Donny thinks he's going to die soon because his dad, grandfather, and great-grandfather all died at age 40 of heart problems, same as Donny is now. He's been to doctors and they haven't found anything. Cameron says she knows a doctor who can.

Wilson finds House sexually relieving himself on his couch and tells him it's time he finally moves into the bedroom. House points out that Wilson has been avoiding the offer because he considers the room where he and Amber once slept as a shrine. Wilson says he's going to order a mattress.

Cameron brings the case to the team, insisting that Donny's a genetic time bomb. House is unimpressed and thinks the whole thing is coincidence but Cameron insists Donny's life is miserable. House figures she's going with her typical nurturing instinct, but Foreman and Chase back her. House points out he's the de facto boss but Foreman notes House still doesn't have his medical license. Foreman orders genetic tests on Donny's heart. As they leave, Chase sees Donny in the ICU and remembers Dibala dying. He hides his watch and then says he lost it and leaves them.

Cuddy wants to know what House's employment plans are and says he needs to requalify by completing 120 hours. House points out that she's doing it just to give him a hard time but Cuddy assigns him to Dr. Singh.

The heart tests show nothing so Chase and Foreman dig up the bodies of Donny's dead family members. Foreman figures out that Chase lied about his watch to avoid the ICU and Chase admits that he has panic attacks when he goes near the ICU room. When Chase points out they can't move Donny without alerting Cameron, Foreman tells Chase to be honest with his wife. Cameron comes in and helps out.

A woman, Cheryl, comes to see House and explains that they used to go out. They broke up but she had a son, Michael, that Donny never knew about. House puts her in touch with Foreman and goes to sleep in his new room. He hears vague whispering but can't figure out where it's coming from or what it means. He checks on Wilson, who isn't doing anything. House goes back to bed, puzzled.

The next morning, the team returns to the conference room and realize House is gone. They find a note saying that he went to requalify. Foreman figures they need as pure a DNA sample as possible and tells them to get permission to do a bone biopsy. Michael doesn't want to and Cameron tells Cheryl that she needs to tell Michael who is father is. Cheryl explains that Donny doesn't want kids, but Cameron says it's the boy's only chance to meet his father.

House accompanies Dr. Singh and three other interns. The patient's alarm goes off and the interns prepare to cut open the patient, until Singh notes that House is pushing the test button. Singh asks him to act like an adult and House agrees… and then breaks the patient's urine drainage tube.

Cheryl tells Donny about Michael and Donny says that she had no right. Donny insists he wants nothing to do with the boy but Cheryl sends Michael in. Michael suggests they go to a movie but Donny says no, and explains he's trying to spare Michael the pain of losing his father, the way Donny lost his.

The team goes back into differential and House notes that Cameron's bleeding heart is at work. She insists it was the only way to convince Michael to agree to the biopsy. House asks Chase for his opinion but Chase's mind is elsewhere. House decides to release Donny because he's simply imagining things and takes some candy. He tells Chase to accompany him and points out privately that he's distracted. House suggests that Chase talk to a doctor and then goes to see Donny. He tells Donny that he has a made up disease and gets Chase to back him up. A relieved Donny takes the candy and believes that he'll be cured.

House returns home to the bedroom and starts hearing the same voices again. There's a pounding but Wilson tells him it's someone at the front door. House goes to check it out and Foreman tells him that Donny died four hours after they discharged him. They both worry about how they screwed up and House wonders what's wrong with. The autopsy hasn't been performed yet and Foreman requested the body be sent back to Princeton.

Chase, awake and dressed, wakes Cameron up at 4 a.m. to tell her that he's going to tell Cheryl and Michael that Donny died. Cameron asks him to stay and call later but he insists she needs to learn it face-to-face. Cameron asks what is the matter with him and Chase says that he's fine.

Foreman begins the autopsy but House insists they go directly to the heart. When Foreman points out that he needs a medical license to perform a medical autopsy, House notes there's nothing else to screw up. Foreman takes the bone saw and starts making an incision. They both notice that Donny's chest is bleeding, and Donny suddenly awakens, screaming in pain.

Later, Donny passes out again and the team goes back into differential. House suggests that it's something other than Donny's heart. He stops when he hears the whisperiong again but quickly recovers. Foreman suggests that it's auto-immune passed down genetically and they begin steroid treatment. Cameron tries to reassure Donny but he complains that his jaw aches and nothing they do helps.

House has his hearing tested but the doctor can't find anything wrong. She suggests that if he's hearing something that isn't there, he needs to talk to an expert on psychosis. House then goes to see Cuddy and tells her he's not ready to be a doctor again. He apologizes and walks out.

That night, House is sleeping on the couch when Wilson comes in. He admits he can't sleep in the bedroom because the heater is screwed up. Wilson offers to listen if he has anything to say but House tells him to go.

At the hospital, Donny's jaw pain gets worse and he finally grabs a pair of forceps and pulls out the offending tooth.

Foreman, Chase, and Cameron meet and determine there was nothing wrong with the tooth. Cameron suggests bone cancer and Chase notes that House isn't there. Foreman explains that House quit but Chase figures it's a power play. Cameron suggests Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, a hereditary disease that increases the chance of bone cancer, accounting for the pain. With nothing else left, they test for the tumors.

House wakes up in the middle of the night and goes to the bedroom. He finally pinpoints the whispering as coming from the heating vent. He follows the vent to Wilson's room and discovers his friend talking to his dead girlfriend Amber. House steps away without letting Wilson know he's there.

As Cameron and Foreman test for bone cancer, Cameron asks Foreman what he knows about Chase's problem. Foreman tells her to ask Chase.

In the morning, House tells Wilson he's hearing things and figures he's losing it. Wilson quietly agrees when House says he's going to check himself back into Mayfield. House calls him on it, getting him to admit that he talks to his dead girlfriend. House wonders why Wilson doesn't talk to him and Wilson explains that talking to House doesn't make him feel better.

House returns to finish his hours and Cuddy, exasperated, calls him outside. As they start fighting, the students conclude it's foreplay. Later, House goes to the conference room and notices that Chase isn't there. As he goes, he realizes that there must be nerves to carry the pain and hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathy could cause nerve pain to cause the tooth to hurt. When Cameron goes to provide the treatment, House tells her that Chase will do it. He then goes to see Chase sleeping in his office and tells him that he needs to do his job. Chase goes into the ICU and has moments of panic. He asks Donny if he's killed anyone Donny says that most of the men he knows never got over it, even with help. As Chase goes, Donny suddenly and painfully loses bowel control.

The team goes over the new symptom and Cameron suggests Wilson's Disease, which would cause the liver to deteriorate so they couldn't determine the disease. House orders treatment.

Chase goes to a priest for confession and tells him that he killed Dibala. He refuses to accept that he did anything wrong but wonders what he can do to get forgiveness. The priest tells him that he must take responsibility by turning himself into the police. Chase doesn't think it's just but the priest says there's no other way.

Cuddy gives House the completed recertification form and tells him to send it in. He tries to play it off but Cuddy asks if he's okay. House says he's fine as long as they have what they have, and Cuddy says that what they have is each one pushing the other's buttons. House gets an epiphany, goes to see Donny. and explains he inherited an aneurysm that got larger as Donny aged. It applied pressure to the nerves, causing the heart and tooth problems. Donny is skeptical but House insists that if he's right, they can save Donny and Michael. When it turns out Donny is in no hurry to tell Michael the good news, House realizes Donny uses his supposed condition to avoid giving a crap about anyone but himself.

After Michael and Donny both undergo surgery, Donny meets with Michael and suggests they go to a movie.

Cameron calls the police after Chase has been gone for eight hours. He stumbles in, drunk and insists that now he's better. He tries to hug her but she turns and walks away.

House tries to sleep in the bedroom, using earplugs. He smiles and starts talking to his father, then yells at Wilson that it's stupid. Wilson tells Amber that House is getting better.

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