Remorse - Recap

Valerie and Russ are accompanying their boss, Norris, to his plane. They’re both trying to avoid taking the blame for a recent screw up. As they approach the plane, Valerie produces a text message showing that she notified Russ of the change in plans, clearing her. Russ suddenly staggers, and then insists he isn’t drunk. He feels nauseous and throws up on Valerie’s shoes, and then goes back into the terminal. Valerie apologizes to Norris, saying that she had no idea that Russ as drinking again. As she starts back toward the terminal, she suddenly clutches at her ears in agony.

Foreman is bringing various cases, including Valerie’s, to House. They’re meeting in Wilson’s office, but House won’t tell them why. House casually dismisses Valerie’s symptoms, but when Foreman tells him that Valerie is a hot woman, he gives the file a second look. He’s intrigued by the fact that Valerie’s husband Bill isn’t hot as well, and he isn’t rich enough to attract a beautiful woman. Going over the file, House notes that Valerie has recently switched to a raw-food diet and concludes that the underlying cause of her ear pain is her heart. As they leave Wilson’s office, House gets a call from someone named Wibberly, but refuses to answer.

The rest of the team goes to see Valerie despite the fact that all three men don’t need to be there. They take her out to test for arrhythmia.

When Wilson comes into the office, he finds House sleeping on his couch. When Wilson asks why, House explains that he went to school with Lorenzo Wibberly, and switched papers with him during a med school test to prove the professor was biased against him. It turned out he wasn't: House got Wibberly’s A grade, and Wibberly flunked out. When Wilson wonders why House is making a big deal of the matter, House explains that he wrote an apology/confession letter to Wibberly as part of his therapy. Wilson points out that House doesn’t have any problem dealing with other people he’s hurt… like Wilson, and Cuddy.

Valerie’s arrhythmia test proves negative and they return to her room. Russ is there, drunk and accuses Valerie of poisoning him at the airport and making him appear drunk. When he attacks her, Valerie’s husband Bill pulls him away and the team calls security. As he’s taken out, Russ claims that he had an affair with Valerie, but she doesn’t love him or her husband. Valerie responds by saying he was in therapy for paranoia. Russ admits that it’s true, but that in her case he was justified. Once Russ is removed, Valerie assures her husband that she didn’t have an affair, but Hadley is skeptical.

The team goes back into differential, but House refuses to come in, and talks to them from the speaker phone. They’re unaware that he’s hiding in Cuddy’s office because Wilson wants to set him up to meet Wibberly. The male team members believe that Russ somehow poisoned Valerie and he’s to blame, but Hadley insists that the patient is hiding something. House bluntly tells her that she’s disagreeing because of her issues with Foreman that led to their breakup. He concludes that Russ secretly slipped Valerie his hyperthyroidism medicine to make her sick, and orders them to give Valerie beta-blockers to count the effects. Foreman orders Hadley to do it. House then hangs up and cuts up two photos in Cuddy’s office: one of her in a jungle with a chimpanzee, and one with Lucas. House moves the heads around to amuse himself. However, Wibberly comes in and explains that Wilson told him where to find House.

The two men go to the cafeteria for lunch and Wibberly thanks House for the therapy apology. He explains that he now works at an organic supermarket. He never graduated from med school because he was one credit short: the credit he failed to get when House switched papers. Now he has to cover his father's medical bills.

Hadley puts Valerie in the MRI and asks her some questions. Foreman comes in and objects that Hadley didn't do what he told her. Hadley reveals that according to the scans, Valerie can talk about feelings, but she doesn't understand them: she's a psychopath. When he finds out, House insists on talking to her in person. He tells Bill to get out so they can get an honest read, and then flat-out asks her if she's a psychopath. Valerie denies it until House says they have to keep her condition confidential, and it may have to do with her illness. Valerie gives in and tells them that she slipped Russ an emetic to make him appear drunk. She did have an affair with Russ in return for taking credit for his best ideas. Bill has a trust fund and she has a prenup with him. When she describes herself as simply being honest with herself and everyone, Hadley points out that it sounds like House. Outside, House adds psychopathy to the symptom list, much to the other's surprise. Foreman suggests tertiary syphilis and House orders penicillin.

As he gets in the elevator with House, Foreman wants House to discipline Hadley for refusing to do the test. House tells him to punish Hadley himself because he's her boss. Foreman explains that it's confident but House refuses, saying it's none of his business and Foreman has to resolve his own issues. As House gets off, he finds Cuddy waiting for him. She tells him that the photo he cut up was her only copy of a photo from her father. House finds the situation awkward, but refuses to apologize, pointing out it wouldn't do any good.

House drops in to see Wilson, who is working with a Hispanic patient. They discuss Wibberly, and House figures that Wibberly isn’t acting angry because he has an agenda Wilson suggests he should do something if he feels guilty, and that Wibberly might be happier. House seizes on that and goes to find out why Wibberly is happy. At Wibberly's house, House admires the view but notes the man is packing. Wibberly explains that he lost his home because of his dad's overwhelming medical bills.

The team tells Valerie and Bill that she might have syphilis. Valerie starts coughing and when Bill goes to get her some water, Valerie tells Hadley that she's going to sue her if she tells Bill anything about her affair. When Bill returns, Hadley takes her arm for a test and it breaks. Valerie complains to Cuddy, claiming that Hadley did it deliberately. House refuses to remove Hadley from the case, and Taub points out the brittle bones are caused by kidney failure. Since they've ruled out syphilis, Foreman suggests lymphoma. Hadley disagrees with Foreman. House orders Taub and Chase out and tells the two of them to have sex rather than argue pointlessly, or do something to resolve their issues.

As they take Valerie to radiotherapy for the lymphoma, Bill wonders to Hadley if they've ruled everything else out. Hadley considers testing for environmental conditions and Bill tells her that Valerie had a landscaping class on Thursday, the same night that Hadley knows Valerie was having an affair. She tells him to find out everything he can about the class.

House goes to see Valerie personally during her radiotherapy. She wonders why and suggests that she fascinates him because he sees similarities between the two of them. When House claims he has a conscience like everyone else, she points out he doesn't sound thrilled at the concept.

After doing the research, Bill realizes that Valerie lied about her landscaping case and confronts his wife. Valerie continues to lie, claiming she was at work and didn't want to tell him because he said he didn't like her working so much. When he considers calling her office to confirm, she tells him to do whatever he has to, but what matters is that she loves him. He reluctantly accepts her story and they embrace… and Valerie smirks at Hadley.

Later, Valerie tells to Cuddy to fire Hadley, accusing her of trying to ruin her marriage and threatening a lawsuit. Cuddy refuses to fire her but removes Hadley from the case, claiming it's for Hadley's benefit. Valerie says that Cuddy is mad at Hadley but Cuddy denies it. Later in the cafeteria, Hadley gets a call informing her that someone has filed a sexual harassment case against her. She goes to confront Valerie, who denies it, but Foreman gets her out of the room. He warns her that the accusation will fail regardless unless Hadley loses her cool. Hadley accuses him of being an unemotional jerk. He then apologies for firing her, saying he did it for himself but couldn't admit it. He hopes they can still work together. They're interrupted when blood flow from Valerie's liver backs up. They take her into surgery to install a shunt, but have to get Bill's approval. He's hesitant to do anything, and wonders if she really had an affair. Foreman tells him that he has to make a decision now, and Bill agrees to the surgery.

Back in differential, the team figures that Valerie only has a day or two left. They try to link all the symptoms and the best they can come up with hepatic fibrosis. House orders steroid treatment but Chase warns that the liver is damaged and she'll need a new liver. Hadley figures that no one would want to donate a liver, and Taub notes that Bill is still staying with Valerie despite the fact he knows she had an affair.

Wilson comes to see House, who is writing ac heck to cover Wibberly's mortgage. When he asks why he won't apologize to Cuddy, House claims that Wibberly losing his house is more important. House denies it, but Wilson says that House can't apologize to Cuddy because he has actual feelings.

Hadley discovers that Valerie's sister Sarah came in to be tested for compatibility to be a donor. When Hadley wonders why she wants to help her sister, Sarah explains that when they were children, their alcoholic father physically and verbally abused them during adolescence, and that's when Valerie became cold. Hadley talks to House and insist the psychopathy is now a symptom. House takes that into account with everything else and deduces that Valerie has Wilson's Disease. There's one way to test and they check Valerie's fingernails. They're blue, confirming House's diagnosis. He orders chelation and Hadley explains that her body can't process copper. The raw-food diet, and the nuts with a higher copper content, triggered the symptoms. as they prepare Valerie for treatment, she asks if it will cure her psychopathy. Hadley warns that the changes to her brain may be permanent. Outside, Hadley warns Bill that Valerie plans to claim she's cured and then start the whole series of lies and deceits with him again so she can get his money in the prenup. Bill figures that as long as it appears real like it was before, it'll be enough.

I'm going to go see if Wilson has any liver left.

House gives Wibberly the check but the man refuses to get it. He finally explains that he lied to House: he graduated after all, and then got himself fired because of a gambling addiction that led to his overcharging on Medicare accounts. When House wonders why Wibberly came to him, Wibberly figures that House was a bastard when he knew him, and he deserved to be suckered. However, he's come to realize that House has changed and is no longer a bastard. He tries to get House to take the check, but House refuses. Disgusted, House finally takes the check and leaves.

Once Valerie is stabilized, she qualifies for a liver transplant. Bill talks about how they can go to the beaches of Vietnam for a vacation once she's better, but Valerie says he's pitiful. She claims that her brush with death has focused her mind, and she can no longer bear to spend her life with him. Bill angrily leaves and Hadley realizes that Valerie has changed after all. If she were still a psychopath, she would have continued to drain Bill dry. She asks Valerie what she's feeling, and Valerie says that whatever it is, it hurts.

Hadley goes to see Foreman, who is working on discharge reports. He congratulates her on the diagnosis and admits he can't read Taub's handwriting. She offers to help and the two of them start working… together.

As House is leaving, he sees Cuddy and Lucas together. He considers them for a minute, and then turns and leaves. He goes to Wibberly's house and slips the check in through the mail slot.

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