Twenty Vicodin - Recap

The prison parole board brings House and considers releasing him in five days to deal with overcrowding. House refuses to admit that he’s sorry, saying that he’d only tell them that to give them the answer that will cover their asses. When a board member notes that he endangered Cuddy and her daughter Rachel and then fled the country for three months, House explains that he knew Rachel was with her grandmother that day and he saw Cuddy and the others go to the kitchen. The parole board decides to release House in five days, if he can stay out of trouble that entire time. If he doesn’t, he’ll stay in prison for at least another four months. House considers and then says he can stay out of trouble.

Monday

House wakes up in his cell and discovers that his cellmate Asofa is sitting on the edge of his bunk, staring at him. They go down to the common area and House makes sure that Asofa gets his anti-psychotic medications. The neo-Nazi gang leader, Mendelson, comes over and collects his weekly “fee” of Vicodin from House’s prescription. House, unimpressed by the man, mocks him briefly and then heads back to his cell. He exchanges chess movies with Frankie, an older prisoner, and another prisoner, Nick, complains to him about some weird pains. House tells him to go to the clinic but then finds another prisoner, Rollo, stealing his tuna and other supplies. Rollo says that House won’t pick a fight because it would ruin his chances of parole, and he won’t say anything because then he’ll get a reputation as a snitch and get shanked in the shower. House considers going after Rollo anyway but Frankie comes in and holds him back while Rollo swaggers out. Frankie tells his friend to get revenge by staying alive and getting out of Prison in five days.



As House goes about his cleaning duties, a prisoner named Stomper tells House to hand over his stereo and headphones. As House cleans in the clinic, he sees Dr. Jessica Adams examining Nick. She figures that he has gonorrhea and her superior, Sykes, congratulates her on the diagnosis. House says that she’s wrong and Sykes points out that House used to be a doctor. She’s surprised but House persists, saying that Nick has subtle eyebrow loss, meaning that he has lupus. Adams checks Nick but doesn’t find a rash on his head, but House says that the rash could appear elsewhere. She says that lupus doesn’t usually present that way and House says that “usually” is only satisfactory for a prison, not for treating a patient.

Frankie reminds House that Stomper has a hair-trigger, and House gets an idea. He hides his stereo in Rollo’s cell and then tells Stomper that Rollo stole it. When Stomper doesn’t believe Rollo would dis him, House says that Rollo claimed that he could take him anytime. A fight soon breaks out and House gets to listen to his stereo and eat his tuna. However, Frankie warns him that he can’t keep tricking his fellow prisoners to stay out of trouble.



Tuesday

House tries to sleep but a chirping cricket keeps him awake. When he prepares to kill it, Asofa stops him. House warns his cellmate that he’s had bad luck with pets, but Asofa is unimpressed. The next day, House goes to check Nick for a rash, who is drawing a sketch of his wife Nicole. As House examines him, Nick explains that Nicole isn’t accepting his calls but House isn’t interested. He then goes to tell Adams that Nick has a rash on Nick’s left thigh. She’d rather talk about House and what went wrong in his life. She figures he was forging proscriptions and House doesn’t deny it. He’d rather focus on the case, and figures Adams is interested because she’s a rich trust-fund girl who is already bored with her job. The only time she looked interested in something is when House said that Nick had lupus, so he figures she’ll treat Nick for lupus.

Mendelson’s lieutenant Sullivan calls House to his boss’ cell. The gang leader has learned that House is getting parole and wants his “exit” fee of all the Vicodin he has, 20 pills. House warns that he doesn’t get that many and threatens to go into protective custody, but Mendelson warns him that he has people on the outside and they’ll come after House. House goes to see Porter, a trustee and the prison procurer. Porter says he can get the Vicodin for him in return for $200 from one of House’s friends, but House admits that he doesn’t have any friends. He hears Nick yell and goes to investigate. Nick explains that he was jostled and broke his left arm, and House realizes that he doesn’t have lupus.



Wednesday

As House goes on limited Vicodin rations to meet Mendelson’s fee, his leg pain gets worse. Asofa shows him his pet cricket and demands that House fix it. House goes to the clinic and tells Adams what happened, but she figures that Nick was in a fight and is lying. He asks to see Nick’s file but she refuses, warning that it’s against the rules. She does admit that Nick hasn’t had any meds recently and agrees to x-ray him on Friday with the traveling machine they share with other clinics. House isn’t satisfied since he’ll be gone on Friday and suggests they treat with blood thinners. Adams refuses and House goes to get proof.



As House checks Nick by tapping on his chest and listening for an acoustical shadow, Nick admits that Nicole doesn’t want to see him. When Frankie goes by, House asks him if he can swap Asofa’s cricket for a healthy one. Frankie warns that it won’t work but agrees to try, and points out that the maintenance staff regularly spray the yard with pesticide. House then goes to Potter to get the Vicodin, but the trustee warns that Mendelson has all the Vicodin already.

House explains to an impressed Adams that he located an acoustical shadow in Nick’s chest without a stethoscope, but it only shows that Nick has an anomaly in his chest, not necessarily cancer. She decides to do a clotting test, pricking his ear lobe. Clotting may indicate cancer. As they wait, Adams asks if House is going to leave medicine. He explains that he’s intrigued by physics and theoretical dark matter, the greatest mystery there is because its existence can only be proven by its absence. Adams insists that he has a gift for medicine and he shouldn’t waste it, but House warns that his gift got him into prison. Before Adams can argue the point, Nick comes in and complains that his ear lobe is bleeding profusely.



Thursday

House gives Asofa’s cricket bicarbonate of soda to treat it for pesticide exposure. He hints that Asofa should thank him but gets no response. He then checks his Vicodin and realizes that he doesn’t have enough. House goes to the clinic and complains about his leg pains, and Adams tells him that the chest x-ray proved negative. She finally gives him Nick’s file even though House warns her that he isn’t trustworthy. Working together, they figure that Nick was exposed to a toxic substance. Sykes comes in and sees House with the file, and House hands it back and walks out. He goes to see Nick and ask him to take samples of his work environment. However, Nick insists that Nicole is more important and he’s going to keep trying to contact her. House calls Nick an idiot and says that Nicole won’t wait for him for three years. He bluntly tells Nick that his life outside is over and everyone he knows has moved on. Nick yells at him to get out and House leaves.

Back at the clinic, House confirms that Sykes is gone and asks for some swabs. Adams is angry at House for his lying to her, but he figures that she feels jilted. She asks why he’s doing time when he didn’t have any priors and didn’t hurt anyone. House claims that he had a bad lawyer and Adams says that they can’t talk about the case anymore.



As House goes back to his cell, Mendelson and Sullivan grab him, figuring he can’t get the pills in time. Mendelson explains that he takes his own medication for stress and that he can’t appear weak by giving House a pass. He tells House that he has 24 hours to get the Vicodin or else. House goes to Frankie and asks for gum and the pen that he has that he never writes with, which contains a small blade. Once he has what he needs, House goes to the bathroom and uses the foil from the gum to short out a circuit and start a fire. By the time he gets to the clinic, the fire has spread. Adams orders an evacuation and House uses the confusion to grab the 20 Vicodin pills.

Nick approaches House in his cell later and asks about the samples. House says that he isn’t interested but notices that Nick’s lips are swelling. Before he can confirm that Nick has any allergies, Nick collapses from anaphylactic shock. House uses Frankie’s pen blade to cut open Nick’s throat and then flushes the blade down the toilet. A guard, Alvarez, arrives and mistakenly assumes that House attacked him, but realizes that House is saving Nick’s life.



That night, House listens to the recovered cricket chirp and rubs his leg. He writes down Nick’s symptoms on the white surface of the bed above him and then takes most of his remaining Vicodin for the pain.

Friday

House takes another Vicodin for the pain and then flushes the rest down the toilet. Asofa watches and House tells him that it’s been good knowing him. He asks Alvarez to take him into protective custody, but en route he sees someone drinking coffee. House tells Alvarez that he doesn’t need protective custody and then goes to the clinic. He explains that the heat triggered Nick’s mastocytosis, but Sykes says that it’s usually a skin disease. Adams sides with House and Sykes agrees to do blood tests, but House says it’s almost impossible to confirm mastocytosis with blood testing. He suggests that they give Nick aspirin and trigger another allergic reaction, and Nick agrees. Sykes objects, warning House that he's in prison because he thought he could do whatever he wants. The prison doctor refuses to take the risk and House calls him a moron and a coward. He tries to administer the aspirin himself but Sykes orders the guards to take him out and warns that if he sees House in the clinic again, he’ll have his parole revoked.

Outside, Adams goes after House and asks if he got the Vicodin he needed. She knows what he was up to earlier and gives him another 20 pills to replace the ones he threw away. When House asks her to let him back into the clinic to treat Nick, Adams says that she’ll do what it takes.

House goes to see Mendelson in the common room and starts to give him the pills. The neo-Nazi smugly says that he knew House would fall into line, and House throws the pills up into the air. As the prisoners fight over them, Mendelson hits House. House refuses to fight back and explains that his injuries will get him back into the clinic. Mendelson tells Sullivan to kill House, but the con is reluctant since he’ll be out in a few weeks. He finally gives in and goes for a hidden shank, but Asofa attacks Sullivan, Mendelson, and Mendelson’s other men.



House and the other injured prisoners are taken to the clinic. Once they leave House alone, he takes the aspirin and mixes it with water. When Sykes sees him, House locks the dividing door. Adams warns House that he’ll be there for at least another six months, and that she’s learned he had no lawyer and took the first deal they offered him. She figures that he’s assuaging his guilt by serving prison time, but House tells her to watch Nick. The guards get in and stop Nick from drinking the aspirin. As Alvarez and the others take House away, Adams tells Sykes that she froze. However, she then gives the cup to Nick and he drinks it before Sykes can stop him. He tells her that she’ll never work as a doctor again, and Adams tells him to shut up and watch Nick. They watch Nick but nothing happens.



Saturday

House sits in solitary and finally gets a tray of food on it. There’s a note on it from Adams saying that he was right, and House smiles in satisfaction.



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