Transplant - Recap

In prison, House is woken up by CO Alvarez and says that he has a visitor: the Dean of Medicine from his old hospital. House doesn’t want to see her but Alvarez says that it’s a man. Intrigued, House goes to the visitor room and finds Foreman waiting for him, holding a file. He has a judge’s order for his release and explains that they have a crisis. House will be released on conditional parole under Foreman’s supervision. When House says that it’s not a good idea, Foreman says that his patient will be a pair of lungs in a box. Intrigued, House agrees.



As House checks out, Foreman explains that the donor was Steve Weathers, an 18-year-old college student who died in a motorcycle crash. They have discovered that his lungs had increased airway resistance. They return to Princeton and Foreman makes sure that Foreman knows that he has complete control of House, and if he does anything then House will return to prison. House asks about Cuddy and Foreman says that she resigned a day after the incidence. They go to the old conference room and Foreman explains that it’s been converted. House’s office is gone and Foreman escorts him to his new office: a cubbyhole with a desk and his new team: Dr. Chi Park.



House explains to Park that he doesn’t want a substitute and points out that she’s available at 3 a.m. because she’s a reject and trying to hide it. He tells her to go back to Neurology but Park says that she punched her attending. They go to see the lungs and find Wilson there along with Dr. Simpson. House immediately makes it clear that he was in prison but was never raped. Simpson welcomes him back and explains that they believe the lungs have secondary ARDS, while Wilson remains silent. House figures that it’s a tick-borne disease and Wilson finally speaks up, saying that they’ve already tested negative for it. House suggests cocaine and points out that they couldn’t have done a tox screen on the lungs, and tells Park to get ready to go with him.

Outside, House figures that Wilson is the one who had him freed and apologizes, claiming that he’s paid the price. Wilson isn’t interested in hearing it and tells him that they’re not friends. He gets a page and goes to see his patient, Vanessa, who is suffering from angina. As he ups her nitro drip, her sister Theresa is at her bedside and Wilson assures him that they’ll have the lungs for her soon. Vanessa jokes about how she used to drink heavily and her sister takes offense. Theresa assures Vanessa that she isn’t dying and Wilson says that the hospital has brought in a consultant. He admits that House is an excellent doctor.



House and Park go to the Weathers home and she explains that she punched her boss when he sexually harassed her. She admits that she lives with her parents and that they’d be horrified if they learned what she did. Inside, House goes through the boy’s room while the father, Mr. Weathers, complains. Park tries to calm him and warns House that he’s about ready to throw him out. House figures that Mr. Weathers won’t because he has to have his son’s death have meaning. Park gets Mr. Weathers to explain that his son Steve was coming home from a poker party at a friend’s basement. House notices that none of the photos show Steve wearing glasses. Mr. Weathers says that Steve just started recently because he was heaving headaches, and House figures the boy had a brain tumor. The doorbell rings and House says that it’s for him. He pulls back his pant leg to reveal that he has a monitor on it. He goes down to meet the police, who escort him away.

The police return House to the hospital, and Foreman explains that he’s confined to the hospital. House claims that Steve’s house was on the way home, but Foreman warns that his decision to call House in wasn’t popular with the board and he needs House to respect him for both their sakes.

As they go to the morgue, House warns Park that her disciplinary meeting could be a problem but she says she’s not worried. As they examine Steve’s body for a tumor, House figures that she plans to leave the hospital. Park admits that she already had a video interview for a job in Chicago and it went well. He tells her that running away from home is dumb and figures that she’s doing it to protect her parents. As he finds a tumor-like mass in the corpse’s arm, House tells her to grow up and come clean, and she gets the last word by saying she’ll drive a car through their living room window.



Wilson goes to see Vanessa and hears her discussing an old boyfriend, Bobby. He notices that her catheter bag is empty because her kidneys are shutting down, so he’ll have to stop the nitro treatments. Wilson returns to his office and finds House there playing music on his laptop. House assures him that his diagnostic team is on it and Wilson notes that he remembers everything that happened between them, mostly the bad. Park comes in and reports that the “tumor” is coagulated blood. He figures that something in Steve’s body reacted to the donor plasma and Park warns that they’re going to have to track down the 25 people who contributed to the plasma.

House wants to leave the hospital to interview the 25 people but Foreman refuses, figuring that House will use it as an excuse to go somewhere else. He says that they can’t afford to bring Thirteen, Taub, and Chase in and that they’re paying House minimum wage. Foreman sends House out, and House has Wilson help check the donors. He finds one donor who may have been allergic to peanuts, and insists that he’s only doing it to help his patient. House hangs up and notices an orthopedic doctor using his whiteboard to explain to a young boy and his mother how he’ll remove their cast. When House tries to take it back, the mother says that Foreman warned her that House would try something. House backs down and goes out into the hallway. As Park and Wilson call in, House writes on the glass window and tries to work out what is going on. Park talks to one donor who they realize was exposed to lead paint.



Vanessa has more chest pains and Wilson says that there’s nothing they can do about it. He assures her that they’re working on the lungs, and House interrupts to call him out into the hall. House tells him that they’re doing chelation on the lungs for lead poisoning and offers Wilson a Reuben sandwich. Wilson is shocked when House says that even if Vanessa dies, his diagnosis will pay off because someone will get the lungs. He explains that he’s given up red meat and tosses away the Reuben before walking away.

Foreman checks up on Park as she administers chelation to the lungs. He asks if House is okay and she says that she has no idea. Her father Kwansik arrives and says that he got a text message from her to bring her dinner. He went by Neurology and was told that she’s on leave, and Park says that she’s consulting on the case. Kwansik is surprised that she can help with a pair of lungs. They crash and she quickly runs off to deal with it. She realizes that they were wrong about the diagnosis and suggested administering a calcium channel blocker. Foreman agrees and congratulates her when the treatment works, but Park realizes that they killed part of one lung.



House pages Dr. Pinto to help administer the catheter. He notes that Park tends to respond to problems with violence and goes to Pinto’s office as he leaves. As House steals back his chair from Pinto and suggests sarcoidosis, Park confirms that the transplant team ran an ACE to eliminate that possibility. She suggests that the scrapings may have had other heavy metals but House notes that chelation wouldn’t have made it worse. However, he wonders if one of the donors had hemosiderosis and that the excess iron is trapped in the lungs. House orders Park to check, and then abandons her to Pinto when he returns and discovers House taking the chair.

Wilson checks on Vanessa and determines that her small airways are collapsing. He wants to force an oxygen-rich slurry into her lungs and admits that it will hurt. Vanessa refuses, saying that she’s done. Wilson goes to the bathroom where House is holed up while waiting for test results. He explains that Vanessa has signed a DNR and complains that he hasn’t got anything from House yet again. House tells him to find another angle and do whatever it takes, and Wilson angrily storms off.



Foreman comes to see Park, who is staining for excess iron, and asks if House arranged for her father to visit. He tells her that it’s a compliment, and then says that he gave her a good recommendation to the hospital in Chicago. When he says that it works out for all of them, Park asks why it’s good for him and complains that the supervisor, Andrews, harassed her and should be the one to leave. Foreman offers to call Chicago back but Park tells him not to. She then asks him to look at the tests, which reveal massive infection of the white blood cells.

Park reports on the infection to House, who is enjoying fresh fruit. She wonders why he’s taking it so calmly and House says that screaming wouldn’t help. He suggests they need an intact immune system to deal with the bacteria and unleashes a barrage of metaphors, and Park wonders if he thinks she’s stupid. House assures her that his old team was also stupid.



Bobby comes to the hospital and Theresa objects. Wilson says that it was his idea and points out that Bobby was the one who convinced Vanessa to take another round of chemo. Bobby considers going but Vanessa greets him. While he takes her hand, Theresa walks away.

Later, Wilson goes to find House in the MRI chamber, relaxing. He insists that the case is under control and Wilson admits that House was right to have him push the lung slurry. House asks if they’re good but Wilson only concedes that it was good advice. As he goes, House says that he had fun with Wilson and tells him to do what he has to do to get over it. Wilson tells him that he doesn’t like him and walks away.

House goes to check on the lungs when they become discolored. He realizes that he was wrong about the infection and Simpson warns that they’re almost at the point of no return. House admits that he has no ideas and has Park and Simpson start providing them. It proves less than successful and he tells them to do what he can to maintain the lungs and buy him time to think. He breaks into his old office but is soon kicked out and sits on the floor. He sees Wilson and the staff celebrating a nurse’s birthday with a cake and candles and gets an idea. He goes to tell Park that the lungs are from a smoker. Steve played poker and hung out with teenagers who smoked cigars. He had eosiniphilic pneumonitis which become fatal when the secondary smoke interacted with his white cells. The disease would have killed him regardless of the motorcycle accident. House says that they have to radiate, the only thing that will get the job done in time to save Vanessa, even though it may kill the dying lung.



Park administers the treatments and Foreman comes in as she confirms that it’s working. She asks if she’s going to Chicago and he warns that if she stays, they’ll have to have hearing. Park agrees and then calls her father and asks if he has a minute.

Simpson puts in the lung. Afterward, Theresa thanks Wilson for calling in Bobby. She wonders what happens now and Wilson assures her that Vanessa can handle it. Bobby is there to comfort Vanessa.

House prepares to light up a cigar in the lobby. Foreman tells him that he has something for him: his old office, complete with his old furniture. He won’t be getting the conference room back, and House asks where Taub, Thirteen, and Chase will sit. Foreman says that he’s welcome and leaves. Wilson comes in and punches House in the face, and then says he’ll pick something up for dinner later. He walks away and House settles in behind his desk and puts his feet up.



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