House M.D. Episode 5.06 Joy

A man named Jerry gets to work in his kitchen sampling coffee from a series of coffeemakers. He is a consumer product tester. His daughter Samantha leaves for school. Suddenly, he realizes that all the coffeemakers have disappeared. Samantha comes back into the house and he thinks she has forgotten something. She says that it is many hours later and she has returned home from school. Jerry is confused. He has experienced a lapse in time.

Cuddy corners House as he enters the hospital to give him Jerry's case. The patient is suffering recurring blackouts, but his EEG and CT are clean. House looks at Cuddy's casual dress and surmises that she is going to meet a potential birth mother. He says that she is making a mistake.

The team reviews the case file as House writes numbers on the white board. Thirteen suggests post-concussion syndrome. House would like to bet which day Cuddy will change her mind about adopting a baby. Getting back to the case, Taub says that mini-strokes could cause blackouts and memory loss. Thirteen brings up the fact that Jerry's job could have exposed him to a toxin that causes short-term memory loss. Kutner mentions that a cavernous sinus thrombosis might cause absence seizures and memory loss. House tells them to check Jerry's house for toxins and his sinuses for thrombosises.

Thirteen and Taub search Jerry's bare apartment, finding mold under a baseboard. They return to the hospital, and Thirteen swabs Samantha's throat. She is taken aback by Samantha's listlessness. Foreman and Thirteen see Jerry at the elevators, fully dressed. He tells them that he has an appointment. Jerry is sleepwalking.

House gathers he team and discuss that the mold is not to blame for the sleepwalking. Although Jerry does not go anywhere while conscious, somehow he goes out while asleep.

Cuddy goes to meet with Becca, a very pregnant, teenager. Becca asks what she would call the baby and Cuddy says the name Joy. Cuddy wants to know why Becca would pick her over the many couples looking to adopt. "When I read your bio: a doctor, a head of a hospital," Becca says. "I don't want her raised by a loser." Cuddy notices a rash on Becca's arm and admits her to the hospital.

Taub and Thirteen monitor Jerry in his own house as he works on his computer. They have electronic leads stuck on his head, and the vitals monitors start making noise. Jerry is asleep but he leaves his apartment and gets in his car. Taub and Thirteen follow him to a seedy alley. A young woman approaches his passenger side window and leans over. At first they think she is a hooker, but Thirteen realizes she is a drug dealer. They see find drugs on Jerry in his parked car.

Becca is in a hospital bed, wearing a fetal monitor, as Cameron examines the rash on her arm. Cameron asks Cuddy if she is concerned about Fifth disease, a viral infection, which can infect the fetus. Cameron thinks it might just be a heat rash, but Cuddy wants a full fetal workup. Cuddy discusses the notion with House, who warns her about motherhood. House dumps the contents of his coffee cup over Cuddy's shoulder. It is a white, lumpy liquid meant to resemble baby spew. He dares her to not change the shirt.

Taub tells the team that Jerry's cocaine use explains the narcolepsy, which explains the sleepwalking. Foreman asks what caused the first sleepwalking. Thirteen thinks that it is the coke he took while he was wide awake. House tells her to go get another sample. Taub and Thirteen awkwardly go to buy drugs from the dealer. Thirteen opens the packet, touches some with her finger and rubs it on her gums. She demands to be sold what the regular clients get.

While the rash on Becca's arm has faded, Cameron performs an ultrasound. Cameron thinks the image appears to show that the fetus has pulmonary hypoplasia. The baby's lungs are underdeveloped.

Cuddy unpacks her baby things in her office as House continues to hound her about giving up the notion of adoption. She is still wearing the soiled shirt. To make his point, House suddenly tips over a desk lamp to simulate what a child would do to her precious home. Cuddy is undeterred.

Taub and Thirteen report to House that the cocaine was cut with milk powder. House tells them to treat Jerry for an allergic reaction.

As Cuddy tends to Becca, the heart monitor starts to beep. She sees blood fanning out from between Becca's legs. House enters his office to find Cuddy waiting for him. She informs him that Becca has a stage two placental abruption. The fetal lungs are ten weeks premature. She gives him the chart. House advises her to deliver now and risk the baby. If she delivers later, the mother is at risk. Cuddy nods solemnly. "It's not your baby yet, not your call," he says.

House brings his patient file to Wilson in the lounge, but Wilson knows he really wants to talk about Cuddy. Wilson thinks House is acting like a jerk because he is threatened by Cuddy's impending motherhood.

In the patient room, Taub sees that the dressing gown over Jerry's chest is soaked with blood. His skin is sweating blood. House and the team convene. Taub suggests that leukemia explains everything. House orders a bone marrow biopsy.

Hooked up to several IVs of plasma, saline and steroids, Becca looks pale and weak. She is upset and confused. Cuddy tries to calm her, and suggests that she wait for the baby to develop. Becca does not want to. "I've already sacrificed nine months for this stupid mistake," Becca says. "I don't want to sacrifice any more."

Taub notices that one of Jerry's legs is darker than the other. Kutner reports that Jerry is suffering end stage kidney failure. He will need a kidney transplant. House says to use the daughter's kidney, but this requires Cuddy's approval.

As Chase performs a C-section on Becca, House enters the OR to get the transplant approval from Cuddy. Chase pulls the baby out and it cries. They hand the baby to Cuddy. She stares down at it in her arms. Tears of joy stream down her cheeks.

House and Cuddy tell Samantha about the risks of the kidney surgery. He starts to wonder if she has whatever her father has. House stares into Samantha's eyes, which are glassy. She's sleepwalking. Later, Samantha also sweats blood. Kutner thinks this means it is a genetic disorder.

House visits Wilson for advice on genetic diseases. He mentions to House how happy Cuddy is. House stares at Wilson, thinking.

As Samantha lies in a patient bed next to her father, House tells them both that he knows what they have. Neither responds. House diagnoses that they are anhedonic -- incapable of experiencing pleasure. "What we thought was either weirdness or maturity in the kid was just blandness," House tells the other doctors. Although the cocaine didn't give Jerry pleasure, his subconscious craved it. House accuses the patients of being liars. They are not white people. He asks Jerry what his real name is. Jerry says his name is Jamal Hammoud, and he had changed it when the U.S. invaded Iraq the first time. House says that the two have Familial Mediterranean Fever, a genetic disease contracted by people of Mediterranean descent. This causes anhedonia, seizures, kidney failure and lactose intolerance. House prescribes colchicine and melphalan to treat them.

Cuddy gets her nursery ready for Joy. When she checks in on Becca, the girl says that she has decided to keep the baby. Cuddy is shattered.

Cuddy sits on the floor of her nursery at home when someone comes to her door. It's House. She says that she is giving up. House says that is too bad because she would have made a great mother. Cuddy is furious. "When I was getting the baby, you tell me I'd suck as a mother. Now that I've lost it, you tell me I'd be a great mother," she yells. "Why do you do that? Why do you need to negate everything?" House answers that he does not know. Cuddy is taken aback. This is a big concession from House. She softens, then steps up to him. Cuddy reaches up to his face and gives him a tender kiss. And then House leaves.