Occam's Razor - House M.D.

Part 39- Not Too Late

Gathered in Wilson's office this morning, were Wilson himself, House, and House's mother, Blythe. With his office not being particularly spacious, it sort of felt crammed inside, but it was the least of their concerns right now. 

Wilson and Blythe sat opposite each other at the desk, while House sat on the couch with his legs sprawled out. He laid there reading yet another gossip tabloid in the form of a magazine. On the surface, it could have easily appeared insensitive given the meeting topic, however, House was trying to distract himself just in case this meeting were to turn... sensitive. 

With a rather rough and strict upbringing, House never had close relationships with either of his parents, but it was well-known to anyone that knew him that he favored his mother and on a good day, adored her. 

"Anytime now!" House commented, as impatient as ever. 

"Gregory..." his mother sighed, looking apologetically at Wilson who knew better than to take it personally. 

"We can start, when you are ready" Wilson assured her; he could always be depended on to be polite. 

Blythe smirked to herself then back at her son mockingly, "Goody..." she remarked. 

Wilson flipped through some files he had neatly stacked on his desk,

"Well, good news first... it's not cancer." Wilson informed her, "What you have is an acoustic Schwannoma which is a tumor, but is presenting benign at the moment." 

"Benign." Blythe repeated affirming herself, "That's great." 

"Yes, it's certainly better than the alternative, but given its placement, it's likely that it'll prove difficult to manage with time, regardless of it being cancerous or not. More specifically, we're dealing with a Vestibular Schwannoma tumor so it's located along the nerves that connect your brain to your inner ear. From your symptoms, it all checks out. How long have you been experiencing the hearing issues?" 

Blythe drummed her fingers on the wood of Wilson's desk next to her water bottle, "Maybe about a year now, but they've only become seriously disruptive in the last seven or eight months."

"Most of the time with VS tumors, symptoms aren't even detectable until months and months and even several years of development. It's completely normal." Wilson assured Blythe. 

"What the hell?" House interjected, "Why would you call me and tell me you have cancer, after almost a year of deliberating it and not even knowing for sure?" 

"Oh please, Greg. You're so busy here, besides I thought it was just my wearing hearing aids." 

House scoffed, becoming more interested in the conversation, 

"Willy, are you hearing this?" House denounced.

"I'm assuming no pun intended. Your mother's tumor is benign as far as medical testing goes." Wilson told House who was visibly distressed. "Blythe, I'm going to request that you make a monthly appointment with me for the foreseeable future, just to have the opportunity to run some routine scans of the tumor and account for the possibility of SEGA growth."

"SEGA is another one of our rad acronyms for big scary brain tumors. Benign of course." House added obnoxiously. 

Wilson rolled his eyes and dismissed the ridiculous comment, "Is there anything else I can do for you?" he asked Blythe. 

"No, thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me." Blythe expressed happily and giving Wilson a firm handshake.

"Off to find an open bar so soon?" House asked his mother, who loved a good time at happy hour especially if it was even earlier in the day.