You want me to Date You?

Chapter Twenty Eight

Chase stood to the side as they helped Michael into a wheelchair. Once they were on the way and they began to wheel him towards the next room for a test, Chase began asking him questions. "Does anyone in your family or family history have neurological issues?"

Michael shook his head, "No."

"Have you been out of the country in the last five years?" Chase continued.

After looking behind him cautiously, Michael nodded. "Yes."

"Three years?" Chase asked, trying to narrow down how often he'd traveled.

"Yes."

"Two years?"

~~~~~~~~

Back in Michael's hospital room Foreman stood in front of Tina, Michael's wife, wanting to ask her the same questions to see if everything would stay lined up between her and his patient.

"He stopped traveling for work two years ago, after we became serious," Tina explained.

"Have you gone on any vacations?"

"His last one was six months ago, it was a golf resort in Brisbane."

Meanwhile Chase had moved from asking Michael questions, to talking to their friend Maya.

"There was no way it was a golf resort," she argued, "Knowing Mike; he was going to every bar in the area before settling down."

This caused chase to sigh and return to Michael to ask him more questions, hoping to bring more light to the case. "Have you been drinking?" he asked.

Michael shook his head. "No."

"What about amphetamines?"

"No."

Chase narrowed his eyes at him. "You tested positive for them," he clarified, causing Michael to turn and give him a look.

~~~~~~~~~~

Foreman and Chase took turns and questioned everyone for some time, trying to get some sort of real answers. Currently they were showing Michael and his wife the MRI scans of his brain.

"There's a little edema, brain swelling and an area of scarring," Chase said as he pointed the different places out on the image.

"Is that what caused the aphasia?" Tina asked.

"Actually, that's what's odd," Chase continued, "The scarring is not in the area of the brain normally associated with conduction aphasia. And it's old. So it happened before he hit his head. Could have been a small stroke or some other underlying condition that could be causing this or it might have nothing to do with it at all." Chase looked over at Michael. "Have you ever had head trauma before?" He watched as Michael shook his head, "Ever had any numbness on one side before? Or dizziness?" Again, Michael shook his head at him.

~~~~~

Meanwhile, back at the airport, House stared out the large pained windows with a cup of coffee in hand as he watched the snow come down in blankets. The attendant at the desk had just come over the loud speaker to say that all of the flights for the night were either delayed or cancelled, which made him sigh. "Great," he grumbled.

Cameron came up beside him and placed a hand on his back. "I got us a room at the airport hotel. It's better than staying here on a cot all night."

He turned and looked down at her, giving her a smile. "Thanks, you didn't have to do that."

She shrugged. "I know, but you didn't have to bring me here with you to do all of this either. Do you want to head to the room now? Or wander a bit longer?"