House - "House Training"

We open on a street hustler playing a card game and attracting a bit of a crowd. He plays with a girl, who's obviously in on the scam - the pair are trying to attract a button down guy, who looks eager to lose his money. The hustler shuffles the cards for the girl one last time, and she just can't decide where the card is. Something's wrong, and in true House fashion, she passes out. Hello, POTW.

The POTW was scared. Foreman's first diagnosis is a disorder that causes the inability to make decisions or exercise will. He then said it was part of a T.I.A. - blood was cut off to a part of her frontal lobe. POTW gal denied doing drugs and doesn't have a job - her last job was a pet store, then unemployment. Her job history actually shows a lot of unemployment. She has no clots, could this be drug-related? Job hopping could be an ADD symptom. Foreman had an outright disdain for the girl. She was preggers at 15 but the baby died at 6. Clean tox screen. Wilson's wife wants her to take custody of their dog. His hotel doesn't allow them and he's always at work. I think he's hinting for House to take care of the pooch. House and a dog could be good for him - remember Steve the mouse? House said he had asked Cuddy to see a play, but she told him she was busy. He says the invitation was a test that proved she was interested in Wilson. Wilson was the reason that Cuddy was busy, they're going to a Hockney exhibit at the art gallery, but it's "not a date". House calls for the battery of tests - he's got porn that "can't download on its own" to take care of. Foreman's dad shows up at Princeton. It's his mom's birthday and he hasn't been home to see her in 8 years. She is slowly forgetting who Foreman is. Apparently Foreman has some unresolved mommy isues. Chase and Foreman visit the POTW's place and Chase finds a crack pipe. Chase tries to get to the bottom of Foreman's family stuff. House confronts Cuddy about her "not a date" with Wilson. Cuddy knows House's M.O. Foreman heads to the hotel to see his parents. Mom is concerned about Foreman. They found arsenic poisoning in the POTW's place and she's now having a coughing fit - and coughing up blood.

Our (still nameless) POTW reluctanlty has a MRI - she didn't have enough arsenic in her system to cause the attack she had. Chase is still trying to get back with Cameron. She wants to put the whole thing behind them. Chase finds a mass in her brain. White blood cells were in the walls of the blood vessels. It's auto immune disease - but What kind? Foreman is certain of this diagnosis and HOuse orders steroid treatment. House went to see a condo shown by Wilson's ex wife, who he grills about his buddy. Wilson and Cuddy go to what they thought was a Hockney exhibit, but it was something a little different - kinda kinky stuff. House got lots of dirt from the ex. Wilson started his relationship with her as friends, just like he and Cuddy. Uh-oh. Wilson's a knight in shining armor, all the things House is not. The ex tries to get House to convince Wilson to take Hector the dog. She says that Wilson's also great in bed. POTW noticed that Foreman doesn't like her. She's got yellow eyes, her liver's failing. It's not auto immune disease, it's moving too fast - its a rare cancer. Foreman says the only solution is total body radiation. House goes to get her consent for the procedure - mainly to find out why she doesn't like Foreman. When he tries to get her to sign the form, she can't decide again. House heads to the cafeteria to harass Wilson, who got a call from his ex. He tells Wilson he has to have sex with Cuddy soshe doesn't fall in love with him. Foreman checks in on the POTW after her radiation treatment. SHe's queasy...and then all of a sudden she freaks out about the blood pressure cuff around her arm. It hurts - a lot.

What caused that much pain? It's not cancer or auto immune, but her immune system has been fried. Basically, the gang killed the POTW. Wilson's ex shows up at House's office and realizes that he had no interest in a condo. She chews him out, almost flat-out blaming him for ruining their marriage. House blows her off - and then looks like he actually feels bad about the situation. Foreman consults with Wilson on how to tell the POTW that she's going to die. Wilson advises him to let her see that he's freaking out. Foreman follows wilson's instrucions to a "T" but doesn't get the reaction that Wilson told him he'd get - so he punched the wall, breaking his hand in the process. 

House wants to perform an aspiration on the POTW to try and find out what they missed. Foreman wants to move her out of the ICU. Foreman asked for forgiveness - her grandparetns weren't there, she had no friends, and he wanted to do something for her. The POTW's well into the anger phase of the 5 steps. Foreman finally admits he had a problem with the POTW and admitted the mistakes he made in the past. He stayed with the POTW until the end (think since she died, she never got a name? And where was the guy from the start of the show?) House performed the autopsy on the former POTW. She scratched herself with her bra hook which is how the infection got into her system. A simple staph infection, paired with bad decisions, did her in. House talked to Foreman. He can't get over the fact that he lost the patient. House told him that they would eventually lose some,it's just the facts of life. and yeah, House adopted Hector. Foreman went to celebrate his mom's birthday. She gives him the forgiveness he needed, but didn't realize she was comforting her son. Great episode.