House

Vince and his employees Roy and Lee are playing on a virtual reality role-playing battle game and go on an attack raid. They lose Vince in the game and remove their VR helmets and check in the office. Vince's is sitting on the couch and says that his hands are on fire.



At the ER, Thirteen runs NCV and blood tests and can't find any sign of a neurological problem. Vince demands to see House.



House is tendering his resignation to Cuddy and Foreman. He notes that he's discussed the matter with Dr. Nolan and believes he needs to change his habits and environment, so he's taking a job in research. Cuddy wonders if he's thought it through but House insists he can't take the risk. Once he leaves, Cuddy admits that the news is surprising. Foreman immediately puts himself up for head of the department. Cuddy notes that the only reason they have a diagnostic department is because they have House. Foreman insists he deserves a chance and Cuddy gives in, warning him he gets one shot.



Foreman gives the news to Thirteen and Taub and they unpack the conference room and go with a diagnosis of CRPS. Vince disagrees, checks on the Internet, and suggests mercury poisoning brought on by the sushi he eats constantly. When Thirteen notes it would be impossible to eat that much fish, Vince disagrees and points out that the symptoms don't completely match CRPS. He asks them to run one blood test to check for mercury.



Foreman moves into House's office when Cameron comes in to offer her congratulations. She wonders how teammates are taking it and warns that it's different working for people than commanding them. She asks about House and Foreman admits that he's surprised House acted so responsibly. When she asks where Thirteen is, Foreman says they should be doing a spinal stimulation but Cameron reports that they're not. He goes to find them doing the mercury test and points out that he didn't agree to it. The test proves negative and Foreman goes to tell Vince the results.



House meets with Dr. Nolan and admits that the pain has flared up and ibuprofen isn't helping. Nolan suggests he get a hobby and see what Wilson likes to do.



Foreman meets with Vince, who asks for mercury chelation. Foreman warns that his symptoms aren't enough to warrant it but Vince refuses to give in. Foreman says they're done and he'll move on to his next patient. Vince changes his mind and they proceed with the spinal tap. As Thirteen performs the procedure, Vince notes that Foreman strong-armed him. He admits that Foreman reminds him of himself. Vince starts to have pain and can't breathe, while his heart rate climbs. They determine his lungs are filling with fluid.



Back in differential, analysis of the fluid reveals a pulmonary edema caused by the stress. Foreman wonders if Vince is using cocaine to meet his deadline and goes to ask Vince if he's taking drugs.



House goes to a cooking with Wilson and trying not to be a jerk. When Wilson burns his meatballs, House suggests using vinegar and brown sugar to slow the cooking on the outside and it actually works.



Foreman explains to Vince that the procedure didn't go as planned. Vince wonders how long he and Thirteen having been sex. It turns out that Vince has hacked Foreman's profile page and found a photo of the two of them together. They ask if he's been using cocaine and Vince says he cleaned up his act twelve years ago after his college roommate OD'd. Outside, Foreman tells Thirteen to search Vince's office. Thirteen tells him to forget using House's tactics, or trying to do the opposite. Foreman still insists they should search the office and talk to Vince's co-workers. Foreman tells her to meet her for dinner promptly at 7, even after she says she'll be running late.



Cuddy goes to see House, who has Cecile, a member of his cooking over to practice. She notes he seems good and he wonders if she's there to grovel. House insists his decision is final and assures her she's not the reason why he's leaving. Cuddy admits she's going to miss him and Cecile tells her to kiss him or leave.



Thirteen and Taub try out Vince's video game and Taub notes that she's been in a crappy mood since they left the hospital. She wonders how Taub is comfortable with a co-worker now being his boss and he admits he didn't expect anything different. He tells her to go home that night and break Foreman. They get into a shooting fight and Taub is overwhelmed by bird-like creatures. Thirteen realizes what Vince's problem is. Back at the hospital, they determine that Vince dissected birds to capture their body structure for his video game. They figure he has psittacosis that they can treat with antibiotics. However, Vince admits that he has had a three-hour erection that is becoming increasingly painful. They realize that it isn't psittacosis



Back in differential, they report to Foreman that they used a shunt to remove the blood. Foreman notes that Thirteen skipped dinner and the shunt doesn't require two persons, but she claims she's dedicated. Thirteen believes Vince has a brain tumor. Taub notes the tension between them as they argue diagnosis but goes with Foreman's diagnosis of thrombocytosis. As they leave, Thirteen complains that Foreman was ordering her and it's tough for both of them. When Foreman says he's under pressure, she tells him not to complain to his employees. They note two doctors in Vince's room and go to see them. Vince says he posted his symptoms on the Internet and is calling in doctors. Foreman orders them both out but one of them, Paulson, suggests that Vince might have a brain tumor and they should do an MRI, and Foreman disagrees. Vince asks Thirteen, who says to test both theories. He figures that she doesn't believe Foreman's diagnosis or she would agree with him, and demands an MRI. Foreman angrily agrees to set one up.



House is cooking when Wilson gets up for breakfast. He wonders if House is becoming a bit obsessive. House admits that he's still an addict, and then notes that he did it to distract himself from the pain in his leg.



Thirteen goes to see Foreman as he runs the MRI. He accuses her of stabbing him in the back but she says that she doesn't like hedging her bet. When Foreman insists that she go with the team opinion in public, she points out it was his opinion. She wonders if he wants her to lie and Foreman points out that she would have done it for House. Foreman wonders if she's doing it for revenge and points out the MRI is clean. He tells her to treat for thrombocytosis.



Thirteen goes to see House, who figures she'd come over to complain about Foreman. He notes that Cameron didn't come by and figures Thirteen there with her own complaints. She admits it's a problem and wonders how she can get Foreman to tone it down. He tells her not to be a coward and that Foreman has a legitimate fear of failure. House suggests that she give in so that she can be happy, and Thirteen wonders what's happened to him. She tries his food and admits it's great, but House admits his leg still hurts.



Foreman goes to see Chase, who suggests that he fire Thirteen. He notes that her job is to challenge Foreman and he can't blame Thirteen doing what she's supposed to. Foreman tries to duck the problem and Chase warns it's not a good idea.



Wilson comes home to find House eating ice cream at 8 a.m. in the morning. He admits he was starting to obsess about it and decided to take a day off. House claims his leg is fine. However, he soon meets with Dr. Nolan to admit his leg is killing him after he got worried, and he got worried because nothing helps. Nolan says he let him out because House has the skills to cope, and tries him to tell something else. House worries that nothing can work long-term and Nolan says that he hast to be patient.



Foreman brings Thirteen a doughnut and apologizes. She apologizes back and they try to start over. As they start to make love, the beeper goes off and they're called into the hospital. Vince's lymph nodes have blown up and the thrombocytosis treatment didn't work. Vince is putting out a $25,000 reward to anybody who can cure him.



House comes home and finds a bottle of Vicodin that he hid away.



Back in differential, the team is overwhelmed with e-mails, phone calls, and faxes. Foreman suggests they treat the disease and take all of the suggested diagnoses to Vince. They go through them one at a time and warn that they could take forever going through all of them. Vince wants treatment for amyloidosis because it got the most votes among his respondents. Foreman says that they'll run the test and when it comes back negative, he retracts the reward. Vince agrees and Foreman orders the test.



Wilson returns home for lunch and House notes that he usually has lunch with Cuddy on Tuesdays. House figures that he's checking up on him and insists that he's good. As he walks out, Wilson notices that he isn't using his cane.



Taub reports that the test results show deposits consistent with amyloidosis. He's already ordered treatment and Taub tells Foreman that he's quitting: he's had an offer from a friend to work at his surgical practice. He admits that he started looking for a job when he learned that House wasn't coming back, and it's nothing personally. Taub admits he thinks Foreman is doing well, but he came there to work with House.



In bed, Thirteen insists that Taub is a jerk, but Foreman worries that Cuddy will shut them down before they can hire anyone else. He wonders if he's not ready for the job. Thirteen tells him a story about her roommate in college, Lindsay.



Wilson goes to see Cuddy and tells her that he blocked the intake valve on his toilet so he could test House's urine. It's clean of Vicodin but contains epithelial cells from a Labrador Retriever. They realize that he's using.



Thirteen goes to check on Vince and discovers that he's gone. He's run into the lobby where he's hallucinating a scene from his video game. He imagines a swarm of birds attacking him. Foreman spots him and Vince perceives him as an alien. Vince grabs a coffee cup from a nurse and throws it at Foreman and then runs for the elevator, only to come face to face with an alien Thirteen. They try to restrain him and he has a hallucination of a giant bird creature bursting in through the lobby window. As he collapses, they realize that he's hallucinating due to a high fever, which means he doesn't have amyloidosis.



They put Vince into a cold tub but Foreman refuses to go back to the Internet. He suggests light-chain disposition disorder and asks if Thirteen is okay with that. She agrees and Foreman describes it. He warns that they can't confirm the diagnosis and the only treatment is high-dose chemotherapy. It could kill him, but Vince agrees immediately. Foreman realizes that he's scared and tells him that his career is riding on the case, but Vince's life is more important.



Wilson and Cuddy confront House, who tells them he got a dog to pee in the toilet. They want to know why his leg is feeling better and he offers them an immediate urine sample. Cuddy is not amused.



Foreman is taking a shower in the locker room when he notices pruning on his fingers. He orders Thirteen to stop the chemo and concludes that Vince has Fabry's Disease. His fingers didn't prune when he was in the cold tub for an hour. Thirteen had already reached the same conclusion and stopped the chemo on her own. They explain to Vince that the deposits in his kidney were fats. Fabry's makes them build up, choking his nerves and keeping his fingers from pruning. Thirteen admits privately that she realized the lymph swelling was caused by a reaction to the contrast. She eliminated it after reading about it online when someone posted it.



Later, Thirteen comes in to see Foreman and congratulate him on Cuddy officially making him head of the department. She apologizes for going behind his back and Foreman admits that he's mad but it's stupid that he is. He figures she went behind his back because she didn't want to fight. Thirteen figure it'll take time to adjust, and Foreman wonders if they won't like each other by the time they do adjust. He decides that it's not going to work and she realizes he's firing her.



House goes to see Nolan and admits that he slipped. Instead of taking pills, he went online and read about Vince's offer, and posted his diagnosis. His leg stopped hurting. Nolan admits that maybe he was wrong about telling House to stop practicing diagnostic medicine. He suggests that he can practice diagnostic medicine to eliminate his pain, but he can't sit in a room alone. House worries that he could revert back to his old ways but Nolan thinks it may be the best thing for him.