House

Two policemen pursue a suspect, Baby Shoes, through the streets in a car chase. He gets out and makes a run for it, and ends up hiding in a trash can at a dead end. The officer Joe tells the guy to get out but starts laughing uncontrollably. The criminal goes for his gun, shoots the officer, and runs. A fragment of the bullet enters his brain and Joe lies in his own blood, laughing.

Foreman receives a congratulations from his father about the article he stole from Cameron, but Foreman is less than enthused. House interrupts with the cop's case and they discuss the symptoms and suspect heightened CO levels. House orders him put into a hyperbaric chamber while Foreman checks out the cop's home which is a mess and takes a variety of samples. He also finds marijuana. House checks out the precinct and notices a cop coughing near an air conditioner. Foreman and House disagree over the cause and Joe starts to recover.

They administer more tests and realize that Joe is blind – something is disrupting the signals from his optic nerves. They wonder if bullet fragments are responsible but can't do a MRI without possibly pulling out the bullets. They administer an angio while it becomes clear Foreman has issues with the police in general, as well as knowing the bullet is ferrous. There are indications of clotting and they discuss it down in the morgue. House decides to shoot a corpse to test the bullet type and how the MRI will affect it. As they check, House wonders about Foreman's attitude as he's acting increasingly frivolous. They run the MRI and the bullets are pulled out through the corpse's skull.

The MRI is out of condition for two weeks and they use ultrasound to look for clots. Joe starts bleeding from the eyes and goes into shock as Foreman starts to laugh hysterically. They put Foreman into quarantine with Joe and he vehemently denies there's anything wrong. House brings in a portable MRI to scan Foreman's head and starts taking blood tests from the staff. They find a lesion near the center of the brain that controls euphoria but are stumped as to the cause. House also wonders why Cameron is so willing to give Foreman a break now that he's sick.

Chase takes samples from Foreman, who is insistent on being involved. He comes up with a diagnosis of a staph infection but House is skeptical. House wants to do a biopsy on Joe's brain but the previous treatment prevents them from doing so. House plans to do the biopsy on Foreman and talks to him, noticing that Foreman isn't laughing. House gives him a release to sign and has to show him the MRI to get him to agree. Foreman insists on being treated for the staph infection he suspects and House reluctantly agrees. They insert a oyama reservoir to administer the anti-staff medicine and House decides to do his biopsy while he's in there.

That night Joe and Foreman have a heart-to-heart and Joe wants them to pray. The tests prove negative and House orders more tests but refuses to let anyone go to Joe's apartment. Wilson notes that House is feeling guilty and House blows him off. Joe is starting to experience more pain and Foreman wonders why the biopsy shows nothing. Foreman insists Cameron or someone should go to the apartment and he gets mad and sticks her with a needle, exposing her. He tells her she has to either go to the apartment, or end up in quarantine with her.

While House and Chase go over the tests and Joe is in increasing pain, Cameron breaks into the apartment. Foreman administers more morphine to Joe, putting him dangerously close to death, and House refuses to intervene. But it quickly wears off and as Foreman looks on, Joe screams in pain as the damage spreads to the pain center of the brain. They put Joe into a coma. House realizes that something is up when Foreman doesn't react to Cameron's absence.

House goes to Joe's apartment and confronts Cameron, pointing out the chance of infection from the needle is small. He wonders what Foreman would have to do to get Cameron to hate him, then takes the bag full of samples from her. House suspects something is up when he notices Joe has three loaves of bread. He sends Cameron out to feed the pigeons and they react quickly, confirming that Joe has been feeding them. Cameron finds the bucket where Joe has been collecting the guano, and cryptococcus neoformans has been building up in it then spread to Joe and Foreman.

Cameron waits for the test results while Chase and Foreman discuss Cameron's reaction. When she gets the results she runs for the quarantine chamber and tells them the tests for cryptococcus neoformans are negative – House is wrong. Joe goes into defib and Foreman tries to revive him without success.

(to be continued…)