House

House is busy setting up a makeshift Hot Wheels track in his exam room when Cuddy comes in with a patient, Morgan. House tries to dodge the exam without success. Morgan describes being run down and says she's a nurse. She collapses and House calls Cuddy back in. House isn't impressed, until Cuddy points out that Morgan is urinating on herself and her urine is green.

House takes the case to his team and Taub comes in late. He isn't thrilled with the case, thinking it isn't that important. Taub believes Morgan has epilepsy and drank green beer. House sends Taub and Kutner to check out Morgan's room, overriding Taub's objections. They check out Morgan's room at a senior citizen home and Kutner wonders why Taub is arguing with House. Taub doesn't think much of Kutner's friendship and finds an anti-Alzheimer's drug that causes green urine. Taub reports it to House, thinking Morgan faked the entire thing due to Munchausen's. House insists the seizure was real, suggests phenol caused by carbolic acid poisoning, and orders Taub to do tests to confirm. Once Taub is gone, House admits to Kutner that he lied so Taub wouldn't know he's going to disprove Taub's theory.

As Taub leaves, he runs into an old classmate, Neil Zane, who came to the clinic to get an ear problem looked at. Meanwhile, House goes to see Morgan and starts flashing lights to instigate a seizure. When she has a seizure, House quickly realizes she's faking and Morgan apologizes, then tells him that a cat predicted her death. House quickly leaves.

As Taub examines Neil, Neil says he's now a CEO. Taub shifts a calcium deposit in his ear, curing him, and Neil asks him out for supper. Taub turns down the offer and admits that he's now happily if somewhat boringly married.

As House leaves, Morgan shows him the cat, Debbie, and explains that it's slept next to ten patients who have died in the last year. She asks him to see a videotape that proves what she's saying. She starts to have trouble breathing and Foreman checks on her, then tells House that she's actually suffering from bronchospasms that can't be faked.

House and Cuddy watch a tape of a news story on Debbie's ability to predict deaths by sleeping on a bed. Cuddy is skeptical and gives House 24 hours to confirm if Morgan is faking, or she'll discharge her. House goes back to the team with Debbie and Foreman wonders if it's possible the cat is predicting deaths, or if it's causing them. House tells Taub to get him a cigar, and Taub discovers House is smoking the cigars that Neil sent him as a gift. House has figured out that Taub lost money in investments, then tells them to test Morgan's lungs for worms.

As Kutner and Taub watch the testing, Taub admits he feels bad about his wife Rachel. Kutner tries to cheer him up without success. Thirteen confirms there are no worms in Morgan's lungs. House takes a crash cart and the cat to the coma patients' ward. House is intent on proving if the cat can predict deaths, and Kutner wonders if it's actually possible. He puts the cat on the patients and they realize one of the patients has a cat allergy. Debbie sits on another patient's bed but nothing happens. House has them check Foreman's airborne allergen theory and goes to his office. Cuddy is less than thrilled and sees that House has stolen genetically-modified mice from the lab, and tells him to get rid of the cat. She tells him the team's test turned up negative, as Taub has obligingly informed her. House points out the risks to Morgan but Cuddy insists on discharging her.

House takes Morgan out in a wheelchair and lights up a cigar, blowing smoke in her face. He reveals he checked her purse and found lots of superstitious items. He figures something happened a few years ago and she admits that her stepson Timothy choked to death in school despite the teachers' best efforts. House figures she wants his death to make sense but points out is that it's meaningless and won't help her get back together with her ex. Morgan starts to choke and House sees a rash on her neck, but admits it won't be enough. He has another doctor confirm her bronchospasms and takes her back to the hospital.

House has Taub change the cat's litter box as punishment for ratting him out to Cuddy. Taub refuses and leaves in disgust. House suspects Churg-Strauss and Kutner discovers that House planted Debbie in his bag. House admits he did it to test if Kutner was as superstitious as he claimed earlier in the coma ward. House orders steroid treatments for Churg-Strauss while they conduct more tests.

Taub goes to dinner with Neil and finally admits he had an affair with the daughter of one of his partners, he had to quit, and he told his wife Rachel anyway. Neil is thrilled with his life and his job. Taub gives him advice on one of his new medical tools, a laser scalpel, and Neil is duly impressed, and Taub considers the expensive office.

Morgan tells Thirteen that her urine is brown and she didn't do anything. The next morning, House is satisfied but Thirteen isn't so sure. House then opens an umbrella in the office to further irritate Kutner. Foreman notes they've ruled out everything that made the urine brown, and wonders what would have combined with the remaining green urine to make brown. House concludes it's strep bovis infection from colon cancer. There are no tumors, however. House spills some salt and Kutner admits there are some things he isn't so sure about. Taub comes in and House tells them to give Morgan a pillcam to test for tumors. As the team leaves, Kutner throws the salt over his shoulder and avoids a ladder House has leaned against the door.

Taub apologizes for being late but says he's not quitting. House figures it's a matter of cowardice: Taub doesn't have the guts to quit. He then takes Morgan to the coma ward and shows her that the cat's chosen patient is still breathing. Morgan suggests the cat is just confused and House points out that sometimes, disproving a belief just makes the belief stronger. Morgan insists that something terrible is going to happen to her.

House talks with Wilson and insists he's just trying to get Morgan to think clearly. House takes the cat to the children's ward but Wilson stops him. He suggests that House might actually be having doubts about himself but House insists that isn't the case. The pillcam comes back but there's no signs of a tumor. Kutner suggests a flat lesion caused by skin cancer in the intestines and House has them check for melanomas. As they go, Kutner finds the cat blocking the door and tries to lure it away without success.

Later that night, Kutner calls to tell House they've found spider veins on Morgan's back, indicating Cushing's. It accounts for the brown urine but not the bronchospasms. Kutner tells House that the coma patient suddenly died after a year and a half: the cat was right.

House arrives at the hospital and discovers the cat is missing. As they search for it, they wonder if it's a coincidence. Kutner suggests the cat might have smelled liver or kidney failure, but House has checked the dead patients' records from the senior citizen center and most of them didn't have those symptoms. House starts to have breathing problems and his nose starts bleeding, then he spits what appears to be blood in Kutner's face. He reveals it's cranberry juice, and another assault on Kutner's superstitions. House tells them to have Chase do a venous sampling on her brain: otherwise the disease is in Morgan's adrenals.

Taub meets with Neil and asks to come work with him. Neil tells him that he can't hire him right away and he just hired a chief medical officer. Taub offers to invest in the laser scalpel and Neil offers to take him on for a smaller amount, but warns it will take a while to pay off. Taub insists that he needs to start changing and Neil agrees.

As House starts an autopsy on the coma patient, Chase arrives to tell the Morgan went into cardiac arrest during the surgery. An ACTH test apparently confirms it's in the brain. Next they wonder if they have to remove the pituitary, but House says that it's up to Morgan to decide and sends Foreman and Chase to ask her. Wilson wonders why House isn't berating Morgan to get the treatment. He points out that House's obsessions save lives, but this time it's something different that he doesn't understand.

Chase explains to Morgan how to treat for Cushing's, but warns that the only permanent surgery is pituitary removal. Morgan says she wants the surgery because of the cat. Chase says there's a role for prayer and faith, but it doesn't belong in the operating room. Morgan insists there's a reason for all the bad things that happened to her, because if there is no reason then she doesn't want to live.

As Chase prepares Morgan for surgery, Taub goes to House and tells him he's quitting. House doesn't believe him and tells him to bring pastries, but Taub simply turns and leaves. As House goes over the files, he sees the cat enter his office and tries to capture it. It gets up on his laptop computer and House strokes it, then notices on the videotape that the cat is sitting on a patient's heating blanket.

Taub goes to Neil's company only to discover that Neil doesn't work there any more. An employee informs Taub that Neil was a temp and is in custody. He has been ripping off people by faking an ear injury, claiming he went to high school with them, then tricking them into investing. Fortunately, Taub hasn't given Neil his money yet.

House goes to Wilson and explains that the cat was seeking out warmth: all the patients either had fevers or were using a heating blanket. Since Morgan was overheated, House points out only one thing would account for all the symptoms: a corticotrophin-producing tumor of the intestines. It must be somewhere the pillcam couldn't go: her appendix. House quickly calls the operating room to get the brain surgery stopped.

As Morgan packs, House visits her to gloat. He points out she was willing to risk brain surgery based on a superstition. House insists that he diagnosed her based on science and reason, but she notes that something else might have led the cat to House at just the right moment. She insists that people having something to live for is important, even if it's a superstition or religious belief. House wishes her well and goes back to his office, only to discover that there's cat pee on his chair. Kutner takes credit for it as revenge for the fake blood incident, and House just walks away. As he leaves for the night, Taub comes in with pastries and sits down in the conference room. He looks up and sees the cat watching him.