House

Environmental protestor Doug Swenson has chained himself and his fellow protestors to a truck at a coal mine. The miner demand that they leave so they can do their jobs, and Doug points out they should worry about their kids. One of the protestors, Susan, passes out from dehydration. Doug gives in and frees himself and the others. However, when he tries to get up he discovers that he can't.

Cameron meets with Chase to inform him that she needs to push back their getaway. She explains she owes a doctor a favor and wants to get his patient in to see House, and has to stick around to make sure House doesn't just throw it away once she's gone. Chase says he needs a break after Kutner's death but she says once she's satisfied House is on the case, she'll leave.

Cameron takes the case to House, and he suspects that she wants to step into Kutner's shoes. Cameron insists that Doug isn't faking it despite Taub's doubts. House orders a vestibular caloric test and tells Cameron to run it herself. She injects ice water into Doug's ear to determine where the balance problem lies. He asks her to remove the flowers from the room, complaining that they're treated with pesticides. Doug suffers from vertigo from the test and then throws up on Cameron's shoes.

House chats with Wilson in the cafeteria and admits he suspects that Cameron wants to work with him. Wilson doesn't believe it, then orders an egg-white omelet with wheat toast and no bacon. House notices the order and wonders what's going on. Wilson points out that House is trying to avoid talking about Kutner, despite the fact that he's wearing the watch Kutner gave him as a gift. House dismisses his concerns and ignores Wilson's tray of food.

House's team wonder why House is making Cameron run the tests herself, and if he wants her around to mother him. Cameron reports that the test results were negative. House is convinced that Doug isn't faking. Foreman suggests the possibility of a stress-induced carotid atherosclerosis and House orders Cameron to do a carotid doppler to see if his heart skips. As Cameron runs the test, Doug starts to hiccup and says he's been doing it for about a week. Cameron leaves but when Chase if she's ready to go, she insists that the hiccups are a new symptom. He wonders if she's trying to avoid him, and Cameron says she has another reason but she can't tell him what it is. Chase agrees to wait for her.

Cameron reports to House, who admits that he's hooked and tells her to go back to the E.R. House wonders why she ran the tests when he's not her boss. Cameron insists she cares about the patient, and wants to help nurse the team back to mental health after Kutner's death. House doesn't believe it, but doesn't believe any likely explanation makes sense.

Cameron reports the hiccups to the team and House tells them to run the differential. Cameron suggests organophosphate poisoning, but Taub notes that Doug is Scandinavian, and Scandinavians are more susceptible to MS. House tells her to do a lumbar puncture and Cameron gets Foreman to help him. He wonders why she's there and wonders if she wants Kutner's position. She says all she did was postpone a trip, but he points out she chose House over Chase.

Chase approaches Cuddy and asks if she's discussed filling Kutner's slot. He wonders if Cameron has applied for the position but Cuddy says that she hasn't spoken to her. He asks if Cameron's in love with House, and Cuddy says it's ridiculous. He asks Cuddy if she's in love with House, and she says that's even more ridiculous, but he notes she didn't answer either question.

House is going through the staff refrigerator looking for Wilson's food and finds kale. A woman, Franni, arrives and says she's Doug's wife. House notes that Doug claimed he was single and she had to find a sitter for her son. When Franni says that Wilson told her where House was, he confronts Cameron and accuses her of spying for Wilson. She points out that Wilson doesn't need her, and House agrees, noting his theory doesn't explain Wilson's new diet. They notice a swelling on Doug's neck, indicating leakage from the lungs.

Back in differential, the team go over the symptoms and Thirteen suggests progressive systemic sclerosis caused by exposure to solvents at industrial waste sites. House orders steroid treatment and a workup to confirm, then takes Cameron off the case. Cameron asks and House says he wants to see where Cameron goes when she can't be with the patient.

Cuddy confronts Cameron and asks if she's in love with House. Cameron figures she's "marking her territory" and Cuddy insists that Chase and Cameron are great together.

Franni wonders when Doug will stop his protest activities. He insists that he can't quit and that he's protesting for everyone's sons, not just his own. Franni is furious that Doug doesn't care more for their own son.

House visits Wilson at home and Wilson figures he's there to search his kitchen to figure out why he's on a new diet. House has checked his medical records and determined Wilson is healthy, so concludes that it goes back to Kutner. He suggests that Wilson is facing his own mortality with Kutner's death. Wilson counters by showing all the fatty foods in his refrigerator. Foreman calls to tell House that Doug is screaming in pain from agony in his leg. House suspects an infection that they've made worse with the steroid treatments, and orders new lower-order x-rays to confirm.

Taub and Thirteen run the x-rays and Thirteen wonders if Taub talks to his wife. Taub figures she's talking about Foreman, and she admits that Foreman didn't want to talk immediately after Kutner's death. They're interrupted when they discover that Doug broke a femur while laying in bed. House suggests some form of cancer caused by carcinogen exposure. House has Chase repair the break while they prepare Doug for chemo treatment. Foreman interrupts the surgery to order a bone biopsy. When Chase wonders what Cameron thinks, he's surprised to learn that Cameron is no longer on the case.

House talks to Cameron and wonders why she's still interested, and notes that she's avoiding home because she thinks Chase isn't there. She doesn't know that House called Chase to the hospital to perform the surgery on Doug. He accuses her of emotionally walking away from House, and Cameron explains that she found where Chase hid the engagement ring. She doesn't want him to ask as a knee-jerk reaction to Kutner dying. House just walks away.

A wife is at the clinic and her domineering husband explains her symptoms. House tries to suggest the wife may have used a hot tub somewhere. Cuddy interrupts to ask what's going on with Cameron. House rules out two possibilities and Cuddy is satisfied, and House figures that she was worried Cameron was after House. When House turns to answer the husband, Cuddy slips away. House gives up and explains that the wife has a skin infection caused by contaminated hot tubs, and it's clear she doesn't use them with her husband.

Foreman informs Doug and Franni that the bone biopsy proved negative for cancer. He checks Doug's leg and discovers that he's bleeding out. House insists they go ahead with chemotherapy despite the fact it will weaken Doug's immune system. Taub suggests an alternative: they give Doug an insulin-like growth factor to accelerate the growth of tumors so they can find them. House agrees and tells them to go ahead.

House goes to Wilson's office and says he's lost his mojo and is missing clues and failing to come up with treatments that even Taub can figure out. Wilson insists that it's good, because it means he's distracted by Kutner's suicide and the fact he can't find a reason for it. Wilson offers him some carrots and leaves.

Taub explains their new treatment and Franni is less than happy. Doug admits he's exposed himself to a lot of bad stuff and wants his life to mean something. His heart stops and they're forced to resuscitate.

Chase goes to see Cameron in the cafeteria and demands answers. She admits it looks bad, and Chase wants to know why he should trust her. Cameron asks for a little more time but Chase refuses, saying it has nothing to do with him any more. He tells Cameron to let him know when he can pick up his things, then leaves.

With the new symptom of tachycardia, the team isn't able to come up with a differential. House orders the insertion of a defibrillator to keep him alive so they can finish their tests. He then goes to the vending machine where Wilson is buying a snack. House admits he's out of ideas, but then notices Wilson has put his money in but hasn't selected anything. Wilson always puts the money in and orders right away. House notes there's nothing healthy in the machine and Wilson gets gummi bears, which House hates. House figures it out: Wilson has been screwing with him the entire time. He's been eating healthy to keep House from mooching food from him. Wilson explains that he tried to withdraw and change his life after Amber died, and it was a mistake. He figures House needs a dose of reality to get back to normal himself. House starts to walk away, then gets an idea.

Taub explains the defibrillator insertion technique to Doug and Franni. House arrives and asks if they have a garden, or a window box, or any plants. House notes that all marriages suck, and the Swensons' marriage is no exception. Doug realized that Franni was leaving him and bought her commercial roses for their anniversary. She wasn't there and he tossed the flowers. House realizes that Doug got a sporotrichosis infection from the thorns. The steroid and insulin-like treatments spread it to his heart and bones.

House goes to see Cameron and tells her that she is having commitment issues because she lost her first husband, and her worries have come up again because of Kutner's death. He figures that she wants to force Chase to dump her so she doesn't have to. Cameron goes to see Chase and explains what she was going through. She apologizes and suggests that he propose to her after she ruined his planned proposal. Chase considers it, then gets done on one knee and proposes to her. She accepts.

Franni kisses Doug goodbye and leaves for good.

House helps himself to Wilson's French fries in the cafeteria.

Chase and Cameron give Cuddy the news about the engagement.

House is at home playing the piano. He looks up and sees… Amber. She congratulates him on the fact he's back to normal and isn't losing it after all.