InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "There's a silicone chip in me!"

Jesse Custer [Preacher] (charmingmenace) wrote in utr_logs,
@ 2009-10-06 22:58:00

Entry tags:

greg house, raymond wood, reina and sofia wood

Who: Greg House, Raymond Wood, Reina and Sofia Wood
What: Diagnosing Reina
Where/When: Ray's Studio/The other night (backdated)
Warnings: None

He put the girls in front to the television, watching some silly cartoon. They knew some functional words in English, but not a whole lot. Ray had read that music and television shows were a great aid in teaching foreign languages. He tended to play a lot of Spanish music, so the television was strictly English.

He paced by the woor, waiting for House to show. He really hoped the guy wasn't going to stand him up. He was genuinely worried about Reina, but he didn't want to go to some random clinic or hospital if he didn't have to. He'd rather deal with someone he knew.

Sofia's laughter echoed into the empty studio. Ray knew it was Sofia, because Reina hadn't made a sound, since the girls came to the studio several days earlier. Ray glanced into the office, to see Sofia pointing at the TV, and Reina seemed to respond more to her sister than the events on the screen. Ray frowned, and went back to the door, trying to will House to show up right then.

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drsnarkfest
2009-10-07 03:04 am UTC (link)

Ray wasn't quite that good; neither God nor man could really make Greg stick to any sort of time table, without the offer of free drugs, alcohol, or sex. And given the fact that he knew he was going to be treating the under ten crowd, he guessed that none of the above were going to be around. Still, he was intrigued by just what was so worrying to the other man... and, if he was honest with himself, it beat watching Cadavers reruns on TV.

He was only a few minutes later than he'd said he would be, the pommel of his cane knocking roughly on the door to the studio. He had no idea what he was walking into- but that was half the appeal.

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charmingmenace
2009-10-07 03:09 am UTC (link)

Of course he chose the moment to show up when Ray was distracted. But the knock at the door brought his focus back. he pulled it open, and found a small smile. He might have alcohol on hand, but not until after House looked at Reina.

"They're in my office, watching TV." He wasn't sure how the girls would react to Greg, and the fact he and Ray looked enough alike to be twins. Given that they were twins themselves, he hoped they wouldn't even question it.

He went around House to close the door. "Thank you for coming over." He started toward the office, stopping short. The girls had apparently gotten up to see who was visiting, and stood just inside the office door.

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drsnarkfest
2009-10-07 03:15 am UTC (link)

Greg had been expecting a little more warning than that, and paused midstep when he saw the little girls watching him from the doorway. He turned a questioning look to Ray. If he expected Greg to be the one to start everything, he was going to be disappointed.

If he had a question of which twin was which, it was answered when the slightly taller of the girls stepped forward, looking between Ray and Greg with a thoughtful face. "Papa? Dada?"

Greg shook his head. "No, Greg. I'm a friend. Amigo?" He didn't mean the Portuguese translation to be condescending, he really wasn't sure which she would speak. "Papa." She insisted again, but this time, she looked to Ray. The other girl was watching her sister move, but made no attempt to join in. Greg frowned.

"That's Reina?"

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houses_of_wood
2009-10-07 03:22 am UTC (link)

Ray nodded. Reina was slightly smaller than Sofia, though it wasn't a big difference.They were nearly identical otherwise. He knelt to Sofia's level, and a put a hand out to her. "Greg is a doctor. He's going to check Reina and make sure she's okay." He reached up to smooth his hand over her hair, then beckoned Reina over with a wave of his hand. "Can you show Dr Greg where it hurts?" he asked. Reina looked at him, but didn't respond to his words, but he had every reason to assume she simply didn't understand him.

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drsnarkfest
2009-10-07 03:26 am UTC (link)

Hovering back to let Ray handle all the explanations, Greg watched the girls as he spoke to them. It was strange, beyond strange, to watch a guy with his face be so... paternal. Enough to have him make a face... until the way the girl didn't respond distracted him. There was a difference, between not understanding, and not hearing; if she didn't understand, she should have looked confused, or given how comfortable she seemed, try to ask... something.

Greg muttered a soft "Hey," moving as little as he could before hand. Trying not to give himself away. Sofia turned to look up at him, and then Reina looked. Like taking a cue. "It was her ears, you said?" He bent forward a little, unable to kneel like Ray had, to put him at their level. For the hell of it, he tried repeating the question in Portuguese, then Spanish, to see if he got a response from either. Nothing.

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charmingmenace
2009-10-07 03:33 am UTC (link)

"She's been pulling at it. The left one." Ray watched Reina's lack of reaction and frowned. "I tried to look, but I couldn't' see anything in it. I know kids sometimes do that. Put stuff in their ear."

Sofia moved to stand next to Reina. She may not understand what Ray was saying, but she was pretty sure he was talking about Reina, the way they were both looking at her.

She looked at Greg, giving him a funny look when he spoke to Reina. "ReiRei doesn't talk," Sofia answered him in Spanish. Of course she knew Reina didn't speak at all, even if she didn't really know why.

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drsnarkfest
2009-10-07 03:40 am UTC (link)

Greg had to laugh, a short, cynical thing, at the statement. It was just something kids did. Who said shit like that? Watching the sisters move closer together, he turned his attention back to Sofia, seeming startled when she spoke. Spanish, then.

"Why doesn't she talk?" He spoke slowly, unsure just how good Sofia's language skills were. "No se," She answered simply, looking over to her sister with that same funny look. What difference did it make?

Greg slowly moved his way down to a kneeling position, leaning heavily to his left- thankfully, closer to Reina. She looked at him, once he was close enough. "You can talk like your sister, yeah?" Reina looked to Sofia, not because she understood, but because it was her usual answer, when Ray would try to talk to her. Sofia frowned.

"No, she can't."

"I don't know. How old are they?" Sofia's language skills weren't terrible, but they were still small. The other twin could have just been developing late...

There was a loud crash on the TV behind them, enough to have his eyes- and Sofia's- darting to the TV. Reina was oblivious. Greg frowned.

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charmingmenace
2009-10-07 03:46 am UTC (link)

"Two, I think." Ray replied. "They didn't come with a manual." It wasn't meant to be a smart ass remark, though it came off sounding sarcastic. He ran a hand over his jaw. "Sofia said their birthday is December 12," which would make them close to three.

"That isn't normal is it?" Ray questioned, gesturing vaguely at Reina. The idea that she couldn't hear at all hadn't occurred to him. Sofia insisted Reina didn't talk, she never said her sister couldn't hear.

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drsnarkfest
2009-10-07 03:51 am UTC (link)

Greg gave the other man a 'no shit' kind of look, only the close proximity to the toddlers keeping him from saying it aloud. Even if they wouldn't understand him, Ray seemed like the type to get upset regardless.

Reaching over next to her head, Greg moved his hand a couple inches away from her ear and snapped, watching her face closely. Her head turned to look at his hand, but she didn't flinch away from the loud noise. His look turned shocked, with a conflicting mixture of apology and intrigue on his face as he turned back to Ray.

"She can't hear," He didn't say she was deaf- there was no telling if the hearing loss was permanent, not without equipment. He wouldn't worry Ray, if he wasn't sure. But still, the list of things that would cause hearing loss in a child that small was pretty short.

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charmingmenace
2009-10-07 03:55 am UTC (link)

Ray immediately jumped tot hat conclusion, though. "She's deaf?" he looked at the girls, eyes moving between the two. Sofia had a look of concentration, trying to figure out what they were saying most likely. Reina was more or less oblivious, seeming disinterested.

"Or maybe she just shoved something into her ear, and that's why she can't hear? Try the other side." He wasn't upset, exactly. Confused, worried. The girls had only been with him a few days. Reina seemed normal, she just didn't speak. Her lack of response had thus far been attributed to the language barrier.

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drsnarkfest
2009-10-07 03:59 am UTC (link)

He sighed, rolling his eyes as though he expected Ray to know the difference. "I don't know if it's permanent. I would have to take her in, have an MRI," Still, the suggestion to try the other side was a good one, in a way. Greg shifted so that he could reach behind Reina without reaching around her, clapping loudly just behind her head. From the proximity, even Sofia flinched, but Reina just turned, confused but not as upset as her sister.

Seeing the one girl was near tears, Greg sighed. "Does your sister ever sing with you? Does she like music and TV?" Sofia looked confused, but shook her head. "She doesn't talk. She doesn't sing."

Greg looked back up to Ray, just shaking his head. "I don't know, man,"

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charmingmenace
2009-10-08 12:46 am UTC (link)

Ray nodded. "I know. I just. What do I do now?" He put a hand up to Reina's hair. She turned toward him, just looking up at him. He was a little bit relieved to know something was wrong, after all, and that he hadn't been over reacting. But the thought of the child being deaf was a lot to try and process.

Sofia inched a little closer to Greg. "You can make her talk?" she asked him, in Spanish. She tilted her head, waiting for an answer.

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drsnarkfest
2009-10-08 12:55 am UTC (link)

"There are tests they can run. Check for causes, see how bad it is. If it's mechanical- something in her ear. There are hearing aids, things that could work. If it's neurological..." He sighed. "She can learn sign language. There are schools for that kind of thing. She doesn't know any better- it's not as bad as you think."

Looking over to Sofia when she approached him, Greg gave her a little smile if only to try and seem a little less awkward. "We're going to see, princess. If not like you talk, you can learn to talk with your hands." He didn't figure she would know what he meant, but he was trying, at least.

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charmingmenace
2009-10-08 01:06 am UTC (link)

"Not as bad as I think? Really." Ray sighed. "I don't even know what to think right now." He scrubbed his hand over his face. "I didn't ask for this. I didn't even know they existed, until they showed up here." Which made him wonder just why they had shown up at his studio. Was Reina's deafness too much for her mother to handle?

He knew now he was wrong about her sticking something in her ear, unless she'd shoved something down both ears. She wasn't hearing anything, but responding to visual and physical cues. "She's got good rhythm, you should see her dance." He smiled a little, but there was a deep sadness in his expression.

"You don't talk with your hands. You talk with your words," Sofia said, giving Greg a curious look. She didn't know what being deaf meant, she just knew her sister didn't talk. In reality they had their own form of sign language, but she didn't know that's what it was.

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drsnarkfest
2009-10-08 01:33 am UTC (link)

It was becoming too hard for Greg to stay on his knees, and he finally levered himself to his feet. "It's not like this is your fault. There's nothing you could have done, all you can do now is get her the tests, and figure out what to do with the results."

The mention of her dancing skills made him smile the same awkward little smile he had at Sophia. "She can feel the beat in the bass, probably."

When Sofia spoke to him again, Greg looked down at her, as his smile faded. "Well, we have to learn to. But lots of people that can't talk with their mouths talk with their hands. They have words, too." He realized, belatedly, that twins often had their own sort of language anyway, and gave her a questioning little look. "Do you and your sister talk to each other? Does she talk to you, Sofia?"

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	houses_of_wood 2009-10-08 01:45 am UTC (link)
	Sofia shook her head. "ReiRei don't talk." She put a hand on her hip, to make her point. "Not ever," she added. She didn't quite understand what Greg was asking her. Ray knew enough Spanish to keep up, even if he didn't catch every word. He smiled a little, watching Greg talk to Sofia. It was interesting, at least, to see this softer, gentler side of him. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	drsnarkfest 2009-10-08 01:49 am UTC (link)
	"Not even with her hands?" Greg hoped he was right- if she already had some idea about language, it would make it easier for her to learn 'real' sign language. More than anything, Greg avoided looking back at Ray, not wanting to see the look on his face about the way he was handling the girl. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

houses_of_wood
2009-10-08 02:02 am UTC (link)

"She points," Sofia answered. It was more complicated than that, but Fi was only two. Her language and communication were limited, and even if she knew what Greg wanted to know, she didn't have the words to tell him. "So I talk for her. Mama doesn't like it. Mama wants ReiRei to talk, but she cant." Sofia had tried to get Reina to talk, and if Sofia couldn't make her talk, no one could.

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drsnarkfest
2009-10-08 02:08 am UTC (link)

He smiled a little, nodding. "Okay, good. You're a good sister, for talking for her. We're going to help her learn to do it on her own, though, right? So she can be good like you are." Greg looked back up to Ray, then, unsure how much of that he had caught.

"She seems to understand something. Enough that... Sofia?" He didn't remember her name, "Can talk for her, right? That's good." Greg was reaching the end of his knowledge about what to do, and it showed in the slightly awkward way he looked around.

"I can call around, see if I can get you a name of someone to take her to. Are you- I mean, they're citizens, right?" It probably didn't matter to Ray, but the hospital system wouldn't be so understanding.

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charmingmenace
2009-10-08 02:22 am UTC (link)

Ray nudged the girls back in to the the office. He went with them, only to get a bottle of whiskey out of his desk. The drawer was locked, preventing the girls getting a hold of it accidentally.

He left the girls in front of the TV, and went to talk to House, offering the bottle. "They dropped out of the clear blue of the western sky, House. I was living the carefree bachelor's life one minute, and there was no warning, all of a sudden I was playing at Mr Mom. Everything I know about them, Sofia has told me. I'm not entirely sure how reliable she is."

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drsnarkfest
2009-10-08 02:30 am UTC (link)

Greg had been on his way out, when he noticed Ray walking back out into the lobby with the whiskey. That was all the invitation he needed to stay, dropping heavily into one of the chairs near the door. He took the bottle as offered, shameless about unscrewing the cap and taking a swig.

"Everybody lies," Small girls who didn't speak your language, doubly so. Greg shrugged. "There are agencies that handle this kind of thing, you know." It might have seemed cold, but it was what Greg likely would have done, in Ray's position.

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charmingmenace
2009-10-08 02:34 am UTC (link)

"And, what? Just give them up? They're my daughters." And he had the feeling they were with him, now, for a reason. Maybe to get Reina the treatment she needed. he'd caught enough of what Sofia said to put the pieces together that their mother didn't know what was wrong with Reina.

"Doesn't this place have some kind of loop hole for this kind of thing? People drop in all the time, right? It's not their fault they're just babies."

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drsnarkfest
2009-10-08 02:39 am UTC (link)

He shrugged, taking one more drink before he offered the bottle back for Ray to have a drink. "I'm just saying. If you're doing this, do it because you want to, not because you got suckered into it," He probably wasn't the best person to be telling someone how to be a father- he didn't have very good role models, there. But he knew enough to know the girls would be able to tell, if Ray didn't want them. At least that didn't seem to be the case.

"A loop hole for what? Them being here? Guess not,"

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	charmingmenace 2009-10-08 02:44 am UTC (link)
	Ray took a generous sip. "No. Not for them being here. For the lack of paperwork. I don't have birth certificates or social security cards. They don't have ID cards." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	drsnarkfest 2009-10-08 02:48 am UTC (link)
	Greg seemed to think about that for a moment. "The hospital I'm working for- a lot of the staff fell in like we did. I could ask around, see if one of them're in Peds, or Neuro. If nothing else, the owner's my old boss. A... friend, if you want to call her that. She might let it slide." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)