Joy (House)

"Joy" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of House and the ninety-second episode overall. It aired on October 28, 2008.

The episode opens with a single father, Jerry, repeatedly pouring himself a mug of coffee and then dumping it in the sink. The clock shows just before 8:30 am. He then speaks to his daughter, Samantha, who leaves the house for school. Overall, the father and daughter's interactions are listless and unemotional, and almost robotic – apparently both are unable to experience "joy". Seemingly seconds after Samantha leaves, she returns, while Jerry discovers his coffee maker missing from the counter and questions Samantha why she is home, to which she responds, "It's 4:30 in the afternoon, and I live here." Jerry realizes he has lost time or must have blacked out while she was gone and does not know what's wrong. At Princeton-Plainsboro, Cuddy assigns his case to House.

Foreman figures out from pupil examination that the man is a somnambulist, and Taub and Thirteen are assigned to follow the patient during his sleepwalking episodes. They trail him by car while he drives ahead of them, and discover he is buying cocaine while asleep. The team approach the dealer that sold the cocaine to Jerry and ask to buy it themselves, hoping to find the answer to his condition. After running tests, they discover it was cut with lactose. House deduces that the man is lactose-intolerant and treats him, but Jerry's condition continues to deteriorate, as Taub notices he literally begins sweating blood during an examination and his kidneys fail. House persuades Samantha to donate a kidney to her father. Her monotone expression and glum one-word answers prompt him to realize that she is a sleepwalker too, and is suffering from the same condition as her father.

Meanwhile, Cuddy meets with Becca, the mother of the baby she is hoping to adopt. Cuddy is curious to know why Becca chose her to adopt her baby, and she is told that her father and grandfather were abusive men, and that she did not want her baby going through that as well, and also the fact that Cuddy's credentials impressed her. But things begin to go wrong, as Cuddy notices Becca has an odd rash on her arm, and she hospitalizes her in order to treat her. She and Cameron perform an ultrasound and see that the baby's lungs are underdeveloped. Cameron orders a treatment of steroids for Becca, but it causes Becca to have a sub-uterine bleed. Cuddy is extremely concerned for the baby's health, which draws House's attention. He insults Cuddy's parenting skills and questions her motives for wanting to be a mother. He also berates her for agreeing with him to deliver the baby now, as that would be a serious risk to the baby's lungs, and he tells her "You can give the mom more blood; cannot give the fetus more lungs!" Cuddy consults Becca, who does not want to sacrifice anymore. She asks Cuddy to deliver the baby. She and the surgical team successfully deliver baby Joy via cesarean section, and Joy begins to cry on her own, which means, to the relief of everyone, that her lungs were developed enough for her to breathe on her own.