Son of Coma Guy

"Son of Coma Guy" is the seventh episode of the third season of House and the fifty-third episode overall.

The episode begins with House eating his lunch next to "vegetative state guy" and watching television. As he and Wilson talk, the son of the comatose man walks into the room. House tries an experiment on the boy: he flashes the lights on and off, then throws a bag of chips at the boy, and walks over to him, but the boy does not see the chips or House. House diagnoses him as being akinetopsic, unable to see things in motion, a condition which is often accompanied by seizures. The boy suddenly starts to have convulsions, and is admitted to the hospital (much to House's delight).

The team learns that the boy's name is Kyle, but they cannot tell what caused his seizure. They find multiple wine bottles in Kyle's backpack, so the team suspects liver failure. However, House shoots down all of their theories, claiming that "it is genetic". Kyle has no living relatives, except one: "Vegetative State Guy", Kyle's father whose name is Gabe. House proceeds to wake Gabe up using a large dose of L-Dopa and amphetamines. Cuddy and the rest of the team try to stop him, but he proceeds nonetheless. He cites a South African study that shows that comatose patients may be woken up for hours at a time, but Cuddy does not believe him. Nonetheless, Gabe wakes up.

When Gabe is informed that he only has one day until he lapses back into his coma, he decides that he wants to drive to Atlantic City to get a hoagie from a specific deli. House agrees to go along with him, and asks Wilson if they can go in his car. Wilson decides to come along to make sure nothing bad happens. House asks Gabe many questions along the way.

Meanwhile, House finds that Gabe used to make boats finished with mildew-resistant paint. House concludes that Kyle, as a child, was around the painting without a facemask and got mercury poisoning from the paint. House calls the team, and they begin the test. Gabe, annoyed that House's questions are becoming more personal, establishes a quid pro quo style of questioning that forces House to answer a question every time he asks one.

House, Gabe, and Wilson arrive at Atlantic City, but they cannot locate the hoagie shop. Gabe wants to go to a casino instead, so House and Wilson get a nearby hotel for the night. House continues the questioning at the hotel, ordering Gabe to give a total recap of how his family members died. During Gabe's explanation, House notices a common theme with the deaths, and that Gabe blames Kyle for his mother's death in a house fire (which was when Gabe entered his vegetative state). House diagnoses this as MERRF syndrome and calls Foreman to run the test. Foreman informs him that even if they cure ragged red fibers (MERRF), Kyle has a fatal cardiomyopathy.