Disclaimer: Scorpion and any other recognizable entities are the property of their respective owners and no money is being made off their use.
AN: The information about Megan's MS in Single Point of Failure — yes, I did stop the scene to read the letter — reminded me of some information I learned a few years back, so I did a little research. I tried to get it correct, but I'm a journalist, not a scientist, so all errors in the medical information are mine. Also, this is my first Scorpion fanfic, so any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. I'm labeling this complete for now, but I'm reserving the right to add chapters to it depending on which way my plot bunnies hop.
Once all the dishes from a dinner of chicken piccata — and the vegetables Paige insisted on — were cleaned up, Ralph headed right up to the loft to where the telescope lenses were sitting on the table. Walter showed him how to check for spherical aberration, then settled back into the samples by the centrifuge.
"What are you testing?" Paige asked.
Walter jotted down the results of the first set of tests. "Relapsing-remitting MS, which is the most common form, involves recurring bouts of inflammation in the peripheral nervous system, or PNS, that travel into the central nervous system — the CNS — and treatments focus on stopping those inflammation events. Megan has a different form of MS, primary progressive, and it doesn't respond to those treatments because there are no external inflammation events involved. If I can isolate what might cause the attacks on the myelin sheaths in the CNS, I can then test for ways to stop those attacks from occurring." He set up the next set of samples as he talked. "I'm running simulations based on information reported in a subset of MS patients." Information delivered, he continued his tests in silence, but periodically he looked over to see how Ralph was doing.
"Now what?" Ralph asked as he put the last lens down, then yawned.
"Now, it is past your bedtime," Paige said.
Walter straightened up and initiated a thoracic and lumbar spinal manipulation.
"Does that hurt?" Ralph asked, yawning again.
"No, and you're not staying to get an explanation. Get your backpack," Paige said, running her hand over his hair as he passed.
Once Ralph headed downstairs, Paige turned to him. "We will come back before school tomorrow, but you need sleep before then."
"I'll walk you out to the car," Walter replied. "It's late." He led the way downstairs.
"You're avoiding the-" Paige stopped at the sight of Ralph sitting at the workbench, head asleep on his arms.
Walter looked at Paige, then Ralph, calculated and walked over to pick the boy up.
"You didn't have to-" Paige whispered.
Walter cut her off. "The weight and size ratio between you and Ralph makes it unlikely you can carry him without suffering negative impacts on your own joints and muscles, but with an extra four inches in height and 39.23 pounds, I can compensate for his extra weight and maintain proper movement patterns for the 167 yards between here and your car."
"Thank you," Paige said.
When he entered the garage loft, the centrifuge had just finished running. He removed the samples and completed the tests for this batch.
He could see the next steps clearly, but the bowl of soggy cereal on the table stopped him.
"And how do you avoid it?" Paige asked.
He looked at the clock and realized it was well after midnight and if he wanted to report back to Paige that yes, he had slept, he needed to stop now. The rabbit hole beckoned, but his time wasn't his own anymore. Paige and Ralph would be by in the morning and Cabe would have a job for them after that. He couldn't perform at peak efficiency without sleep unless he had that singular focus and Scorpion's current diversity of projects wouldn't allow that.
He switched out the lights in the main part of the loft and headed for his bedroom. He changed for bed, then opened the small wooden box on his dresser. He pushed aside the poker chip, motel key card and bracelet, then pulled out a scrap of paper with 138.53 scrawled on it. He looked at it, then tore it into pieces and put it in the trash can.
Walter closed the box, turned out the light and went to bed. If he was only 17.76 pounds heavier than Paige, given their height difference, he wouldn't have the appropriate ability to carry Ralph the next time he fell asleep. The 21.47 pounds that last rabbit hole with Mark had cost him were an unacceptable result in this new set of circumstances, so he would have to make sure that didn't come to pass.