Title: A Long, Strange Trip

Summary: Walter heads to Tahoe. What a long, strange trip he has.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own /scorpion. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.

Chapter 4

The small hospital emergency room was not busy and Walter was seen immediately. After carefully prodding his nose, the doctor announced that it wasn't broken. Walter endured having some of the excess fluid siphoned out after which he was at least able to breathe. Then they made him sit upright for about a half hour with an ice pack on his face. During that time, Paige was allowed to come back and stay with him. She pulled the visitor chair up close to the bed and sat down, taking his hand in hers. She told him that Tim returned to the hotel to get them checked in and would come back in a few minutes to pick them back up.

"Walter," she began hesitantly. "The doctor says you shouldn't be left alone tonight, and you certainly can't drive. Did you get yourself a room at the hotel?"

Walter shook his head slowly. The doctor had told him to avoid talking until the bleeding was under control.

"Hmmm. We'll have to figure out something then. The room I have is supposed to be a double, so maybe you can take one bed and we can probably get a rollaway from the hotel. Tim and I can fight over who gets the other bed. That ought to be more entertaining than pay-per-view movies." She laughed nervously. Walter realized he must look miserable, in addition to looking battered and bruised. Paige became serious again.

"After we've both had a chance to sleep, and you're feeling better, you and I will have to have a very serious talk."

Walter nodded, being careful not to move too fast. He turned his eyes to look at Paige, doing his best to look apologetic. This certainly wasn't what he had in mind when he left the garage. It was particularly annoying that he had to maintain silence. He only hoped that the ice would reduce the swelling and with his nasal passages cleared, he would be able to speak clearly so that Paige could understand. He knew by her reaction that she'd finally gotten what he'd been trying to tell her, but he wanted to say it again. And he wanted to ask her how she felt about it.

"This is going to be pretty awkward," she continued. "I mean, I like Tim or I wouldn't have agreed to go with him. But I'm really not looking forward to telling him that he's going to be sharing a room with not just me, but you, too. I'm sure you're not going to be up to a seven hour drive, even tomorrow, so I think I should probably drive you home in your car tomorrow and then Tim can come home in his when he's ready. I don't see any reason why he can't stay and enjoy the festival, do you? He really does love jazz."

Paige stood, still holding Walter's hand. "Do you think you can scoot over a bit?" she asked. "We can talk better if we're on eye level. You've been looking down at me sitting in the chair and I don't think that's good right now."

Walter shook his head to indicate that it wasn't good. But Paige misinterpreted his action.

"Oh… Okay. If you don't feel up to scooting over, I can just stand here then."

Walter shook his head again, and immediately wiggled sideways, making room. He reached over with the hand that Paige wasn't holding and patted the spot he'd made, smiling from underneath his ice pack.

Paige smiled too and released his hand. She lowered the bed rail, then carefully perched on the side of the bed. She turned to face him, and reclaimed his hand.

"Walter, I need to be clear on one thing." She paused, looking down at the hand she was holding. There was a slight abrasion along the outside that extended into his palm. Walter realized he must have scraped it on the concrete when he went down. Paige lifted the hand and placed a kiss on the injury. "Ralph still likes it when I kiss it and make it better," she said, grinning. Then she shook her head and looked serious again. "That's not what I meant about being clear." She took a deep breath. "Whether we leave tomorrow or the next day, whether Tim stays or comes with us, I'm going to tell him that I can't be with him – this weekend, or ever."

Paige looked directly at Walter then. "If he wants to know why, I'm going to tell him that I'm in love with you."

Walter felt a surge of emotion that nearly overwhelmed him.

May 16, 2016