Just after noon the next day the Dr walked into Toby's room. She smiled down at Happy. "Ms Quinn, good news. Our last test shows that the poison has been cleared by Dr Curtis's kidneys."
Happy looked up from where she sat holding Toby's hand and grinned as she gave out an excited "Yes!"
The Dr nodded. "I'm going to disconnect the ventilator and start waking him up. And provided he has no problems breathing on his own we'll remove the breathing tube."
Sylvester looked over at Happy from his chair. "That is really great news Happy."
Happy nodded. "Thank you Dr."
She just nodded as she stepped up to the other side of Toby's bed. She looked at Toby. "Dr Curtis, I'm going to turn off the medicine keeping you asleep and then we're going to test if you can breath on your own." She reached over and turned off one of the IV pumps. She reached over and gently disconnected the hose to the breathing tube before turning the ventilator off. They all watched Toby's O2 saturation as his body resumed doing all the breathing. The numbers dipped a little but quickly rebounded. After about ten minutes a nurse came in with a kit and excused herself with Happy and laid the kit out on Toby's chest.
The Dr took a syringe and connected it to one of the IV ports and pushed a medicine within it into Toby's IV. She looked at Happy. "This will just speed up the process a little bit."
Happy nodded as she kept her eyes locked on Toby's chest rising and falling.
The Dr looked at her watch for about five minutes before looking at Toby. "Dr Curtis, you are breathing fine, so I'm going to remove the breathing tube now. If you can when I say now I want you to try and take a deep breath and blow."
She picked up the small syringe and fastened it to the small plastic line coming out of his mouth and twisted it before she drew the plunger back sucking all the air out of the balloon inside of his throat. She took hold of the tube once the balloon was deflated. "Ok Dr Curtis, breathe in deep and blow." Toby's awareness was still buried under the medicine but he nonetheless inhaled and as he exhaled she gently yanked the tubing up and out of his throat and mouth.
Toby's body responded by coughing and grimacing.
Happy stood there almost bouncing back and forth waiting on them to move and get out of her way.
The nurse was quick and efficient and after wiping his mouth and chin she began gathering all the things and left the side of the bed so Happy could move up and hold his hand.
Happy thought she could feel resistance as Toby squeezed back against the pressure of her hand. She stood there watching him with tears in her eyes. She watched him grimace often through the pain in his throat. The nurse had left a cup with water and ice in it. There were also several sticks sticking out of the cup and on the end green sponges that Happy could use to moisten his lips and tongue as he slowly began to regain consciousness.
Sylvester just smiled before he stepped out of the room and pulled out his phone and called Ralph. "Hey Ralph. I just wanted to let you guys know that the poison has cleared Toby's system and they have taken him off the vent."
Sylvester nodded. "He's responding well and they are reporting no sign of heart damage. How is Walter?" Sylvester frown. "Still unconscious, are they saying it is expected?" Sylvester sighed. "Yes, I understand. They never want to be too positive just in case things go bad. Wait, what? When did that happen?"
Sylvester leaned back and braced his back against the wall of the hallway. "I understand. Is she recovering okay?" Sylvester shook his head. "No, I'm just asking. It isn't like I want to pursue a relationship with her now." Sylvester's eyes opened wide as he listened to Ralph explain about the almost last nine months at the Garage. "Oh please tell me you are kidding. No, I understand you wouldn't joke about that. I was just hoping. Okay, well call if anything changes with Walter. I will Ralph, pass along our well wishes to Paige, thanks."
Sylvester walked slowly back into Toby's room.
Happy looked at him. "What took you so long?"
He looked at Happy and dreaded the next part. "Do you want the blah news, bad news or worse news?"
Happy looked over at him and frowned. "I guess in descending order of bad news."
"Walter is still unconscious but all his vitals are getting better all the time. Apparently Collins was involved in whatever was going on with Florence and he sent someone to kill her in Homeland's custody. She's alive. Recovering from a gunshot wound to her chest." Sylvester told her.
Happy looked up. "So what is the worse news?"
Sylvester cleared his throat. "Well, according to Ralph, Walter had been watching everything that happened at the Garage since Florence first helped out on that case of the plastic refuge. Apparently he found hidden cameras set up around the Garage and everything he did with Paige was to try and draw out Florence and whoever she was working for." Sylvester went on to explain what Ralph told him.
Paige looked at Cabe like he was insane. "What do you mean Collins escaped? Walter put his life on the line to capture that maniac. How could this happen? What is being done to find him?"
Cabe nodded. "I get it kid. I've been through it with Katharine all morning. Apparently Carlson went to Fort Irwin and posed as the agent that was to take Collins to ADX Florence for safe keeping pending a trial. Completely hoodwinked the army there and drove him away. No clue where they are."
Ralph had been listening as Cabe explained everything shaking his head the entire time. All of this had been for nothing if Collins gets away again. And who knows what efforts he will take to hide now. He might decide not to interfere with Scorpion anymore but knowing Collins he most likely would. Especially since Toby didn't die. Maybe their lives would be better if Toby had died.
Ralph sat there quietly looking at Walter as he thought. 'There is no way Walter would leave any of this to chance. He had to figure there was a chance that Collins would slip away. So what was his game plan?' Ralph's eyes went wide as he considered the possibilities. 'You would have found a way to track him. A worm that he wouldn't see infected his equipment. A worm that you programmed to leave little bread crumbs that you could follow.'
Ralph pulled his tablet over and logged into Walter's hacking portal before he hacked back into NASA. 'Everything you did had been with Cassi so it stands to reason that any search for those bread crumbs would have to begin there.'
Ralph wasn't paying attention to the adults. He was on a mission, one that needed to succeed so he could have his family back.
"Don't worry kid. We'll track down Collins and Carlson. They are not escaping." Cabe told Paige as he hugged Paige's shoulders.
"God Cabe, just as I start to feel a little better about all of this, something else happens to throw it all off. Hell I wouldn't even care if Collins escaped if he left us alone, but I am positive there is no way he would. I know he hates Toby, and Walter probably as much for sending him to that psych ward but this is ridiculous." Paige told him as she continued to rub Walter's hand.
Cabe nodded. "I get that and I would be willing to let him if I knew for sure he would just disappear and never bother anyone but there is no way he would do that, especially when he finds out that Toby is alive. He'll do something to try and get at him again."
Paige looked up at Cabe. "Wait, what about if Homeland fakes Toby's death? Put him and Happy in WitSec?"
Cabe shook his head. "There is no way to explain why Happy vanished. He'd know it was a cover up with no problem. Besides, he could probably hack the database anyway and find them."
Paige begrudgingly agreed. "When that ability is working for us it is a good thing. I don't like it when the opponents have the same abilities."
Cabe gave a small laugh as he grinned and nodded. "I completely agree with you on that. Speaking of Toby, have you heard any news yet today?"
Paige nodded. "Ralph spoke with Sylvester a bit ago. The poison was out of his system and they took him off the vent."
Cabe squeezed her shoulders again. "That's good, but don't worry, our boy will be waking up before long himself."
Paige gave him a wan smile. "I hope so Cabe. I don't know how much longer I can take this hospital. This room is really freaking me out. I swear before you and Ralph got here this morning, I was half asleep in this chair and I heard Ralph and Walter talking to each other about me. I heard Ralph say I think she's waking up. And then Walter said I think you're right. Then Ralph called out Mom and Walter called out Paige. And then I woke up completely and Walter was still out of it and Ralph wasn't here."
Cabe frowned. "That's really odd. I haven't felt anything beyond my own aversion to hospitals. What about Ralph?"
Paige shook her head. "He said everything has been normal for him. I don't know what is going on but we have got to get Walter out of here."
Cabe nodded. "Must just be your nerves. It is the third time Walter has been in one since you started working for Scorpion."
Paige shrugged. "I don't care what it is at this point. I don't like it and I want all of us as far away from this place as possible."
"Sounds good to me," Walter said softly.
Cabe grinned as he looked down.
Paige nearly squealed as she leaned over and began kissing his face over and over.
Cabe looked to the ceiling. "Thank you," he whispered quietly.
Ralph was still deep into his search he hadn't heard anything going on in the room. And then he grinned. He found the first crumb at Fort Irwin. The army had secured Collins equipment and when one of his laptops came within wifi range of the base it connected and Walter's worm planted a crumb. For about six hours it was there and then the crumb was gone. Ralph frowned as he began searching out further away.
He smiled as he found another one at several free wifi hotspots in Barstow. He noticed and logged the times as the laptop moved down the state road and then instead of getting on the highway it pinged a location just south of the highway. The next wasn't until Yucca Valley and then Morongo Valley. The next came from the outskirts of Palm Springs and then Indio. He followed the crumbs all the way to Mexicali Mexico. Ralph announced without even looking up. "Collins made it to Mexicali, Mexico."
Cabe spun around. "How do you know this?"
"I figured out how Walter tracked down my laptop. He put a worm into the NASA server. It infected my laptop. It also infected Collins's laptop when he back traced a search that looked into one of the bank accounts. But he couldn't follow it beyond the NASA server since the commands came from Cassi. And his laptop has been dropping crumbs as they drove south." Ralph told him as he broadened his search.
Cabe shook his head as he laughed.
Paige smiled at Walter. "Ralph, wouldn't you rather come up here and say Hi to Walter?"
Ralph's head came up instantly. "Dad's awake?" He jumped up as Cabe and Paige nodded and he heard Walter. "Hey Buddy. Good job figuring that out."
"Dad," Ralph exclaimed as he rushed forward and leaned in and hugged the man he considered his Dad.
Cabe stepped out of Walter's room while the three of them reconnected. He pulled out his phone and called Katherine to advise her of what Ralph had tracked down.
Florence woke up and found herself handcuffed to the hospital bed. Her side hurt where the bullet had entered. She'd been fortunate that the bullet had hit the top edge of a rib and was deflected around from her lung and exited out the side of her chest. The agent who had been assigned to sit with her looked up as he heard her move. He smiled. "Well good afternoon Ms Tipton. I'm your guard at this time. My name is Ted, agent Ted Markus, how you feeling?"
Florence shrugged, "Like I was shot."
Ted smiled. "That is good, because that is what you were. Did you recognize your assailant?"
Florence shook her head. "He said this was from Mark Collins."
Ted nodded. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Florence frowned as she looked at him. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
Ted laughed. "It is my nature unless someone is being a real jerk. So don't be a real jerk and you won't have to see my other side."
Florence nodded.
Katherine spent almost a half hour negotiating with the federal police of Mexico to get permission to send a team down to Mexicali and start searching for Collins and Carlson. She had reluctantly accepted acting director of Homeland while the president and his staff considered the replacements for the position since she really wasn't interested in doing it full time.
She wasn't taking any chances with her people in Mexico so she sent twelve of the best agents she knew down to Mexicali to begin searching. She was glad Walter was finally awake and she wished he was there now to begin checking the computer system for vulnerabilities that Carlson could have allowed Collins to put into them. That thought had her skin crawling. Her IT professionals tried not to take it personal but not knowing how devious Collins was they weren't aware of just how easily he could have infiltrated the system without them ever knowing.
She also worried over Paige's feelings and experiences at the hospital. She was willing to chalk them up to stress over the situation but she nonetheless arranged for Walter to have a room at Cedars and orders demanding his release to Cedars the moment he was clear enough to be moved medically. She wanted Paige's concerns honored and she wanted to be sure Walter had the best care possible.
She persuaded Cedar's top thoracic surgeon to travel to Barstow to give his opinion on Walter's transfer as well as clearing it with the hospital for him to come in and see Walter. The hospital administrator was only too happy to comply. He wanted the team overseeing the hospital and its policies out of there as quickly as possible and figured that complying would help.
Greetings! Hoping this finds you all well! The wife is doing some better but still they have her on hold for the stints. They want to get more fluid off her before doing the stints. They've removed about 30 lbs of fluid so far, maybe a bit more by now. Haven't been back up to see her since last Friday. I had some congestion but then she told me Monday they had 13 cases of Covid-19 in the heart unit and for me to stay away.
Lucy - LOL Our little ray of sunshine! hehe I feel you on Collins! And yes, good riddance to trash like Carlson!
Franxine - LOL You are getting Aftermath and this story mixed up, so it might be a bit too much reading! lol Yes, Flo did poison Toby.
Heleen - Thank you and everyone who prays or sends positive thoughts to the wife! They are greatly appreciated!
Pamz - *ACK* Yes, you are the queen of cliffhangers! *Best Golim voice* Nasty cliffhangers. Yes, Homeland has a lot of work before them without a doubt!
Margaret - Yes, Collins is an expert hacker and exploits all kinds of things to take money from others and put into his own accounts to fund his evil genius. I'm trying to, I've slowed down writing a little and I've been trying to just relax in other ways. Not sure I like it that way but it is what it is for now. lol
Susan - Thank you. Yes, poor Walter has been through a lot. His stunt double has to really work hard to make him look good! lol
To the Adventure! -Tim