Once Allie left the waiting room ,Paige and Walter sat down next to each other . Their eyes met and again the chemistry bubbled up and they were both returned to their own paradise .
Walter was the first to break the spell ,when he asked Paige the question he needed an answer to .
"Paige ." Walter spoke softly as he broke the spell he always managed to cast on Paige when they meet . Paige moved in her chair so she was now looking straight ahead "Yes Walter ." "I know we said this was not really the place to discuss things about us , but i would like to ask how is Ralph ?"
Paige sat silent for a minute before turning to face Walter again . "I am afraid i can not truthfully tell you . Soon after the breakup of Scorpion ,he spoke to Sylvester who gave him his version of the night , which i am afraid was much nearer the truth than the story i had told him ." Walter went to interrupt her but she silenced him by putting her finger on his lips . " "Any way after that he hardly spoke to me and without me even knowing , he applied to Harvard to see if he could get a place there . Within six months he had been accepted and moved to the East coast and started his studies . Now apart from an occasional phone call , one in the last two months , and a twice yearly trip home he will have little to do with me ."
Walter this time did get a chance to speak . "I am so sorry Paige you miss him so much , i feel i should take some of the blame , because i cut of all contact with him when i moved to Ireland . It hurt me to much to even read his emails let alone hear his voice . He must have felt abandoned by both of us ."
" You cannot blame yourself Walter it was my fault for being such a witch that night and then forming Centipede was unforgivable . I am so sorry Walter ." Paige replied but with tears streaming down her cheeks .
"Please don't cry ,maybe i could call him and speak to him if he would be prepared to listen ." Replied a devastated Walter .
"Well i have not phoned him to tell him about Cabe , as most times i phone him he lets it go to voice mail and occasionally he will condescend to phone me back ." "Do you know what time he starts and finishes his college day ?" Asked Walter "Well as i said he does not talk to me that much and when he does it is never about his college or the work he does there ." "Do you have the phone number of the college in your phone ?" Paige looked a little confused at the question ,but pulled her phone out and found the contact number for Walter . " Right they are about three hours ahead of us on the east coast ,so it must be near to 5.30p.m. ,i will phone the administration office and ask them to get a message to Ralph to call me on the number i will leave . You do still have the same phone number ? " Paige nodded her head , in answer to a now rather angry Walter . Paige handed her phone to Walter who quickly scanned the contacts until he found the one he wanted . "I'm not sure what time the administration work till ,but here goes ." He pressed the contact number and waited for an answer
" Hello my name is Walter O'Brian i need to get an urgent message to one of your students - It's Ralph Dineen , .,Yes please SCORPJr please contact Walter on 323-555-1234 i need to speak to you urgently . Yes that is the complete message _ O.K. thank you and have a good evening ." Walter disconnected the call and looked at Paige who gave him a look of well what happened , as she had only heard one side of the of the conversation she was more than a little curious .
"O.K. they are going to get the message to Ralph only they are not sure when he will receive it as they are leaving at 6.00p.m. but will try before they leave but it could be tomorrow before he gets it ."
"Well i suppose we will just have to wait and see ,,but what is Scorp Jr1 ?"
"That's how we used to connect on the dark web ,it will just prove it is a genuine message ." Answered Walter
"Walter i know we have said this is not the right place to talk about us, but there is something i feel i need to tell you about sooner or later ."
"Paige you are beginning to worry me now, the tone of your voice would suggest that what you want to tell me is not good news ." Replied Walter his voice a little shaky . "So please go ahead with the news .
"It's about Sly ,not long after i quit Centipede it imploded and shut down . Sly could not take another breakup so soon after Scorpion . He" Paige has to stop talking to take control of her emotions before she could continue . "He went home and took an overdose of pills . Unfortunately no one was aware of his state of mind and i had no contact with any of Centipede i did not even know how he was feeling . So no one checked with him for a few days by which time it was to late ." Paige managed to finish speaking before tears began running down her cheeks .
"Sly is dead and you quit Centipede ."
"Yes but most of the explanation should be left for later . I just felt you should know about Sly now . " Walter looked at Paige with a certain amount of confusion on his face . "But why? I know Sly was always highly strung , after my first encounter with him in that motel room all those years ago , but after i stopped him then i never thought he would get in that situation again ."
" I am so sorry Walter ,i never expected him to do something like that ,but i don't think any one ever realized just how much his insecurities affected him ."
" He really was a gentle soul with so many insecurities' yet he managed to break through
when needed on various Scorpion cases and of course he was so enthralled with his comic book characters and his role playing fantasy people . Did he have a burial , i would like to visit his grave ."
"His funeral was taken over by his parents and i am sad to say i did not get an invite or any details where it was held ,so i am sorry to say i cannot say what happened ." Paige replied with a sad voice and a tear running down her cheek .
"Do not upset yourself Paige if you were not told that is not your fault ."Walter told her and gave her a comforting hug . "What about Happy and Toby ?"
" To be honest i think they also blamed me for the breakup of of Scorpion and Centipede Partners , Scorpion i can take responsibility for but the breakup of Centipede was Toby's , but he his to arrogant and so far up his own butt he cannot accept that ." Said Paige who appeared to be getting angry .
" Paige i think it better that we put this topic into the same category as our personnel situations until we are away from the hospital ."
"Yes Walter it would be a good idea ,we need to be strong for Allie at this time ."
For the next five minutes Walter began to tell her about his new business in Ireland and the work he has been doing for Richard's new factory in Cork . Paige's phone started to ring and when she checked caller I.D. and saw it was Ralph .
"Well it looks like he his keen to speak to you Walter ." Sald Paige as she handed the phone to Walter .
"I will put it it on speaker so you know what is going on ." replied Walter as he took the phone from her .
Walter "Hello!"
Ralph "Walter is that really you ?"
Walter "Of course it is i am back in the States because Cabe as had a serious heart attack and as just under gone a major operation . To let you know the phone is on loudspeaker and your mom is listening in ."
Ralph "Hello mom .
Paige "Hello baby."
Ralph "Was Cabe's health problem the reason you left the message ?"
Walter "Partly but also because i am disappointed with the way you appear to be treating your mother . I under stand you were upset on my behalf and i love you for that , but your mother has done so much for you since you were born and before she realized you were a genius she gave her life to you ,working all hours to keep you fed and clothed . So i am sorry i find the attitude you have adopted now is totally uncalled for , and i think you owe your mom an apology . "
Ralph "I know i have been angry but i missed you so much and i had no way of contacting you . I took all my anger out on my mom . I am really sorry ."
Paige "Thank you baby i accept your apology and hope we can talk and sort things out to suit us both ."
Ralph "I would like that mom . I am off next week so can fly out to see you and make my apology in person ."
Paige "Of course baby , do you want me to send the money for the air fare ."
Ralph " It would be most welcome mom ,thank you . Walter will you still be there next week ?"
Walter " Most likely ,but if you let your mom know when you will be here i could arrange to stay so we can meet up and talk ."
Ralph "O.K. Walter i will phone mom once i have booked my flight ."
The conversation carried on for a few minutes and then they all said their goodbyes .
Thank you for that Walter i think Ralph may start calling me more often now ."
" Talking of phoning i had better start ringing around to find a hotel ." Stated Walter
With a little hesitation Paige turned to him before asking . "You could stay with me i have plenty of space ."
" But your condo is not that big ." "I'm not living in the condo , i moved out not long after i won the lottery , my only extravagance , i bought a house on Malibu Beach ." Replied Paige in a soft voice . " Whoa ! That is an expensive move , but i suppose $10,000,000 win would help with that . I suppose if i had kept the $15,000,000 for the rocket i would possibly have done the same ." "That is true Walter ,but what you did for your sister was worth at least double that , i was . really proud of you that day and the love i felt for you trebled in intensity . But you did not answer my question ."
"I am sorry Paige , If you are willing to let me into your life i would be happy to come and stay with you while i am in the States ."
"Great we can pick up some food on the way home."
Again their eyes locked and all around them vanished they stayed like that for a few minutes and it would have lasted much longer had Allie not returned to the waiting room and given a gentle cough . Paige reacted first and turned and faced Allie ."Is Cabe alright ? You seem a little sad."
"No Cabe is fine as someone who just went through over six hours of heart surgery . I told him were both here and he would like to see you . "
"What both of us ?"Asked a shocked Paige.
"Yes he may be a cantankerous old man , but he also loves both of you . At times he is just not able to show it in the correct way ." Replied Allie with a big smile over her face .
Paige looked at Walter you gave a small nod and reached over to take her hand ,he turned to Allie. " Do you want to come with us ?"
"No you two go to see him i will be staying for the rest of the day and night , so you two go and see him on your own ."
" Alright we will but if you are staying through the night will you need anything fetching from home ?" Asked Walter with some concern in his voice .
"No i have everything i need , but Paige i could do with a lift sometime tomorrow to go home ."
"That will be fine , let us go and see Cabe and then we can arrange something when we come back ."
With that Paige and Walter turned and made their way to Cabe's room , still holding hands . How sweet thought Allie .
"Hello Cabe how are you feeling ?" Paige asked .
"I have certainly felt better but i feel better than before the treatment i have received . It is so nice to see my two kids back together . Paige i am so sorry i have cut you off for the past two years , but i was so angry that Walter was hurting so much that i took all my anger out on you . By the time i had recovered my emotions i was to stubborn to contact you , i hope you can forgive me . "
"There is nothing to forgive you for . I was a real bitch to Walter, he did not deserve what happened to him , i am the one who should be sorry ." Answered a tearful Paige . Walter was just standing next to Paige not once had he looked at Cabe all his concern was for Paige as he let go of her hand and pulled her into a hug , which she immediately responded to ,they remained like that for about a minute before Walter suddenly remembered were they where . He released Paige from the hug causing Paige to drop her arms as well . He turned away from Paige to face Cabe.
"I am sorry Cabe i sort of forgot were i was ."
"Look kid i am happy to see you together again ."
"Well at the moment we have decided to be friends until we have had time to talk properly together ." Corrected Walter .
"WALTER!" Paige admonished him .
" Sorry Cabe that came out wrong , we would like to be back together but we have a lot of talking to do first , so i do not make the same mistakes again ."
"Hey kid i am just pleased you are at least talking . Hey Paige Allie told me about your win . Good luck to you ."
"To be honest Cabe if i could give the whole $10,000,000 back and remove all that happened that night i would gladly do it ." Answered Paige again with a tear sliding down her cheek .
"Well i suggest you both get out of here and have a long and constructive talk to sort out all the problems that caused your original breakup . Come back tomorrow with some really good news to tell me ." Said a smiling Cabe .
"I know we need to have a good talk to sort everything out ,but we have only seen you for a few minutes . There is a lot to talk about with you as well ." Replied Walter .
"Yes there is a lot to talk about but i would rather you sort your problems out first , then we can have even better things to talk about ." Cabe answered back.
"O.K. if you are alright we will do that and will go . Paige has kindly invited me to stay at her new property on Malibu beach
"Shall we go , so that Allie can come and keep Cabe company , we will see you tomorrow ." Said Paige as she reached over for Walter's hand .
"O.K. good luck kids hope you sort yourselves out . See you tomorrow ." Said a smiling Cabe .
They both returned to the waiting room were Allie was sitting awaiting their return .
"We are going to go now we know that Cabe is holding his own . What time do you want picking up tomorrow ?" Paige asked Allie .
"Anytime after 10.00a.m. if that is alright ."
That will be fine ,we will see you just after 10 tomorrow , have a good night ."
With that hand in hand Walter and Paige left the hospital .
