WriterFreak001:
Thank you so much for your expressed condolences and kind words! It truly means a lot! I'm super surprised there are still individuals wanting to read my unfinished works. But THANK YOU for the encouragement. I hope my writing can still satisfy everyone as I work on this story (and any other unfinished / future works). I feel out of my element writing again, but I'm so touched by everyone's response.
"Dusk lured me to the sleeping woods to rest in winter's silence."
– Angie Welland-Crosby
Fading
Chapter Nine
~ SCORPION ~
"You look worse than I feel. And I'm dead."
Walter slowly opened his eyes to the unforgettable sound of his late sister's voice. He noted he was somehow back into her bedroom, evidently resting his head on top of her bed. Not completely understanding how he ended up back at the house, let alone the fact that he had heard his sister's undoubtable voice, Walter blinked a few times before lifting his head from his arms. He yawned quietly, only to nearly jump out of his skin when he spotted a pre-teen version of Megan resting in her bed. She laughed at his dramatic reaction, and he balked, trying to make sense of the obvious mess of confusion he was experiencing.
It was then that he noticed, in Megan's vanity mirror, a younger version of himself sitting in place of his actual self. "Oh great. I'm 13 again. This obviously is a dream."
"Let's not forget the fact that your dead sister is sitting in front of you, either."
Walter suddenly turned his attention towards Megan. "Right."
Megan cocked an eyebrow. "Your older sister – who is dead – is haunting your dreams, and that's all you have to say?"
"Believe me," Walter mumbled, "I'm still wrapping my mind around this dream too…which begs the question, why are you here, and why are we in your bedroom?"
Megan shrugged. "Beats me. You fell asleep at my grave so I decided to invade your dream for a while… I was hoping for a little excitement inside this noggin of yours, but damn… even your dreams are pretty… stale. If I had to guess, though. You're pretty vulnerable right now… in real life, anyway. So more than likely, your 197 IQ took you to a place that was familiar and comfortable. Ergo, my bedroom when we were young."
Walter recognized the value of her words, and she was right. His more comfortable memories as an adolescent were always with Megan. Her bedroom was his sanctuary whenever he wanted to avoid their parents but didn't want to be alone. Megan understood him in that regard and never pushed him away. She was his best friend for most of his life. Her opinion, for the longest time, was the one that mattered most to him. And if she was still alive, he would seek out her advice in a heartbeat.
"So, my dear little bro. Why are you so down in the dumps?"
Walter, unsure of how to answer, didn't say anything for a little while, but eventually, he muttered, "I've screwed up, and…," he pursed his lips, "I'm not sure how I can repair the damage I've caused…"
"Tell me everything."
And like water rushing out of a broken dam, Walter did just that. All his thoughts, emotions, pains, guilts, everything was laid out in the open. And when he finally finished his monologue, Megan reminded him to breathe. "And I don't know what to do about any of it," Walter added after a breath.
Megan gave him a small smile and reached for his hand to give it a small squeeze. "If you want my honest opinion, I think there's enough blame to go around. We can both agree that your decision to take that other chick to that conference was incredibly your fault. While you considered Paige's feelings by sparing her the boredom of attending that conference, you weren't very considerate of her as your girlfriend. Sure. Tell her the event was canceled, but instead of going to the thing with another woman – no matter how platonic you believed it was, you should have given the tickets away or ripped them up."
"Gee. Tell me something I don't know," Walter frowned. "I get that I made the wrong choice. Obviously, I made the wrong choice. But that doesn't justify Paige's actions for stealing my employees and clients."
"Correction. Paige left on her own. The others followed for their own reasons, based on what you said. So, in retrospect, Paige is not at fault for the others caravanning behind her. Yes. Stealing your clients was uncool and hurtful. I get that. But if you truly want to restore your friendships with the rest of the team as well as whatever relationship you want with Paige, then sometimes it's best to take the high road and acknowledge fault first."
Walter inhaled a deep breath as he clenched his fists. "I get it. I know I did wrong when it comes to failing my relationship with Paige…, and maybe because she decided to walk away, I chose to push the others away to protect myself…"
Megan nodded slowly in agreement. "When you experience heartbreak, you can't afford to push your support away, Walt. Did you really mean anything you said to them? If so, then you don't deserve their friendship. Your words were hurtful. They even made me cringe when you repeated them to me – especially what you said about my husband…If you feel any ounce of regret, then my advice to you would be to apologize. You don't have to expect them to accept it nor to return to your company, but someone has to take the first step if any progress is expected to be made."
Walter pressed his lips tightly together and nodded in understanding.
"As far as what's going on between you and Paige, just be honest with her. If you regret anything, then apologize. I can't say anything much about your other currently doomed friendships, but for the sake of your unborn child, the two of you must make things work. Whether that's getting back together or staying friends. I don't know. But the tension and heartache between the two of you is definitely affecting Ralph, and it may even affect the baby in so many negative and unhealthy ways. You certainly don't want that. And neither would Paige."
Walter opened his mouth to respond, but no words formed. Megan, always the voice of reason, was right in so many ways. He placed his free hand on top of hers and squeezed it gently, noting the lack of warmth. Inhaling deeply, Walter turned his attention towards his sister and sighed. "I wish you were here, Megan. I wish you were truly here."
"But I am, silly. I may not be around physically, but you will always have me in your memories, Walter. She wrapped her arms around her younger brother, holding him close. "And… if you choose to believe in it, I'm also in your heart."
Dream or no dream, he had not felt so comfortable inside his own mind in a long time. He liked it there, where it was safe and guarded.
If he could only stay with Megan forever…
…
Paige couldn't sleep.
No matter how many times she thought about what the future might bring, simply not knowing how Walter wanted to be involved made her restless. Knowing how much her ex-boyfriend felt about Drew running away from his responsibilities as a father, she didn't think she had to worry about Walter doing the same thing, but with everything that has happened, she couldn't be too sure.
Needing some fresh air, Paige slowly climbed out of bed, shoved her feet into her shoes and wrapped a warm coat around her lightweight, silky pajamas. Quietly, she peered into Walter's old bedroom and smiled softly to see her son sound asleep. With little sound, she tiptoed towards the end of the hallway and crept down the stairs before sneaking outside into the brisk, chilly air.
In the moment, she thought about heading back towards the barn loft to see if Walter was sleeping but chose not to disturb him. Instead, she began walking down a familiar path towards the local cemetery. She didn't know why she decided to visit Megan's gravesite, but she felt like she needed to be there. Almost as if something was calling out to her.
With hands in her deep pockets, she tried to keep warm even though her bare legs felt like icicles. It wasn't a terribly long walk to the cemetery, but it definitely felt longer with the extremely chilly temperatures. To be honest, since she was dating Tim back when she first attended Megan's funeral ceremony, she never thought she would see herself visiting the grave in the future, but here she was… And if things had been different… if she and Walter never fell apart… she could have thought of Megan as her sister-in-law. However, even though she was carrying an O'Brien child inside of her, she doubted she would ever have the right to be accepted into the O'Brien family… especially after the way she treated Walter. She deserved to be completely ostracized by all the O'Briens, but could she handle it?
A few minutes had passed before she realized she was upon entering the cemetery grounds. It was almost too cold for her to continue so she started to turn back towards the O'Brien home for warmth, but, but something caught her eye in the direction of Megan's grave. She walked a little closer, hoping what she spotted wasn't a graverobber. Literal goosebumps were climbing her spine as she moved closer to Megan's grave, but they were flushed away with relief when she realized the presence was only Walter. She mindlessly placed her gloved hand over her lower belly and smiled softly at the site. But her pleasant reaction was short lived when she saw how lifeless he looked. Alarmed, she tore off her gloves and dropped down next to him to feel his face. Ice cold. She could barely feel him breathing.
"Wake up, Walter!" She started to shake him. "Wake up!"
No reaction.
She grew frantic as her frigid, shivering fingers tried smacking his cheeks, but nothing. Instantly, she unzipped her heavy coat and tore it off of her to wrap it around him, but she knew the coat wouldn't be enough for him. She didn't have the strength to carry him back to the house, and she couldn't just leave to find help. Remembering the phone Walter's mother had given her for emergencies, she swiftly dug into the pockets of the coat, nearly crying when she found it.
Her fingers fumbled as she tried to remember the emergency number for Ireland but then recalled Louise adding the landline as #1's memory number. So, even though she could barely feel her fingers, she pressed #1 for as hard and as long as she could before hearing it connect.
A few rings, then… "Hello?"
"Oh thank God! Louise!" Paige tried to calm herself down as tears spilled from her eyes. "W-Walter needs help! He's stone-cold and barely breathing!"
"Ah dear Lord! Wha ye, dear?"
"M-Megan's gravesite. Please send someone! I can't… I can't lose him again!" Before she could hear Louise's response, she ended the call and slipped underneath the coat she laid on top of him, wrapping her arms around his cold body, praying he would warm up soon. It was physically the closest she had been to him since…, and her worst fear? It would be the last.
~ SCORPION ~
WriterFreak001: Ugh! Cliffhangers! I know, I know. You all hate them, but I promise you, Walter doesn't die. Obviously. That would ruin the fun of this story. And a total mood killer.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this short chapter. :)
