Cabe frowned.
"You don't think Walter will be able to Captain the ship?" Cabe asked as his arms fell away from Happy.
Toby shook his head.
"Would you like to go down and see Walter while Cabe and I talk?" Toby looked pointedly at Happy.
Happy nodded as she turned and walked back to the elevators.
Toby looked about and pointed towards an area further away from anyone else.
Cabe nodded and they walked over.
"Not a chance. I don't know if you know exactly what happened to Walter psychologically that Friday. But to use Walter's own words, and he used them correctly I might add, Paige and Happy basically raped Walter." Toby told him quietly.
Cabe frowned.
"Wait. They did what?" Cabe's frown gave way to astonishment.
Toby nodded.
"Hold on Doc. I know I don't know psychology like you do but it sounded to me like Walter enjoyed everything. How could it have been rape?" Cabe crossed his arms.
"In Walter's mind what happened the first time was rape. He was restrained, he was deprived of sensory information and he thought he was enjoying making love with Paige alone. And then for that illusion to have been shattered like it had been caused a mess of damage in that emotionally challenged noggin of his." Toby was explaining before Cabe interrupted him.
"You're telling me that what came after was more or less coercion on Paige and Happy's part? Walter didn't enjoy it?" Cabe asked having a hard time wrapping his brain around it.
Toby nodded.
"I'm not saying his body didn't enjoy it, but just because someone's body responds to stimuli doesn't change rape into consensual sex. Regardless to the sex of the victim, mentally he was raped Cabe. I was like you. Saturday when Walter broke down over it I was shocked. Hell I was devastated actually. I hadn't even begun to consider what had happened wasn't Walter's fault. I blamed him over Paige and Happy. I wanted to kick his ass, smash his face in I was so mad. I had no intention of trying to work with him. I planned to do my job and that was it." Toby went on to explain everything about Saturday.
Cabe looked around and saw a bench and he stepped over and sat down with a lost look in his eyes.
"What does this mean for Walter? Is he going to be okay?" Cabe looked up after running his hand down his face.
Toby stepped over and sat down next to Cabe.
"He should be fine in time. Depending on how good this therapist is that Dr. Rizzuto is sending Walter to see. Sexual abuse isn't an easy fix. It is even worse when it comes from a party you trust implicitly. Such as Walter does with Paige. His mind basically converted it to Stockholm syndrome and he went along with whatever they wanted after the initial incident. There is a lot of things I can tell you to explain it but I'm not sure you'd really care to hear that much detail." Toby told him softly.
"I, I'm not trying to argue or make you angry about anything Toby, I'm just trying to understand. After the initial act, Walter responded to the situation and actually made love to Happy on his own, no prompting." Cabe told him cautiously.
Toby nodded.
"You're not telling me anything I don't know Cabe. But I'm telling you, all four of us were wrong in what we assumed about that incident. Walter responded but, it was through the clues he picked up from Paige in what she wanted. As we talked a bit on the beach I had directed certain questions and word usage trying to gauge just how bad everything was for Walter. And it is bad and it will only get worse. It will be especially bad if Paige has any complications from her heroics today. You and I will have to take a firm hand with Walter and make him go to that appointment Thursday or sooner if we can get him in there." Toby told him seriously.
"What about you? Can't you help him?" Cabe almost pleaded.
Toby shook his head.
"While I am qualified, I wouldn't do this, it is too important that this be done by someone who isn't emotionally involved in this. I'm so mad at Paige and Happy right now I could end up doing more harm than good. I could do emotional harm to both Walter and to his relationships with Paige and Happy." Toby told him honestly.
Cabe nodded slowly.
"How are we going to get Walter away from Paige's side to go see this woman then?" Cabe asked still feeling like his world crashed.
"We make him, period. Right now we'll be able to force him, he'll put up a little resistance, but he'll cave quickly. He will especially to you. And I've got to take a firm hand on Happy and tell her she can't go to any of these appointments for Walter. I know she wants too, she's feeling so guilty over all of it but it will be counterproductive for him. I need to find out more about this therapist." Toby told him.
"I had Homeland do a background check on her. She's a Brown graduate. It took her just a half semester longer than you took at Harvard. She made Dean's list every year. She's pretty sharp from all indications. She's won a number of scholarly accolades with her theories and therapies helping people." Cabe pulled out several folded pages and handed them to Toby.
"That's pretty impressive, to be honest with you Cabe." Toby said with a smile as he began reading the papers.
Ralph looked at Sylvester after Cabe left to find Happy and Toby.
"Hey Sly, would you mind doing me a favor. Would you go check out the cafeteria to make sure it is up to code?" Ralph leaned closer to him and whispered. "I need to talk to Dad privately for a few minutes."
"Sure buddy, I don't mind doing that. We're liable to be here a few days so it would be a good thing to know if we can trust them enough to eat here." Sylvester smiled even as he got up and moved off to the elevators.
"What exactly happened Dad? What caused the flashback, what was it about?" Ralph asked with concern.
Walter shook his head.
"I'm not sure it would be appropriate to discuss it with you Ralph. It was bad enough when I discussed what we did in the car last Wednesday." Walter told him as his cheeks flushed.
"Dad, haven't I already proven that I'm big enough to talk with you about these things? And that you trying to hide them away won't do any good. I will figure it out. Wouldn't you rather tell me yourself? To treat me as the intellectual equal you always have? Did it have anything to do with the bad dream the other night?" Ralph looked pleadingly up at him using those eyes he has learned to master with great efficiency with his Dad.
Walter's eyes closed tightly as he felt shame flood his mind.
"Ralph, please don't. You know I can't resist you and your Mother when you look at me that way. This is already too hard for me. I'm so ashamed and embarrassed and to explain to you what and why would be whole new levels of those emotions. I am not willing to be forced into them." Walter told him even as a tear escaped his clenched eyelids.
Ralph frowned and stepped in and hugged him again.
"It's okay Dad. If it is bothering you that much, you don't have to tell me. I'm sorry for pressing you on it. I'm just worried about you. Flashbacks out of the blue like that, it speaks of some kind of trauma and I am not aware of any trauma that you've suffered recently." Ralph's voice trailed off as his brilliant mind was instantly ablaze with calculations and running probabilities on the inadvertent thought that his words brought to mind. His mouth snapped closed almost instantly even as his eyes opened widely.
"Maybe we should sit down for a while Dad. I know you are nervous about Mom." Ralph pulled gently against his arm.
Walter nodded even as he stepped over with Ralph and sat down on a couch away from most of the other people waiting to see about their loved ones in surgery.
Ralph heard a ding and looked up and saw an elevator door open and Happy stepped out. It took all of his self control not to get up and storm over and demand she leave.
"Happy just got back down here Dad." Ralph told him from between clenched teeth.
Walter nodded without looking up. His thoughts were all over the place.
"Hey squirt." Happy greeted Ralph again. "How's your Dad?"
Ralph's eyes had a whole other story to them and Happy wasn't sure she liked it either.
"He's a bit of a mess at the moment as you might imagine Happy." Ralph said just this side of curtly.
"Oh." Was all Happy could get out of her mouth. She swallowed hard and looked at the spot next to Ralph.
"Is it okay if I sit there?" Happy asked cautiously.
Ralph let out his breath but nodded.
Happy sat down and just stared off into the distance for several long moments.
"Do you want to talk about it Ralph?" Happy asked quietly as she leaned towards him.
Ralph glared at her for a moment before he looked at his Dad.
"Dad, Happy and I are going to go talk over there so we don't disturb you. Is that okay?" Ralph asked as he ran his hand up his arm.
Walter nodded as he continued to look at his hands.
Happy swallowed as she got up and walked over to the small area outside of the waiting room but away from the elevators.
"I wouldn't even know where to begin to be honest Happy. What you and Mom did to Dad. I had just thought it was sexual play but clearly it has had devastating effects on Dad." Ralph told her just as quietly.
He looked at his Dad to see if he was still okay but he was still looking down at his hands. Walter wasn't paying any attention to them or anyone else.
Happy nodded.
"I'm really sorry about that Ralph. This won't mean much to you I am sure. Neither of us had planned for things to go the way they did. And your Mom had only meant for it to be something fun. Neither of us realized how it would affect your Dad. It would have been so much better if I had just stayed quiet about my dream. Even as good as everything has been for me, the cost has been too high, especially for Walter. Although apparently Toby's ex had plans to try and kill me anyway." Happy told him quietly.
"Dad's going to be messed up from this for quite some time. But if you and Mom had just used better judgment then this wouldn't have happened. It could have just been the two of you enjoying spending time together on occasion and you learning about your other side." Ralph told her.
Happy sighed and then her brow furrowed.
"Wait, you knew I was bisexual?" Happy asked shocked.
Ralph nodded.
"It was clear in the Garage that you saw something with Mom you didn't understand. Even after you started dating Toby you would tend to look at Mom when you didn't think anyone was paying attention. And then on the island things really started changing. I was worried you were going to mess up Mom and Dad's relationship after we got back. You kept going on their dates or our family outings. It was clear you didn't know why you were doing it." Ralph told her.
"But it was after Dad brought you guys back into Scorpion that I saw your feelings had changed. They were growing deeper. In a lot of ways it reminded me of Aunt Susan. And before you ask she wasn't my Aunt but someone Mom was really serious with after Drew left us. If she hadn't cheated on Mom they'd probably still be together, maybe even married now." Ralph explained as he looked over at his Dad and saw him still sitting on the couch.
"How did you and Toby know this about me and I had no clue?" Happy asked in a small voice.
"Well he is a world class behaviorist, except when it comes to his own behavior. Me, well, it is a bit different. Even though I was a genius too, except for Dad the rest of you didn't always pay much attention to me and I was able to watch and observe without you noticing. And since I've read all of Toby's text books on psychology it was easy to see what was happening." Ralph explained.
Happy looked at Walter and she could see the misery he was in.
"How do I fix this Ralph?" Happy asked softly.
"Since you asked, just know I'm not saying this to be mean. For now, you need to stay away from Dad. I know you feel guilty and you probably want to do whatever you can to help or support him but that would be the worst thing for him. He's already having nightmares about what you and Mom did to him. That's what happened to the side of his head." Ralph told her.
"But I wanted to go with him to see this therapist." Happy said in a wavering voice.
Ralph shook his head.
"That would be the worst thing you could do. Maybe after he gets some counseling with the Dr. and she thinks it is okay for you and Mom to be there. But to have his rapists there in the room while they are trying to work on what happened, absolutely not." Ralph stated with authority.
"I can't believe I did that to Walter. Maybe Toby and I should leave the hospital and go home." Happy said feeling lost.
"No, Dad still needs you both. I just want you to keep your distance unless he makes the move to you. And Mom will want to see Dad and you to know you both are okay when she wakes up from surgery." Ralph told her.
The elevator opened and Sylvester stepped out smiling. He saw Ralph and Happy over in the other area so he walked over towards them.
"You'll be pleased to know the cafeteria is actually very clean. Whoever is responsible for it is seriously professional. But that doesn't extend to the pizza shop in the basement. That place should be a straight up F." Sylvester told them and then frowned. "Was there some bad news?"
Happy and Ralph shook their heads.
"Dad's just having a hard time with this so we came out here to talk about it." Ralph told him.
Greetings! Hope everyone is doing well!
Railman - It is a little weird with Paige being hurt physically for a change. lol You know, I don't know if Sly will or not. So far the story hasn't said he does. But he is a genius, he might be putting together some things, possibly incorrectly, we'll have to see.
Margaret - Yep, I've been loving Toby since he first sat down with Walter on Saturday. But will he continue, that is the real question. So far it is remembering you are Margaret for a change! lol
Lucy - Yep, lots of painful action to recover from too. lol I hope you continue to enjoy it!
To the Adventure! -Tim
