Part 16

Another ten minutes later and Walter and Paige decided they were going to get some lunch to bring up for everyone. Cabe had informed everybody that Happy would be in surgery for almost an hour, and by 3:00 she would be able to have visitors. That gave them about ninety minutes.

They decided to get a bunch of sandwiches and chips for everyone from a sub shop right next to the hospital. Walter knew what everyone liked and what toppings they would want as well. As he was ordering everything Paige was grabbing the chips and drinks and paying for it all. They sat down next to each other and waited as the sandwiches were being made.

They returned to Sly's room with all the food and passed it out to everyone. Paige went and found Toby and told him they wanted him to join them to eat.

"Come eat with us and then I think maybe me, you and Walter can have a talk before Happy gets out."

"Thank you for the offer, but I think I'll just wait out here for now."

"Toby, come on. You need to eat, and we would like for you to join us. But if you really don't want to, I can bring your food out to you here."

"I'd appreciate the space for right now. I do want to talk with both you and Walt. I know I messed up."

"OK. Let me get your food. How was she?"

"Thanks. She was fine. Tore me a new one in the back of the ambulance. Which I totally deserved."

"Alright, I'll be right back."

"Thanks Paige."

Paige came back to drop off his sandwich and asked him again to come eat with everyone else, but Toby again declined. She went back and sat down between Walter and Ralph to enjoy her food.

Sylvester was going to be kept overnight only as a precaution. Paige made a quick phone call to Florence to inform her of what happened, and she said she would be by as soon as she could to see Sly. She thanked Paige for letting her know.

Cabe had to make a few phone calls to his bosses to inform them of everything that went on and he also needed to get a full inspection of the building ordered as soon as possible.

Sly and Ralph were in a deep discussion of some new algorithms and Paige knew they would be occupied for the next hour which gave her and Walter a chance to sneak out to the waiting room to talk for a few minutes before they were going to try and talk to Toby.

"Ugh, Walter, what should we do with Toby?"

"You're the expert when it comes to this kind of stuff."

"Trust me, I am no expert." Paige chuckled. "Especially with Toby."

"Compared to me, you most definitely are." Walter told her as he put his arm around her shoulder and leaned her next to him. "And Toby is difficult for anyone to know what to do with, unless maybe you went to Harvard."

"Well, my non-Harvard gut tells me maybe he has started to turn a corner. He looked pretty upset and he told me he knows he messed up. Although admitting it to you may be more challenging for him, you know how he gets sometimes."

"I do, I will just try to follow your lead." Walter told her.

They went back in to tell Sly and Ralph they were going to see Toby and then wait for Happy to be out of surgery.

"Any news on Happy?" Paige asked as she arrived holding Walter's hand.

"Nothing yet, which should be good news, at least nothing unexpected has happened."

"That's good. Like I said earlier, she is tougher than all of us." Walter told him.

"Hey Walt, I owe you a big apology for today. You saved my wife's life. I can never repay you for that. I have a lot to apologize to you about, you too Paige."

"Happy is my friend, I would try to save her regardless. As far as today is concerned, you don't owe me anything."

"I know you don't like to be wrong, but you're wrong about that Walt. I ran out of the building when I heard the alarm and left her inside. I'm ashamed of that. You risked your life for her, Sly too. And I know how distracting I was today too. I was scared I lost her."

"Hey we understand that, we do. But Toby, your actions were inexcusable. I don't want to pile on with whatever guilt you are feeling right now, but you need to know that." Paige told him.

"Paige is right. You are going to have to take responsibility for what you've done today. You owe several people apologies.

"You guys are right, 100 percent right. And I would like to start with you Walt."

"Why now Toby? Because if the only thing making you apologize to us is because of today, what happens in a week when the edge wears off. You are going to be right back to despising me." Walter told him.

"I don't despise you Walter."

"You don't? I would say your actions would completely support my statement."

"Look I really can't argue with that. But it's not how I feel."

"Then what is it, what would you call it?"

"Jealousy, pride, insecurity. A lot of things. I don't expect you to believe me, and I don't blame you for not. All I can say is I know how bad I messed up with you and our relationship."

"I don't know Toby. And I don't think you know how bad it was. How am I supposed to trust someone who purposely tried to screw with me for years."

"Years? Come on Walt."

"Yes Toby, years. Are you now denying what you did, and it's not just me you did it to."

"Hey, I tried to help you plenty."

"Are you listening to yourself. What is it, you helped me, or you didn't? You think giving me a sound piece of advice to then give me bad advice next was helpful? I came to you for help and guidance with my shortcomings and my feelings for Paige and you basically were just playing a game with me. 'How much more can I mess with his head'. And again, it didn't just affect me, or even Paige. What about Ralph? Did you even stop to ever think about that, how it might have affected both of them?"

Walter waited for Toby to respond and when he didn't, he knew what the answer was.

"I understand how you're feeling right now, I do. It sucks. Thinking you lost the person you love more than anything. You helped me have to go through it a couple of months ago. Except with me it was for over a month, and it wasn't just Paige. It was also Ralph, and Happy and Sly, and yes Toby even you. It all got taken away from me, and I know I had fault in what happened, probably more fault than everyone else combined. I lied to Paige. I lost her trust. I take full responsibility for that. And I'm not trying to say you made me lie to her, but you purposely gave me advice to mess with me. I don't know if I can ever forgive you for that and what ultimately happened from it. And then a few days after, if that wasn't enough, you try to start up a company to compete against me. Was that jealousy too? Or pride? Or insecurity? Or was that something else? And there was plenty of other advice you gave me. Go to Tahoe. Back off, she's better off with Tim. She's moved on, you should too. Do I need to continue?"

Again, Toby didn't have anything to say.

"So maybe you feel bad for what happened today, and I feel for you, I wouldn't wish feeling like you lost someone you love on anyone but saying sorry to me right now is not going to fix us. Not even close." Walter said before standing up. "Paige, I'm sorry, I need to take a walk for a few minutes, is that okay?"

"Of course. I'll come out soon." Paige told him as she let go of his hand as Walter left the room they were in.

"What are you doing Toby?" Paige started out saying. "Your silence is not helping. I hope you didn't think he was just going to be okay with a simple sorry from you. I wouldn't have been either, I'm proud of him for not letting you off the hook this time. This is a lot bigger than I think you realize."

"Paige, I never meant for this to happen. I never stopped to think about it like that."

"Yes Toby, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen like that. That seminar I went to, and the talks we had after it were eye opening to how you treated not only him but me too. And he's right, Ralph idolizes him, and because of what happened, what if their relationship changed or went away. You really need to take stock of what you've done and figure out why you did it. Especially if you truly want to try to fix your relationship with him. And think about how you acted towards him the last few time you guys talked back at the office, especially after he tried to apologize to you for something he didn't even do."

"I don't think I realize how much I did. How it affected you and Ralph too. I'm sorry Paige. I need to make things right. And I know it won't be easy."

"Good, that's the first step. I wanted to have a pretty one sided conversation with you tonight, and it wasn't going to be pleasant, but maybe we can put that off for a little while. We are still going to have it, because I need to get some things off my chest, but not tonight. We are here for Happy and Sly and for you too. Give Walter a little space today, but please think about what you are going to say to him the next time you guys talk. Okay?"

"I will. And thank you for not tearing into me tonight, I know I deserve it."

"OK. Well, I'm going to find Walter and then we can see what's going on with Happy."

Paige left Toby after giving him a pat on the thigh. She found Walter with two cups of coffee sitting in a waiting room down the hall. She could see he was deep in thought about something, and she never liked to disturb him when he was. For all she knew, he might be on the verge of solving world peace. Or the cure for cancer. Or both. Walter caught a scent of her lavender and made eye contact with her and smiled.

"Hey you, penny for your thoughts." Paige said to him with a soothing smile as she sat down next to him and took the coffee he had in his hand. "Thanks for grabbing this, I needed it."

Walter kissed her before she could take a sip. "I was just thinking about Monday."

"What about Monday?"

"Us, I mean everything we have going on for Monday. How a month and a half ago, how it would have seemed so unlikely after what happened the way it did."

"I know what you mean. I'm proud of you for not backing off of Toby in there."

"I still don't know how to handle everything with him. I would rather not do it today, not here. I don't think he realizes what he truly did."

"I agree. I told him to give you some space today. We'll see if he listens. I also told him I wasn't done with him either."

"We need today to be about Happy and Sly. Making sure they are both okay. I'm glad Sly seems to be fine. I was worried about him and all the smoke he must have inhaled in there. There was quite a bit of fire in the room." Walter told her sounding relieved not to have to deal with Toby anymore today.

"Well lucky for him, he has a superhero for a friend who is always there for him when he needs him."

"Superhero?" Walter asked.

"Yeah, superhero. Not all superheroes wear a cape you know. They can come in all shapes and sizes. I never got to ask, but how did you even hear the television this morning, your back was turned to it and we were all laughing about the experiment you and Ralph were doing."

"Maybe one of my superpowers is supersonic hearing." Walter said with a goofy smile.

"Oh, so you have more than one superpower?" Paige started out saying raising her eyebrows. "What other powers do you have?"

"Stick around and you might find out; maybe even tonight if you're lucky." Walter tried to tell her suggestively.

"Whatever SuperDork. Let's go see about Happy." Paige said with a chuckle, "Maybe I'll show you a couple of my superpowers tonight too." She finished rendering Walter speechless.

Fifteen minutes later, they found out Happy's surgery was a complete success. It would be another ten minutes before she was brought back to her room. Walter and Paige met with Cabe who was out in the waiting room still on the phone with Homeland going over more procedure with them for the report that would need to be filed.

"Forty five minutes with these guys. This is the third time I have had to tell them the same thing. I'm about to drive out there and shove this phone up their ass."

"Sorry. Happy should be out in another ten minutes. Everything went according to plan, pretty straight forward. You need a coffee or anything." Paige quietly asked him.

"Thanks sweetheart, that would be great. I'll get down there as soon as I can."

A couple of minutes later, Paige returned with coffee in hand. She set it down next to him and left to join Walter who had gone back to see Sly and Ralph.

One of the nurses came in to do a quick check on Sylvester and also informed them Happy was in route to her room.

"You need one of us to stay behind and keep you company for a little Sly?" Paige asked him.

"No, that's okay. Florence texted me and said she is in the parking garage and should be here in a few minutes. Thanks for letting her know what happened."

"No problem. You boys ready to wrap it up in here for a little bit and go check on Happy?"

"I guess, thanks for showing me those new algorithms Sly, I'll work on them tonight and show you in the morning what I figure out." Ralph told him with a smile.

"Sly, sorry you have to spend a night here. At least you know it was sterilized and clean." Walter told him.

"They brought me some extra sanitizer too. Thanks again Walter."

"Hey Sylvester, I got here as fast as I coul… Oh, hey everyone. Again." Florence said as she was hurrying through the door.

"Hey Florence." They all said to her.

"Paige, thank you for calling me and letting me know, is it okay for me to hug you?"

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Just, you know." Florence timidly said.

"It's okay. Like I said, I overreacted to everything. I would hope we can remain friends."

"I would like that too. Thank you, friend." Florence told her as she awkwardly hugged her.

"OK. You guys ready to see how Happy is doing?" Paige said to her two geniuses.

The three of them left and Sly started filling Florence in on everything that happened.

They walked down the hall and around a corner to get to Happy's room. Toby was by her bedside going over all her charts and trying to tell all the nurses what they needed to do. Definitely attempting to overcompensate and make up for the fact that he left her in the burning building earlier today.

"Sir, we have everything under control. If you can't be quiet and let us work with our patient, we are going to have to ask you to leave the room for a while." One of the head nurses told Toby as he continued to tell them what they were doing wrong.

"I'm a doctor, and her husband; I know what I'm talking about, I graduated from..." Toby said again without any tact.

"Yes, we know, and you went to Harvard. You've told us no less than ten times already. If we need your opinion we will ask you for it, so please let us finish getting your wife, who just came out of a surgery, all set up."

Paige started to go up to Toby and try to calm him down, but before she could, Walter put his hand on her arm and motioned to her that he would talk to him.

"Toby, you want to help me grab some food from the cafeteria? I think we all could use a little snack after lunch." Walter asked him. "Paige can keep an eye on Happy for a few minutes."

"I could always use an ice cream." Ralph piped in.

"Me too, I'll have what he's having." Paige added putting her arm around her son.

"What do you say Toby? Just two old friends getting some overpriced snacks from another hospital cafeteria." Walter told him.

"You sure you want my company, Walt?"

"I do Toby. Come on, don't make me have to take Paige with me." Walter said with a smile as he turned to Paige.

"Thanks Walt." Toby told him as he headed towards the elevator with him.

"You better bring me back something nice now." Paige kidded with Walter.

Walter and Toby stood in a somewhat comfortable silence as they were entering the elevator heading to the basement where the cafeteria was located.

"Walt, I'm sorry…"

"Stop Toby. I didn't ask you to come with me to talk about us, just trying to get your mind off things. I don't know when I will be ready for us to talk. Let's just grab some snacks for everyone and then maybe the nurses will have everything ready to go with Happy, okay."

"Well then let me at least pay for everything."

"That's not necessary Toby. I appreciate the offer, but not necessary. Have you gotten a chance to talk to Sly since you got here? He could probably use an update on Happy."

"No I haven't, and I know what you're trying to do."

"Toby, I don't have an ulterior motive, I never do. I just thought maybe you could tell Sly how Happy was doing. Maybe this was a bad idea."

"No, it was a good idea. I'm just trying too hard to try to get on your good side. Let's just get some snacks, okay." Toby told him, realizing he wasn't going to get to talk to Walter today. "thank you for getting me out of the room for a few minutes."

They grabbed some food and made it back up to the floor that both Sly and Happy were on. Walter stopped in to see Sly and Florence first and handed them some snacks in case they needed anything to eat before he went over to see Paige and Ralph who were still in Happy's room.

"One slice of Oreo Cheesecake and a cup of vanilla ice cream." Walter said as he handed the dessert to Ralph.

"Ooh, my favorite. Thanks Walter." Ralph said as his eyes went big. Matching his smile.

"And one special made to order banana split with extra hot fudge and marshmallow. Two spoons."

"Aww, you're the best, thanks babe." Paige told him with a kiss as she uncrossed her legs to scoot up closer to him as Walter sat down next to her.

"Anytime." Walter told her before sharing another kiss. "When did they get finished?"

"They just left two minutes ago when Toby got back. The head nurse is just going over a couple things with them. Everything okay?"

"Yes, although he tried to start apologizing the second the elevator doors closed. I just told him I wasn't ready to talk about it yet."

"Good for you. We can figure out a good time to talk when you feel ready."

"I agree."

Happy was glad to see Walter, Paige and Ralph as they moved up closer to her bed.

"Hey squirt, you gonna share some of that with me?" Happy teased him.

"How do you feel? What did they have to do to your leg?"

"It was only a simple fracture, so I got lucky. No screws. They only had to reset it. So six to eight weeks and I'll be good as new. I should be out of here in a day or two. I told them I can make my own crutches too."

"Can I help?" Ralph quickly asked. "Me and da.. Walter can work on them tomorrow for you." He finished as Walter nodded okay to him.

"Thanks squirt."

"Well we are all glad you are okay. Any smoke inhalation to worry about?" Paige asked her.

"No, the smoke never got too bad down there, it was toasty warm, and the burns were very minimal." Happy started telling them. "How's Sly?"

"Good, he uh had some congestion from the smoke. Florence just got here before and she is in with him. They are going to keep him one night just as a precaution." Walter told her as he went up and held her hand for a second. "We are glad you are okay."

"Thanks to you. Again. One of these days real soon, we need to have a sit down and talk. I have some things I need to apologize to you for."

"You just worry about getting better first. That's what's important." Walter told her.

"There she is. My old roomie. How do you feel Happy?" Cabe said as he finally was able to get off the phone.

"I'm good thanks to Walt again. Leg wasn't too bad, a few weeks and I'll be good as new."

"Glad to hear, I just got off the phone and we have a full inspection going on at the building, from what Walter and Ralph dug up, that building was in violation of several codes."

"I've got a few pics on my phone of the wiring I was getting ready to do. That should have been replaced with raceways and conductors a long time ago."

"When you get a chance send those over to me and I will forward them in as well. Walt never took you guys off the Homeland contractor list, so we will be able to use our resources to look into the fire." Cabe told them. "And you were lucky he didn't, because it looks like that was the only health insurance you have right now, Sly too." Cabe finished as everyone realized just how much they still needed Walter.

Everyone stuck around for a few more hours. Walter, Paige and Ralph left around five. They needed to run by the garage to tie up a few loose ends before eating dinner. Ralph wanted to make sure they would be able to start working on some crutches for Happy tomorrow as well as finish up some of the work they missed out on doing from earlier. After they ate, they decided to just sleep at the garage since it looked like a big part of Saturday was going to be spent there.

Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! This is where JerBr's story left off, I received all the rest of the chapters today. I'll post the rest of it over the coming days in between my story. I had goofed yesterday in my story saying it was "Letters to Love"...I was still catching up on that story. lol

To the Adventure! -Tim