Walter opened his eyes to see Toby looking over his chart, at least that was what he assumed Toby was doing on the doctor's laptop.
"Rise and shine sleeping Beauty," Toby moved from the laptop to take the seat Cabe must have vacated.
"Will I live Doc?" Walter half-joked groggily.
"Not for lack of trying but if you don't spike a fever or throw a clot I think the world will be subjected to your arrogant ass for a while longer."
Walter realized that while Toby's jokes and insults used to bother him ever so slightly, he saw it now for what it was and he enjoyed just being able to joke with Toby again.
"Thanks for being my doc, doc, I know it wasn't easy."
"That's an understatement. Keep getting into jams like this and I'll have to go for another surgical residency."
Walter laughed and tried to sit up but Toby was quick to push the button to raise the bed.
"Easy buddy, you've still got more holes than the plot of Star Wars. Let the bed do the work for you."
"Walter!" A very exuberant Sly walked into the room with hands full of balloons.
"There they are," Walter said in a weak voice.
Toby and Sly shared a look. "Are you seeing two of me?" Sly asked.
"No, the balloons. I knew something was off after the rocket when I woke up in a hospital room and you weren't there with balloons."
"I'll always bring you balloons, Walter. I know you like them. Everyone does." Sly said with a smile.
"So how have things been? Scorpion still –" Walter stopped. He was terrified that maybe his team had gotten used to functioning without him and would want him back.
"It sucked. Which I know is exactly what you want to hear. We all have great brains and plans but you put it all together and push us forward with a cohesive plan. We had a close call or two because we focused too much on what could go wrong instead of just doing it and trusting the science." Happy said coming in with Walter's laptop. "I juiced this place, but the laptop goes to Toby. You only get it when he says it's okay."
Walter frowned but knew better than to protest. He couldn't really force the issue on anything in his current condition.
"No fever and the ticker is going steady. I'll allow it…for now." Toby said.
Walter took the laptop and set it beside him. "I think for now, I'd like to just talk with you."
"You want to talk about our personal lives instead of working?" Happy asked skeptically.
Walter nodded slowly. "When I was – when they were – it wasn't math and science that brought me comfort and got me to keep fighting. It was you, all of you, my memories of good times and knowing that I just wanted to have more of those memories with you."
Paige walked the hallway at the hospital after having dropped Ralph off at school. From the text messages, she saw that Cabe had gone home to sleep and Toby had taken over Walter watch.
She stopped just outside the room and peeked around to see Walter, Toby, Sly, and Happy talking. Not about science but about their lives and she didn't miss that Walter's laptop lay closed next to him. His hand rested on the computer and Paige noticed how the fingers were bent strangely.
"Paige?" Walter asked having caught sight of her in the hallway.
"Hey Walter. How are you feeling?" She asked awkwardly.
"As good as can be expected," Walter said.
"I've dialed down the pain meds so that you can stay awake but if the pain gets too bad that your heart rate starts to fluctuate we'll put you back on the higher dose," Toby explained, he knew it was good for Walter to be awake but he wasn't going to take any chances, not this time.
"That's good Walter. I'm glad. I'm just going…I'll be…. I'll be right back." Paige stumbled trying to think of what to say but she found herself unable to face Walter. It was stupid. They were friends and she was so happy he was alive. Seeing him was the only thing she had wished for for weeks. It was everything she had wanted for so long. So why couldn't she bear to see him?
Was it because she had seen him tortured? Because of what Cabe had said? The now inevitable breakup with Tim? She had always kinda known that relationship wouldn't work but then why did she pursue it? To convince herself that a relationship with someone normal would be better for her and Ralph? But she knew deep down there would never be anyone better for Ralph than Walter and Scorpion. But did that go for her as well?
"Paige?"
She turned to see Toby behind her.
"Hey, how's our boy doing?"
"He's alive and doing as well as we can hope right now. Right now, he's concerned about you. Thinks you're acting strange and he's not wrong. Listen, he needs us, all of us. You know how badly emotions can affect his ability to think clearly and any thoughts of self-preservation go out the window as his little side trip off a cliff proved. This recovery is going to be harder and longer and that's not even taking into account how he's going to cope with memories of being tortured. It is not the best time for you to decide to start avoiding him."
Paige felt her chest tighten with guilt and tears well in her eyes. "I know Toby. I know. I just…can't face him. I don't know why. Is it guilt or just pity? I know he'd hate me if I pitied him." She gave a sad smile. "or is it the Tim thing?"
"I get that this is a crazy situation. We mourned him for a month and now we're here fighting to keep him with us. But it's a gift to have him back, to be able to at least let him know what he is to all of us. With plenty of luck and science, Scorpion will be back to the way it was. The way we all need it to be."
"I know Toby. It just hurts to see him and I'm so confused. What if I do something or say something and end up just hurting him?
"Listen you broke his heart and he's had to watch you around the garage with Tim and he struggled with it but he still needed you as a friend. Put aside your feelings for now, whatever they are and just be there for him. It's not good for him to be over there stressing about whether or not you even want to be around him anymore."
Suddenly the hallway became a flurry of movement as alarms went off and nurses went running.
"Help!" from down the hall they heard Sly's voice cry.
"No, no, no." Toby mumbled as he overtook the nurses to get to Walter's room.
Sly and Happy were outside Walter's room which was now filled with an emergency response team.
"What happened?" Paige asked.
"I don't know, we were just talking and he started having trouble breathing," Sly said wringing his hands together.
"He was breathing fast and hard and then stopped completely and the alarms went off." Happy added.
"Pulmonary embolism. I was afraid of this. That damage to his leg caused a blood clot that must have traveled up to his lungs. The blood thinners must not have been enough to prevent it with how bad that leg is." Toby slammed the wall.
"Well, he's in a hospital, right? They can treat him, he'll be fine. Right?" Sly said.
Toby nodded slowly. "Yeah Sly, he'll be fine. He'll have be on blood thinners for a while since we know that even on thinners he's at risk for clots, Walter's going to have his own pharmacy by the time they get him released."
"Yeah well I call not it on getting him to take his meds," Happy said.
"Nope, that will be Paige's job. She's the only one he listens to when it comes to taking care of himself." Toby said never taking his eyes off the doctor's working on Walter. They were taking too long if it was just a clot and the fact that he stopped breathing completely was concerning.
But it was just a few minutes more before a doctor came out.
"It's a pulmonary embolism. Not too surprising with the trauma to his leg. But in his struggle to breathe one of his damaged ribs shifted and put pressure on the lung. I was able to get it back but he'll have to be careful or we will have to surgically stabilize the rib again." The doctor said.
Right because Walter intended to stop breathing just for fun. Toby thought. "Thanks, doctor."
"We are going to try another type of blood thinners and I gave him something for the pain. He's going to be fine. The important thing is still no fever so no signs of infection. If things keep up we will be able to address those punctures and the leg in the next day or two."
The doctor and his team of nurses left then and the four members of Team Scorpion went back into the room to join their fallen leader.
"You just gotta keep all the attention on you don't ya pal?" Toby said tiredly.
"Sorry, Toby." Walter's voice was considerably weaker and hoarse. "Feel tired."
Toby nodded. "They gave you pain meds along with the new blood thinners to try and stop the clot. Your gasping for air caused a rib to shift and the doctor had to get it back in place. He wanted you to have something for the pain."
Walter nodded. "Felt like being bashed in the chest with chess pieces like when Sly loses."
"You're lucky you're in that hospital bed. You know why I threw those pieces at you and you deserved it." Sly said angrily.
"And to think I've let Ralph play chess with you," Paige said.
"Paige…are you okay?" Walter asked in a voice that was barely a whisper.
Paige frowned. Toby was right, Walter should be focused on himself not worrying about her. She needed to put aside her own issues and just be there for Walter.
"Guys, could you just give us a second?"
"Okay but talk fast because those pain meds are either going to put him to sleep or make him pretty loopy," Toby cautioned.
Paige took the seat by the bed and reached for Walter's hand.
"I'm sorry Walter. I've been distant. It's just been so much, losing you, learning you were missing, that Tim knew you were alive and hid it from us, seeing what you'd be through…and something Cabe said and thinking things through. But really when I thought you were gone I realized how much I care about you and about how you're the father Ralph deserves and the man I – "
"Hey, Walter. Bet you're glad to be in a normal hospital this time." Tim said bursting into the room like an emotional wrecking ball.
"It is good to know I'm not about to be sent on another suicide mission." Walter rasped. He found energy he didn't know he had due to his anger at Tim's interruption. Was Paige really about to say she cared about him perhaps more than a friend? Just hearing that she thought he would be the father Ralph deserved was the best gift he could ever imagine getting as he still never quite got over Paige insisting that it was wrong for Ralph to be around him in case he would grow up to be like him.
"I'm sorry for what went down even though I didn't have a choice either and you stopped terrorists from launching a nuclear missile. Pretty sure that's a win and you get to be the self-sacrificing hero like always."
Before Walter or Paige could respond Cabe appeared out of nowhere. "You get out of my son's room before I stick my foot so far up your ass, you'll need a surgeon to get it out. I've already requested that you be taken off Scorpion."
"Homeland wouldn't do that. I was following their orders." Tim protested.
"Scorpion has proven to be too big of an asset to lose and I explained that if you stay we won't be taking any more Homeland cases," Cabe said.
"But you're Homeland. You'll lose your place with Scorpion if they stop working with Homeland."
"I am re-evaluating my own position with Homeland and whether I want to stay," Cabe said.
"Cabe no. I agreed to this. I knew the risks. Don't lose Homeland because of me." Walter said. "I'm going to be fine and Tim's right. I am always willing to sign myself over for the greater good. Must be a hero-complex like Toby would say." Walter couldn't help being in the conversation even though he could barely breathe while talking.
"No Walter. You tend to take risks because you always trust you will succeed and you'd rather be hurt than see anyone else hurt. A good-intentioned hero complex maybe. Now, I'm pretty sure I didn't put - what was it Bargain Basement G.I. Joe on the visitor list." Toby said as he came into the room after one of the nurses told him about the man who had entered Walter's room. He had sent Happy and Sly to get coffee and snacks while he investigated.
Paige sighed and realized it was going to be hard to get time alone with Walter while he was in the hospital.
Walter realized that Paige was just as frustrated as he was that their conversation got interrupted and gave her hand a soft squeeze.
Paige smiled back at Walter and looked down at where his hand rested with hers and saw that it was only three of his fingers that were actually wrapped around her hand. His pinky and ring finger remained straight.
She looked to Toby and indicated Walter's hand. She caught his subtle nod that he was aware.
"Fine, I'm out of here. I'm sure Homeland will reward me for following orders like I'm supposed to." Tim grumbled and left the room in a huff.
"Always nice when the trash takes itself out. Now there's an invention for you Walter. Garbage bags that take themselves out when full." Toby joked.
Walter nodded but there wasn't the usual enthusiasm he showed whenever a new silly invention was brought up. His breathing was still somewhat shallow and strained.
"The new blood thinners should have you breathing better soon." Toby offered, hoping he was right.
"Was it my leg?" Walter asked finally.
Toby nodded. "Severe trauma to legs or hips is usually the cause of a clot like this."
"Have they said – can they –" Walter trailed not sure he wanted the answer to the question he was asking. The wrong answer could mean that he would be sidelined from Scorpion forever.
"Not yet Pal. Maybe tomorrow they will take you in to get another look. They did what they could to prevent further damage but they were trying to fix the bigger issues before tackling that one. There are signs of healing there so that's a good start." Toby said hesitantly.
"Okay, what happened to his leg?" Paige asked realizing she had never seen his leg without being covered by bloody pants or underneath a blanket.
Toby looked to Walter for permission, Walter squeezed Paige's hand tighter but nodded slowly. He really didn't want more reason for Paige to pity him, but the team would find out eventually anyway.
"It's broken, basically crushed, and wasn't treated. I assumed they injected something to keep it from swelling after the fact. It's a simple but brutal method, they wrap the rope around his leg and then wrap it around a wooden rod. By twisting the rod they can increase the pressure of the rope on the leg…" Toby stopped seeing how Walter was tensing as if he were reliving the experience.
"They only did one leg; in case they needed to move me and wanted me to walk but I haven't felt anything there in days," Walter whispered.
"Hey don't think like that. We won't know anything till they can open it back up and see what else can be fixed…" Toby paused. "Why didn't you just talk? Tell them who you were or tell them to ask Homeland for whatever money they wanted?"
"They weren't going to stop no matter what I said so why bother giving them anything? I figured the best option was to upset them enough so they would mess up and kill me. Not talking seemed to irritate them the most." Walter explained slowly.
"Oh Walter," Paige said and gently laid her head on his chest. She needed to be close to him, to hear his heartbeat and know he was alive.
Walter wished to enjoy the feeling of Paige in his arms. He knew she was trying to keep most of her weight off of him to keep from hurting him. Walter looked at Toby and then indicated his arm. He knew that Toby had read all his charts and would understand what he was asking. His arms were not entirely functional either after being hung from his wrists for days and the electrocution he had endured. He didn't want everyone to all the issues until it was necessary.
Toby took the hint and grabbed Walter's arm and draped it over Paige. Walter nodded his thanks but the move did not go unnoticed by the others, including Cabe as he returned from making sure Tim found his way out.
"Hey kiddo," Cabe said as he took the seat on the other side of Walter. Paige made to move and as much as Walter wanted to keep her in place there was no strength in his arm and it just slid down her back as she sat back up.
"You gotta stop scaring us like that Walt," Cabe said patting Walter's arm.
"I'm sorry. It is not my intention. I do not want to be a burden to all of you." Walter said in a sleepy tone.
"Hey, you're not a burden kid. We're all so glad to have you back you'll be hard-pressed to keep us from being here at all hours." Cabe said.
"So I've noticed. It's nice to have company. I did miss all of you." Walter's voice started to slur and Paige looked at Toby in alarm.
"I warned you, loopy or sleepy. " Toby said as a way of calming her worry.
"So tired of sleeping with elephants they steal covers," Walter mumbled.
"Paige smiled as Toby and Cabe shared surprised looks.
"So loopy and sleepy," Toby said.
"Is he going to be okay?" Sly asked as he and Happy returned from the cafeteria with snacks and coffee for everyone.
"Yeah, he's fine," Toby said taking a coffee.
"Except for the elephants," Walter said as he drifted off to sleep.
"Uh What elephants Doc?" Happy asked.
"The ones that steal covers," Toby said, motioning with his hands like it was obvious.
Paige and Cabe laughed as Team Scorpion all settled in to spend the afternoon with Walter.