What…is…going on…with my mind? What happened to me? What time…what day is it? Walter slowly thought. His eyes were refusing to respond.
My thoughts…what is wrong with me? I feel…I feel what? It is a struggle to remember…to…think. I think…I've felt…this way before…Several years ago. But this is worse. Yes, it happened before the tech building debacle. When Paige and Cabe woke me up in that hotel room. My head hurts…my thoughts abnormally slow. Think Walter. Walter told himself. What would normally take him a nanosecond to realize was taking minutes…long…slow minutes.
Walter tried to just breathe…in…out. Feeling his chest expand as he inhaled and then deflating as he exhaled. Slowly he could feel his limbs, they felt heavy. Especially his left side. Everything he was experiencing felt like an event. He inhaled deeply and a slow smile spread across his face as he recognized that Paige was close enough to smell her shampoo. He slowly realized the extra pressure he felt on his left side was from Paige partially lying on him.
I'm okay…I'm okay then…if Paige is here with me, I'm okay. I'm okay…I'm really okay. Walter told himself. No matter how he felt, he knew everything would be okay. He continued to lightly struggle with his eyes and slowly his eyes opened. He was in the Loft, in bed and Paige was curled up with him. It was dark…very little light other than some from the only light pole outside of the Garage, barely cascading into the Loft. Slowly his jaw moved, and he grimaced at how dry his mouth and throat were. It felt like very dry, cracked clay covered in sand. He simulated chewing and sucking with his lips closed. Slowly, he was rewarded with some saliva as it began flowing in his mouth.
As he worked to get more saliva he thought back to the last thing he remembered. He was talking to Toby with Paige beside him on the couch. He had appreciated what Toby did for him, he had forced him to talk about it. Forced him to bring up his guilt over Mark and it had actually helped. Then he remembered Toby asking him if he wanted some water. Walter remembered nodding as he was quite thirsty. Toby brought him a bottle from the fridge. He had even broken the seal for him and Walter frowned.
"That bastard." Walter said before he thought of Paige asleep next to him. Now I know why I'm so stiff and sluggish. He drugged my water. I'm going to hurt him like he hasn't been hurt before. Walter thought before he reached over and grabbed his watch.
"4:12 a.m." The watch read. It had been nearly twelve hours. His anger flared as he realized he didn't get to spend any time with Ralph last night.
Walter shook his head as he carefully slipped out from under Paige and got out of bed. He still had on his dress slacks and t-shirt. Grabbing his phone he slipped on his slippers and made a quick trip to the bathroom so he could relieve himself as well as freshen up. As he came back into the bedroom Walter smiled at Paige still asleep, before he went to check on Ralph. He smiled seeing Ralph sound asleep in his bed that Walter had gotten for him. He really needed to get walls put up so Ralph would have a proper bedroom to sleep in when they are at the Loft like this. Walter reached down and ran his finger tips through Ralph's hair as he remembered back three years ago.
He remembered telling Paige, as he was preparing to go to UCLA, that love was junk science, a fairy tale. The thought that it could meaningfully affect people was inane. Walter blushed standing there with a lock of Ralph's hair in his fingers. How wrong he had been about that. And he knew it…Almost like a slap to his face, his memory brought up the look of hurt on Paige's face at his declaration. He hadn't noticed it that night, but here in this quiet moment he certainly did and he needed to apologize for that.
"Sweet dreams buddy." Walter said softly and kissed Ralph's forehead before going to the kitchen.
To avoid waking Paige he opted to make instant coffee. Thanks to his eidetic memory he didn't need the lights on. He deftly navigated the kitchen. The noticeable hum of the microwave as it heated the water made him grimace as it seemed glaringly loud in the silence of night. The loud beep when it finished caused him to shake his head as he should have paused it before it finished. He stirred the powder into the cup before heading over to the sitting room with his coffee. He hoped they left his laptop there. His hand touched the lamp post an inch lower than the switch and his fingers mindlessly slipped up and toggled the switch.
Walter quickly turned the light back out as he saw Toby and Happy sleeping on the couch. Walter smiled at first, they'd been worried and stayed the night to ensure he was okay. He shook his head before he stepped carefully to the coffee table and reached down to grab the laptop. With limited options for light and not wanting to leave the Loft with Paige asleep he walked back to the kitchen. He turned on the range light over the stove and sat at the small table.
He paused for a moment when the laptop came up and turned the luminosity of the screen down to match the ambient light from the range hood before he got to work.
Paige was dreaming, a beautiful field of golden flowers all about her and Walter. Something seemed off and she suddenly realized she was dreaming. She slowly moved as she woke up…a smile on her lips and her arm swept across the empty bed. She quickly opened her eyes as she realized Walter wasn't there. She looked about in the early morning light of the sun, as it was illuminating all about the Loft. Everything was muted colors in that light. She turned and grabbed her phone and dismissed the alarm so the blaring noise wouldn't sound. As she slipped out from under the cover she could just make out the unmistakable sound of Walter's fingers flying across his keyboard. She smiled as she slipped on her slippers before walking into the bathroom.
She stepped into the space between the kitchen and living area. She smiled seeing Toby and Happy still asleep and then she saw Walter in the kitchen, hard at work. She slipped quietly towards Walter.
The left side of Walter's mouth curled up as he saw her in the peripheral vision of his right eye. He waited until she was almost right behind him and he spun suddenly around towards her.
"Got ya." Walter said as his arms shot out and grabbed her.
"Walter!" Paige squeaked a bit loudly at the shock and then she fell into his arms laughing.
"You didn't think you could sneak up on a genius did you?" Walter said as he pulled Paige onto his lap and kissed her. The chair creaked as it seemingly protested the additional weight added to it.
"Mmmm…Either way, this is nice." Paige purred. Her eyes looked at the coffee cup and she frowned. "You are drinking coffee and I don't smell it?"
Walter chuckled.
"I didn't want you waking early so I used the instant." Walter smiled as she looked at him.
"Yuck. As bad as decaffeinated." Paige sighed.
"Hey, I need to apologize to you." Walter said softly as he nuzzled her neck.
"What for?" Paige frowned even as she enjoyed his attention.
"For that night when I told you that love was junk science, that it was silly to think it could affect people. I've never been more happy to be wrong in my life, other than to prove we could still run Scorpion while being in love." Walter kissed her neck.
Paige smiled as a tear slipped past her eyelid.
"Hey, what's with all the racket?" Happy complained as she stood up and stretched.
"Good morning to you too." Paige grinned. "You're forgiven, I love you Walter." Paige whispered before she moved over to get some juice.
"How are you feeling Walt?" Happy asked as she walked over to stand beside the table.
"Not too bad. Though if Toby does that again, I'm going to fire him." Walter told her seriously.
"Hey, you needed the sleep." Paige told him as she filled her glass. "Passion fruit juice Happy?" Paige asked.
"Naw, I think I'll go make a run to grab some breakfast. Are you guys hungry?" Happy asked.
"I'm about to start breakfast for us. You are more than welcome to eat with us." Paige smiled before sipping the juice.
"Naw, you take care of you guys, I don't want Toby getting used to home cooking unless he wants to cook. Which I really don't recommend." Happy grinned.
"Hey! I heard that!" Toby complained.
"Well good, get up and go with me." Happy yelled back.
"Come on Happy, it isn't that big a deal to scramble eggs and make some toast." Paige smiled.
"I need to check Walter's vitals anyway." Toby told them.
"Fine." Happy sighed and sat down.
"How are you feeling kid?" Cabe asked as he came in that morning.
"Better." Walter replied as he continued to work.
"Did the doc help you get what is going on with Mark squared away?" Cabe asked as he sat down in the chair beside Walter's desk.
"He really helped a lot, Cabe." Walter smiled as he looked at him briefly.
"Good deal. He told me he wants to have a meeting with you each day for a week. I want you to do that." Cabe said as he reached over and brushed his hand across Walter's. "Will you do that for me?"
Walter nodded as he kept working.
"Morning Cabe." Paige said as she moved down the stairs.
"Morning kid. You look lovely this morning, not that you don't otherwise." Cabe replied nervously.
Paige smiled.
"I understood what you meant, Cabe, thank you." Paige sat down at her desk.
"Where's Happy and the Doc?" Cabe looked around.
"Taking showers. They spent the night, Toby wanted to be sure there was no issue for Walter and the sedative he gave him. And that nothing came up from their session." Paige smiled.
"Oh, well, that was nice of him." Cabe smiled.
"Unless he tries to drug me again, then he'll be on the unemployment line." Walter said.
Paige rolled her eyes.
"Tell me you don't feel better after getting a good night of sleep." Paige dared him.
"I always feel better waking up next to you, so your assertion is flawed." Walter grinned at her.
Paige shook her head as she laughed. She reached out and grabbed the phone as it rang.
"Scorpion, this is Paige. How can we help you?" Paige asked. "Oh, yes. Already?" Paige asked as she looked at Walter. "Is he at least still conscious?" Paige listened. "I'm not sure if we can get out there today to be honest. But I'll let Walter know immediately. Thank you for calling." Paige said before hanging up.
"Mark?" Walter asked weakly.
Paige nodded as she stood and walked over to Walter's desk.
"His directive was to keep you up to date if his condition worsened. Mark's lungs were having a hard time this morning and they've put him on a ventilator for now." Paige told him as she bent over and hugged him from behind.
"Damn it." Walter sighed.
"I know with all he did I shouldn't really care, but I can't help it. I hope he chose to go on the vent." Walter said as his eyes closed tightly.
"Yes, he signed a waiver to let them do certain things. But if his lungs start bleeding they're to take him off the vent, she said." Paige told him.
"I'll call Katherine and see if she can't figure out a way that you can go see him without getting into trouble." Cabe said as he stood and moved off to the front door.
"Thanks Cabe." Walter and Paige both said.
"Hey Walt, you should get Happy to work on your plumbing, your water pressure…what happened?" Toby asked as he reached the stairs and began moving down them.
"The facility called, Mark's lungs, they had to put him on a vent." Paige explained as she continued to hug Walter.
"Damn it. I was afraid of that when I was looking at his numbers last night." Toby sighed. "How are you dealing with it Walter?"
"I just want to keep working." Walter said as he patted Paige's arm.
Paige nodded as she eased her grip on him. She kissed the back of his head before walking back to her desk.
"What about the water pressure?" Walter asked as he began coding again.
"No big deal if you are happy with it. Just seems a bit weak." Toby said as he sat in the chair next to his desk. "You want to go see him?" Toby asked softly.
"Yes and no, Cabe's checking with Katherine to see if she has a way I can go see him without the legal issues." Walter explained.
"That would be helpful." Toby said as he reached over and took Walter's wrist.
"My heart rate is the same as it was earlier, Toby." Walter sighed.
"Good, I'm just double checking." Toby grinned. "Excellent…sixty eight beats a minute."
"What's going on?" Happy asked as she walked down the stairs.
"They had to put Mark on a vent and Toby's checking Walter's heart rate." Paige smiled.
"Okay." Cabe said as he walked back into the Garage. "Katherine said what she can do is arrange a detail to guard his room until he passes. That would allow you to come and go without repercussions."
Walter sighed as his hand came up and rubbed his forehead.
"If you do that, and he knows, you can expect Mark to be dead before the weekend is over. Right now I'd estimate he's got until Tuesday at best." Toby told them. "So unless you really want to see him, I'd recommend not doing it."
Walter stood up quickly, pushing his chair back several feet.
"Walter?" Paige asked softly.
Walter's head shook as his hands slipped into his pants as he turned and walked off towards the back of the Garage.
"Good morning." Sylvester and Florence said as they walked into the Garage.
"Good morning Sly, Florence." Paige said sadly.
"Did something bad happen?" Sylvester asked as he saw Walter walking away.
Paige quietly told them what happened with Mark.
Cabe gave him a few minutes and then followed after Walter.
"I know death isn't something you like dealing with." Cabe said as Walter paced back and forth in about a twenty foot oval.
"It isn't death that bothers me Cabe. We all have to go sometime. It's the waste of his life…of my time with him more than anything. If he would have had the same mindset when I met him as he does now, or not have met him at all…" Walter left it hanging.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well!
Lucy - The burdens of being the good guys. hehe
Railman - Thank you, glad you like it! Here's to the last 3 being just as good!
2LawDog - hehe Glad you are liking it! Yes, I wasn't too comfortable with Toby doing that, but I think you are right, pick the right battles and then regroup. I definitely wouldn't want to live Walter's life! lol Looks like it did him some good. Though he might be right, just being back with the people you love would help too.
LouBe - So glad you enjoyed them renewing their relationship! I think Katherine does, but time will tell. hehe And to think those were just some of the major ones. Didn't bring up the helicopter crash, their seeming demise in the fire, rescuing Owen, having the sand collapsing on him, going under the grain to save Ralph's friend, jumping off the high rise and hoping the wind would blow you back onto the next floor...*yikes* Sometimes you really got to make Walter see what is good for him...lol I believe Toby is doing his best for Walter. And there might always be a slight distrust between them. LOL You might be right. I think most of the time we're willing to sacrifice a lot to be rid of him, but sounds like things are not going good. I can neither confirm nor deny any names...Maybe Marcia if it is a girl? lol
Pearliegirl - You're welcome, but can't be too hard on everyone else. It is a huge sacrifice for most people to get a chapter a week done. I just don't have a life so, not as big of a sacrifice. lol But, I am a little worried to be honest. The Muse hasn't been pushing me as much. In the past it wasn't too big of a deal because I had so much pre-written I had plenty of time. I got 4 chapters for Callan that take care of 2004 and I'm just over 1 chapter away from finishing the next leg of Lady Aine. And I'm only into July for Callan 2005, which if I have to, I can post the first 10 chapters of 2005, that takes us to the middle of June. I just finished chapter 95 for Callan but that only takes us to the middle of July, I could post all of that if need be. And then I'm running on empty. So we'll see.
To the Adventure! -Tim