Next day at Tallaght Hospital:
Ralph Dineen met up with the primary Dr taking care of Amanda Gallo.
"So after discussing this with the Minister for Health, Micheál Martin, he has told me that there simply isn't any other option for Amanda Gallo's care. Several other specialists I've talked to confirmed it too." Ralph said as he shook the Dr's hand.
She nodded as she gestured to the chair beside her desk. Ralph sat down with her.
"We've explored every medical resource. Amanda had been doing so well until her last birthday and then she began to become lethargic. Nothing really interested her. She began losing weight as food was unappetizing to her. Her primary Dr at first didn't think it was anything serious. He thought perhaps it was psychological, some type of eating disorder. But Amanda underwent numerous examinations by several psychologists and they all say she is healthy mentally." The Dr. Explained.
"On advice of her doctors, her parents began making her drink supplement shakes. Even her favorite flavor of chocolate couldn't get her to drink much. If she consumed more than about a cup in two hours she would become sick and throw up. We've experimented with keeping her unconscious and feeding her with a tube but her body was still reacting to the presence of food. So we know it isn't psychological. No scans have revealed anything structurally wrong with her stomach. We did a colonoscopy and endoscopy on her and found nothing abnormal. One of my partners thinks it is a type of genetic disorder, some form of failure to thrive. A different kind of mutation, so they are trying to run a comparison between her and her parents to try and identify a gene that has mutated in such a way that her body can't even use glucose properly. But that is going to take a number of months, at least, to analyze and will be too late to help Amanda. So for right now, we have no idea." The Dr told him sadly.
"Well damn it to hell." Ralph said as he sighed. "And I really need to have an unpleasant conversation with her Father. How much longer does she have?"
"To be honest Mr. Dineen, I'm surprised she's lasted this long. I would have figured her heart would have given out before now." The Dr explained.
"Alright, well as mad as I am at Cabe, I can't and I won't do this right now. I'll just go back to the Embassy. Will you keep me up to date on her condition Dr?" Ralph asked as he reached his hand out.
The Dr nodded as she shook his hand. She watched Ralph stand and leave her office and she sighed.
"Katherine, Ralph Dineen." Ralph greeted Katherine Cooper on the phone.
"Ralph, how are you?" Katherine smiled.
"Not too bad personally, but we do have a problem. Have you heard of agent Gallo?" Ralph asked.
"Of course, good, solid, dependable man." Katherine nodded.
"Did you know his daughter is dying?" Ralph asked.
"No, I hadn't heard about that. What happened?" Katherine asked.
Ralph took a few minutes to explain about Amanda and then explained about the bombing and how it related to Walter.
"Damn that Merrick. I know he had to have had his hands in this. How's Walter handling it?" Katherine asked with concern.
"Not well I'm afraid. We took turns staying awake for an hour and a half at a time to be there for him last night. Poor kid would barely get to sleep and immediately the nightmares would strike and he'd wake up panicking. Look, I've got great empathy for what Cabe is going through right now but, I can't overlook what he allowed to happen with Walter. When he comes back from his leave of absence, I want him transferred. Nothing punitive mind you, but I don't want him in a position where he can be used to involve Walter in anything else." Ralph explained.
"I'm so sorry this has happened Ralph. I can make that happen. James Cunningham is our interim Ambassador to the UN. Jim and I go back a few years, I can call him and ask him to request Cabe's reassignment, for whenever he is ready to return to work." Katherine told him.
"That sounds like a perfect plan Katherine, thank you. I hope you are doing well otherwise." Ralph told her.
"Could always be doing better, but then I could be doing a lot worse. So I'm happy." Katherine laughed.
"Good way to look at it. I'll talk with you later Katherine." Ralph said before hanging up.
"How could you do that Ralph? His child is dying." Veronica said shocked as they stood talking quietly in his closed study.
"I've got great sympathy for the man as a Father, but I also have a great anger for him as a man. Our son has been going through hell for nearly twenty four hours because of what he was ultimately tricked into doing. I was just going to fire him on the spot. But this will help protect him. He might have been tricked into it as well." Ralph explained as he ran his hands up and down Veronica's arms.
"I know Ralph, but still he has a relationship with the kids. Are you going to give them a chance to say goodbye at least?" Veronica asked.
Ralph shrugged.
"I suppose that is up to him. I can't imagine Walter would want to see him and Paige is so mad she'd probably attack him. But if they wanted I would be okay with it. Nothing worse than just being abruptly torn apart." Ralph nodded before he kissed Veronica.
"How did Walter do at school?" Ralph asked after they broke their kiss.
"He didn't go. I let Paige stay home from school so she could go over to be with him. When I talked with Louise she said he was sleeping a little better in his own bed. She even let Paige lay with him as it seemed to help calm him." Veronica explained while watching Ralph's expressions change.
"You know, while I wouldn't be shocked to learn they have been having sex, still, I'm not sure that is a good thing." Ralph said, shaking his head.
Veronica nodded as she smiled.
"Well, the stipulation that the door has to remain fully opened and Paige had to lay on top of the cover helped. And I'm positive they have had sex, it is the only thing that makes sense in how things were going when she blew up at him over the going to America deal. But I didn't want to force the conversation. I told Louise if they felt comfortable with it, they could let Paige spend the night, but she would have to stay in her clothes." Veronica told him.
"Sounds more like a reward." Ralph chuckled.
Veronica rolled her eyes and slapped his arm.
"You're terrible. Well if it helps him to sleep and get through this weekend, maybe he'll be able to deal with it better going forward." Veronica told him. "By the way, they invited us over for dinner."
"Sounds good to me. Louise is a terrific cook." Ralph told her with a grin.
"Hey, you're the one that wanted to hire all this help and live in this huge house. We could have lived in a small home and I could cook for us." Veronica grinned.
"I know, but I like spoiling you. I guess I should wash up so we can go." Ralph kissed her before opening the study door.
"So you see, this sensor I came up with is really the crux of the whole design for the brace for Megan. Of course without Walter's ingenious algorithm that lets the processor interpret the signal as fast as it does and sends commands to the motors of the brace that really makes it work. It also allows the system to use less power to achieve its purpose as well." Happy typed to Toby as she shared with him the details of the body brace she designed to assist Megan in general and when and if her MS flares up.
"Happy, this is truly remarkable work. I am so impressed with you. Someone in the eighth grade designing this system and your sister's boyfriend's computer skills is definitely top shelf material." Toby typed back.
"Top shelf material?" Happy questioned him.
Toby chuckled on his end.
"It's an expression, most liquor establishments keep their most expensive, highest quality items on the top shelf behind the bar." Toby explained.
Happy frowned.
"You drink alcohol? Isn't that bad for brain cells?" Happy questioned him.
"Well I have so many, I can afford to lose some." Toby typed back while laughing.
"Seriously, you need to quit drinking. My birth Dad was an alcoholic and gave me up for adoption. I spent five long years in a hellhole of child services before I was adopted by my family. So if you want to keep talking to me then you have to swear to me on whatever you value the most that you'll stop." Happy typed angrily back at him.
Happy sat there staring at the screen waiting for his reply. She began to grow sad as the minutes ticked by. Was she being abandoned again? In addition to the sadness she began to feel more anger rising up in her and just as she was about to disconnect from Microsoft Messenger there was a ding and his reply appeared.
"Wow, I didn't know what your experience had been like. I knew you said you had been adopted but my questionnaire didn't go into things like alcohol because of the underage nature of the participants. I might need to rethink that. Thank you for opening up and telling me that. I'm sorry your Father did that to you. My Mom suffers with a host of different psychological issues, it is why I want to become a psychologist. To help people like my Mom. My Dad was no prize either. He always took me down to the track and we'd bet on different races and party with the different people at the track. I had my first beer before I was ten. But your point is well taken, I promise to do my best to stop. Is that acceptable?" Toby finally replied.
Happy sat rereading the words several times before her hands touched the keys. And just as they were about to start typing she heard a knock on her door.
"Happy sweetheart, it's time to go to the O'Brien's for dinner. Let's get going." Veronica announced through the door.
"Okay Mom, let me say goodbye to my friend." Happy said as she started typing.
"Toby, I like you, you seem like a good person for the most part. Please do your best not to drink anymore. That is really a deal breaker to me." Happy told him. "I've got to go, we're going over to a family friend's house for dinner. Have a great weekend if I don't get to talk to you before Monday."
"Thanks Happy, you too, and I promise to do my best." Toby typed back before Happy disconnected.
"Did you get to talk to Cabe today Daddy? How is his daughter doing?" Happy asked as they got into the SUV to go over to the O'Brien home.
"I didn't get to talk to him sweetheart. But I did talk with the Dr over her care and things don't look too good. They are trying to examine the DNA of her and her parents to try and figure out if whatever is going on is a mutation in her genes. But sadly that will take too long to be of any use for Amanda. The Dr is surprised she is still alive." Ralph told her sadly.
"Poor Cabe. Does Amanda know what is happening?" Happy asked quietly.
"I don't know sweetheart. I'm not sure what good it would do for her to know that she is going to die and there isn't anything they can do for her." Ralph sighed.
"They got to tell her Daddy. She deserves to know the truth." Happy demanded as she grew angry.
"It isn't our call sweetheart." Veronica told her.
Happy was growing more upset at the thought.
"I love both of you, but right here and right now, I need you to promise me something. If you find out something about me, you tell me the truth, I don't care what it is. I refuse to go out in ignorance. It is my life and I have the right to know what is happening to me." Happy told them.
Ralph looked at their daughter even as the SUV made the last turn to the O'Brien's.
"Alright sweetheart. You have my word. If something happens, we'll tell you the truth." Ralph promised.
Happy leaned over and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you Daddy." Happy said sadly even as they saw Sean waving from the porch.
"Welcome Ralph, Veronica and how's our Happy?" Sean smiled as he walked out to the SUV as they got out.
Happy ran over and hugged him.
"I'm good Uncle Sean. Is Walter awake?" Happy asked.
Sean chuckled.
"Yeah, they were out in the barn." Sean told her as he let her go.
Ralph stepped up and shook his hand.
"Did you have a good day?" Ralph asked.
"Not too bad, how about you?" Sean asked.
"Bad news for Cabe's daughter, but otherwise, not a bad day." Ralph told him as they moved into the house.
"Walter, Paige?" Happy called out as she entered the barn.
"We're up here in the loft Happy." Paige answered her.
Happy started climbing the ladder and she paused.
"You're both decent right?" Happy asked, a bit nervous.
Paige laughed.
"Yes Happy, we're both decent." Paige told her.
Happy finished climbing up and saw Walter sitting there looking a little better but he still had a lost expression on his face.
"How are you doing Walter?" Happy asked before she moved over and hugged him.
"I'm trying to get it into perspective but I'm really struggling with it." Walter told her after they broke the hug.
"Well then, I got an idea to help you." Happy told him as she sat down on one of the hay bales.
Walter's brow rose up in question to her statement.
"Dad told me that Amanda doesn't have much longer. They ran out of ideas to try and figure out why she is dying. They are trying to do a genome study with her parents to see if it might be a mutation in her DNA causing it. But it can take several months easily to go through all of the DNA and I thought, if anyone could write an algorithm that could look through the genome of three people. Comparing them as it went it would be my friend and brother, Walter O'Brien." Happy told him.
Walter had blanched when she first said Amanda's name. Cabe was a very sore spot for him right now.
"You know, I don't have anything against Amanda, but Cabe can just suffer." Paige fumed.
"Sis, I highly doubt it would do any good for them right now, even if Walter could write it up before bedtime tonight. But it might help doctors in the future, help them with testing for genetic anomalies. That is worth something I think. And definitely something Scorpion should be doing. What do you think about it Walter?" Happy asked. Happy figured by declaring it something Scorpion should be part of, it might help Walter get his head out of what happened.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! With so little info from the show I wasn't sure how or what to do for Amanda's failing health, so I hope the medical side of this is palatable.
Railman - Yeah...Their age difference right now would be gross in the extreme. Well her age with anyone would be pretty gross. hehe Hope you found your stomach. Wouldn't want you starving. Thanks! I'm hoping so, not sure why this has been much deeper...
Margaret - Yep, definitely a difficult chapter and will be moving forward. I don't envy Ralph's position. So far he seems to be handling it well.
RiseofDespair - Sorry, but then again, that was kind of what I had hoped for. *grin*
Pearliegirl - Thank you!
To the Adventure! -Tim