Sunday September 7th, 2003, Matt Murphy's Pub:
Toby was standing on the sidewalk just outside waiting on the Dineens to show up. His sunglasses almost looked comical as the bruising of his eyes exceeded the area concealed by the lens considerably.
The meeting between Happy and Toby was awkward. Some might even say tense. That vibe was almost party-like compared to when Ralph stepped out of the SUV and the two men came face to face.
Happy forced herself to grab Toby's arm and pulled him along to separate the two men.
Walter looked at Paige and shook his head. This situation had disaster written all over it and even he could tell it.
Veronica had engaged Toby in some conversation before they were taken back towards a special room for higher profile people who might want a bit of privacy while in public.
Paige and Walter had turned and followed the host first before Veronica turned with Happy and Toby. Ralph followed along behind them carrying Emmett. He watched as Happy reached up and took the sunglasses off of Toby's face and folded them up before sticking them in her back pocket.
Ralph saw a folded piece of paper in the same pocket and it was sticking up, almost about to fall out. He thought it was a strange thing. He seldom saw Happy carrying paper like that. He was a little tempted to reach out and take it but he exercised restraint and just walked. Ralph stood at the end of the table waiting as everyone slipped into the booth. He watched and as luck would have it, the edge of the paper caught on the back of the bench Happy slid in on and the paper slipped out and fell to the floor.
Ralph's foot came down on the paper and he stood there while they brought the highchair up and set it up. He slipped Emmett into it and then bent over and grabbed up the paper before sitting next to Happy. Ralph had thought better of it and had started to give it back to Happy when he saw between the edges the word "Loan". Ralph frowned and waited a moment.
Everyone else was looking at their menus and Ralph took the opportunity to open the paper and began reading. Ralph's professional life revolved around speed reading. He could glance at a page of text for a few moments and absorb the information on it. So the sparse text on the page wasn't even a blip of time for him. His pulse quickened and his blood pressure rose dramatically.
"Thirty thousand dollars?!" Ralph shouted a split second later.
Everyone looked at him instantly and the coloring of his neck and face scared all of them. He seemed to be almost vibrating and then his hand grabbed at his chest as his face contorted.
"Ralph!" Veronica said scared as she tried to get out of her side of the booth.
Toby's left hand landed on the table and his right on the back of the bench between him and Happy. Pushing up his foot came to rest on a spot on the bench and he nearly catapulted over the back of the bench landing on the table of the people eating behind them.
With barely an "excuse me" from his lips Toby jumped off their table amid shouts and complaints. He moved over to Ralph as Veronica came around the highchair.
"Come on Mr Dineen." Toby told him as he began trying to assess his condition. Toby's eyes looked across the table at Walter and Walter knew instantly that Ralph was in serious trouble.
Paige was frozen in horror at what was going on and Walter was forced to climb up and over the table. He jumped over to the other table and scrambled to the end. People began moving into the room at all the commotion going on. With Walter helping Toby and Veronica, they got Ralph out of the booth and lying on the floor. Toby was unbuttoning his shirt as he had already removed his tie.
"Daddy!" Paige and Happy both finally shouted as they recovered from the shock.
Toby ripped Ralph's t-shirt open before he began chest compressions as he looked at Walter.
"Call 911, now." Toby told him. "Come on Mr Dineen, you aren't going out on us like this."
Veronica knelt down and began mouth to mouth on Ralph.
Toby looked up and his eyes scanned across the twenty people in the back room quickly while his genius mind picked up tiny signals and quickly calculated their likely conditions. His eyes stopped on one.
"You! You have a heart condition, I need your nitro, now!" Toby told the man.
The man shakily held out a small silver vial and a younger woman grabbed it and moved over to Toby and Ralph.
"Get one pill out and slip it under his tongue." Toby demanded.
The girl was shaking and Happy came off the bench and grabbed the vial from her. She quickly unscrewed the lid and dumped a pill out. She got down and opened Ralph's mouth and slipped the pill under his tongue. She pushed his mouth closed and waited.
Toby kept up chest compressions even as he looked again at the people in the room. His mind once against picking up clues and making instant calculations, his eyes stopped on another person.
"You, you got food allergies, you have to have an epipen on you. We need it." Toby told her.
She nodded and held the pen out.
Paige came out of the booth finally and ran to her and grabbed the pen. She ran back and Toby told her what to do as he maintained chest compressions.
Veronica resumed mouth to mouth.
Paige pulled the two caps off the pen and then jabbed it firmly into her Father's thigh. She held it against him for a slow count to fifteen as Toby told her.
Emmett began crying over the commotion and Walter quickly moved up and got him out of the highchair to try and comfort him.
Toby's eyes scanned the room of people again and he stopped on an older man.
"Odds are you have stents or other medical issues that you need to give yourself heparin shots. We need to use one, now." Toby told him.
The man nodded and moved forward. He pulled a slim leather case out of his jacket pocket. He showed the kit to Toby and Toby nodded.
"Give him five thousand mgs." Toby told him as he continued compressions.
The man nodded as he shakily got the syringe set up. He reached down and pulled Ralph's shirt out of his pants before he swabbed his abdomen with an alcohol wipe. He carefully pinched Ralph's stomach as Toby watched and nodded. He quickly slipped the needle under the skin and injected the medicine.
"Come on Mr Dineen, we're not giving up on you man. Fight damn you, fight." Toby told him. "We need a defibrillator. I hope that the ambulance hurries." Toby told them even as sweat began running down his face.
Happy looked around the room and saw a plug in the wall close by and it was a 220 outlet. Happy gave the nitro to Paige as she jumped up and unplugged the cord before she moved into the other room. She saw the ice cooler sitting there and the cord ran behind it. She nodded as the cable was just long enough. Summoning strength from somewhere she pushed against the edge of the heavy machine hard. It resisted at first and then it began moving as Happy shoved harder. One of the detail guards nearby jumped over and grabbed and pulled against the machine, helping her gain access to the back. Happy pulled out her multifunction tool and quickly cut the cable free from the machine. Happy deftly sliced the cover of the cable exposing the wires inside. She striped the insulation off the ends of two of them after pulling them further out of the cord. Keeping the exposed wires separate she plugged the cord back into the outlet and then moved over to where Ralph was lying.
"Move!" Happy demanded.
Paige, Veronica sat back even as Happy dropped to her knees. Toby pointed at two places on Ralph's chest. Happy nodded as she took in a deep breath.
"Please Daddy." Happy whispered before her hands lowered the ends of the live wires down and electricity shot across and through Ralph's body as the wires made contact with the bare flesh of his chest.
Ralph's eyes shot open even as he sat upright for a moment. He inhaled deeply and then fell back on the floor. Happy had quickly pulled the wires back out of the way. Toby moved in and put out the small fire the electricity had set on some of Ralph's chest hair.
Ralph groaned in pain.
"Music to my ears." Toby grinned.
Happy yanked on the cord and pulled it free from the outlet even as Veronica let out a cry of joy. Walter fell down beside Paige and Happy as they all looked down at the man they all called Dad.
Walter put an arm around Paige and hugged her tightly even as Happy hugged Toby. Paige's hand came up to cup her brother's head in Walter's other arm.
Veronica sat back up a little and Ralph's eyes looked tiredly across his family. He gave them a slight smile.
It wasn't long before the ambulance arrived and the secret service people cleared a path and they got Ralph on the gurney. Toby was quick to get an IV started as the paramedic attached the leads for the EKG. Toby sat watching the EKG readout as they strapped him down.
"Okay, I think we're past the worst for now. I'll see you all at the hospital." Toby told them. "Veronica, you can ride with me in the ambulance, you three take care of Emmett." Toby finished.
They got Ralph into the ER at the Massachusetts general hospital. It didn't seem to be long before the available heart Dr stepped into his room to examine him.
"Well Mr Dineen, I'm Dr Damire and it looks like you got some blocked arteries." The Dr told him as he looked up from his chart.
"Absolutely not. Get Dr Michaels or Dr O'Brien." Toby got between the man and Ralph.
"Toby?" Veronica questioned.
"Trust me Veronica, I wouldn't let this quack touch my dog. You do not want him working on your husband." Toby told her.
"You got an over inflated sense of self worth, doctor, Curtis." The Dr said sarcastically.
"Yeah, at least I didn't even come close to killing anyone during internship. Unlike you, quack-mire." Toby told him.
"I'm having you removed." Dr Damire said as he stormed out of the room.
"What needs to be done Toby?" Veronica asked as she heard the question from Ralph.
Toby turned and explained the procedure for inserting the stents into the heart.
"Charles." Veronica called out at Ralph's insistence.
"Yes Ma'am Mrs Dineen?" Agent Charles said as he stepped into the room.
"Ralph says Toby is his doctor if Dr Roberts isn't available. So, don't let security bother Toby. Ralph doesn't need any more excitement." Veronica told him as Ralph nodded.
"You got it Ma'am." Agent Charles said as he stepped out of the room. He gestured and Agent James and a new member of their protection stepped up and blocked the doorway as agent Charles moved to the nurses station.
"Guys, I appreciate the thought, but you really need a heart specialist. While I did great on my rotation, you should have a specialist. Just not quack-mire." Toby told them.
Ralph shook his head and Veronica leaned down.
Veronica looked up at Toby.
"Ralph said no, Dr Roberts or you. No one else." Veronica told him.
Toby licked his lips and nodded before he stepped to the door and spoke with agent James. Agent James nodded and walked him over to where agent Charles was.
Walter sat with Paige and Happy out in the waiting room. Paige had Emmett in her arms as they waited nervously.
"I wish I had my laptop, I could hack in and see how Dad is." Walter complained softly.
Paige smiled as she nodded and leaned into his chest a bit more.
"This is all my fault. If I hadn't brought that stupid paper with me. Dad wouldn't have gotten so upset." Happy felt awful.
"This isn't your fault, Happy. You don't have x-ray vision or precognition. You couldn't have known." Paige told her. "It just sucks it had to happen on Emmett's birthday. But thankfully Toby was there. That gave Dad a better chance. And then you got that cable to shock Dad. That was ingenious." Paige told her sincerely.
Walter nodded.
"Not to mention taking charge with that girl over the nitro and then you using the epipen. It was a group effort and you both played a big role in it." Walter told them. "If this had happened at home, without you three, Dad most likely wouldn't still be alive."
The door to the ER opened and Veronica moved out with the new member of their detail.
"Toby is going to have to put in at least one stent into your Dad's heart." Veronica told them as she hugged Happy, Paige and Walter. She then took Emmett from Paige and kissed him several times.
"Wait, Toby isn't a heart specialist." Happy complained.
"The only Dr available here is a Dr Damire and Toby said he is the last person we'd want working on your Dad." Veronica smiled as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Your Dad said he trusted Toby and if Dr Roberts couldn't do it, he wanted Toby. Let's go up to the waiting room."
The three kids nodded and they all got up and left with Veronica.
They had been sitting in the waiting room for about five minutes when Veronica lifted Happy's chin.
"Now, what is this about thirty thousand dollars?" Veronica asked gently.
Walter quickly took the lead and explained what happened Friday and then Happy told her about her conversation with Toby Saturday.
Veronica shook her head.
"Walter, gambling? Is that really wise?" Veronica looked at him.
"His system is working Mom. He won over seventy thousand dollars in two days. Before taxes anyway." Paige told her.
"Well your Dad is not going to be happy about that. You know how he feels about you gambling for your start up capital. So when he recovers you can expect an ear full. Not to mention keeping this from us. How could you go into a dangerous situation like that Walter? Don't you know how much we care about you? Those men could have hurt you." Veronica told him as gently but sternly as she could. "Wait, is that why Cabe was here? Did you trust him over us?"
Walter swallowed hard.
"Not over you Mom. I just knew as an agent with Homeland, he could ensure it happened safely. I didn't know it was Toby until after I paid off the debt." Walter explained. "I was going to explain to you both after but then it was confirmed that the man was Toby. So I wanted to let Happy know first. And when we found out you invited Toby to go with us, we didn't want to make a mess over Emmett's birthday so we were going to tell you tomorrow."
"I stupidly brought the paper Walter had that bookie sign. I'm sorry Mom. I shouldn't have." Happy told her.
"Well we had just got a message yesterday from your Dad's heart doctor saying they needed to have a conversation tomorrow about his last stress test. We should have told you guys too. Let's just pray this takes care of everything and that there isn't any heart damage." Veronica told them.
A nurse came out about a half hour after they got Ralph into the procedure room and updated them on the procedure. Toby was going to put in three stents for sure, maybe a fourth. Just before she turned to leave, a man entered the waiting room.
"Bernie." Veronica said with relief as the man in scrubs moved on into the waiting room towards them.
"Veronica." Dr Roberts said as he greeted her. "I got here as soon as I could. I've gotten updates on the progress and it sounds like he is in good hands. I'm heading back now but wanted to be sure you were okay."
Veronica nodded.
"I've got our kids, I'm fine." Veronica smiled. "And he might trust Toby but I'm just as happy knowing you are here now."
Dr Roberts nodded with a smile as he waved at the kids and moved back towards the procedure rooms.
Greetings! I hope this finds you well! That was exciting! Yes? hehe
Guest #1 - Thank you! So glad you are enjoying the story! Happy really does! She puts on a good front, but the scared little girl managed to show herself here. Yep, she needed to know and needed to confront him. Maybe bringing the paper wasn't a good idea though.
Railman - hehe Well, Toby it seems has managed to save Ralph's life, so maybe she will? No, Toby was very unhappy that he got blackballed. Good question...how will their relationship play out now? Will Toby be able to forgive and forget for once? Or will it come back to haunt him?
LouBe - Are you out from behind your pillow now? Life has a way of doing that! LOL Glad you found the time to get back to it! Just in time for a race on the roller coaster! Yep, Walter and Happy have their hands full for sure. And I'm not sure Paige joining any extra-curricular activities will be good or not...We can all use a good supportive Dad in our lives, even when our lives are going good...never know when the wheel will fall off! lol
Pearliegirl - hehe Consequences was a lot of fun. Giving Ralph a chance to shine his star off!
Guest #2 - We'll have to wait and see if it is a set up or not...heheh Happy definitely was shocked about the debt...though I think she wasn't quite as shocked as Ralph was in this chapter. lol Glad you enjoyed Cabe being there for Walter!
Marie Mac - Hopefully it will be worth the wait...I think it is. lol
To the Adventure! -Tim