Walter looked down at the floor as his sister stepped over and sat on the corner of his bed.
"Talk to me Walter. What is this for?" Megan pressed.
"I did some research Thursday night on the internet. Everything I read told me there was a 74.6% chance it was MS." Walter told her. "So I got the book so I could study up on it more to see if I couldn't rule it out and if not, what might help against it."
"What could you have seen that would make you think you have MS?" Megan asked.
"Not me, someone I love very much." Walter told her, trying not to reveal the truth.
Megan looked puzzled.
"Paige is showing signs of MS?" Megan asked, shocked.
Walter shook his head.
"You." Walter finally admitted.
"Me?" Megan asked, unable to accept what he said.
Walter nodded.
"I could still be wrong, that is why I didn't want to say anything until after I could study more. But Mr. Dineen wants me to tell everyone tomorrow at dinner." Walter sighed. "I just wanted some time to research it more."
"Where'd you get the money for the book? This is a medical textbook, they aren't cheap." Megan asked as she sat the bag on the bed.
"I lied to Dad. And I lied by omission to Paige so I could use the money Dad gave me to take Paige out on a date." Walter told her as he sat down. "Do you hate me?"
"You're my brother, of course I don't hate you. You sacrificed a date to buy a book in hopes of helping me. Thank you." Megan told him.
They sat there for several long minutes. The weight of what could be happening to Megan pulling down on them like giant lead weights on their hips as they tried to swim.
"How long?" Megan asked quietly as a tear slipped her eyelid and ran slowly down her cheek.
"It is hard to say for sure. Which type it is, if it mutates into the worst kind. Developments of new therapies and diets, possible cures. Secondary complications, systemic damage and recovery from the damage." Walter said quietly. "Worst case scenario, around fifteen years. Best case there is an outside chance of forty years." Walter told her as he slipped his hand around hers.
Megan's eyes closed tightly as she saw her dreams slipping away.
"But you know how I screw up in my calculations. So I could be equally just as wrong here and that is why I didn't want to say anything." Walter told her.
"Walter, I don't care how much you have messed up. There isn't anyone in this world that I trust more than you. L-Let's try and get some sleep. I'd ask you not to say anything to Mom and Dad, but I know you said that Mr. Dineen wants you to tell them tomorrow. I love you Walter." Megan said as she squeezed his hand. She kissed his cheek and left the bag on his bed as she got up and opened his door.
"I love you Megan, I won't stop looking until I can find a solution." Walter swore.
Walter looked at his alarm as it was ringing. He sighed as he closed his book and reached over and turned the annoying beeping off. He looked out his window and saw the light of the rising sun staining the sky with it's yellows, oranges and reds. The blue shades of night struggling to hold onto the land a bit longer. But the sun wasn't being denied as it cut through the darkness bringing a bit of warmth to the cold earth and slightly colder air above it.
Walter went to the bathroom and while taking his shower he did something he'd never done before. He cursed his mind. All of the pain he'd gone through in his life, because of his gift, he never once thought of his mental acuity as the problem. But without it he would be blissfully unaware of what was in store for his sister and more importantly, it wouldn't have been him that had to tell her what brought a tear to her eye.
Walter began beating his head into the wall of the shower. He hated how he felt, how his gift let him see such a horrible thing.
The door of the bathroom flew open as Louise heard the pounding and she gasped seeing Walter repeatedly banging his head off the shower wall and the blood that was starting to run down the stall.
"Sean!" Louise cried out as she ran on into the room and struggled to stop Walter from hurting himself more.
Sean appeared a moment later at the door and his eyes went wide seeing the bloody scene before him. He ran in and squeezed past his wife and wrapped his strong arms around Walter and pulled him out of the shower even as he continued to thrash. Walter wasn't listening to their words as he continued to struggle. He was barely aware of what was happening.
Sean manhandled him back into his bedroom and threw him on his bed before he struggled to wrap him up in his bed covers. Louise ran in behind them and pressed a towel tightly against his head trying to stem the bleeding. Megan ran to the doorway hearing all the commotion and gasped at the scene before her.
"Girl, go get several of my belts." Sean yelled after hearing her behind him.
It took several minutes of work but Sean and Megan had finally got the belts around Walter enough to hold him. Megan sat down next to him as their Mother was still holding the towel to his head.
"Deartháir, stop this. What is wrong? Why have you done this to yourself?" Megan cried softly.
"I hate my brain." Walter cried out.
"Stop that, I love your brain. And more importantly, would you have been the person Paige fell in love with, without it? You have to accept the bad with the good. I know it hurts, I know you struggle with so much, but it will be worth it in the end. I believe this." Megan told him.
Walter stopped struggling as soon as she said Paige's name and then his mind ran over every word she said. He slowly nodded.
"I'm sorry." Walter finally said. "I made a mess of things again."
"What was this nonsense about boy?" Sean asked as he sat at Walter's desk feeling exhausted.
Walter saw his sister barely shake her head.
"Why are you shaking your head dear?" Louise asked Megan before she lifted the towel up to see how Walter's forehead looked.
"I don't want Walter telling you what it is about." Megan said.
Louise looked at her for a moment.
"Go get some bandaids and disinfectant." Louise told Megan.
"Well, I'm waiting, boy." Sean said as Megan walked out of the room.
Walter sighed as he first told them about what he had noticed about Megan and his initial suspicion. He went on to tell them about all the research he did while in Dublin.
"I'm sorry." Walter told his sister sadly as she helped her Mother treat his head.
Megan shrugged.
"At least it is out in the open now." Megan gave him a weak smile.
"A-Are you sure lad?" Sean asked as his eyes grew red with tears.
"More than reasonably sure Father, I'm sorry. I wanted to do more research before telling any of you about what I suspected." Walter told them.
"Will you stop hurting yourself now?" Louise asked as she put the second bandaid on his forehead.
Walter nodded.
Megan and Louise unbuckled the four belts that were restraining him.
"So, how do we figure out if Megan has this disease?" Sean asked.
"The Dr will have to run a battery of tests to rule out other things first. She'll need blood tests and an MRI as well as neurological work ups." Walter told them.
"So, it could be something else then, something not as bad?" Sean asked.
Walter nodded.
"I could be wrong, I've been wrong before, it is why I wanted to wait to say anything." Walter told them.
"Okay, we'll take her in to see Doc Johnson while you go on to school then." Louise told him as she kissed his cheek. She pulled Megan into her arms and hugged her tightly.
Walter wanted to argue to go with them but he knew they wouldn't give in and it would just waste time and energy. He slipped out of bed after they left his room and got dressed.
"Walter!" Paige said, shocked seeing his bandaged forehead. "What happened to you?"
"I was mad at myself. Megan found my book last night and she demanded to know why I had gotten it." Walter explained as they walked to school. "I hated my brain for causing this pain."
"I love your brain Walter, it is what makes you you. Never do something like this again, promise me." Paige demanded of him as she pulled him to a stop along the road.
Walter slowly nodded.
"No, I want the words." Paige told him.
"I promise never to do something like this again." Walter finally told her.
Paige sighed as she tucked in under his arm and they walked on to school.
"Sean, Louise, Paige told us that Walter already told you about what he suspects about Megan. How are you doing?" Veronica asked as she greeted them after they arrived for dinner.
"Well, for the most part we're hoping for Walter to be wrong while we wait for the test results. It is kind of strange we have to rule out other diseases and conditions to find out if this really is MS. Doc Johnson wasn't too impressed with Walter's diagnosis. He thinks it is more likely a vitamin deficiency. But he is at least taking our concern seriously." Louise told her.
Veronica nodded.
"We were praying last night and this morning that Walter is wrong. If you guys need anything, you let us know. Ralph can see to it the best possible Doctors see Megan and we'll help you navigate the costs of treatments and therapies. I've done some preliminary research and found several MS groups who help secure funding for help and treatment if need be." Veronica told them even as she led them to the dining room.
They were joined a few minutes later by Ralph.
"Sean, Louise, I didn't want to give this to you last night with everyone around. With Walter being underaged the check had to be made out to you as well. It is the prize for winning the tourney." Ralph explained as he handed them a check for one hundred thousand Euros.
"Saints preserve us." Sean swallowed. "All this for winning that silly contest?"
Ralph nodded.
"If you'd like, I can have a tax consultant speak with you about how to handle this to preserve as much of it as you can for when Walter reaches eighteen." Ralph told them.
Sean and Louise looked at each other in shock but just nodded. A few minutes after that Paige and Walter came downstairs.
The dinner was sober but still some jokes were told and Ralph told them all about going after Volkov. Ralph had gotten video footage of some of Walter's chess games and after dinner they retired to the den where he played the video so his parents could witness some of the action.
"Excuse me Mr. Dineen, Mrs. Dineen, Garda Síochána Harris from Dublin." Their caretaker announced, as a woman of about thirty five entered the den behind her.
"Síochána Harris, what is it that brings you all the way out here from Dublin?" Ralph asked.
"Perhaps it would be best if I talked with you and your family about this in private." Síochána Harris said while shaking his hand. "Is this from this weekend's chess match up?" She asked while seeing the video on the screen.
"Yep, this is Walter O'Brien and his parents, Sean and Louise and his sister Megan." Ralph nodded.
"Well this makes things a bit easier then. I'd just left their home as I wanted to talk to them as well." Síochána Harris told him.
Ralph frowned as he gestured to a free chair.
"What is this about?" Ralph asked.
"Were all of you at the tourney?" Síochána Harris asked.
"No, Sean, Louise and Megan were at home. I'll ask again, what is this about?" Ralph said, getting suspicious.
"We understand there was a conflict with Volkov at the tourney." Síochána Harris told him.
"A conflict? No, a vulgar cheapshot at my daughter's character to try and get Walter to throw the match, yes." Ralph told her.
"And yet you had to be physically restrained." Síochána Harris mentioned.
"I did, and I never got close to the man regardless of what he might say now." Ralph told her.
"He's not saying much at the moment, he was found in a dumpster a half block from the hall where the tourney was held at around four p.m. He'd been severely beaten. He's still in a medically induced coma waiting for swelling to go down." Síochána Harris told him.
Ralph held up both hands.
"Not a scratch, not a bruise. And the four of us were under direct observation of our security detail the entire time Sunday." Ralph told her.
"And what happened to Mr. O'Brien's forehead?" Síochána Harris asked.
"He was distraught because he told his sister he believes she has MS so he was beating his head in the shower this morning, as a type of punishment. But you can clearly see, he has no other wounds to suggest he'd been in a fight. And there is no way you could tell me that a thirteen year old could beat a grown man to a pulp and not show signs of a struggle." Ralph told her.
"Maybe one of your security people did you a favor then?" Síochána Harris said sarcastically.
"If they did, you should let me know which one so I can give them a bonus." Ralph told her just as sarcastically.
"You don't seem concerned for this man." Síochána Harris said.
"Why should I? Besides throwing a vulgar insult towards my daughter's character. He violated one of the first rules of the match. No taunting, talking or trying to distract the other player after the match starts. A grown man afraid to play fairly against this young man. He's an embarrassment to the sport, to Russia, to the human race as a whole. We're better off without him." Ralph told her.
"And you Mr. O'Brien, can anyone vouch for where you were yesterday afternoon?" Síochána Harris said to Sean.
"Well at the time they found him I was with my wife, daughter and my wife's brother Tobin. Over twenty members of my children's school were standing at our house to welcome my son home since we thought they'd be there at four." Sean told her.
"So with about an hour and a half travel time it is possible that you could have been in Dublin and back here by the time he was found." Síochána Harris suggested.
"Perhaps, if I drove and I had a reason to be in Dublin. But a farm doesn't run itself. So I couldn't just up and leave no matter how much I wanted to be there to see my son compete." Sean told her.
Síochána Harris nodded.
"Well I think that is all for now. We're still looking into video tapes of security feeds trying to piece together who might have done this. Oh one last thing, what time was it that you last saw Mr. Volkov?" Síochána Harris asked.
"Oh, well let's see, well it was right before the presentation was supposed to be done, that was two p.m." Ralph told her.
Síochána Harris nodded before she pulled out her cell phone as she held up a finger.
"Hello?" She said as she answered it. "Yes, of course, I understand completely. Yes, that helps a lot. Thank you." Síochána Harris hung up as she looked at Ralph.
"Mr. and Mrs. Dineen, Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien, I do apologize for disturbing your evening. There is some paperwork I have to fill out when I get back but the good news is, one of the other Gardia Síochána finally located several cameras that recorded in part what happened to Volkov and the footage shows that none of you were involved. Thank you for meeting with me." Síochána Harris told them before Ralph walked her to the door.
Greetings! Well I hope everyone has enjoyed this re-origination story so far! This is where this leg stops for now. Hopefully I'll be able to finish up Layla so I can start posting it on the 5th. Currently on chapter 8 of Layla but the story isn't speaking much so...we'll see. I just finished chapter 29 of Callan yesterday. So the next 2 legs of this story is already finished. Next leg covers from the end of January to Paige's birthday in 1999. The 3rd leg will jump us for 2 years after that. I think there are at least 10 more chapters to write to finish off 2001. Then we'll see where this story goes after that.
Railman - hehe Yep, the dinner is here. Ralph can be a pretty passionate man at times. Lots more to come!
Lucy - And Volkov got far more than he bargained for! lol Yep, Walter was...and then he punished himself. *sigh* I was surprised Thomas and Conner did that...Wonder if they will keep towing the line?
Marti - Good seeing you back! Was a little worried. So glad you are enjoying it! It truly has been so much fun to write! Part of me just wants to keep writing it and forgetting anything else. lol
Margaret - This little story has taken me in so much, so I am always happy to hear that you guys are loving it!
Chpspcs - Thank you brother! Yep, if you can keep your head on straight in the moment, you have a much better chance at succeeding!
RiseofDespair - Oh you should have been here before my wife passed, I was writing and posting every day. Funny how back then my time was more limited but I was able to write and post so much more...At least until Covid came and for whatever reason I backed off and of course after she passed I was gone for almost 2 months and slowly came back. While I am for the most part writing a chapter a day, I've been keeping it to posting every other day just so I have a nice arsenal of stories to share should my muse grow silent for a while. And at one point summer 2020 I was writing 4 stories at one time, and rotating posting 1 chapter per story each day. That was insanity. I wouldn't recommend it. lol
Susan - Thank you! hehe Yep, Tiger Beat magazine wants Walter! Shame he isn't interested in it. So glad you and everyone replying is enjoying this little tale!
To the Adventure! -Tim