Happy sat in the tire swing in their backyard absently pushing back and forth and side to side as Toby finished telling her about his day.
"Was it really that bad for that poor kid?" Happy asked as she saw him run his hand down his face just from remembering what was said.
"Unfortunately." Toby nodded as he sighed. "He's going to be a mess for a long time. But if I can keep the system on top of it, I think he has a chance. Maybe compared to some kids, he hasn't had it as bad. But as an eleven year old…man I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Really made me want to drink to be honest."
Happy smiled.
"Is that why you came by?" Happy looked at him and watched him nod.
"Well not completely, but yeah. Also to give your Dad something to watch." Toby joked as he waved at the house.
Happy frowned and spun in the tire to look back at the house and saw her Dad standing at the kitchen window looking out at them.
"Really Daddy?" Happy threw her hands up.
"Every minute, of every day." Ralph smiled as he pointed to his own eyes and then out towards them.
"Oh you can't really blame him though Happy." Toby chuckled.
"Wanna bet?" Happy asked.
"Always!" Toby said excitedly even as Happy sighed and shook her head.
"I walked into that one didn't I?" Happy sighed again.
"How did you like your first day?" Toby asked as he squatted down with his back against the tree. Toby always made sure to keep five feet between him and Happy to help ease her Father's concerns.
"It was good, honestly. It took almost half the lecture to get bored at least. I was hoping to get away from the teacher repeating things. But it seems even in college the professors still have to spoon feed a little to the students who aren't up to speed with others." Happy explained.
"Yeah, that can happen a lot. I was able to watch my one professor make an incision on a cadaver one time and then repeat it perfectly. The others took a wide variety of times to get it right. Some had to really work hard so they didn't throw up before and after. It'll get better as they learn exactly what you are capable of. They'll probably start letting you just do your own thing during class time." Toby nodded.
"Eww, what is it like working with a dead body like that?" Happy shuddered.
"It is kind of fascinating. It is easier if you can visualize yourself doing something else. But as squeamish as you seem to be, I wouldn't recommend trying it. Thank you for making me go to the hospital's therapist, she's really helped me with my drinking." Toby smiled. "So when do I get to meet the sister and her boyfriend?"
Happy laughed.
"Good luck with that. Walter ran a predictive algorithm back in 2001. It said that they'd probably have a baby come December 2005. But I don't think he took into account just how much they'd be having sex." Happy laughed.
Toby laughed along with her.
"So how are you and A-me doing?" Happy asked while making fun of Toby's girlfriend's name.
Toby smiled.
"I think we're getting close to that point where she takes a walk to be honest. She really hates when I get called away unexpectedly." Toby told her as he picked up a small rock and tossed it.
Happy rolled her eyes.
"What does she expect? At least you aren't a slave in the hospital now. Are you sure she's smart enough to be a micro geneticist?" Happy asked.
"Well, it isn't just that. She just uses it as an excuse mostly. I think my gambling has actually increased to take the place of my drinking." Toby told her.
Happy looked up at him.
"Really? I thought you had that under control?" Happy frowned.
"Eh, I think I've been fooling myself over it Happy." Toby said as he tossed another small pebble. "If I hadn't already told you I'd stop by this evening I would have gone gambling after my session with Sylvester."
"What can we do to help you?" Happy asked.
Toby smiled.
"Not that I am not appreciative of your interest in me, why are you so vested in me?" Toby asked.
Happy looked down as her hair covered her face. She shrugged her shoulders.
"You've got a lot of potential and I don't want you to waste it. One of these days one of those bookies is going to get pissed enough to hurt you." Happy told him.
Toby had been watching her the whole time and he smiled at certain flexes in her voice, and tiny muscle movements he saw on her arms.
"I care about you too Happy." Toby told her.
"Why don't you call when you feel this need? Maybe we can just talk and keep you grounded." Happy told him.
"You would really do that?" Toby asked.
Happy just nodded her head.
"You know, you are the first person I've been able to ever have any conversation that didn't leave them feeling like I was an arrogant jerk or me thinking they were a mental midget." Toby smiled.
"What makes you think I don't think you are an arrogant jerk?" Happy asked as she looked up at him finally through her hair.
"Touché." Toby laughed at her tease.
September 5th, 2003:
Walter was walking back to the bus stop after leaving the casino cruise ship. It had been his first trip back since his first time and he was feeling on top of the world. He won just shy of thirty four thousand after tipping the dealer. Their Scorpion account now had sixty thousand in it. The twenty four percent they withheld for taxes from both days had hurt but there wasn't much he could do about that.
He passed by an alley when he heard a soft thud and a loud grunt that turned into a long groan. Walter paused and looked back into the alley. He saw someone about his age on his knees as the man threw up. Walter saw just on the other side of the man two other men. One was rather large and bulky, the other was smaller but it was clear to Walter the smaller man was calling the shots.
"I don't like people who don't pay their debts Doc. Do you know what that means?" The smaller man said as he pulled a revolver out of his jacket.
"Wait, wait." Walter said as he ran into the alley with his hands up. "Don't shoot him. What's he owe you? If you give me a little time I'll make it right.
"What's it to you goody two shoes?" The man whipped his arm around pointing the gun at Walter.
"I just don't believe in ending lives. I can get you the money." Walter promised even as he kind of had his head turned towards the man kneeling in the alley.
"Why should I trust an Irish immigrant?" The man asked after picking up on his accent.
"You trusted him, why not?" Walter asked.
"Okay, but I want to see your ID." The man said as he put his gun away.
Walter smiled inside. As part of his plan in case something went wrong on the ship he had made an authentic looking fake ID. Walter opened his billfold up and pulled it out.
"Thomas O'Sullivan." The man read and looked up at Walter.
Walter just nodded.
"And you are living in the dorms at Tuft university. So how are you going to come up with thirty grand?" The man asked.
"That's my problem isn't it?" Walter asked.
"It's your problem if you don't answer." The man grinned as he tapped his jacket where he put the revolver.
"I've been testing my system on a black jack table. So far it's working well." Walter told him.
"If it is working so well, why don't you have the money now?" The man asked.
"Because I've been trying to keep it under their radar." Walter told him.
"Atlantic Casino Cruises, out of Gloucester?" The man asked.
Walter nodded. He'd discounted them as a source of his gambling but for this it would work fine.
"I swear, gambling addicts are a dime a dozen in this town. This one might be a good bit dumber." The man told the larger man.
The larger man just nodded.
"Alright, I'll accept you as his cosigner on his debt. Every three days it doubles and if by noon on September 11th, you or he haven't been in my office to pay off the debt, just like those towers, you'll both go down." The man told him as they turned to walk away.
"Uh, may I have my ID?" Walter asked.
The man stopped and looked back at Walter before he flicked the ID out and it landed in a pool of the man's vomit.
"Thanks." Walter said drily as the two men walked off laughing.
"Why'd you do that? You don't know me, don't owe me." The man asked Walter as Walter reached a hand down to help him up.
"I don't believe in ending a life." Walter told him while leaving the fake ID in the vomit.
The man looked up and he looked almost as bad as Walter had that day back in 1998 after his fight with Thomas and Connor. The man reached out and took his hand and Walter helped him to stand.
"Do I need to take you to an ER?" Walter asked.
"No need, I'm a doctor." The man told him as he coughed a few times.
"Do I need to get you a cab home?" Walter asked.
"Sure, if you want." He told Walter. "Thanks Thomas, I appreciate the intervention, but I hope you know what you got yourself into." The man told him.
"How'd you get in so deep with that guy?" Walter asked as he let the man put his arm across his shoulders.
"Well, that's what happens when you are an addict. Horses and dogs have always been a problem for me. But after I gave up drinking, it kind of stepped up a few notches." The man told him as they walked to the other end of the alley.
Walter hailed a cab as they came out of the alley.
"What's your name doctor?" Walter asked.
"Toby." Toby told him as the cab pulled up.
"Da-y-am-an Doc!" The cabbie said as he climbed in. "They beat you up good this time."
"Thanks Gerald, appreciate that." Toby tried to roll his eyes.
Walter handed the driver a twenty before he closed the door and after Toby got situated in the car.
"Hold on a second Gerald. Serious Thomas, why'd you do this?" Toby asked.
"I told you." Walter told him as he stood on the sidewalk looking at him. "Where's that guy's office?"
"Willie's bar." Toby told him. Toby watched Walter nod and turn to leave. "Hey, you really think you can win that much money?"
Walter nodded.
"Already did, I wasn't going to let him know that." Walter told him with a lopsided grin and walked off.
"You don't see that anymore." Toby told Gerald.
"You want me to take you to the hospital Doc?" Gerald asked.
"Yeah, you better. I think they bruised my spleen." Toby told him as he groaned.
Paige jumped into Walter's arms as she saw his voucher.
"Almost thirty four thousand? Walter, I am so amazed by you." Paige told him as she kissed him deeply.
Walter smiled but blushed.
"There is something I have to tell you though." Walter told her.
Paige frowned.
"What's wrong? Did someone try to rob you? You didn't get hurt did you?" Paige asked as they stood there looking at each other.
Walter shook his head.
"Umm, well no I wasn't hurt, but as I was coming back. Some guys were about to kill this other guy." Walter started.
"And so you stopped them and gave them the money to save him?" Paige asked.
"Well basically." Walter smiled sheepishly. "But I still have to give them the money. I didn't trust them not to kill me on the spot."
Paige nodded.
"Walter, I love you. Your heart is amazing. And if this is what you need to do, okay. But I want you to be careful when you go to pay them." Paige told him as they began walking towards the parking lot.
"Well since Cabe is only a couple of hours away I thought about asking him to go with me." Walter told her.
"That's a great idea and with him being law enforcement that might help keep you safe. How much do you have to pay them?" Paige asked.
"Thirty grand but I need to do it tomorrow." They'll double it in three days." Walter told her.
"Thirty grand? Is the guy going to pay us back?" Paige asked.
Walter shrugged.
"Franklin Roosevelt said you don't argue over the price of a water hose when your neighbor's house is on fire." Walter told her.
"Well I agree, but we're not talking fifteen dollars Walter, we're talking thirty thousand." Paige pointed out.
Walter nodded.
"But we're talking about a person's life, not an object." Walter told her.
"Are you sure they were going to kill him?" Paige asked.
"Remember how I looked after the fight with Thomas and Connor?" Walter asked.
Paige nodded.
"He was a close second in looking bad." Walter laughed.
Paige sighed and then smiled.
"I can't be mad at you Walter, it is who you are and I love you." Paige told him as she kissed him.
"I love you Paige." Walter told her as they climbed into the SUV of her detail.
"What was the guy's name?" Paige asked.
"Some doctor, his first name is Toby." Walter told her as the SUV began moving.
Paige laughed.
"What's so funny?" Walter asked.
"I just thought about Happy's friend, he's a doctor, his first name is Tobias and she calls him Toby. Wouldn't it be funny if it was him?" Paige asked.
Walter frowned as he thought and he shook his head.
"No, that would actually be scary. If he is getting that deep into debt gambling." Walter told her.
Paige's eyes opened and she slowly nodded.
"You're right Walter, I didn't think about that." Paige told him. "Oh man, what are we going to do? Happy needs to know this if it is him. But she's going to be so pissed." Paige told him.
"Isn't he supposed to go to dinner with us tonight?" Walter asked.
Paige nodded.
"And if he cancels, we'll know it is him then. There is no way he'll come if he is that messed up." Paige said as Walter nodded.
"When do we say something?" Walter asked.
"Ugh, I don't know. Happy is going to be so mad. I guess after you pay the person off if we can find out for sure if it is her Toby? I mean surely there are other doctors with that first name. Right?" Paige looked at Walter.
Walter slowly nodded.
Walter and Paige walked on into the main house when they arrived and saw Veronica practicing on the piano they'd gotten for the house while leaving her 'baby' in Callan.
"Hey Mom." Paige said sweetly.
"There's my kids." Veronica smiled as she continued to play.
"Where's Happy and Emmett?" Paige asked.
"Emmett's still asleep and Happy's in her room I believe. Your Dad called and said he'd be late." Veronica told her.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well!
Railman - Well at least in the real world Walter's options are limited. I don't think it is even legal today to gamble in Massachusetts, I think they have lottery type though. In 2003 there were only 2 gambling cruise lines available. And while I could have just made it so since it is fiction, I decided to retain some authenticity. lol The cruise line mentioned in this chapter apparently was a bit shady or just not ran very well, it didn't last very long and the one Walter is using lasted a few years but still failed. Yep, you can count on hearing a good bit more on Sylvester in this run of the story!
LouBe - hehe Well, I am sure in chapter 55 you will understand how I forgot him. I mean, he was at least taken INTO the party...he just kind of gotten misplaced during it. LOL (Yes, you will want your pillow for chapter 55!) Now forgetting where you put your baby when you haven't yet given birth is pretty funny! lol Thank God you can't actually do that at that stage! lol "Honey? Why's the umbilical cord stretched around the house?" lol I think killing Billy off was exactly what the muse was setting up so there could be a Melvester...It most likely will just be a element from the show that won't happen. Maybe Sly will just be have a crush on her? Yup, a good bit to come up for Sly. And as discussed in private, lots of people here (at least) make big productions of proposing. All I can say is, with as elaborate as some of them do it, you better be on the same page! lol Yep, I love Veronica in this story so much! In my head, in Ireland Paige sounds blended Irish/American accented, though a bit heavier on the Irish side. But here in the US, people don't pick up any American accent at all. (We're kind of stupid that way.) lol Ralph is the whole reason I'm excited about 2005! lol I'll probably skip over 2004 entirely, unless something really important comes out for it. Aww...In regards to Paige and extracurricular activities...*mwhahahahaha* I agree with you and Railman, but have to wait and see if the muse will speak.
Pearliegirl - hehe Thanks! Hope you continue to think it is great! We'll see Walter gambling a few times in 2003. They've got a lot going on in these 24 chapters! Well I don't want to go into too much detail about Sly but obviously Walter meeting him first doesn't happen in this story. Thanks to Happy and Toby "meeting" so much earlier and that she despises alcohol at this point, Toby's flying a little straighter which brought him into Sylvester's circle so much earlier and hopefully for the better! Let the Adventure begin!
Guest197 - Oh man...the stories I could tell about things I goof while half asleep. lol So glad you guys have enjoyed them getting engaged so early! So much is to come! Aww...I'm really happy you guys enjoy "Callan" and the Knight stories so much! They grant so much more creative expression than is possible in a true modern day story.
To the Adventure! -Tim