*Ominous Music Playing*
Friday, September 23, 2005:
"Hey love." Walter said as he answered his phone.
"Hey lover." Paige grinned. "How's the roll out going?"
Walter smiled.
"Not too bad. I'm seeing the live sales of the car from all the dealerships. Richard's bean counters predicted an average of thirty cars from each dealership today. And right now we're hitting thirty five cars per dealership. I expect that to finish up around forty three." Walter told her. "How was your day?"
"That's great, I knew they'd do better than what they were planning. It wasn't too bad, I got to say Ralph is definitely making it a bit more of a challenge though." Paige sighed as she rubbed her almost six months pregnant stomach. "I hope you don't mind but I'm not coming over to be with you. My feet are bothering me, so I'm going to go home to relax in the jacuzzi and then get my legs up. Right after I finish my cannoli and tea."
Walter smiled.
"Of course I don't mind. I'll miss you and I'm sorry it is being so hard on you. You must be at Pellegrino's." Walter laughed.
"Of course I am." Paige laughed. Ralph is being demanding.
Walter laughed with her.
"I'll be able to go to school with you starting Monday." Walter told her.
Paige smiled.
"Well, I'll never say no to having you walk with me." Paige said. "So I'll welcome you being there with me no matter what."
"Since today is the last day of our contract with Richard, I could even bring a wheelchair and push you to your classes." Walter grinned. "Or I could carry you." Walter suggested.
Paige laughed.
"Mrs O'Brien! Look out!" Walter heard agent Todd yell. There was the sound of screaming tires, screams of people in the background and then there was a loud crashing sound before the line went dead.
"Paige?" Walter said. "PAIGE!" Walter screamed into his phone but then saw the connection had been lost. Walter tried to call her back but then got a service message saying the number was out of service. "No." Walter dropped his phone and pushed back from his desk as he stood up.
Walter nearly took the door off the office as he ran out into the hallway. His mind had quickly calculated the shortest distance to Pellegrino's as he ran down the hallway.
Walter didn't even go to the elevators, he went through the stairwell door before he ran down the stairs. He flew out the first floor door and collided with three people but managed to stay on his feet. He continued running without even looking at the people he knocked down. He saw the entrance had a number of people in line to move out through security. He changed his path and scooped up a table lamp in the waiting area and threw it at one of the large windows.
Everyone ducked and looked around as the lamp shattered against the window. The glass of the window seemed to be unfazed even as Walter leapt up into the air. His body twisting in the air just before his shoulder impacted against the glass. The lamp had just been enough to start a stress crack in the glass. When Walter's body struck it, the glass exploded into millions of pieces flying around him.
Walter fell to the ground and rolled before he was up and running down the pavement. Several security guards began running after him. The restaurant was just over a mile from Richard's offices, it didn't make sense to get his car as it would take him even longer, so Walter just kept running.
Walter veered off the pavement and cut across the grounds. Two of the guards were closing in until Walter hurdled the first row of bushes at four feet tall. One guard lost ground as the other guard was able to leap over the bushes. The next row of bushes were five feet and Walter cleared them with ease. The guard right behind him faltered as he leapt and got tangled up in the bushes.
Just as he got out of the bushes he watched as Walter leapt up again as he came up on the ten foot brick wall surrounding the complex. Walter's left hand grabbed the top of the wall and it was like he had wings as he pressed down against the top of the wall with that hand. He flew over the wall and was gone from sight.
An ambulance was pulling away from the restaurant as Walter came around the corner a block away. His eyes opened wider as he ran through the traffic choked street, he saw Paige's SUV had been struck and pushed up on the curb. He saw another car had plowed through the outside seating area and struck the building. His mind barely acknowledged it was one of the self-driving cars.
"Paige!" Walter screamed as he ran upon the scene. His eyes went wide seeing several bodies covered by tarps on the ground beside the SUV. Paige's phone laid on the ground, smashed to bits.
Two cops grabbed Walter as he ran up.
"My WIFE!" Walter screamed.
"Calm down." They told Walter. "What's your name?"
"Walter O'Brien." Walter told them as he struggled. "This is the Secret Service SUV for my wife."
"Mrs O'Brien isn't here Walter." Agent Akins told him as he stepped out from another ambulance on the scene. "She was just taken by ambulance to the hospital. Agent Makle is with her."
"Akins…" Walter said in some relief. He saw the bandage wraps in different places. "Are you okay?"
"How did you know about this?" One of the cops asked.
"I'll be okay." Agent Akins told him.
"I was talking to her when the crash happened." Walter said as he could feel his adrenaline wearing off. "Who is that?" Walter asked, pointing at the bodies covered by tarps.
"Agent Todd didn't make it." Agent Akins told him.
"No…" Walter fell to his knees. "How's Paige?" Walter begged.
"I'm not a doctor Walter. Agent Makle and I did our best and got her stabilized before help arrived." Agent Akins told him as he stepped up next to him. "But I think she'll be okay. Agent Makle was a bit shaken up, she was in the SUV when it was struck, but she's okay."
"Our…baby?" Walter gasped.
"As far as I could tell the baby is fine. Mrs O'Brien didn't have any serious wounds. Agent Todd had gotten her mostly out of the way of the car. Along with a couple of diners he was struck head on, he kept her shielded as he tried to get her out of the way. But he still took the brunt of the impact." Agent Akins told him.
"I've got to get to the hospital." Walter said as he took in a deep breath and stood up. "What hospital?"
"St Elizabeth's." Agent Akins told him.
Walter closed his eyes for a moment as he reviewed the city's layout and then as they opened he took off running down the street. He ignored the shouts calling for him to stop.
"I'm Ralph Dineen." Ralph said to the hospital representative. "Our daughter was in a car accident and brought here. Paige O'Brien."
"Mom, Dad." Walter said as he recognized Ralph's voice.
"Walter?" Veronica said and moved over quickly and hugged Walter. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know. They haven't given me any news on Paige yet." Walter told her. "Won't let me see her."
"Well that's kind of standard as they try to ascertain her condition and what they need to do." Veronica told him as tears escaped her eyes. She kissed the side of his head as she continued to hug him.
"How'd you get here? You weren't with her were you?" Veronica asked as she made him sit down.
"No, I ran to the accident site and then ran here." Walter told her as he looked at the floor. Veronica sat beside him. He went on to explain how he found out.
"Walter." Ralph said as he stepped up. "How are you son? Were you hurt?"
Walter shook his head.
"I was at Richard's, talking to Paige on the phone when it happened. I ran all the way." Walter told him, his eyes still focused on the floor.
"Sweetheart, what's on your collar? Is that blood on the side of your head?" Ralph asked Veronica as she looked up at him.
Veronica touched her collar and looked at her hand. Her eyes opened wide, seeing blood on her hand.
"Walter? Why are you bleeding?" Veronica asked as she began looking at the side of his head.
"Maybe from the window I jumped out of." Walter shrugged.
"We need to get you examined." Ralph said as he gestured at the triage nurse he had been talking to.
"Where's my sister?" Happy demanded as she came up to the triage desk with Toby.
"Sorry, Happy's a bit upset. I'm doctor Tobias Curtis, and Paige O'Brien was in a car accident and brought in here." Toby explained.
"Ms Dineen." Agent Johnson called out. "I can take you back."
Happy moved over quickly with Toby and followed Agent Johnson to the small room Walter was in.
"Walter?" Happy was shocked to see Walter lying on a gurney. "What's going on? Mom, Dad, where's Paige?"
"She's in surgery." Ralph told her as he pulled Happy into his arms.
"Walter had to get a few stitches from some cuts he got jumping through a window." Veronica smiled at her.
"The baby?" Toby asked as he moved over and began examining Walter's wounds.
"So far, everything looks good as the baby didn't suffer as a result of the accident. Paige is the one we have to worry about. Agent Todd used his body to shield Paige and kept her and the baby from too much harm." Veronica told her.
"How's agent Todd?" Happy asked as she hugged her Mom.
"He didn't make it sweetie." Ralph told her.
"Oh no." Happy cried.
Saturday:
Walter sat beside Paige's bed. Her right hand in his hands as he monitored every breath, every physical response of her body.
The doctors were upbeat about her condition, they had to drain blood from her skull. They felt that the damage was minimal and in a spot that shouldn't affect her long term. But for now she was kept sedated while her body healed.
Agent Makle and Akins were augmented by a few standby agents and they kept a presence at Paige's room around the clock.
Ralph was in meetings with officials looking into the accident all day so far.
Veronica sat with Walter while Happy stayed at home with Emmett.
"Walter?" Richard said as he got past security and into the room. "I'm so sorry."
"Thank you Richard." Veronica said. "Walter's been a bit…focused.
"I don't blame him. What are they saying about Paige's condition? How are you guys doing?" Richard asked as he stepped over and sat on a chair next to Veronica.
"Well they are going to keep her out for a few more days while she heals. The rest of us are doing as well as we can." Veronica smiled. "It's been very difficult on Walter as you might imagine."
Richard nodded.
"I know this is low radar information, but there's nothing to worry about concerning what happened when Walter took off from the office." Richard explained.
"That's good, thank you for that." Veronica smiled and nodded.
"When was the last time Walter ate?" Richard asked while looking closely at the young man.
"I'm not sure, probably breakfast yesterday? Unless he ate lunch at the office." Veronica answered.
"That's what I was afraid of." Richard sighed. "The people working under him said he didn't eat lunch yesterday. We might need agent Makle to force feed him." Richard smiled at the agent standing beside Paige's bed.
Agent Makle smiled back at him.
"So, do we think this was just an accident?" Ralph asked while looking at agent Charles in the meeting.
Most everyone but agent Charles nodded.
"Charles?" Ralph asked.
"Mr Dineen, I'm not so sure." Agent Charles said finally. "The fact that the car was one of the self-driving cars that Mr O'Brien had been working on all this time?" He held up his hand. "I'm not suggesting that Walter had anything to do with this. But, I don't believe we have the entire picture yet. The man in the car fled the scene and we still need to hear from the FBI, CIA and the NHSA as they investigate everything. I asked agent Johnson to shadow the investigation as long as the FBI and everyone allows it. My gut tells me that this is a competitor of Mr Elia and is bent on trying to discredit the car."
Ralph sighed as he slowly nodded.
"I thought the same thing when I read the first report last night." Ralph nodded. "Has anyone talked with Richard? Do we know who bought the car?"
"When they ran the vin, the car came back as stolen two nights ago. It had been secured by Edmond Grace. Along with his siblings they thought it was a way to allow their Mother a sense of freedom. They had to take her car away a few years ago. She was accepted into the test program six months ago. Richard's people thought it was a great match, a good marketing strategy, for the aging community who were being forced to give up their licenses." Agent Charles explained. "Richard has been questioned about this early this morning."
"No one thought to communicate with Richard's office about it being stolen?" Ralph asked.
"No sir. It was reported yesterday morning to Cumberland Police. They didn't realize there was anything special about the car and Mrs Grace, she did what she thought needed to be done the next morning. Her children didn't even know it was stolen until after they were contacted last night." Agent Charles explained.
"So someone steals the car, drives it over fourteen hours to Boston and somehow finds the wife of the primary system analyst of the car and tries to kill her?" Ralph asked.
"Well we're very sure at this point…that the driver had partners. At least two people had to be used to get the car here. Along with someone who had to be watching Mrs O'Brien and could relay information of her whereabouts. This is either a conspiracy against Elia's company or a conspiracy against the family of a powerful man in US-Ireland relations." Agent Charles told him.
"I especially don't like that last thought Charles." Ralph told him.
"Nether do I sir. I've also got people who are checking with the Embassy in Ireland to find out if something was missed over there." Agent Charles assured him.
"Are there people going over security footage from the area? If there was someone watching, perhaps they were close by." Ralph asked.
"FBI and CIA analysts are pouring over every security camera in the area as well as going through the phones of witnesses." Agent Charles explained.
Ralph nodded just before agent Charles placed a finger to his ear.
"Sir, they are saying they found video of the man who ran away. They are running facial recognition at this time. They also say that there are no prints inside the car except for Mrs Grace and a couple of her children." Agent Charles told him.
"Could one of her kids be responsible for this?" Ralph asked.
"We're not ruling anything out at this point sir." Agent Charles told him.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! Isn't this a pickle? Had a big Seratonin boost this week when I saw MysticalGoddessOfWords post a new chapter to one of her stories in another fandom! Giving me hope that "Because You Want Too" will be updated eventually! WooHoo! lol
Railman - She is indeed happy with the Bathroom! lol I doubt if she'll care if she does. lol So far, it doesn't appear so, but who knows how things will happen, Happy may reach out to Patrick eventually. Maybe with early intervention things for Ray won't be as bad for him in this AU.
Pearliegirl - Glad you enjoyed it! Looks like things hit a snag...Still looking forward to more? hehe
LouBe - I agree, Walter probably won't listen though and Toby definitely wasn't the right person...But better than a judge I suppose. lol Glad you liked his description for it. Definitely, very happy with it, sadly her plan to use it in this story got...interrupted. Happy's definitely a bag of cats on the subject of Patrick. He might regret having taken this step, but it might be a good thing at some point too. So glad you liked me trying to keep Ray as the Ray we know...I thought it was very nice of Ralph to arrange the award for him. If it helps walks him back from the edge the more the better! You and Walter both! lol It works either way, it will always be "Callan" even if it was in Moscow at this point. lol
To the Adventure! -Tim