Author's Note:

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I really appreciate your comments and encouragements. I, originally, planned for this story to be only one chapter. However one of the guest reviewers mentioned that Megan's response was somewhat confusing because it seemed more maternal than sisterly; so, I decided to write a second chapter to try to clarify why I wrote it that way. My headcanon for this show is surprisingly extensive; so, DB, I hope this explains it a little.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own any of the characters mentioned in the story. I wish I did, but, sadly, that is not the case.

Megan sat quietly in the waiting room chair. Her eyes were closed tightly, deep in thought. She'd been sitting there for what seemed like hours; it could have been mere minutes for all she knew…or cared.

Still no word, she thought.

Her tears had long slowed and finally come to a stop. The anger and the despair were gone. Only numbness remained.

Despite the numbness, her thoughts continued to race through her head. They wouldn't stop. She chuckled mirthlessly. Maybe this is how Walter feels, she thought, always thinking with no cessation of thought even when he's too tired to think anymore.

No wonder he never sleeps, she mused tiredly.

Paige had taken Ralph home shortly after he and Sly returned from the cafeteria. The sandwich they had brought for her remained untouched on the table beside her. She couldn't bring herself to eat it.

Sylvester sat beside her, staring into space as before. His thoughts were, surprisingly, well hidden, but she had too many of her own buzzing around in her head to worry too much about what was going on in his. She knew she would feel really bad about that later, but right now, she was too tired and too numb to care very much.

Toby and Happy sat across from them. Happy's expression was, again, unreadable, and Toby's had gone from tired to exhausted. She could tell that they were watching her closely, though. Anytime she shifted in her chair, they perked up, no doubt looking to see if she needed anything. They were both drained, but they were still watching over her for Walter's sake. She didn't think she could be more thankful for their friendship toward Walter than she was at this moment.

While one of her problems had taken Ralph home to sleep, the other one sat stubbornly at the other end of the room. She had hoped that her occasional icy glares would give him the hint that he was unwelcome in her presence, but Cabe either missed the hint or, more likely, didn't care that she wanted him gone. He continued, as he had since she entered the waiting room, alternating between pacing the floor and sitting silently with his head in his hands, staring at his shoes.

She knew, in the back of her mind, that she was probably being far too hard on Paige and Cabe. Well, maybe not Cabe, she thought as the anger, again, rose in her breast while she turned the situation over in her mind.

However, with Walter's life still hanging in the balance, she couldn't bring herself to forgive them. It's true that Walter's decision to drive was stupid, idiotic even, but if they hadn't said what they said, he would never have picked up the keys that night. So, whether she was justified in her anger or not, she was still angry…very angry.

In a way, Cabe's betrayal didn't surprise her. He'd done it before, but Paige…well, Paige was another thing entirely. She sympathized with Paige until she heard what Paige said to Walter. It was unnecessary, almost cruel. With the case bringing back so much guilt and Cabe's betrayal to top it, Walter was already vulnerable, and, then, Paige stabbed him in the heart and abandoned him as if he meant nothing. Megan hadn't seen that coming and, apparently, neither had Walter.

Megan didn't know if she could forgive Paige for that. If he dies, I will never forgive her. I can promise that, she thought darkly.

She wanted, desperately, to sleep, but she couldn't stop turning the situation over in her mind, looking at it from every angle. The fact that there was still no word on Walter's condition only made the turmoil in her mind that much worse.

A thought suddenly struck her. What if he's already dead?

No, I can't think that way. Walter needs me to be strong, she thought as her eyes started to fill with tears that she desperately tried to keep from falling and alerting her companions to the dark turn her thoughts had taken, I just need to breath. That's all.

Toby looked at her closely, and she tried to smile to ease his anxiety. He didn't look convinced, but he remained silent for which she was thankful.

She allowed her thoughts to drift back to much older memories. She remembered the first time she held Walter. She had wanted a baby sister, and she had been so mad that she had gotten a baby brother instead. He was three months old and so tiny. He looked like a little doll. As he looked up at her, blinking curiously, she thought that, maybe, having a little brother wouldn't be so bad after all.

She remembered her father telling her that Walter would need her to protect him because he wasn't going to be like the other children. She didn't understand, at the time, what that meant. Her father told her, later, that the doctors told them that because Walter was born too soon, he wouldn't develop like other children. His ability to learn would be hampered, and he wouldn't be able to relate to others the way normal children could.

Well, they were half right, she thought cheerlessly.

As Walter grew up, it was clear that he wasn't connecting to the world. Her parents thought he was "slow", as they put it, because he never said anything, but Megan knew better. He was brilliant, she knew, but he just couldn't tell anyone.

Once her parents finally realized that Walter was, in fact, a genius, they were still at a loss. They had a son that was the opposite of "slow", but they still did not know what to do with him. Her mother tried desperately to connect with Walter, but nothing worked.

Megan was the only person in to world to which Walter connected. She was the only person that he confided in or trusted. She was the person to which he clung when he was frightened or didn't understand the world around him.

And what if he's gone? What will I do? She thought suddenly, snapping her thoughts back to the present.

The tears that threatened to fall earlier now fell unheeded as the pain of that thought shook her to her very core. Her companions, sensing her distress, looked up as she began to cry harder. They were at a loss.

There was nothing they could do to comfort her, nothing they could say to ease the pain.

Nothing.

To explain things a little further, in Shorthanded, Walter says that Cabe "filled a void" in his life. In Dominoes, Walter mentions that his mother didn't understand him when she bought the kite for him for Christmas. I think that Walter's mother tried to connect with him, but, for whatever reason, couldn't; so, I think that Megan filled the maternal void in Walter's life because she was the only female that could, successfully, connect with him.

I hope that explanation makes sense. It does in my head. Like I said, serious headcanon.

I don't know if I will continue this one or not. If I do, I will not attempt to canonize it after tomorrow night's episode; so, it'll just have to be AU.

Thanks again for all of the nice reviews. You guys are awesome.