Chapter 18

Walter checked his watch, then glanced over at Paige, who was still curled up on her side, sleeping peacefully. He knew the myth about the need to periodically wake a person after a concussion was exactly that – a myth. Still, it was nearly eleven at night and Paige had been sleeping since shortly after dinner. He thought he ought to think of going to bed himself, but was unsure exactly where that should be. Was there a protocol for sleeping arrangements when one's partner was ill or injured? If he crawled in next to Paige, would that wake her? Perhaps just having another person in the bed would be uncomfortable for her? He didn't want to sleep on her couch, in case she might need him in the middle of the night. Perhaps he should hunt for some blankets and pillows and create a makeshift bed on the floor?

With that thought in mind, he set his pad aside and stood, heading into the bathroom to relieve himself before beginning his search for spare bedding. If nothing else, he decided, he could grab some bedding from Ralph's bed.

When he came out of the bathroom, he noticed Paige moving. She lifted her head and twisted to look in his direction.

"Walter? What time is it?"

He rushed over and sat gingerly on the side of the bed. "It's almost eleven PM," he whispered, not sure why he was keeping his voice low. "How are you feeling?"

Paige took a deep breath and turned over onto her back, scooting up to sit against the headboard. "Like my car is a wreck and I have a nasty cut plus a crack in my head. But other than that, I'm peachy!"

Walter's heart sank. A few years ago, he would have scoffed at an idiom like that. But he could swear he felt the organ physically drop into the pit of his stomach. "I'm so, SO sorry. You know I would never do anything that would put you in danger. I just…"

"Hey, Walter… take it easy. I was there, remember?" Paige reached over and laid her hand on his arm. "It happened fast, but I do remember that guy came out of nowhere. I don't blame you at all, in fact, I'm sure if you hadn't reacted so quickly, he would have hit us head on. It could have been much worse."

"I wish it was me," Walter whispered.

"I don't!" Paige leaned forward and gathered Walter into her arms. She nuzzled his neck and kissed him just below his ear. "I love every part of you, Walter O'Brien, and a really big part of who you are is your amazing mind. The thought of you getting another brain injury. I just can't even bear it. If one of us had to have a cracked skull, I am so thankful it was me and not you!"

Walter slowly brought his arms around her, returning the embrace. "Maybe we can just try to avoid either of us being injured ever again. You cannot imagine how I felt, seeing you slumped in your seat, bleeding."

"Actually, I don't have to imagine. I seem to remember looking over the edge of a cliff where you were bleeding in a car that was about to plummet hundreds of feet. I agree, we should both try to avoid putting each other through that ever again."

"Perhaps we should make a pact," Walter mused. "I promise to never to put you through another cliffhanger like that, if you promise to wear a helmet and padded gear whenever you are in a moving vehicle."

"Ha…. Ow!" Paige cried, putting a hand up to her bandaged cheek. "I'm sure I remember telling you not to make me laugh. It really does hurt!"

"I wasn't joking," Walter grinned as he gently tightened his embrace.

Happy stood outside the door of the spare room. It was way too quiet in there. Which at least meant the kid was keeping his hands off the motorcycles. She couldn't figure out why he shut himself up in there, though.

Maybe she should just wait for Toby to get back. If there was something bothering Ralph… something emotional… that just wasn't up her alley at all. On the other hand, she was a total city girl. She had no idea what having a poison oak rash was about. She hadn't seen much of Ralph as he dashed past her, but what she did see was red. It looked serious. What if he'd gotten sick or passed out or something? At the very least, she needed to be sure he was physically okay.

She pushed against the door and was surprised when she could only budge it a crack. The door didn't have a lock, which meant something heavy was shoved up against it. Happy leaned her shoulder into the door and pushed… hard.

"Ralph!" She called into the slightly wider crack. "Kid, I need to make sure you're okay. Okay?" She shoved a bit more. "Look. I'm not the person to talk to when you've got… problems. I get that. If there's something bugging you, and you need to talk, you're probably waiting for Toby to get back and I'm cool with that. But I've also seen your mom go off when you're hurt or threatened, and believe me kid, she scares me. So I want to be sure she won't have any reason to go Psycho-Mom on me, okay? So let me in."

Just then the door opened and Ralph stood in the doorframe. There were white streaks up and down his exposed arms and legs where he'd obviously been scratching the rash. Now was probably not a good time to remind him that wasn't a good idea.

"You don't have to worry about my mom, Happy. She's got Walter to worry about now. She doesn't care about me any more."

Paige insisted that Walter could sleep in the bed with her. In fact, she'd been adamant, telling him that it was not just that she wanted him there, but that it would be best since if she needed him for anything in the middle of the night, she wouldn't have to get out of bed or try to call out to wake him.

It was obvious to Walter that Paige was not sleeping well, if at all. She wasn't quite up to tossing and turning. He surmised that when she turned on one side, it made the bandages on her face uncomfortable. In addition to her head and facial injuries, she'd injured her wrist on the other side, trying to break her forward motion. So, if she turned on that side, the soft cast she wore was likewise uncomfortable. She was restless and apparently uncomfortable no matter what she did.

"Paige," he whispered, not wanting to wake her if she was sleeping, but realizing that she was probably just as concerned about interrupting his slumber. "Is there something you need? I can get you one of your pain pills if you're uncomfortable."

"Walter," he heard, also in a whisper. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Because you aren't sleeping," he answered. "I'm here to make sure you get a good night's sleep and to get you anything you need to make sure of that. It makes no sense for you to be concerned about my ability to rest, when you are the one who needs to rest so that you can heal. Tell me what you need, love."

Paige sighed. "I'm worried about Ralph," she confessed. "I know you called him and told him I was okay, but I'm afraid that he might be worried until he can hear my voice. I'd really like to call him."

Walter started to speak, but Paige stopped him. "Don't worry, I know it's late and we can't call him right now. But I'd really like to do that tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure," Walter assured her. "In fact, we can do one better. We'll call the camp first thing in the morning, then I'll get Toby over here to check on you. If he says it's okay, we'll get you that helmet and padding and I'll drive you up to the camp. I know you wanted Ralph to stay the whole two weeks, but maybe under the circumstances, you need him here more than he needs another week of socialization. What do you think?"

Paige reached her good arm over and took his hand into hers. "I think for a guy who's supposed to have no Emotional Quotient at all, you sure seem to understand mine very well sometimes."

Walter turned, rose up in the bed and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on one of the few uninjured spots. "It may not be my best subject, but I'm studying hard to learn everything I can."

May 13, 2018