Todd Revisited: Assistance (Chapter 34)

The doctor fixed his clothing and rubbed at his neck.  He jotted some more notes on a pad and shrugged off the incident, as the orderlies raced into the room.  Todd was already out, like a light.


"Doctor, we heard the commotion outside..."


"It's over with, gentlemen.  Thank you, though."


"You ok, Dr. Asper?"


"I am fine.  The patient, well that is another case altogether."  Dr. Asper walked from the room, shaking his head.  The orderlies followed.


It was not until the next day, when light poured into the room from the windows, that Dr. Asper came back to see the patient stirring in the bed, rubbing his eyes with his fists like a child, and yawning, carelessly.


"Doc? Are you ok? God Doc, we're sorry!"

The doctor looked at Todd quizzically. "Todd?"

"No, he can't talk right now, he's . . . he's . . . unavailable I guess." Tom yawned. "Did you give us a shot or something?  We felt a pinch.  Well, I mean, I did."

The doctor nodded, scribbling something on his notepad. "And you are?"

"My name's Tom." He extended a hand, and the doctor took it and shook it, smiling again.

"Hi, Tom. Nice to meet you. And I mean that.  I am really concerned about . . . all of you."

Tom smiled. "All of us?  You mean, you know?"

Dr. Asper nodded.  "I just want you to relax, Tom, and not worry.  I'm not going to hurt you, or judge you."

"That's nice, because a lot of people probably would.  Not Aman and Lilly, though, they loved us.  Even Pete."

"Can you tell me about Pete?"

"I'm really not supposed to talk about it, Doc.  Honest, you seem nice and everything, kinda like Coach, but it's really supposed to be private."

"But Tom," he paused, patting the patient's shoulder, "this can't go on.  You know?  Don't you think that . . . that Todd is tired, or needs some kind of support?"

"Pete won't let you.  That's all I'll say.  Something bad could happen."

"Like what?"

"Pete's real mean. But he has a reason. We all do, kind of. I just can't be mean because I know it's wrong.  I help Todd.  He and me, we take care of each other."

"Why do you have to help Todd?" The doctor asked.

"You know, Doc, I am really tired of saying Doc. Do you have a name or something?" He talked through yawning.

The doctor smiled. "Sure. I'm Dr. Asper. But you can call me Johan."

"Ok. Cool!"

The doctor continued to be amazed.  The young man he was speaking to could not have been more than 13 or 14 years old.  "Now, you were saying about helping Todd?"

"Yeah." Tom became agitated, "I help him, but I'm not supposed to tell anyone what I help him with."

"He might not. But he also might need you to tell someone."

"We just told Aman and Lilly.  They were the first people who ever knew.  Well, outside of us, and Peter."

"Peter?"

"Peter Manning.  Our father.  Well, he adopted Todd.  Our real father was Victor."  The face changed.  "He was a really bad guy, too."

"I see.  Well, Tom, don't you want Todd to get well, and be able to leave here?  He's really tired, he's not slept well in what seems to be weeks."  

"He HAS to get better, Johan.  He has a wife and a baby waiting."

Dr. Asper showed concern on his face, and folded his arms, crossing to the window and looking out.

Tom thought about it. Pete was nowhere. Todd was . . . staring off. Tom had seen him that way before, like he was studying nothing.  "I know what you're thinking about, Johan.  You're thinking how can he go home to his baby and his wife if . . . if we're around?  Especially Pete."

The doctor turned quickly and reapproached the bed.  "Yes, Tom, I was thinking that.  Aren't you?  I mean, you would love and care for that baby.  You would help his wife.  What would Pete do?"

"Pete might stay away.  Blair was the only person who ever got us to stay quiet.  Todd didn't need wither of us much when she was there.  He kinda didn't even remember us.  I don't think he even really KNEW about us until . . . well, it's hard to explain.  He kinda knew, but he didn't, you know?"

"Yes, I know.  I'd like to speak to Todd, if you don't mind, Tom?"

Tom checked back and saw Todd still motionless.  "He's not able to talk now."

"I know. But you are. Right?  You are able to talk and you are able to get him the help he needs, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Do you want to tell me anything?  Is there something you think that if I knew, I could help Todd?"

"I dunno.  I mean, can you help us? No one has really been able to help us, mostly 'cause Todd didn't even know that Pete was in charge for a while. Then, Pete did some really bad stuff. Then, Todd pushed Pete back really really far, and he didn't come out for a long time. Plus, Todd was happy. Like I said, Blair makes me and Pete both be quiet. For a long time.  Probably, if we went home, he'd be okay and we could be quiet again."

"Why aren't you quiet now, Tom?"  

Tom thought about it for quite a bit.  "Maybe 'cause Todd got shot, and it was like the day or two after he finally married Blair for real.  He was so happy.  We didn't come out at all, because he was so in love with her and ready for a new life.  It didn't look like he needed us.  But, then he finally remembered it all.  He was separated from her so long, and he almost died.  And, when he was with Lilly and Aman, he was in so much pain.  It took him so long to get better and not hurt so much."  Tom thought more, "I dunno, it was just too much to take, I guess.  We had nightmares every night.  We hadn't had nightmares since . . ."

"Since?  Tell me more, then.  You've already started.  I promise to never hurt Todd."

"Statesville.  Todd was in jail once for bad stuff."

"Did he hurt people?"

"No.  It was Pete.  But, Todd had to pay for it."

"And since the jail, had he done anything else bad?"

"Well, Pete came out once and almost made Todd lose Blair forever, but she forgave us because she loves us."

Dr. Asper stopped and let Tom rest a moment, smiling.  "It's good that you are loved by her.  What did Pete do to make her almost go away?"

Tom thought about it. Pete was not there, Todd was still not moving, not stepping forward, not stopping him. "I'll only say it because . . . I trust you, you seem like you really want to help."

"I do.  Isn't that why Todd is here?"

"Yeah."  He stopped.  He had started tossing an empty cup in the air, watching it.  "I guess so."  He grabbed the cup at last and put it down on the table.  "He almost did to her what our father did to us . . . and what Pete did to the girls."

Dr. Asper stopped short. Wiping his glasses, he returned them to his face. "Really? What was that?"

"Well, one night, Todd though that Blair didn't love him, that she was with some other guy. So he almost raped her."

Dr. Asper stopped for a moment, scribbling on his pad. "Is that what happened to you?"

"Yeah, kinda, I mean, no, not me, Todd. He wouldn't let me take it for him. It was real bad. Pete was born that night, you know. Then there were three of us. Pete tried to kill our Dad."

"And when were you born?"

"When Todd was six."

Dr. Asper found the ability to smile. "Thanks, Tom, I really appreciate talking to you. You were really helpful.  You should be proud of yourself, because, after all, this was hard but it was something that will end up helping all of you.  You know that."

"Sure thing, I like to help. That's what I do. Is Todd going to be ok?" Tom winced.

"Yes, I think he will.  If he gets the proper help.  Now get some rest."

"I don't see Pete. Who will stop the dreams?  The bad ones?  They've been real bad since we got here and Todd started to sleep again."

"Don't worry about the dreams. I will be right outside the door, if you need me, just call. You won't even have any tonight, because you really helped Todd. You're all going to be able to rest.  Watch and see!"

"Gee thanks, Johan. Todd's not been able to sleep good since The Big Truth came out. He kept himself awake on purpose most of the time. He didn't want us to see the dreams anymore." He yawned again, closing his eyes. "Thanks a lot, Johan. Todd will really appreciate it.  Even though you gave us that shot, we're pretty tired."  Tom settled back, pulling the covers to his chin.  "I don't know why we're so tired, but . . ."

"That's okay, Tom.  Just take a little nap.  Rest as long as you like." Dr. Asper said. He turned and walked, surprisingly needing a little support from the bed rails, as he watched the young man fall into sleep, a teenage expression of peace over his angelic, though scarred, face.

Todd woke up on the park bench where he and Blair "met."  He liked to call it that because they really "saw" each other for the first time there, even though they had talked before at Rodi's, the bench was the first time they actually "saw" who the other was.  He remembered he could barely walk away from her that night, and she did the same.  Here it was, all these years later, and he still could not walk away.  The sky was dark now, stars were sparkling here and there, the moon was casting light over him, and he knew what he had to do.  He'd find some place to spend the night, heck, he could even go back to Viki's and get in without talking to her if he needed to; he knew all the ins and outs of Llanfair.  Then, he'd keep trying to prove his innocence, and like Tom back in the clinic, he'd need help, and he'd find it.  He still couldn't really claim his life with this accusation of guilt on his head.  First, clear name, second, clear Victor's bank account and return it to the rightful owner, third, clear the way for The Mannings.

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