Dance with the Devil: Chapter 11

The shock that went around the room was such that no one even knew what to say. It was Todd who finally spoke, out of genuine concern. “Delgado, are you alright?” When he got a look, he continued. “Heather worked on him for a while and finally said that nothing could be done. I held him after that and there was nothing.”


Tea took a deep breath, feeling the anger rise up in her. “The baby who died had hemophilia, which I’m a carrier for. But, since there’s no history on Victor’s side for it,” she looked to Viki for confirmation, who nodded in agreement, “even Dr. Wright in Llanview said the chances were small for the baby to have it.”


“You just said the baby that died did have hemophilia,” Starr repeated.


Tea nodded. “They also ran the blood type for the ‘my’ baby. It’s B positive. I’m A negative and Victor was--”


“O negative,” Todd supplied. When the attention was back on him, he shrugged his shoulder. “What? In theory, we were identical twins. If I’m O negative, then so was he.”


“Long story short,” John began to explain to Anna as she was unfamiliar with the events in Llanview from a year ago, “a DNA test was run on Todd Manning and ‘Todd Manning’ AKA Victor Lord, Jr., last summer. They both came back an exact match to an old DNA sample for Todd from twenty years ago.” He didn’t divulge the reason for the old test.


“And the chances of two negatives creating a positive are unlikely,” Anna concluded, a dim memory of something Robin had said returning.


Tea nodded. “Because of these two oddities, Dr. Lee here asked me for a DNA sample. These are the results.” She handed over a sheet of paper to Anna, who put her glasses on to read it.


Anna looked over the paper and handed it to John. He read it, smirking as he did so. “Wow, this is a first.” He looked up at the assembled group. “A DNA test that refutes with ninety-nine percent certainty a child’s maternity.”


Anna looked back at Todd. “At any point, was Heather alone with the child who died?”


Todd thought about it for a minute. “Maybe,” he hedged. “I finally got a cell signal and Tea and I made our way to the road for get the ambulance.”


“And Jason Morgan eventually found Sam at the shack, but never made mention about anyone else there.” Anna turned to John. “We need to talk to him, see if he remembers about what time that was.”


John nodded, looking at Todd. “We’ll get the records for your outgoing calls and see how much of a window that leaves us.”


“I still want to talk to Sonny and Jason about the shooting, see if their story changes,” Anna said.


Todd looked incredulously at the two cops. “I told you it was Heather. This isn’t like ‘Who Shot J.R.’ where everyone, including the crew who filmed the scene, each takes a shot.”


“It’s just to firm up stories. Right now, I will admit, Heather is looking more and more likely, but the truth is you were already losing consciousness and a slick lawyer could use that in court,” Anna said.


At that Tea coughed out a word, but gave off an innocent look when Blair shot her a withering gaze. John handed the lab report back to Tea and left the room with Anna.


Tea saw the pain in Todd’s eyes. “Tea, I thought…I mean…” He was lost for the words to say to her.


Tea closed her eyes as she said, “You tried to tell me. You…kept me back from the baby in the woods. And afterwards, you kept trying to tell me something, but every time you started, you were interrupted.”


“I didn’t know what to say,” he said as his eyes moistened. He hurriedly ran his hand over them to dry them. “There was a part of me that wanted to go along with the plan, to give you something because of what I took from you. But every time I turned around, there was some reminder of someone else’s pain. And yesterday, I just couldn’t take it anymore.”


Tea couldn’t hear any more and walked out of the room. Starr followed her as she left and was able to catch her before the elevator came. “Do you believe my dad now?” she asked, trying to keep the accusatory tone out of her voice, but failing.


Tea broke down. “I don’t know what to believe. It was a set of stupid, horrific circumstances, Todd did it intentionally. My baby’s dead, no he isn‘t, now he’s not. I don’t know how much more I can take.” She looked back at Starr. “I need to be alone. I need time to think.” The elevator came and she dashed onto it, leaving Starr behind.


Back in the room, Todd felt exhausted from the third degree he had just received. He looked at both Viki and Blair. “Look, after this interrogation, which is the nicest one I’ve ever gotten, Anna could give Bo a tip or five, I…I really need to rest.” He looked at clock. “Look, go get some lunch, the burgers at Kelly’s are fantastic, but I need to rest.” When neither budged, he insisted. “Look, I’ll be fine here, especially with that orderly out there who doesn’t look like he has a clue as to what he’s doing, since he’s more likely a cop.” Both women looked at each other and Blair moved to kiss the top of Todd’s head. Viki just graced him with a smile and the walked out to collect Starr and get some lunch.


At Kelly’s, they were met by Clint, Jack and Sam, who were already eating. After placing their order and updating them on Todd’s condition, the questioning of the morning and the stunning revelation about Tea’s baby, Viki merely shook her head. “This just seems all so bizarre. What happened to Tea’s baby and who is the child who died? And this Heather woman…”


“She seems like Port Charles’ version of Allison Perkins,” Clint opined.


“Oh, Clint, please don’t ever say the woman’s name. After all she’s done…I’ve never hated a woman more than her,” Viki said with disgust.


“I’ll take that as a complement,” a voice rang out in the small diner. Standing in the door was Pennsylvania Senator Dorian Lord.


Starr gasped and embraced her great aunt. Sam cuddled at her leg and Jack merely nodded, a gesture that was followed by Clint. Viki stood up and walked over to her long-time nemesis. “Blair told me you would be coming. Thank you, from Todd. Because, you know you’ll never hear those words from him,” she said.


They finished their meal and made their way over to the hospital. On the floor where Todd was, Viki found Dr. Webber and made an introduction with Dorian. The two medical professionals moved off to the side as Dorian looked at the charts. She saw it immediately.


Steve saw the knowing look in the woman’s eyes. “Mr. Manning is already aware of what may have happened.”


Dorian nodded. “The chances of recovery without surgery are very slim. And a surgery like this is highly risky,” she concluded.


“Dr. Lord, you seem to know Mr. Manning well.” Dorian’s lip curled up with a hint of antipathy, a gesture Dr, Webber didn’t see or chose to ignore. “What do you think he’ll chose? Go ahead with the surgery or try therapy?”


Dorian shrugged her shoulder. She had gotten a very barebones account of what had happened in Port Charles from Nora Buchanan when the latter called about Clint. But, if she thought about it, she truly didn’t know this Todd Manning. And from what she’d gleaned from her conversations from Blair for the past few weeks, it didn’t compute with the Todd Manning who was gone from Llanview by the time Dorian had returned to the town as Mrs. Mitch Laurence. She didn’t answer, choosing instead to break the news to Todd and his family.


That family, which by now had added Tina, Cord and Sarah Roberts to those in the room, were surrounding his bed as Sam was entertaining them with some jokes. When Dorian and Dr. Webber came in, Jack, who had been hanging back, took Sam to the cafeteria with the promise of ice cream.


Todd looked at Dorian, unable to resist raising an eyebrow at her. He turned to Blair, whining, “Why’d you have to call in the head of the Cramer Coven? Haven’t I been hexed enough already?”


“It’s lovely to see you as well. It’s been too long,” Dorian said with false sincerity.


“Hasn’t been long enough for me,” he mumbled under his breath. Blair swatted his shoulder but he didn’t retract the comment.


“Mr. Manning, we have the results of the tests we ran yesterday. After consulting with your family physician--” Steve began.


“Who said she’s my family physician?” Todd responded, but quieted under Starr’s gaze.


“--Dr. Lord and I came to the same conclusions,” Steve finished.


“Todd, the chances of you walking without any surgery are miniscule. But the surgery needed is very dangerous and could leave you in worse shape then you’re in now,” Dorian explained. “It could also go in the other way and allow you to walk again, but the chances are fifty/fifty. And that includes the month of therapy you will need afterwards.”


In unison, every head turned to Todd to see his reaction. Todd looked down at his hands. It wasn’t an unexpected result. Dr. Webber had been honest with him when asked the night before. For a brief moment, he recalled his football days, even though those memories brought up a whole other raft of pain. He looked back up at everyone and could tell they were waiting for his reaction. He cleared his throat. “Can you all leave, all of you except Blair?” he asked in a quiet voice. Viki understood and maneuvered the group into the hall. As she was at the door, Todd asked her to close the blinds before she, too, exited.


Blair sat on the edge of the bed. “It’s not unexpected,” she said finally.


Todd nodded. “It’s just…hearing it so sympathetically from Dorian…” When he got a look from Blair, he ducked his head, raising it back into her gaze after a moment. “I’m going to go ahead with the surgery,” he said, his voice betraying no hint of uncertainty.


“Todd, you heard Dorian. The surgery is so risky and the recuperation long,” she said as tears formed in her eyes. The fear that she felt when she found him in the hotel room was crashing in on her like a wave.


“Yes, I did. And I’m going to tell you why I’m taking that risk.” He looked into her watery eyes. “I want to marry you again. You’ve always been the only woman I loved. And when we do get married, I want to walk back down the aisle with you and dance with you under a shower of gold balloons and do all that corny stuff people do at wedding. And this time, no ‘Hell nos’ and no ‘The baby was yours’. No more secrets.” He let out a laugh. “Shortly before you came back to Port Charles, Carly was telling me she was getting back together with Johnny. She said that they had no secrets and I told her whenever I said that to a woman, to you, I always had a secret. But this time, it’s the truth.”


Blair could feel the dam wanting to burst, but she fought against it. She touched his scar, and came in for a long, deep kiss. The last time she had felt this kind of love for this man was on a flight over Key West, when they swore the same things to each other. Pulling away from him she nodded her head, afraid to speak.


Todd could tell she was so overcome with emotions she was having trouble answering. Just to annoy her, he turned his left cheek towards her lips and cupped his ear. “Sorry, but I didn’t hear an answer.”


Joy and the urge to throttle this man warred in her. It was joy that won out. In a voice she knew would be loud enough for everyone outside to hear, she shouted, “Yes you bastard! Yes, I’ll marry you again!”
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