Dance with the Devil: Chapter 18

With Carly away from the hotel, Blair spoke to the manager, Olivia, about moving into a handicap accessible suite in anticipation of Todd’s discharge from the hospital. With that business cleared up, she turned to leave and ran into Tina. Todd’s sister looked at her anxiously.


“Blair, I need to talk to you,” Tina said.


Blair looked at her nervously. “Has something happened?” she asked, fear creeping in on her. All of the family had been put down as contacts, should anything happen, but Blair knew that Tina was quite far down the list.


Tina’s eye widened. “Oh, no, it’s nothing bad. No, no, I haven’t heard anything about Todd,” Tina assured her. She stepped back and took a deep breath. “I wanted to say…I’m sorry.”


Blair narrowed her eyes at the redhead. “What did you do now?” she demanded, anger rearing it head.


Tina gave her a look of annoyance. “It’s nothing I’ve done lately, its…for what I’ve done in the past.” She sat down, avoiding Blair’s gaze. “Look, understand, when we first found out you and Todd had gotten married, it made no sense but then we learned the truth about him being the Lord heir and then, the pieces all fit. I mean, why would Blair Daimler marry some penniless ex-convict. Oh, well, he turns out to be my long-lost brother with a sizeable inheritance. That made sense.” She looked back at Blair. “I was just trying to protect my baby brother from a well known gold-digger. And when you two spilt up the first time and my children were in the his will, well, then, I was trying to protect my children’s future. So, when I saw that you were going round town with David Vickers while you and Todd were seemingly getting closer, well, again, protective big sister.”


Blair was so shocked, she couldn’t even put thoughts together in her head. Was this really happening? Was she about to get an apology from Tina Lord Roberts?


Tina continued, “Look, what I’m trying to say is, these past few days I’ve finally been able to see just how much you love Todd. And I was a fool to try to ever break you two up all those years ago. I can also see how much he loves you. I know he’s difficult, stubborn, arrogant--” at Blair’s look, she stopped, “--but I know the kind of love you have two have, it only comes around once in a lifetime.” With that, she stood up and embraced a stunned, stiff Blair and walked off to the elevator as Sarah and Cord entered the lobby.


It took Blair a few minutes to gather herself. When she did, she made her way to the hospital. Upon entering Todd’s room, he looked up at her with a smile on his lips. When she didn’t return it, he got worried. “Is something the matter Blair?” he asked her.


Blair stared into space for a minute then looked at him. “Your sister just apologized to me,” she said, finally looking at him.


“Why did Viki have to apologize?” he asked, bewildered.


Blair shook her head. “Not Viki,” she said, “Tina.”


Now he was more confused than before. “Tina?” he asked incredulously. “Tina Lord Roberts? Ditzy redhead Tina Lord Roberts?”


As Blair nodded, she told Todd about the encounter in the lobby of the Metrocourt. Both of them were too stunned to say anything when the woman in question sauntered into the room. At both of their looks, she asked in wonderment, “What?”


Blair got up to excuse herself. She had to check in with the doctors about Todd’s status, so that left the brother and sister alone for a chat.


Todd began, “Are you feeling alright?” When she threw him a look, he continued. “Blair just told me about what happened at the hotel. You…apologized.”


Tina merely shrugged her shoulders. “I was wrong. I’ve grown enough to admit that.” She touched his unscarred cheek. “You and Blair have been through so much over the years and yet, you’ve never really lost each other. She still loves you with all your faults. And I know what it’s like to have that kind of love.” She smiled sadly. “I was thinking about it this morning. We may have all had a screwed up childhood. We may have been born to the worst set of parents imaginable. But we, Viki and you and me and yes, even Victor, have all been blessed with someone who will love us forever.”


Todd still thought is was odd to hear these words out of Tina’s mouth. This was more along the lines of a Viki speech. But he had to begrudgingly agree with his sister, even if it was just to himself. After a minute, concern grew in his voice. “Are you sure you’re not sick?”


His answer came in the form of another not so gentle swat on his shoulder. “Oh, you!” With that, she gave him a kiss on his forehead.


Viki and Blair reappeared in the room, and both had a smile on their face. Todd and Tina always had the more difficult relationship. Viki was a stand-in mother for both of them, while they, the two younger ones, had been the more traditional brother and sister. And they played their roles to the hilt. After both had spent years away, last fall, with Todd living at Llanfair and Tina back for the reading of both Victor’s and Irene’s wills, Viki had experienced up close of what it would have been like if they had been a normal set of siblings. The squabbling, the back-biting, the nasty remarks and looks all came to show Viki that, as much as she loved her brother and sister, she was actually glad their lives had played out in the tragic manner they had. But this scene too showed her that they were also both very caring of each other. Briefly, she thought of Victor and regretted that he wasn’t there. He surely would have added a little something else to this family portrait.


Blair held up a duffle bag in Todd’s line of sight. “I have spoken with Dr. Webber. They’ve done as much as they can for you now, so they’re going to release you,” she informed Todd.


“Clint is also working to see if Dr. Evans is available to do your surgery,” Viki added. “However, from what he has learned, that may be a long shot. He’s also getting the names of other experts in the field.”


“Also, we need to set up a schedule for some pre-surgery therapy. You’re going to need to know now to move without the use of your legs,” Blair informed him. When Todd gave her a sour look, she came over to him and lightly kissed him. “Hey, it’s only for the time being. They want you to be fully recuperated from the emergency surgery you needed before you have the operation on your back.”


The door to the room opened and the kids came in. Sam ran to the bed and jumped onto it. “Are you feeling better today, Uncle Todd?” he asked.


Todd had to smile. “Everyday I see you, I feel a little better.” He turned to Jack. “How was your workout?”


Jack nodded. “It was pretty good. I’m going to be trying out for the team and I think I have a shot at varsity,” he said.


Todd looked confused. “I thought you were varsity already at Llanview High?” Todd asked.


Blair turned to Todd. “That was one thing we discussed over breakfast this morning. With you running a media empire from Port Charles and with the months of work you have ahead of you, we thought is was best if we all moved here.” He looked at her with amazement. “I’ve spoken to the hotel and they are transferring our stuff to a handicap room that you can move around in with more ease.”


“Have you thought about something more permanent?” Todd asked, raising a knowing eyebrow at her.


She had to chuckle. “Let’s get you out of here and settled, then we can discuss something more permanent.” When the nurse came in dress him, everyone began to exit.


“Tina, wait,” he said to his sister. Remembering what she had said earlier and still not quite believing it, he decided to give her a little test. “I need you to do me a favor.”


It took the nurse a half-hour to get Todd ready to leave the hospital, but soon, he was dressed and in a new wheelchair. Blair returned with Dr. Webber, who had papers that needed to be signed and then, with that done, the Manning family was off. Todd couldn’t be happier. He hated being stuck in one place for any great length of time. They arrived back at the hotel and were greeted by Carly.


“I see the patient’s been sprung,” she said to Blair.


“Yeah and not a minute too soon,” Todd grumbled. He smiled up at Carly. “When you get a chance, we need to discuss with Blair what we talked about this morning. But right now, I just want to get to my room and rest. It tired me just getting dressed.”


Carly shot Blair a look of concern, but Blair just shrugged her shoulders at the blonde. The family then headed up to the room. After getting there, Sam went to watch TV, while Starr and Jack both left to run errands. Todd wheeled himself into the bedroom as Blair turned to close the door.


“Here, let me help you,” Blair said.


“I’m fine, Blair,” he said in a prickly tone. He locked the chair and proceeded to figure out how to get from it to the bed. He tried a few attempts, but they were halting. Finally, Blair came over to him and was somehow able to lift him out of the chair. Unfortunately, they lost their balance together and landed on the bed.


“Well, this could be fun,” Todd said saucily to her. After positioning him onto the bed, she crawled onto it next to him. He gathered her into his arms and held her. Every fiber of his being wanted to make love to her then, but he was afraid to.


He looked at her and she could tell what he was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing too. “Todd, we will have plenty of time for that. But I think you’ll agree, we have had a long few days.” He nodded in silent agreement as they rested in each others arms, thankful that they were able to be together.
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