The trauma unit met the ambulance at the emergency entrance. The rushed the stretcher in with Blair in hot pursuit. As the doctors and nurses went to work on Todd, she tried to follow them until Nurse Johnson stepped in her way. “Ma’am you can’t go in there,” she said in a calm voice.
“But I need to be there. He needs me!” she exclaimed through a fresh round of tears. Todd looked so pale on the ambulance as they worked on him.
“Ms. Cramer, you can’t do anything for him in there,” Epiphany replied as she led Blair to a waiting area. “I’ll check in on them in a few minutes for you, but they need to work now to save him.”
Blair reluctantly sat down, her eyes locked on the door to the trauma room, her calm demeanor masking her jumbled nerves, while in the hospital chapel, Tea Delgado sat calmly. The lawyer had been replaying the events of the last few hours over and over again. She still couldn’t believe it had all happened. Todd had let her baby die. He swore to her that he would not let that happen and yet, it had. She opened her cell phone and stared at the picture of her and Victor. Finally, the dam broke and the tears came streaming down her face. After a few minutes, a hand gently touched her shoulder. She looked up to see an Asian woman in scrubs and a lab coat.
“Ms. Delgado?” she asked. At Tea nod, the woman continued. “I’m Dr. Lee, Sam Morgan’s OB/GYN. I examined the baby that she brought in with her the night of the birth and I have a few questions, if you’re up to it.”
Tea wiped the tears from her eyes. “Of course, I have…some questions for you.” Dr. Lee indicated for her to go first and Tea continued. “What was it that killed my son? He wasn’t crying when he came out.”
“The baby had respiratory distress. If you had made it to the hospital in time, we may have been able to do something, but as it was..” Dr. Lee’s voice grew quiet. “I’m sure the man who was with did everything he could.”
Tea let out a short, harsh laugh. “Yeah, I’m sure.” When the other woman gave her a look, she waved it off. “We have a very complicated relationship.”
Dr. Lee let it go. “The first question I have is, are you a carrier for hemophilia, Ms. Delgado?” When Tea nodded, Dr. Lee then asked her, “And your husband, the baby’s father?
Tea thought about it for a while. Even due to the nature of both Todd’s and Victor’s childhoods, there was never a thought about getting a full family medical history. “Not as far as I know. My husband wasn’t really raised by his parents.”
“What is your blood type and what is your husband’s?” Dr Lee went on.
“I’m A negative and I think Victor was O negative.” When the doctor narrowed her eyes at Tea, something told her something was off. “Why are you asking these questions?”
“I can’t say for certain. There are some irregularities I need to investigate. I would like you to give a DNA sample, just for some certainties.” With that, Dr Lee got up and waited for Tea to join her. After a minute, Tea followed her into the hub of the hospital. Waiting for a nurse to come take the sample, she saw Blair sitting down, her eyes trained on a set of doors. After a minute, Starr Manning and John McBain rushed in and Starr thrust herself into her mother’s arms. She looked like she had been crying and then saw that Blair had been. Before she could move over to John McBain, someone came to take her to for the sample.
Starr and Blair clung to each other. “Aunt Viki is on her way. They’re taking the Buchanan jet,” she told her mother. “I think Aunt Tina is coming also.”
Blair finally focused her attention off the doors and onto John. “Have they found out who did this, John?”
McBain sighed, knowing this woman wasn’t thinking very clearly. “It’s still early in the investigation, Blair. I do know that the commissioner is going to be questioning Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan. But in all honestly, I don’t like them for this.” Starr let out a sigh, but Blair’s eyes narrowed. John continued. “It’s too sloppy for them at this stage of the game. This is more, heat of the moment.” He moved closer to her. “I will promise you, I will find who did this.”
Blair and Starr, still holding on to each other, sat down and waited for any word from the room. John paced the waiting area, keeping an eye on the mother and daughter. It was then that Tea approached him. “John, what’s going on?” she asked.
John pulled her further away, and in a low voice said, “Todd was found shot three times in his hotel room.” Tea couldn’t stop her hand from flying to her mouth. John looked back at Blair and Starr, then returned his gaze to Tea. “It’s not looking good, to be honest.” He dropped his eyes for a minute. “Tea, I have to ask you, can you account for your whereabouts today?”
Tea was speechless for a minute. “You think I shot him?” she asked.
“You had motive, especially after your display here earlier today--” he began.
“I just found out that son of a bitch switched my child, who died, with Sam’s baby. He swore to me--” her voice was getting louder, and John tried to quiet her, so as to not attract Blair or Starr. “He swore to me he would do everything he could to save his brother’s child, and he failed! Forgive me for taking that news calmly.” Tea had just forgotten everything Dr. Lee had told her in the chapel. She stepped back from him. “If the police commissioner wants to talk to me, I’ll be at my hotel, mourning all that I have lost because of Todd Manning!” With that she headed for the doors.
Starr had heard Tea’s voice as it got louder, but right now, her mother needed her more than she needed to defend her father’s actions to Tea. She turned back to her mother and was able to see her lost in thought. “Mom?” she asked.
Blair turned to her. Seeing the concern on her daughter’s face, she touched the right side of her cheek, as memories of the times she had touched Todd’s scar flashed across her memories. That was the thing about that imperfection. It fit so perfectly on his face. When he was gone, and they had Victor believing he was Todd, when Victor had loved her like Todd loved her, she had missed touching the scar. “Yes, baby girl?”
“What are you thinking?” Starr asked. But she already knew. Her memory flashed back to the previous summer, at the movie premiere, when her father had revealed himself to his family. She had slowly approached him and, as she reached up for his cheek, he met her hand and the minute her fingers touched the scar, she pulled back. She knew, in that instant, that she had been wrong for eight long years. This man, dapper in an ill-fitting tuxedo, his eyes glowing with love of her, her brother but especially their mother, was her father. He was Todd Manning.
Before Blair could answer Starr’s question, a doctor came out of the trauma room. Blair and Starr were on their feet and John strode over. “Mrs. Manning, I’m Dr. Steve Webber. We’re working to stabilize your husband, but he was shot three times. We’re going to perform surgery on him as soon as we can. Now, are there any conditions we need to know about, any allergies?
Blair thought for a moment. “The only condition I know he has is PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I think he was given medication for it, but God knows he if he ever used it. Other than that,” she was at a loss as to what to say.
“The chart the techs gave me says he is O negative. Are either of you?” the doctor continued.
Starr shock her head. “No, but my aunts, his sisters are coming. I think one of them may be.” Starr took a deep breath. “Doctor, is my dad going to be okay? Please, be honest.”
Dr. Webber looked back at the room. “The sooner we can get him stabilized, the sooner we can get him into surgery. The sooner we can get him into surgery, the better his chances are.”
“And what are those chances, Doctor?” Blair asked.
“I don’t like--”he began. But at seeing her look, he answered. “Right now, it’s fifty/fifty. Excuse me.” With that, the doctor retreated back into the room.
Blair sat back down, with Starr hugging her from behind. An hour passed as the staff continued to work on Todd. Blair was about to go out of her mind when the doors to the emergency room opened and admitted Viki Banks, Cord and Tina Roberts and Jack. Viki ran to Blair and engulfed her in an embrace, as fresh tears sprang from her eyes. Starr sank into her Aunt Tina’s arms, trying to remain strong. Cord and Jack hung back, allowing the women their moment. When Blair broke away from Viki, she ran to her son, throwing her arms around his stiff posture. He didn’t return her embrace, but she let it go, just happy that he was there. Cord gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek, well aware that despite what was happening, he didn’t want to provoke his wife right now, or his brother-in-law later on.
Viki turned to Blair as she finished greeting Starr. “Blair, what happened?”
Before Blair could answer, Nurse Johnson approached the group. “I’m guessing you’re Mr. Manning’s family?” A round of nods answered her question.
Tina spoke up first. “I’m his sister. We were told he may need a blood transfusion before we got here.” When nurse Johnson turned to her, she continued. “I have the same blood type as him.” Without further delay, Tina was led out of the main part of the room.
Cord took the opportunity to speak. “Look, you’re a right mess.” Blair had at last looked down at her clothing. The dress she was wearing was caked with Todd’s blood. He looked back up at Blair. “Why don’t Jack and I go to your hotel and get you something to change into. Maybe get something for you too, Starr.”
Blair smiled at him. Still wearing the white hat I see, she thought. “That’s a nice thought, but the room’s a crime scene. I doubt they’ll let you in.”
At that moment, John materialized, having hung back when the rest of the family arrived. “I’ll see that they let him in, get you some things.”
Cord moved to the door, but Jack stood still. He was torn at seeing his mother’s red eyes and puffy face, obvious signs of crying. Part of him want to stay, but he looked at the doors were they were working on Todd and a fresh wave of anger hit him. He moved to follow his uncle and John brought up the rear. When the men left, Viki turned back to Blair and Starr. Concern washed over her again, as she reached for their hands. “Now, tell me, what happened here today?”
Blair pulled herself together and was about to speak when the doors opened and the team working on Todd rushed out. Dr. Webber approached them. “We’ve got Mr. Manning stabilized and we heard that blood is being drawn for a transfusion. We’re going to prep him for surgery.”
Blair worked quickly making introduction. She then turned to the doctor. “Can I see him before he goes up?” Without receiving an answer, she moved to the gurney and touched the scar on his cheek. “Todd, you better come back to us. We’re all here. Starr, Viki, Cord, even Tina and Jack. Tina’s even going to give you some of her blood. How bout that?” Her tears began to fall. “I love you. You’re the only one I’ve ever truly loved.”
As she moved away from him, Starr came on the other side. “Dad, I haven’t had enough time with you. I still need you. Fight to get back to us. Fight like you fought for the last eight years.” She bent down to kiss his cheek.
Viki grasped his hand in her. “I can’t picture my life without you, despite everything.” She feared if she said any more, she too would be overcome with emotion. She stepped aside and the gurney entered the elevator, it’s doors closing a moment later.
As the women moved back to the waiting area, a man in white watched them. He shook his head sadly. “Trust me, it’s better this way.”
But then he heard a voice respond. “No, it’s not.” The man turned and saw that the voice belonged to a red-hair woman who was smiling at him.
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Another awesome chapter... can't wait for the next one..
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