Dance with the Devil: Chapter 5

Blair was ready to attack the doctor when he didn’t answer. It was only Viki, holding her by the shoulders that prevented any violence from befalling the man standing in front of them. The doctor began, “It was touch and go for a while there. We nearly lost him once.” He took a breath. “We were able to extract two of the three bullets, but the third is lodged too close to his spine without risking any further damage. When he’s stronger, we may be able to go in an get it, but right now, it poses little risk.”


“Little risk? You mean it could cause more damage?” Blair asked, putting the pieces together.


“There is a risk that it could shift and cause paralysis. Or, it could stay put for the rest of his life. We deemed the risk minimal at this stage but will be monitoring him for the next forty-eight hours.” The surgeon took another deep breath. “He is in a coma, but it could help in speeding up his recovery. We will of course be keeping an eye on him due to that.”


Before the doctor walked off, Tina asked, “Can we see him?”


The doctor nodded. “He’s being moved to ICU. You can only go in one at time, two at the most. I’ll have Nurse Webber inform you when he arrives and is settled.”


Starr let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. She fell into Michael’s arms and let the tears fall. Michael petted her head. Cord and Tina embrace and Viki clung to Blair’s shoulders as they waited for word.


It took fifteen minutes, but then a slim brunette approached the group. “Are you Todd Manning’s family?” When Blair nodded her head, the young woman introduced herself. “I’m Elizabeth Webber. Dr. Kotb asked me to take you to ICU when he was moved. If you will follow me.”


Blair wrapped her arms around both of her children as Cord escorted the Lord sisters. When they approached the ICU entrance, Blair stopped dead in her tracks. She turned to Viki. “I can’t got in there, not yet!” She cried. She turned into Starr, the tears spilling unabated.


Viki nodded sadly. “I’ll go in first,” she agreed. Nurse Webber opened the door and entered with her. What she saw shocked her, with a respirator over his mouth and nose, tubes running in and out of him and a deathly pale awash on his face. Her brother had always been such a forceful presence, be he in his office barking orders to the staff of his paper or facing down the authorities over some nefarious doings he had gotten himself involved in. But the last time she had seen him like this had been when he had returned to Llanfair with her, after the initial DNA test had told the family that there were two Todd Mannings. She had come to tell him that a guest room was ready and found him, asleep on her couch, curled into a ball as much as was possible. Seeing him like this now and remembering the events of a year ago also made her think she was glimpsing the boy he had been under the rearing of Peter Manning, such as it was.


“His vitals are improving,” Nurse Webber informed her gently. “I’ve been assigned to him, so if you need anything, let me know.”


Viki turned to the young woman. “You seem to have a real gift for this, Miss Webber. I can see that already.”


Elizabeth smiled. “I’m third generation in the medical profession. My father’s a doctor and my grandmother was a nurse. My grandfather, Steve Hardy, ran this hospital for decades. So I guess it comes naturally.”


Viki turned back to her. “Your grandfather was Steve Hardy?” With a nod, Viki continued as she smoothed the hair on her brother’s forehead. “Dr. Hardy was a medical school classmate of a doctor at Llanview hospital years ago. He brought in Dr. Hardy as a specialist to treat our sister, Merrie. I remember, he had a wonderful bedside manner. I can see it’s passed down.”


Viki left the room and Tina walked in, taking a deep breath as she closed the door. She truly didn’t know how to approach Todd. Theirs had always been a caustic relationship, from the moment she open her mouth and told him let him in on the knowledge that he was Victor Lord’s son. Then there were the battles, which she would admit now that she lost, to keep him away from Blair Cramer. As she looked at her long-time nemesis now, her heart broke for the woman. She could now see, after so many years, the same look of love Blair had for her brother that she had for Cord. “Todd, I think I know how you feel about me. But I do love you, just as much as Viki. You have been the constant in her life, when I was too selfish to be.” She touched the end of his nose as she continued. “I not self-centered enough any more to tell you to come back for me. But your children need you still. They’ve lost too much too soon. And, God help me, Blair needs you too.” An old Tina smile flashed on her face. “Besides, I still need to distract Blair from Cord. I still don’t trust her around my man.” She kissed his cheek and exited the room, putting her hand on Blair’s shoulder.


Blair made a move to the door, but before she entered, she turned her heels and ran from the ICU. She was gone so fast, no one even tried to catch her. She ran until she was in front of the same chapel Tea had been in earlier. She opened the door and collapsed into a seat. After a few minutes, a hand reached out for her. As she turned, she gasped “Todd!”, only to find Carly behind her.


The look on the blonde’s face was one of horror. “Oh god, did he…” She couldn’t even make out the words.


Blair shook her head. “He’s in ICU but in a coma. The doctors, they still aren’t sure.”


Carly walked around her, sitting down. “The doctors here, they’re the best.” When she saw she wasn’t alleviating the other woman’s worry, she tried another tactic. “You have to have faith. Todd is a fighter, I could tell that the first time I met him.”


Blair began to rein in her emotions. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen him fighting for his life.” As the memory swept over her, she elaborated. “The day after our wedding, he headed off to Ireland to help a friend. He was shot, stuffed into a trunk and sent over a cliff. We all thought he was dead, and I really thought I couldn’t live without him. Then, nine years ago, he vanished and he came back a different man. Literally. It was only last year we learned that.”


Carly looked at her curiously. “Is that where the “Married to him five times but this one only three” comes in?”


Despite herself, Blair smiled. “Trust me, I will only be in the right mindset to explain that one over a case of Scotch.” She sat back, drying her eyes. “Todd and I were both outcasts in town. I was the gold-digger, he was the pariah. We bonded over who was more pathetic, even had a contest over it. And then he hit it rich and I was along for the ride…mostly because I schemed to be in that position. We hit so many rough patches, but something always drew us together.” She closed her eyes, remembering one of them. “He did the worst thing imaginable to me. He told me my baby, our son, didn’t make it. He gave away him away because he thought he was another man’s son and Todd held that against this little baby. But when he learned the truth, he brought our son home, only to present him as a baby who needed a family.” She turned to Carly. “That’s why I believe there was no malice in Todd’s heart with Tea and Sam. He would never do that again, not after that first lie.” Carly’s face softened, as Blair continued. “Knowing Todd, he got caught up in a wave of events that he lost control of. There’s some piece we’re missing here.”


Carly looked forward, think about the day’s events. “When we got to the room, you asked him if he knew who did it. Did he answer you?”


Blair concentrated for a minute. He eyes lit up. “He said, ‘He.’ But it sounded like there was more to it than that.”


Right then, Michael and Molly came into the chapel, having gone look for his mother. Michael made his way over with his cousin following. He noticed Blair sitting next to her. “How is he doing?” the young man asked.


Blair shook her head. “He’s on a respirator, but I think I heard Nurse Webber say that his vitals are improving.” At the mention of the nurse’s name, Carly rolled her eyes, unnoticed by Blair.


Molly approached the group. “I’m so sorry about your husband,” she said. “Jack told me he was in the hospital, so I came with him.”


It was the first time Blair had noticed the young woman. She smiled at her slightly. “Thank you for that,” she said.


“We met at Kelly’s and I got him out when Heather Webber came in,” Molly explained. “Can you apologize to your Uncle Luke for abandoning him with her, but Mom doesn’t want me anywhere near her.”


Blair caught the name the teenager had just said. “Heather Webber? Is that the name you said?”


Molly nodded. “Yes, she’s Dr. Webber’s mother, but I think something happened year ago that effected her mentally.”


Blair turned to Carly. “When Tea came back to Llanview with the baby, she said a woman help Todd in the woods. She met her as Todd was getting her out of the hospital. I think she said the woman’s name was Heather.” She turned back to Molly. “Tea did say that she seemed off.”


“Heather Webber also seems to have a grudge against my sister, for some reason. And Heather is related to Sam’s husband, Jason,” Molly added.


Blair began digging in her purse for her phone. “I’ve got to call Tea, see if she can confirm that woman’s name.”


Michael looked from his mother to Blair. “Why? Do you think that Heather has something to do with the shooting?


As she looked up Tea’s number, Blair turned to Michael. “Before Todd lost consciousness, I asked him if he knew his shooter. He said ‘He’. But I don’t think ‘He’ is a man. I think ‘He’ was Heather.”


Unfortunately for Blair, as she was trying to contact Tea, the other former Mrs. Todd Manning was at the police station being questioned by Anna Devane. Anna had been briefed on Todd and Tea, and Todd and Blair and Tea and Victor by John McBain. He even gave her the briefest description possible for the whole Tale of Two Todds saga. Miraculously, Anna’s head wasn’t spinning after that, but she was able to get the picture of all these relationships. She eyed the lawyer sitting across from her.


Before Anna was even able to get one word out, Tea started. “I shouldn’t be questioned without counsel present.”


“You’re not being charged with anything just yet. I’m merely trying to get a picture of the events leading up to Mr. Manning’s shooting,” the police commissioner explained.


“You want a picture of the events. That SOB murdered my husband, his own brother, in cold blood and walked on an insanity defense. Then because of his own idiocy, he can’t get me to a hospital, forcing me to give birth in a bus stop where my baby suffers from respiratory distress and died. I have half a mind to sue him for every penny he inherited for negligent death.” The woman was on a roll. “Then he has the bright idea to kidnap another baby and pass him off to cover his own mistakes.” Tea took a few deep breaths. “For your information, Madam Commissioner, I was in the hospital the whole day, from when Sam Morgan got her baby back to when they brought Todd into the ER.”


Anna merely stared at her, writing down a few notes. “Can anyone corroborate that for you?” she asked.


“Yes,” Tea replied in a surprisingly calm manner. “A Dr, Lee found me in the chapel to ask me some medical questions, and then John McBain saw me when he came in with Starr Manning.”


Anna nodded. “Thank you. We’ll contact you if we have any further questions.” Anna got up and left the room as quickly as possible.


As she left, Tea’s phone, which had been vibrating for a last minutes, was answered. “What do you want, Blair?” she asked angrily.


On the other end, Blair could picture the look on Tea’s face from the tone of her voice. “Tea, this is important. The woman you met at the hospital as you were leaving with Todd, what was her name? You know, the one who seemed strange.”


Tea calmed down for a minute, gathering her thoughts. She remembered that day and how Todd was reacting to the blonde. She kept talking over him, much like she had when Tea initially found Todd in the woods and the woman had come upon them. She paused briefly at that thought but then answered Blair’s question. “She said her name was Heather Webber. Why are you asking?”


In the chapel, Blair nodded to Carly then headed out. “That’s what I thought. I have to call John McBain. I’ll keep you updated.” As Blair turned the corner, she nearly ran into the man she was just about to call. “Heather Webber,” was all she said.


John looked at her to indicate he had no idea what she was saying. “Pardon?”


“Before Todd lost consciousness, I asked him about the shooter. He said ‘He’. I think it’s Heather Webber,” she told him. “She was the woman in the woods who Todd got for help. She also knew about the baby switch. I was just talking to a young lady who said there’s some bad blood between Heather and Sam.”


John nodded. “Is Todd out of surgery?”


Blair nodded, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “But he’s in a coma in ICU. I couldn’t…I just couldn’t see him. But I think I can now.” With a nod, John walked to the exit and Blair continued to the ICU.


Starr was in her father’s room and lifted her head when she saw her mother. “Mom’s here, Dad. You’ll wake up for her, right?” she asked, giving him a kiss before walking out of the room.


Blair steeled herself as she approached the bedside. She sat on the chair next to the bed, and grasped his hand, holding on to it for dear life. “My love, come back to me.” All that answered her was the whirl of machines. She lay her head beside him, squeezing his hand. She would not let him die.


The red hair woman smiled appreciatively at Blair. “I am so happy that all of my siblings found true love. Viki and Clint, Tina and Cord, Victor and Tea. And you Todd, you and this woman, who loves you, faults and all.”


Todd had been staring at this woman since he first heard her voice. He had not been able to get a name but the face was familiar. He then remembered. Her picture was on the mantle at Llanfair. He was very confused right now. First, if he was going anywhere, he didn’t think he’d be wearing a white suit and white shirt. He always preferred a darker palate for his clothes. Then to see a woman who had obviously lived at Llanfair, as Viki didn’t really keep random picture in her house, since he had gotten to wherever he was. If he was being honest with himself, if he was being led into the afterlife, he’d much rather see his granddaughter, his little Peanut, rather than a woman he had never met before.


But this was the woman whom the fates had deemed to bring him across. A woman he had never met and quite frankly would never had cared to, to begin with, considering this screwed up family he had. But it was his sister, Meredith Lord.




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