Dance with the Devil: Chapter 6

Merrie gave her brother an indulgent smile. “It is so wonderful finally to meet you,” she said as she gestured around the hospital room with her hand ending at the figure on the bed, “even under these circumstances.”


“Look, I will admit, it is nice to meet you, but can we get this over with?” he asked in an annoyed tone.


“Get what over with?” she asked, then she realized what he was saying. “Oh, you think you’re going to die.”


He raised an eyebrow to her. “Well, yeah. That’s what all this is for. You’re going to ‘bring me across’, right?” He sighed, looking at himself. “Though I was hoping I’d see my granddaughter in a situation like this. Or even…” Todd’s voice trailed off.


Merrie crossed her arms in front of her. “There’s a very good reason why it’s me. Neither of them are here,” she said.


He was confused by the notion. “What, two innocent kids can’t get…here!” he exclaimed in disbelief. “God, this is a tougher ticket than I thought. Wonder what I did to get one?”


“They’re not here here!” Merrie tried to reply, but she shook her head. “Look, they are not what is important right now. I’m the one that’s here to tell you that you are not leaving your family.”


“And why not? I’m no good for any of them!” he said in a voice that was getting louder, not that he thought Blair could hear him from her position by his side. Surprisingly though, the door to his room opened and Viki walked in with the nurse right behind her.


She walked over to Blair’s side and gently shook the other woman. Blair stirred and turned to Todd’s sister. “Blair, honey, maybe we should head back to the hotel. Nurse Webber told me she would call if there was any change.”


Blair shook her head. “I can’t leave him Viki. If anything happened and I wasn’t here…”


“I can talk to his doctor. We may be able to set up a cot in here,” the young woman offered.


“Oh, yes, can you do that?” Blair said with pleading eyes. Elizabeth left to check, returning a few minute later to tell her that the doctor had seen no problem with it.


Viki turned to her. “Look, I’m going to see to see Tina, Cord and the kids off. Cord promised to drag Starr back to the hotel if needed. Then I’ll come back and stay with you.”


“Oh, Viki, you don’t need to be here--” Blair began.


“Not another word. I’m staying. You need me as much as he needs you,” she told her. Starr came in and whispered pleas in her father’s ear but Jack stayed outside, unaware even to himself how his family’s grief was even getting to him. The party left the hospital, with only Viki and Blair remaining.


Todd had stood back, taking note of his son outside. “See what I mean? Jack still won’t even acknowledge me. Not that I can blame him, what with everything surrounding his birth and now killing the only father he knew.”


“Jack is reacting based on the facts he thinks he knows. But he will come around, believe in that,” Merrie told him. She turned back to Blair still holding Todd’s hand. “See, look how much she loves you. She can’t even be apart from you now.”


Todd looked at her pityingly. “She’s a fool.” He turned his face away. “All I’ve ever done is hurt her. If I’m no longer around, she won’t hurt again.”


Merrie looked up at the clock on the wall. It had just turned midnight. She let out a sigh. “I can tell it’s going to be a long night,” she said, walking up behind him. Her hand flew up to his head and a loud crack sounded as her fingers hit the back of his head.


“OW!,” he cried, turning to her. “What the hell was that for?” He was rubbing where he’d gotten smacked.


“That’s for being…YOU!” she said, her frustration growing. “Are you really that blind to not see all the people who love you, who miss you?”


“Yeah, they missed me so much they never came looking for me and allowed some cheap imitation into the family,” he retorted. His head still stung. “God, at least none of Viki’s lectures over the years involved whacking me.”


“You know, right now, in this very moment, you are acting so like Father,” she informed him.


If there was one thing his family could throw at him that truly hurt, it was a comparison with Victor Lord, Sr. “Thanks, Sis, but I am well aware of how similar I am to our old man.”


Merrie shook her head and he voice softened. “That was not what I meant.” She took a deep breath. “He was convinced that I wasn’t his daughter, did you know that? He thought my mother had an affair and I was the product of that. That was why he pushed Viki so hard she began to crack. He didn’t truly acknowledge me, even as much as he acknowledge you and Tina.”


“Viki cracked, if you haven’t been paying attention from wherever you’ve been, because of what that pervert did to her since she was a little child,” Todd shot back.


Merrie turned away from Todd. “No, that was what shattered her. But Niki Smith is there as a release for a woman who was rigidly molded.” She returned his gaze. “I was there, Todd, from the beginning. And I am well aware of our father’s…” She was unsure of how to couch her words, so she let them die. “I saw him, when I was a little girl.”


Todd’s face turned from one of disgust to one of sympathy. The thought of witnessing Victor…


But Merrie stopped him. “No. The summer Viki was away, I was too sick to go, so I stayed behind at Llanfair. One night I heard noises coming from his room and when I peeked in, I saw him with a red-haired girl. I ran back to my room and eventually saw her leave.” She paused for a minute. “One year later, we were all invited to christening of Irene’s daughter, Tina. Viki was her godmother so I went with her, but Father begged off, saying he was too busy. When I saw the baby, I knew, but I was too afraid to say anything. That was the last time I saw her.”


Todd leaned against a wall. This was taking a lot out of whatever was left of him. Then he was aware of a dull ache in his back. He was able to ignore it, though. “Did he ever…” He hated to ask the question, but he had to know. Besides, at this point, he couldn’t be any more disgusted by his father than he already was.


“That’s not important. What is important is what is right here,” she said as she moved to the bedside. With one hand, she stroked Blair’s head as his true love fell asleep. With her other hand, Merrie reached up and brushed the hair away from Todd’s eyes. “Todd, losing you once nearly killed her. But what was worse was having you there and falling out of love with her. If anything has hurt Blair the most, it was losing to Tea,” Merrie said lovingly. “She managed to suck it up and deal, but that was the worst.” She turned to her brother. “It even hurt when she saw you kissing Carly Jacks.”


“Hey, I won’t have had to do that if she hadn’t breezed into town saying she and whatshisname were engaged. Turnabout is fair play,” he concluded.


“Well, thank god for the both of you that was resolved quickly,” Merrie said, a quirky smile playing on her lips. “My point is you can’t leave her You two are too bound together. Why do you think Hell keeps spitting you out, as you are wont to say?”


“Now your sounding like Viki. ‘Wont’. ‘At’all’. God, where did you two learn to talk like that?” Todd asked sarcastically. The pain in his back was get more noticeable. He was working hard to ignore it, as he realized his resolve was weakening. “Fine, you want the truth? I’m scared.”


“What are you scared of, Todd?” she asked quietly, but she knew the answer.


“I can’t go on hurting her,” he said. He had come to this realization after John had burst in on them in the winter. The look on her face when he was being arrested had torn at him more than the arrest itself. “That was why I had to tell her what I did as soon as I did.”


Merrie knew he was talking about Tea’s son. “You really have grown, Todd.”


He shrugged his shoulder. “Well, the eight years away being tortured gave me time to think.” His eyes shifted downward and he looked sheepish. “Gave me a lot of time. I see a lot of the mistakes I’ve made over the years. And every one of the I made with Blair.” Now the pain in his back was getting worse, to the point that he couldn’t stand. Todd slid his body down the wall. “Ah, Sis, why is my back killing me?”


She walked back to his prone self in the bed. “You’re heading back.” She looked up at the clock. It was nearly three in the morning. “Would you look at that? Not as a long of a night as I thought.” She touched the cheek of the man in the bed. “Don’t fight it, Todd. Go back to them.” Merrie began to slowly fade away, but as she left, she said to him, “I love you Todd. I love them, all of them. Viki and Tina and Victor and Hope.”


Todd was wincing at the pain now as he watched one sister vanish before his eyes and another walk off down the hall. Viki made her way to the nurses station and saw Nurse Webber talking to Dr. Webber. Elizabeth saw her and brought the doctor over. “Mrs. Banks, I don’t know if you’re aware but Steve is my brother, also Dr. Hardy’s grandson,” Elizabeth said.


“Elizabeth told me that our grandfather treated your sister. I do vaguely remember him tell me about Dr. Craig,” Steve said.


Viki smiled despite all that was happening. “Yes, Jim Craig was a wonderful doctor but there was some aspect of the case that he wanted another opinion on. Dr. Hardy was called it.”


“And did everything work out in the end?” Elizabeth asked.


“Yes, my sister made it through. She eventually got married-to a doctor- and had a son, but she died in fall shortly after her son’s birth,” Viki said. The pain of losing Merrie had faded long ago, but was coming back with the events of the past day. “Ah, is there someplace I can get a cup of coffee,” she asked, politely extracting herself from the conversation. Elizabeth directed her to the vending machines and she got two cups of coffee. She returned to the room and found Blair asleep, still clutching Todd’s hand. He saw her from his position on the floor, the pain in his back becoming unbearable. Then, for some reason, he balled his fist.


On the bed, Blair awoke when she felt her hand being squeezed. “Todd?” she asked drowsily. “Todd is that you?”


Viki moved to the bed. “Todd, can you hear us?” she asked, moving beside Blair.


“Yeah, you don’t have to shout!” he called to them from the floor., not that either of the women could hear him.


Viki left the room as Blair held his hand. “Todd, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand. Come on, Todd!”


Todd flexed the muscle in his hand and the figure on the bed returned the squeeze. “Well, would you look at that,” he said in amazement.


By then, Dr. and Nurse Webber rushed in and Viki and Blair left to let them do their work. The shades were closed and Blair began to pace the floor like a caged tiger. After a time, the door opened and Todd’s sister and lover could see him with his eyes open in the bed. He looked drowsy, but he was focused on them. Blair ran in, nearly knocking over Elizabeth and planted a deep kiss on his lips. Steve Webber explained a few thing to Viki and the brother and sister left the room as Viki approached.


“Don’t you dare do that to me again, you son of a bitch. You had us so scared,” she cried with tears of joy.


“You did have us scared, Todd. Well, it looks like it will all be okay now,” Viki added.


His eyes slid between the two women, unsure of what to say. He turned to Viki first. “I swear, mommy, I won’t scare you like that again.” He raised his hand in the Boy Scout salute. “Scout’s Honor.”


Viki had to laugh. “I doubt very much you were ever a scout.”


He shrugged his shoulders. “There are still a lot of things you don’t know about me.”  Then he turned his attention to Blair. “I love you. I just…I want you to know that.”


“I love you, so much,” she said, touching his scarred cheek.   She pulled her hand back and kissed him again.


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