Dance with the Devil: Chapter 51

The next morning, one of the nurses brought Victor the morning edition of the paper.  He went to pick it up and saw the picture of Todd on the front page.  “What?” he asked aloud.  Turning it over, he saw that it had a weather map for upstate New York, but very clearly, it was his paper. 

The nurse, who had introduced herself as Elizabeth Webber, saw the confusion on his face.  “Don’t worry, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you.  Your brother bought our local paper a few months ago and renamed it.  I think he mentioned he still is the publisher of the Llanview version as well,” she said before she left.

When he opened it, a wave of familiarity came over him.  Everything was exactly the same as the paper in Llanview.  He was going over the pages when he heard the door to his room open.  For a moment, fear overcame him.  He imagined Allison Perkins coming in with a needle loaded with whatever she had been giving him for the last several months.  Finally, he put the paper down and saw Starr standing there.

“Uncle Victor?” she gasped, not believing her own eyes.  She ran over to the bed and cupped his cheek.  “They were right, it really is you!”

He flashed her a smile.  “Starr,” he said, and put his arms around her. A tear rolled down his cheek.  Even though things had been left awkward when he had been taken, to his memories, she was still his little girl.  No amount of acceptance of being Victor Lord Jr. would change that. 

Starr broke away from him.  “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to be seen,” he responded.  “You must have gotten here quick.”

Starr was confused.  “What do you mean?”  Then she understood.  “Oh, no, I live here in Port Charles now.”

Victor shook his head.  “You left Llanview?”

“Yeah.  It’s a long story, but I living here in Port Charles now.  I sing at a club, called the Haunted Star and I’m working on my album,” she said, trying to remain as vague as possible.

Victor, though, could tell she was hiding something.  “Not to be pushy, but Port Charles isn’t exactly the record capital of the world.”  At that, Starr ducked her head.  “Something happened and you’re going to tell me.”  Before she could answer, Todd and Blair came in.  Starr looked at her parents, who had heard the tail end of Victor’s order.  Victor looked at them and realized they were all not telling him something.  “What’s going on?  Look, I may not be your father, but I want an answer!”  With that, monitors started blaring. 

“Victor! Victor, calm down,” his ex-wife cried out. 

Nurse Webber rushed in and they managed to relax him.  She gave him a sedative and he fell back to sleep.  Outside the room, Elizabeth explained, “While we’re not sure what exactly they gave him, it’s effected his heart.  We really need to keep his stress levels down, for his recovery’s sake.”

When the nurse left them, Starr put her hands on her forehead.  “How do we tell him about Hope?” she asked.  Even though everything had gone so wrong for her and the man she had thought at the time was her father, she knew he had loved her little girl and still had thought of himself as her grandfather.  While Todd had been more demonstrative in his affection, Victor had shown he cared for her little girl.

“You’re not going to tell him.  I will,” Todd replied.  “I seem to be the bearer of bad news to him anyway, so let me do it.”

Starr gave her dad a perplexed look.  “What do you mean by that?” she asked. 

Todd looked at Blair then at Starr.  “You know those discussion we’ve had about twin connections?  Well, as if my life can’t get any weirder than it already had, I had a dream about him a few nights ago.   But when I talked to him after he woke up yesterday, I found out that all I had told him in the ‘dream’ he had actually heard.,” Todd explained.

“Wait, what your saying almost sounds like a psychic connection,” she said, her scientific brain working through what he had just said. 

Todd looked sheepish, but noticed the body on the bed was stirring.  He wheeled himself back into the room and waited until Victor was fully awake. 

When Victor finally rejoined them from the land of slumber, he winced at seeing Todd.  “Why do I keep seeing your ugly mug?” he asked, only half joking.

“Hey, remember, if it weren’t for Mommy’s little plastic surgery procedure on you, you too would have looked as handsome as me,” he retorted, smirking at his twin.  Blair and Starr merely rolled their eyes at the two of them.  Todd ignored them both, focusing on the man in the bed.  “Look, we’ll tell you whatever you want to know, but you need to stay calm, or I swear, I’ll get the nurse back in here and make sure your out for another year.”

“Like to see you try,” Victor mouthed off.  He slid his gaze to both Blair and Starr, then nodded grimly.  He knew whatever they had to tell him wasn’t good.  “First off, why are we all in upstate New York.?”

Todd took a deep breath.  “Starr was out in LA working on her album with the porno guy, Powers, when I was arrested for your murder.  So, she, Hope and Cole few back east.”

“Wait, Cole?  He’s in prison,” Victor interrupted.

“Look, just, just let me finish  Their plain was diverted here so they were going to stay the night before driving back to Llanview.  On the way into town, there was an accident,” Todd said as he looked at Starr.  Blair had her arm wrapped around their daughter’s shoulder.  “Cole and Hope were trapped in the car and it…” Todd couldn’t even finish the sentence.

Victor’s eyes widened.  He didn’t how it had happened, but he knew Marty’s son and his daughter were dead.  Starr walked over to his bed as he engulfed her in a hug.  Fresh tears sprung from her eyes and Victor tried to soothe her.  After a few minutes, Starr wiped her eyes as she went back to her mother.  The two went outside and Victor turned to Todd.  “I want to know who the bastard was who caused the accident.,” he stated coldly.

“That’s where it gets complicated.  The car that swerved into Starr’s lane had its tires shot out.  The person who shot out those tires…suffers from DID,” Todd calmly explained.  “You know of Kate Howard, right?”

“Yeah, she a bitchy fashion editor.  She started her own magazine a few years back,” Victor replied.

“Well, she dates the local mob boss, Sonny Corinthos.  The night of the accident, there was a confrontation between Sonny and a rival, after which, the rival left and was pursed by Kate, who, in her alternate personality of Connie Falconeri of Bensonhurst, is apparently an Olympic level marksman,” Todd said.  “She shot out the tires of the rival’s car, which swerved into the other lane.  After Starr got out, the car crashed into a ravine.”

“And was she arrested?  What happened?” he asked.

“Look, there was a trial because the cops thought it had been Sonny, who seems to be Port Charles’ most wanted.  When he was found not guilty, Starr…took matters into her own hands, which is why your wife was up here at eight and a half months pregnant.  I came back here to help Starr, since I was still persona non grata down in Llanview, stayed up here, bought a paper which has tripled in circulation since then.”  Todd looked back at where Starr and Blair were.  “Not that that’s prevalent to Starr.”

Victor lay his head back on the pillows.  He remembered all the confusion that had surrounded Hope’s birth and the death of Jessica’s daughter, Chloe.  All the pain that his dau…niece had gone through, then the joy of getting her back and only to lose her again as collateral damage in some mob war.  Then a thought occurred to him.  “Have you spoken to Marty?”

“No, John McBain made contact with her and Patrick.  Or, at least Patrick.  Marty’s still…out of it.  With all the damage we’ve wrought on her, I don’t even want to think…” was Todd’s response. 

Starr walked back in then, more composed.  She nodded to Victor.  “When your better, we’ll talk about this more.  But right now, I actually have to be going.  I need to get over to the Haunted Star.”

She kissed him on the cheek and then did the same to her parents and left.  After she was gone, Victor looked at Todd.  “That’s one amazing kid there.”  He smiled.  “Hell of a job.”

“From all three of us,” Todd admitted.  “Yeah, we all screwed up,” he eyed his brother, “but we all raised her.”  Then he signaled to Blair. 

She caught his look.  “I’m going to see what the doctors are saying about your condition.  Play nice while I’m gone.”

Victor could see the look that crossed between the two of them.  “You have more news for me,” he said.

“How did you know?” Todd asked.  “Never mind.”  He paused.  “In other news, our dear sainted mother is dead.”

“Well, I’ll make sure I start wearing black for her,” he responded.  “Who can I pin the medal on for that one?”

Todd smiled at him.  “Oh, well, that was me.  She threatened to kill everyone, Blair, Tea, Viki, the kids.  She was after a microchip I hid years ago but after she reneged on a deal, I threw it in the river and she shot me.  I finally managed to get the gun away from her and in the process…dead Irene.  Which actually leads me to a question for you.  What kind of moron are you to leave my…an entire estate to a woman who we all thought was dead for thirty years?”

Dr. Webber was at the hub when Blair approached.  “Hi, I was wondering if you had any more information on my brother-in-law’s condition?”

Steve looked at the chart.  “Well, besides the agitation he just experienced, everything else seems to be normal.  I would advice that he stay one more overnight, but after that, I think he’ll be released.”

“Thank you,” she said.  As she turned around, she nearly ran into Dr. Ewen Keenan.  “Oh, I’m so sorry.  I was distracted there for a minute.”

“That’s quite alright,” he said.  As she began walking away, he inquired, “Has Mr. Manning had a setback?  Is that why you’re here?”

Blair smiled.  “No, actually, Mr. Manning is doing fine.  They found his brother alive yesterday and he’s recuperating now.”

“Victor Lord, Jr. in here at General Hospital?” Ewen asked.

“Yeah, someone dumped him on the side of the highway.  He was drugged up but everything seems to be clearing his system and he may even be released soon.”  She then heard raised voices.  “You’ll have to excuse me, but Todd and his brother have been reunited and, well, they’re not exactly close.  I’d better get back there.”

“Of course,” Ewen said to her departing form.  He went back to his own office and lock the door.  Sitting at his desk, he pulled out a cell phone and found the number he was looking for.  “I just got word.  Victor Lord, Jr. is alive and he’s right here in the hospital….According to a family member, he seems to be doing fine.  What do you want me to do?  Alright, I can keep an eye on him.  His brother is a patient of mine already, so I may be able to get information through him.   I may even be able to have him come in and talk as well.”  There was a long pause.  “We do have those records on file?  Well, that may be helpful.  I’m sure they will run a full tox screen on him and with the drugs they probably needed to a procedure of that type, I would think some would be unidentifiable.  I will keep you updated.”  When the call ended, he put the phone back in his desk draw, planning his next move.   

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