Dance with the Devil: Chapter 56

Blair opened the door to Dr. Harmon’s office.  The surgeon looked up and smiled as the couple made their way in.  “I see they finished their tests,” he said.  Todd had undergone another series of scans on his back in preparation for this consultation and they had been told the other doctor would be picking up the results to bring with him.  They waited a few minutes and the door opened again.  “Ah, Dr. Wolek, glad you could join us.”

Blair’s head whipped around expecting to see Larry Wolek standing there.  This man, however, was much younger.  He did, though, look like a red-head version of the former Llanview Hospital Chief-of-Staff.  “Dr. Wolek?” she asked.

Todd looked up and saw the resemblance immediately.  He may have had Larry’s face, but his hair coloring was just like Merrie’s.  He searched his memory banks, trying to remember his name.  Finally, it hit him.  “Daniel Wolek?” he said.

Dr. Wolek looked him over then looked at the name on the chart.  “Have we met before, Mr. Manning?” he asked.

Todd shook his head.  “No, never you and I, but you father--” Todd began when the office door opened again and Viki entered.  She took one look at the other physician and said in a surprised tone, “Danny!”

Danny Wolek couldn’t believe he was seeing his Aunt Viki.  “Oh, my goodness!  What are you doing here?” he asked as he embraced the blonde.

“My brother is having a consultation for surgery here today,” she said.

Danny looked back at his papers and read the name there.  “Todd Manning,” he said then it hit him.  “I never made the connection.”

“Yep, I’m your Uncle Todd,” the man said.

Matt Harmon looked slightly bewildered.  “You’re his nephew?” he asked his former teacher.

“Yeah, my mother is Mr. Manning’s…brother?” he said, almost as if asking a question. 

Viki reassured him.  “Daniel is our sister Merrie’s son.  By the time I had learn Todd was my brother, he had left Llanview,” 

“Yes, now, I remember Dad mentioning Todd.”  He turned to his uncle and held out his hand.  Though it was awkward, he said, “Nice to finally meet you.”

Todd had to chuckle.  He had thought he was through meeting his family, but it seemed he was not.  “Nice to finally meet you,” he replied.  Then Todd turned to Dr. Harmon.  “Is this going to be a problem for him to perform the surgery, because, we’re not especially close, if you couldn’t tell.”

Harmon looked over at Wolek.  “Usually, yes it would be.  As an uncle and nephew, rules usually dictate that it’s too close of a relationship to be ethically allowed.”

“Ah, well, there’s the loophole,” Todd said.  “Ask anyone who knows me.  I’m not that big on ethics to begin with,” he joked.  Then he got serious.  “Look, for all intents and purposes, he’s a complete stranger to me.  As my sister said, by time I hit town, he was gone.”

“And my mother’s been dead for most of my life.  Sadly, I was never really that close to even Aunt Viki,” Danny said.  “I would like to still at least consult in the OR.  If I can assist you even in that way, I would like to.”

Matt thought it over.  “Let me talk with the chief-of-staff.  If Dr. Quartermaine okay’s it, then we will go ahead like that.”  With that discussion out of way, they proceeded to move onto the particulars of the actual surgery.  It was at last decided that the surgery would be done that Saturday.  When they were finished, Todd shook their hands and he and Blair made their way to see Victor. Viki hung back, wanting to visit more with her nephew.  She agreed to meet them in Victor’s room. 

Danny led his aunt to the coffee machine down the hall.  “So, I’ve met the notorious Todd Manning.  Not what I had expected.”  His father had told him all about the man and none of it had been good.

“He’s not the same man your father had told you about.  He’s gone through an awful lot, especially in the last nine years.”  She then gave her nephew the briefest possible rundown of what had gone on in the last year.  “So, it turns out, you have another uncle and he’s also in this hospital.”

Danny shook his head.  “It’s just strange to have, well now, two uncle who are younger than me.  I wonder what Mom would have said about it.”

Viki smiled sadly.  “You know, when Todd was shot, he fell into a coma. And he told me that while he was in limbo, he met your mother.”

Danny’s eyes went wide.  “Really?” he said in disbelief.  His scientific mind had never put much stock into near-death experiences. 

Viki saw her nephew’s expression.  “You know, I was shot, New Year’s Eve and almost died.  Wherever I was, my daughter Megan was there with me, so when Todd told me that, I very much believed him.”  She touched his cheek.  “And it seems that Merrie is still making her presence felt here in Port Charles.  First, her appearance to Todd, then meeting the grandchildren of a doctor who treated her in her youth and now you.”  She kissed his cheek.  “It’s so wonderful to see you again.  We really must catch up soon.”

Todd and Blair approached the nurse’s station at Victor‘s floor.  “We’re here to see if the prisoner can be released,” Todd said to Elizabeth Webber.

Blair rolled her eyes and continued.  “Has he been cleared to leave the hospital?” she asked the nurse.

Elizabeth smiled at the two.  Checking the chart, she nodded.  “Dr. Webber sign off on it a little while ago.  I was just about to tell him.”

Blair smiled and she and Todd were about to leave when Elizabeth stopped Todd.  Blair noticed and the nurse said she just had to inform him of some things regard Victor.  Blair nodded and left the two alone.  Elizabeth walked over to the side and when they were alone, she told him, “I went to go check in on your brother last night and when I was there, he had a visitor.  Her name is Helena Cassadine and she’s--”

“Yeah, I’ve heard the name.  My son Jack’s met her.”  He looked off to the side then back at the nurse.  “Why did she want to see him?”

“He never said, but I just want you to know because she can be dangerous.  Sadly, I speak from personal experience,” Elizabeth said.  When Todd looked at her curiously, she sighed.  “She has, in the past, threatened me, harassed me and changed a paternity test on my son,” she explained.  “She obsessed with control, of her family, of their fortune.  I had an affair with her grandson and for a time, we thought my youngest son was a product of that affair.”

Todd still didn’t understand how this would connect to his brother, but thanked the woman for the information.  She nodded, also telling him she would be in to assist Victor in a few minutes.  Todd then made his way to the room and found Blair and Victor engaged in a slightly heated conversation.

“You didn’t take my advice last summer but you’re damn well going to listen to me now.  There’s a lot of potential danger and our house is the safest place for you,” she told his twin.

“There’s no discussion.  You’re staying with us,” Todd said forcefully.  “Even McBain agreed with the idea.”

“Like I’d go along with anything endorsed by John McBain,” Victor said with a laugh.  When he saw the hard expressions on the faces of Todd and Blair, he took his protests up a notch.  “I need to find my family.  I need to find Tea and my son!”

“And the authorities in two states are doing that.  But there’s a lot of pieces to this puzzle and you running off half-cocked after being out of commission for a year won’t help matters,” Todd tried to explain.  “Look, I know what it feels like to have someone you love in the clutches of a lunatic and I did just that, go after him.”  He briefly flashed to Victor Lord’s crypt and being bound, gagged and place next to the corpse by Mitch Laurence’s henchman.  “It cost time with my family.  You’ve already lost a year with Sam, with Danie.  You do anything crazy, you will lose more.”

Victor looked off to the side, a flash of that same scene running through his mind.  He didn’t move.  “Fine, we’ll play it this way, for now.”

“Good,” Todd nodded.  “Another thing.  Your nurse said she saw a woman in your room last night, a Helena Cassadine.  What did she want?”

Victor remembered the woman.  “I don’t know, she didn’t say.  When the nurse came in, she left.  Why, you know her?”

“Not real well, but she doesn’t have the greatest track record with some people in town,” Todd said.  “And she’s already threaten Jack.”

Victor looked alarmed.  “Why’d she threaten Jack?”

“He’s friends with a someone in her family, and he stepped into the middle of some dispute.  From the way Jack described her, she’s that family’s version of our mother,” Todd said.

He would have continued, but Viki and Nurse Webber arrived.  The family stepped out of the room and waited for Victor to emerge in his own wheelchair.  Blair couldn’t help but snicker at the sight.  “Look at you two, a matched set,” she said to the twin brothers.  Both bestowed her with similar looks of disgust, but they rolled off Blair.  Turning to Viki, she said, in a stage-whisper, “This should be fun, with the two of them under the same roof.”

“Bless you for what you’re about to be put through.  They were together at Llanfair for only a few hours and they were acting like babies then, especially when they were fighting over Irene’s diary,” Viki told her.

Todd snapped his fingers.  “That reminds me.  We’ve learned a number of things while you were gone, things surrounding our birth.”

“Oh, like, what?” Victor answered.

“Like the fact that I’m the older twin,” Todd said with a smile.  “Not that it was hard to figure out.  I mean, even mommy dearest described you as slow.”  

Victor sighed, realizing he was not particularly looking forward to being a guest in his brother’s house.        

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Your comments are 'payment' for the work of the authors. Our writers like to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment when you read.