Dr. Larry Wolek had decided to semi-retire a few years ago, but had kept his name attached to Llanview Hospital. Every so often, he was asked to come in and help out, if they were short-staffed. That was why hew was in the emergency room that night as they brought Tea Delgado in, followed by a man who looked remarkably like his brother-in-law, Victor Lord Jr. The EMT’s were firing off information as the man hovered over the lawyer laying on the gurney.
“Sir, you’re going to have to step back while we take a look at her,” Larry said.
“No, I’m staying right here. Work around me, Larry,” Victor said.
Dr. Wolek was stunned into silence but when he finally regained his voice, his request came much firmer because of whom he realized he was dealing with. “Victor, you can’t stay right next to her. Look, can you at least move to the side of the room? Please?”
Victor looked at him, then kissed Tea’s hand. “Hang in there honey,” he whispered as he stood off to the side. He watched Larry, eagle-eyed as he and the nurses when to work.
“Blood pressure is good, heartbeat is slightly elevated,” Larry said, knowing the other man in the room would badger them if he wasn’t kept informed.
“We found her unconscious in the cemetery and we think she was injected with something,” the tech informed the doctor.
“Okay, run a blood test for toxicology. Start her on an IV and saline. She is dehydrated,” Larry said. He looked over to Victor and eventually pulled him outside. “Do you know where she’s been recently?”
Victor shook his head. “She was kidnapped a few weeks ago, I think, by this lunatic, Helena Cassadine. The woman also had my son, but we managed to get him back yesterday.”
“Yeah, Viki called to tell me and let me know about my son “ Larry informed him as he looked the other man up and down. “Forgive me for asking but how are you…I mean, Todd…”
“Don’t worry about me now, make her better!” he yelled like a child making a demand.
Larry nodded and went back into the room. Victor paced back and forth in the hallway when Jessica found him. “Victor what happened?” his blonde haired niece asked.
“We found Tea at the old man’s grave, but she was unconscious. Larry is working on her now to figure out what’s wrong. Helena should be in custody if John’s done his job correctly. Other than that…” Victor said as he peeked in the room. He could see that Tea’s eye were open and she was talking to Larry. He barged into the room “Tea?”
She smiled at him weakly. “Am I dead or dreaming?” she asked.
“No, not dreaming and certainly not dead,” he replied, cupping her cheeks as he kissed her. “You’re alright?”
“Well, we have her on fluids and we want to watch her for a few days, but right now, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with her,” Larry told him. He could tell neither one of them was paying attention to him so he excused himself.
Jessica Brennan saw him come out of the room. “Uncle Larry, how’s Tea doing?” she asked.
Larry gave her a smile. “Right now, everything seems alright but I want to keep her for observation. I also want to get in touch with John McBain. He may have some more information if he’s questioning this Helena Cassadine.” He looked back into the room. “You may want to call your mother and let her know.” With that he walked off.
Jessica made he way to the lounge and called Viki. When the other end picked up, she immediately told her mother, “They found Tea.”
Back at the hospital in Port Charles, Viki sent up a silent prayer of thanks. “That’s wonderful news! Did the get Helena?”
“From what little I got, they seem to have her under arrest,” Jessica told her.
“Is Victor there? Can I talk to him?” her mother asked.
“One minute.” Jessica walked back to the room and entered. She smiled at Tea as she handed the phone to her uncle. “Mom wants to talk to you,” she said.
Victor took the call. “Viki?”
“Victor, how is Tea?” his sister asked.
“Well, she seems fine, but the doctors, they want her to stay for observation,” he informed her. “And I agree with them. It all feels…too easy.”
“Do you think she’s like to see her son?” Viki asked, a smile on her face.
At that suggestions, Victor also smiled. “I think she’d like that.”
“I know Natalie said she wanted to get back to Llanview. Liam misses his father, so I’ll see what she says about taking the baby along with her,” Viki said.
“Thank you. I would really appreciate that,” he responded then added, “Tell…tell Todd and Blair the good news for me.” With that he ended the call.
Viki went back into Todd’s room, he was laying there, talking with Jack about sports when he saw her return. “Is everything alright?” he asked.
“Ah, that was Victor and they did get Tea back.” With that said, cheers went up from Starr and Jack. Blair merely smiled, her memories of her last visit with Tea tempering her reaction. Todd actually seemed happier about the news. At last, something seemed to be going right for his evil twin and it had a great affect to lessen any guilt Todd had been feeling for the last few months.
“I need to call Natalie and see if she’s willing to take the baby back with her when she goes home. Excuse me,” Viki said as she stepped out.
Jack made a face at his aunt. “Why does she keep calling him, ‘the baby’? His name is Victor the Third, right?”
“I think I heard it said some time today that your uncle doesn’t want to give your cousin that name,” Blair said.
“Seriously, would you like to have that name, Jack?” Todd asked. It still sent shivers down Todd’s back. He could still remember the conversation he had with the man who supposedly returned from the dead all those years ago telling him he would have been named Victor Lord Jr., if given a say.
Jack had thought it over. “I can see a point there. Has he thought of a name yet? It’s just weird He was Victor Lord the Third, now, he’s just ‘him’ or ‘the baby’. They need to give the kid a name already.”
“I think they should name him Todd,” Starr piped in.
“Yeah, like that’ll happen,” Todd snarked.
“Seriously, dad, you delivered him. I would think you’d be honored,” she replied.
“Starr, as sweet as that sounds, I still have a lot to atone for, not the least of which being that because of me, Delgado thought her son was dead, and then she nearly lost him for real. I’m the last person they’ll name the kid after,” Todd said.
“Wait, I have a suggestion,” Blair said. “How about Thomas? Think about it. Both of that little boy’s uncles are technically named Thomas. The anglicized version of Tomas and---”
“Blair, please don’t say it,” Todd said as he put his hands over his ears. “You know I’ve always hated that name. Why do you think I’ve always gone by Todd?”
“Thomas Todd Manning,” Blair finished, a smug smile on her face.
Todd’s head dropped back onto the pillow. “You know where the Thomas comes from?” Three pairs of eyes were on him. “Peter Manning’s father was Thomas. Irene wanted the name Todd, as we learned from the journal, but Peter had to put in his two cents and stuck Thomas at the beginning.”
“So you were named after your grandfather?” Jack asked.
“Thomas Manning was no more my grandfather than his SOB of a son was my father,” Todd retorted, his face reflecting his emotions.
Jack looked over at his dad then at Starr. She shook her head, indicating to drop the topic. Then she grabbed her bag. “I think Jack and I should head home. We’ve been here for how long and I need a shower. I also want to see the baby.” She walked over to her dad and kissed his cheek, then did the same with her mom. Jack did a manly fist bump with Todd and allowed his mother to give him a kiss and ha hug.
When the walked into the hospital’s hall, he grabbed his sister’s arm “What is the deal with Dad and his childhood? I don’t even really remember us talking about it before he came back, with Victor.”
“Jack, there are some things he’s never really talked about. All I know is that he was abused by Peter Manning and so was his adoptive mother. It got so bad for her, she left and had to leave Dad behind which broke her heart and Dad’s.” She looked back at the door to the hospital room. “Come on, let’s go.”
Back in the room, Blair sat on the bed and took Todd’s hand. “You know, for you, mentioning Peter Manning’s father name is really opening up. Is there more to that story about Thomas Manning?”
“You know, Blair, I’m kinda feeling tired. Maybe you should call the kids and go home with them,” he suggested, trying to avoid the conversation.
“Sorry, but I know this tactic, and it won’t work on me. Come on, I know you the best and I know you never mentioned a grandfather,” Blair told him.
Todd turned to her, and took her cheek in his hand as he pulled her in to a kiss. When they broke apart, he said, “He died just after Bitsy left. He was a real traditionalist, real old-fashioned. He didn’t know why she had left and really hated her…until he caught Peter beating the crap out of me. He warned Peter that if her didn’t stop, he’d tell someone about it. It didn’t occur to me until I learned that I was adopted what he meant.”
“He would have contacted Victor Lord, you mean,” she reasoned.
“Or at least someone connected to the trust. But Peter stopped for a few months. Then Thomas died and the beatings continued. I hated him for it, initially. I was too young to put all the pieces together so I misunderstood things then. That’s why I never went by his name. And even after I finally understood, Todd just stuck. I guess now..I see that he was trying to protect me,” Todd admitted. He let out a sigh. “One day, in the near future, before we get remarried, I promise you I will sit down with the kids and answer any questions they have about me, my childhood. I never wanted it to touch them, but if they have questions, I give them answers.”
“Before the wedding?” Blair asked. When Todd nodded, she repeated it with a smile. “Before the wedding.” Then another pause before a realization dawn on her. “You know, when we do get married, and I hate to mention this, but we’ll be tied with your sister for marriages.”
“What, Viki? No, trust me, we will never get near Viki Lord numbers. I mean, this is going to be, what, number eight for her?” Todd asked, counting the many husbands of his sister off in his head.
“That’s not the sister I was talking about.” Blair’s eyes slid to him. When he gave her a perplexed look, she explained further. “Tina and Cord just had wedding number four to each other last year and this will be our number four as well.” Todd looks shifted from confused to horrified as he fully understood what she had meant. Then Blair added insult to injury when she said, “Well, you and Tina have always been more alike then even you realized. Think about it, you both came back from the dead, you both act stupidly and impulsively, even if you mean well, you have both insisted on how much you loved Cord and I and how we would always belong together. Maybe the doctors were wrong. Maybe it’s you and Tina who are the long-lost twins.”
Todd looked about ready to curl up and die. Thinking back on it, Blair was right, not that he would admit it to her. But he scrunched his face into so many different contortions, showing the pain of her words, that Blair nearly fell off the bed laughing. Soon enough Todd was laughing too and it felt good to laugh. It felt good to laugh and to be alive.
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another great job
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