Port Charles Chronicles: Chapter 35

         Kevin had finished his report when Starr and Michael returned from eating.  As Todd was still sleeping, he left them and made his way to Patrick Drake’s office.    “Dr. Drake, we haven’t met.  I’m Dr. Kevin Collins.  I was asked by Dr. Webber to check up on Todd Manning. ”

        “Dr. Collins, are you a neurologist?”

        “No, I’m a psychiatrist.  Dr. Webber expressed concerned about Mr. Manning’s mental state.  He said you discovered something on his MRI and were afraid the damage could be causing some problems mentally.  Is that correct?”

       “Yes, we found several lesions on his brain.  They definitely are interfering with his brain waves and could be causing some misconceived perceptions.  We need to remove the lesions, then we can better ascertain the extent of the damage they might have caused.  He also had a drug introduced into his system and all of its properties are still being looked into.  Obviously, none of this is good news.  The man died in front of me and by some miracle came back.  I do believe he’s going to need your help.”

       “I have to agree.  I just came from a long talk with him.  You should know that just a couple of days ago, Todd  Manning became a patient of mine.  He was experiencing trauma in the form of flashback episodes due to Post Traumatic Stress.  He had another such episode a short while ago in his room.   PTSD is enough to knock many good men to their knees and the addition of a drug to his system could potentially bring Todd Manning to the edge.  When he visited with me the other day he was experiencing some very painful headaches.  I gather they might have been caused by the lesions.  Am I correct?”

       “Yes,”  Patrick Drake turned his laptop on and accessed the pictures taken of Todd Manning’s brain. “Look here, “ he showed the findings to Kevin. “ The MRI showed portions of his brain damaged by what I believe could have been the torture mentioned by his fiance.  The lesions are located in the same area.  They’re in the memory center of the brain.   Attempts to access his memories will probably cause him to experience the headaches because the synapses are misfiring and trying to work around the lesions.”

       Kevin frowned,  “I have a question?  Those lesions are in a highly sensitive area.  Can they be removed without hurting this man further?”

      “I believe they can.  In fact, as it stands right now they’re endangering his life more.  His headaches are only going to get worse.  This will have an adverse effect on his body especially his blood pressure.  The blood vessels around the lesions are being weakened by the stress.  If they rupture it could kill him.  I need your help to convince him to have the surgery.”

       “I’ll help all I can.  His PTSD seems to be manifesting itself in all things medical.  I should get back to him, I promised his fiance I would keep an eye on him until she could return.”  He didn’t like what he had learned.  Todd’s psyche was in a bad place.  Kevin was unsure how he would react to the suggestion of surgery.

****

       Blair sat and looked at her son.  It was up to him now.

       “I get it.  You want me to give him a chance.  I tried that, and he let us all down.   You say he’s sick.  I know from that tape that he went through something, but it doesn’t excuse him in my book.  It was sick of him to lie to us about his role in Dad’s death.  How can you ignore that?”

      “Jack, you don’t understand.  He didn’t lie to hurt us.  He was trying to cope with memories that were incomplete.  He truly believed at first that he didn’t have anything to do with his brother’s death then he started having strange flashbacks.   He still isn’t sure what occurred on the day Victor died.  He’s been having episodes where he’s back in the compound.  You have no idea how terrifying that is for him.  I do, I’ve seen it.” She recalled Todd‘s fear earlier when Liz Webber had just wanted to draw blood.  On top of Irene, it was clear he was still being affected by his captivity.

      “ I was right, you’ve been up here holding his hand, haven’t you?  What kind of sob story did he spin this time?  Why did you bring us here?”  Jack paused, “Mom, where have you been since you dropped us off?  You said it was an emergency, but you never came back last night.  What happened?” Jack waited for her answer.

     “I was at General Hospital.”

      He heard the catch in his mother’s voice and was getting a feeling something bad had taken place.

      “Whoa, did something happen to Starr or was it him?” He was afraid of the answer.  He just knew it had to do with his father.”

      “It wasn’t Starr.  A couple of days ago, someone tried to kill your father.  They almost succeeded.”

      “Who did he make mad this time?”  Jack responded sarcastically.  Secretly, it bothered him, but he wasn’t ready to let down his guard regarding his father.  As soon as he said it, he saw his mother’s face and wished he could take it back

       Blair felt as if she had been struck. Tears formed and all she could get out was his name. “Jack.”  He was still refusing to see his father as other than an interloper.   After almost losing Todd, she couldn’t take any more of Jack’s anger.  She struggled to contain her tears.  Anger or no anger, he needed to know the whole story.  She stared at her son and quietly continued. “Your father didn’t do anything.  He was shot and nicked by the bullet.  He didn’t realize there was something on the bullet, but it made him ill.  When I left to come home yesterday, he was fighting a fever, which I assumed was just the flu.  While I was gone, he became delirious and left the hotel.  The police and your sister went looking for him.  Starr found him and saw him fall into the lake.  He didn’t surface and she went after him.  With the help of her friend, they got him out of the water, but he had stopped breathing.”  She paused and saw that Jack had stopped smirking.  “They got him breathing again, and he was taken to the hospital.  His fever was sky-high.  He had been infected with malaria.  He crashed in the ER just before I arrived, due to the high fever, but they got him back.”

          Sam had ventured out of his room when he thought his mom and brother might finally be over their talk.  He was about to return to his room when he heard his mother say that someone had tried to kill his uncle.  Now he stood petrified, listening to her story.  He remembered the man who had been hunting his uncle when they first met.  Did that bad man have friends? He couldn’t contain himself. “Mom, is Uncle Todd okay?  He didn’t die like Dad, did he?”

         Blair turned startled by Sam’s sudden question. “Oh no, Little Man, your Uncle Todd is alive.  I’m sorry you heard that.  He’s going to be okay.  He’s been really sick, but the doctors are making him better.” She held out her arms and Sam came to her.

        “Okay.  You said someone tried to kill him.  I’ll bet it was a friend of the guy who tried to hurt me when I first met Uncle Todd.   You know, the one he saved me from.  That guy was mean and he said he had orders.  Maybe whoever gave that guy orders, sent someone else after Uncle Todd.”

        “Maybe, Sam. The police are trying to find out who tried to hurt your uncle.  In the meantime, he’s really feeling sad and could use some cheering up.  Would you like to help me cheer him up?”

        Sam enthusiastically replied. “Sure Mom, does that mean we can go see him?”

        Blair looked from Sam to Jack.  “Yes, I’ll take you to see him.  How about it Jack, will you go with us to see your father?”

       Jack wasn’t sure what to say.  When his mom had looked at him with tears in her eyes, he had felt like he had kicked a kitten.  She had told him she still loved his father and he had made light of the fact that someone tried to kill him.  Instead of getting mad at him, she had made him feel even worse by simply completing her story for not coming back the night before.  As she told the rest of her story, he realized just how serious things had gotten.  She wasn’t just making something up to make him feel bad for his father.  “It’s all true, isn’t it?  What you just told us.”

       “Yes Jack, I wouldn’t lie about something like that.  Your father almost died.  Can you find a way to give your father some leeway now that you have some idea what he’s really been through?  I meant what I said earlier.  He needs you to give him a chance.   I’m asking you to give him a glimmer of hope.  Go with us to the hospital.”

         Jack heard the catch in his mother’s voice.  She was really trying to keep from crying in front of Sam.  He didn’t know what to say, she had raised some questions in his mind, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to see his father yet.  “I don’t know.  I need time.  You and Sam go.  I’ll stay here with Grandma.”

        “Jack, please!”  Even as she pleaded, she knew Jack was going to need more time.  She watched his features harden and knew Jack had dropped into his stubborn mode.  “Okay, you stay here with Grandma.  Starr doesn’t know you are here yet.  I’ll tell her.  I’m sure she’ll come directly.  You can catch up on things with her.”  Blair looked at her watch and knew she had been gone too long.  Todd was going to start to panic if she didn’t return soon.  “Sam, we need to go.  Jack, don’t leave the hotel and tell your grandma where we went.”

****

          Dr. Drake joined Kevin on the walk back to Todd’s room.  Starr and Michael were sitting in a corner talking low, obviously trying not to wake her father.  Dr. Drake looked at them.  “How long has he been asleep?”

          Starr looked over at them.  “I’m not sure, he was asleep when we got here.”

          Kevin spoke up.  “He’s been asleep for a couple of hours  I figured he needed it, so I asked them not to wake him when they arrived.”  He walked up to Todd and put a hand on his shoulder. “Todd, sorry to wake you but we need to talk.”  Todd stirred and Kevin turned to Starr.  “Could you give us a  few minutes alone with your father?”

         Starr nodded and she and Michael walked out into the hall. “I guess they’re going to talk about the MRI.  Michael, you don’t have to stick around any longer.  I’m grateful for everything you did.  I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been with me.”

       “Your dad’s going to be alright.  I’m just glad I could help.”  He still regretted not being able to save Hope and Cole but he was relieved Starr didn’t lose her father too. “If you’re sure you’re going to be alright, I’ll leave now.  My mom’s been trying to reach me since yesterday when all this started.  I guess I should probably answer some of her calls.  I’m sure the curiosity is killing her by now.  So I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

        Starr looked at him, then gave him a huge hug.  “Thank you for saving my Dad.” She clung to him a moment then shyly withdrew.  “So I guess I’ll see you sometime.”

        Michael smiled.  “I’d like that.  Take care, Starr.”

        Starr was turning back toward her father’s room when she heard a familiar voice.

        “Starrrrr.”

         The next thing she knew her little brother barreled into her.

        “Starr I’m so glad to see you.   I’ve missed you.  Jack’s been a real pain since you left.  Are you alright?  Why didn’t you come home?”  Sam wrapped his arms around his sister’s waist.

       “Hey Sam, I’m fine.  There were things here I had to do so I couldn’t come home, but I missed you too.  How did you get here?” She saw her mother walking down the hall towards them.

       “We came in Uncle Todd’s jet.  It was great.  Mom brought us.  I’m going to see Uncle Todd.  Why are you out in the hall?”

       “Yes Starr, why are you out here?  Please tell me your father’s not alone in there?” Blair looked at the door worried.

      “Dr. Drake and Dr. Collins wanted to talk to Dad alone and asked me to step out.  I think they’re talking about his test results.”  Before she could say anything else, they were interrupted by Todd’s angry voice.

      “LIKE HELL!  NO ONE IS CUTTING INTO MY BRAIN!”




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