Diamond in the Rough: Chapter 23

The opening was a success from the first moment the doors opened.  Guests filed in, champagne flowed, and compliments flew among the viewers.  Jenna, standing by her art with a glass of sparkling water and cherries in her hand, was smiling and greeting guests the best way a teenager could.  At times, she was awkward, but always charming.   


Starr readied herself to sing, and went over last minute details with the band.  Blair never left Todd's side, still reeling from the earlier events in the yard. She hung on his arm like jewels, and for him, it was a perfect way to show off his greatest riches.  


Starr took her place on the stage, and Todd, going in front of her to the mic, said, "Good evening, and thank you all for attending the art show for the artist known as Jenna, whose work you see displayed here this evening."  There was a great deal of applause, and he began again, "So without further delay, we'll get this party formally started with a musical number from Starr Manning."  More applause ensued, and Starr stepped to the stage.  


Jack, Sam and Timothy arrived, and walked into Capricorn, all three of them dressed to the nines.  Finding Dorian, Kelly and Cassie in the crowd, they stood, watching as Todd came back to the platform.  


"We missed Starr," Sam said.  He pouted and folded his arms.


"We were just a tad too late, my boy," Timothy said, picking up Sam so he could see.  Dorian smiled at him, and he smiled back, raising an eyebrow.  Kelly elbowed Cassie into watching the exchange between them.


The audience received Starr well, but not as well as her father received her.  Todd, glancing around for Blair, who seemed to have slipped away from her perch by him, clapped the loudest and strongest, as he approached the stage to go back to the microphone, as host.  Starr stepped in front of him, taking the mic out of his hand.  She said, "Thank you, very much."  


The applause died down, and Todd stood, confused, but waited for his cue to retrieve the microphone from her.  When the room became quiet, she said, "I want to dedicate what comes next to my father, Todd Manning.  He truly is my hero, who, despite his past errors and mistakes, has come out stronger, especially to the woman that I am going to introduce next.  My mother, Blair Manning, who will be performing a song this evening for us."  Applause again picked up, and Todd, whose eyes stung with the start of tears, watched her, fluid and confident, moving toward the stage, her red gown sparkling with flashes of light around her.  My God, I love her.  I just love her. . .  


She looked at him, and smiled, and took the microphone from Starr, and said, "Bear with me, everyone.  It's been a while."


It's hard for me to say the things 
I want to say sometimes 
There's no one here but you and me 
And that broken old street light 
Lock the doors 
We'll leave the world outside 
All I've got to give to you 
Are these five words when I 

Thank you for loving me 
For being my eyes 
When I couldn't see 
For parting my lips 
When I couldn't breathe 
Thank you for loving me 
Thank you for loving me 

I never knew I had a dream 
Until that dream was you 
When I look into your eyes 
The sky's a different blue 
Cross my heart 
I wear no disguise 
If I tried, you'd make believe 
That you believed my lies 

Thank you for loving me 
For being my eyes 
When I couldn't see 
For parting my lips 
When I couldn't breathe 
Thank you for loving me 

You pick me up when I fall down 
You ring the bell before they count me out 
If I was drowning you would part the sea 
And risk your own life to rescue me.

Lock the doors 
We'll leave the world outside 
All I've got to give to you 
Are these five words when I 

Thank you for loving me 
For being my eyes 
When I couldn't see 
You parted my lips 
When I couldn't breathe 
Thank you for loving me 

When I couldn't fly 
Oh, you gave me wings 
You parted my lips 
When I couldn't breathe 
Thank you for loving me.


Todd, standing to the side with his arms folded over his chest, made eye contact with her as the crowd erupted into cheers, and she walked to him, as he extended his hand, and drawing her close, looked into her eyes.  She leaned in to kiss him, and the crowd continued to cheer, before Todd decided to play it up, and swing her into a dip over his arm and continue their embrace.  


She was special, his mother.  Jack remembered times she comforted him when he was sick, and put her hand on his forehead, to soothe him, and sang to him until he fell asleep.  Jack, overwhelmed with emotion, kept his thoughts to himself.   He remembered her, in the darkness a few weeks back, in her nightie with a jacket over it, calling out to Todd in the chilling air.  Yeah, Dad's badass, but . . . so is Mom.  He shook loose the memory of the dead corpse he had created in his mind, and the face of Gigi Morasco in his mind's eye.


Kelly was on her tiptoes, and hooting as Todd and Blair made the romantic spectacle of the evening bring the house down.  Starr, back at the mic, announced that there was a buffet and champagne in the back of the club for everyone's enjoyment, and directed the patrons to the artwork on the sides.  Blair, having been swung back to upright, stood in the powerful arms of her husband.  Timothy was into Aunt Dorian, and Cassie and Kelly were busy with Little Sam.  His parents were rapt in each other, Jenna was overwhelmed with admirers, and he thought it would be the perfect time to . . . 


The crowd began to move to the back as directed, and Todd said, "That song.  I never heard you sing that before."


"I know.  It just came to me.  It suits how I feel, Todd.  And that's why . . ."

"You don't want me to leave you."

She nodded, and their eyes lingered.  Touched, he moved a strand of hair back from her face.  Handsome in his tuxedo, she took his hand and they walked toward the crowd, just to be met head on by Timothy and Dorian, flanked by Kelly and Cassie, who each had one of Sam's hands.  "We're going to feed this little one," Cassie said, as they disappeared into the crowd with Sam chanting, "I'm hungry."


Timothy said, "Bridgette, you're a sight and a sound for sore eyes and ears."


"Thank you, Dad," she said, kissing his cheek.  She noticed his hand interwoven with Dorian's.  She said, "Dorian, thank you for coming," and hugged her.


"You're welcome, Blair, you certainly haven't lost that beautiful voice.  My darling!"  Dorian said.  Looking to Todd, she added, "Clearly, that song was for you, and in all the time I've known you, Todd, you've never deserved it as much as you do today.  Thank you for saving my girl and Little Ray.  I should have said that much before now."


Todd, taken by surprise at Dorian's word, simply said, "It was purely selfish, Auntie Dorian, I . . . couldn't live my life without her in it."  The couple looked at each other and lost in each other's eyes for the moment, they didn't hear Timothy at first say, "Oh, what an oversight, we seem to have lost track of that scrapping young man, Jack."


Everyone glanced around and searched the crowd, but Jack seemed to be out of sight.  Blair said, "He's probably at the food, the way that boy eats!"

Dorian said, "True, teenage boys and eating, what a pair."


Todd said, "Uh, try again, he's probably where ever Jenna is."

As the two women walked ahead, Todd and Timothy followed behind, and Todd said, "Was he all right, at the house?"


"I'd like to say he was, but no.  To me, he appeared sick, sort of gray-green around the gills."


"He's been . . . he's struggling with a lot of things.  About me, about himself."


"I know he is.  We'll find him, he could not have gone far."


The crowd surrounding the buffet was thick.   As they approached closer, Jenna crossed their paths and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Manning, thank you so much for this.  An art dealer here wants to talk about my work."

"That's wonderful!"  Blair said, hugging her, and waited for Todd's input.  He was busy scouring the people for his son.  She said, "Todd, did you hear what Jenna said?"

"Yeah, that's great, Jenna, congratulations and you're welcome."  At this point, he wanted to see Jack, chowing down on a plate of food.  He continued to search, as Timothy said, "Excuse me,"

and left the group.  Dorian and Blair took a plate each, and followed the line of people, while Todd hung back, now trying to spot either Timothy or Jack, or both in the mass of people surrounding them.

Blair said, "Are you going to eat, Todd?"

"I will, Blair, I will, I just. . . want to check out that art dealer that just spoke to Jenna," he didn't like lying to her, not anymore, so he made it his goal to check out the dealer first, and was stopped head on by Starr, who was panicked.  

"Dad, come quick, please?  It's Jack, he's . . . please, Dad.  He's unconscious."

Todd pushed his way through the guests, with Starr leading the way.  Following her through an opening  in the room that lead to a service entrance and the backroom, he saw Timothy, bent over Jack, calling to him and slapping his face.  "Jack, can you hear me, boy?"

Todd took in the scene, as his heart beat loudly in his chest.  Jack looked whitish; his skin was slick with sweat.  His tie was shifted to the side and loosened, and next to him on the ground, was an empty flask of liquor.  Timothy backed off, letting Todd get near his son, and the older man grabbed the flask off the ground and stood, holding it toward Starr.  "Did he drink this?"

"I don't know," she said, "I walked in and he was lying there," she cried.  

Todd, at his son's side, said, "Jack, can you hear me?  Jack?"

Jack, very still, was not responding, and Todd looked up, and said, "I think we have a problem."

Starr said, "Oh my God, Dad, is he all right?"

"I don't know, Starr, but call an ambulance, I can't take any chances.  Ask them to come to the back door, without sirens."  Todd's face was panicked.  As Timothy crouched back down beside him, he said, "He's barely breathing."  He looked skyward, "Not my son, not now.  Blair.  She'll be . . . she won't . . ."

"Don't do this, Son.  Your family needs ya strong."

"Todd?"  Blair pushed her way into the room, "Todd, what is it?"  she gasped, "Jack, oh my God, Jack," she cried, and Cassie, to her left, steadied her.  "Oh God," she began to sob, "What the matter with him?"

Timothy stood, "Bridgette, he passed out.  Must have been drinking."

"No!  Todd?"

Todd stood, and put his arms around her.  "Hang on, Babe.  We called the ambulance."

"Has he said anything?  Has he moved?  Todd, please . . ." she cried, and he could feel every muscle in her body trembling.

"He's out cold.  He'll be all right," he assured himself as much as her.  Opening the back door, Timothy let the paramedics in, and they rushed to Jack's side.  "How much has he consumed?"  one asked.

  

Timothy handed them the bottle, and Todd said, "We aren't sure."

Todd kept his arms around Blair, who was shaking uncontrollably, and calling Jack's name, repeatedly.  The medic said, "We've got to get him to LH, now," and then to his radio, "Possible alcohol poisoning, teenage boy, approximately 16 to 19 years of age, unresponsive, breathing shallow."

Todd took Blair's hand and lead her out to the parking lot, and signaled to Williams.  "We can't leave him," she said.

"We're going to get there before him if we go now.  They don't let you be with him anyway, Blair."

"I don't care, I have to go, Todd."

He looked at her pained expression and said, "All right, you go, if that's what you want. I'll meet you there."

She said, "Oh, God, I love you," and through her tears, she hugged him.

"I'll be right there, I'll be there before you, Babe."

She ran back to the backroom of Capricorn as they wheeled Jack out.  Timothy made his way to the limo, with Dorian, Kelly, Cassie, Starr and Sam in tow.  Sam, who was very confused, said, "Dad, where are we going?"

Todd couldn't bring himself to answer.  

Timothy said, "Ah, Sam, we're going to the hospital, Jack's not feeling so well."

Sam said, "That bad stuff!  He drank it again, didn't he?"

No on answered, and Sam whimpered against Timothy's shoulder.

They piled into the limo.  "Williams, get us to Llanview Hospital, the ambulance entrance at emergency, now."  Todd said, and Dorian caught the raggedness of his voice.  She couldn't imagine Blair or Todd losing another child.  "We're getting there before the ambulance, do you hear me?"

The whole drive, Todd could only think of one thing, and that was little baby Jack, looking up at him from his carrier, on the plane, coming back from Texas, and smiling.       

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

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