Hope from the Ocean: 46

Patrick had been awake for several hours, but had chosen to lie in the morning silence until Timothy made his way out of the bedroom.  Patrick sat up, plumping the pillows and leaning onto them.  He said, "I go back today, and see my beloved Margaret."

"Yes, ya do.  Todd is coming.  I must go out for a while, to take care of a few loose ends with my contacts.  Once ya say y'ar goodbyes, ya'll be on your way.  And a bright future, I wish ya both."

"Thank ya.  I'm grateful."  Patrick said.

"I am sure ya are.  But remember, it's Todd and the RA21 that ya owe a debt of gratitude to."

"I promise ya, I know what Todd means to ya now, and I'll make certain he understands that it's all said and done.  Once and for all."  Patrick acknowledged.

A knock came at the door.  "And ya get your chance sooner than later."  Timothy went to the door.  He said, "Todd," and hugged his son to him, patting his back.  As they pulled back, "I am so proud of ya."  

"Eh, Old Man, all in a days work."  He stepped rather awkwardly into the flat.  "Patrick.  I'm glad you're seeing the light of day."  Aiden entered the apartment, and Timothy greeted him with a handshake.  Both men turned to watch the rest of the interaction unfold.

Patrick said, "It's more than that.  Ya know this."

"Okay, McPoet.  It wasn't much," Todd said, stepping back.

"It was.  And if ya can stop your snarking for more than a minute, I can tell ya exactly what it means."

***

"Sister, I think this is important for Todd,"  Blair said, giving Ray his bottle and putting him down in the crib.

"Ah, yes, he needs this kind of thing.  He's always been searching for something to bring him peace, give him that heroic status the children talk about.  He's so hard on himself; no one is harder on Todd than Todd."

"He's my hero.  So much, Sister.  He doesn't even realize it.  He's stuck in believing the worse about himself.  Especially with . . . how he grew up."  She caressed her son's hair, as his eyes closed in the crib and the bottle fell to the side.  "He didn't have the things Todd's given Starr and his sons, in the short time he's been with them.  He . . . never had it," her voice cracked slightly, and the nun put a hand on her shoulder.

Sister Rebecca Katherine said, "I'm so very sorry, Bridgette."  

Blair wasn't sure she had ever heard the nun ever speak so quietly.  She said, "I am, too.  It's not fair.  He was just a little boy.  He deserved love, and he deserved to be safe."

"Ya can't go back, Dearest.  Ya can't change it.  He knows that, and he's trying to move on."

"I know," she said, going to the window seat, and resting her hands on her bump.  "Sometimes, I don't know how he does it, Sister.  He's been through so much."

"He does it because of the children and because of y'ar love.  Ya know this."

Blair smiled, but her eyes teared.  "I hope Patrick relieves him, somehow, of the guilt and responsibility for what happened twenty years ago.  It would be an important step in healing."

"I think he will.  The question is, how will Todd receive it?"

***

"I know what it means.  I found your sorry behind.  What of it?"  Todd said.  

Timothy watched his adopted son carefully, seeing beyond the bravado, and softly said, "Listen to him, Son.  Give Patrick a chance to talk."

Patrick said, "There is only one man alive who can understand what The Men of 21 would perpetrate on another man, on another human being.  That man is you, Todd.  Ya didn't have to relive it all, just to find me.  Ya could have let the agents try, in their own time.  Problem is, I was already primed to die.  If ya didn't step in . . ."

"If I didn't step in, you'd be skewered Irishman.  I get it."

"Stop it.  Ya have to listen, Man.  Ya can give me that, can't ya?"

Todd looked down, and then said, "Mind if I sit while I am listening?  You're long-winded."

"No, I don't mind.  As long as ya shut that trap of y'ars and hear me."

Todd looked to his hands.  "Go ahead.  But make it quick, the plane is set to go, and it has another stop to make."

Patrick started off booming, from the gut.  "The type of man who would go back, into his personal hell, aside from all the other things of damnation ya've learned since ya came back to the living, and face it all again for someone else is not a coward.  The kind of man who would do this, show this bravery and selflessness is not the man who would hurt an innocent woman."

Todd looked up, suddenly, and focused his eyes on Thornhart's face.  Patrick's voice softened, "That means the man who did that terrible thing, all those years ago, is dead.  He's no longer living.  So ya must not continue to pay his debts.  He's gone, Man, and he's paid.  That's all there is and it has to stop here and now."

Todd didn't speak, he just continued to stare at Patrick, and his eyes took on the appearance of relief and grief at the same time.  

Patrick said, "And I'm not alone in this.  Someone else, who knows first hand, that it's over.  And you know just who I mean."

Todd swallowed.  "I . . . appreciate you saying all this to me.  But why?"

"Because it's the damn truth, Man.  It's time to let go.  For all of us.  You, me, Margaret, and y'ar wife.  It's time."

Todd couldn't find words, but lowered his head and grimaced, as if to keep from breaking down. 

Patrick continued, "Now I deeply thank ya for saving my life, and giving me the chance to go back and live it.  And ya have to live y'ars, too."  He extended his hand.  Todd stood, and taking the large, rough hand, shook it.  "I can't thank ya enough, for my freedom and my life," Patrick said, and pulled Todd to him, briefly in a short embrace, complete with a strong back slap.

Timothy raised his eyes to the ceiling, and felt them sting with moisture.  Then he turned to the young, scarred man beside him.  "Ya did well, Young Man.  I don't know ya, but I wanted to say this turned out to be a pleasant chapter."

Aiden said, "It has," and the two shook hands as well.  "Aiden," he said.

"Timothy," and then, "pleased."

Todd noticed, while pulling back from the embrace with Patrick, that Timothy's expression when looking at Aiden was one of slight recognition, that faded instantaneously as they turned back to the main event.  Then Timothy said, "I must be going, now.  I'll be in touch later, Son.  Patrick, good luck to ya and to y'ar family."  The door closed after him, with the familiar grab of the lock.

In the silence, Patrick said, "So when do I leave?"

"You go later this afternoon," Todd said, "I had to get clearance, set things up.  Papers, etc.  We needed someone to meet you back in the U.S. to assure everything is right.  Won't be until close to supper hour."

"Ah, Brothas, that gives us time to hit the bar, eh?  Drinks all around."  Aiden said, smiling his huge, striking grin.

Patrick shrugged, "I'm all right with that.  Todd?"

"Why the Hell not?"  he asked, and the three of them went out the door toward the tavern that Aiden frequented most.

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