"Whoa there mister, you can't be serious. Do you want to meet him now? I'm not sure that's a good idea given what just happened. Not to mention, you've just been given some medicine and we have no idea how it will affect you." said Blair looking alarmingly at Todd.
"Blair, I feel fine and I'm sorry I scared you but I do think Manning and I need to meet. I can't keep living this way. Please tell me you understand." replied Todd. He studied her face looking for something that would tell him she was okay with the idea. She wasn't too fond of it, by her expression. "I really need to do this. Manning needs to know I'm here so he can wrap his mind around the idea too. If he's awake then the target is on his back again. The next time the sniper might not miss. He deserves to know why he's in danger. So I'm going to his room. You coming or not?"
Blair knew arguments were not going to work. He had made up his mind and so she said. "I'm coming because we don't want to shock his system, and you need the backup."
Todd stood up off the bed holding on to the bed until it stopped spinning. Then he took Blair's hand and they headed for Manning's room. As they came around the corner they saw Shaun standing outside.
"Mr. Toddman are you alright? You didn't look too good when they brought you in," asked Shaun.
"Shaun, I'm doing much better, but I heard my cousin is awake. Are the doctors still in with him?" asked Todd.
"They just left, only Tea and Dani are in there right now." said Shaun.
"Then it's alright if we go in." asks Blair.
"Sure Blair, it will be fine." Shaun opened the door and Blair and Todd entered.
Manning was talking to both Tea and Dani and didn't register the new visitors at first. Then he looked up and saw Blair, but before he could say anything to her, a man walked into view from behind her. Manning's eyes widened as he took in the man who stood at the end of his bed. "What the hell." Manning knew those features like the back of his hand. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Do you want the current identity or the real answer to that question? Right now to a number of The Sun's readers, I'm Samuel Toddman, the new owner of The Sun. But the real answer to that question is this. I'm Todd Manning." Todd answered.
"You're lying and you're doing it in front of people who know I'm Todd Manning. What are you trying to prove by claiming to be me?" Manning looked at his wife Tea, but she just looked at him and then back to the imposter." Tea, do you know about this? You don't seem very surprised at his statement and neither do you, Dani. Blair, you walked in with this guy. Are all of you trying to tell me you believe this guy? This is all some sort of dream, Tea, talk to me. Do you believe his statement?"
Tea moved to stand by her husband's side. "Todd, you have to calm down. You just came out of a coma. I know this is a shock to you, but you need to hear his whole story. I'm very much afraid to tell you, but what he says is true. I know you believe you're Todd Manning, but you're not. He is. He is the man who disappeared in 2003 and he has proof that he is who he says he is. But I'm here with you and whatever happens from here on out, I'm your wife and Dani is your daughter by marriage even if she isn't biologically. We're not going anywhere.” Dani also moved to stand by the man she'd come to know and they presented a united front to Todd as he stood at the end of the bed.
Manning frowned. He heard what Tea said but it wasn’t making sense. He turned his attention back to the man at the end of his bed. "What's going on? If you are who you say you are, where have you been all these years? Somehow you've managed to convince them that you're the real Todd, but it’s not true, I'm the real Todd. It appears we have a dilemma on our hands. I can prove I'm Todd all you have to do is ask my daughter Starr or my sister Vicki. They'll verify I'm really Todd"
“Yes, well you see, both Starr and Vicki already acknowledge I'm the real Todd. Vicki and I have a DNA test to prove it, not to mention that Bo and Nora are also aware of my presence. Now listen, I'm not here to take Tea away from you and I know about Dani and for now, she doesn't want to get to know me. I understand Dani, I'm a stranger to her although she's already come to terms with my past, she still is having trouble with the concept that I'm her father and not you. Blair told me how you and Dani met and how long you worked to get her to love you. I don't want to interfere with the love she has for you, but I'm hoping eventually she'll give us a chance.” Todd met Dani’s eyes briefly and then looked back at Manning.
“I came in here today to let you know I'm back and I want my life and everything that was mine back. You need to know that someone, who didn't want us to ever know each other, tried to stop this meeting by putting a bullet in you and I think they will try again to cover their tracks. You need to be aware of this. So far, the people who did this to us think I'm still in Paris. We're trying to keep them in the dark as to my true whereabouts." Todd looked at Blair, Tea, and Dani. "I need to talk to him alone. Could you all give us some privacy?"
Manning looked skeptical but nodded at Tea and Dani and they, along with Blair, left the room. "Alright, it's just you and me, is this where you try to finish the job? If you want to pose as me then you have to get rid of me" Manning said.
Todd looked at the man in the bed and smiled, "I’ve had plenty of opportunities while you were in a coma. I don't want you dead, Manning, I need you alive so we can bring down the man who did this to both of us. There is a third party who is involved up to his ears in this deception and he's been capitalizing on our lives for years. I also want to know more about this Doctor Kipling you've been seeing and who sent you to him in the first place. Did the doctor tell you that you were steadily being drugged? Because you need to know that someone has been watching you the same way they were watching me. I haven't yet figured out who took the shot at you but if he finds out you've woken up, then he will probably try again. They want to get rid of loose ends and you are one of them."
“You expect me to just lie here and believe what you're telling me. Man, you are nuts. You must be on something. I don't know where you got your information that someone wants me dead. The only person I know who would want me dead is you. So why bother telling me some cock and bull story about a third party. How the heck did you find out about Doctor Kipling? Who my doctors are is none of your business." replied Manning.
"I'm to take it then that you weren't informed that the pain medicine you thought you were taking was really a hallucinogen and you've been slowly building up a lethal amount in you. It was that drug that has kept you in a coma for over a month. Your Dr. Kipling is associated with a Research facility that had me in their clutches for three months after Mitch Lawrence and his goons almost killed me. You do remember Mitch, don't you? Why don't you try and think back to your first memory when you woke up in the hospital and went looking for a different face. Just what prompted you to do that? It is my belief that they somehow transferred my memories to you and gave you some sort of subliminal message to get plastic surgery that way no one would know you were an impostor. I know you don't have all my memories because if you did you would know about my adopted father Peter and the things he did to me. Can you tell me any of those things Manning? Well, what do you know about my childhood Manning?"
Todd's eyes narrowed as he watched Manning trying to bring up those memories. It was obvious that Manning was beginning to worry because he couldn't remember Peter Manning. "Perhaps that is a little unfair of me just what do you remember about me as I was growing up. You should be able to remember something." Todd walked over and took a chair, the medicine the doctor had given him was beginning to take effect and Todd didn't like the way it was making him feel. He was having a little trouble focusing and he felt nauseous. He began taking big breaths to try and clear some of the cobwebs and tried to maintain focus by looking at Manning.
Manning was visibly shaken as he realized he wasn't able to remember much about his adopted father. No one had ever brought up Peter before and so he had never had to address the issue. Now his visitor had challenged him to talk about his childhood. As he looked back in his mind the earliest memory he could bring forth was the night he raped Marty and that, as usual, was a little fuzzy. He knew all about it because he had seen what was on the Internet about it but even when he and Tea and Blair and Marty had been captured by Powell, he let Marty do all the remembering and he had just felt like he was standing outside watching the event take place instead of being part of it. Now he wondered why he couldn't remember his childhood. Why would he have forgotten that? Manning looked over at the other man and noticed he was looking a little gray. " Hey what's the matter with you?" he asked.
Todd looked up at Manning's question and realized the nausea wasn't going away. "Manning I'm going to have to shelve this conversation until tomorrow. At the moment, I'm not feeling very good. Perhaps you would be so kind as to ring for a nurse." Suddenly a pain ripped through his gut and he doubled over. " I think I've been poisoned."
Outside in the hall, Blair, Tea, Dani, and Shaun saw the nurse rushing to Todd's room. They followed her in and saw her working on Todd on the floor. Blair looked at Walker. " What happened?" she asked
Manning looked at her and said. "He wasn't looking too good and asked me to call the nurse. Then he doubled over and said something about being poisoned. Just what the hell is going on around here, why would someone try to poison him?"
Blair could think of only two people who could have hurt Todd and that were the nurse and doctor. The doctor had been in the room with them when he sent the nurse for the medicine. Was it possible the nurse wasn't really a nurse but someone who worked for Carlo? They had been so sure no one knew Todd was in Llanview. They hadn't considered the possibility that Carlo had other operatives keeping an eye out for Samuel and when Samuel had visited earlier they realized the he was no longer in Paris. The nurse had Shaun get a gurney and they put Todd on it and a call was made to pump his stomach. They needed to find that nurse. Todd was stabilized but they had to clean the poison out his system. Blair decided to see if she could spot the nurse from earlier.
"Shaun I need you to watch over both Todd and Samuel. Someone wants them both dead, I'm going to call John and in the meantime, I'm going to see if I can find the doctor and nurse who treated Samuel earlier." Blair went down the hall and around the corner. The Doctor was there but she didn't see the nurse from earlier. " Doctor. Mr. Toddman just collapsed. What did you give him?"
"Ms. Cramer I assure you the pill I ordered would not have incapacitated Mr. Toddman. Where is he?" the doctor asked and Blair led him to Walker's room. He immediately assessed the situation and began asking questions about what the nurse found when she entered the room. After checking Samuel's vitals he ordered a tox screen be done on the contents of Samuel's stomach and then it was decided to leave him in the same room as Manning until they could get the police there.
Blair and Tea looked at each other, the whole situation had just taken a turn for the worse. Now both men were in danger and they weren't any closer to nailing Carlo for the hits. The nurse had disappeared and no one knew who she was. Blair called John and told him of the situation and then asked to speak with Bo. "Bo, someone just tried to kill Todd and if we had gone home after he took the pill he'd be dead. Luckily we hadn't left the hospital so he's being treated right now. Please tell me Carlo is still in custody?"
Bo didn't know what to say to Blair, he had just received word that Hesser had managed to escape custody when he arrived at the Philadelphia Airport. The manhunt was on, but with him loose in Pennsylvania, there were a number of places he could have gone into hiding. Bo already had a lot on his plate with everything going on with Matthew and Clint. Now he had a criminal mastermind loose and another murder attempt, this time on the real Todd. " Blair I've got bad news, Hesser is no longer in custody. He escaped from the men who brought him into the country. I'm sending a police officer to the hospital to guard Todd and Manning. This game just edged up a notch. The attempt on Todd means Hesser has been made aware that Samuel is here. How is Todd?"
"Todd is stable but fortunate he was here at the hospital. This was too close Bo. Do the marshals have any idea where Hesser might be?"
"They are checking out the Research facility to see if he's hiding there, but other than there he could be anywhere now. We are monitoring the airport, train, and bus stations. So far we're pretty sure he's still in Philadelphia. When John gets to the hospital, fill him in on the whole story. I'll keep trying to find out how Hesser eluded his guards. Someone has been helping him and now we know he has at least two hits out. He's definitely starting to cover his tracks. Thanks for the heads up on Todd. I hear Manning is awake. Does he have any idea who shot him." asked Bo.
Blair replies, "I don't think he has the vaguest clue. He thought Todd might have tried to kill him to take his place but I have a feeling he's rethinking that after what happened to Todd. Bo, I have to get back to Todd. I'll tell him what's happened when he wakes up." She hung up and went back into the room where the two Todds lay side by side. Walking over to her Todd. she stood by the head of his bed and looked at the doctor, "Is he going to be alright? This didn't affect his heart did it?"
"He's stabilized and should be coming around soon. His collapse, while still here, saved his life and also prevented the poison from damaging his vital organs. His heart appears to be none the worst from the ordeal. Mr. Toddman can you hear me?" questioned the doctor.
Todd felt like he was traveling through syrup, his stomach was on fire much the way it had been when he had taken the overdose of drugs in prison. It was hard to think but he heard Blair and the doctor talking. He needed to get through this syrup so he could talk to Blair, they were all in danger if someone had just made an attempt on his life. He struggled to open his eyes, it seemed to take most of his strength to do that. "Blair" he whispered, "What happened?"
Blair came into view looking down at him. "Todd, you're okay, you were poisoned. I'm grateful we were still here when the poison attacked you. Your stomach was pumped and they're analyzing the poison now to find out what you were given. The nurse that brought your medicine seems to have disappeared."
" Mr. Toddman, you were indeed very lucky. If you had left the hospital, I'm not sure you would have survived. Your quick thinking asking for help saved your life." said the doctor, "Now we've been instructed to keep both of you gentlemen together until the police have someone to protect you, Mr. Toddman. and I'm afraid you have to spend yet another night here until we're sure the poison can do no more harm."
Todd looked over at Manning. "Thank you for calling the nurse. It looks like I owe my life to you."
Manning didn't know what to say. He had just hit the call button out of instinct when Samuel had asked. Now he realized that if he hadn't, Samuel would be dead and all the confusion would be over. This man lying next to him claimed to be him and he had just saved his life. Now they would still have to face the next day to sort everything out. Blair had been terrified when she saw Samuel on the floor. She obviously had some feelings for the guy and if what he said was true then Starr and Vicki also shared the same feelings. It was galling to know he would have to share them until this was figured out. One thing was sure, someone had ordered a hit on him and someone had also just tried to kill Samuel. There was definitely some truth to Samuel's story. Then Manning remembered what Samuel had first said when he arrived something about being the new owner of the Sun. What the hell had happened while he was in a coma? "Don't mention it. If you want to repay me, give me back my Paper," he said to Samuel.
Todd smiled weakly and said. "Sorry, but it was my paper before it was yours, so I think I'll keep it. " Todd looked back at Blair. "Someone knows I'm no longer in Paris. Have you heard from Bo as to when they'll arrive with Hesser?"
"Todd, I've bad news, Hesser escaped custody and he's wandering somewhere around Philadelphia. I'm positive that word was gotten to him that you were in town. He probably ordered the hit. Now more than ever you'll have to be careful. Until they catch him he can still do plenty of damage. I just realized I need to warn Kelly. She's looking into the research facility. This has become more dangerous for everyone involved. " answered Blair.
At that, John walked in and took in the scene, Blair was next to a man he had never met and Tea and Dani were standing by Todd who was finally awake. "Okay, does anyone want to tell me what just happened. Bo said I was to put a guard on someone known as Samuel because someone had just tried to poison him." he looked at Blair and the man she was next to. "You must be Samuel. How come someone wants you dead?"
Blair looks at Todd and says "Bo said to tell John everything. We're going to need his help now that both of you are in danger. Do you want to tell him or should I?"
" Blair, you know him, I really don't feel up to a long conversation so you get the honors. You know the whole story, you can tell everyone here. Manning, Tea, and Dani deserve to know what has happened too. I'm going to rest right now." and saying that Todd drifted into unconsciousness.
Blair looked inquiringly at the doctor when Todd lost consciousness. After checking Todd, he stated. " He's alright, he's still fighting what is left of the drug in his system. He'll probably be in and out the rest of the night." he turned to the detective and said. " We should have the tox screen result shortly, you can get it at the nurses' station. I'll be around the rest of the night. if you have any questions for me regarding the unknown nurse." that said, the doctor left the room.
Just as the doctor opened the door, Starr arrived and rushed in. "Mom what happened, Jack said that Dad collapsed on the driveway? What's he doing in here with Todd?"
John had been watching and listening to every exchange and it became clearer with Starr's words that there was definitely more going on here. John turned to Blair and said, "Who is he really?"
"John, If he was awake, I would introduce you properly. Samuel's real name is Todd Manning. This is the man that disappeared in 2003." Blair replied.
John did a double-take. Had he just heard Blair right? He looked over at Manning and asked the next question. "Todd what do you think about what Blair just said. Do you believe this man is the Real Todd?"
"John I don't know what to believe anymore. I come out of a coma and suddenly I'm confronted by this Samuel or whatever his name is and he tells me, he's me. How do you think I took it? I called him a liar and then my own wife and ex-wife both tell me he's telling the truth. He wanted to talk to me and asked the ladies to leave. I thought he was going to try and take me out himself but instead, he started talking about a third party who has been manipulating us since 2003 and how that same party put the hit on me. Before the conversation got much farther, he collapsed saying he had been poisoned, then he blacked out and the nurse came in when I pushed the call button. I'm as in the dark as you so I think we should hear the whole story. Blair?" Manning said looking at Blair and waiting for the story.
Blair turned to Shaun and asked him to bring some extra chairs in and to keep an eye out for the police officer assigned to protect Samuel. Then she began filling in everyone in the room. "Last year I received a lockbox from Eli, when I open it I found a picture of myself painted in 2003. I showed it to you, Tea, and you also Todd, but you said you never commissioned a portrait of me, so I kept looking for the artist. Samuel turned out to be that artist. Samuel had been living in Paris for the last eight years, painting portrait after portrait of me and selling them. But you know all about that, don't you Todd, since you bought five of them, but that's another topic. When I finally found Samuel he didn't know who I was but I knew him and I realized that his amnesia kept him from coming home all these years. Something about seeing me triggered his memories and after I returned home from Paris, he decided to follow. You see one of the memories he had was of being trapped in his father’s crypt. That memory occurred on March 14th, 2003, the night Todd Manning disappeared. The trauma Todd endured in that tomb pushed him over the edge and another alter was born that night. Samuel was the alter and when he finally regained his senses three months later he had no memories, but he still felt the urge to protect himself so he went to Paris to live."
John held up a hand to interrupt.“Wait a minute, Blair. What do you mean Samuel is an alter? I know Todd’s story and everything I’ve read said that Todd Manning only faked having alters to get out of jail. Surely you questioned that.”
“Yeah Blair, I know all about my so-called alters. Hell, you were the very one I told the truth to, to begin with. How can you believe this impostor?” Manning said belligerently.
"I can believe it, Todd, because I know the truth that brought all of them into being. This man, the real Todd suffers from the same affliction as his sister and niece. He suffers from DID, but you wouldn't know that Todd, because those memories were so guarded by the real Todd, that the person or persons who implanted Todd's memories into you, were unable to get to them. There is also one very important memory you can't find and that is what Peter Manning did to his son. What he did was buried so deep in Todd's subconscious that my Todd almost killed himself trying to remember it recently. Samuel met Todd and the other alters after I left Paris and he chose to come home to find out why someone had taken eight years of his life away and to find out who you really were. He managed to figure out that one other man beside you, had a desire for my portraits and his name was Carlo Hesser. John, we've managed to tie Carlo to Samuel that first night and we believe he had something to do with tampering with Samuel's memories and also for tampering with your memories, Todd. We also think that the treatment that was performed on both Todds is now coming undone, and so Carlo is trying to cover his tracks. We're pretty sure Carlo ordered the hit on you Todd and he also just ordered the hit on Samuel. Bo informed me that the law officials who had Hesser in custody lost him in the Philadelphia airport. This means that until Hesser is found both Todds are in danger."
Manning looked at Blair and said, "You seriously believe that I'm not Todd but some impostor. How can you believe that? I told you how I look like this and John, you know I'm Todd Manning. You worked for Walker Flynn when I contacted Flynn and took his face. Surely you can tell I'm me, Blair. What about all those memories we share. Tea, you tell her, I remember what happened between us too. Tea, Blair, why are you doing this? Tea, what about Dani you said our DNA matched? How could that be if I'm not her father?"
Tea and Blair glanced at each other and then Tea replied. "The DNA that I used from Todd, was a locket of hair that I took with me when I left Todd in New York. It was Samuel's DNA, Todd, and then there is the other item that I didn't remember until recently. I was so sure you were who you said you were, that I just overlooked one very important trait and I don't think I was the only one. Starr, Blair, and Vicki also missed it. Todd, you have blue eyes and the real Todd has hazel eyes. You can't be Todd Manning. I love you dearly but you are not Dani's biological father nor are you related to Vicki, Starr, or Jack. I'm sorry Dani, as I told you earlier, I intend to stand by this man whoever he is and I hope you'll continue to love him like I do. Todd, I don't know who you are but we'll work on finding that out together if you want to stay with me."
Manning lay there stunned. Tea had just told him he wasn't the man he believed himself to be and had given pretty good evidence to support the other man's claim. Suddenly his head felt like it was going to explode and he didn't have the pain pills that Dr. Kipling prescribed. "Tea, my head, God the pain, I need something fast, I feel like it's going to explode, someone help." his face showed the agony he was in and Tea quickly pushed the call button bringing the nurse in. The doctor had also followed thinking it had something to do with Samuel but saw Manning's face and immediately started examining him.
"I think he's going into withdrawal from the medicine he was taking. I'll prescribe mild pain medicine. I don't want to put him out, he might drop back into a coma if we do. Mr. Manning, I know you're in a lot of pain right now but we can't give you anything very strong, you still have quite a bit of the hallucinogen in your system. We need to keep you awake now. These next few days are going to be rough." The nurse left for the pain meds and this time, John went along to make sure she brought back the correct medicine the doctor ordered.
John took a moment to call Bo, " Hey Bo, how about filling me in on this Todd Manning problem, I was just in a room with two guys claiming to be Todd Manning. I was under the impression that Todd Manning was the guy who had recently been shot but now I'm hearing that there is a second guy who's been going by the name of Samuel Toddman, who is the real Todd Manning. Who should I believe?.... The gentleman by the name of Samuel is the real Todd. How do you know? You've talked to him and you have current DNA results that tie him to Vicki. You're kidding, right? You believe this DNA test….I see, you personally sent it off to a completely separate facility for testing. So what Blair says about this guy Hesser is true? Alright, I'll try to get more information on the nurse who poisoned Samuel. The officer you sent just arrived, I'll let him relieve Shaun and get back with you when I have anything."
John reentered the room noticing that both Todds were now out of commission. The Todd he knew was only semi-conscious and Samuel was still out from the poison. "Ok ladies, we still have no idea who shot Todd and it appears that Samuel is also now in jeopardy so you now have a police officer outside. I just got off the phone with Bo and he informed me that your story is true Blair, we'll have to start limiting the people who see either one of these men. Blair, when you get a chance, we need to have a long talk. Now I'm going to see if anyone else saw the nurse who gave Samuel the poison." with that John left the room.
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