Memories Unlocked #3

He sat still, letting the name sink in. Yep, he could live with it and he was tired of fighting with the nurses who kept wanting to call him John. “Todd Drake.”  He looked at the children.  “Doctor Sanchez says it means Fox Spirit Dragon in English?  I want you to be happy.  What do you say, kids?  Would Todd Drake be acceptable to you?”

The kids whispered amongst themselves for another minute.  Then as one, they turned and said. “We like it.”

Todd laughed at the group response. “Then we have a winner.  My name is now Todd Drake.  Thank you.  Would it be alright if I join you again tomorrow?”

All of their heads nodded yes.  

           “Then it’s a date. See you tomorrow..”

They all waved goodbye as they were taken back to their rooms.

Dr. Sanchez sat down next to her patient out on the balcony.  “You really kept the children interested and happy this morning.  Will you allow us to use the name the children gave you?”

“Sure," Todd turned his chair to face her. "You’ve been watching for quite some time.  Slow day, Doc?”

“I came to find you because I’d like to do another MRI on your back.  I know you can’t stand the test but we have to see if anything has changed now that the swelling is down.  Surely you would like to know if there is the slightest chance of regaining feeling and possibly walking again.”

Todd rubbed his hands along his thighs.  He felt nothing.  “You thought there might be something last week, Dr. Sanchez  and you were wrong.  You’re right about that test.  I don’t know why, but the confinement and the noise drive me crazy.   I appreciate everything you’ve done for me but let’s face it.  This is me now, and probably the rest of my life.  I need to get out of here and try and find out who I am.”

“Mr. Drake, it is still a little too soon for you to leave."

He winced at the use of his new name. "Just call me Todd." For the children's sake, he had taken it but it sounded so strange coming from the doctor. It would take some getting used to.

"Todd... While most of your bones have healed, you still require a significant amount of therapy to regain full use of your arms.  You’re also going to need someone on a semi-regular basis to work with your legs.  I understand you think it’s hopeless but until I see the new pictures I’m not willing to give up on you walking again.  I scheduled the MRI for in the morning, but I believe the children would be very disappointed if Mr. Drake wasn’t here tomorrow.  Why don’t we get it out of the way this afternoon?”

He wanted to object further but knew she was right. When she had called him Todd, it had felt a little weird, good weird but different.  He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but what if it turned out to be his name. The time spent with the children had lifted his spirits.  He wasn’t ready to fall back into the black hole of no memories.  “Whatever,” he said and took his hands off the wheels of his chair and allowed the doctor to take him for the test.  For now, he could be magnanimous.  He had a name again.

****

She was standing on a foggy cliff. The cold wind was whipping her hair and she could hear the waves crashing on the rocks below her.  In the wind, she could almost hear someone crying her name.  She cried out “Todd?” but there was no answer.  He wouldn’t be answering.   He was dead.  Her frozen fingers clutched the license, not wanting to believe it was all that remained of him.  All their hopes and dreams were lying at the bottom of the cliff.  With each crash of the waves, she felt herself being ripped to shreds as she imagined him being broken and tossed in the churning sea and suddenly she just wanted to join him.  She started to walk to the edge but felt a small hand take hers and tug.

“Mommy don’t.”  There, holding her hand was a beautiful little toddler.  “Don’t cry, I’m still here.  Daddy says don’t jump.”

She dropped to her knees hugging the child.  Her grief tearing at her insides.  She rocked back and forth, crushing the child tightly in her grasp and sobbing uncontrollably.  “I loved him so much.  We were going to have it all and now he’s gone.”

Two small hands touched her face and lifted it.  She found herself looking into a pair of hazel eyes exactly like his.  “But Daddy’s not gone Mommy, he’s just lost.”

Blair awoke.  She laid there, brushing tears from her eyes, as remnants of the dream lingered.  She hadn’t dreamed of Ireland in ages.  Damn it Troy.  He’s not dead.  I know it.  She rolled over and found herself looking at the picture on her bedside. She loved that picture.  It was one of the few times Todd had seemed truly happy. Jack had just reached out and grabbed his father’s ear and Starr had been resting her head on her father’s shoulder listening intently to a Toddian fairy tale when Blair snapped the picture.  The toddler in her dream, Starr, hadn’t been born when she heard the news from Ireland.  She reached over and picked up the picture.  Her finger traced the little girl in it.  Their beautiful Starr had been the reason to continue living that year.  She replaced the picture and got out of bed.  Slipping on her robe, she walked down the hall where Starr’s room was and peeked in.  Starr was asleep, holding fast to Fred the magic frog.  Starr was adamant that her dad was alive and had started acting out whenever anyone suggested differently.

A small voice got Blair’s attention and she realized Jack was awake.  She carefully shut Starr’s door and continued into the nursery.  He was such an adorable little boy.  Blair reached in and tickled her son’s tummy.   He gave a little laugh and babbled at her.  “Good morning my little one.”  She picked him up and cuddled him close. “Oh my sweet boy, I can’t stop thinking of your father.”  She sat down in the rocker close to Jack’s crib and began rocking gently.  Jack grabbed a lock of her hair and gave a little tug and Blair deftly removed it and handed him a small stuffed animal.  She looked at him as he sat on her lap, “Your father infuriates me so much.  He let me believe you were dead.  I wanted to die. Then he had the audacity to lie and bring me you, and say you were someone else's child when he knew you were ours.”  She laid her hand on his soft tresses, so grateful in that moment that Todd had brought him back.   He had tried to rectify his mistake as soon as he realized what he had done, he had just gone about it all wrong but why was that such a shocker.  Todd always managed to do the wrong thing even when he was trying to do something right.  She knew that and that’s what upset her the most.  

“You have to understand, Jack, your father isn’t like other men.  Sometimes I just want to haul off and hit him, maybe then I could knock some sense into him.  He thinks he’s a lost cause and the only thing that makes him worth anything is you and your sister.  He doesn’t know how to be happy and he gets desperate when he thinks he going to lose the one thing that makes him human, you guys.  It’s not all his fault, I love you both so much too, I tried to block him from you.   I wanted to punish him.” Blair paused as she remembered her alarm when Tea informed them of Todd’s plan to take the children because Blair had refused to let him even see them.  Why did they constantly hurt each other?  She kissed the top of Jack’s head and held him close until he squealed his discomfort at the confinement.  Loosening her hug, she set him on her lap again.  “I’m tired, I want the bickering to stop and I want our family back together.  Do you hear that, Jack?  I want your father home where he belongs, I just don’t know where he is... one thing I do believe.  He’s not dead.  He’s out there and I’m going to find him.  We need him and something tells me, he needs us even more.”

****

Sam Vance was wondering if they were ever going to get to the next island when Sawyer spoke up.  “There’s an island, not on the charts, to my left.  I’m going to see if there’s someplace to land.”  He flew over and noted a bunker down on the beach.  “This looks like it could have been occupied by the Japanese during World War Two.  If that’s the case, there might actually be a small landing strip.  If there isn’t, we’ll just have to call it into the authorities and let them have the location.”

“Can you tell if it’s inhabited, now?” Sam was straining to make out any signs of huts or buildings.

“My guess is this was probably just used as a supply stop during the war." 

Ross was gathering some berries when he heard the sound of a plane's engine. He cleared the trees just in time to see a plane fly overhead.  He headed back to the beach and made his way to the cave he and Tea shared.  As expected, she was coming out looking for him.

“Did I just hear a plane?”

“Yes, I saw it.   If I’m right, it went inland to the old landing strip.”

“Well, what are we waiting for.  Let’s go meet our rescuers.  I told you Todd would make it and send someone for us.” Tea grabbed Ross’s hand and they began running toward the airstrip.

Sawyer had spotted the man standing on the hill right before he saw the landing strip.  He quickly banked and circled the field.  It was overgrown with weeds but still looked like he would be able to land without too much trouble.  “Did you see him?”  He lined up for a landing.

“Did I see him?  Who?  You saw a man?  Where?” Sam looked over at Sawyer excited.

“We flew over him.  It might not be our guy.  I just know it was a man.  Hopefully, we’ll find out soon.  I think he definitely spotted us.  Hang on, this landing might be a little bumpy.” Sawyer put the plane down only to see a large fissure, where the landing strip fell off from years of weather and disuse, suddenly ahead of him.  He managed to turn the plane just in time to avoid it and came to a stop.

Sam had seen the gap and had held her breath.  She looked over at Sawyer with new eyes.  He had definitely been the right guy for the job.  “Let’s go see if this man is our missing millionaire,” she said as she left her seat and headed for the cargo door.

Sawyer opened the door and jumped to the ground.  He wasted no time, just grabbed Sam by her waist and set her beside him.  They turned and walked out from under the wing to see two people yelling and coming toward them.

****

The test began and Todd laid there trying not to think of the closeness and confinement of the tube.  He found himself humming some tune, he wasn’t sure even what it was, the only word that came to mind was ‘unforgettable.’  For a short time it helped, then the clacking began to get on his nerves.  It was like being inside a giant clockwork, helpless and trapped.  He closed his eyes trying to breathe slowly and suddenly he felt like he was falling.  He couldn’t stop the feeling and his hands hit metal, he was stuffed in some sort of compartment.  His back was on fire.  Then the world exploded in a sudden crash and intense agony.  He screamed and couldn’t stop.

Dr. Sanchez was watching the scans, looking intently for any signs of fragments or breaks she hadn’t been able to see during the original surgery.  She failed to see the spike in Todd’s blood pressure and his pulse rate elevate. When the scan blurred, she was about to call a halt to the procedure because it appeared Todd was moving, but she was unprepared for the agonized scream that suddenly reverberated through the room.  By the time they got the table out of the machine, Todd had passed out.

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