Sam sat down and joined Sawyer for breakfast. She reached into her purse and drew out the envelope with the newly developed pictures. Pulling them out, she set them down next to her plate and took a sip of her coffee.
Sawyer reached across the table and picked up the top picture. He slipped the original picture of Todd from underneath her purse and studied the two pictures together. “Well, he does look like the guy. How come you didn’t talk to him?”
Sam ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know. He was having a conversation with someone else and well... let’s just say I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“I don’t get it, We’ve been looking for this guy for months and now you hesitate to approach him. I thought this guy was a friend of yours. Who was he talking to? Did you think you were going to interrupt something shady?” He started to reach for the other picture but Sam stopped him.
“It’s not anything like that. I guess I didn’t talk to him because I was disappointed. In my line of work, it’s not uncommon for a guy to step out on his wife. I just thought Todd was different. I never figured him for a guy who would just abandon his wife and kids.”
“Oh, I get it. The person he was talking to was a woman.” Sawyer pulled the picture as Sam relinquished her hold on his hand. “Well, she’s definitely beautiful. So you think she’s the reason he’s still here.”
Sam shrugged. “It has to be, but something’s bothering me. I look at that picture and it says the guy has found someone else and doesn’t care that his wife and family miss him. Yet Tea Delgado and Ross Rayburn both insisted he took off on that raft months ago because he wanted to get back home. Not only that but once he got here, he could easily have gone to some other destination. Yet he stayed here and to top it off he’s working at the hospital on the Children’s ward. None of it adds up.”
“I thought you told me the guy originally tried to kidnap his own kids and the authorities in Hawaii were looking for him when he was lost at sea. Maybe that’s why he’s staying here and keeping a low profile. Perhaps he’s just biding his time hoping the whole thing will blow over and then he’ll make another try for his kids. The woman could just be a diversion while he’s here.”
Sam sat back in her chair and looked at the man opposite her. “I just don’t remember him being that calculating. I know in his past he was capable of a lot of terrible deeds, but the man you just described would have to be pretty cold-hearted. He once told me he would love his kid and be there for him no matter what. I believed him. It also doesn’t fit with what the nurse and volunteer told me. The volunteer was clearly taken with him and said he was charming. The nurse gushed about him and said he was the best thing that had happened to the kids on the Ward. You see. It’s confusing as all get out. I need to find out more.”
Sawyer wiped his mouth with his napkin and wiped the sweat from his brow. It was warming up to be a pretty hot day. “How much were you able to tell his wife when you called?”
Sam looked down at her now congealed eggs and push the plate away. She sighed at Sawyer’s question. “We had a bad connection. I have no idea how much she heard but I know I heard her say they would be here by today. I checked the flights scheduled to come in here from the States and there is only one and it arrives around two this afternoon.”
Sawyer stood up and walked around to her side. “Well, it looks like you have a few hours available to investigate that woman. I’m headed to the airport to do some work on the plane. Why don’t you meet me there, and I’ll help you pick them up. I’ve been wanting to meet the woman who helped me pay off my plane.“ He leaned down and gave her a kiss.
Sam returned the kiss and agreed to meet. As soon as he left, she paid for their breakfast and called a cab. “Okay Sam, this is what you do best. Blair has a right to know what or who has been keeping her husband here.”
****
Todd rolled out of Physical Therapy in a bad mood. His arms had fully recovered from the broken bones and his back was equally strong, but no matter what, everything below the waist was dead weight. He was fed up. What good was the physical therapy? The therapist told him it was to keep his muscles from atrophying but if he couldn’t use his legs what did it matter?
He had felt so helpless when they strapped him on the electric bicycle and turned it on. He looked down at his useless limbs and hated them. He felt disconnected watching them move but feeling nothing. Every day, when he laid on the table and the therapist began using the electrical stimulation therapy, he prayed for some sensation, anything, to give him hope, but it was the same thing day after day, there was no change. Todd rolled into a quiet alcove, stopped his wheelchair and looked down at the offending limbs. He slammed his fist down as hard as he could on his thigh hoping to feel something, but he might as well have been hitting a pillow. Unable to control his rage at his predicament, he began clawing at his legs frantically trying to get some feeling in them. Pounding and clawing he cursed as the blows landed and there was still no feeling. With tears running down his cheeks, Todd finally stopped what he was doing. The anger was spent and he leaned his head back against his chair and cried silently.
After a few moments, he sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “Well Todd, did your pity party make you feel any better? You’re a fool. You put on a good show for the children and they’re ten times braver than you are. They’re all living on borrowed time and here you are upset because you no longer have the use of your legs. Get over it.” He straightened up in his chair and pulled out of the alcove. Luckily, his meltdown had gone unnoticed by anyone else.
Needing time to gather himself, Todd returned to his room long enough to change before going to see the children. As he removed his sweats, he saw the marks he had made on his legs and knew there would be bruising later on. "Good job, Todd. Now you'll get to hear a lecture tomorrow from your therapist.” He lined the slacks up and slid them on his feet. Once he had them halfway up on his legs, he reached and pulled them the rest of the way up. He had found he could lean to one side and then the other in order to lift his body enough to slip the pants around his waist. With his pants on, he slipped his sandals back on his feet and grabbed his white hospital shirt off the bed and put it on. Tucking it in, he checked his appearance in the mirror above the sink. “You look fine, the kids will never know.”
The activity room was full of laughter a short while later. Todd sat behind the table and had a small makeshift theater in front of him. On his hands were the puppets he had found and the children were laughing as Red Riding Hood chased the wolf around the forest.
In a high pitched voice, Todd pretended to be Red. “But Mr. Wolf, I need the practice. Grandma said if I passed my beauty school, she’d make me some more cookies. Come on, you have so much hair, let me give it a trim.”
“Sorry, Red. No way am I letting you touch this fur. You have no idea, how much the other wolves laughed after you cut it the last time. It’s a dog eat dog world, girl. I have an image to protect.” Todd growled.
“Oh Pooh, Well, I was going to share my lunch but I guess you can just go be macho with the wolves instead.”
“You didn’t say anything about food. I’m all yours, Red.” Red and the wolf moved behind the curtain and Todd looked at the children. “Well, what do you think happened next?” Underneath the table, he was putting the finishing touches on Red and the wolf.
Li piped up. “The wolf ate Red.”
“No silly, Red gave him a haircut,” said Blanca. The other children jumped in, some of them taking Li's side and others agreeing with Blanca.
He let them chatter as he finished making his adjustments on the puppets then Todd smiled: “Do you want to see?” As a group they all said yes and Todd opened the curtain and there stood Red in a fur coat and next to her was the wolf looking like a skinned rat. The children roared.
Then Blanca said quietly. “Oh Poor Wolf, how will he stay warm in the winter?”
Todd said gently. “Don’t worry about Wolf, Red told him he could borrow the coat anytime he needed it. You see Blanca, Wolf would do anything for Red, even give up his fur coat if it would make her happy.”
It was lunchtime and the children made their way back to their rooms. Todd cleaned up the theater. He threw away the glove he had cut the finger off of to make Wolf’s skinny body and slipped the covering off of Wolf making him whole again. Then he put Red’s hooded cape back on and put the fur coat back onto the Barbie that had been in the toy box.
“So that‘s how you did it.”
Todd jumped at her voice and his head whipped around to see Miguela standing behind him, laughing.
“That was very clever, Todd. I heard the children talking about a skinned wolf and I wondered what on earth they were going on about?”
Todd looked up at Miguela. “Doc,” he acknowledged her with a nod. “I’m glad they enjoyed the tale. It’s good to hear them laugh. I marvel at them. With everything they’re facing, they seem to take it all in stride. I envy that.” He closed the toy box. and started to leave the room. “I better get down to the cafeteria before they give away all the baby corn and Chinese noodles. Who knows, maybe my fortune cookie will actually have a fortune I can believe in.”
Miguela stopped him as he rolled past her. “Todd, I thought you might want to get out of the hospital today. I talked to my super and he said the ground floor apartment is available. He’s been having trouble getting a tenant because the family above is pretty noisy. If you’re still interested in getting your own place, we could go get some lunch and I could take you there.”
Todd sat still for a moment. Here’s your chance Todd. A chance to leave this place and start that new life you been spouting about. What are you afraid of? Todd closed his eyes and for one brief moment, he heard another voice asking him that same question. It was a woman’s voice but he couldn’t put a face to it. “Damn it, No!” In his frustration trying to hang onto the memory, he wasn’t even aware he had spoken aloud.
Miguela was surprised at his vehement response. “I’m sorry Todd, I obviously picked a bad time. I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.”
Todd reached out and stopped her as she started to pass him. “Wait. I’m sorry, That outburst had nothing to do with you or your offer. Look, I’d love to get out of this place, if your offer still stands.”
Miguela smiled. “It still stands. Now tell me, are you really set on having Chinese for lunch?” She placed her hands on the back of his chair and began pushing him.
“To tell you the truth, I’d give anything for a slice of good pizza. Does Guam even have a pizza parlor?” asked Todd. He had almost protested when she began pushing him but then realized he needed to accept the help when it was freely given.
Miguela laughed. “Hey, this isn’t a deserted island. I’m sure I can find us some pizza.” She turned down the corridor leading to the parking lot. A few minutes later, they pulled out the lot and headed down the main boulevard towards the busier section of town.
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Imagine pizza in Guam?
ReplyDeleteActually Guam has quite a few of them. Remember there is an American base there.
ReplyDelete