The MST, Firestorm, Ch. 56

Blair looked at Todd and smiled. "We do, don't we. Come on, let's get you upstairs where you can rest. I need to find out from Starr how the boys are doing and I'm sure she's worried about you."

Starr rushed to meet her dad the minute he stepped through the door."What on earth happened yesterday. I came home, found a broken vase on the floor, the window curtain ties were lying on the ground along with several towels. What did you guys do? I don't want to know if it was something kinky. How did you end up at Llanview Hospital? I thought your session was at the Cherryvale Clinic. Dad, was it something so bad they transferred you from Cherryvale?"

"Whoa, catch your breath Starr, and give me a chance to catch mine."  Todd walked in and sat down in the first available chair taking a moment to shade his eyes. Blair quickly went to the windows and turned on the automatic blinds. The room got darker immediately. Todd relaxed back into the chair and closed his eyes for a moment. Starr looked on with concern. Then Todd looked at her and said, "Have a seat. Your Mom will fill you in." Once again he closed his eyes.

"Dad are you alright," asked Starr, she looked for her Mom hoping for some answers, but Blair had disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'm alright, just have a splitting headache," Todd answered still resting with his eyes closed.

Starr was confused. "Mom. Dad.. will one of you tell me what happened."

Blair handed Todd a couple of aspirins and some water and took a seat on the couch. He took the aspirins quickly and set the glass down.

"I guess I'll start," said Todd. "I had a couple of visitors right after you left Starr. The first one was Tea. It seems she saw us at the hospital and followed us here. There was one big problem, she wasn't buying Samuel's story and for some unknown reason, she suddenly fainted. I came back out to wake her up but before you know it, we were arguing. That's when my second uninvited guest showed up. One minute I was angry then the next minute I was lost. Your mom will have to take over from there." he reached down and picked up the glass and rubbed the cool surface against his forehead. Starr looked over at her mom.

Blair had gotten back up and retrieved a towel and some ice cubes. She took the glass from Todd and laid the towel across his forehead. Then she looked directly at her daughter and said. "Pete was out when I got here. He was being vile to Tea. Then he decided to do worse. I stopped him."

Todd piped in. "Yeah, you could say my head had a collision with that broken vase," he chuckled.

Blair glared at Todd but he couldn't see because his eyes were still closed. She continued. "Tea and I tied Pete up and I called your dad's therapist. Ray brought Dr. Levin with him and they got Todd back. Tea left after we got your dad back. She's pretty confused right now. Your dad said he had a headache and since Ray was here, your dad decided to go through with the session. Unfortunately, as the session drew to a close, the headache got exceedingly worse and we headed to the hospital. Your dad suffered a severe concussion and that's why we spent the night. The doctor felt he should be observed to make sure no other complications showed up. I'm sorry I didn't explain it in full last night. I was pretty distracted."

"Oh my god, Dad! Mom, are you insane? How could you clobber Dad like that?" Starr couldn't believe her mom knocked out her dad.

"Yeah, Blair how could you hit me like that. My poor head..." Todd was enjoying this.  He smirked.

"Oh shut up, Todd. You know perfectly well why I did it. Starr, Pete was going to attack Tea. I didn't have a choice," said Blair hoping to make her daughter understand her actions.

"That's right Blair, you didn't have a choice. So stop beating yourself up. I don't blame you. I told you that yesterday, believe me."

Blair looked over at Todd. His eyes were opened, the laughter was gone. She knew from the tone in his voice he meant what he said.

"Starr, what your Mom did took a lot of guts. If it was you in that situation I'd want you to do the exact same thing. I never want Pete to hurt any of you."

Starr looked at her dad and knew he was dead serious. He didn't want Pete to come anywhere near her or Hope. It only took a moment to realize that he would give his life up if it meant getting rid of Pete once and for all. No wonder he was so desperate these last few days. He really was afraid that Pete was close to surfacing for good. "Dad, I understand. But you have to continue to fight. I don't think Pete can beat you. I trust you. You have to believe you're going to be the winner in this. Dad, you created him, you can destroy him. Remember that. Mom agrees with me. Right, Mom?"

Blair sat down next to Todd. "You listen to your daughter. You haven't gone through all of this to give up now. You might be willing to let your life go if Pete comes out, but I'm not and neither is Starr. So show me some of your backbone and get back in this fight. You'll feel more yourself when that headache wears off. It's just got you down right now. I don't want to think about what might happen anymore. I’m going to start planning what will happen when we get this resolved. We have a family to put back together and we're going to do it. Now, the doctor said to rest, so takes his advice. I've got some errands I need to run but I'll be back later. Take it easy."

Todd looked at Blair, then Starr, and knew arguing was a lost cause. His head hurt too much anyway. "Alright, whatever you say," he hoped that would get them off his case. They had no idea how strong Pete was, Todd did and that's why he had to make a decision soon. He could no longer put off this confrontation. Something about last night's nightmare had struck a chord. He needed to know what he had been hiding all these years. If his Nightmare was correct Tom knew and that meant that Rodd and Ms. Perkins also knew. Of course, Pete knew because that was where Pete was getting all his anger from. Todd hoped Ray would call with another session time. If he didn't call by two, Todd was going to call him. He felt that feeling of urgency coming over him. It was time. He leaned his head back trying to ease the pain and felt Blair's hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be back, I promise," said Blair brushing his forehead with her lips, she stood up and turned to Starr. "The doctor said 'rest' see that he does. I'll try not to be too long." She grabbed her bag and left.

Blair got down to the garage and sat down in her car then she made her call. " Hi, do you want to talk? How's he doing? I'll come to you. I'm headed there now. See you in a few."

At the hospital, Tea put away her phone. She looked over at the man she loved. It had been a long night. She had driven around for quite some time after leaving the penthouse. Her mind had been working to understand all that had transpired. Then she had gone to the Sun's offices and into his office just to look around. She didn't know what she'd hoped to find. It had just been a place to go. She'd noticed an envelope on Todd's desk from a Gallery in Paris. It had been sitting there probably since the day Todd had been shot. She opened it and saw an invoice for a portrait. Todd had purchased it recently judging by the date on the invoice. It was entitled "Lady in Red". Tea hadn't seen any new portraits at home and wondered where Todd had put this acquisition. Tea picked up the phone and called receiving and found out a package had been delivered the day after Todd was shot. It was down in the archives.

Tea had gone down to the Archives and walked around until she'd arrived at the vaults at the back where the microfilm and other temperature sensitive materials were stored. The crate was still standing where it had been delivered. Tea had one of the employees working in the area help her to open it. Then she had pulled the portrait free. Her heart had stopped when she saw the picture. Emotions raced through her as she set the picture against the wall. She saw that it was beautiful there was no denying that. But her heart was breaking. It was a portrait of Blair. Todd had purchased a portrait of Blair. Why? The portrait looked familiar like she had seen something like it and then another thought struck her she looked for a signature. There wasn't one. But there was a date. God, it was another of Samuel's portraits. But Todd had told Blair he knew nothing about her portrait. Why had he lied?

The crate had been left outside a vault. Tea saw the security lock and wondered if she could get in. She could spend all night trying to figure out the code or she could call security. She did the latter. As his wife and lawyer, Tea had the power of attorney while Todd was in the coma and so security unlocked the vault for her. She thanked them and sent them away. She opened the door and stepped inside. They were all lit by their own lights and there was a blank space for the new one. Tea sank into the chair that faced them. Todd hadn't just purchased one portrait, he already had four others. All of them were of Blair. This whole day had gotten worse by the minute. Tea knew in her heart that Todd loved her but it was obvious that he had never stopped loving Blair. She would have been alright if the four were all he had purchased, they could have been bought before Todd and she had gotten married but that didn't explain the latest purchase. Nor the fact that he had his own personal Gallery of Blair's portraits. It was obsessive. Who was the man she was married to?

Tea had put the latest portrait into the vault and locked the door behind her. As she was leaving she noticed a pill container laying against the wall. It was a prescription for Todd, written by Dr. Kipling. She put it in her pocket and left. Then she had headed to the hospital. She remembered entering and sitting down next to him. All she had been able to do for the longest time was stare at him. She had dozed off and was awakened by the nurse who had come to check Todd's vitals. There was still no change, the doctors were a little concerned because they could find no clear reason for the coma. Suddenly Tea remembered the prescription bottle. She showed it to the nurse and the nurse made note of what Todd had been taking and said she'd let the doctor know. Tea put the bottle away again. She chose to go get some coffee stopping to say hi to Shawn. Tea had just gotten back to the room when her phone rang.

****

Tea looked over as Blair entered the room.

Blair pulled up a chair and sat down next to Tea. "How are you doing, Tea. I looked in earlier when I was taking Todd home."

"What did you just say? Why were you taking Todd home? Why was he here?" asked Tea in concern.

"Uh, you know that blow to the head I gave him. Well, it was more serious than we thought. Todd had a severe concussion and had to spend the night under observation. He's going to have a headache for a while but he'll be alright. I left him at home resting." Blair glanced at Tea. " I know yesterday must have been pretty overwhelming. You got several shocks at once. Tell me what you're thinking."

"Blair, why didn't you say anything?" asked Tea. "You met Samuel in Paris. That was a couple of months ago. Not three weeks ago we met out at the nurses' station and you told me he was just an acquaintance. You let me think he was just a distant relative. Why did you lie to me? I thought we were friends."

"Tea, I didn't know what to tell you at first. When I met Samuel, he had no idea who I was. He had been painting me but thought I came from his imagination. I was pretty sure he was one of Todd's alters, but I had no way to prove it. I was as shocked as you are now when I realized if Samuel was Todd, then all of us had been living with an impostor. I couldn't tell you about Samuel or Todd without proof. I remember thinking if I could get Samuel to come back to the States, his memory might return. I encouraged him to think about coming to the States and came home. I was shocked when Samuel called me and told me he was here in Llanview. Even more shocked when he told me to meet him at the penthouse. He told me his memory was coming back a little at a time and that he had met Todd and the rest of the alters. He explained that they had come home to free Todd and get back his life."

"You and Todd and Dani were just getting truly settled as a family. After what you went through at the hands of Eli. I couldn't rip your life apart. Samuel needed family around, he had been alone for eight years. Samuel wanted to see his daughter, he had recently remembered her so I arranged for the two to meet. I also suggested that Starr might want to move into her Dad's old penthouse. Their meeting was pretty bumpy to start and then Samuel experienced his first heart attack that night.  Of course, he refused to go to the hospital. So Starr and I bullied him into taking it easy as we moved her in. Things were going alright until Samuel insisted on going to the cemetery. That was the night Todd reappeared but he almost lost his life doing it. Todd's heart was damaged back in 2003, he flatlined a couple of times that night but we managed to bring him back. When you saw him yesterday he was here for his follow-up."

Blair paused and waited for any reply from Tea. Tea looked at her Todd and then back to Blair. "You're telling me Todd's not well on top of everything else. I don't know how much more of this I can take. My husband is lying in a coma because someone shot him. But now I find out he's not Todd. Wait a minute, are you sure your Todd is the real Todd?

"He is Tea and he has the DNA test to prove it. Vicki and he took the test together. Samuel told you of his memory loss. We believe that this whole charade was put into motion by Carlo Hesser. Samuel and Todd have been tracking down information that we hope places Hesser in the area the night Todd disappeared. Tea, we think there is a good chance Todd was experimented on and we think your Todd was part of that same experiment. Bo is working on getting the proof we need that connects Carlo with Todd but we're still looking for something to connects your Todd to the plan. At first, we thought your Todd might have been a willing participant in this, you see he, along with Hesser, has been purchasing Samuel's portraits over the years. Then someone shot him. Now Todd thinks Carlo is trying to burn all his connections here. Tea, your Todd started acting more out of character around the time I received the Painting. You know what I'm talking about. He's been more erratic with his emotions and his paranoia. I'm wondering if the experiment is beginning to fail. Samuel's memories began returning around the same time. If the memories placed in your Todd were starting to unravel it might explain his behavior. If Hesser believes his house of cards is falling he'll disappear before that happens. Have the doctors told you what might be causing this coma?"

“The doctors can't figure out why he's in the coma. I don't know how I feel about everything you just told me.  I was so confused when I left the penthouse yesterday. First I had to wrap my head around the fact that Todd was back. Then I had to accept that his alters were real after all. It seemed so impossible. All this time, I've been so sure my Todd was Todd. How could he not be, he remembered so much of our past. Although there were a couple of times when he would look at me like he didn't know what I was talking about but I just figured he had forgotten stuff. I mean we all forget things. I went to his office last night and found out he had been buying the portraits, I was upset. Blair it wasn't like Todd to hide that from me. I found this outside the vault last night." Tea handed the prescription bottle to Blair. "I didn't even know he was seeing a doctor."

Blair took the bottle and read the label. There it was, the connection. "Tea this is the connection we need. Your Todd's been seeing Dr. Kipling. I'll bet Dr. Kipling is affiliated with the Kipling Neuroscience Research Facility outside of Philadelphia.  We're almost positive that's the same Facility where Todd was before being sent to Philadelphia General. Do you know what this drug is?"

“I have no idea. Like I said I just found it," replied Tea.

Just then the doctor came in to check on Todd, after checking his eyes, he turned to Tea. "The nurse informed me you found a prescription that belonged to your husband, may I see it, please? " Blair handed the bottle to the doctor. He looked at the label then opened the bottle and removed the pills inside. "This is not what the label calls for. I'd like to get these tested."

"Doctor, if you suspect something please tell me?" said Tea.

"Mrs. Manning I can't say anything for certain until the pills are tested but those might be the reason your husband is in a coma." said the doctor.

"Doctor, I'm Mr. Manning's ex-wife and I've been in contact with Commissioner Buchanan on a matter he is investigating. If you and Mrs. Manning don't object, I think the commissioner would be very interested in acquiring that bottle and any tests that you do on the contents. It could open wide a case he's working on for a friend of ours. If it's alright with you Tea, I'd like to take the bottle to him today. His lab, as well as the hospital lab, can be analyzing at the same time." said Blair, she looked eagerly at Tea who nodded. "In fact, just so there no question that the hospital and Bo are analyzing the same pills I'll call him and ask him to come here for the pills. Agreed?" The doctor handed the bottle back to Tea to hold onto until the commissioner arrived.

Blair made the call and told Bo what had just occurred, he agreed the bottle was indeed evidence and he would be over with an officer to make sure it was received and sealed until the lab got it. Twenty minutes later after talking to the Doctor, Bo left with the bottle and medicine in a sealed bag and the doctor took his sample to the hospital labs. The sooner they discovered what Todd had been taking the sooner they might be able to bring him around.