Who's the Real Todd?, Ch. 37

Todd looked at his brothers and Ms. Perkins and was relieved to see they were none the worse for the ordeal they had all gone through. "Thank God you're all here. Everybody okay."

"If you call being blind okay, then yeah we're okay" griped Pete.

He looked at his brother and shrugged "Yeah but we're alive. I think I'll take that, and whether you, believe it or not, I'm glad I didn't lose you guys. Another thing at least we can see in here. Now I need each of you to take a turn briefly and see what you see out of my eyes. I'm hoping one of you might be able to make out more than I can, every little difference could help. Pete, you're so anxious to do something, you take first look."

Pete looked at Todd surprised then jumped to his feet and disappeared. He regretted it the minute he did. "Fuck! That no-good son of a bitch..he could've warned me. " He opened his eyes and saw nothing. He looked around and saw a little light but nothing that would help tell what he was looking at. "Shit. At least inside I don't feel helpless," he went back to Samuel's room  "No good, For me everything was gray. Thanks a lot for warning me about the head, Todd."

"Sorry Pete, Okay who’s next." Ms. Perkins stood up, but Todd stopped her. "No, you should stay here.  Pete's right the headache is brutal. After I've had a chance to recuperate you can take a look. Rodd, do you think you can handle a headache for a few moments?

"Yes, I'ma sure I can." Rodd popped out and like Pete immediately hated it. "My poor a head this is no good," he slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. He found he could make out certain shapes especially when a young nurse walked by "Cara Mia" he whispered. In his head, he heard "Rodd shut up." He immediately shut his eyes and retreated back to Samuel's room. "I'ma sorry but she had quite a figure."

Todd looked at him in surprise "You mean you could actually make out a figure?"

"Si.  She was gray, but ooh the shape mmmwwwah magnificent." said Rodd'

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Rodd can make out shapes. That's a start. Alright,Tom do you want to try? You don't have to stay long. The head really hurts so you don't have to if you don't want to." said Todd looking at young Tom.

"Todd I want to do this. I'm not that young. I can take a little pain." Tom said looking hurt.

Todd looked at Tom and said "I know you can, but that doesn't mean I want you to feel it. If you're sure, I really do need your input. Tom, if Blair is there you can talk to her but if the Doctor is there come back and tell me."

Tom nodded and found himself lying down "Owww, boy that hurts. Sheesh, this is the pits." He opened his eyes and looked around the room, careful to move his head slowly. "I don't know Todd, it's kinda bright. I see some blobs, different colors. Some gray, some blue and some blob that's red." he became quiet when he realized someone was walking toward him. "Hello who's there?" he asked. Whoever it was, was wearing yellow.

Blair came over to Todd when she saw his eyes opened and realized that he had seen her coming. Michael was coming shortly, could Todd's sight be coming back. "Todd, it's Blair, can you see me?"

"Hi Blair, no it's me, Tom, I'm here helping Todd. I can't see you, but I can tell you're wearing something yellow.  Right?" Tom asked to get confirmation.

Blair was disappointed that it wasn't quite as she had hoped, but she said encouragingly "That's right Tom I have on a yellow blouse. Is Todd around? Dr. McBain will be here shortly."

"Oh Sure, I'll tell him, don't worry he'll be right back. You doin' alright Blair?" Tom asked before leaving

Blair smiled at him. Bless Tom, he always thought of everyone. "Yes Tom, I'm doing fine. I'm just worried about you guys."

"Hey, don't worry about us, we'll get this figured out. You wait and see. Okay, I'm going to go now, and, by the way, he won't say anything but his head is hurting a lot." He looked at her blob and felt her give him a kiss. "Gee thanks, bye now."

Blair watched as his eyes closed and waited for her husband to return. Michael walked in and came over to take a look at his patient. "I hear he's awake. How's he doing"

From the bed, Todd spoke, "Well, he's got a splitting headache for one. How long before it goes away Doc?" he turned his head in the direction of Michael's voice.

"I just have a few questions I need to be answered. Do you want to help me out? said Michael "Let's start with, tell me your Name."

For one quick second, Todd almost answered Todd Manning but remembered and said: "Samuel Toddman" he was grateful he hadn't lost his memory again and that the surgery hadn't wiped out his alters.

"Just a few more questions Samuel. What year is it?" Michael asked.

"It's 2011 in July " replied Todd

"What do you do for a living?" he asked next.

Todd answered. "I'm an artist." Todd hoped Michael didn't have too many more questions his head was pounding.

Michael had gotten out his flashlight and was flashing it in front of Todd's eyes but realized although the pupils were reacting, Todd was not. "One last question. What color is my shirt?"

Todd's head came up and he struggled to see color, but all he saw was gray. "Unfair Doc. You should give a guy some warning when you're going to spring a trick question on him. I'll tell you what I see. There's a gray blob standing in front of me surrounded by light gray. That's it and I can see the blob move. Is it hopeless or too soon to tell?"

Michael put the light away and said. "It's hard to say, Samuel.  There is good news, it appears your memory wasn't affected.   Unfortunately, two of the wires that were removed were in the occipital lobe of your brain and that lobe tells your brain what you see. There was some damage and there is probably some swelling of the tissue around the area where the wires were removed. As everything isn't totally black you might regain some of your vision back after everything heals, for now, it's a waiting game. I'm putting you on some medication that should help bring the swelling down and with luck maybe you'll get some improvement."

Michael patted Todd's shoulder. "Just hang in there, that last wire I took out almost killed you. I also noticed the chip was beginning to corrode and that could have had serious side effects if it had remained in you much longer. All in all, you are incredibly lucky to have found out it was there. We're getting you a room ready and since I know you're on your honeymoon I've arranged for your wife to stay with you. We're going to be monitoring you for at least 48 hrs I want to make sure you have no complications from the surgery. Anything else I can answer Samuel?" asked Michael.

Todd reached out and Blair took his hand and he drew her closer to him. "No, I guess you've answered everything you can. By the way Thank You, you saved my life and I'm grateful.  Dr. Wolek was right. You were the best man for the job."

Todd and Blair talked about everything Michael had said and then Blair let Todd rest, so she could contact Starr and Vicki and tell them what had happened.

Blair wasn't sure how she was going to tell Starr about the surgery. They hadn't even been able to warn her because it had all happened so fast. Well, it was done now so she would just have to get on with it and let Starr know the results. She waited as Starr's phone rang. then Starr picked up. "Starr, Hi hon. The honeymoon has been cut short, but we're not coming home right away."

At the other end of the call, Starr heard something in her mother's voice that scared her."Mom, talk to me, what happened to D.."she stopped herself she didn't know if someone might be monitoring her calls, after everything that had happened recently she was being extra careful. "What happened to Samuel?"

Blair knew she was going to have to handle this carefully "Starr, Samuel had a mishap that required immediate surgery and there was no way to contact you at the time. It was touch and go for a while. He made it through the surgery but not unscathed. Samuel has lost his vision for now and we don't know if it's permanent or temporary. We will be staying here a couple more days because the Doctors want to make sure there are no more complications."

"Are you saying he's blind?  Mom, Samuel lives for his art. He must be devastated. Hope and I can catch the next plane if you want company." Starr was numb. Her dad had lost his vision, what had happened? She knew her mom was being vague because they were both worried about Carlo Hesser listening in. She wanted to be there for her father. Even as she suggested the flight she knew her Mom was going to say no. She couldn't believe it, once again he was facing a challenge, and this time she just wanted to cry. Her dad had been through enough, it wasn't fair. When was God going to give him a break? They had been so happy a couple of days ago at their wedding. He had been charming and engaging with all the people at the wedding, even Aunt Dorian hadn't managed to take away his happiness that night and by the time the evening was over, she had felt like her dad had felt part, a true part, of the family surrounding him. For the first time standing in that beautiful home he had built for her mom, her father had finally joined his family. He was no longer just outside looking in.  Before she could say anything else her mom spoke again.

Blair heard the concern in her daughter's voice and knew Starr wanted to add her support to her father during this time. But she knew Todd wouldn't want all the fuss. "Starr I need you to just stay home. Samuel is taking this setback quite well actually. He wouldn't want you to fret. He cares deeply for you and he felt you should know about what happened. We're going to be fine and you just need to keep the faith that this is a temporary problem, that's what Samuel is doing and if he can do that, then so can we. I'll let you know when we'll be coming home. Let your brother and everyone there know what has happened, will you? I love you, so does Samuel. Bye for now." Blair hung up.

She prepared to call Vicki and decided to reach her at the Banner. She knew Carlo might have bugged Vicki's house but she didn't think he would bother with the Banner offices. He would figure that Todd would be careful to only try reaching Vicki at home. She made the call and waited, hoping Vicki was in the office. Vicki picked up and Blair sighed in relief. "Vicki this is Blair, it's over. He's alive... Oh my God, Vicki, it was horrific. The damn thing triggered and Michael had to do the surgery early. We've got the item but there was a cost."

Vicki sat at her desk stunned. When she first heard Blair's voice she had feared the worse. At Blair's next words she had started breathing again. Her brother was alive. Then she heard the rest. "Blair slow down. First, he's okay that's the main thing. Are his memories intact? I know he was so afraid of losing them? Now tell me exactly what happened." She listened as Blair told of the drive back to the bungalow and how Todd had fallen asleep only to scream and pass out. She then told Vicki how the surgery went and how they had almost lost him when another heart attack had been triggered. Vicki listened as Blair described what happened and felt Blair's fear when she heard about the attack. Then Blair told her about the cost. Vicki's heart wrenched as she heard her brother was blind. It was no wonder he always felt cursed. She had never seen a man more plagued than her brother. He couldn't seem to escape his past and he always felt he deserved everything that came at him because of his sins. She had tried for years to tell him there was no such thing as a curse. Now she might have to change her mind about that. She tried to sound positive as she said "Blair the main thing is he's alive. He's a fighter. I have every reason to believe he'll weather this too. When do you think you'll be home?"

"The doctors want to make sure there are no further complications with the surgery so he'll be under close watch for the next 48 hrs but we hope to be home by week's end. Vicki, you need to warn Tea. If Walker has an implant like Todd's it could be deteriorating, Michael said Todd's was and if it had been left alone it would have killed him for sure. I've got to go, Todd's waking up. I'll let you know when we're headed home." Blair got off as she noticed Todd stirring.

"Hey, sleepyhead how are you feeling?" She said.

Todd turned his head where her voice came from and knew how much he missed his sight at that moment. He closed his eyes because he could see her in his mind, even as he was imagining her, he felt her beautiful lips on his. "Mmm.  Hello Mrs. Toddman did you get any sleep? Or have you been sitting by my bed all this time?"

Blair had seen him close his eyes and had known he couldn't see her still. She had hoped after he had slept a little bit that maybe he would find some improvement. Unfortunately, it hadn't happened. "I got some sleep but I've been on the phone with Starr and Vicki letting them know what happened."

Todd's eyes opened quickly even if he didn't focus. "You didn't tell Starr about the chip, did you? She doesn't need to know what those bastards did. Did you tell her about the eyes?" Damn he thought, he already knew the answer to that question. Blair had told both Vicki and Starr about his condition. "You did. Didn't you." Blair's silence said it all. "Great, now I'll have to deal with their pity. Maybe it's a good thing I won't be able to see their faces." he knew he sounded a little bitter. But he hated pity. from anyone.

Blair hadn't meant to upset him but it had happened anyway. She should have realized he was still raw about the condition and would have waited to tell until he was ready, but it was too late to take it back. Not only that but Starr would have told everyone else at home besides. She recalled his retreat when he had seen the pity in her eyes. He was right at least he wouldn't see it. "Todd forgive me. I was so relieved you were alive and wanted them to know. I didn't think."

Todd heard the sorrow and the apology in her tone. He knew how scared she had been when he had almost died. He still recalled that moment he had been standing, watching them working on his body, and looking at Blair across the room frantic. He had felt himself slipping away until Blair had screamed his name. In that instant, their bond had captured him and brought him back to her. He couldn't leave her, he loved her.

He reached out for her and caught her arm and moved his hand down to her hand. Bringing it to his lips he kissed it and said. "I'm sorry. You know how I get, just ignore me. I've got something to tell you. I forgot to tell you after Michael left. It's about the guys. You know you talked to Tom and he told you he can make out colors, well Rodd can make out shapes which means, with the help of the guys, I might not be so in the dark. Samuel has yet to take his turn out here to see if he can see any better than the rest of us. So hang on, I want him to try now." Todd went looking for Samuel and found him standing ready. "Okay, Samuel go for it."

Samuel found himself looking up at Blair, at least he was pretty sure it was Blair he could make out a little bit of her shape and he was also able to discern the colors she was wearing but the minute she moved she blurred. So for him, the movement was a problem. As long as what he looked at was standing still, he had an idea what he was looking at. He decided to test his theory by asking Blair to do a few things. "Blair You're beautiful even if you're out of focus but I need you to move away from the bed."

Blair thought that was a strange request but she did as Samuel had asked.

He was right. As soon as she moved she reminded him of the zig-zag lines of color when your TV screen was on the fritz. " Okay hold it. Blair, move to the container of hazardous material for me." Samuel tried to focus on the red object he could barely make out. As he looked at it a blur of color moved toward it. "Okay, stop don't move again. " Samuel had to close his eyes he was feeling ill.

Blair moved back to Samuel and began to worry he wasn't looking very good. "Samuel are you all right?"

Samuel tried to open his eyes but his stomach lurched. "No! I'm going to be sick" He couldn't get the image of those zig zag colors out of his head "God " he reached for his head it felt like it wanted to explode, then suddenly it just stopped and everything went black. Samuel lay there taking great gasps of air and trying to will his stomach to stop churning. With his eyes closed, he said 'Todd, you need to take over. If I open my eyes I think it'll start all over again.'

Todd understood. It had been as if the colors were in 3D coming at him and there was no place to go. It felt like his brain was on overload. and then like a switch it had stopped. Almost like it had been absorbed by something. Todd took over but immediately was sorry that he did. Now he felt the pounding head and the churning stomach and it was too much. Before he could try and fight it he turned and got sick.

Blair had been ready and as soon as his stomach stopped heaving she had used a cool cloth to wipe his brow. It had been dry heaves because he hadn't had anything to eat or drink in a while but it still had been terrible. He was positively drained as he leaned back on his pillow. The cool cloth was exactly what he needed. "Well that was a disaster." he carefully opened his eyes to the gray Blob that was Blair. At least nothing seemed to set his stomach off anymore.

"It was weird. As long as you were standing still, Samuel had a sense of shape and color but when you moved it was as if the Television went haywire. Then it was like that was all we could see those jagged colored lines. We couldn't block them out, it was as if they had a mind of their own and they were aiming straight at me. I swear I felt like something was thirsting for those images and then it just swallowed them. You're stuck with me Blair for the time being. I'm not sure what's going on, but I don't think I could go through that a second time."

"Todd, I think we should tell Michael. I was really worried when Samuel reached for your head, you were in a lot of pain, I don't think it should be that bad. There might be something wrong." she started to move away but his hand grabbed her.

He couldn't believe he had caught her. He had seen the blob seem to turn and had guessed she was getting ready to walk away. "Don't go. Not yet, stay here and talk to me. What time of day is it? I can't tell. I've lost track of time, I don't even know if this is the same day we were just horseback riding or another day. Tell me what happened Blair."

Blair had been surprised he had been able to stop her, but she heard the plea in his voice to not be alone. "I'm not going anywhere I was going to reach for the call button. You need to relax you just got sick and I'm concerned. We went horseback riding yesterday and when we were on our way back to the bungalow you dozed off in the car and the chip triggered. You screamed and blacked out and I brought you here. Don't you remember?

Todd frowned. The more he thought about his last hours yesterday, the fuzzier everything got. Maybe it was because of the surgery. He would have to ask Michael. Ever since Samuel had that weird visual experience, Todd had been hearing a persistent high pitched sound that seemed to be coming from right behind his bad ear. It was not far from the site of the surgery. Whatever it was, it was beginning to drive him crazy. " I don't know.  It's all fuzzy and there's this noise that's driving me insane, you better get Michael. I'm not sure I can stand much more of this." Todd covered his ears but nothing helped, the noise was inside and the pain was building. Blair was pushing the call button as Todd began screaming.