Don't Shoot the "Messenger", Ch. 20

            Although he had remained at the hospital for tests, Todd refused to just lay there. Like all hospitals, there were delays and Todd found himself frustrated. He finally insisted that Blair call his lawyers and work on the two contracts for Kelly and Joey. He was determined to get them signed before they changed their minds. Once he had that underway, he and Blair settled down to talk about the newest development.

             “This is for real huh? We’re going to have a baby?” Todd thought back to his earlier musings and marveled at the way things worked. He never envisioned this morning that he would be an expectant father.

               Blair smiled and moved a stray lock of hair back behind his ear, taking the moment to caress his face. “It’s for real. I know it’s a shock. I’m sure you never expected to become the father of a baby again, at this stage in our lives.” She looked down at her stomach and tentatively rubbed it. “Todd, I want this baby. Please tell me you want it as much as I do.”

               “Are you kidding, Blair? Of course, I want this baby. But I also want you safe. This pregnancy won’t be easy and both Starr and Jack were early. Does Larry think you’ll be able to carry this baby safely to term?” Todd saw the worry in Blair’s eyes and knew she had fears that she might not be able to keep this baby alive. He reached for her hand. “Listen, we’ll worry about that later. For now, everything with this pregnancy is fine, right?”

              Blair nodded, her eyes misty. “Yes, so far there are no complications that Larry can see.”

              “Great, then you begin seeing Doctor Conklin and start taking it easy. I know you want to work at The Sun, but I won’t have it causing you any stress.”

              “I think the one who needs to worry about stress is lying in the bed talking to me. You had three spells this morning. You haven’t been sleeping at night. Don’t you think it’s time you told me what’s bothering you?” Blair sat down on the bed beside him, her hand still engulfed in his. With her free hand, she reached for his scars beginning to trace them, when suddenly ...

              “Blair, stop!” His hand gripped hers tightly.

               Blair froze and looked into his eyes. She saw pain and fear radiating from them. “What is it, Todd? What’s the matter?”

              Todd’s thoughts were elsewhere at that moment, as an image of Mitch hovering above him with that knife poised came into view. He watched, helpless to stop it, as Mitch began carving. He screamed, feeling it as if it was once again happening. Then he blacked out.

             Blair was frantic and the nurses had come running at his scream, only to find him passed out. Larry had been in the vicinity and began checking Todd’s vitals. “What happened Blair?”

            “I don’t know, I was trying to get him to talk about what’s been giving him nightmares but then it was like he was somewhere else, seeing something else.“

Todd moaned and started to wake up. Larry flashed his light into Todd’s eyes and they were responsive. “Todd, do you know where you are?"

            Todd was still caught in the after-effects of the remembrance and moaned and brought his hand up to his face. He stared at his hand expecting to see blood, but there was none. He looked around, focusing on Blair. “He cut me. The bastard cut me.”

            Blair and Larry looked at each other, realizing Todd had relived the memory of Mitch carving him. Blair took his hand. “I know, but it was long ago. You’re safe now. He can’t hurt you anymore, he’s dead.”

            Todd looked at Larry and saw his expression and knew Larry was aware Mitch’s body had been taken. “Is he?” He stated bluntly and shivered, still trying to throw off the memory.

            “What do you mean, ‘is he’? Of course, he is, I heard it on the news the night of the blackout, that Mitch Laurence was shot. Why did you ask that question?” Blair looked at Todd in bewilderment.

             Larry put two and two together and said, ”That’s what has you so stressed. You don’t think he’s dead, do you?”

             “No, none of the hospital doctors got a look at Mitch’s body, and John and I have identified the doctor who gave the statement to the cop as being Ivan Kipling. You told John an ambulance disappeared that night. Larry, you tell me. You know Ivan Kipling. You know what he’s capable of and what he did to me. Do you seriously believe he took a dead body from here?” Todd looked directly at Larry, waiting on his answer.

             Larry shook his head in disbelief. “You’re sure Ivan was the doctor the policeman left Mitch’s body with?”

              Todd nodded. “She identified his picture. Am I right? Could Ivan be capable of keeping Mitch alive and bringing him back to health if he wasn’t dead?”

             “Todd, Michael and I have had a chance to really study your implants and I can tell you right now that Kipling is light years ahead of other scientists in the field of micro-technology. My God, if you’re right and he has Mitch, he’s got a perfect specimen to experiment on. If Mitch was still alive when Ivan took him, then he could definitely be alive right now.”

             Blair had been listening to this conversation and now she felt ill. She had been so hopeful only moments before, thinking all their past was behind them and they could look forward to some happiness, and now she wondered if they would ever find peace. “Do you mean Mitch is still out there somewhere? Todd when is this horror going to end?”

She broke into tears and he opened his arms and gathered her close. “Shh. I’m sorry, I just didn’t know how to tell you my suspicions. I don’t want you to worry. John is working on it and I’ve got other people looking into it too. If Mitch is alive and out there, we’re going to find him and Kipling both. I promise.”

Larry looked at his patients. “Right now we need to tackle the problem at hand. Blair, I want you to sit down and rest while Todd goes down for this last test. He’ll come back here when it’s all over. Now those are Doctor’s orders, Blair. For that new baby, you need to stay calm.” Larry went out and then returned with a nurse and they moved Todd out for his procedure. Blair blew Todd a kiss and sat down in a chair, hugging herself and praying her baby would be okay and that Todd would be, too.

A short while later, Todd was returned to the room and Larry informed them both that no blockages had been found, but that he wanted to change Todd’s blood pressure medicine. “Now that I understand what you’re stressing over, I think if we can keep your pressure down, at least you’ll stop having the spells. You need to understand that your body has been through so much trauma in the last year, it really wants some downtime. I’m going to prescribe a mild sleeping pill.” Todd started to protest. “No, don’t start. You need to sleep to keep your body healthy. At least with the pill, you might be able to get through the night without the nightmares.”

A couple of hours later with instructions to go home and take it easy, Todd and Blair departed the hospital. Todd was pretty quiet on the drive home and Blair kept looking at him wondering where his thoughts were. As they pulled into the driveway, in front of their home Shaun and Cole were playing with the children on the front lawn. Shaun walked over and informed Todd that there had been no further signs of their visitor. Todd nodded and went inside without another word, followed by a concerned Blair.

“Todd, what’s going on? What visitor is Shaun talking about?”

“What?” Todd had been a million miles away, he had been thinking of Mitch most of the way home and trying to figure out where the man might hide.

“Todd, aren’t you listening? What visitor?” Blair knew he was preoccupied, but this was ridiculous. “Todddd?”

Todd suddenly realized that a very agitated Blair was in front of him. “Hey, calm down. What are you so upset about?” She looked like she was ready to spit nails.

“Would you please tell me who this visitor is that Shaun was talking to you about?” Blair was fit to be tied, she finally had his attention but still no answer.

“Oh. Sleeping Beauty,” said Todd, and he walked into the living room sitting down on the couch.

Blair wanted to scream. What kind of answer was that? She walked over and sat down next to him. She was worried he might still be in some sort of fog from the medicine. “Are you all right? You’re not making any sense?” She reached over to feel his forehead and he caught her arm.

“Blair, I’m fine. I had Shaun checking into Sam’s little visitor. ‘Sleeping Beauty’ isn’t some little girl but a full-grown woman who’s been here more than once watching the house.”

            “Are you telling me that Sam was talking to a full-grown stranger the other day? My God, she could have just taken him.” Blair made a mental note to talk to Sam about strangers. “Wait a minute, you just said she’s been here more than that day. When?”

             “She was watching the back of the house this morning. We’re not sure how many other times she might have been here. I didn’t want to worry you. I wasn’t even sure I saw her this morning until I went to Shaun’s and we check the surveillance tapes. Then I took the pictures we got off the tapes to John. I had the first spell while talking to John and the rest you know. John and Natalie were going to try and enhance the pictures and see if they could figure out who it was.”

             Blair shivered suddenly feeling chilled. The morning had been so promising with Larry‘s verification that she was indeed pregnant. She had been enjoying all the thoughts of a new baby in the household then it all turned bleak. She rubbed her arms and Todd pulled her into his. “I was so happy earlier. We’ve got a new baby on the way. Everything was over. Only it’s not over.” She snuggled deeper into his arms needing his strength. “Do you really think Mitch is alive?”

Todd could feel her trembling and just wished he could take away the fear that had started. “I don’t know. But I think so. On the way home, I decided to start looking for places Mitch might hide. I’m tired of waiting for something to happen. It’s time to take the initiative. We know that Alison Perkins is also out there somewhere and if Mitch is alive, Alison will be with him. Someone has to have seen her and if we find her we’ll find Mitch. In the meantime, we’ll find out who been watching the house. But don’t worry, it could be that you were right and it’s just some countrywoman who likes the house.” He raised her face and looked deeply into her emerald eyes. “No one is going to stop this family from being happy. You are my other half, I need you to stay positive for the sake of that new baby. Can you do that?”

She smiled and he kissed her. Her arms went around his neck and the kiss deepened as they shared their love and strength with each other. They finally came up for air and Todd put his hand on her stomach. “Okay little one, it’s your job to keep Mom happy and you can do that by being strong. I’ll be here to watch over you, and you’ve got a sister and some brothers that are going to be tickled pink when they hear about you. So you hang in there and we’ll do the same out here. Right, Mom?”

“Right, Dad.”