“Easy Blair, this will only take a minute,” Larry said, as he gently removed the bandages covering her back.
Blair steeled herself for the pain but was surprised when she felt only a dull ache coming from her back. She glanced over and saw Todd watching everything and gave him a small smile. She felt calmer than she had earlier that morning. She noted that Todd was still looking pale and wondered if Todd had told her the whole truth about why he was in the hospital with her.
When the bandages had been completely removed, Larry carefully examined the welts left by Mitch’s beating. Her back was almost completely purple and black with bruising, but the damage stood out red and raw against the black. Larry frowned as he realized he was looking at an ugly but very readable letter among the welts. “As far as your wounds go, you’re going to be all right. The bruising will take a while to fade and you’ll feel some discomfort from that. There is a little infection, but we can get that with medication.”
“Larry, will there be scarring?” Todd asked from his bed.
Blair had been quiet during the exam and Larry’s diagnosis, but at the word ‘scarring’ she looked over at Todd with alarm. It hadn’t occurred to her that Mitch could have hurt her so badly as to leave scars. Then she recalled his final words to her. “When I marked your husband, I told him, he would always have a remembrance of me. Now he’ll know you belong to me too.” The horrible realization finally sunk in. Mitch had marked her with an “L”.
Looking down at Blair, Larry sighed, “Unfortunately some of the welts will probably leave scars. But I can give you the name of an excellent plastic surgeon who should be able to help you out in that regard. I’m going to let Dr. Conklin examine you and the baby further, and we’ll give you some privacy.” He looked at Todd and pulled the curtain around Blair and her doctor.
Todd knew Larry had closed off Blair’s bed so they could talk. “Do you think a plastic surgeon will be able to do something?”
“I don’t know. Several of the lesions are pretty deep and everyone has different results. I know why you asked the question, but it will be up to the surgeon to give us an idea what can be removed.” He then pulled out his stethoscope and started to examine Todd.
“Hey, I’m fine. What are you doing?” Todd tried to push Larry away.
“If you want out of here, you’ll let me do my job. I thought I made myself clear last night. Shock is nothing to scoff at. You were in serious jeopardy when you collapsed.” Larry looked at Todd calmly and watched as he gave in and allowed the examination.
Todd shut up. The last thing he wanted was to stay in the hospital. He waited impatiently for Larry to check him out and then said, “Okay do I pass the exam? Can I get out of this damn bed now?”
“Your blood pressure is running a little too high for my liking.”
“I want out of here and I want to take my wife home, of course, my pressure is up.”
“Easy, Todd, that is exactly what I mean. You’re struggling to be strong for Blair, yet your pressure shot up when we began talking about the scarring. You have to find a way to care for her without it affecting you and I’m wondering if that’s even possible.”
Todd met Larry’s eyes and knew he needed to figure out a way to handle his anger and pain. Larry was right. He was no good to Blair if worrying about her ended up keep him confined to his own hospital bed. “Larry, she needs me. I promised her I’d take care of her and look what happened. I let her down and now I have to make it up to her.”
“I agree she‘s going to need you. So give in Todd, for once in your life follow the rules. Take the medicine I’ve prescribed to keep your pressure down. It’s just a little thing, but it will probably keep you alive. Another thing, both of you need to talk to someone about last night. What happened isn’t going to just disappear? I can call Ray for you, just say the word.” Larry studied the man in front of him. He could almost see the gears working in Todd’s head. He was certain about one thing. Todd would do anything to help Blair. Even when he was younger, Todd had surprised him, by helping out Marty when she had begun to let herself go. He had also shown a great deal of compassion when any of the children in the hospital had needed extraordinary help. Todd would always be a mass of contradictions. The question remained, which way would Todd react? Would he strike out in anger or concern by what Mitch did to Blair? Unable to get a read, Larry prayed it would be the latter.
***
Blair looked at Dr. Conklin, “You’re wondering if he knows? He does. I could see it on his face when he cut me loose, he had it all figured out. I remember telling him that I knew he would find me and that I fought as hard as I could.” Her voice broke as she recalled his look and started sobbing quietly as the doctor continued her exam.
“Blair, when you arrived here last night the first thing we did was make sure the baby was alright. I’m concerned about the pains you experienced and I’m going to order an ultrasound to ensure that the baby wasn’t harmed in any way by the trauma.”
Blair stopped sobbing and ran her hands across her eyes to wipe her tears. She looked directly at her doctor. “Call it what it was. He raped me. I don’t need you to shy from the words. I knew what he had planned for me the minute he caught me. I’m sure you won’t believe this, but right now I’m angry. I’m mad because he almost made me lose my child and he used me. It wasn’t about me, don’t you get that?”
Dr.Conklin stopped what she was doing. “What was it about?” Blair obviously needed to vent and it seemed like it might be more beneficial at that moment, then all the right words and sympathy.
“The bastard has hated Todd forever. He tried to bury him alive and then he scarred him and left him for dead. I think he found out Todd survived and decided that hurting me would finish Todd. He almost succeeded too. I know Todd collapsed after bringing me in last night. I don’t know what I would do if Mitch had gotten his wish. I can’t lose Todd or this baby.” Blair broke down again. Her resolve to be strong disintegrating in the face of her fear. She started to cry.
Todd and Larry had stopped talking when they heard Blair’s voice rise in anger. Todd knew Blair was reaching the end of her rope and hopped off the bed. The cords from his heart monitor tangled behind the bed, and he ripped off the leads determined to get to Blair. Larry stood back knowing Todd needed to get to Blair as much as she needed him. Todd moved the curtain and sat on the bed enfolding Blair into his arms. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, crying as he slowly stroked her hair, soothing her. “Hey, no more tears. I’m fine I tell you, and the baby is doing great. Right, Dr. Conklin? There’s no way in hell that man will ever beat us. Together we’re more than he ever imagined.”
Both Larry and Dr. Conklin were amazed that Blair allowed Todd to touch her and were even more astonished when she clung to him. As Todd’s words sunk in, Larry realized Blair needed all the reassurances she could get.
“Blair, Todd’s right. He’s okay, right now, and all the monitors are telling us your child is still hanging in there like a champ. You just need to heal and everything else will fall into place.” Larry said.
“Yes, just rest Blair. I’m going to get the ultrasound ordered and then you just need to recuperate. If everything confirms what I suspect, you can go home tomorrow.” Dr. Conklin spoke up, following Dr. Wolek’s lead.
Blair sniffled as her sobs slowed and she relaxed in Todd’s arms. He felt so good and she could hear his heart beating firmly under her ear. He’s really okay, pull yourself together, Blair. Like he said, together we’re strong.
Suddenly there was a commotion outside their room. “Sam, wait for us. You can’t go in there yet.” They could hear Starr through the door.
“You said I could see Mom. I’ve waited long enough. Mom was hurt. I want to make it better,” Sam pushed into the room, only to come to a stop, as he saw his mom wrapped in his father’s arms and the doctors standing around. His mom had been crying, her back was to him he could see a big bandage over it. “Mom?” he was hesitant. “Are you okay?” He walked slowly to the bed.
Blair turned toward Sam. She could see he was scared and uncertain. ” Hi Baby, I’m alright. Your mom just got real clumsy last night. I was trying to find the puppy in the woods and I guess I didn’t see the roots of a tree or something but I tripped and fell. I got pretty messed up when I rolled down a hill. I landed in a bunch of thorns, and they scratched my back.” she watched his face as she spoke and he was taking in all of her lie.
“Golly mom, that must hurt real bad. Is that why you were crying?”
“Yes, Baby, you know how it stings when I fix one of your boo-boos. Well, Doctor Larry just fixed mine and I‘m afraid I’m just a big cry baby. Daddy was making it all feel better, but I could use some more loving from you.” She held out her arms.
Sam looked at his mom. He walked closer and very carefully put his little arms around her to hug her. “I’m not hurting you am I, Momma? I don’t want you to cry.”
“No, Baby, you’re not hurting me.” She hugged her little boy close, her hand behind his head, trying not to break into tears again.
Todd looked on, he had backed up to give Sam access to his mom. Now, he looked at Starr and Jack, standing in the doorway. “Hey, don’t just stand out in the hall. You can come in. I think the doctors are finished at the moment.” He met Larry’s eyes.
“Come on in kids,” Larry said. He started to head for the door as did Dr. Conklin, but they were waylaid by Starr.
“Excuse me, but could we talk for a minute.” Starr asked. She had stepped aside as the doctors had left the room, letting Jack enter in front of her.
Dr. Wolek and Dr. Conklin paused and stood outside with Starr.
“Are my mom and the baby okay, Dr. Conklin. You can tell me the truth. I’m not a child anymore.”
“Starr, your mom is doing fine and it appears the pregnancy is still on track. I’m going to run one more test on the baby, but they should be okay. I’ll let your mom know when we get the results back from that procedure. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get it ordered.” She turned and left before Starr could ask any more.
Larry waited patiently for the questions he knew Starr had for him. Starr was frustrated as Dr. Conklin walked off, she had been wanting to ask something else but she recognized that the Doctor had told her all she was going to. She turned to Dr. Wolek. “Okay, tell me the truth. How’s my dad?”
She’s just like Todd, direct, no-nonsense. He had always thought of Starr as more a little Blair. “Your dad is going to be okay if you can keep him from overstressing. This whole situation is a minefield. Starr, you seem to have some influence on your dad. You need to make him step back a little if you can. Truthfully, your dad needs a long vacation with no worries but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I suggest you help me out and convince your father to start taking his medication. It’s not foolproof but it can help keep his blood pressure down. I know he’s stubborn about it in general, but in this instance he needs it.”
“Are you going to keep him and mom in the hospital longer?” She asked. She was relieved to hear her father was out of danger but had to admit keeping her father stress free was going to be a challenge.
“Your dad can go home today, but we want to keep your mom another 24 hours to make sure no other problems arise.”
“What kind of other problems? I thought Dr. Conklin said she and the baby were alright.”
“They are Starr, but she suffered a great deal of trauma and we’re just being cautious.”
“Dad and Sam aren’t going to like that. They’ll want her home.” Starr knew she was in for another night of explanations where her little brother was concerned.
“I’m sure they won’t like it, but it really is necessary. You’ll just have to convince Sam it’s for the best. As for your dad, I’m guessing if he does go home, it won’t be for long. I’ve got to check in on some other patients. Is there anything else you want to ask me?”
Starr shook her head and headed into the room to see her parents. Her mom was now resting with a pillow strategically placed behind her back, and Sam was sitting beside her on the bed. He was babbling away.
“You should have seen it, mom, there were lights all over the front yard. Bo and Detective McBain were there too. Jack even got into a fight with them last night.”
“Hey twerp, I did not,” replied Jack
“Yes you did, I saw you with them and you were mad.” Sam looked at his big brother. Jack looked upset. “You were just like you are now.”
Starr piped in, “Sam, I told you Jack wasn’t fighting. He was just upset because mom had to come to the hospital.” She walked to her mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, Mom.” She noted the bruise on her mom’s face and remembered her mom’s story to Sam. “Looks like the woods put up a pretty good fight.”
Blair saw where Starr was looking and realized she was sporting a black eye courtesy of Mitch’s backhand. “Oh that, I forgot about it. A branch got me pretty good at one point when I was chasing Rascal. Sam, you stop teasing Jack. Just because you consider John McBain your personal friend, you don’t always have to pretend Jack is in trouble if he’s talking to him. I’m really sorry I scared everyone last night. I guess your dad will have to start taking Rascal out for his evening walk. I quit.” She looked over at Todd sitting quietly on his bed watching them.
“Hey Babe, I totally understand. Leave Rascal to me. That goes for the rest of you, too. He’s my puppy, I’ll make sure he gets his walks from now on.” Todd saw the surprise on his kids’ faces, but there was no way he would let Mitch use Rascal again to get to his family.
“Hey Dad, why are you wearing a shirt like Mom?” Sam asked suddenly.
“Oh this, I’m afraid my shirt got damaged when I went looking for Mom and the hospital gave me this to wear.”
“Then, where are your pants?”
“What? My pants are gone? Now, who the heck took those? Someone must have come in here while I slept and took them. I’ll have to track them down, it wouldn’t look too good if I went home without them.” Todd grinned at Sam.
“Yeah Dad, you better find them. Mom won’t let me go out of the house without mine on. Right, Mom?” Sam looked at his Mom.
“That’s right Sam. I’m sure Starr or Jack can help your dad find his pants.” Blair smiled at Todd. She loved him so much and his love for Sam was so evident.
“Are you and Dad coming home soon? Sam asked.
Starr spoke up as her Mom and Dad looked at one another. “Sam, I just talked to the doctor, and they want Mom to stay in here just a little longer to make sure the fall didn’t hurt the baby. Come on, Sam, you, Jack, and I will go find Dad’s pants.”
As the kids left the room, Todd hopped off the bed and joined Blair. Her hand reached toward his face, finding his scars. “He won’t get the best of us, he just made us stronger.” she said shakily.
Todd took her hand and kissed her palm. “Damn straight, Babe.”
Ok this ending GOT ME. BEAUTIFUL JOB. So Toddian to his OTB.
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