MI AMADO - PART SIX

"And now the sun is low
And these walls try to break my soul
And now the moon is full
And I won't see nothing tonight
But the tears in her eyes and
My four walled world" Temple of the Dog

"I'm afraid, Mr. Manning, that your wife has suffered a cardiac arrest" the doctor said developing a business like tone. Silence seemed to float over the small group standing outside Téa's hospital room door
. Todd stared at the doctor heatedly. "And?" he barked, suddenly impatient with the doctors tone and slow explanation.
"We've managed to revive her but she's not doing as well as we had liked" the doctor said with a sigh.
"Wh-what does that mean?" Sam quickly asked before Todd could build up to another outburst
."Well, that means that it looks like she might have some internal bleeding that we didn't anticipate" the doctor explained.
"Wait, wait a minute here. You didn't anticipate it? Isn't that what you're paid to do!? Anticipate and combobulate what might and might not happen!?" Todd snarled.
Sam opened his mouth to try and calm Todd but the doctor cut in.
"We're about to run some tests to see exactly what it is were dealing with here. While were doing that she'll be prepped for surgery" he said, ignoring Todd's menacing presence.
"An-and then she'll be okay right? She'll be better?" Todd asked, giving the doctor a wide eyed look.
Adjusting his stance in the hallway, the doctor sighed. "An operation is necessary in order to stop your wifes condition from deteriorating any further. I can't tell you the outcome of the procedure but I can say that if there is internal bleeding, this operation will be key to her survival" he said in a relatively calm tone.
"Well, what are you standing here talking to me for!? Go do it! " Todd shouted, motioning with his cuffed hands.
Obviously annoyed by Todd's outburst, the doctor looked over at Sam and Detective Sykes
. "Gentlemen" he said with a nod as he backed into Téa's room.
"All right Manning" Sykes said, pushing past Sam and grabbing Todd's cuffed arm. "Take him back to the station" Sykes added, gesturing to one of the officers.
"Hey, did the doctor check you out yet Todd?" Sam asked, stepping in between the officer and Todd.
"Yeah" Todd grunted as he tried to yank his arm out of Sykes grasp.
"And he said that you're okay? You don't need to stay here or anything?" Sam asked as he watched Todd resign himself to his restraints and adjust his body into an awkwardly defensive stance.
"Some gibberish about overnight observation" Todd muttered.
"See? You can't take him out of here against his doctors orders" Sam rationalised, giving Sykes a hard look.
"Look, there is no way that he's going to stay here to pull another stunt like this one. I don't want him anywhere near my witness again so I'll take my chances" Sykes said, gesturing towards Téa's hospital room door.
Sam started to protest when Sykes raised his hand in a weary gesture. "Don't bother" he said, as he moved past Sam and pulled Todd's lanky frame along with him.
This time Todd gave no resistance as his gaze seemed to be fixed on the tiles under his feet.
"You-You'll come tell me what's happening right? You know ..how she's doing?" he asked as he lifted his head to look at Sam. Todd's eyes seemed to plead with Sam to say something positive, something that he could take away with him to keep him from going crazy in jail.
Sam slowly nodded his head as he gazed at Todd "Hang in there Boomer" he said simply, knowing that there wasn't much that he could say to reassure Todd. Sighing Sam watched as Todd was lead slowly down the hallway toward the hospital elevators.

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Two Weeks Later...

The picture was torn around the edges; probably from all the times he had pulled it out of its frame. Turning the picture in the glint of the dim light in the jail cell, Todd stared at it. Her smile seemed to radiate through her whole face, from her lips to her cheeks and ending up as the sparkle in her eyes.
Lowering the picture, Todd stared through the bars of his cell at the bare brick walls that lay just beyond them. Closing his eyes, Todd tried to replace the image in his mind of the bruised and cut up Téa with the picture he had been staring at for hours. No matter what he did he couldn't escape that broken image of her in the hospital. The sound of the heart monitor swallowing up all his thoughts; shrieking so loud between his ears that he had trouble even thinking straight sometimes.
Two weeks had passed since he had last seen her lying all twisted up in that hospital bed. Two weeks of being locked up like a wild animal while detective Sykes stalled the bail hearings repeatedly.
Opening his eyes once again Todd remembered Sam's last report to him on Téa's condition. The words 'stabilizing but still unconscious' seemed to flutter around in his brain at a dizzying pace.
"Is this what you do when your wife is lying all torn apart in a hospital room across town? Just kick back, relax and daydream?" a voice said from beyond the bars. Startled at the sound of the voice Todd pulled himself to his feet as he quickly slid Téa's picture into his back pocket.
Kevin stood just outside Todd's jail cell, his fingers wrapped around the bars as he leaned into them.
"Well, if it ain't my nephew Kevie"
Todd said with a mocking smile as he leaned back against his bunk.
"Missed me so much you came all the way down here to visit" Todd quipped as he smirked at him from the other side of the bars.
"Well, you know Uncle Todd, I just couldn't resist a chance at seeing the wild animal in his natural enivorment" Kevin scoffed.
"Yeah, remind me when I get out of here to come visit you in your kindergarten class" Todd fired back as a smile glinted across his face.
"You know, when I found out about your 'accident'-" Kevin began, making quotation marks with his fingers, "I wasn't surprised at all. I mean what wouldn't Todd Manning do to stop his wife from pressing kidnapping charges against him. I figure that it must of sunk in when you got in the car how much trouble you were in and you figured, why not stage a little accident to get rid of Mrs. Manning thus getting rid of those nasty kidnapping charges and the prosecutions best witness in the case. Not to mention you'd get back the millions I'm sure you had to pay her to be your wife" Kevin said changing the subject as he pulled his hands from the bars and shoved them back into his pockets.
"Millions? That's chump change to me, The Sun pulls in twice that amount annually" Todd said, keeping a calm exterior. "But then, you wouldn't know about that would you," he added, picking at his fingernails. "You still work for mommy and earn a measly little salary" Todd said looking back up at him with a condescending grin.
"Well at least I don't have to buy my women" Kevin shot back his calm facade fading.
"I thought we were talking about the newspaper business" Todd retorted as he stepped away from the cot. "But since we're now on the topic of women, tell me Kevin.." Todd said standing right in front of the cell bars, "..how did it feel to boff nurse Barbara in the cellar?"
Todd finished staring Kevin right in the eye. "Did you get your jollies off at the thought that just above your head all your friends and family were being held hostage?" Todd spoke using his unbroken finger to gesture above his head.
"While you were slipping nurse Barbara the-" Todd started to say.
"I came down here to tell you Todd that I'm going to make sure that these charges stick" Kevin cut in, obviously ruffled by Todd's baiting. "You're not going to get off because some silly little kids write some petition or because Blair tries to sway public opinion in that rag of yours" Kevin snapped, stepping farther back from the bars. "350 years Todd" Kevin said, giving Todd a smug look. "Just try to imagine 350 years....I am" Kevin said closing his eyes.
"350 years, that's almost 4 lifetimes" Kevin remarked as he opened his eyes and stepped up to the bars again. "And you're going to serve every last one of them with my face burned into your brain" Kevin said as he motioned towards Todd's forehead. "Knowing that I'm the one that put you there" Kevin growled."I'm the one that kept you there" he added maliciously. "You see, I'm going on a little trip Todd. I'm going home" Kevin said curling his fingers around the bars just inches from Todd's face.
"Well, to your home that is" Kevin said cracking a smile. Todd's eyes narrowed slightly as Kevin stared at him. "Chicago Todd" Kevin stated as if to confirm Todd's suspicions. "I've volunteered, so to speak, to help Hank nail this case. See I know that there must be a ton of people back in Chicago that would love to testify about how terrible Todd Manning was.It'll just prove to the jury that this is a pattern for you, not that your rap sheet wouldn't do that all on its own" Kevin said with a laugh. "But anything extra I can dig up will make great copy for the Banner" Kevin added.
Todd silently stared at Kevin as he moved toward the doorway.
"Whoa, that's got you shaking in your boots doesn't it Todd" Kevin mocked. "Well, I'll just let you chew on that for awhile" Kevin said, motioning for the guard to open the door. "I'll see you at the trial Uncle Todd" Kevin said, giving Todd one final jab as he left the room
. Standing at the bars of his cell, Todd stood motionless as memories of 'home' tore through his mind. The sudden onslaught of retrospection caught him off guard and he stumbled back a few feet in his ceil. Catching himself against the cot, Todd felt a sudden wave of dizziness sweep over him. His fathers voice seemed to bite at him from out of nowhere.
'You're worthless! '
Todd slowly let his legs give way until he was sitting on the floor beside the cells cot. Staring at the concrete floor, he sat motionless.
'You're just like her, a coward!'
Swallowing heavily, Todd remembered Téa's words the night she woke him from his nightmare. 'He can't hurt you anymore' Todd heard her voice in his head and his stomach twisted up at the remembrance of Téa's bruised arms. The memory of the look in her eyes when she had shown the bruises to him in the car on the way from the lodge haunted him.
Knocking his head lightly against the concrete wall behind him, Todd focused on the image of Tea's eyes in his mind. Sad eyes, desperate eyes. Eyes that suddenly reminded him of his mothers.....

A young man sat cross legged in front of the TV set as some old black and white horror movie flickered across the screen. Staring at the images intently, the young man plunged his hand into the popcorn bowl that sat just to his left. The swamp monster in the movie chased the youthful heroine down a narrow back woods path. The young man laugh as the the actress let out a cheesy B- movie scream when the monster finally caught up to her.
"Hey" a voice said from above his head, the boys demeanour suddenly turned cold and rigid as he froze with the popcorn still clutched in his hand. "I said hey" the voice said, this time kicking the boy slightly in the back. "Who said that you could watch TV on a school night huh?" the voice asked as the boy finally looked up at the man who stood above him.
"I-I was just going upstairs" the boy sputtered as he reached out and turned off the TV set. "Yeah, looked just like that" the man growled." And who said you could have that!" the man said, reaching down and tearing the popcorn bowl off the floor. "I thought I told you that you were grounded to your room until your grades picked up" the man spat.
"Yeah, see I got an A today...." the boy said looking up at the man with a small smile. "An A in English.." the boy said, looking back at the floor as the mans face scowled down at him.
"An A? We don't get A's in this family, we get A plus' " the man said, his voice starting to twist with anger as the boy pulled his legs up to his chest and stared at the floor. "I told you that I didn't want to see your face down here until you had the top mark in class" the man said, reaching down and yanking the boy off the floor. Knowing that there was no answer he could give that would satisfy, the boy stayed silent and averted the mans glare.
"Are you ignoring me?" the man said catching the boys chin in his grip and forcing the boy to look at him. "You didn't ask me to come downstairs and eat popcorn and watch TV" the man said in a mocking whiny tone. The boy opened his mouth to speak and remembered too late what the sound of his voice did to the man.
"I-I'm sorry" the boy sputtered and immediately regretted it as the man shoved the boy backwards.
Landing on the hardwood floor the boy grunted with the impact.
Scrambling backward on the floor, he glanced up at his fathers torrid expression. "You're just like her, a coward!" the father spat down at his son. Looking up the son saw his fathers anger come at him like a tornado. "Look at you cowering on the floor just like a woman!" the father spat as the boy once again pulled his knees to his chest."You're just like her!"the father yelled once more. The boy quickly tried to pull himself out of the situation as he heard the jiggling of his fathers belt coming undone. A glazed look washed over his eyes as the lash of the belt struck him across the face.

Téa's eyes snapped open. Gasping for air she gripped the sheets, struggling against herself to stay conscious as the fragments of her dream still played in her mind.Her eyes tried to focus on her surroundings but everything seemed blurry. The boys eyes burned into her brain as she reached out to find anything that could tell her where she was. Those eyes, they were familiar to her somehow.
Téa's fingers knocked against something and she jumped at the sudden noise it made as it crashed on the floor. Her mind reeling, Téa tried to sit up but found that every movement brought a new spike of pain. Téa remembered the boy from her dream, his smile, it was so familiar but at the same time it seemed foreign to her.
Her mind suddenly fixated on a not to distant memory. Todd smiling at her as he stood on the penthouse stairs. 'One of life's great moostery's' he had said, and smiled. 'That smile, the boys smile' she thought to herself as it suddenly clicked in her mind that they were the same. Téa's eyes flashed out of the blurriness as she stared up at the ceiling of her hospital room. "Todd" she cried out hoarsely as her eyes widened in the darkness that seemed to envelop her.

TO BE CONTINUED