Carlotta’s Diner
2 weeks later…

Téa walked into the diner and sat down at the counter, resting her head on her arms. She was exhausted. It was only 2 o’clock but she was incredibly tired. Carlotta and Roseanne approached her from the other side of the counter.

“You look like shit Téa,” said Roseanne matter of factly, crossing her arms.

Téa looked at her sister and flashed her a feeble smile, “Thanks Sis.”

“Roseanne has a point Téa. You look worn down. Have you been taking care of yourself?” questioned Carlotta seriously.

Before Téa could defend herself, Roseanne spoke up, “No. She stays up late and she barely eats…!”

“I’ve got a serious court trial coming up,” said Téa abruptly, “Right now we’re picking a jury but it’s not easy…ah, it’s hard to explain…” said Téa.

“Court…work is no excuse…” began Carlotta.

“It’s all I have…next to spending time with Samantha…” said Téa defensively. She uncomfortably wiggled around in her seat.

“When was the last time your saw your husband?” questioned Carlotta.

“Was it Samantha’s birthday party?” chimed in Roseanne.

“You two are worse than a WWF tag team. No, it was about a week ago. I briefly ran into Todd at the courthouse. He was covering a story that day,” explained Téa.

Roseanne poured some coffee in front of Téa.

A sick nauseous feeling overcame Téa. Suddenly she lunged to the side and threw up. Carlotta and Roseanne were immediately by her side.

“Jesus Téa!” muttered Roseanne clinging to her sister, “You really are sick. Maybe I should take you to the hospital.”

Carlotta handed Téa a towel to clean herself up.

“No…” mumbled Téa.

“Yes,” said Carlotta firmly, “You haven’t been taking care of yourself. You’ve let your body run down and now you’re sick…”

“I can’t afford to be sick,” said Téa. She was weak. Very weak.

“Well you are and we’re going to the hospital,” said Roseanne firmly.

Téa and Roseanne locked eyes and exchanged stubborn glances.

“Fine. Whatever,” mumbled Téa.

Roseanne smiled, took off her apron and handed it to Carlotta.

“I’m supposed to be shopping with Samantha at four for school clothes… I can’t let her down…” said Téa looking sadly into Carlotta and Roseanne’s faces.

“Téa, if you can’t make it, you can’t make it,” said Carlotta, “Samantha will understand if you’re sick. I’ll call her and tell her. Maybe Anton and I can go instead.”

Téa nodded her head and wiped her dry, parched mouth with the back of her hand. Roseanne escorted her sister to the car and they went to the hospital.

*********************************************************************************************************

The Sun…

Todd Manning leaned back in his chair at his desk and closed his eyes. He’d been doing a lot of thinking recently and had just come from a therapy session with his therapist, Susannah Hannen. And as usual, the topic of conversation had been his estrangement between him and his wife.

”You said it yourself…We Belong Together…”

The last time he had seen her was about a week ago at the courthouse. The meeting had been brief and awkward. But even then he wanted her.

Susannah had talked about forgiveness. It wasn’t a totally foreign concept to him. He had forgiven her other things. A fling with Andrew when their marriage was just a business contract. And Téa had only kissed Alton. Why couldn’t he get over it? Because Andrew really wasn’t a threat but Alton had money and power. Money and power were the initial reasons they had gotten together in their first marriage. Téa Delgado made no bones about hiding her love of money when they first meet. But Téa had changed. He was convinced she did love him. However Téa had this “hang-up” that her mother haunted her and Téa’s mother, well, honestly, was a screw up. And in many ways Téa demonstrated some of her screwed up mother’s traits. Running away under stress. And Téa was a tease. A natural born flirt much in the way he imagined her mother to be. However he had to admit he liked it when she teased and flirted with him. It made him feel good. Téa was headstrong. And probably the one thing that really bothered Téa was that she abandoned her own daughter.

But Téa was also very different. She was a good step-mother to Starr and she fought…literally fought for their marriage during his DID. Téa was incredibly loyal to him in business and family matters, more so than anyone he had known.

He missed going to his house. He missed seeing her at the end of the day. He missed…touching her. He missed going to her office. He missed spending time with her and the kids. He missed surprising her.

If he could forgive her he could have all that…and her back.

Susannah had asked him if he believed in soulmates. He didn’t really understand at the time but now he had a clue. She was so deep inside of him, she was part of his soul.

He picked up her picture, which was next to Starr’s on his desk and stared at it, running a finger over her features.

“I forgive you Delgado…” he whispered.

*********************************************************************************************************

Llanview General
A few hours later…

Dr. Lange took the IV out of Téa’s arm, “How are you feeling Téa?”

“Better,” she said smiling at him, driving her nagging fear down, deep inside her…

“I usually don’t work the ER but they were short today,” explained Dr. Lange, “Look, I’ve ordered a full battery of tests on you but I don’t expect to get the results back until tomorrow. When I do, I’ll give you a call to let you know so we can go over them.”

How clinical he sounded. He was a nice man but he sounded so serious.

Téa stood up off of the hospital bed, “Sure. That’s great.”

She was young still. Her mother was young…when she was diagnosed with…

“Until then, I want you to drink lots of fluids. You were pretty dehydrated when you came in here,” added Dr. Lange clutching his chart.

Cancer. Her mother died of cancer. Cancer is heredity. And Téa was young. In the prime of her life. So was her mother…

“I will. I promise…” whispered Téa. Cancer. Jesus, did she have cancer? “Good. See you tomorrow…” he said.

“See you,” she walked outside where Roseanne was waiting for her, vowing to keep her secret to herself for now.

“Are you okay?” asked Roseanne standing up.

“Yeah. Sure,” said Téa firmly but inside she was worried. Very worried. This sickness had come upon her quickly and suddenly and she usually didn’t get sick. Cancer. Téa couldn’t help but be worried about her health now. And she didn’t know if she should tell Todd. She swallowed, deciding to hold off until she got the results back from Dr. Lange’s tests tomorrow…

TO BE CONTINUED…

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