MASKS - PART TWO

PREVIOUSLY

The officers attacked Todd full force, with both fists and batons. He didn't even bother trying to protect himself. His last coherent thought before the darkness enveloped him was one of anguished acceptance, a bleak surrender to the helplessness of all that he had fought for, and ultimately lost. To hell with 'em...to hell with 'em all.

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The mechanical gasp of a ventilator mingled with the steady beep of a heart monitor to form an eerie atmosphere in the private room of Llanview General. The room was shockingly ethereal in its peace, while tucked neatly in its bed was a creature anything but peaceful. Thomas Todd Manning lay comatose, as he had for the past two months, after spending the previous month in a Canadian ICU. When the officers had finished their beating and Bo staggered to his feet - clutching his broken nose, Todd's broken body laid still as death. A medivac was called in, and paramedics worked furiously to save the life of a man whose body was slowly dying. His injuries were, at first glance, too numerous to count, though the method of madness was obvious. He had been bludgeoned- nearly to death.

When finally the helicopter landed at the Toronto University Trauma Center, Todd was listed in critical condition. Tea had been torn between staying at his side and taking Starr back to Llanview, to spare the little girl any more fear or heartache. Ultimately, she decided to do what Todd would have wanted- keep Starr safe no matter the cost. Before leaving that day, she'd stood at the foot of his bed, lost in sadness and fear and memories.

........He'd stood there, dripping and shivering on the docks after jumping into the river for her necklace. The thought that he could have died for the simple gesture of fetching a momento from the watery depths frightened her. And stirred up emotions she hadn't even wanted to consider.

"They say you see your whole life go by in the last few seconds, you know before you die. "

"You know I never understood that, right? I mean how do they say that, I mean who do they say that to because when you go it's not like you come back, right?"

"I felt like it was me under the water and the life I saw go by was the one I hadn't lived yet."

"Was it color, or was it black and white?"

"Actually, it was pretty bleak. "

"All right, next time I'll tell you what, you jump in and get the jewelry."

"But then when I saw you over me, standing, dripping, I felt like I had been given another chance."

"I feel like I got a new lease on life too."

As she'd stood, watching him from the shadows at the foot of the bed. She hadn't wanted to admit it. Hadn't wanted to believe it. The man, the vulnerable, terrifyingly broken man lying in the narrow bed was her husband. Todd Manning was huge, virile, invincible. But this man with her husband's beautiful, scarred face was pale and still as death.

Her stifled whisper had broken the monotony of beeping machines. "Todd." She'd moved to the side of the bed, leaned down close. "It's Tea. I'm here." She'd waited, somehow sure it would take only that for his eyes to open, to slide her one of those sly and mischievous looks.

But there had been no movement, only the stillness. The silence.

And three months later, the silence still ruled Todd's world. He lay in his private room, attended to by nurses and doctors who gave little hope to his returning to the world of the living. At first glance, a stranger might have mistaken him for some fairytale character. The sleeping beauty awaiting a magical kiss to reawaken him from his empty hell. But the rumors ran rampant still. The titles whispered from one person to the next. Rapist. Murderer. Monster.

Officer Michael Ramirez leaned haphazardly against the wall outside of room 314, eyeing long legged nurses with an affectionate and slightly crooked smile. Well, the job sucks but at least the scenery is nice. Glancing over his shoulder, he looked through the small square window in the private room's door to find nothing had changed. Todd Manning still lay in his vegetative state. Well they all said he was a ghoul, guess they really meant zombie. Snickering at his private joke, he crossed his arms over his chest and returned to his perusal of the nurses. Hearing the beep of the elevator doors opening, he glanced to his left, as Victoria Carpenter stepped out into the hall. Ramirez straightened to attention and nodded with a polite "Ma'am" as she made her way past him, into her brother's room.

Closing the door behind her, Viki sighed, her eyes shifting from their usual polite kindness to a deep and quiet sadness. Moving gracefully across the room to stand at his bedside, she eased her purse onto the bed beside him, and took his warm, callused hand into her own. "Hello, Todd."

Smiling slightly around the sadness, she tipped her head and considered him. "We really need to stop meeting like this. People will talk and we can't have that can we, hmm? Besides, you're needed back at The Sun. The Banner is scooping you left and right and poor Mr. Briggs is completely over his head. We all need you back. Who would have believed I'd ever miss your stubborn antagonizing. The world is far too boring a place without you."

Sliding her hand from his, she smoothed the light blue hospital blanket over his chest, tucking him in as one would a child. "You know, Todd, you've been here entirely too long. Your body has been completely healed." Pausing, her eyes misted with tears and memories. "Perhaps not your soul, not yet. But that will come. I know it will. I've seen the good in you, Todd. I know it's there." Reaching back to take his hand, she whispered gently "I don't know what it is that makes you so very afraid of loving...and being loved. Perhaps, one day you'll tell me."

TO BE CONTINUED