"Do you want Starr to have to come visit you in Statesville?" Viki asked.

"Would it be better to have her visit me in a loony bin?" Todd asked . . . "

"Don't let her have to know her daddy is in jail."

"It's the only way huh?" Todd asked. Thinking it over, Todd knew he had no choice, so, he said, "Okay, okay, I'll do it, what happens now?"

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

Sam Rappaport had gotten permission to stay with Todd overnight. He sent Viki home and Tea was preparing the necessary paperwork for Todd's hearing. Sam had been relieved to hear that Viki had gotten through to Todd and had gotten him to agree to therapy. Todd had been agitated and paced the cell, anxiously, earlier. He had eventually fallen into a fitful sleep.

Now, as Sam sat there watching over Todd, he began to think of the events that had transpired in just the last few hours and feelings of guilt just washed over him. Why did I ever bring up that night? Why did I try to force him to remember things he tried so hard to block out for all these years? What the Hell was I thinking? Sam thought.

Intellectually, he knew that problems like Todd's didn't happen because of one conversation, and that Todd, in all likelihood, has been ill for many years, but in his heart Sam knew that making Todd talk about that night was the catalyst for this current crisis.

Looking down at his sleeping friend, Sam lightly patted Todd's head and said, "I'm sorry Boomer. I'm sorry about tonight and I'm sorry I didn't save you from Peter."

Viki could not sleep. Thoughts of her brother had occupied her mind throughout the night. She knew what a long, hard, and painful road lay ahead of him and it broke her heart to think about it. Damn you, Father, she thought, Why did you do it? Why did you force Irene to give her son away? You let her keep Tina. Why did you force her to abandon Todd to a life of torture?"

Viki knew that her beautiful, brilliant brother would be living an entirely different life now had he not been placed in the home of Peter and Barbara Manning. Viki had even allowed herself to wonder on occasion how different things would have turned out if she had been allowed to raise Todd, as she had her own children. Well, you can't change the past, Viki thought, but maybe I can do something about the future.

It was 9:22 a.m. Switzerland time, when Dr. Susannah Hanen's phone rang. She was surprised to hear Viki's voice at that hour.

"Susannah, there is a family crisis that I was hoping you could help with."

Relief flooded through Viki. After hearing about the situation with Todd, Susannah had agreed to come to Llanview to treat him. Viki had always credited Susannah Hanen with saving her own sanity and prayed she could do the same for Todd. Viki knew Susannah, being Nora Buchanan's sister, might not set to well with Todd, but she also knew Susannah would be totally professional and not prejudice against Todd in any way.

Todd woke up with a start. The sleep, such as it was, did him good and he felt less confused than he had the night before. He remembered that he had agreed to see a therapist as a condition to his being released from jail. Thinking about that caused a knot to form in his stomach, but then he thought about seeing Starr and being able to be with Tea and started to feel a little better.

"Hey pal, you awake?" Sam asked. He then told Todd, "We have to talk before I go to see the judge about you this morning."

"Just you? Don't I have to be there too?" Todd wondered.

"Well, not this time Boomer, not if you don't want to be. If you give me permission to speak on your behalf, I can have the whole thing wrapped up and have you out of here before lunch," Sam said, trying to sound far more casual than he felt.

Sam did not want Todd in that judge's chamber with him. He did not want Todd to hear the reasons he would be giving the judge for releasing Todd to therapy. He knew Viki was right, that hearing about the suspicions of DID and alters was something best left for therapy and not a judge's chamber.

"Okay, I hate having to wear a tie anyway," Todd said, causing Sam to laugh.

Bo Buchanan was a man of his word and everything went smoothly with Judge Fitzwater. Todd was now under a court order to receive therapy. It was to begin as soon as Doctor Hanen came to town.

Tea Delgado wanted to live with Todd. She wanted to share the penthouse apartment with her husband, but was relieved that the court had ordered him to live with Viki and that as his legal guardian, Viki had agreed to take responsibility for all decisions concerning Todd. As much as Tea loved her husband, she did not trust herself to always make the right decisions as far as Todd was concerned. She was a tangle of emotions herself and knew that when it came to Todd her thinking was not always clear.

Now, she and Viki were waiting in Viki's car for Sam to bring Todd out. The plan was to take him to the penthouse to collect the things he wanted to take to Viki's, and to get him settled in there. For her part Viki was looking forward to getting a chance to "Mother" Todd for a while, and to give him all the strength and support she knew he would need in the coming months.

Blair Manning was sitting behind Todd's desk at the Sun. She had been running the newspaper since Todd had been away. When the news came in that Todd had not been held over for trial Blair thought, Thank God.

Although she and Todd had been divorced for a long time now, she still had residual feelings for the man she thought of as "the love of her life," but even more than that, she was so grateful that Starr would not have to grow up without her daddy. Starr had just about broken Blair's heart that morning when Blair found the little girl crying into a stuffed animal that Todd had given her.

"Mommy, I miss daddy so much. I wish more than anything that he would come home," Starr had admitted, through her tears, as Blair held her.

Blair knew what it was like to grow up without a father and didn't want that for Starr. Blair loved running the newspaper, but missed Todd being there. Some of the happiest times of her life were back when she and Todd were running the Sun together. What a team we made," she thought.

Blair thought about the fact that they did not send Todd to trial but to therapy and wondered what Sam could have told the judge about him that would have allowed her to decide that. Blair knew Todd had always had problems, and that Peter had been an emotionally abusive father but she had no idea of just how serious the situation was. She also had no idea that through much of her marriage to Todd she had been dealing with Rodd, one of Todd's alters.

Tea, and Viki arrived at the penthouse with Todd, Sam had to stay at the courthouse and finish Todd's paperwork.

Todd looked around and declared, "Well, I didn't think I'd be seeing this place again so soon. Where's Shorty?"

"She's at school, Todd, remember?" Tea reminded him.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Well, I'll just wait for Shorty to get back and then she can come with me to live at Viki's. That is okay with you, Sis, isn't it?"

Viki and Tea had been afraid of this. While they certainly wanted Todd to spend as much time as possible with Starr, they both felt it would be better for Todd and the child, if Starr lived at the penthouse with Blair, but visited Todd frequently at Viki's, until Todd was feeling better.

"Todd," Viki began carefully, "Tea and I think it would be best if Starr stayed here, in the house she is used to, and if she came to visit you, a lot, at my house, and sometimes you can visit her here." Viki thought it best not to add, "when Blair is home."

Viki did not fear for Starr's safety. She knew Todd would die before he would hurt Starr, no matter who he was, but she worried how confusing and emotionally damaging it would be for a child that young if Todd disassociated in front of her.

"No! I want Starr with me. That's the way it is. Me and Shorty, we're a team."

"Todd, think about it," Tea tried to reason with him, "You know you haven't been feeling very good lately, that you've been . . . well, upset a lot and Starr will pick up on that. You know how sensitive she is to her daddy's feelings. If you're upset, she'll be upset. Todd, you don't want that for Starr do you?"

Todd sat down on the couch and thought for a minute and then, in little more than a whisper said, "No, that's not what I want for Starr, leave her here." Viki and Tea knew how hard that decision was for Todd.

Todd put away the last of his things. Although he had been at Llanfair many times before and had even stayed there for a few days after he had returned from Ireland, he felt odd and uncomfortable actually living there. This was, after all, Victor's house. The house he should have grown up in. Which room," Todd wondered, would have been his? Would this house have gone to him? The Banner? After thinking about it for a minute Todd realized he would not want either of them. This house and Victor's newspaper are really better suited to Viki," he thought.

Then he thought how awful it must have been for Viki, growing up here, with Victor, and thought about what Victor had done to her. I would never, never let anyone do that to me. I would die before I would let anyone do that to me," thought Todd.

TO BE CONTINUED

COPYRIGHT 1998 R/S

---

This page hosted by Get your own FREE Home Page