The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
| REACHING OUT BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 62 |
PREVIOUSLY:
Todd carries Tea into the bathroom. They both struggle through the rest of their time together in the hotel room. When Tea is ready to leave, Todd doesn't attempt to convince her to stay. He takes her to the clinic and, after making certain she's safely inside, speeds away.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
REACHING OUT
chapter 62:
Hours later...
Since leaving Tea at the rehabilitation clinic, Todd has been driving around the island, wishing he knew how to make it up to her for putting her through something that caused her so much pain. He never meant to hurt, or humiliate, her. He wanted to prove to her that he could handle anything he needed to, so she would agree to move in with him again and allow him to take care of her. He had proven that to her but, in the process, realized how overwhelmingly he had underestimated how unprepared she was to handle him being her care-giver in such an intimate way.
He hates himself for adding to her pain. He hates himself even more for not having a clue how to make it up to her.
As the light of day begins to intrude on his dark thoughts, Todd finally finds the courage to drive toward the location he had been driving in circles for hours trying to avoid.
As he nears the site, he stays at a distance, not wanting to intrude on the lives he feels still linger near-by. He's known since he arrived in Puerto Rico and first saw Tea that he would someday come to the place that changed her life so drastically. He thought she would be with him when he did. Now, he doesn't know if she'll ever be with him again. He has questions that he knows will never be answered but he feels that he needed to come anyway in search of the impossible. Tea isn't ready to handle this moment. In a strange way, he feels that his presence at the site of the plane crash will somehow help her to face what happened to her.
For a long time, Todd stands at a distance and stares. In his mind, he imagines what it must have looked like on that day, moments before, and moments after, Tea's world changed forever. He imagines the arrival of rescuers. He sees clearly the image of Tea being found and rushed to safety beyond the debris of the shattered airplane. Her rescuer looks suspiciously like himself. He wishes he could have been there for her that day and every day after that she hurt alone, thinking that he didn't care enough about her to come to her when she called for him.
Were he not alone, he would wipe at the thin stream of tears that is slowly falling down each cheek. But, he is alone. He's never felt more alone than he does in this moment as he stares at the place where he could have lost his Delgado forever, knowing that, even though she did survive, she's still lost to him somewhere among the debris that may no longer be here physically, but that he knows remains emotionally, for Tea and for himself.
At the rehabilitation clinic...
Tea begins her day by immersing herself in her rehabilitation. She wants desperately to forget everything else in her life, especially Todd Manning. She knows that his intentions the previous night were good but the results were disastrous for her. She's been trying since the plane crash to hold herself together, even as she felt her world falling apart more each day. It was never easy for her to keep herself together when he was near. She has always felt on the verge of losing all control in so many ways whenever in his presence. Now, more than ever, she feels the need to hold on to what little control she has left. She's determined that she will never again allow Todd to use his power over her to supersede her own control of her life. The only way to ensure that she doesn't weaken in his presence again is to ensure that she never sees him, or hears his voice, again. She's made up her mind. Todd is out of her life forever. That's final!
That night...
Tea is asleep in her room at the rehabilitation clinic. Her body rests while her mind tortures her with disturbing images.
When she suddenly awakens, she feels panicked. She looks around the darkened room, trying to find something to focus on to help ease her fears and allow her some possibility of calming her troubled mind and body. But, Todd isn't with her.
Minutes later...
Tea, in her pajamas, appears at the front door of the clinic. She asks the security guard if Todd has been there. She's surprised to hear that he hasn't. She knows Todd, though. He may be avoiding a confrontation with her, but he couldn't stay away from her completely, not when she needs him this much.
Despite the security guard's assurances that Todd isn't on the clinic's property, Tea insists on leaving the building immediately. The guard, recognizing her determination, offers to accompany her outside, but she insists on doing it alone. He relents and, after letting her out of the building, returns to the security desk and watches over her on the many monitors before him.
Tea races her wheelchair as fast as she can toward the parking lot, in search of his rented van. She's devastated not to find it. The panic she felt minutes earlier, following her nightmare, is eclipsed by the panic she feels fearing that he may have finally taken her advice and returned to Llanview without her.]
Tea: Todd? Todd? I know you're here. You have to be. I need you.
[A despondent Tea turns her wheelchair toward the clinic. She feels unprepared to return to her lonely room, to the devastating agony and loss she feels.
Inside the building, the image of a menacing figure entering the frame of one of the video cameras, causes the guard to rush from his post, in protection of Tea.
Outside...
The rhythmic sound of footsteps quickly approaching, causes Tea to feel a different sense of panic than what she's been feeling for the last several minutes.
As she turns toward the sound, her stalker nears her in the darkened, deserted parking lot.]
to be continued...
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
2002 COPYRIGHT BY TIMA

FanFiction Home
Home