The Florencia Lozano Homepage - Fan Fiction
| REACHING OUT BY TIMA |
CHAPTER 3 |
PREVIOUSLY:
Todd: Why the hell am I still standing here talking to you? Get me information.
Briggs: I'll do my best, Mr. Manning.
Todd: Do better than that. Pretend you're me. Do my best.
Briggs: I'll try. I'm sorry, sir.
Todd: I'm not the one you should feel bad for.
[Briggs watches Todd leave the office, his heart actually feeling for his employer, knowing how much pain he would be feeling if his beloved wife had been injured.]
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chapter 3:
[Later that night...
Todd is pacing in the living room of his penthouse, worried about his ex-wife. He had been trying to forget her. He hadn't been successful, but he had been trying. Now, all he can think about is her, worrying if she's okay, knowing that her heart must be breaking because her grandmother died.
The phone rings. Todd pounces on it before it has a chance to ring a second time.]
Todd: What?
Briggs: I have some information.
Todd: Hurry up and give it to me.
Briggs: She was released from the hospital.
Todd: That's good, right?
Briggs: She was moved to a rehabilitation facility.
Todd: To be rehabilitated for what?
Briggs: That I don't know.
Todd: Well, find out.
Briggs: I tried, but her privacy is being protected.
Todd: I don't care about her privacy, I care about her. I mean, I care about the story.
Briggs: I know exactly what you meant, Mr. Manning.
[Todd hates that Briggs caught him being vulnerable. But, he hates more knowing that Tea is hurt and not having all the details, not knowing how he can help her.]
Todd: Do you know where this place is?
Briggs: The rehabilitation facility?
Todd: Whatever. Do you know where it is?
Briggs: It's in Puerto Rico.
Todd: Why the hell is it in Puerto Rico?
Briggs: That's where the plane went down, remember?
Todd: She should be here, where her home is. I mean, wherever it is that she's been living these days.
Briggs: Maybe she was living in Puerto Rico.
Todd: Is that what you found out?
Briggs: Actually, the indications are that she was living with her grandmother in New York.
Todd: She was that close this whole time? I mean...
Briggs: I know what you meant, Mr. Manning.
Todd: You better keep your mouth shut about anything you think you know concerning me or you'll be finishing out your contract cleaning my office toilet with a toothbrush. Now, get me the address of this place where she is.
Briggs: I'll fax over all of the information I've been able to uncover so far. I've spoken with your pilot. He's ready to go when you are. There's a suite waiting for you when you get there, in the most exclusive hotel on the island. It has a wonderful view.
Todd: I don't give a damn about views. And, I never said that I was going.
Briggs: There's a storm expected later tonight. The pilot said that you should leave as soon as possible to avoid it. Should I tell him to be at the airport in one hour?
[There's a slight pause as Todd contemplates his next action.]
Todd: Tell him thirty minutes. And, tell him that this is a hush-hush operation, understand? And, that goes for you, too. No one is to know anything about this.
Briggs: Of course, Mr. Manning.
[Todd quickly hangs up the phone and rushes upstairs.
Hours later, in Puerto Rico...
An exhausted Todd goes straight to the rehabilitation facility from the airport. He doesn't know what he'll say to Tea. He's not even certain that he'll see her. The entire flight to Puerto Rico, and the entire ride from the airport to the clinic Tea is at, Todd has been seriously trying to talk himself into turning around and going back to Llanview, without interfering with her life again. She has some sort of rehabilitating to do and the last thing she probably needs is to be confronted by him. She didn't even bother to let him know that she was hurt. Obviously, she doesn't need him.
As Todd stands outside the building where he knows his ex-wife is, he wonders if he'd even find her alone. Maybe she already has someone to hold her hand through whatever she needs someone to hold her hand through. She probably has someone who's a lot better at that hand holding stuff than he could ever be, anyway.
As he enters the building, he convinces himself that it's just curiosity. He still doesn't know exactly why she's here, what injuries she suffered in the plane crash that she needs rehabilitation for. He'll just find out what's going on and then he'll leave. Tea won't even need to know that he was there.
As Todd approaches a reception desk at the entrance of the building, a young woman speaks to him in Spanish.]
Todd: Oh, yeah, right, Spanish, huh? Uh...let's see. I remember something about como. I don't think she was big on Perry Como so it probably means something in Spanish, right? Como, and what else? Uh...flan. Is that Spanish? And, uh, querido, but I don't think I'm supposed to say that to a strange girl. You'll probably have me arrested.
Woman: Senor, I also speak English.
Todd: Oh, good. I'm looking for someone.
Woman: A patient?
Todd: Yeah. Her name is Tea...Delgado...maybe Manning, but probably not. If you've seen her, you'd know it. She's beautiful. She has incredible eyes and she talks a lot. And, she smiles a lot, too. But, maybe not right now, because she probably feels lousy.
[The woman looks up at him as Tea's information comes up on the computer in front of her.]
Woman: Are you a relative?
Todd: Sure. I'm her husband.
Woman: According to our records, we have no married patient named Tea Delgado.
Todd: We had a little disagreement, okay? She's really stubborn. She probably put herself down as single, or divorced, just to get even with me. I can show you a picture if it would help prove your Tea Delgado is my Tea Delgado.
[The woman picks up the telephone, prepared to call Tea's room to verify Todd's identity.]
Todd: What are you doing?
Woman: Senorita Delgado will have to verify who you are, Senor.
Todd: Senor is trying to surprise Senorita Delgado and you're gonna mess it up.
Woman: Senorita Delgado will have to agree before you go any further.
Todd: Okay, fine. Tell her Andrew Carpenter is here to see her.
Woman: Si, Senor.
[The woman spends a few moments on the phone and then writes down a room number on a slip of paper and hands it to Todd, gesturing which direction he should go in to find Tea.
Todd follows a path of hallways until he finds her room number. As he stands outside the doorway, he takes several deep breaths. He knows that he's about to fall under her spell again. He always does whenever he's in the same room with her.
As Todd enters the doorway to her room, his heart leaps at seeing her again, and falls at the sight of the wheelchair she's sitting in, now knowing why she needed rehabilitation.]
to be continued...
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