Susannah looked at her watch. "About forty minutes. That's not a long time. Tests have to be run and they take time," Susannah explained.

"I didn't hear the phone. Viki would let you guys know if something really bad happened to Téa, right?" Todd was looking for assurance.

"Yes, I think Viki would let me know if something happened to Téa," Susannah stated.

"Please! I can't sit anymore. I need to walk." Talking about Téa caused Todd to become very anxious again.

"You can walk around Todd, but you have to let someone guide you," Susannah told him.

"Whatever! I need to move around."

"I'll walk with you, buddy," Dave volunteered. He helped Todd up.

Susannah watched as Dave tenderly held onto Todd's arm as Todd paced back and forth across the dayroom. Susannah headed for the nurses station. She wanted to call the ER. She was much more concerned about Téa than she let on.

*****

Viki, Sam and Kevin were surprised to see Bo walk into the ER waiting room with Carlotta. "Where's Téa? What are they doing to her?" Carlotta asked the second she approached Viki.

"She's having a CT scan. Carlotta, I'm so sorry. We love Téa," Viki hugged Carlotta.

"How’re you guys doin'?" Bo asked.

"Not so good at the moment," Viki answered first.

Sam turned to Kevin. "What the hell did you tell them!" Before Kevin had a chance to respond, Sam turned to Bo. "It was an accident, Bo. I don't know what Kevin told you, but Todd didn't do anything to hurt Téa."

"Sam, I'm sure Bo is not here in any official capacity," Viki admonished Sam gently.

Bo was shocked. Not only at Sam's outburst, but also at his appearance. Sam looked awful to someone who hadn't seen him in a while. He had obviously lost some weight. He looked older. His appearance was somewhat unkempt. "Kevin just told us she fell down and hit her head. I'm here as a friend, Sam. Nora and Rachel are having a mother/daughter night. I was having dinner at the diner. I saw how upset Carlotta was after she got Kevin's phone call. I used my light and siren and get her here quickly. I came up here with her to see if there was anything I could do to help."

Sam continued to eye Bo suspiciously for a few seconds. Sam didn't trust his own judgment. Bo seemed sincere, but Sam wasn't sure. He sat down without saying anything further.

"If I go to where they are doing the CT scan do you think they will let me be with her?" Carlotta asked.

"No, we were told to wait here," Viki answered gently. She suddenly remembered. "Carlotta they need to know more about Téa's medical history."

"I'll tell them what I can. I don't know that much. As far as I know Téa has always been healthy. Bo called the New York Police Department and left word for Del. As soon as he gets back to us we will ask him to contact Téa's grandmother. She's not well. I don't want her to hear this over the phone," Carlotta informed them.

Viki turned to Kevin. "Sweetheart, please go find that doctor and let him know someone who may know a little bit more about Téa's medical history is here."

"Sure mom," Kevin immediately agreed.

Carlotta sat down next to Viki. "How did this happen? Kevin said she fell. He didn't give me any details."

Viki took Carlotta's hands in hers. "Téa was trying to help Todd. He was upset and he wanted to get away from her. She held onto him. He pulled away and she lost her balance. She fell backward. Her head hit the floor."

Some tears fell from Carlotta's eyes. "Was she awake at all after it happened? Is she in any pain?"

Viki started to cry as well. "No, she was knocked unconscious immediately. She's not in any pain." Viki's tears increased. "Oh, Carlotta. I'm so sorry. I swear to you Todd was not trying to hurt Téa. He was frightened and upset after a session. He begged Téa to let go of him. She wanted so much to help him that she didn't. Todd is horrified by what has happened. He wanted to come here to be with her, but his doctor can't allow that because he's not stable enough to leave the unit. He insisted that Sam, Kevin and I come here to be with Téa so she'd have people who love her around. I know that doesn't sound like much, but Todd is very dependent on Sam and me being there for him. He becomes terrified and sometimes experiences an anxiety attack when we are not and still, he wanted us to be with Téa."

Carlotta looked into Viki's eyes. "I'm not blaming Todd. Viki, I understand how ill he is."

"Thank you," Viki said gratefully. "I know it's difficult to believe, but Todd has a tremendous amount of love and goodness inside him. He would never hurt Téa intentionally. He loves her very much."

"Viki, you don't have to tell me about Todd's good side. My Eli wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for Todd's kindness. Eli probably wouldn't be on his way to being a doctor if it weren't for Todd. I will be grateful to Todd for the rest of my life for the way he helped Eli."

Viki was overcome with emotion. She just held onto Carlotta's hands and continued to weep.

"And something else," Carlotta continued. "Téa does not give her love easily. She may have been involved with many men and thought they were what she wanted, but she never gave her heart to them, only to Todd. If he is the kind of man who is worthy of Téa's heart, than I know there is goodness and love inside of him."

Viki hugged Carlotta. "Thank you. I'm so relieved you understand."

Bo approached the two women. "Téa is young and strong. I'll betcha she's not gonna let a bump on the head get the better of 'er. She is determined to help Todd get well and to have her husband back. I've never known Téa not to beat the toughest odds to get what she wants. Look at how she went to court with Todd the day after she was pushed out that window," Bo reminded them.

"Yes, Téa has always been very strong. Once, when she was only about eight years old, Téa twisted her ankle at the beginning of a ballet recital. She never said a word about it until the recital was over and she received her applause. Then she hobbled backstage and couldn't walk without crutches for almost three weeks." Carlotta smiled at Téa's tenacity and determination as she related the story.

"Is there a Commissioner Buchanan here?" a clerk answering phones at the nurses station called out.

"I'm Commissioner Buchanan," Bo responded.

"There's a phone call from the NYPD for you. You can take it right here if you like."

"This might be Del. I'll be right back." Bo headed for the phone.

Sam felt totally useless as he sat there silently. He felt totally exhausted. He realized he did not even have the energy it took to tell Carlotta how sorry he was too. Sam stood up. "I need some coffee. Can I bring some back for anyone?"

Viki and Carlotta declined. However, Viki suggested he bring some back in case Kevin and Bo wanted some when they got back. Viki stood and took Sam aside. "Would you like some company? Now that Carlotta is here, I can leave for a few minutes."

"No!" Sam answered sharply. "Todd wants you to be here with Téa. You should stay here. Besides, I need to be alone for a while."

Viki nodded and let go of Sam's arm. 'Today was supposed to be a good day, a happy day]," Viki thought to herself. She wondered if all of this was an ominous sign of Sam becoming Todd's guardian.

*****

"I say we operate. She's young and healthy. She should do well," Doctor Moore, one of the neurosurgeons consulting on Téa's case, stated as he looked at the results of Téa's CT scan. It showed a subdural hematoma.

"It's a small one. There's a good chance she'll do well without surgery. I say we observer her for a few hours. She's not going down the tube. My instincts tell me this one will do okay without surgery," Doctor Marahbee, the neurosurgeon who'd been with Téa since the ER, stated.

They both looked closely at the film of Téa's brain again. "Mmmm, it could go either way. I'm not real comfortable just waiting," Doctor Moore declared. He studied the image again. "I say we give her four to six hours. If we see no improvement, into surgery she goes."

"Agreed." Doctor Marahbee nodded and then said, "okay, I'm gonna go talk to the family."

"I'm gonna catch a nap. I'm on hour thirty-seven of this shift. I'm hoping our pretty Mrs. Manning in there doesn't cause me to get beeped," Doctor Moore joked.

"Hey, only eleven more to go and you're a free man for a day," Doctor Marahbee kidded back.

"Yeah, a whole day to catch up on my life before I do another forty-eight. They say I'm gonna look back on these days and smile."

"If you live through them," Doctor Marahbee smiled and patted his colleague on the back. He headed off to see Téa's family.

Kevin had not been able to find anyone to speak to him since both doctors making decisions in Téa's case were studying the result of her CT scan. He headed back to the radiology waiting area. Just as Kevin joined Viki and Carlotta Bo walked back over to them.

"I just spoke to Del. He's on his way to Llanview. He should be here in a few hours. He's going to tell Téa's grandmother what happened. As far as he knows she only had the usual childhood diseases and she has no allergies to medication or anything else."

They all turned in Doctor Marahbee's direction when they saw him approach. He introduced himself to everyone and then told them the findings.

"First, Mrs. Manning has no broken bones or damage to her spine. Her reflexes are normal. She's off the board and the cervical collar has been removed. The CT scan did show she has a subdural hematoma in the frontal lobe of her brain."

"What's that?" Kevin asked.

"It's a bleed, a blood clot formed. That's the hematoma. Subdural means that it's located between the dura mater and arachnoid. What that means is that the clot is next to her brain and not in her brain, which would be more serious."

"You mentioned frontal lobe. That's the front to the head isn't it? Téa hit the back of her head." Bo didn't understand.

"Mrs. Manning has what's called a contrecoup injury. When she hit the back of her head, her brain was pushed forward. It bounced against the front of her skull. In many cases there is injury to the area of impact and the opposite side. In Téa's case the frontal lobe sustained most of the damage."

"This subdural hematoma, is that very serious?” Carlotta asked nervously.

"It can be, but in this case it's a moderate to small one." "Is she still unconscious?" Viki inquired.

"Yes, we let the sedation lift and she's still unconscious. She is still responding to pain. We are keeping her sedated so that she doesn't fight the ventilator. She is still not breathing enough on her own."

"Ay dios mio!" Carlotta exclaimed. Bo put his arm around Carlotta to comfort her.

"What do you do for this?" Kevin asked.

"I and another neurosurgeon have been discussing the possibility of surgery. We can go in and drain the hematoma. He is actually more in favor of going in right away. My feelings are that we should wait. Her condition has not deteriorated any further since the ER. Right now Mrs. Manning is in the ICU. She is being carefully observed for any signs of increasing Intercranial pressure. If she starts showing any or if there is no improvement in five hours we will recommend surgery."

"Is she in any pain right now?" Viki asked.

"No. As I said, she is being kept sedated. We are using a sedation that lifts quickly. It is stopped for short periods every hour so we can run some neuro tests on her."

"If it comes to having to do surgery, would that mean her chance of recovery isn’t good?" Kevin pressed.

"No, not at all. It just means that the clot is not shrinking on its own." Doctor Marahbee replied. "So you don't think there is any permanent brain damage?" Viki asked.

"At this time, no, we don't. We won't know anything for sure until the clot either resolves itself or we remove it and she wakes up. She will most likely have a post concussion syndrome for a couple of weeks or possibly longer."

"What's that?" Carlotta inquired.

"It's a whole host of symptoms. There are almost always headaches. She may have post-traumatic migraines, possibly nausea, loss of balance, sensitivity to light, disorientation, and since Mrs. Manning’s injury is in the frontal lobe there can some temporary problems with things like planning decision making, judgment . . . possibly voluntary motor ability and there could be personality changes. Mrs. Manning may not experience any of these."

"Madre de Dios, how can she function with all that? She's an attorney and she trying to help her husband recover from a serious mental illness," Carlotta exclaimed.

"Mrs. Manning is young and otherwise healthy. If she has any of these symptoms, they should not last more than a month. They can, they can last indefinitely for some people, but that is rare. She will have to take it easy for a couple of weeks and she won't be able to drive during that time. Right now our concern is the clot and the pressure it's placing on the brain. Once that's resolved I think she'll do fine." The doctor's beeper went off. He looked at it.

"Is it Téa?" Viki asked. There was fear in her voice.

"No, it’s the ER. It’s about another patient." He could see the relief on all their faces.

"Can we see her?" Carlotta inquired.

"Not all of you at once. She can have two visitors at a time."

"Thank you, Doctor," Carlotta said.

"Yes, thank you very much," Viki added.

"I'll be checking on Téa every hour or so. I'll be around if any of you need to ask me any other questions," Doctor Marahbee informed them and headed for a phone.

Viki took Kevin's hand. "Will you go tell Todd what is happening? He seems to believe what you tell him."

"Yeah, because he thinks I hate him too much to make him feel better about what happened."

"Honey, I think deep inside Todd knows you don't still hate him."

"Hey, it's okay, mom. I wasn't really sure myself until tonight."

"Kevin!"

"Mom, I'm sorry. It's the truth. You know I love Timmy and Adam with all my heart. But I wasn't sure about Todd. Anyway, it looks like my adversarial relationship with Todd paid off. At least he'll believe what I say to him."

"Viki shook her head. This was not the time to get into any of that. "Thank you, honey. Please make sure to tell him that Téa has all of us with her and that she's not in any pain."

"I will mom. Don't worry. I'll make sure Todd's okay."

Carlotta turned to Viki. "I'm going to see Téa now. Would you like to come with me?"

Carlotta and Viki headed for the ICU and Kevin headed up to seven to fill Todd in on Téa's condition. Kevin's heart was pounding. He was still nervous every time he had to interact with Todd and not one of the children.

*****

Susannah was making some notations in Todd's chart when Kevin was let onto the unit. "Is he okay?" Kevin asked as soon as he joined Susannah.

"He's holding it together, but he's not okay. He won't leave the dayroom. He's been pacing for over an hour. He refuses to lie down or even sit down. I've been keeping tabs on how Téa's doing. We filled Todd in, but I don't think he believes us. I'm afraid he thinks she died and we're keeping it from him. He still wants to go to her."

"Is that totally out of the question?" Kevin pressed.

"We don't only have Todd to consider. We have Téa and the other patients in the ICU unit to think about. If Todd were to switch or cause some kind of commotion there it could cause harm to Téa or the other patients."

"What do you think it would do for Todd? Do you think it would make him even more upset or do you think it would give him some peace?"

"I can't say for sure. He's unpredictable and he escalates quickly."

"He hasn't gotten any rest at all since this happened?" Kevin inquired.

"At first he was sitting, holding himself and rocking. Actually we were able to have a productive session. He was thinking about things that were frightening and painful to him, but decidedly more bearable than allowing himself to think about Téa. We were able to touch on his communication with Tom and make some headway with him about allowing more sessions with Ryan Morgan."

"Really!" Kevin was shocked.

Susannah smiled. "We were all surprised too. Todd agreed to try another session with Ryan."

"Wow! Mom, Sam and Téa will be happy to hear that." Kevin thought about what he had just said. "At least I hope Téa will be able to hear about that. Susannah, level with me. Just how serious is a subdural hematoma? I mean she's been unconscious for such a long time."

"It can be very serious. I'm hoping it's not in Téa's case. I've spoken with Doctor Marahbee. The subdural is small. There's a good chance she won't need surgery. We are concerned that she hasn't shown hasn't started to regain consciousness yet and her blood pressure and heart rate are still abnormal. That tells us that there is still some Intercranial pressure. On the other hand, it hasn't gotten any worse."

"God I hope not. Téa doesn't deserve this." Kevin paused for a second. "And neither does Todd," he added.

"No, neither of them deserve any of this," Susannah agreed. "Todd is progressing more than he ever has before. I know Téa's love for him has contributed to that greatly. Todd allows himself to feel some love and closeness from her and then he pulls back. Still, those moments he does allow himself to feel give him hope. He may not consciously feel it, but it's there. Conversely, the progress Todd makes gives Téa hope and the strength to go on. In many ways their relationship has always been a synergetic one."

"So you really feel optimistic about Todd's progress," Kevin asked hopefully.

"Yes. I believe this combination of meds is working well, so far. It's still too soon to tell, but I believe we're seeing some lifting of his depression and a reduction in psychotic episodes and a slight reduction in anxiety. For now he's doing better on a regularly scheduled anxiolytic than using one prn. I'm also very encouraged that there has been no seizure activity for several days. I'm hoping to schedule him for an EEG. For a while I was afraid we'd have to add some phenobarb. Luckily I think now that his Dilantin level has increased it's doing the job and controlling his seizures."

"So you don't think he'll have any more seizures?" Kevin posed.

"He may get an occasional break through seizure and some of the alters might not be under control. Hopefully, I think we are seeing some good control." Susannah answered realistically, but optimistically as well.

Marcia came out of the dayroom. "He needs fluids and he won't drink anything. He's still pacing away a mile a minute. I don't know how he is able to keep it up after all his body has been through today," Marcia sighed.

"We may have to start an IV on him if he won't voluntarily drink. We don't want him becoming dehydrated," Susannah stated.

"You haven't sedated him?" Kevin inquired.

"No, he's refusing meds. He's not harming himself or anyone else. He's not acting out. We promised him we wouldn't force drugs if he stayed calm. It is soon time for his feeding and nighttime dose of Dilantin. It's important the Dilantin be given on time. We may have a problem then."

"Maybe he'll do better after I talk to him?" Kevin suggested.

"Let's go give it a try," Susannah proclaimed wearily.

As Susannah had described, Todd was anxiously pacing back and forth. At first the staff took turns pacing with him. Once they saw that Todd only wanted to walk back and forth over the same area they cleared it completely and allowed him to walk on his own. Occasionally he would mutter to himself or ask if Kevin had come back. Other than that, he said nothing.

Kevin walked to where Todd was pacing. "Todd," Kevin called to him gently so as not to startle him. Todd reacted immediately to Kevin. He spun around in the direction of his voice. "I'm over here, Todd." Kevin held out his right hand.

Todd moved toward him until he felt himself brush up against Kevin's hand and then he pulled back sharply. "Tell me! You tell me the truth. Delgado died didn't she? That's why it took you so long to get back here."

"No, Téa's not dead. Let's go sit down on the couch and we'll talk."

"I don't want to sit down! Just tell me how she is!" Todd sounded frantic.

"Todd, I'm tired," Kevin lied. "I'm not going to have a conversation with you while we're standing. Now let's sit down." Kevin's voice was firm. Inside his heart he felt pain and compassion for Todd.

Todd was quiet for a moment. "Okay, but only cause you're tired. Not cause you're the boss of me!"

Kevin smiled. He knew Todd hated having him think he got the better of him. 'Some things never change,' Kevin thought to himself.

Todd put his arms out in front of him and then pulled them back quickly. He didn't want Kevin to see him feeling his way to the couch or chair. Todd stood still. He didn't want to fall in front of Kevin either.

Don was closest to them and was about to go assist Todd when Kevin spoke up. "Todd, I know you can't see. Look, I really need to sit down. I feel a little lightheaded. Why don't you let me hold onto you? This way I can get you to the couch and I get someone to hold on to." Todd thought for another second. He nodded. Kevin took Todd's arm and led him to the couch.

Susannah and the staff were really proud of Kevin for the way he was handling Todd. He allowed him to accept help and keep his pride at the same time.

Connie brought Todd some juice. "Todd, I have some apple juice here for you. You need to drink this."

"I'm not thirsty!" Todd snapped at her.

"You still need to drink something or you'll become dehydrated. If you like you can have another flavor juice, milk, soda or water. You need to drink." Connie spoke to him firmly.

"Leave me alone!" Todd protested. He turned to Kevin. "I want to know about Téa."

"There is no point on me filling you in if you're only going to pass out from being dehydrated. Now why don't you stop this crap and drink the damn juice!" Kevin admonished sharply.

Todd was about to protest again when he thought about it for a second and reached out for the cup. He took a sip. "There Buchanan! Are you happy!"

"No! Drink all of it. Then we'll talk."

Todd sighed angrily, but he drank down the juice. "Blackmailer," he muttered under his breath.

Kevin, Connie and Susannah exchanged looks and smiled.

Todd drained the cup of juice. Connie took it from him. Todd wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Tell me what's happening to Delgado," Todd demanded. He faced the direction Kevin's voice had come from.

"Téa has a subdural hematoma. That's a blood clot on the outside of her brain. It's causing some pressure and that's what's keeping her unconscious. The doctors may have to operate. Right now they don't think they will. Téa's in the intensive care unit. They're watching her closely to see if she starts to get better on her own. If she does, that means the blood clot is going away on its own and they won't do surgery. If she doesn’t, they'll do surgery to remove the clot, either way they expect her to recover."

Todd had listened quietly to what Kevin had to say. Suddenly he started to hit his head with the palm of his hands. "I did this to her! I did this. She's going through all of this because I hurt her!"

Kevin grabbed Todd's arms by the wrists before the staff had a chance to spring into action. "Todd! Stop this! It isn't helping Téa."

"She's hurt like this because of me. She may have to be operated on because of me. I tried to tell everyone to keep her away from me. I knew I'd end up hurting her. I knew she'd end up hating me! I hurt everyone," Todd cried out.

"You did not hurt Téa. You know I'd be more than happy to let you know if you did and I'd be the first to tell you if you deserved to feel like shit over something you did. It was an accident. I was right there. I saw everything that happened. You asked Téa to leave you alone. You asked her to let go of you. She didn't. She held onto you. All you did was try to get away. She lost her balance and fell. You did not push her!" Kevin spoke right into Todd's face. He continued to hold Todd's arms down.

Todd burst into tears. Kevin let go of his arms. Todd buried his face in his lap. He placed his palms on top of his head. "I never meant for this to happen. She's going to die. I never meant to hurt Suede Pruitt and look what happened! He died! He hit his head too."

"His injuries were not the same as Téa's. Téa is not going to die. Todd listen to me. You know once Téa makes up her mind to do something she is relentless. She won't stop until it's accomplished."

"Yeah, so?" Todd sniffled. He had lifted his head and sat up.

"So! Téa is determined to help you get well and to have a life with you. Jesus Todd! She came to court for you when she could hardly take a breath without agonizing pain. Do you think she's let a bump on the head keep her from seeing that you get well and getting that life with you?"

"Delgado's never gonna get those things," Todd stated despondently.

"Why do you say that?" Kevin pressed.

"Don't be stupid Kevin! I'm never going to get better and I'm never getting out of her. The best thing Téa can do, if she doesn't die, is to walk out of here and never come near me again. I'm sure you've told her to do just that a zillion times!"

"If I or anyone ever did say that to Téa she would tell us to go to hell. Téa would fight the world for you. And as for the rest, you're getting out of here, Todd. I promise you that. I promise you that on my kid's life. You are doing so much better. You know I was always the first to tell you were crazy. If you were I still be the first to throw it in your face. You're doing good, so good that I'm beginning to wonder when you'll be back at the helm of that rag of yours."

Todd mumbled something.

"What? I didn't get that." Kevin leaned in closer to Todd to try to hear what he was saying.

"I said, I can outsell your birdcage liner even now," Todd repeated.

Kevin, Susannah and the staff all had huge smiles on their faces when they heard Todd's remark.

"Not on your best day, Manning. Not unless you dig up some sleazy story about my family."

"That won't be hard to do," Todd quickly retorted.

Kevin realized how much remarks like that would have driven him to want to hurt Todd and get back at him. Now they filled his heart with happiness. Tears came to his eyes at seeing so much of the old Todd back.

"Yeah, well grandpa's been pretty quiet lately, so you're not missing out on much."

"Kevin?" Todd faced the direction Kevin's voice was coming from.

"Yeah?"

"Nothing," Todd turned away.

"Come on, Todd. It's okay. Say what you were going to say."

Todd turned back toward Kevin. "How come you're being nice to me?"

Kevin was taken back by Todd's question. He thought for a few seconds. He didn't think Todd could handle him knowing about the abuse. "Mom loves you with all her heart. I love mom. She hates the two of us not getting along. She has a lot on her mind. I don't want to add to it. Don't worry. This is just a temporary truce. Once you're out of here all bets are off."

"I don't need you feeling sorry for me," Todd declared.

"I don't. I think you got a rough deal in some ways. That doesn't mean I forgot all the crap you pulled. I'm just being fair. You're here. You're trying to change . . ." Kevin paused for a moment. He saw that Todd looked nervous and embarrassed. He looked as if he were afraid of how much Kevin knew about his "rough deal." He also looked like he wasn't buying that Kevin wasn't feeling sorry for him. "And . . . well . . . I don't want mom to think that you're the only one who can try and who can change," Kevin added.

"Oh I get it! You're afraid Viki will love me more, so you have to show her that you can outdo me."

"Yeah, something like that." Even though Kevin considered himself to be lying so as not to upset Todd, he felt that there might be a grain of truth in what Todd just said.

"Okay, I can go along with it, for Viki!" Todd emphasized Viki.

"Yeah, for mom." Kevin agreed.

"Anyway, you and the other Buchanans are probably doing stuff to me to make everyone think I'm crazy."

Kevin sighed. This was a reminder to him of how sick Todd still was. Kevin thought quickly about how he should handle this. He wished he'd had time to prepare for this with Susannah. "Todd, do you really think I'd go along with something that would end up helping you get all this attention from my mom?"

"No." Todd's tone was sullen. "But you want me locked away. You all do. You want me in jail or here. You want them to keep me here forever!" Todd sounded like he was getting upset.

"No, I don't want you here. I don't like watching mom spend every minute of her life here with you. If we really wanted to get rid of you once and for all Asa would just shoot you. Hell, he was already proven incompetent in a court of law."

"Yeah," Todd remembered with a small smile on his face. Suddenly Todd looked panic stricken. "How long have you been here?"

"About half an hour," Kevin answered.

"You gotta go back to Téa. You gotta see how she's doing. You'll still tell me the truth, right?"

"Yes, I swear to you Todd. I won't lie to you about Téa."

"Then go! Go to her. It's been too long. A half hour's a long time. Something could have happened to her."

Kevin heard the panic in Todd's voice. "If anything had happened they would have notified Susannah or mom and Sam would have come here to tell me you. Don't worry. I'll go back there right now and if there's been any change, good or bad, I'll let you know right away."

Todd seemed somewhat relieved.

Kevin's hand trembled slightly as he rang for the elevator. Relating to Todd this way was not something he had expected to happen this soon. What surprised Kevin was how good it felt. 'Maybe some of my love for Timmy and Adam has rubbed off on Todd?' Kevin wondered.

*****

Viki and Carlotta had gone in together to see Téa. An ICU nurse cautioned them not to undo the restraints or change the thirty-degree angle Téa's bed was in. Viki was not as shocked by the machines, tubes and lines going into Téa as Carlotta was. Viki had already seen this and worse when Todd was sick. "I know it looks terrifying, but they are all there to help her." Viki tried to console her friend.

"Mija?" Carlotta stroked Téa's head. "Mija, it's Carlotta. Can you hear me? Don't be afraid. The doctors say you're going to be fine. You just need to wake up. Del is coming and so is abuela. Viki, Kevin and Sam are here too. So is Bo. Everyone cares so much about you." Viki and Carlotta studied Téa closely for any sign of a response. Téa had now been unconscious for almost four hours.

Viki tried. "Téa, you need to wake up. Please, honey. Todd is very worried about you. He's aware of what happened and he blames himself. He wanted to come here and be with you, but Susannah can't allow that." Viki laughed. "Todd is even getting along with Kevin because he believes Kevin hates him so much he won't lie to him about your condition. Téa, I know how much you love Todd. He can't say it yet . . . honey, he loves you just as much. Todd is holding himself together. You would be so proud of him. He has not dissociated since you've been hurt. He is using every ounce of strength he has and every bit of grit and determination inside him to stay here for you. You have given him so much of that strength. Your strength and your love for Todd and for the alters has done so much to help him start to find his way back to us and back to the life he wants to have with you. Honey, try to feel some of Todd's strength and love now. Let him help you to find your way back to us."

A nurse approached Téa's bed. "Excuse me. I need to check her eyes."

Viki and Carlotta exchanged frightened looks.

"Her pupils are becoming more even. I saw her blood pressure was going down and her heart rate was coming up. That's why I checked her eyes."

For the moment Viki and Carlotta both looked confused and not quite able to grasp that Téa was showing signs of decreased Intercranial pressure.

"She's improving then?" Viki finally said.

"It looks that way. I'm sorry, but I need for both of you to wait outside. I'm going to notify Doctor Marahbee. We need to let the sedation lift so she can have a neuro exam."

"Yes, of course," both Carlotta and Viki immediately agreed.

"We'll be right outside, Mija," Carlotta called to Téa.

*****

Todd did not go back to pacing after Kevin left. Now he was sitting with his knees to his chest and his head buried in them. At first he had not said another word or responded to them. Susannah and the staff were afraid that he'd taken all he could and he was dissociating, then he started whispering. They listened closely and realized he was talking to Goodone. They heard both Todd's voice and Goodone's.

Inside, Goodone knew Todd desperately wanted to be there for Téa. Goodone recognized the strain staying out was placing on Todd. He was helping him to stay strong. "Papa knows you can do it. You are strong Todd. You can hold on. Papa is proud of you. You don’t have to come inside to feel how much I love you and how proud of you I am. You can feel it when you are in their world. You can stay with them. They will keep you safe."

"They didn't keep Téa safe. They let her get hurt. Papa, they let me hurt her."

"You heard Kevin. It was an accident. You didn't hurt Téa."

"It was still my fault. Papa, it hurts so much to be away from you . . . this time it'll hurt even more to be inside with you. I need to stay here for Téa. I can't leave her when she needs me."

"Todd, that is why I'm coming to you. You don't have to come inside. I'll stay with you and I'll help you to be strong." They saw Todd place one of his hands in the other. "There. Papa is here. Don't worry. I'll be here with you. We will wait for Téa to get better together."

"I love you papa."