*****

Susannah, her staff and Kevin all saw that Pete's hands were in a position to do serious, if not fatal, harm to Téa. They held back in order not to spook him even further.

"Pete, no one is going to hurt you. You're in the hospital. You're safe here," Susannah called out.

"I KNOW WHERE I AM, YOU LYING BITCH!" Pete screamed back.

Pete felt Téa's heart pounding as he held her pressed against him. He remembered how fear in his victims used to make him feel good. It gave him a sense of power. It told him that he was in control and no one could hurt him. He wasn't getting that feeling now. He felt Téa trembling in his arms.

"Don't move. I don't wanna hurt you. I don't. I will if you tell them what I just said. I want outta here," Pete whispered in Téa's ear."

"Pete, tell me how I lied to you," Susannah prompted.

Pete glared at Rachel. "Don't you fuckin' play games with me! You think I'm stupid! You think I'm a loser! I'm not! I know what you're tryin' to do! I know what all of you are tryin' to do. FUCK YOU! You're playing with the wrong person. Todd's the stupid one. Todd's the one who's a loser! Now you unlock that door and clear the way to it or I'll snap her neck like a twig!"

"Ohhhh," Téa cried out when Pete put pressure on her head and neck.

"SHUT UP!" Pete didn't want to know that he was causing Téa pain.

"Pete, you know we can't let you leave here." Susannah spoke calmly.

"You're gonna let that murdering bitch leave here. Aren't you?" Pete smirked in Rachel's direction.

"Pete," Kevin began.

"You shut up! You don't talk to me. I know what you're here for Buchanan. Where's the rest of your fuckin' family? Are they all waiting outside to see me taken outta here in handcuffs or in a body bag? It's not gonna happen! You get over there." Pete nodded his head in Rachel and Susannah's direction. "You all get over there and get away from the fuckin' door."

"Pete, please. Listen to me." Téa had difficulty getting the words out because of the pressure Pete kept on her jaw. "No one is going to hurt you. I'd never let anyone hurt you or Todd. Uhhh," Téa moaned as Pete tightened his grip on her jaw.

"I told you to shut up! You'll never let anyone hurt me or Todd? And why is that, Delgado? Because you love us so much?" Pete's tone was mocking.

"Pete, you need to let Téa go now. She's recently had a head injury. You can be causing some serious damage to her," Susannah cautioned.

"You let us outta here. You don't follow us and when we get to the street I'll let her go."

Viki and Sam were returning from the family lounge expecting to find Adam. When they got to the unit doors, they saw what was happening through the glass. They didn't know it was Pete, but they suspected it. Sam pounded on the door to be let in. Viki had tried to stop him, in case their presence freaked this alter out even more, but she was too late.

Pete was startled by the sound of Sam banging on the door. He tightened his grip on Téa. She moaned again. "I don't wanna do this to you. They're making me do this," Pete whispered in her ear. "Let him in," Pete ordered.

Susannah nodded. Nancy buzzed Sam and Viki in from the nurses station. Sam started to rush to Pete, but Jeff held him back.

"Pete is very upset with us and wants to leave the unit." Susannah filled in Viki and Sam, as Pete listened.

"Boomer, this isn't the way. Let Téa go," Sam tried.

"What's the way, Sam? You helping us? Is that what you think I should do, trust you to help us?" Pete's eyes filled with rage. "YOU NEVER HELPED US! YOU SAW WHAT THAT BASTARD DID TO TODD AND YOU NEVER HELPED US. YOU DUMPED US OFF AT THE HOUSE AND RAN BACK TO WILL AND JEN. THEY WERE THE ONES YOU CARED ABOUT. WE WERE JUST PART OF YOUR JOB! YOU HAD GOOD CHILDREN TO GO HOME TO. YOU NEVER SAVED US THEN AND YOU WON'T SAVE US NOW! I'M THE MAN! I'LL SAVE US! WE CAN'T TRUST ANYONE! ONLY OURSELVES! YOU TELL THEM TO LET ME OUT THAT FUCKIN' DOOR. DO YOU HEAR ME! THE REAL MURDER IS STANDING RIGHT THERE!"

Sam stood perfectly still. There was not one word that came out of Pete's mouth that Sam didn't recognize as the truth. "I'm sorry. Pete, you're right. I wasn't there for you or for Todd or for any of you. I was too wrapped up in my own life to see what was really happening. I . . ." Sam choked up. Tears welled up in his eyes and quickly slid down his cheeks. "I let Peter hurt you."

"NOT ME! NOT ME! NO ONE EVER HURT ME! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL ALL OF YOU THAT! NOT FUCKIN' ME! I'M STRONG! I DON'T LET ANYONE HURT ME! I HURT THEM! EVEN HIM! I COULD HAVE STRANGLED HIM THAT NIGHT IF YOU HADN'T STOPPED ME. WHY'D YOU DO IT SAM!" Pete stopped screaming. He looked in Sam's direction with confusion written on his face and in his eyes. "Why'd you stop me? Do you know how many more years he tortured Todd and the others because you stopped me? Did you get off on seeing Todd hurt? Did you think he deserved it and you wanted to see him punished? Is that why you're making us stay here now? Is it Nora? Are you doing this for Nora? She deserved what Todd did to her. She threw us to the wolves. She let them hurt Todd. Is it the Buchanans? Do you believe that we killed Georgie? We didn't! She did!"

Pete's eyes left Sam and turned to Rachel again. "TELL THEM! TELL THEM YOU DID IT! YOU TOOK A BAT AND CRUSHED HER HEAD IN. DID YOU HEAR IT?" Once again Pete stopped shouting. His voice was barely above a whisper. "Did you hear what is sounded like when you hit her? Did you, Rachel? Was it like the world exploded when the bat wiped the life out of her? Did you get her blood on you? Did you see her brains come out of her head?"

Rachel gasped in horror. The memory of the night she killed Georgie Phillips came back to her.

"You made Todd bury her. You wanted him to get blamed for it! Tell them! Tell Kevin! Let him go back and tell them. I didn't do it! Todd didn't do it. We didn't want her to die. She was nice to us. She was the only one in our whole fuckin' lives who was nice to us. She liked us! She thought we were okay. She never made fun of us. She brought us a cake and you killed her! Now you tell them you did it and you!" Pete turned back to Sam. "You tell them to let me outta here! If they already think we killed someone, what's one more!" Pete pressed against Téa's head again causing her to cry out in pain once more.

"I SAID SHUT UP! YOU SHUT UP! YOU'RE GETTING ME CONFUSED! YOU WEREN'T THERE! WELL YOU'RE HERE NOW! I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO GET HURT! YOU DON'T CARE! YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ME! I SAW YOU! YOU CARE ABOUT THAT KID! FUCK YOU! IT DON'T MATTER! I DON'T NEED YOU, DELGADO! I DON'T NEED SAM OR YOU VIKI OR YOU DOCTOR HANEN! YOU TAKE HER SIDE AGAINST ME! YOU TELL THEM I DID IT! SHE MADE TODD HOLD THE BAT. HE DIDN'T DO IT! HE MADE HIM LEAVE HER IN THE COLD. HE HURT TODD SO BAD THAT NIGHT. NOT ME! NOT ME! I'M THE ONE WHO TRIED TO STOP HIM AND SAM STOPPED ME. WHY? WHY!" Pete was rambling incoherently.

"Pete, do you know what the date is?"

"What!" Pete couldn't believe Susannah was asking him that. "What do I care what the fuckin' date is?"

"Pete, it's March 26th. Georgie and was killed almost a year ago. Rachel spent six months in Statesville for killing Georgie and her baby. No one is going to take you to prison for that. We all know Rachel did it. She confessed."

Rachel wept softly as Susannah spoke calmly to Pete. Kevin wanted to go to Rachel and comfort her, but he was afraid that would freak Pete out even more.

"No . . . you're trying to confuse me. You want me to think that. It's only been a few days . . . It's . . . STOP TRYING TO MIX ME UP!"

"Pete. It's March 26th. Georgie was killed almost a year ago. Rachel went to prison for it." Susannah repeated.

Pete looked confused. "Georgie was killed in January, on Todd's birthday."

"No. That was Michelle. That was many years ago. Pete, we know you didn't kill Michelle. We know Todd didn't either. We know it was Todd's dad who killed her."

"Don't matter . . . don't matter . . ." Pete mumbled. "Don't matter who did it. All of you still want us to be punished. You think we deserve to be hurt, especially me and Todd. No one can ever love me and Todd . . . don't matter . . . Todd cares . . . he feels . . . not me . . . not me . . ."

"Pete, we love you. It isn't just the children. We love you too. I love you. Sam loves you. Téa loves you. Sweetheart, we love you," Viki tried.

"DON'T LIE TO ME! YOU THREW TODD AWAY! You sent him back." Pete's voice became quiet again. He wasn't looking at anyone. He was mumbling to himself again. "He walked through the woods to find you and you sent him back to be tortured and Sam sent him back to be tortured. He must deserve it. Delgado you called the cops on him. You wanted to send him to Statesville to be tortured. Not me . . . not me . . . I don't need any of you . . . not anyone . . . I'm strong . . . Todd wants to be loved . . . not me . . . you can't hurt me . . . you can walk out on me . . . no hurt . . . you can't hurt me . . . I don't need any of you . . . not me . . . no one ever hurt me . . . ever . . . not me . . . not . . ."

Téa fell to a heap on the floor as Pete released his grip on her and slid down the wall. He pulled his knees to his chest and buried his head in them. "Not me," Pete continued to chant.

Téa was dazed for the moment. She tried to shake her head to clear it. She rubbed the back of her neck as she slowly and painfully moved her head. Her neck was stiff from the position Pete had held her in. Jeff reached for her to pull her away from Pete. "NO!" Téa pushed his hands off of her. Jeff feared a physical struggle with Téa might set Pete off again and cause her to be hurt even more than she already had been.

"Move away from Pete, Téa." Susannah called out firmly.

"No," Téa repeated quietly.

"Téa, for God's sake, get away from him." Kevin called out.

Téa got on her knees and sat back on her heels. For the first time, despite what had just happened, Téa felt no fear from being near Pete. She gently placed her hand on Pete's knee. "Not you, Pete. No one ever hurt you. I know that. They hurt Todd."

Pete looked at Téa. There was no coldness or rage in his eyes, only pain and desperation. "They hurt him bad . . . Everyone he cared about hurt him. Then they hurt him in prison . . . don't tell . . . you can't tell . . . it makes it hurt worse if you tell . . ."

"Pete, I did try to get Todd sent back to jail. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know saying you're sorry doesn't change anything. I can't take it back."

"I don't need you to love me," Pete whispered.

"I know. I can't help how I feel, Pete. I do love you. I can try to stop if you want me to, but I don't think I'll be able to."

"You don't love me. You don't have to lie. You love that kid and the other kids. Don't matter. I'm strong. I don't need anyone."

"You can be strong and still want to be loved." Téa spoke softly. "I like to think that I'm strong. I still want to be love."

"You wanted Andrew to love you," Pete reminded her.

"No, I wanted Todd to love me. I used Andrew. I didn't mean to and I'm sorry. It was a lousy thing to do."

"Todd made you do it," Pete stated.

"No, I made me do it. I was needy and lonely and angry with Todd. I don't like that part of myself."

Pete looked into Téa's eyes. She saw he understood. "You see, Delgado. It's bad to need anyone. You get hurt. You get everyone else hurt."

"Yeah, sometimes you do . . . It's worth it sometimes too."

"Huh?"

Téa smiled. "If I never let myself love Todd and all of you who live inside Todd and need your love I would have saved myself a lot of pain, but I would have missed out on the best part of my life. I would never know what it feels like to be loved by any of you. I can't bear the thought of never having known that."

"How do you know it won't all just go away? I'm strong. I'm gonna take us all away . . . far away . . . what will happen to you then, Delgado?"

"I would hope you'd ask me to come with you. You don't have to force me, Pete. I want to stay with Todd and all of you. If you ask, I'll go with you. You don't have to force me."

"No one wants to stay with us. They all leave. We can't be loved." Pete said softly.

"Wrong, Pete. I love you very much."

"So do I," Viki spoke up.

"I don't deserve your love, but I love you too," Sam added.

Pete shook his head. "You love those kids. I see you with them. Don't matter."

"It matters to me because I love you and I want you to love me back. Even if you don't, I'll still love you. I can't help it. It's what I feel, Pete." Téa's hand trembled as she reached for Pete's cheek. Pete's body stiffened. He pressed himself against the wall, but he did not pull away from Téa's touch.

Viki knelt down to where Pete and Téa sat on the floor. "Sweetheart, I love you too. Not just the children and Todd . . . you. I love you." Viki stroked Pete's head.

Sam fell to his knees more than knelt on them. He took Pete's hand and forearm and pulled Pete to him. "I failed you. I will go to my grave knowing I did that. I want you to know it was never because I didn't love you. I love the children and I love Todd and you, Pete. I love you. I don't want you to forgive me because I don't deserve it. You weren't bad. I was. I was a bad friend to all of you. I should have seen what was happening to you. You're right, Pete. I was too involved in my own life. If I'd looked harder, I would have seen what Peter was doing. I was the bad one. Not you. I swear, Boomer. It was never that I thought you deserved it or didn't love you. I loved you then and I love you even more now." Sam pulled Pete into a hug. Viki and Téa joined in the hug.

At first Pete's body stiffened even more. Then they felt him relax in their arms. Pete was finally feeling something he'd only witnessed before. Pete felt what it was liked to be hugged and held. Pete's eyes closed as he allowed himself to feel what he thought he never needed or wanted. They felt his body shudder in their arms.

"Mommy . . . Daddy . . . Tee."

They all recognized Timmy's voice. They knew that Pete, who was a pro at handling anger and rage, could only handle those few seconds of love before he needed to go inside. Each one of them was grateful that, as brief as it was, Pete now knew what it felt like to be loved and held.

"Hi, baby. We haven't seen you for a while." Viki stroked Timmy's hair. She kissed him on the forehead.

Timmy looked at Sam. "Daddy, cwy. I make Daddy thad?"

They were all surprised by Timmy's pronunciation. He sounded like a child even younger than himself, but not like Baby Todd.

Susannah approached him. "Timmy?"

"Uh-huh," he looked up. He began to suck on his fingers. They knew Timmy did this when he was frightened or anxious. Susannah recognized Timmy in those large, innocent eyes.

Viki, Susannah and Téa pulled back and allowed Sam to hold Timmy in his arms. "No, Timmy. Daddy just gets sad sometimes, but now I feel better because I get to hold you."

Timmy snuggled into Sam. "I gwad. I don't wike thad, Daddy."

It was like the life came back into Sam. Todd no longer wanted Sam to touch him and in his mind, Sam thought it was rare that he ever did right by Adam. Tom and Timmy were Sam's chance to be the kind of father he wanted to be to them. He loved being there for them and being a real dad to them. He loved being able to hold them and comfort them.

Timmy looked at Téa. His eyes traveled around the room. When they landed on Kevin, Kevin expected to hear Timmy's usual gleeful call of his name. Instead Timmy pulled away from Sam and sat cross-legged on the floor. He kept his eyes on Kevin.

Kevin walked over to where Timmy sat. Kevin knelt down. "How's my bestest friend in the whole world?" Kevin stroked Timmy's head as he asked this.

Timmy shrugged. He began to suck his thumb while he continued to stare into Kevin's eyes.

"I've missed you so much," Kevin admitted. "I'll bet mom will give me the whole day off today so I can stay and play with you and read to you or do anything you like."

Timmy took his thumb out of his mouth. "Wheth Mthter Wabbit?" He put his thumb back in his mouth again.

This question confirmed to them that it was Timmy. Still, alarms sounded in all their heads. Timmy almost never sucked his thumb and Timmy had no problems pronouncing most of his words. Susannah knelt down next to Timmy and Kevin. "Hi, sweetie, can you tell me what my name is?"

"Dota Hamen."

"That's good, Timmy. Can you tell me where you are?" Susannah prodded.

Timmy looked around again. "My hopital."

Susannah stroked his head. "That's right." She smiled at him. "And what's your favorite place in the hospital?"

"Pwaywoom!" Timmy exclaimed and smiled.

"Yeah! That's our favorite room, right best buddy?" Kevin put his arm around Timmy's shoulder.

"I thirthty," Timmy whined. Whining was also uncharacteristic for him.

"I'll get you a drink, Angelito. Would you like some pineapple juice?" Téa offered.

"Téa. I want you to go sit in the lounge," Susannah instructed. "I'm going to call Doctors Marahbee and Anderson. I want them to have a look at you before you move around too much. I want to make sure that Pete holding you that way did no further damage to you."

"I'm okay, really Doctor Hanen. My neck is a little sore and I have a slight headache. I had one before Pete went anywhere near me. I'm supposed to see my doctors at ten anyway."

"Humor me," Susannah requested. "I want them to look at you now." What Susannah didn't say out loud, in front of Timmy, was that she also wanted Doctor Anderson to have a look at Timmy. "Now come on. Let Jeff and Eileen help you to the lounge."

"I'll get Timmy his pineapple juice," Viki offered.

"No! Mommy thtay! Tee thtay! I don wan nobowy weave." It was apparent that Timmy was feeling the same intense separation anxiety he felt the last time he was out.

Janet approached Timmy. "I'll get your juice for you, hon."

"Who you?" Timmy looked frightened. "Wheth Tewwy?"

"Terry's not working today, sweetie. This is Janet. She's one of your nurses now and she's very nice." Susannah realized that Timmy had not been out since several new staff members had been hired a couple of week ago.

Timmy stared at her and began sucking his thumb again. "I'll get you your juice, Timmy," Janet repeated. "Would you like something to eat? I remember reading that you like chocolate pudding. Would you like me to bring you some?"

Timmy stared up at Viki, Sam and Kevin.

"It's okay, baby. You can have chocolate pudding." Viki saw that Timmy looked unsure of how to respond.

"Otay," Timmy told Janet.

"Hey, buddy. Maybe we can have alphabet spaghetti for lunch? Would you like that?" Kevin proposed.

Timmy nodded. He looked around the room again to get his bearings. "Who dat?" Timmy pointed to Eileen. Susannah made the introductions. "And dat?" Timmy pointed to Mark. One by one he pointed to each new face. They each came over, and introduced themselves, including Rachel.

When Rachel bent down to say hello, Timmy surprised her by gently rubbing his fingers down the left side of her face. "Were you thad wike Daddy?"

Rachel realized her cheeks were still tear stained. Rachel nodded. "I was, Timmy. I was very sad."

"Did your mommy go way?"

Rachel looked into Timmy's eyes as they stared into hers. She could not get over the innocence in them, or the difference between Timmy's eyes and Adam's. There was fear and sadness in Timmy's eyes that wasn't there in Adam's. "No. My mommy didn't go away, honey. I was sad because I remembered something very bad that I did to someone."

Timmy's eyes grew wide. "Is your daddy gonna pumish you?"

"No. My daddy doesn't punish me."

Timmy pointed to Sam. "My new daddy don pumish me. I wuv my new daddy."

Sam's heart swelled with love for this four-year-old. He didn't realize how much he needed to hear one of them say that they still loved him.