"Is he getting better? I mean Susannah did let him come home." "No Kevin, not really. Todd has been too ill, physically, to have therapy. Susannah just wanted him to have a nice holiday before it all hits the fan." "Before what hits the fan?" "Kevin, I can't tell you now. You'll find out soon enough. Todd is still in a lot of trouble. He hasn't even begun to come to grips with what was done to him. Just getting some of the secrets out nearly killed him. Getting him to remember and heal will be even harder. Once his therapy starts again the real work will begin. Todd will need us more than ever" "There is one difference this time," Kevin said. Viki looked at him. "This time you can count on me." Viki took her firstborn son in her arms and held him.

*****

Everyone was sad to see the holiday end. Susannah didn't know who was happier. Tom and Timmy, being home or Sam and Viki having them there? She knew it would not be easy to take him back to the hospital on Monday. Tom was out by himself Sunday night. He was sitting on his bed playing with one of his new video games. Viki was with him. When Sam came in to talk to him Viki knew what he was there to say. She had been waiting for them to talk to him together.

"Hi coach!" Tom happily called out when he saw Sam come into the room. "You wanna play?" "Not right now Boomer. We need to talk to you for a minute. Do you remember that tomorrow is Monday?" Tom just stared at him. It was difficult for him to keep track of time. "Boomer, we're going back to the hospital tomorrow. Do you remember that?"

Tom looked first at Sam and then at Viki. His lower lip began to quiver. "Don't you and Viki want me here anymore?" "Oh sweetheart, of course we do, you know that. Remember, when we first told you we were taking you home for the holiday we told you that it was just for a few days and then you would go back to your room at the hospital," Viki reminded him.

Tom started to cry. "But I like it here. All my stuff is here. I like being with you and Coach. Why can't I stay? Was I bad? Did I make too much noise? I can be real quiet. I can sit forever and be really, really, quiet." Seeing his face and hearing his reaction, Viki and Sam felt like crying themselves. There was nothing in life either of them wanted more than bringing Todd home to stay.

"Boomer, you didn't make too much noise. Little boys shouldn't have to be quiet all the time. You need to go back to the hospital because you have to get well. You need to be there with Doctor Hanen. Besides, what about all your stuff that's still there. You have all kinds of games and books and puzzles in your room there and most of Timmy's stuffed animals are there. I'll bet all those animals miss you and Timmy. You have the playroom there and the art room. You like to go to those, don't you?" Tom nodded. Another couple of tears trickled down Tom's cheeks "Sweetheart, you like to be where Doctor Hanen is don't you?" Viki tried. Tom nodded again. "You know, I'll bet everyone there misses you so much that they're just sad all the time." Sam added. Tom shrugged his shoulders.

"Will you and Viki come with me?" "Sure we will. Do you remember? We were there all the time," Sam reminded him. Tom thought for a minute and nodded again and wiped his cheeks with the palms of his hands.

"Will I ever get to come back here again?" He asked sadly. Sam put his arm around Tom and hugged him tightly. He kissed the top of his head. "Oh Boomer, this is your home. Of course you'll come back. First you have to help Doctor Hanen make you well and help her make Todd well." "I always help Todd. He don't have to get hurt. I help him," Tom started to cry again. "We know you do, baby. We know you get hurt so Todd doesn't have to," Viki acknowledged.

Tom was still out the next morning. He didn't want to finish his breakfast and after some tries at coaxing him they let it go, to avoid upsetting him further. He was fairly calm about going back to the hospital. Still, they could tell he was sad. Viki noticed he left some of his new things on the dresser in his room. "Don't you want to take these with you?" She reminded him. "No, I want them to wait here for me." Viki realized it was his way keeping his place at home.

Viki was driving and Sam was sitting in the back with Tom. They were about a mile from the hospital when hearing Todd's panicked voice shocked them. "Where am I? What's going on?" Todd cried out. He reached out, trying to feel where he was. "Am I in a car?" They heard the panic in Todd's tone. His breath was coming in short, frightened gasps.

Viki pulled the car to the curb. "My God!" Sam and Viki both thought. "He still can't see." "Todd," Sam began. He took Todd's trembling hands. "It's okay. You're in a car with Viki and I. We're taking you back to the hospital. It's okay, you're safe." "Why am I in a car? How come I'm not in the hospital? Did I do something bad?" Todd's trembling increased.

"No, sweetheart, not at all," Viki assured him from the front seat, "You came home for the holiday and now it's time to go back to the hospital." "Holiday?" "Christmas," Viki informed him. "It's Christmas! It's December! I CAN'T SEE!" Todd screamed. "I can't see," he repeated. He whispered it this time.

Todd's head lowered. "Do you remember me?" Viki and Sam were surprised to hear Andy's voice. "Sure we remember you Andy," Sam answered. Andy looked around. "This isn't the same place." "No, sweetheart, we're on our way back to the hospital," Viki informed him. "That nice lady is there. Right?" Andy asked. "Do you mean Doctor Hanen?" Sam assumed. "Yeah, that was her," Andy confirmed and looked around. He noticed a Dairy Queen on the street. "Can I get ice cream?" "Sure you can, sweetheart." Viki was happy he wanted to eat. Viki turned to Sam. "I'll go." She then turned to Andy. "Andy, what flavor do you like?" "The white one."

In a few minutes Viki was back with a vanilla ice cream cone. As Andy ate his ice cream he noticed some of it had dripped on his shirt. Sam could see he was starting to become upset. "Andy, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?" "Daddy's gonna get mad at me if he sees my shirt." Sam turned Andy's face towards his. "Andy, your daddy is no where near here. He's very, very far away. He can't hurt you. Okay?"

Andy easily accepted this. Then he thought for a few seconds. "Are you gonna punish me for spilling the ice cream?" "No, never," Sam promised. He put his arm around Andy's shoulder, "I will make sure that no one ever punishes or hurts any of you again, ever." Sam felt Andy's body stiffen to his touch. He quickly took his arm away. He remembered Andy's fear of being touched by a man. Andy surprised Sam when he looked at him and stated, "I remember. I don't have to let you do stuff to me. You're not gonna punish me if I don't? Right?" "Andy, I'll never touch you in anyway you don't want me to," Sam swore. "And you'll like me anyway?" Andy's question broke Sam's heart. He looked into the child's eyes. "Andy, I love you. I will always love you. No matter what." Andy looked at Sam and then put his head on Sam's shoulder and continued to eat his ice cream.

When they got back to the hospital Susannah was waiting for them. She was surprised to see Andy. "I remember you. You're Doctor Hanen. You're not my mommy. You did a good dinosaur voice," Andy smiled as he remembered. Remembering that, Susannah smiled too and replied "I remember you did a good dinosaur voice too." Andy giggled at that and then filled Susannah in. "Viki bought me ice cream and Sam said I didn't have to be punished cause I dripped it on my shirt." "Did you used to get punished for that?" Susannah pressed. Andy nodded. He asked, "Are my dinosaur toys still in my room? You said it was my room when I was here. Right?"

Susannah realized he seemed to remember every detail of their first encounter. "Yes, they're still there. Would you like to go to your room and play with them?" Andy nodded and pointed to a room. "It's that one, right?" "Yep, that's the one," Susannah confirmed and they all went inside to Andy's room with him.

Andy immediately sat on the floor and started looking through the box the toys were in for his dinosaurs. Once he found them he happily started playing with them. "Andy, would you mind if a very nice nurse named Terry came in and sat with you while I speak to Sam and Viki?" He shook his head and went back to his toys.

"When did he come back?" Susannah asked as soon as they were in the lounge. "Susannah, on the way back to the hospital Todd came back for a few moments," Viki informed her. She saw that Susannah was very surprised by this. "Susannah he was still blind," Viki continued, as tears welled up in her eyes. "He was so frightened, waking up like that, in a car, not being able to see. I told him it was late December and that really seemed to upset him. That's when Andy came back. My God Susannah! He's still blind. I don't know why but after everything he'd been through, the Baby coming out, the pneumonia, Tom and Timmy being reasonably happy for so long . . . I just assumed that when Todd came back he'd be able to see again."

Sam nodded his head in agreement. Susannah could see they were both upset that Todd was still blind. "Well, I would have hoped for that too." She paused and continued. "You have to remember, for Todd nothing has changed. I'm sure he has no memory of any of that. He still needs the blindness. He still needs to avoid even coming close to the memories that were revealed at the lodge. His need to punish himself is as strong as ever. As frightened as Todd is of being blind he needs it."

Susannah was about to broach the subject of Todd needing specialized therapy to help him function without his vision when they heard Andy yelling. "NO! YOU'RE LYING TO ME! DOCTOR HANEN SAID I COULD PLAY WITH THE TRAINS!"

"Andy," Terry was saying, "another patient is in the playroom now. Alan is with her. When they're finished in there then, maybe, you can go in and play with the trains." "Everybody lies to me!" Andy cried out.

Before anyone could stop him, Andy crawled under the bed. "Andy, it's Doctor Hanen. Why are you hiding under the bed?" "Everybody lies to me." Susannah could tell he was crying, despite the anger in his voice.

"Sweetheart, no one lied to you. I did say you could play with the trains but someone else is in there now. You just have to wait your turn, that's all." "Is Viki still my sister?" "Andy, of course, I'm still your sister," Viki confirmed, she was kneeling down beside the bed. "Come on out, sweetheart." Viki coaxed.

"I wanna stay here!" They could tell that Andy was still angry. Yet, they knew it was about more than not being able to play with the trains. "Well, all right. You can stay there if you want to. I don't think it will be as much fun as coming out and playing with the toys," Susannah commented.

Susannah motioned for everyone to walk away from the bed. Susannah turned to Viki and Sam. "I need to speak with both of you about the possibility of Todd receiving specialized therapy if his blindness continues. Why don't we go to my office." Viki looked toward the bed, unsure if they should leave. "He'll be all right," Susannah assured her. "Why don't you go with Susannah and I'll stay here," Sam suggested. Viki nodded and left with Susannah.

Twenty minutes had gone by and Andy still had not come out from under the bed or made a sound. Sam was beginning to wonder if he had fallen asleep. When the lunch was delivered Sam peeked under the bed and saw that Andy was awake. He was staring off into space. Sam looked under the lid. "Hey spaghetti! Tom loves spaghetti. What about you? Andy do you like it?"

Sam got no reply. "Looks like there's some Oreo's here too." Still nothing. Sam went to the door and asked Jeff if he could please bring the TV into Andy's room. Once it was set up Sam turned on the television and flipped through the channels. He found what he was hoping for. The Flintstones was on.

Sam heard Andy stir under the bed. "Hey it looks like Dino is trying to tell Fred something. I guess Fred doesn't know how to talk to a dinosaur," Sam remarked. Slowly, Andy slid out from under the bed. "I know how to talk to a dinosaur," he declared. "I know you do. Do you know what Dino likes to eat?" Sam asked. Andy shook his head. "Spaghetti and cookies!" Sam announced as he quickly lifted the lid off Andy's lunch. "No he don't! Dinosaurs don't like that!" Andy giggled. "Oh! Well, maybe I got it mixed up? Maybe it's little boys who like that that." Sam corrected himself, feigning seriousness. Andy giggled again, and announced, "I like spaghetti and cookies." Andy ate his lunch while watching the rest of the Flintstones.

Just as Andy was finishing his lunch Viki and Susannah came back. Viki saw Andy's spaghetti sauce covered face. She smiled lovingly at Andy and went to get a washcloth. As she wiped Andy's mouth she commented, "Well, it looks like someone enjoyed his lunch." "I did!" Andy exclaimed. His smile covered his face. "I can see that," Viki confirmed and kissed the top of his head. Viki was so happy to see the nearly empty plate in front of Andy.

"Andy, the play room is free now. You can go play with the trains of you like," Susannah informed him. "Yeah!" Andy jumped up excitedly and said. He grabbed Sam's hand and asked, "Can you play too?" "Sure," Sam agreed eagerly. He shrugged and grinned at Viki and Susannah as he let Andy pull him out the door.

"I think there is a lot more to Andy then what we've seen," Susannah commented after Sam and Andy had gone to the playroom. She continued. "He definitely has a better sense of reality then Tom and Timmy, he seems to be able to remember everything that is told to him and he has a good understanding of it." "Yes, I noticed that," Viki remarked and told Susannah about Andy telling Sam he remembered he didn't have to let Sam "do stuff" to him.

"Andy has a lot of anger in him. Lucky he doesn't act out much or become aggressive and thank God he doesn't seem to have flashbacks. I do wonder about what Timmy told us," Susannah said. "You mean about Peter trying to kill him?" Viki asked for clarification. "Yeah," Susannah answered and added, "something made that child go away and hide for about twenty years. I need to find out what that was." They were both surprised to see Tea come into the room.