"I walked in on them in her hotel room. They were undressed and Kevin had been in the shower." Blair turned to Viki and continued. "Viki, I'm sorry. You don't know your son at all. He always hated Todd and this is a great way to get back at him."

"I do know my son and Kevin loves Todd or at least he loves Timmy. He would never do anything to harm Todd and neither would Téa," Viki insisted angrily.

Viki didn't notice it, however Susannah did. Sam looked a little uncomfortable when Blair said that. Susannah also noticed that Sam didn't jump to Kevin's defense the way Viki did. "Kevin, what do you have to say about Blair's comment?" Susannah pressed forward.

Kevin wanted to say Blair was full of crap. He didn't. He understood what Susannah was trying to and he cooperated. "I think that Blair got the wrong impression and she is not willing to listen when we try to explain."

Susannah turned to Blair. "Would you be willing to listen to what Kevin has to say now?"

Blair was not about to tell them that she has a picture of them embracing and according to the photographer who was following them, they are together, a lot. "Yes, I'll listen," Blair finally said. They could hear from her tone that she was basically humoring them and would not believe a word they said.

"Blair," Kevin began. "On the night before the morning you saw us, Téa and I were both very upset over Todd. We both had too much to drink in the bar at the Palace. I was too drunk to even make it to a cab. Téa let me sleep it off in her room. Téa had not had time to get dressed when you got there. I wanted to take a shower. That was when I came into the living room with my shirt off and you saw me. Nothing happened."

Blair looked at him and shook her head. "How stupid do you think I am, Kevin? You and Téa have a history. You were both as frazzled as Hell when you saw me. Tell me Kevin. How's Cassie? When's the last time you went home to her? It's really coincidental that you left my cousin just about that time?"

"My relationship with Cassie is none of your business. Cassie understands why I am staying at mom's. She agrees we need some time away from each other. I know you went to her with your filthy suspicions. Let me tell you. You could have saved your breath because she didn't believe you. Cassie knows how much you hate Téa," Kevin responded angrily.

"At first, Cassie didn't want to believe you slept with Barbara either. Cassie has always given you the benefit of doubt," Blair reminded him. Kevin heard the disgust for him in her voice.

"Cassie and I have gotten past that. She knows I will always regret what happened with Barbara," Kevin claimed.

"You regret it so much that the first opportunity you have, you crawl into this slut's bed?" Blair snapped.

Susannah spoke up before Téa had a chance to respond. She saw Téa was about to explode. "I think this would be much more productive if there were no name calling. Téa, I know you are upset by what Blair just said. Do you think you can respond calmly?"

Téa trembled with anger for a second. Then she collected herself and spoke. "Blair has always had a problem with me being Todd's wife. She has resented that Todd chose to stay with me. She won't believe the truth about Kevin and me just being friends because she would love nothing better than to get me out of Todd's life. Blair cannot seem to accept that she and Todd are no longer married."

"I have always had a problem with you being Todd's wife because you are his bought and paid for wife. What's the problem, Chiquita? Wasn't five million enough for you? Are you holding out for the rest?" Blair spat out.

"You always wanted to keep stringing Todd along. You had to make sure he was always there for you, Blair," Téa accused.

"What the hell are you talking about? I never strung Todd along," Blair angrily denied.

"Yes you did! You were always showing up at the penthouse, trying to gain Todd's sympathy. You were the one who broke up your marriage to Todd, Blair. And it was long before I came into the picture. You lied to him. You sided with everyone else against him," Téa reminded her.

Téa's words stung Blair, because there was truth in them. Nevertheless, Blair still came back at Téa. "I may have lied to Todd when I got him to marry me the first time. That was because I needed the money to help my mother." Blair defended her actions before continuing. "At least I didn't out and out prostitute myself for five million . . . and it's not enough for you! You still want more. You pretend to be here for Todd . . . loving him . . . acting devoted to him and those precious little children . . . the only reason you do that is because you want it all. You want every dime that Todd has. And you!" Blair pointed to Kevin, "you want the chance to be able to laugh at him and feel you pulled one over on him. You and your whole damn family live to hurt Todd. Look what you almost did to him over Georgie."

"Blair, is that what this is about? You think Téa is here because she wants Todd's money?" Viki was incredulous. She was appalled at Blair's statement. Viki continued. "As Todd's guardian I have control over all his finances. Téa handles his business affairs, but everything passes through me. Not one cent of Todd's money has been touched since he's been in the hospital, not even for his medical expenses. What his insurance doesn't cover, I do. Téa has not taken one cent from Todd in all these months. In fact she has done a wonderful job of handling his business affairs, as you have the newspaper," Viki added, honestly.

Blair realized she was coming off the "bad guy" in this. She knew she would never get Viki, Sam or Susannah to believe that Téa and Kevin were having an affair without proof. "If I have misjudged Téa and Kevin, I'm sorry. I just don't want Todd to get hurt," Blair meant half of that statement.

"I would die before I would hurt Todd," Téa stated firmly.

Kevin wanted to say the same thing, but he knew in his heart he couldn't, not with complete honesty. He had no idea how he would feel, if confronted with Todd and not one of the children. The way he reacted to Pete still haunted him. He was not really comfortable around Rodd and while he cared very much for Tom, he realized Tom seemed to have a problem with him.

Sam had been sitting quietly throughout all of this. It wasn't that he believed Blair. Sam was still haunted by Tom's question. He saw a growing closeness between Téa and Kevin with his own eyes. He did not believe that Kevin would deliberately do anything to hurt Todd or any of the alters, but he also believed that Kevin was unhappy and lonely. He thought perhaps Kevin himself might not realize it if his feelings for Téa were growing. Sam was certain those feelings were not reciprocal. He could see how much, in every way, Téa loved Todd. He knew that if Kevin had feelings of more than friendship for Téa, she was not aware of them. Sam did not share any of these concerns with Viki. He had no real reason to suspect there was any truth in them. He didn't want to add to Viki's pain, for some vague feeling he had.

Susannah knew that they were all doing their best to calm the situation, even if they didn't all mean what they said. She decided to go on. "I understand you all have issues that need to be worked through and I will be more than happy to meet with any of you individually, if you like. Right now I want to make sure you understand that the kind of behavior you displayed in Todd's room this evening will not be tolerated again. Have I made myself clear to each of you?"

"Yes," Téa spoke up first. She looked down in shame. Then she looked Susannah in the eye and promised, "I will leave Todd's room, on my own, if any problems ever occur again."

"I will do the same," Kevin agreed.

Blair looked at them and then at Susannah. "You don't have to worry about me. If the current Mrs. Manning is in Todd's room I will be on my best behavior."

Susannah accepted them on their word. She knew the deep-seated problems between Téa and Blair were going to continue. She hoped they would at least keep their quarrels with each other away from Todd. "Now, I would like to explain to all of you what happened to Todd tonight. I want you to feel free to ask me any questions you may have as you think of them. You do not have to wait until I finish talking." Susannah had their full attention. "Todd had what we now call a tonic-clonic seizure. It is more commonly known as a grand mal seizure."

"Has Todd developed epilepsy?" Blair inquired, as Sam had earlier.

"Not necessarily. Epilepsy can't be diagnosed after just one seizure. Todd may never experience another seizure. It may be a rare side effect of Zyprexa."

"I knew he shouldn't be put on an antipsychotic drug. I told that to all of you. Are you happy now?" Blair asked as tears filled her eyes.

"Didn't you hear Susannah? That would be a rare complication of the medication. It probably isn't responsible," Sam responded. He was annoyed by Blair's insistence on blaming Susannah.

"So if it's not the medication what else can cause a seizure?" Blair probed.

"There are many causes of seizures. They can be caused by metabolic disorders like hypoglycemia, kidney or liver failure, aneurysms, lesions, cysts, tumors, scar tissue from old brain injuries, an abnormal mass of blood vessels in the brain . . . many different things. Seizures can be caused by withdrawal from some medications, especially antianxiety medication. Too low a level of minerals or vitamins in the bloodstream can trigger seizures. They can even be caused by exhaustion. Sometimes college students and medical students who do without sleep for extended periods can have a seizure. In those cases it is usually a onetime thing and never happens again. Sometimes the cause is never found."

They were all left frightened by the long list of possible causes. "Do you think Todd may have a tumor or an aneurysm?" Viki asked. She was terrified.

"No. I don't. Unfortunately, it can't be ruled out until he's had an MRI. As I told you and Sam earlier, I think there might be some old scar tissue that caused it. Todd has a history of brain injuries."

Blair jumped up. She pointed to Téa and shouted. "YOU DID THIS TO HIM. YOU HIT HIM OVER THE HEAD WITH A SHOVEL." Blair turned to Susannah, "Did she tell you that? Did she tell you how she almost killed Todd with a shovel?"

"Yes, I hit Todd over the head with a shovel. He had just kidnapped me and punched me in the face and tied me up." Téa felt horribly guilty for hitting Todd, but hearing Blair accuse her that way made her remember the terror she had felt when Todd had done that to her. She also remembered feeling rage . . . rage for everything she had been through with Todd, up to that moment. By that time Téa knew Todd was not going to hurt her. He had untied her and he had calmed down. Yes, a part of her genuinely thought it best that Todd be taken to jail and perhaps forced to get help. However, at the moment Téa hit him, she mostly felt rage. For that she felt horribly guilty and if it turned out that hitting him caused Todd to develop epilepsy, she would never forgive herself.

"Do you see? She admits it! She did this to him, Doctor Hanen."

"Blair, for God's sake," Viki spoke angrily. "We don't even know if an old brain injury caused this. Why are you so damned determined to make a bad situation worse?"

"Don't you even care that she may have done this to Todd?" Blair could not believe Viki's attitude.

"All right! Enough!" Susannah spoke firmly and stood up. "You are all upset and frightened and this is not the ideal time to discuss your problems with each other. I just want to say that it is normal for family members to sometime turn against each other under times of extreme stress. You all need to blame someone for Todd's condition. Peter and Barbara are dead. There is not much satisfaction in blaming them. You can blame God, but there's not much satisfaction in that either."

Blair thought about her earlier conversation with Starr and fresh tears spilled from her eyes. Susannah continued. "The serious illness of a family member can pull people together or rip them apart. In this case, Blair and Téa have a troubled history with each other so it very understandable that you use each other for a punching bag. Now, just because I understand where you are all coming from does not mean I will tolerate this kind of behavior. If you can control yourselves, I would like to explain more to you about what happened to Todd so it won't seem so frightening."

"I'm sorry," Téa apologized. "I want to know more about the seizure Todd had."

"So do I. I won't interrupt again," Blair promised.

Susannah continued. "There are different kinds of seizures and among those there are different categories. The distinction between partial and generalized seizures is the electrical discharge in the brain is limited to one area in a partial seizure. In that case, there may be contractions in just the muscles in a limb. In a tonic-clonic seizure, most of the brain is involved. It is a generalized seizure of whole muscle groups of the entire body, as opposed to a to a partial seizure with contractions of just some muscles. These kinds of seizures are usually not harmful to the patient unless the patient has multi seizures or what is known as status epilepticus. Status epilepticus is when seizures occur successively with no intervening period of consciousness or very brief periods in between seizures. That is not what happened to Todd just now. He had what may be an isolated seizure. It may never happen again."

"What does tonic-clonic mean?" Sam asked.

"Tonic is when the body stiffens and clonic is when the body jerks. A seizure can be limited to one or the other. Most generalized seizures are both," Susannah explained.

"When Todd's body appeared rigid for the first few seconds that was the tonic part?" Viki shuddered from the memory of it as she asked that.

"Yes. The clonic part is when his muscles started to contract and relax about twenty seconds later," Susannah answered.

"Are you sure he isn't in any danger now?" Téa asked.

"Yes. This reaction is normal post seizure reaction. He may sleep for quiet some time and he may remain a little confused and out of it for up to twenty-four hours. Most likely he will be more alert in a few hours. Hypoglycemia has been ruled out. His blood sugar is normal. When the rest of his blood work comes back we will know if there is anything there that could have caused a seizure. He is showing no symptoms of any metabolic imbalance or renal failure."

"But his kidneys are not completely normal," Kevin reminded Susannah.

"As of his last blood test, just day before yesterday, Todd's renal functions were still only slightly elevated. He is not in renal failure. He also isn't presenting with any symptoms of a brain lesion, tumor or aneurysm. He will have another MRI and an EEG. He is not in danger now, so they will probably be scheduled for tomorrow. He needs to be alert enough for Doctor Anderson to assess him properly," Susannah stated.

"Will you put him to sleep for the MRI?" Sam knew that Todd would not be able to tolerate being confined to a tunnel for that long and Llanview Hospital did not have an open air MRI.

"Most likely, yes, unless we can get an adult alter who can tolerate the test without being sedated or at least not heavily sedated," Susannah responded.

"What happens in the brain to cause a seizure?" Kevin asked.

"A seizure is basically an electrical malfunction of the neurons in the brain. Most of them fire at the same time. Seizures result from this electrical misfiring. During a seizure, nerve cells in the brain that normally transmit electrical impulses become unstable and fire erratically. The nerve cells suddenly go abnormal and they discharge together. What happens then is that normal brain function ceases and the seizure is the manifestation of that electrical storm in the brain."

"You can give him something . . . I mean there are drugs to stop the seizures?" Kevin stated.

"Yes. There are anticonvulsants. We don't give them after one seizure, unless there are other symptoms to strongly indicate there will be more seizures."

"Do those drugs have terrible side effects?" Téa asked anxiously.

"Most drugs have some unpleasant side effects. There is nothing very severe with most of the anticonvulsant. If it becomes necessary to start Todd on an anticonvulsant, it would most likely be carbamazepine or phenytoin. You may have heard of them as the brand names Tegretol and Dilantin. If Todd has to go on an anticonvulsant, we will go over the side effects in detail."

"Will he be in pain when he wakes up?" Viki asked.

"He will probably have a headache and he may experience some muscle soreness. Some Tylenol should help with either of those two."

"If Thomas wakes up, will he remember having the seizure?" Sam inquired.

"No. He may remember how he felt just before it, but once the actual seizure was in progress he became unconscious."

"So, the seizure itself wasn't painful to him?" Sam needed to hear that it wasn't.

"No, not in this case. There are other kinds of seizures that patients can feel, but not one that immediately goes into tonic-clonic."

"Do some seizures start off in a different way and then turn into the kind Todd had?" Téa wanted to learn all she could about this.

"Yes. A seizure can start as a partial seizure, where just one limb is involved and progress to a complex partial, where there is some loss of awareness and finally to a generalized seizure where the person becomes unconscious and most body parts are involved. The progression can be very rapid. Sometimes, only the simple partial seizure happens or only the complex partial, which is the kind most epileptics have. There are also myclonic seizures with rapid jerking of a body part. Myclonic seizures involve unusual neuron discharges in the motor cortex, a region of the brain that controls movement and it causes a slight involuntary jerking of the arms and legs, often early in the morning, but those are more rare." Susannah looked at all of them. She wanted to make sure she was not overwhelming them with facts.

Susannah continued. "There are also absence attacks which used to be called petit mal seizures. In an absence seizure the person kind of spaces out for a few minutes. That kind of seizure doesn't usually suddenly appear in adults." Susannah sighed. "In this case it is possible that the child alters may be susceptible. Their central nervous system is that of a child's. There are also other categories of seizures, and even if someone has a tonic-clonic seizure the first time and has another seizure it can be one of the other kind." Susannah could see that they had all just about had it. If she continued, she would she would be telling them more than they could process right now.

"I'm going to check on Todd. I think it would be a good idea if we all took a break for a few minutes. Why don't you all go get some coffee or something or just relax in the lounge for a few minutes? Then you can see Todd before you leave. Téa, Blair," Susannah called to them. "Please decide between yourselves who goes in first. I don't want you in there together," Susannah instructed.

Blair and Téa looked at each other. They said nothing.

"I think I'll take Susannah up on that idea about getting a cup of coffee," Kevin announced. He turned to Viki and Sam. "How about it . . . Mom . . . Sam? You both look like you could use a break."

Viki turned to Susannah. "If there had been any further problem they would have called you?"

"Yes, absolutely, even if there had been a slight change. Todd is probably still in a deep sleep. Go have that coffee and try to relax," Susannah suggested to Viki. She then left for Todd's room.

Turning to Téa and Blair, Viki asked, "Would either of you care to join us in the cafeteria?"

"Yes. I'll go along," Téa spoke up.

"Uh . . .Téa. Before you go, can I speak with you for few minutes," Blair requested.

They all looked at Blair.

"Don't worry. I don't want to talk about anything we just discussed. It's about Starr," Blair assured them. They heard a slight annoyance in her voice at being suspected of wanting to cause trouble again.

"Is something wrong with Starr?" Blair heard panic in Téa's voice.

"No. Can I please just talk to you for a few minutes, alone!" Blair made sure to add as she looked at the others in the room.

"Sure," Téa answered. Téa turned to Viki, Sam and Kevin. "I'll meet you down there in a little while."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" Kevin offered.

"Don't worry! Téa won't need her bodyguard with her," Blair called out sarcastically.

"Come on, honey." Viki put her arm through Kevin's. "Let's go." They headed to the cafeteria, leaving Téa behind with Blair.

"Is Starr okay?" Téa asked.

Blair could hear genuine concern in Téa's voice. "Yes, physically, Starr is fine. She's having some trouble with Todd being in the hospital for so long. She has been very upset. She's been keeping it to herself."

"Just like Todd," Téa stated. She shook her head.

For a moment, Blair felt a kinship toward Téa. She saw that Téa knew Todd and Starr very well and had immediately come to the same conclusion that she herself had, earlier. Starr did have a tendency to keep what she feels buried inside, just like her daddy. "Yes, in that way Starr seems to be a lot like Todd. I was able to get her to talk about her feelings. She had been imagining the worst things. She thought Todd was dead and we were keeping it from her."

"Mi estrella. My poor baby. Blair, she doesn't still believe that?"

Blair saw the tears in Téa's eyes as she asked that. "No . . . at least I don't think so. I had been trying to protect her. I told her very little about what was wrong with Todd. I shouldn't have done that. She is old enough to realize that her father is very sick. She also realized I was keeping things from her. So she imagined the worst." Blair took a deep breath. "Téa, Starr thought you stopped coming to see her because you didn't like her anymore."

Téa was horrified. "You won't let me see her, Blair!"

"Calm down. I told her that. I explained that I had a problem with you. I told her that I told you not to come around and that it had nothing to do with you not liking her. I told Starr you still loved her."

Téa believed Blair. She was very surprised that Blair would have admitted that to Starr. But then again, Téa knew that Blair loved Starr more than life and would do anything to keep her happy.

Blair hated like Hell to say the words. She did anyway. She said them for Starr. "Téa, will you come over to the penthouse and visit Starr?"

Téa's heart leapt for joy. She was going to get to see her little girl again. "Yes! Oh yes! Of course I will. When do you want me to come?"

"How about tomorrow, around four in the afternoon? That's when Starr gets home from school?" Blair didn't miss the look on Téa's face. She realized that Téa had missed Starr as much as she did when she had been kept from Starr. For a second Blair felt guilt for having kept them apart. Then she remembered it was Téa who was instrumental in taking Starr away from her in the first place and it is Téa who is playing Starr's father for a fool.

"Four will be fine. I'll be there." Téa jumped at the opportunity. Téa then asked, "What does Starr know about Todd's illness? I don't want to say the wrong thing."

"She knows Todd is not himself. She knows he is sad and sick because he has to remember some bad things his father did to him. She knows he sometimes has to get shots and blood tests. She also knows that Todd doesn't want her to see him like this. I told her children aren't allowed in the part of the hospital Todd is in."

Téa was making mental notes. She didn't want to confuse Starr by saying the wrong thing. "Blair, not that my opinion means anything to you, but I think you told Starr exactly the right things and I am glad that she was able to handle what you told her."

"Thanks," Blair answered, only half begrudgingly. "So, I will see you tomorrow at four, at the penthouse?"

"Yes. Perhaps I can take Starr to the park or . . ."

Blair cut her off, "I would like you to stay in the penthouse with her, for the time being. Is that a problem?"

"No. No problem," Téa quickly answered. She didn't care where she got to see Starr. All she could think was, 'I'm going to see my Starr again.'

"Téa, since you want to go for coffee, is it all right if I go see Todd first? I would like to get home. I told Starr her daddy needed to see me. I didn't say why. I want to tell her Todd is okay."

"Sure. You go ahead. I'll go catch up with Viki and Sam." Blair started to leave the room. "Blair," Téa called out to her. Blair turned around and faced Téa. "Blair, there is nothing going on between Kevin and me."

Blair looked at her. "I’ll see you tomorrow," Blair said coldly. She left Susannah's office and headed for Todd's room.

Téa was still scared to death for Todd, but she felt happiness and joy bubbling up inside her. "I get to see my little girl. Tomorrow I get to see my Starr," Téa said out loud.

TO BE CONTINUED