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The Tessarae Inn |
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Consequences in Blue Notes
CHAPTER 4 Blair stared at Todd until the door obliterated him from sight. He had just made a major mistake. His timing couldn’t have been worse if he planned it that way. Slowly she shifted her gaze to Viki. “I’m not hungry. Please take that away.” “Don’t you think you should eat something? Todd says you haven’t had…” “Todd lies.” To Viki’s credit, she didn’t try to argue beyond that point. Viki placed the tray on the dresser where all of the other trays had eventually been placed then pulled one of the side chairs next to the bed. Another point for Viki. Miss Hoi Polloi was not going to sit on the bed and pretend they were best buds or something. Viki crossed her legs and placed her hands on top of each other in her lap. “Todd called me. He said you needed to talk to someone.” “Todd lies.” “Blair, I have no idea what is going on here but obviously something is wrong. Why are you in bed?” “Did you think I was a bad mother?” “Why would you ask me that?” “You testified in court that Todd would be a better parent.” For a moment Viki frowned and looked off in the distance then said, “Those were difficult times and different circumstances.” “You encouraged Tea to take my child away from me and for Starr to call her Mommy.” “Blair, I…” “You’re Todd’s sister I respect that but I don’t respect you.” Viki smoothed her skirt. “Fine, you don’t have to respect me, but you need to get up out of that bed and deal with whatever the problem is.” Suddenly Blair felt frightened because she couldn’t move, although all she wanted to do was to spring across the bed and put her hands around Viki’s neck. Viki blinked rapidly then said, “I’m sorry. This is not my business but Todd asked for my help and…” “Don’t you think if I could, I’d get up out of this bed?” Viki nodded slowly. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll help you.” “I don’t want your help. I don’t want anything from you.” “You don’t have to like me to let me comfort you.” “I’ve found more comfort here alone in this bed than I’ve ever gotten from you.” “Obviously, I’m not going to be of any help here.” Blair eased down under the covers. “I’m tired.” “I don’t know what happened but it can’t be that bad.” “Go away, Viki. Tell your brother to go to hell.”
=========== Todd sat on the stairs and waited. His heart sank when he heard Viki’s footsteps. She wasn’t up there a very long time. He didn’t turn around. She sat down next to him and touched his hands. “I don’t know what is going on but I think Blair’s in trouble.” “What happened?” “I understand that you make fun of what I’ve gone through because it frightens you. I get that. And, although you would never admit it, you called me because you really did think I could reach her.” “You didn’t.” “No. I’m afraid that whatever this is about, I’m not a neutral party. My presence seemed to make her angry at best. But I can tell you something, if you’ll listen. Will you?” “If you say something worth hearing.” Vikie sighed. Todd slowly turned his head toward her. “Tell me what you have to say.” “I can’t speak for anyone else’s experience with depression but I will tell you that with me there were times when I was teetering on the edge as if for an instant I had a choice of whether to fall over or not. I don’t know if that choice really existed or not but that’s the way I felt. At some brief point, I had a choice to fight it or not.” “What does this have to do with Blair?” “I think she’s on the edge and she deciding whether to fight or not.” “You don’t know Blair. She’s always been a fighter.” “Then I guess the question becomes what hurt her so much that that fighting spirit was knocked out of her.” Todd jumped up and turned to face her. “Stop being so damn melodramatic! Thank you for nothing. I’ll take care of this.” “I don’t think there’s anything you can do except call in a professional. She needs help before it gets too severe and I’m afraid you’ll just push her closer to the edge.” “Blair’s NOT crazy!” Viki stood up slowly and brushed the front of her skirt. “I said what I had to say. Your wife is in trouble.” Todd patted his chest. “Tell me something I can do. Something I can handle.” “I don’t know what this is about and to be quite frank I don’t think I want to know. You need to take care of her, though. Face up to whatever it is.” “Why do you think it’s something I’ve done?” Viki smiled slightly and placed her hands on his shoulders. “Let me take the children for a few days. It will give you a chance to concentrate on whatever happened between you and Blair.” “No, I need them. She’ll come around for them. She loves Starr.” Viki’s eyes widened but all she said was, “Just for a few hours, then. It’ll take some pressure off of you and give the children a breather. Even babies can pick up on this level of tension.” He nodded after a few more seconds. She was right. Starr was already a wreck. If she stayed in the house it wouldn’t be long before she’d learn what he did. “There are several therapist I know you can call to talk to Blair. Do you want me to write down their numbers?” “I’ll handle it.” “Todd, this is serious. Sometimes people can’t fight their way back if they fall into a place that is too dark and deep. The longer you wait the worse it is going to get.” He looked down at his hands for a moment so Viki wouldn’t see the tears that threatened to spring into his eyes. Had he lost Blair forever? “Todd, I hope you take me seriously.” He looked into Viki’s eyes. “You don’t know her. She’d fight the devil himself.”
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