This story takes place after Todd has returned from Ireland. Blair is pregnant with Brendan and currently living with Dorian. Todd and Blair are separated and going through a custody battle as Blair wants to take Starr away from her father. Marty is siding with Todd because she believes he is a good father, and Patrick has been there for Blair who is carrying his child. Patrick and Marty are dating but are not officially a couple. The situation becomes more complex when suddenly Starr becomes very ill.
~*Patrick and Blair*~
With shaking fingers, she picked the phone and called the one person who had been there for her through everything. He always listened, always cared, and he had never let her down. "Patrick, I need you. Please come over," she said in a soft, pleading voice.
"Blair? What is it? What's wrong?" he asked with concern. "Is it the baby?'
"No, Patrick. The baby's fine. It's Starr. Todd kidnapped my little girl," Blair said with a sob.
"I'll be right there," Patrick replied, hanging up the phone and leaving Antonio's party so he could go to Blair's side.
As he drove in the car over to Dorian's, Patrick thought of the strange night it had been. He and Marty had gone to Antonio's party with the intention of having a little fun, but the festivities had barely started when Marty's beeper urgently went off. "I gotta get that," she had said. She rushed off to phone the hospital, but had not come back. Alone at the party, Patrick wasn't having all that much fun. Then came the call from Blair. What had Todd done now? He really despised that man. He was always causing trouble for everyone, especially Marty and Blair. How he had gotten tangled up in this mess, he did not know. He guessed it was due to the fact that he had been seeing Todd's widow after Todd's supposed death. When Todd had "came back from the dead," he had walked in on Patrick and his wife making love. Todd hated his guts after that. Todd wanted revenge. And then there was Marty. Patrick had shared a brief romantic moment with her in Ireland, but nothing much had become of it, considering Marty had returned to the states and had married Dylan Moody. That marriage didn't last, so now Marty was free to date again. Despite his complicated relationship with Blair and her being pregnant with their son, Patrick had been seeing Marty. They weren't officially dating, but they definitely had a strong attraction. Todd didn't much like Patrick's intimacy with Marty either. In fact, Todd was always throwing him hateful scowls. Todd and Marty had a past together that Patrick couldn't even begin to understand the connnection that yet existed between them. But Patrick knew that Todd Manning was bad news. He had raped Marty four years ago and had kidnapped his own daughter Starr from Blair not even a few weeks ago. And now it would seem he had done it again.
When Patrick got to Dorian's, Blair was in tears. She opened the door for him and went right into his arms, pressing her face against his strong chest. "Ohhh Patrick, Todd came and got Starr, and he was supposed to bring her back, but he's more than a half-hour late, and I'm so worried. What if he kidnapped her again?" Blair said in a rush.
Holding Blair in his arms, Patrick tried to soothe her. Bo Buchanan was there, taking a statement from Dorian. "You mustn't worry, Blair. The police will find Starr. You'll get your little girl back," Patrick said as he kissed the top of Blair's head and caressed her back softly.
He could hear Dorian going on and on to Bo about Todd being a dangerous man and a convicted rapist. "Todd has no business being alone with that baby! He's kidnapped her before!" Dorian cried out.
"I'll put an APB out on Todd," Bo said as he went to make the call.
Hearing her aunt's ranting, Blair was close to hysterical. "I can't lose my baby girl. What has Todd done with her?" Blair sobbed as Patrick tried to console her.
"Try to calm down, Blair. This isn't good for the baby," Patrick gently reminded, softly caressing her rounded tummy where their unborn son lie.
"Brendan's fine, Patrick. It's Starr I worry about now..." Blair said as a tear rushed down her face. "This is all Marty's fault!"
"How could this be Margaret's fault?" Patrick asked dumbfounded.
"Because she sat there on the witness stand as a character witness for Todd, saying how he's a wonderful father and all of that B.S. And now look what's happened; the court allowed him an unsupervised visit and he didn't come back with MY little girl!" Blair cried out. "I just have a really bad feeling about this. I am her mother, and I just KNOW my little girl is in trouble."
~*Todd and Marty*~
Marty was having a strange night as well. She had gone to Antonio's party with Patrick in hopes of having a great time. It had been a long, tiring day at hospital, so getting out and having some fun would have been a much-welcome reward. But it wasn't to be. They hadn't been at the party long when Marty's beeper had gone off. "I wonder what that could be..." Marty said to Patrick as she did not recognize the number.
"Excuse me. I better go check on this emergency," she said before hurrying off to make the call.
Marty stepped into the hallway and approached the pay phone there on the wall. She picked up the receiver and began dialing the number on her beeper. Suddenly someone grabbed the phone from her forcefully, placing it on the hook. She turned around, seeing Todd standing behind her, his body looming over hers.
Marty's eyes went wide, feeling the heat of Todd's body considering they were standing that close. "Todd, you scared me to death-," she gasped.
"Marty, I need your help," Todd said urgently. "It's Starr..."
Todd's eyes were wild with fear. His little girl meant the world to him. Marty knew he adored his baby, so that is why she had stood as his character witness at the custody trial. It wasn't fair that Blair was trying to take his little girl away. Todd was doing a wonderful job with Starr. Marty would do anything to help Todd keep Starr, even if it meant battling Blair in court.
"Marty, you have to come with me," Todd implored. "Starr is sick..."
"Okay, Todd, let's go," Marty agreed, sensing the urgency of the situation. She went outside with him into the cold Jauary evening air and walked with him the short distance to his limo. There she found his driver Fred looking after an extremely fussy baby Starr.
Todd took Starr into his arms to cuddle her as Marty climbed in the back of the limo with Todd and his little girl. "Marty, she's sick. She's got a fever and she won't stop crying..." Todd said in a worried voice as he held his baby girl.
"Hi Starr," Marty said, smiling at the precious little girl. "Let me see her, Todd."
Todd gently passed his little girl over to Marty and as she reached for Starr, her fingers brushed against Todd's. Her eyes locked with his as sparks of electricity shot through her at just that simple touch. Marty sucked in her breath, seeing that Todd was effected as well. She then placed her attention on Starr, hearing the wheezing sound of the baby's cry. Starr was definitely running a high fever and was having trouble breathing as she continued to cry. Marty wasn't sure what was wrong without running tests, but the little girl was certainly in great need of medical attention.
Marty reached for her cell phone, but Todd immediately stopped her. "Who are you calling, Marty?" he demanded.
"I'm calling Patrick to tell him I won't be coming back to Antonio's party. We have to get your baby to the hospital."
"No, don't call Patrick. He'll tell Blair, and she's going to blame this whole thing on me. Just tell me what's wrong with Starr and we will get her some medicine at the drug store or something. She doesn't need to go to the hospital."
"Todd, your baby has a very high fever and I don't know what's wrong..."
Then she placed a call to have someone at the party let Patrick know she had a medical emergency and she would meet up with him later. Todd looked incredibly worried after Marty had ended the call. "Medical emergency?" Todd gasped. "What's wrong with Starr?"
"I don't know, Todd. Let's get her to the hospital, so I can thoroughly examine her," Marty suggested. "Tell your driver to take us there now."
Starr was fussing in Marty's arms as she tried to cuddle the baby and give her a bottle of juice. Looking away from Starr and Marty, Todd said urgently to Fred, "Drive us to Llanview hospital right away."