Chapter 7
"Nora. Hank. Hi." Marty greeted warmly.
"Oh God, Marty, we are so glad to see you." Nora gushed before heading towards her bed to take her hand.
"Marty. How are you?" Hank asked somberly.
"I'm fine. A little tired."
"You're fine?" Nora shook her head. "Marty after everything you've been through with Todd, you can't possibly be just fine."
Marty sighed before nodding in agreement. "I guess I should say I will be fine. Larry said my levels have stabilized and I could possibly go home tomorrow.
"That's great news but I wasn't talking about your Lupus." Nora said. "I was talking about Todd."
"Where is he?" Marty asked.
"A jail cell." Hank declared. "Where he'll be for a long time." Hank assured her. "Marty can you tell us what happened with Todd." Marty looked down. When she didn't say anything for a beat, Hank continued. "We already have plenty to charge Todd with. He got nasty with a lot of people. But to make sure that Todd gets put away without any chance of getting out again, I want to hit him with as much as I can. And that depends on you Marty. Can you tell us what happened when you were with Todd?"
Marty sighed. "I don't know if I can."
Nora squeezed Marty's hand. "I know it won't be easy. But you're safe now Marty. And you can stop whenever you need to. We don't need all the gory details now. Right Hank."
"Well, it's just that." Marty paused. "I just don't...I." She stopped again, desperately trying to find the right words. "I don't know if I want Todd to go to jail. I'm sure he's sorry and I don't want to be the reason you put him away. He saved my life."
The silence in the room after Marty's words was only outweighed by the shock the former couple was experiencing. It probably would have stretched on for hours if a nurse hadn't knocked on Marty's door.
The nurse checking Marty's vitals and giving her a final dose of medicine gave Nora and Hank enough time to process Marty's statement.
"What do you mean Todd saved your life?" Hank asked slowly.
"At the cabin. I almost died because I didn't have my Lupus medicine and Todd risked everything to come back to Llanview to get it for me. I was in even worse shape by the time he got back and he nursed me back to health. I would have died without him."
"So that's why Jessica Buchanan saw him at your house?" Hank wanted to confirm. Marty nodded.
"But Marty, you do realize that if Todd hadn't abducted you, you wouldn't have been at the cabin in the first place." Nora tried to reason.
"I know." Marty nodded. "But Todd, he does things...irrational things when he's hurting. I can actually relate. He just wanted me to understand a few things and he thought the only way to get me to listen and understand was if there were no distractions."
"And now you understand?" Nora said not trying to hide her puzzlement. Marty nodded. Nora looked at Hank to see if he too was as confused as she was with what Marty was saying. He looked equally baffled.
"Marty. Can you just take us through what happened? How was it that you and Todd left the Tabernacle in a police cruiser but the FBI found your car all the way in New York."
Marty started to answer but then stopped. Hank and Nora watched as her expression changed to one of confusion. "I can't seem to remember that." She finally said. "Maybe I'm still too tired. A lot of stuff is hazy, you know?"
'You don't remember leaving the Tabernacle?" Hank asked not trying to hide his doubt. Nora recognized that Hank was about to go into District Attorney mode and didn't think Marty was up for it.
"Hank." Nora said sternly before getting up. "I think Marty needs a lot more rest before she's up for any questioning."
"But Nora." Hank began only to be stopped by Nora.
"I mean it Hank. Enough for today." Hank wanted to argue more but from the way Nora was looking at him, he knew she needed to speak with him away from Marty.
"Alright fine." Hank stood. "You get your rest Marty. We'll be back later."
"What do you make of that?" Hank asked once he and Nora were out in the hall.
"It's worse than I thought?" Nora said sadly.
"How so?" Hank asked. "She said Manning didn't hurt her. I'm pretty surprised. But I don't think Marty would lie to protect Todd of all people."
"You weren't listening, Hank."
"Excuse me?"
"Marty did NOT say that Todd didn't hurt her. She said he saved her life. There are obvious gaps in her memory. And did you SEE her, Hank." Hank raised an eyebrow. Did Nora miss the part when he was just in the same room with Marty. What was with women today?
"No Hank." Nora said as if reading his mind, a side effect of being married to the man for so long. "I meant did you see what condition she was in. They're fading but there are still plenty of scars and bruises all over her."
Hank thought back. He had kept his distance whereas Nora sat right next to Marty but he did observe some scarring on Marty's wrist when Nora took her hand.
"I think what happened when Todd had her was so bad that Marty's blocking it out. She really doesn't remember."
Just then Dr. Wolek returned looking distraught.
"Were you able to get your questions answered Hank?"
"No Larry. Not at all." Hank sighed.
"Larry maybe you can help us." Nora added. "Marty says she can't remember much. All she seems to remember is Todd saving her life. She even said she doesn't want him to go to jail because of her. Obviously that is not what we expected to hear. Could Marty have some kind of head injury that is causing her to say such erratic things or could it be the Lupus?"
"We haven't done a CAT scan but I've already scheduled one for later today. I did see some bruising near her temple. If that comes back negative then she'll be released tomorrow because she's not complaining of any other injuries. The Lupus is back under control." Larry paused as something occurred to him. "You know if the scan doesn't show any signs of brain damage, I'm going to call in a psych consult. I've known Marty a long time and you're both aware of her past troubles." Both Nora and Hank nodded their heads. "She's actually been seen by a good number of shrinks throughout her teen years when she started acting out. There's one in particular that gave me a lot of insight on her when he found out she was sick with the Lupus. I'll talk to him."
"Thank you, Larry." Hank said.
Marty looked around her hospital room. It felt like the walls were closing in on her and she wanted so desperately to get out. She needed to see Todd. Was he okay? She couldn't lose him. She knew now that no one had or ever would love her as much as he did. She finally understood that everything he had done was because of his love for her. If only she hadn't rejected him at first. So much could have been avoided. A knock at her door pulled her from her thoughts of Todd.
"Come in?" The door opened and in walked Reverend Carpenter. Marty smiled. Andrew had been someone Marty had loved but he had rejected her like all the others. But not Todd. Todd did everything he could to make her his. "Hi Andrew."
"Marty, thank God you are home safe." He came and sat beside her. "Are you okay?"
Marty shrugged. "I've been better." Andrew took Marty's hand as he studied her features. His heart ached to see how much this young woman had gone through. He was elated that she was home safe but he feared what Todd had done to her.
"Marty," Andrew began slowly. He wasn't quite sure how to broach the subject or if he even should. "I know that being with Todd had to have been so awful. I'm sure-"
"It wasn't." Marty interrupted. Andrew knitted his brow in confusion.
"It wasn't?" He studied Marty again unsure of what to make of what she was saying. He could see the visible signs all over her that Todd had hurt her. "It's obvious that Todd hurt you." Andrew said as he gently touched the bruise on her temple. Marty backed away and moved her hair to hide it before giving a nervous laugh.
"That was an accident." She explained.
"So you're saying that Todd didn't do that?" Andrew asked skeptically. "He didn't hurt you?"
"It's complicated, Andrew."
"How so?"
"Well Todd and I...we had a lot of things to work out. And we never had the opportunity before."
"With good reason."
"It's just that I finally see." Marty continued as if Andrew hadn't spoken. "I finally understand why he did all those thing in the past. You know we're actually a lot alike."
"I disagree."
"No it's true. We both had rotten childhoods and that had a lot to do with why we acted out like we did."
"Marty, I'd hardly call what Todd did to you acting out."
"Like I said, it's complicated, Andrew. Todd didn't really mean to hurt me. He just had to show me...make me understand."
"Make you understand what?"
"That he loves me."
Andrew was speechless for several minutes. His disbelief too great to find the words. He had been there with Marty after the spring fling. He had seen how much she had suffered and what it took for her to pull herself together. She had been on her way but she wasn't whole again.
"Marty, how can you say Todd loves you? He instigated a gang rape of you." Andrew was finally able to say.
"I know and Todd knows that was a mistake. What happened should have been just between me and him. He knows he should not have gotten the other two involved. Todd understands that and I understand that now." Marty explained in earnest. Andrew watched as her eyes took on a faraway look as she continued. "Todd made me see. At the cabin he made me see. Todd made me see that it was always just about the two of us."
Andrew was once again speechless as he tried to process her words. Then with horrific clarity, he understood what she meant when she said that "Todd made her see."
"Marty," Andrew whispered. His voice failing him. "How did Todd make you see? What did he do?"
Now it was Marty who looked confused as she tried to think back. "I don't...it doesn't matter. He-"
She was spared from trying to explain when someone knocked on her door. It was an orderly coming to take her for her CAT scan. Andrew watched him wheel her away in a daze. The conversation he had just had with her was too surreal. He was terrified that Marty was damaged beyond repair. As he was leaving the room, he realized she hadn't even asked about Suede.
