Todd rushes into the emergency room carrying his unconscious son in his arms. Blair is right behind him in tears. Jack is laid on a gurney and wheeled quickly into a room. The nurses and attending doctor descend upon him. Todd and Blair are kept back. Blair is hysterical. Todd turns to her wanting in actuality to strangle her for not paying better attention to their son, but then thinks, what kind of father have I been? Blair stands there sobbing, Todd takes a deep breath. "Blair it's going to be okay, Jack is going to be okay, stop crying." Blair looks at him, "how do you know that Todd? We don't know anything and don't tell me to stop crying." Todd stands there silent and then reaches out to her and takes her in his arms. He hugs her but not saying a word. After a few minutes, Blair pushes Todd away. She sniffles and dries her eyes. "I have to sit down," she says, and then walks to the seating area. "Yeah, you sit down," says Todd softly. He then turns toward the room where Jack is. He walks to the window and gazes in. He see's medical staff surrounding his son. He suddenly feels as if his heart is about to burst from his chest. It is beating so hard and he feels beads of nervous sweat forming on his forehead. Feeling real fear again. He thinks back to hearing of Starrs accident and the death of his granddaughter. He remembers Jacks car accident and the fear and helplessness he felt. Then Dee being shot and again the same feelings. Now again, his son. He takes another deep breath and thinks, pull yourself together Manning, you can't be weak, your son needs you. He feels better after breathing in and out deeply. He turns to look at Blair. She is no longer crying. She sits staring straight ahead, her mascara smeared down her cheeks from the tears. Todd walks over to her and sits. He reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out his handkerchief. "Here," he says to her, "your makeup is smudged." She looks at him. He points to her cheeks and she takes the cloth from him. "Thank you," she says softly. She proceeds to wipe her face but Todd sees she is missing most of it. "Here," he says, "let me help you." He takes the handkerchief from her hand and proceeds to wipe. Blair sits silently as he does so. "There, all done," he says. "Thanks," she says and turns back to stare straight ahead.
Todd says nothing else. He rises from his chair and begins to pace back and forth. I need Dee here, he thinks. He reaches into his pocket and retrieves his cell. He dials. I had finally managed to fall asleep. The phone startles me out of my slumber. I try to focus through my heavy eyelids. It is Todd. "Todd, what happened?, did you find Jack?" As I am talking, I glance at the clock on the nightstand. Three o'clock in the morning. "Yes, I did," he answers, "and he isn't good." "What do you mean he isn't good?" I ask. "Dee, I'm at Llanview Hospital. Blair and I brought Jack in because he passed out after having some kind of convulsion. He was drunk and maybe more, anyway we are waiting here in the emergency room." "Oh my God!" I exclaim. "Dee, please, I really need you to come down here." "Yes of course," I reply as I scramble out of the bed. "I'll be there as soon as I can." "Thank you," he says to me. "Todd," I say before ending the call, "I hope Jack is going to be okay." "He has to be," replies Todd in a sad tone. While Todd had stood there talking to me, Blair had been watching him and listening. As soon as the call ends, Todd turns toward her. She quickly turns her head as if she were not looking. Todd does not notice. He goes and sits next to her again, but they sit in silence and just wait. Todds driver takes me to the hospital. I rush in and find Todd sitting next to Blair. I call out to him as I walk up, "Todd, I'm here." He turns and quickly stands rushing into my open arms. I hug him tightly. "I'm so glad you're here," he says. We pull from our embrace, "is there any word on Jack?" I ask. Todd shakes his head, "no nothing," he shouts toward the door where Jack is. "Those doctors are taking their damn sweet time," he continues to shout. He walks away from me and to the door intending to barge in. I go to him quickly grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back. "Todd stop, you can't go in, we have to wait." I continue to pull on his arm. "Come sit down, please Todd." He comes with me reluctantly. I turn and I look at Blair sitting there. She looks at me but says nothing. "Blair," I say, "are you alright?" Just as I ask that, I think to myself, of course she's not alright you idiot. "I'm fine," she answers in a trembling voice and then her tears begin to fall. I sit immediately and hug her. This is something that I normally would have never done, hug my husbands ex wife, the love of his life? But she is hurting over her child and I don't wish that on anyone. Todd stands there looking at us, a bewildered expression on his face.
Just then the doctor emerges from the room. Blair jumps up and we all make a beeline for him. "How's my son?" she asks desperately, "how's Jack?" "He's alright," says Todd, "you fixed him right?" "Mr. and Mrs. Manning, please calm down and I will explain," says the doctor. Todd, Blair and I look at one another and then back at the doctor. "What!" exclaims Blair, "we're not Mr. and Mrs. Manning, I mean we are his parents but we're not..." Todd interrupts, "he's our son, but we are not together, oh hell, will you just tell us about our son already?" "Oh forgive me for misunderstanding," replies the doctor. "What about Jack?" asks Todd impatiently. "Your son Jack was extremely intoxicated," says the doctor, "and we also found that he had ingested a large amount of pain killers, Oxycodone to be exact." "He was having trouble breathing and not responding." "Oh my God," says Blair and she feels as if she is going to topple over. I grab onto her as does Todd. "But he's fine now, right?" asks Todd. "We pumped his stomach and his breathing has regulated, he is awake but very drowsy. We will be admitting him, he is still vomiting, but that is what we need him to do in order for these chemicals to leave his system. We will give him an I V to keep him from becoming dehydrated." "Is he going to be alright?" asks Blair. "Eventually," says the doctor, "but he is going to feel terrible for quite a while." "Can I go in to see him?" asks Blair. "Yes," answers the doctor, "and we will be moving him up to a room shortly." Blair runs into the room without another word. "Thank you," says Todd to the doctor. The MD nods and walks off. I can see the relief on Todds face as he turns to look at me. I smile at him, and I reach up and touch his face. "Go ahead Todd," I say. "Go in and see your son."