All recognizable characters curtesy of ABC/OLTL no infringement intended.
Few things of note, I made some old school oltl references, so for those who didn't watch back then there are a few things to know in order to follow along.
Mitch Lawrence is a super villain from back in the day who had a religious cult going in Llanview. Members of the cult worth noting are Allison Perkins, Roxy Balsam (Rex's mother), Victor Lord (Todd's biological father), Peter Manning (Todd's step father). Todd didn't learn that Victor Lord was his real father until he was an adult. Mitch has a brother currently living in Llanview named Miles.
For those who don't watch, there was a baby story line in which Todd's son was raised by John's brother and wife and they named the baby Tommy. When Todd took back his son, he renamed him Sam. So when I am speaking from pov of John, I'll call the baby Tommy otherwise I'll call the baby Sam. It's the same kid, just to avoid any confusion.
Finally, for people that currently watch oltl, I did a few rewrites, GiGi and Shane have left Llanview after Ramsey shot at them and the who's the daddy story line with Shane has been scrapped.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
“No! I told you we don’t need your help! How did you find me anyway, what have you added stalking to your resume now?”
“I own a newspaper, it’s my business to know what happens in this town. Listen, I’m not leaving until you hear me out,”
“Are you kidding me? It’s too early for this shit! I am about two seconds from putting my boot up your ass Manning.”
Layla and Todd locked eyes in a battle of wills, neither one wanting to back down. This conversation had been ongoing for a week now and the answer was always the same. But Todd was persistent, calling her nonstop, chasing her down at Capricorn, showing up unannounced to her apartment and the final straw, tracking her to the hallowed grounds coffee shop and interrupting her morning non fat, extra foamy, sugar free vanilla latte with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
This boy has lost his mind, she thought glowering at him. She had long ago grown tired of the freak show that was Todd Manning. His constant presence in Evangeline’s life had already jeopardized her safety, her career and torpedoed her relationship with Cristian. Layla was determined that Evangeline was going to live out the rest of her days with some level of peace if it killed her. That meant she wasn’t going to let Todd rush in with his big bucks and big promises whisking Van off to a million specialists poking and prodding her before coming to the same inevitable conclusion.
Layla closed her eyes holding back tears, as much as she wanted to believe that something could be done, it had been almost a year since she had lost her sister and she was tired of getting her hopes up every time Van moved her hand or blinked, only to have her heart broken all over again when the doctors told her that Van was no better off than she was months ago. Layla opened her eyes to find Todd still staring at her, his eyes reflecting all the same concerns and fears but flashing a determined hope that Layla had felt slowly disappearing from her own eyes.
“Layla, just hear me out okay? This specialist – Dr. Devrosky, he is a world renowned doctor is this area. His methods are unorthodox and he has had amazing results, he claims a 90 percent success rate. I think he could be the one,” Todd tentatively leaned towards Layla, forcing her to meet his eyes, willing her to trust him. “I don’t want Evangeline to suffer either but we have to keep trying. Evangeline never gave up on anything or anyone in her life and she needs the same thing from us.”
In that moment he sensed he was breaking through, Layla looked up at him her resolve slowly crumbling. He pushed a little more, “Everyone thought I was a dead man too once, I had lost everything. Vicki had already made my funeral arrangements for Christ sakes! But Evangeline, she believed in me and she gave me my life back. I just want to do the same thing for her and I know I can, if you just give me the chance.” He reached in his briefcase and pulled out a file handing it to her “Just check this guy out for yourself, what have we got to lose now?” Layla looked down at the file in her hand she looked back at Todd feeling the hopefulness radiating from his eyes, it was infectious.
“Look, you know I don’t like you- the way I see it, you’ve been nothing but trouble for Van from day one,” she looked at him solemnly and this time it was Todd who broke eye contact. She sighed and looked at the ceiling, “but for all your faults- and there are plenty to choose from- the one thing I don’t doubt is that you do care for Van, in a weird, twisted, darkly obsessive sort of way. . . “ He snorted and looked at Layla with an eyebrow raised poised to make a smart remark then wisely decided better of it.
“ALRIGHT fine I’ll talk to my mom about bringing in this Dr. Devo or whatever his name is.” Todd looked joyfully at her reaching out to grab her hand, she pulled back “don’t get too excited yet Manning, you still need the final approval from Lisa Williamson and she’s not the type to just roll over you know.”
“Well I could talk to her, maybe I could convince her. . .”
“Yeah, you’d have a better chance of convincing a polar bear to shave her legs. Look I’ll talk to her and I’ll let you know. But so help me, Manning if you get pushy about this or start acting like an ass that’s it. Are we clear?”
“Crystal. I’ll call the doctor to see how soon we can get him here.”
Todd stood up and started humming to himself as he practically bounced out of the coffee shop. Layla shook her head wondering what the hell she had gotten herself in to. So much for not being pushy she thought. She sipped her latte and promptly spit it out disgusted. Great, my fucking latte got cold, damn Manning. Still, despite her best efforts, she felt herself yearning to believe that Todd was right, that this doctor could be the answer to her prayers, to everyone’s prayers. After looking over the file Todd had handed her, she decided that this guy could be different from all the other doctors and so called specialists. We have to try. She groaned to herself as she pulled out her cell phone and prepared to make a call she was dreading.
“Hey mom, we need to talk. . .”