"Good morning, Atherton Foundation."

"Uh, yes, hi...I'm calling for..."

She reads the name...

"Dr. Reese-Atherton?"

"Who's calling please?"

"My name is Viki Carpenter, I'm...I'm answering her note."

"One moment, please..." She's put on hold to some tinkly piano music for a moment, then...

"Hallo...Mrs. Carpenter?" A pleasant, well-spoken, British female answers.

"Yes...Dr. Atherton?"

"Yes, yes, how are you?"

"Oh, uh...fine, I guess...surprised, of course."

"Of course...I'm so glad you called. Will you be coming tomorrow?"

"Well...THAT'S what I wanted to tell you. Um...well, first of all, how is Todd?"

"Todd is...holding. He seems to have stabilized for the time being. I don't know if you're aware of this, but he was in quite a state when he arrived. We weren't sure if we could keep him from attempting suicide..."

Viki shuts her eyes, listening.

"It was touch and go there for a while, we had to keep him under watch. But...well, to make it short, he's started on the road to recovery. It will be extremely difficult, though, for everyone involved, make no mistake. But it will be IMPOSSIBLE without some kind of family member here, at least until we can get him upgraded to outpatient status."

Viki sighs heavily, worried. "I understand."

"I had a feeling you would, Mrs. Carpenter...being a DID survivor yourself."

She smiles. "Well, doctor, I do have to tell you that I WON'T be coming."

Silence. Viki swallows hard. "It's not that I don't want to, but... well... okay...here's the deal. In your note to me, you said that Todd had tried first to get in touch with his wife...to get HER to come. That is correct, isn't it?"

"Well...yes, but..."

"See the thing is, doctor...Tea NEVER RECEIVED her plane ticket."

"Really? But he told me that..."

"I know, it's complicated...there's some things happening back here that Todd doesn't know about yet. I won't bother trying to explain myself...Tea can do that when she gets there."

"Tea?"

"Yes...I gave HER the ticket you sent. SHE'S the one who'll be arriving there tomorrow."

Another short silence. Viki hears scribbling in the background.

"I see... I appreciate your phoning me and letting me know." Her voice sounds like it's dropped a tone. Viki crinkles her brow.

"Your tone isn't very reassuring...is there something wrong?"

There's a pause before she answers. Viki hears her take a breath.

"Well, it would seem that Tea IS who Todd really WANTS to be here. But he's somewhat convinced now that she doesn't want anything to do with him, so...he's not really prepared to see HER, he's prepared to see YOU. Does that make sense?"

Viki nods. "Yes, perfect sense. But I have to say that personally, I think TEA is who he really needs."

"You may be right. Well. Again, I appreciate your call, Mrs. Carpenter. I'll keep you informed."

"Great...oh! Wait...doctor...could you pass on a message to Todd from me?"

"Yes, of course."

Viki pauses, touching her blouse collar. "Tell him...tell him I miss him...and I hope he'll be back."

"I think I can handle that. We'll talk again, Mrs. Carpenter."

"Thank you, for contacting us, doctor."

They both hang up. Viki sits on the edge of her desk, and stares out the window, her thoughts drifting.

On the other end, Dr. Joely Reese-Atherton, a mid-fortyish, slightly graying English woman, gets up from her desk and walks out of her office, into the foyer of the huge ranch house she lives and works in. She walks outside into the sunny but chilly morning, lighting a cigarette and looking westward to the mountains of Glacier National Park, towering above the trees in the distance. She walks farther, off the main path and out into the tall, grassy field in front of the main house and the other smaller buildings that make up the Atherton Foundation.

She blows the smoke out, looking in the other direction. She stops, seeing someone walking toward her, coming back along one of the footpaths...a tall figure, in dark clothes, with a long coat flapping around him in the wind. He approaches and she offers a gentle smile.

"Well, hallo, Todd..."

He squints at her, his shoulder-length hair blowing in all directions.

"Those things'll kill ya, y'know."

She smiles bigger. "Yes, so you keep telling me...all the time."

His lips move into something that could be called a slight grin. He kicks the grass around, hands in his pockets.

"You heard from my sis?"

She nods. "Yes...she just called."

Todd's eyes get wider. "Well?"

Joely takes a deep breath, and speaks softly to him. "She won't be coming, I'm afraid."

"What..." Todd blinks, feeling his chest drop with the blow. He starts to feel panic rising up where the brief calm was.

Joely senses this, and gets in his line of sight quickly. "Todd...Todd, look at me," she says firmly.

He looks at her through his hair, his piercing eyes locking with hers.

"She gave the ticket to your wife...TEA is the one who'll be coming."

The panic halts. Todd can hardly believe his ears...he looks off to the side a moment, processing, then back at her, questioningly.

"De...Delgado? You sure?"

She nods. "I think we'll need to discuss this today in session with everyone, don't you?"

He tosses the hair out of his face. "Yeah, I guess."

Joely turns her head to blow some more smoke. "Good. Then I'll see you later."

He nods, looking after her as she walks back to the main house, stopping to crush out her cigarette on the dirt road. Then he shifts around in the grass a moment, not sure what to do with himself, or the sudden burst of energy this news has given him. Finally, he spots another footpath, and starts walking again, off to the nearby lake.

To be continued...