Victor put Philip's photo back on the mantel. "Nothing of importance, I assure you, especially not compared to the fact that you're home now. How was Chez Rouge?"

"Chez Rouge," Maggie said, "was fine, and that's not going to work. It's a good thing Henderson isn't the type of servant who thrives on gossip, because I'm sure he heard you shouting at Philip's picture all the way in the servant's quarters." She moved closer to Victor. "Now what has that son of yours done to deserve it?"

Victor sighed. "Can't get away with anything around you, can I? Lucky for you, that's something I love about you." He smiled slightly, then the smile faded. "Philip is bringing shame to the Κυριακής name. No wonder the boy never talks to me. He's got a woman, if you can even call her that, in the sack who he has no business even giving a second look to, never mind a fourth or fortieth. I knew he was in bad shape after he lost Parker, but this is beyond the pale. Something has to be done. And I have to be the one to do it."

Maggie moved swiftly, blocking Victor's path. "You mean Philip's reconnected with Chloe?"

"Don't say her name aloud. It might summon forth her presence and I'm not in the mood for throwing her out." His phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket. "Yes? Titan Chicago stock is slipping you say? Sell the whole damn lot, all of it. I don't care."

"Victor." Maggie put her hand on Victor's wrist. "Don't do anything you're going to regret."

"Who, me? Never. I'm just going to run Philip's division of Titan into the ground. He wants to hook up with that… that floozy and cut me out of his life, he can do it without the company I gifted him." He shook his head. "Can you believe he's been in Salem two days and he hasn't even as much as called?"

"So that's what's got you all worked up. But Victor, don't you see that making an enemy out of Philip is the exact wrong thing to do?"

"I'm not making an enemy out of him. He's my son. I love him no matter what. But he should have learned a long time ago that choices have consequences, especially ones that have to do with that viper he's been stuck on all these years."

"You know, not too many people were happy about the idea of you and me, and I wouldn't be surprised if some still aren't after all this time."

"Do you think I gave a damn what anyone thought? I loved you and I wasn't going to let some small-minded pests get in my way."

"I feel the same, and you know that. But maybe Philip is just following your example and going after the woman he loves no matter what anyone-including you-has to say about it."

"I don't want him to follow my example with me. Save that for the rest of the world."

Maggie smiled slightly. "Be that as it may, Victor, you can't be so angry at him for following his own convictions. Not when he has you as a father. Besides, there's been too much silence on both sides. Maybe you should stop nursing your wounded pride that he hasn't called you yet and pick up the phone yourself. If he is with Chloe, he's probably been all wrapped up in Parker's illness and not even thought about the fact that he has family here who'd love to hear from him."

"Possibly. But knowing Philip, he's reverted back to his teenage disposition and is sullenly avoiding me in the hopes I won't try to restore what little sanity he has left."

"Well, there's only one way to find out, and that's to talk to him." Maggie smoothed out Victor's lapels. "But maybe first you should call that company bigwig or whoever he was back and undo your plan to sabotage his company."

"All right, all right." Victor's eyes twinkled. "I'll give him a reprieve for now. But only because you said so. He'd better be as grateful to you as I am." He and Maggie kissed.

Nicole glanced at Chloe. "Nothing, really."

Daniel gave Chloe a disbelieving look. "Nicole's right," Chloe said. "We weren't talking about anything important… we were just talking about you."

"About me, huh?" Daniel said, settling into his seat as Nicole glared at Chloe. "Care to get more specific?"

"Well - " Chloe began. Nicole interrupted, "I'll tell you later. The important thing, Daniel, is Parker's surgery."

Daniel's smile faded. "Yeah. You're right." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I just spent an hour with a shrink who's supposed to be looking out for Parker's adjustment with all this. Gimme a second."

"What'd Dr. Harper say?" Chloe asked.

"I couldn't even tell you." Daniel sighed. "She's gonna look in on him, I got that much. But otherwise… nothing. She, uh, she was convinced I wasn't okay and - "

"Well, are you?" Nicole crossed her arms.

Daniel was quiet for a second. Nicole reached for his hand, automatically, then stopped herself, just brushing his fingertips with hers. He looked up at her and said, softly, "I wasn't gonna tell her anything, but I don't mind telling you. It goes without saying this stays in this room." Nicole and Chloe both nodded. "It's a lot to deal with, and me and Chloe, we have a lot to do… we still gotta talk to the surgeon again, find out exactly what the procedure is … and I gotta get ahold of Maxine and find out what the visiting policy's gonna be. Parker wants you there when he wakes up, by the way." He glanced at Chloe. "And Philip too."

Chloe smiled slightly. "I'll tell him."

"I can't guarantee that we can all be in there at once," Daniel said. "It depends on - " His phone buzzed. He glanced down at it. "I gotta take this. It's the first of a whole lot of people we need to let know." He picked up the phone. "Mom, hey, I was about to call you. Yes, really. What? Actually, I do have news about Parker. I - Yes, Mom, I know Philip's here. I don't wanna talk about him." Daniel walked off.

Chloe leaned forward, but Nicole said, "What the hell was that?"

"Was what?"

"Don't play innocent." Nicole imitated Chloe's tone of voice. "Nothing important, just you. Way to be obvious."

"Payback's a bitch, isn't it?" Chloe smiled. "I couldn't let you entirely off the hook for telling him about me and Philip, now could I? Anyway, you can't tell me you didn't notice how Daniel reacted when you touched his hand. I'm telling you, Nicole, there's no reason to give up on him."

Nicole shook her head. "Even I know better than to try to start a relationship with him right now. He's too vulnerable, and I don't do vulnerable. Daniel's accused me of enough things without adding taking advantage of him during Parker's illness to the list." She glanced at her watch. "Anyway, I have rumors and innuendo to spread on the air about other people, so we'll have to continue this another time. Tell Daniel I'll catch up with him later." She gave Chloe her best, full-toothed smile as she walked off.

"Oh, I will," Chloe said under her breath. "You can count on that."

Mr. Walters was going over budget figures the next morning when Hope knocked on his office door. "Yes?" he said, not looking up from the pile of papers on his desk.

Hope came in, closing the door behind her. "I'm sorry to have to bother you," she said, watching Mr. Walters type something into a computer spreadsheet. "I'm Detective Hope Brady, and - "

"This is about my daughter, isn't it?" Mr. Walters swiveled his chair around to face Hope. "Which is it?" he asked as he took off his reading glasses. "Is Beverly in jail or did someone do something to her?"

Hope bit her lip. "Mr. Walters, your daughter's in the hospital. She was shot a couple of days ago, and she finally gave us permission to notify you now."

Mr. Walters' eyes widened. "My God," he said softly. He looked away from Hope, then back at her. "Who did it? Was it one of those idiots she insists on hanging out with?"

"We're still sorting out exactly what happened. But from your reaction, it sounds like you were expecting something like this. Can you tell me more?"

"I was hoping it would be jail." Mr. Walters' voice was flat. "At least then I'd know she was safe." He sighed. "I know that sounds terrible to you, Detective. Can I ask you, do you have children?"

"Yes."

"Any daughters?"

"A little girl, nine going on fifteen."

Mr. Walters nodded. "Then you know… you know you would do anything for her, anything to keep her safe and warm and headed in the right direction. Well, I would have too, for mine, except she wouldn't let me. Detective Brady, I have been at my wits' end with Beverly for years now. Her mother left us when Beverly was 14, and I'm sure she thinks that's the cause of all her problems, but I have to wonder sometimes if Marianne saw what was coming and couldn't stand it. Anyway, I don't want to burden you with my life story. I know you came here because you have a job to do. What do you need to know?"

Hope sighed. "Did you see Bev recently?"

"Last week sometime. I forget exactly when. She came here looking for money, as usual, and I tried to encourage her to stop doing these stupid things - "

"What stupid things was she doing?"

"I don't really know. Smoking pot fueled whatever other trouble she got into, I'm sure. Anyway, she said someone stole her phone and the cash out of her wallet. She had some story about having left her purse lying around where thieves could get to it. I knew it was bull and that it was probably one of her so-called friends, but there was no point to pressing her too much.

"Anyhow, so she wanted me to give her back whatever she had lost. Now, in the past I've just given her whatever she wanted so that at least she would keep coming around. But this time I felt like, I don't know, like something had to change and it had to change fast. So I put my foot down and refused to give her a thing, except some advice. I told her she needed to get it together. I saw the fear in her eyes, Detective, when I told her to stop hanging around with these people she thinks are her friends and I… God forgive me, I thought she was just afraid to make a change, so again I didn't press her."

"You couldn't have known that anything more serious was going on," Hope said softly. "It sounds like your relationship with her has been strained for a long time." Mr. Walters nodded and Hope asked, "Do you know the names of any of the people she hung around with?"

"There was a boy with long hair. I've seen the two of them in the park when I'm out for a jog… I've pretended not to notice, but they're always on a bench smoking pot. In high school she had a whole group of them, that boy and another… the other one was her boyfriend on and off and I got a vibe from him I didn't like. His name was… something with a C. And then there was the other one, the new kid who moved here her senior year. He used to do pot with them too but I haven't seen him in a long time. I tried to ask once and Beverly got angry and said she didn't want to ever hear his name again." Mr. Walters rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Does any of this help you at all?"

"It does, actually." Hope bit her lip. "There's one more thing, Mr. Walters. I don't know how to ask you this. This boy Cole, the one she used to date… did Bev ever say anything about him pressing her for sex or making her uncomfortable?"

Mr. Walters shook his head. "What girl talks to her father about those sorts of things?"

"Would she have reached out to her mother?"

"Marianne moved to Washington State after the divorce. She has very little, if anything, to do with either of us." He glanced at the papers on his desk. "I really need to finish this."

"Of course. May I give you my card in case you think of anything else?"

Mr. Walters nodded. Hope handed him the card and left the room. He turned back to his spreadsheet, playing with the card, then put it down and opened a drawer. He took out a photo of him and Bev from when she was in middle school, before all this happened, and shook his head sadly.

Philip had asked Maxine if it was okay to take Parker out of bed, and she'd said that he could as long as his oxygen tube stayed firmly in his nose where it belonged, so he had carefully lifted the boy onto his lap.

Parker leaned across and grabbed the ambulance. He drove it over Philip's arm, giggling softly. Philip giggled too. "You must be feeling a little better today, big guy," he said.

"Why you call me big guy?" Parker asked.

"I always did." Philip picked up a toy figure from the hospital set to distract himself from the sudden desire to tell Parker that he and not Daniel was supposed to be Parker's father. Parker looked puzzled and Philip said, "I knew you when you were a tiny little baby, and when you were a little older too. You don't remember, but um, when you were first born your Mommy needed a lot of help so she… she came to stay with me."

"Where was Daddy?" Parker asked.

Philip swallowed. "He… um, he was here, in Salem… and uh…" He tried to think of how to explain to Parker and decided, sadly, that a lie was his best option. "It was just like it is now," he said quickly, before he could change his mind. "Sometimes you lived with him and sometimes you lived with me and Mommy. And that's gonna be how it is again once you get well enough to get out of here."

"Oh." Parker was quiet for a little bit. He started to put his thumb in his mouth, then changed his mind. "I'm a big boy," he said.

"Yes you are. You're a lot bigger than you were the last time I saw you. I don't think you were talking… well, not more than a few words anyway." And one of those words was Daddy. And that word meant me.

Parker turned the ambulance over. "T'morrow I have to take sleeping medicine," he announced. "Daddy says it won't hurt."

"You mean when the doctors, um, when they put you to sleep so they can work on your heart?"

"Yeah." Parker sighed deeply, sounding more like an old man than a four-year-old boy. "You be there when I wake up," he said, rolling the wheels of the ambulance with his palm. "You and Mommy and Daddy and Aunt Nik… Nicole."

"I will be. I'll be the first face you see when you open your eyes after the operation, okay?" A voice in the back of Philip's head said he'd better run that by Daniel, but he ignored that. Parker was his, damn it, no matter what the DNA test said, and if he had to share him with Daniel, fine-but he wasn't going to be cut out altogether. Not anymore and not ever again. "You'll open your eyes and you'll see mine looking at yours just like this." He made his eyes big as he tilted Parker back a little, and bent his head so he was looking into Parker's eyes. Parker giggled.

The door to Parker's room creaked open. "Well, well, well," Victor said. "So the prodigal son returns. I know you think I'm nothing but an old man, Philip, but I do have a cell phone, and it even rings when people call it, which they do-often. When you decided to come home, how come you weren't one of them?"

Philip carefully put Parker back into his bed. "Excuse me a minute, buddy, okay?" He turned towards Victor. "I think this conversation is better had out in the hall. So let's just get a nurse to sit with Parker and - "

"Damn it, Philip, I've waited long enough-now let me say my piece, Parker or no Parker. I know there's bad blood between us-mostly caused by that woman you've deluded yourself again into thinking you're in love with-but no matter what, you're still my son. Now I've accepted the token phone calls where we say nothing of importance, since that facade of a relationship was the closest thing to being your father. But the moment you set foot in Salem, the game changed, and for you to not tell me you were here - "

"I didn't know, okay?" Philip raised his voice to cut off what he was sure was about to be an hour long monologue. "Chloe was keeping me posted on what was going on with - "

"Ah ha! I knew that was what this was about. You know, Philip, just because I don't approve of who you've got in the sack doesn't mean you need to leave me out in the cold. I'm still your father, dammit, and I expect you to act like it."

"This isn't about Chloe, not really. It's about Parker." Philip glanced at the little boy, who was staring with wide eyes at him and Victor. Philip lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "I didn't know how sick he might be, okay, and I couldn't… if things were going to go south… I had to see him again." Philip swallowed hard.

"Of course you did." Victor nodded. "You may not say much in our obligatory phone calls, but don't you think I hear what you're not saying? Every silence, every awkward pause, every time you babble on about Titan's Chicago division without an ounce of enthusiasm, I get the message loud and clear. I know it damn near destroyed you to have the rug pulled out from under you and that you never got over it. But what I don't understand is why you shut me out. Parker is still my grandson and no matter what Daniel thought about it, I would have moved heaven and earth to make sure you got to see the boy whenever you wanted. But instead you cut me out of your life as if I were the cause of your problems. What was it, Philip? Was it that my happiness with Maggie underscored your misery? Or that Parker was still in our lives and that on paper, you didn't have the right to demand he be in yours?"

"No!" Philip's voice cracked but he covered with a cough. "It's that grieving isn't the Kiriakis way! Come on, Dad, how many times have you said it? Kiriakises are fighters. We're survivors. We don't fall apart when our lives do. We fight for what we want even if we have to fight dirty, right?

"I lost everything, okay? I know you don't want to hear it, but Chloe was my whole life. Her and Parker." Philip tried to lower his voice so Parker wouldn't hear, but he just couldn't do it. But Parker had covered his ears when the yelling started so maybe it would be okay. "And suddenly she has this paper in her hand saying Parker was Daniel's son after all and the last year was all a lie. How was I supposed to just pick up the pieces? How was I supposed to keep fighting? And yet if I didn't, I knew you wouldn't understand. You'd just be ashamed of me that I wasn't living up to my name."

Victor looked puzzled. For a second, Philip thought that maybe his father would finally drop his guard and allow himself to embrace his son so that Philip could let the tears fall that he'd been fighting for the last three years. But no, all Victor said was, "Maybe Parker's illness was a blessing in disguise. Without it, you would have let him go forever." Philip crossed his arms and Victor said, "You say you love his mother. I don't see how anybody could but regardless, if you do, maybe you'd better start fighting for her, even if it means fighting me. I may be old, but I'm not made out of glass. I'd rather have a son I'm arguing with every minute of every day than one that isn't there at all."

Maggie came into the room. "Ah," Victor said. "There's my gorgeous wife."

"Don't try that," Maggie said. "I heard the two of you all the way down the hall. Is everything all right?"

"It better be," Victor said. "Philip's still a Κυριακής despite his best attempts to distance himself from me."

Philip glared at his father but all he said was, "Good to see you again, Maggie."

"Likewise," Maggie said. She glanced at Parker. "The two of them aren't scaring you, are they?"

Parker shook his head, though he stuck his thumb in his mouth.

"Well, then," Maggie said, "I guess the only thing to do is welcome you back, Philip." She smiled as she held out her arms. Philip glanced at his father over Maggie's shoulder while allowing her to hug him.

Paige was reading Daphne's text over for the millionth time and trying to figure out how soon she was going to be here when there was a knock on the door to her room. "Come in," she called, hoping that was Daphne.

It wasn't. It was some red-haired woman with glasses that she'd never seen before. "You must be Paige," she said. "I'm Elizabeth Harper." Paige looked puzzled and Elizabeth said, "Dr. Evans asked me to take over the counseling end of your case. If you're comfortable with me after today, we'll set up some outpatient appointments. But first, today we need to talk about how you're going to adjust to life outside this hospital so you can go home."

JJ was outside Paige's room again. He looked down and realized he wasn't wearing a shirt… or pants… just his boxers that he'd fallen asleep in. There was no time… he had to make himself go in anyway.

"Look, Paige," he said, walking through the door, "I tried to love Marissa cause that's what you want, but I can't. You gotta take me back."

Just then, a bunch of cops burst in, their guns drawn and pointed right at JJ. "Hold it right there!" Roman ordered. "We finally got you, JJ. You're under arrest and this time you're going away for a long time like you deserve."

JJ raised his hands over his head, glad that at least he was fully clothed again if he had to go to jail. "What? I didn't do anything! Come on man, at least tell me what bogus charge you're pinning on me now."

"I told you to stop asking so many questions. Shut your mouth and put your hands behind your back right now."

JJ looked around, desperately, as he obeyed. He saw Rafe behind Roman and said, "Rafe, please, you gotta give me another chance."

Rafe shook his head, sadly. "You stood there doing nothing while Jeff touched Paige. You as good as raped her yourself."

"I didn't!" JJ was near tears. "Come on, Paige, tell them!"

Paige's eyes were hard. "You slept with Jill and got her pregnant. I'll never forgive you." She turned towards Rafe. "Can I do the honors?" Rafe nodded. Paige came up behind JJ and cuffed his hands behind his back, making the cuffs so tight his arms began to throb. "I don't ever want you to touch me again," she said. "I'll make sure of that."

JJ jerked awake to find his arm hurting worse than ever. He pulled his blanket around himself, breathing hard.

His phone buzzed. He sighed as he reached for his phone. It was a text from Nicole.

Can you meet me in the hospital cafeteria after your appointment? PS You'll be ok. You'll see. :)

.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth told Paige, "but I can't ask Dr. Evans to sign off on your release. Not if you're planning on staying in a dorm room."

Paige crossed her arms. "What is so hard to understand about me wanting to go where I'm comfortable? I told you, I live with my best friend and I have plenty of other friends on campus. Besides, isn't it supposed to be about what I want? I mean, between Jeff and this hospital I haven't had much freedom lately."

"So that's what this is about." Elizabeth leaned forward. "Of course you want to regain the control over your life that this boy stole from you in such a horrendous manner. But think about this, Paige. True control doesn't come from making decisions based on what you want right this minute. It begins with the choice to step back, to think about what's really best. And after what you've been through, I'm not convinced you're going to get the support you need living in a dorm. Your friends are there. Sure. But I don't think that's enough. I mean, what happens when you get triggered by someone coming in drunk or something bad happening to a dorm mate?"

Paige scowled. "I'll deal with it," she said flatly. "I mean, things happen, okay? I can't stop living my life because of what Jeff did to me. If I do, he wins."

"I see." Elizabeth sighed. Leaning forward, she said, softly, "Paige, it's great that you want to deal with it if you get triggered, but right now I don't see you dealing with anything. All we've talked about this whole session is how you want to go back to the dorm."

"So?"

"So," Elizabeth said, "a terrible terrible thing happened to you, and you haven't said a word about it. Not to me and not to Dr. Evans. Don't worry - I'm not going to push you to tell me everything. But you need to start talking, Paige. You need to start telling me what happened to you. Otherwise I can't help you."

Paige shook her head. "There's nothing to say," she said flatly. "It happened and it's over. I just want to move past it."

"I wish it worked that way. But it doesn't. The more you keep it all to yourself, the bigger it gets, and the harder to deal with. I know he kidnapped you at knifepoint. Did he - "

"I said there's nothing to say!" Paige swallowed hard. "He… he did terrible things to me, okay, things I'll never forget the rest of my life." Elizabeth nodded. Paige took her pillow and hugged it to herself. "I was finally moving on," she said, blinking back tears. "I was finally getting over JJ and his lies and what he did to me, and I was about to go on a date with a great new guy and then… then I went and got myself kidnapped and it all fell apart."

"It wasn't your fault, you know. Getting kidnapped I mean."

"But what happened between us after is."

"No, Paige, it isn't. Every second you spent with your kidnapper was a second where an act of violence was perpetrated on you. Even if he wasn't holding the knife on you, the threat was always there. From the beginning he made it clear that your choice was to do what he wanted or get hurt, maybe even killed. You were trying to survive."

Paige's face trembled and she hugged the pillow tighter. Elizabeth said, softly, "Tell me what happened, Paige."

"I… I can't." Paige's eyes were wide and her voice very flat. "I… if I don't talk about it, I don't remember it, and it's like it never happened."

"But it did happen." Elizabeth sighed. "It's too big for you, but maybe together we can look at it. Maybe if you let me help you - "

"Help me? Right. If you really want to help me, stop making me talk about these things that happened, these things that don't matter and let me go back to my dorm room so I can move on with my life."

"Paige - "

"Are you going to let me go home or not?"

Elizabeth pushed her hair behind her ear. "Tell you what. I'll think it over. I don't think this is what's best for you, but in the end it's your life, and you have to live it your way."

"Yeah. It is."

"I'll let you know in a little bit. Try to take it easy til then." Elizabeth got up and opened the door. "Oh, your friend's here," she said, gesturing to Daphne to come in before she left.

Jennifer was sitting on the couch, staring at the business cards Marlena had given her, when JJ finally came downstairs. "Oh, good," she said, getting up. "You're up on time." JJ shrugged but said nothing.

Jen smiled slightly and said, "Listen, honey, if you want a quick breakfast before you go, Abigail and Ciara baked some blueberry muffins together yesterday. It'll only take a few seconds to warm one before you rush out the door."

"I appreciate it, Mom, but I'm not exactly hungry. I'll just grab something in the square later."

Jen's face fell. "Oh. Okay." She watched JJ shuffle past. "Do you want a ride to the hospital? I can get ready within a few minutes."

"I don't need a ride," JJ snapped. Jen's face crumpled and he said, "Look, Mom, I barely slept cause of the pain in my stupid arm, okay, and I dunno, I keep thinking I'm gonna be late and this doctor won't see me at all and I'm gonna have to go another day with all this pain every time I freaking move."

"It doesn't work that way," Jen told him. "I'm sure she'll understand if you're a minute late."

"Whatever. Anyway, I have to meet up with Nicole for work like right after, so I'm gonna need my car so I don't have to beg her for a ride. Okay?"

Jen nodded, but JJ could tell she was upset. He said, "Mom, look - "

""Everything is going to be just fine, honey, you'll see." Jen interrupted. She hugged JJ, gently. "You sure you can drive safely with your arm bothering you like this?"

"I'm gonna have to." JJ pulled away and rushed out of the house. Jen watched him through the window as he pulled out of the driveway, shaking her head sadly. She tapped the business card against her palm, wondering if maybe she should make that appointment after all.

Maxine was at the nurses' station when JJ came out of the elevator. "Just who I wanted to see," she said. "The man of the hour."

"What?"

"Every time I turn around, someone's looking for you, JJ. Marissa asked me if I knew if you'd been by, and your Aunt Kayla asked me to pass on the message that she'd like to see your smiling face in her office when you get a minute. Oh, and Abe Carver was asking after you too, something about needing to tie up some loose ends about the night you rescued Paige. Though I think that might have been an excuse to flirt with me." Maxine patted her hair, trying to fluff it up some. "Anyway, you here to see her?"

The throbbing in JJ's arm seemed to get worse. He swallowed hard and said, "I… no, I have an appointment with Dr. Granger. Do you know where her office is?"

Maxine looked concerned. "Granger? The nerve doctor?" JJ nodded and she said, "You wanna go up a floor and she's first one on the right. But if you have a minute, I'd stop in and see Paige first."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"No, that's the problem. She's sitting around waiting for Dr. Evans to sign off on her discharge, and I think she could use some cheering up. Plus you could use some calming down if you gotta see Granger."

JJ sighed as he checked the time on his phone. "I gotta get upstairs and get my arm looked at," he said flatly.

"Well, all right. It's probably better this way anyhow. Maybe by the time you get back to her, her friend'll have gone home so you two can really talk."

JJ looked down at the ground. "I think she's probably talked out after the last time," he mumbled.

"It doesn't happen often," a voice said behind them, "but when you're right, you're right, JJ. My niece has been through enough without having to spend another minute with you. Leave her alone."

"Don't engage," Maxine said under her breath, but JJ turned towards Theresa anyway. "There was a time that I'd stay and argue with you, Theresa, but I have more important things to do."

"Fine," Theresa said, her eyes narrowing. "Walk away, JJ, just like you always do. I'll go tell someone who cares what I know about that little girl that's going around saying you made a baby with her."

JJ turned again. "I didn't - "

"Oh, I know." Theresa giggled. "For once you're as innocent as you look. And irony of ironies, I'm the only one who can help you prove it."

Bev was sleeping when her father got to the hospital. He stood just inside the doorway, watching her, remembering all the times he came home from work just as Marianne was putting their daughter to bed… and the times he rushed home as soon as he could because Bev had strep throat or chicken pox or whatever the hell it was this time and wanted him to tuck her in and comfort her, but she was already asleep when he got there… and then that last time she came by, how scared she had looked as he'd turned away from her.

He shook his head, sighing.

"Can I help you?" Maxine asked, passing by Bev's room on her way to some other patient's.

"That's my daughter in there." Mr. Walters could barely hold himself together. "I know she's an adult and you can't tell me much about her condition, but can you tell me… is she going to be all right?"

"Physically, she'll be just fine." Maxine glanced at Mr. Walters and he could feel her judging him. "Tell you what," she said. "Why don't you go ahead in? She's sleeping now but I'm sure it'll mean a lot to her if she finds you there when she wakes up. That girl isn't getting a whole lot of visitors, not even counting certain people who she'd be better off without if you ask me, and knowing someone cares is gonna make a big difference to her."

"I doubt…" Mr. Walters began.

"What would you have done if she'd been awake? Stared at her and then run off the second she realized you were standing there?"

"You're right. Of course." Mr. Walters seemed stunned. Maxine opened the door for him. "I'll see to it that you have some private time with her." She waited for Mr. Walters to walk in before closing the door.

Marlena knocked on Roman's door as he was going through yet another stack of paperwork about the Adkins case. He smiled slightly. "Marlena. What a nice surprise."

Marlena came all the way inside. "I know you're busy, so I won't take up too much of your time."

"I always have time for you, Doc. You know that. Besides, I could use a break. What's up?"

"What's up," Marlena said slowly, "is that our son has lost his mind again. Apparently all the heartbreak he suffered with Nicole isn't enough. Now he's - "

"Tangled up with Eve Donovan. I know." Roman sighed. "He was there the night I took Ms. Donovan's statement about her daughter's kidnapping. It wasn't exactly the right time to address it, but believe me, I'm keeping my eye on it."

"I was hoping we could take Eric to lunch, try to find out where his head is at. Any way you can get away?"

"Not today, I'm afraid."

"Roman, this is our son we're talking about. You know what that woman's capable of. She ran over Maggie Horton's daughter. She made yout sister Kimberly lose a baby. And Hope told me she had to investigate whether Eve was involved in her own daughter's kidnapping."

"I know all that, Marlena, but with my department under investigation and the crimes not related to Adkins piling up while we tie up loose ends here, there is no way I can get away. As soon as I can, I will catch up with Eric and try to make him see reason. All right?

Just then, Agent Rodman walked into the office without knocking. "I see you're hard at work as usual, Commissioner."

Roman's eyes narrowed but all he said was, "I'll catch up with you later about that case you wanted to consult with me on."

"Of course." Marlena left the office, closing the door behind her.

"Sorry about that," Roman said. "Please have a seat."

Rodman remained standing as he crossed his arms. "I've finished talking to Brady and Hernandez."

"And?"

"And we need to discuss next steps." Rodman sighed. "I would hate to lose either of these very talented detectives, but Hernandez in particular was not very cooperative. So we're going to have to take further action."

Damnit, Roman thought. "Such as?"

"We'll get to that in a minute. First, there's something else I need to discuss with you." Rodman sat down, finally. He pulled his chair closer to Roman's desk. "Before I can decide whether or not your detectives did anything wrong, there's one more person I need to talk to. You see, both of them claim that JJ Deveraux was out of control, that he was determined to do their jobs for them no matter what they said. Maybe that's true and maybe it isn't. So…" Rodman lowered his voice. "I need to have a chat with that boy as soon as possible and see what he can clear up for us."