Chloe's eyes filled with tears. She put her coffee down, slowly, so she wouldn't spill it and twisted the ring she was already wearing, swallowing hard. "There's no way I can think clearly right now. Parker just got out of surgery and we just heard that he's stuck in Salem for six months, and even if he wasn't, my whole life... our whole lives, really… are the four walls of his room and this cafeteria."
"I know." Philip sighed. "I should have waited, Chloe. I'm sorry. I just… I've been waiting for too long and I just got impatient."
"I wasn't finished," Chloe said, her tone of voice reminding Philip of the insecure teenager she had once been. She sipped her coffee. "Like I said, I can't think clearly now, and I should tell you that we need to put this off until I can. But when have you ever known me to do the rational, reasonable thing? My head says wait but my heart says that this is what I've been waiting for forever and since we talked about fairy tales coming true I would be crazy to put this off for another minute. I want you to be my other half on paper as well as in my heart. I want to raise children together. I want it to be exactly the way it should have been three years ago if that DNA test hadn't gotten in the way. So, yes Philip, I will marry you. Of course I will. I'd do it right now in this cafeteria if I could. But we'll do the next best thing and get a license and everything, and when we talk to Kayla again we'll tell her that Dr. Kirsch had better not say that Parker can't walk his mom down the aisle because that's exactly what I want." Philip frowned and she said, "We… we will be able to have a real wedding, won't we? I know things are urgent with Parker, but we won't have to get married at City Hall while it's Daniel's turn to watch him, will we?"
"Of course we'll have a real wedding," Philip said. "We might have to do City Hall first if Parker's stuck here much longer, but either way you, my dark swan, are going to get everything you've always wanted." He reached for Chloe's hand across the table. "If most of the people in this cafeteria weren't so stressed out about their own situation that they'd resent our romance, I'd give you a preview right here of the way I want to dance with you at our wedding. I love you, Chloe Lane Kiriakis, more than words can say, and I am so sorry for the time we've lost already." He pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed it, then sat staring into her eyes. Unable to help himself any longer, he pulled her into him for a real kiss, not caring who was watching, only that Chloe was going to be his wife.
In the hospital, Hope was looking through the window at Rory, who was hooked up to a bunch of machines. "He's expected to live?" she asked Kayla.
"Let's put it it this way. If he'd been left alone in that car any longer, we might be having a different conversation. His blood sugar level was dangerously low. But luckily, we got to him in time. We gave him a glucose injection to raise his blood sugar and he's getting constant nutrition to keep it at a proper level. Right now he's sedated but not in a coma anymore. I had to put him on benzos to help with alcohol withdrawal in case that played a factor in this as well, since the officer who found him had reason to believe he's been on a drinking binge recently."
"And his tox screen?"
"No drugs in his system, not even alcohol. Honestly, there wasn't much of anything in his system. My best guess is he's been drinking for two or three days straight without eating and that's what caused his blood sugar to plummet. He should be alert enough for me to talk to him about what happened tomorrow. In the meantime, do you know who his next of kin is? They really should be notified that he's in the hospital."
"Not really. JJ's mentioned Rory has a brother, but we'll be lucky to get him in a lucid enough state to understand what's happened. From what JJ says, Kurt's never really sober." Hope sighed. "It's such a shame," she said softly. "All these young people. Bev… Rory… thank God JJ got off that path before he ended up here too, though after what Jeff Adkins put him and Paige through I'm not sure he's any better off."
Kayla nodded. "I was going to call Jennifer, see if I can stop by anytime soon. Does JJ even know about this?"
"Jennifer's telling him now, I hope. She was on the fence about doing it because he's been through so much lately, but I think I convinced her that waiting wasn't a good idea." She sighed as her phone buzzed. "I'd better let Aiden know that his client is probably going to be okay, physically anyway. He was surprisingly broken up about it. He offered to take the kids home and I let him, mainly because I had to come down here anyway, but partially because he seemed like he needed the distraction."
"Aiden has a big heart. He has to, to keep up with you. You can tell him that he's welcome to come see Rory for a few minutes tomorrow if he wants." She patted Hope's shoulder. "Do you need anything else? Because if not I'd really like to get back to my mom's celebration before it gets any later."
"Hold up another minute, Kay. I need to ask you about something else." Hope sighed. "I hate to even bring this up, but ADA Rubin is getting impatient about Bev Walters, and tomorrow I'm sure I'm going to walk into a meeting with her and Roman where I have to justify myself again. So don't be surprised if she pays a visit to your office too, to try to demand answers about Bev's release."
Kayla's eyes widened. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "Even if she does, so what? Bev may be in police custody, but she still has a right to medical privacy, and I'm not sharing any of the details of her condition with anyone unless I'm subpoenaed. And you can tell the DA that."
"I hope I haven't gotten you into more than you can handle." Hope sighed. "A subpoena is one option. So is an obstruction of justice charge, and I don't trust Rubin not to go for it. Ever since Paige's kidnapping, the DA's office is out for blood and it seems like they don't care who they make us arrest, or why."
Kayla swallowed hard but she said, "I'm tougher than you think. I can't release Bev unless I know she's getting adequate pre-natal care in jail. The DA is just going to have to live with that, and if I go to jail over it, I'm sure my nephew the reporting intern or my other nephew who's a screenwriter in L.A. would love to make sure the world knows about it. And you can tell her that too." Kayla walked off.
"No freaking way," JJ said. He barely noticed his arm throbbing as he automatically went to rub it. He reached into his pocket for his phone. "You think Daniel's up for taking a look at him?" he asked, his voice flat. "Cause if Rory's gonna pull through this, he needs the best and that's Daniel. And… and I should call Nicole too, cause being… being found half-dead on the side of the road, that's… that's breaking news..."
His mother embraced him and he let her. "Don't do anything yet, honey. Just sit."
JJ pulled away from her. "I can't!" He pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I learned a long time ago, when stuff happens the best thing to do is whatever I can, cause otherwise I'm gonna go nuts. And there has been a ton of crap lately that I can't do anything about, but this time…. making calls, that's something I can do. Besides, Rory doesn't have a whole lot of time, not if he's gonna make it, so Daniel's gotta know and he's gotta look at him right away."
"I understand, sweetie," Jennifer said. "I really do. But I am so worried about you, JJ. So much has happened and now this, and I'm afraid it's going to hit you like a tidal wave if you don't take a minute to let it sink in before you start distracting yourself."
"Mom!" JJ flipped open his phone. "I'm fine, I swear."
"Please, sweetheart, at least - "
JJ put the phone to his ear, almost defiantly. It rang four times, then he got Daniel's voicemail. Figured. "Daniel, it's me, JJ," he said. "I… I'm sorry to bother you but at least for once it's not about me. It's Rory. He's… they say he overdosed or something, I dunno, but - " His voice wavered and he walked away so that his mom couldn't hear the rest of what he had to say.
Jennifer stared unhappily at the spot where he'd just been, swallowing hard. "Wherever you are, Jack, I hope you have God's ear so you can tell Him to watch over our son," she said softly. "He can't take anymore, he really can't, and neither can I."
Eve swallowed hard. "Nothing happened, sweetheart." Paige gave her an angry, suspicious look and she said, "All right, so we had a little difference of opinion. But really it's not worth talking about. Besides, I'd rather talk about you. It's been so long since I've seen you and when you were in the hospital you weren't in good shape. You look so gorgeous, sweetheart - are you on your way to a date with some new exciting man?"
Paige's eyes narrowed."If I was dating anyone, the last person I'd want to know is you. In fact. you don't really need to know anything about my life, Mom, except this. I'm done with liars and schemers and people who do things without thinking that hurt others." Eve's eyes widened and Paige saw fear in them. "So let's try this again. What did you do to Eric? What lie did he catch you in? Or maybe I should ask him myself."
"All right, all right. Let me just get another glass of wine and I'll tell you." Eve signaled the waiter over. "You want anything, sweetheart?"
"Just the truth."
Eve swallowed hard. "It's like this," she said. "I told a tiny little lie a long time ago, sweetheart, a lie that just grew and grew. You have to understand that I didn't mean for any harm to come to anybody, least of all your precious JJ, not that that boy doesn't deserve…" Paige's eyes were spitting fire and Eve said, slowly, "The thing is, Paige, the night that JJ…. I mean, the night that your heart got broken - "
"You know what? Forget it. I should have known you'd try to distract me by throwing what JJ did to me in my face. It's not going to work this time, Mom. Yeah, he broke my heart, but that was a long time ago and I just need to get over it cause he's done more than enough to make up for it. So call me when you're ready to give up tearing him down to everyone you know. Otherwise I'm not interested." She got up and walked quickly away.
"You don't understand!" Eve called after her, but Paige was gone. "I'm the one who broke your heart," she whispered, "not JJ." She blinked hard. "Well, I tried," she said aloud. "But that's not going to be good enough, not for Eric, now is it?" She shook her head. "Why should you change yourself for him anyway? He's just another man you'll never measure up to. But you want him anyway, don't you, and there's only one way to get him. Lies and tricks and schemes don't work with Eric Brady. So you have to make a decision. Are you going to be who he expects you to be or not?"
"Where's my mom?" Ciara asked Aiden at bedtime. "She always lets me stay up extra late on Thanksgiving."
"Really?" Aiden said. "How much you wanna sell me that bridge for?" He smiled slightly, then let the smile fade. "Your mom had something important to take care of. She'll be back soon, and I'm sure pleasantly surprised to find out that for once you went to bed on time without making a fuss."
"Was it a murder?" Ciara asked.
"What?"
"The case. Did someone die? Cause otherwise, it can't be that important."
Aiden bit his lip. "That is for your mother to talk about if she wants to."
"But - "
"No more arguing. It's late."
Aiden pulled back the covers for Ciara but she said, "I can get in myself."
"Of course. Let's see you do it then." Ciara got into bed and pulled her covers all the way up to her neck. "Sleep well,' Aiden said, smiling slightly. He watched Ciara close her eyes before heading across the hall to the guest room, which Hope had let Chase decorate with baseball pennants and posters so that it would feel like his room whenever he stayed over.
Chase was already asleep. Unlike Ciara, he never argued about bedtime or much of anything else. Aiden wondered if maybe he was too quiet, too well behaved, and if that had to do with why he stole things.
Aiden's thoughts drifted to Rory somehow as he stood watching his son sleep. What had Rory been like when he was as small as Chase? Was he already getting into trouble? Did anyone tuck him in at night, read him a bedtime story? Had adults already given up on him, and had he already given up on himself?
He was so lost in thought he didn't hear Hope come in, nor did he hear her come up the steps and into Chase's room. "Ciara's out," she whispered. "I don't know how you managed that."
"I've heard I'm a miracle worker." Aiden's voice was flat. He glanced at Hope. "Any news you can share?"
"Rory's tox screen was negative, so the DA's going to be disappointed to find she can't add DUI charges to whatever you're already defending him against. Other than that, we're just going to have to wait. Kayla said you'll be able to see him in the morning."
Aiden nodded but said nothing. "You okay?" Hope asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Of course." Aiden swallowed hard. "No, not really." Hope reached for his hand and he took it. "I can't look at my son without thinking about Rory and wondering if we're failing him as badly as the adults in Rory's life did. I know, I know, Chase has two parents looking out for him but with a drunk for a birth mother and a history of stealing… I dunno, I just don't know. I need that vacation we were talking about, Hope, I need to be far away from all the criminals and crooks I deal with every day so I can just be with you and soak up the goodness in the world again. Only I can't get away, I can't get away cause I got this big lawsuit coming up and Rory's gonna need me if he ever wakes up, and it's not like you can just take off with this idiot turning the police department upside down..."
"Hey. We'll get there. Sooner or later you'll be able to put your court dates on hold, and Rodman'll have to move onto destroying some other police department eventually." Hope squeezed Aiden's hand. "I'll hold on if you will."
"If I'm holding onto you, always." Aiden smiled slightly, though there was still sadness in his eyes, as he turned slightly to kiss Hope.
JJ collapsed onto the couch as soon as he got home, too exhausted to go up to his room. He stared longingly at his guitar, his arm throbbing just from thinking about playing it, while his mother watched him, her eyes full of concern.
"Let me make you a cup of tea, sweetheart," Jen said.
"What's that gonna do?" JJ asked. "Look, if you want one, go ahead, but me, I gotta figure out my next move." Jen said nothing, just stood there frozen. "I'm okay, Mom, I swear. You don't have to hover over me, all right?"
"Sorry." Jennifer sighed. "It's just hard, baby, seeing you in so much pain day after day and now this. I know that you need me but I don't know what to do except hover and upset you more. Please, sweetheart, what can I do for you? Tell me."
JJ's arm throbbed. He swallowed hard as he put his hands in his lap, not allowing himself to rub the sore spot while his mother was looking at him like that. "I'm so sorry I make you worry," he said.
Jen shook her head. "Oh, JJ," she said softly. "I worry because I love you. Don't you know that, baby?" She sat down on the couch next to him. "I hope," she said, "that what you said before about me wanting you to mess yourself up was said only in anger and not because you actually believe that I want anything less for you than the happiness that you deserve. Seeing you like this breaks my heart, JJ, not because you're doing anything wrong but because you're my boy and when anyone hurts you, they hurt me too, more than you know."
"I hate that I do that to you." JJ's voice wavered. "Honestly, Mom, sometimes I think you deserve a better son than me. All I do is cause you pain and it doesn't matter what I do cause no matter what, I screw up and break your heart."
"Don't say that!" Jennifer's eyes were wide and full of fear. She took her son's hand in hers. "Don't you know that even if you did something that could land you in jail for 100 years it wouldn't change how I feel about you? You're my miracle baby, sweetheart, my son that I held in my arms after they said you weren't going to live. I didn't give up on you then and I won't now. Yes, you have broken my heart more than once, and yes there are times where I've wondered if I was a fool to believe in my boy, but that still didn't change anything. It couldn't. You are so much more than you think you are, JJ. You are smart and talented and creative and sensitive and generous and kind, and even if you weren't all those things you are still my son and I would never want it to be any other way. So if part of the reason you've been so down lately is that you think you've gone so far that I can't love you anymore, banish that thought from your head. My heart isn't broken because of what you've done, JJ. It's broken because we don't talk, honey, because you have a whole life that I know nothing about, and when I see you come into this house day after day looking like you want to melt into the floor but you won't tell me what's going on I'm afraid that one of these days I'm going to lose you altogether and I can't take that."
JJ's throat stung and his eyes burned. He blinked hard. "Look, you don't wanna know what's going on, okay Mom, you really don't. Up til when the cops messed with me, I figured I could just handle it on my own so you wouldn't have to worry. I mean, all that Jeff did to me was mess up my arm, and that's nothing compared to what he did to Paige or to Marissa and besides, I'm the one who was stupid enough to put myself in a situation where he could hurt me. They didn't have a choice."
Jen's eyes were wide. JJ glanced at her, then away. "Even saying that little bit scares the hell out of you. I don't wanna freak you out, Mom, not after everything I've put you through." Pain shot through his arm. He rubbed it while he tried to think about what was safe to say. "I'm gonna be okay, I swear. It's just, I can't shake what the cops did to me just yet, and I don't think I'll be able to til I stop them from messing with me again."
"That's why you asked Victor for his help. It wasn't just to impress Nicole. You were hoping he'd protect you. Honey, please, don't worry about scaring me. Just tell me what's going on, all of it."
JJ swallowed hard, thinking. "All right," he said. "But promise you won't freak out, Mom, cause what I have to say… you're not gonna like it."
Week 53 - Day 3
Jennifer's eyes widened but she said, "Go ahead, sweetheart."
JJ rubbed his arm, thinking. "It's like this, Mom. Nicole thinks the cops wanna get me on bogus charges to try to make me tell them who gave me those sick photos Jeff took of Paige all tied up, and maybe she's right, I dunno. All I know is that there's no way any of them could have actually believed I'd hurt Paige, not when their whole freaking department's under investigation over what I did for her. Plus, they lied to Aiden Jennings about where he could find me so that it took him hours to show up when he was just across the square. There's only one reason they'd do that, and that's cause they were hoping I'd crack before he got there and say whatever they told me to say so they'd leave me alone. So I dunno if it's cause of the photos like Nicole said or cause this guy investigating the cops has it in for Rafe and he doesn't like it that I wouldn't say a word against him, but either way, someone wants me behind bars and they don't care what they have to do to get me there."
JJ glanced at Jen. She looked afraid but he couldn't tell if she was afraid for him or of him. He pulled at his sleeve, rolling it up so his mom could see the bruise on his good wrist. "They did this to me when I told them I wasn't saying a word without my lawyer, and that was after they humiliated me in front of half of Salem by dumping my stuff out and dragging me away." Jen gasped. JJ said, "I didn't do anything, Mom, I swear. Rory was drunk, okay, and he was messing with Paige, and all I did was walk him off and the next thing I know, they're holding a taser on me and acting like they're a second away from going for their guns."
Jen's eyes widened and she pressed both hands over her mouth.
JJ said, "I hate that Rory's in the hospital, okay, and I would never… I don't want him to die or whatever but part of me feels like he got what's coming to him cause if he hadn't messed with Paige they wouldn't have had an excuse to hold me no matter how much they hate me."
Jennifer put her hand on JJ's wrist. "Listen to me, sweetheart. We are so lucky that it's not you in that hospital bed or worse if the cops really pulled their weapons on you for no reason - "
"They wouldn't go that far. I hope not, anyway."
"Yeah, well, if it wasn't a holiday I'd go bang on Roman's door right now. As it is, tomorrow he is going to get an earful from me. He has to get his officers in line and whoever these cops are who were tormenting you need to be punished. But in the meantime, sweetie - "
"Mom! No! You can't talk to Roman, okay?"
Jennifer's eyes were blazing. "If his officers had hurt you any more than they did I wouldn't just be Roman's worst nightmare. I'd be theirs. Someone has to answer for what they did, JJ! They might have guns and badges but if we let them get away with it it's just going to make things worse. Roman has to take control! This vendetta against you or whatever it is stops here."
"I don't know whose side Roman's on, okay?" JJ was starting to feel lightheaded for a change but he pushed through it. Rubbing his sore arm as hard as he could to stop it from interfering, he said, "I know he's your friend or whatever, but I can't be sure he's mine, not when he hasn't said a word to me. Rafe did. The second they finally locked me up in that freaking closet of a cell he showed up and he looked me in the eye and he told me he's gonna get the bastards who messed with me. So if you gotta talk to someone, talk to him. But keep it on the downlow, cause Aiden's getting ready to go to court and if we tip off the cops off too soon it could mess up the whole case."
"Right," Jennifer said flatly. "The case."
She glanced at JJ. He was breathing a little bit heavily, like he was scared, and his eyes were too wide. "Promise me you're not gonna go all postal on Roman, all right?"
"I guess if you don't want me to confront him, I'll have to find some other way to stand up for you."
JJ nodded. He stood up, slowly, feeling like he might pass out and glad to see his feet were still holding him up. "I'm… I'm beat," he said. "You mind if…"
"Go ahead, sweetie. Get some rest." Jen wanted to hug JJ but she didn't quite dare. She just stood watching him as he headed towards the steps, looking more like a zombie than her son.
"Thank God you're all right," she mumbled when he went upstairs. Shaking her head, she went on, "I'm sorry, honey, but I'm going to have to do what it takes to protect you whether you want me to or not."
When Marlena took Marissa back to the hospital, she insisted on coming into Marissa's room to talk to her. Marissa hugged her pillow to herself, hoping Marlena wouldn't see how upset she was.
"You seem very quiet," Marlena said. "Did something happen that upset you?"
Marissa shook her head. Marlena wouldn't stop looking at her so she said, trying to keep her voice even, "I'm… I'm tired, that's all. And honestly not wanting to be back in this hospital now that I've had a taste of freedom."
"I see," Marlena said. "And nothing happened between you and JJ in Maggie's backyard?"
"We… we didn't kiss again if that's what you're asking." Marissa blinked hard. "And yes, before you ask, I wish we had, but that's nothing new and definitely not worth talking about. I wish that stupid kiss had never happened."
"But it did happen," Marlena said, "and we didn't really have much of an opportunity to talk about it. Let's - "
"Talking about it just makes me feel even more stupid for thinking it meant anything. I'd rather just go to bed. Besides, you're not my doctor anymore, remember? Dr. Harper is."
Marlena looked too calm as she gazed at Marissa. Marissa hugged her pillow tighter, sliding back a little on her bed. Marlena said, "I'll send Maxine in with your evening pills." Marissa nodded and Marlena left.
Once she was alone in the room, Marissa couldn't help letting herself cry. Her shoulders shook and she sobbed as she reached for her phone. Flipping through her contacts, she opened JJ's and glared at his photo while her finger hovered over the DELETE button. Sobbing, she shook her head and threw the phone across the room instead. I'll show him, she thought, I'll get the hell out of this hospital and I'll show him what he's missing.
There was a knock on the door. Marissa blinked hard and pushed her hair behind her ear before calling, "Come in."
The door opened, but it wasn't Maxine with her pills. It was her mother.
Marissa grabbed the pillow again and held it as tight as she could, sliding back on the bed until she bumped against the wall. "Mom… what…" Her eyes narrowed. "JJ called you, didn't he? I knew you'd guilt him into - "
"No," Mrs. Hunter said, "not JJ. Your boyfriend has bought too much into the lies you've told him about me."
Marissa swallowed hard. "He's not my boyfriend," she mumbled. "Not… not right now, anyway."
Mrs. Hunter sat down on the bed without being invited. "Oh, honey," she said softly. "You misread all the signs again, didn't you? You thought because a boy was sweet and kind and bothered to be there for you it meant he was in love with you. Sweetheart, you have to pay attention to what people aren't saying as much as to what they are saying. Now I took one look at that girl Paige and - "
"I don't need your opinion," Marissa snapped. "What'd you have to come here for? So you could tell me how you were right and I can't handle living on my own, how I only lasted a month before some loser broke into my dorm room and tied me up and I'm lucky he just took my jewelry and my wallet cause he could have taken something far worse, something I could never get back?"
Her mom threw her arms around her, pulling her towards her. Marissa stiffened as Mrs. Hunter tried to embrace her. "Get off me! I don't wanna be touched… not by you, not by anybody…"
"Ssh… oh baby, I wish I'd known how bad it was. I'd have been here the minute I heard…"
"Get. off. me!" Marissa screamed.
The sound of people running echoed down the hall as Mrs. Hunter, shocked, let her daughter go. Marlena and Maxine both came running into the room.
"I'm fine," Marissa said, gasping for breath. "My mom was just leaving. I don't need - "
"LIke hell I am, with you in this condition!" Marissa's mother was trying and failing to control her temper. "Please," she said, turning to Marlena. "That's my daughter…. I can't…"
"I understand," Marlena said. "But right now the best thing you can do for her is give her some space. Perhaps in the morning you'd like to stop by my office and we can talk about ways you can be supportive while she's working on getting strong enough to leave the hospital."
"I'll do that all right." Mrs. Hunter's eyes flashed. She took a deep breath. "In another minute you're going to think I belong here too, the way I'm acting."
"I know this is an upsetting situation."
"Right. Just do me a favor and… and take really good care of my daughter. She… I've never seen her like this…"
"We will," Marlena promised. "I'll talk to you more about all of this tomorrow. Does 9 o'clock work for you?"
Mrs. Hunter nodded. She turned and looked at Marissa one last time. "Good night, sweetheart," she said. Marissa's eyes flashed but she said nothing.
Mrs. Hunter turned and walked away, slowly. Outside Marissa's room, she couldn't help pressing her face against the window, watching, as Maxine put her arm around Marissa and Marlena pulled up a chair so that she could talk to her. Maxine rolled up Marissa's sleeve and Marlena gave her some kind of shot, probably to calm her down. Tears rolled down Mrs. Hunter's face as the needle went into her daughter's arm. Then someone got up and closed the blinds, shutting her out of her daughter's room altogether.
Jill smiled when Eve came into the doorway of her room the next morning. "I'm glad you're back," she said. "I mean, I knew you wouldn't want to spend Thanksgiving in this dreary hospital, even if you haven't met Erica Eve yet." Eve's eyes widened and Jill said, "That's right. I'm naming her after the two of you because if it weren't for you two I wouldn't be able to give her the life I want to. Where is Eric anyway?"
"I don't know." Eve's voice was flat.
"Oh gosh, you two didn't have a fight, did you?" Jill bit her lip. "I wanted you both to meet the baby today." She glanced at Eve. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"JJ happened, that's what." Eve came into the room. "He and that damn Nicole Walker were just looking for a way to make this blow up in my face. I know, I know, there would have been nothing to blow up if I hadn't pushed you to interfere with JJ and my daughter, but just when I thought we were out of the woods… you might as well call Paige up and tell her everything, cause I wouldn't be surprised if by now Eric's falling all over himself apologizing to Nicole and she's gloating that in the end she and her stupid shredded papers won out over me trying to protect my daughter."
Jill's eyes filled with tears. "So this is it? You're going to kick me and Erica out after all since you don't have your man anymore?"
"I didn't say that." Eve's eyes narrowed. "Eric did something for me, Jill, something that I can't quite get rid of no matter how much I just want to get revenge on JJ and Nicole. Now, I'm sure I've lost him and I'm going to lose Paige, but maybe you and I need to start again, with no blackmail and no reason that you and your little girl are in my life besides me wanting you there. You get well and then the two of you come stay with me for as long as you need, understand?"
Jennifer stood by the mantel, staring at a photo of her, Jack and JJ taken when they visited JJ at St. Albans a couple years ago. JJ was smiling widely in the photo and he had a mischievous grin that reminded her so much of his father. It had been too long since she'd seen that smile, she thought, as in her head she heard JJ telling her to stop worrying about him, heard his footsteps running up the steps and his door slamming, heard him begging in his sleep for mercy as she stood in his doorway watching him and realizing there was nothing she could do to help.
She picked up her phone and dialed a number.
"Good morning. Yes. My name is Jennifer Horton. I… I'd like to make an appointment with Dr. Asher," she said. She picked up the photo from the mantel as she spoke. "No, I'm a new patient. Just me for… for now. Yes. I can do that." She put the photo down. "My name again? Jennifer Hort… Jennifer Deveraux. Yes, D-E-V-E-R-A-U-X. Thank you."
She hung up the phone and set a reminder for her appointment. "Okay," she said to herself. "One thing down, one to go." She reached out towards the photo and touched JJ's face. "You'd better be in a receptive mood, Roman Brady, because your officers are not getting away with tormenting my son after everything he's been through."
Jennifer swung her purse over her shoulder and zipped her jacket, walking determinedly to the door. When she pulled it open, she found she had company. Sonny Kiriakis was on the porch, holding his little girl in his arms.
"Hey," Sonny said. "I'd ask to come in, but this looks like a bad time."
"No, it's all right," Jennifer said. "I was just going to run a couple of errands, but it can wait. Come in. Please." After Sonny had come in and closed the door behind him, she said, "This is a nice surprise. What's up?"
"Well," Sonny said, "Christmas is coming and I figured with JJ's arm injury you might need some extra help getting the house ready. Mom said you could probably use a hand getting the tree up, and I thought you'd like some time with this little angel too." He glanced down at Ari, who was staring at Jennifer with wide eyes. "You remember Aunt Jennifer, don't you?"
Jennifer smiled despite herself. "That is exactly what I could use this morning. JJ rushed off to work already but he will be so surprised and happy to see the tree when he gets home. Everything's in the attic; if you just pull down that panel on the second floor ceiling…"
"No problem." Sonny handed the baby to Jen and started to head up the steps. "So JJ's doing all right, then? I was kind of worried since I haven't seen him in the club recently, but I heard T asked Paige out so I figured maybe it was just too awkward."
Jen swallowed hard, glancing at Ari. Opening a cabinet under the end table to get out a Golden Book, she made herself smile and said, "Yes. Yes, he's fine. He's very busy with his internship plus finishing up his semester at school. It's been a little rough for him to adjust to not being able to play his guitar until his arm heals, but otherwise…"
"Right. I'll call him and see if maybe he'll let his big cousin take him out for a pre-Christmas coffee one day."
"I'm sure he'd like that." Jennifer pulled Ari onto her lap. "There's a box of ornaments next to the tree. Please be very careful with them. They're all we have left of my grandparents and other family members that have passed on."
"Will do. I'll be right back." Sonny went upstairs.
Jennifer opened the book. "Let's see," she said to the baby. Her voice wavered as she read, "The Little Red Hen."
"Jen'fer sad?" Ari asked.
"No, honey," Jennifer said. She swallowed hard. "I was just remembering reading this story to a little boy who's all grown up now, that's all. Now, let's see what this says." She turned the page, her hand shaking, remembering when JJ was small enough to sit on her lap and how she could never get him to sit still for long enough to read the entire story.
Nicole was on the phone while she sat at the private table at the back of Brady Pub. "No, I understand. I can assure you that when it comes to me, anonymous doesn't mean broadcasting your shadow while leaving so many clues to who you really are that even the Salem PD can figure it out. Well, I'm a fan of staying safe so no, not the docks. I was thinking something more like the booth at the back of Brady Pub I'm sitting at right now. I can have my intern skip the going to the office and making small talk with my assistant bit and come straight here. Give us an hour so I can finish this other meeting and - Yes, of course I trust him, or I wouldn't let him tag along. Well, as much as I want to sit here all day… okay, fine, noon it is." She hung up just as Rafe came around the corner and slid into the seat across from her.
"Back to jumping from frying pans to fires already, huh?" Rafe said, smiling slightly. "Should I waste my time asking what that was all about?"
"Not unless you're okay with me telling her what we talked about." Nicole sipped her water. "So you said this was urgent?"
Rafe nodded. "I haven't got much time," he said, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Roman had me working the festival under the table. He was afraid someone might pull something like what they did to JJ. I doubt it's gonna stay secret too much longer after what went down, but right now I don't care. Let Rodman do what he's gonna do - I'm making sure he pays for everything he's done and then some."
"That's the self-destructive spirit I like to see!" Nicole said brightly. "How can I help?"
"Couple things." Rafe put his hands around his coffee cup. "I wanna be your unofficial liaison with the cops. See Roman, he wants to get rid of Rodman as bad as I do, but his hands are kinda tied cause if Rodman gets the mayor's ear for long enough, we'll be looking at a change in leadership. Plus he doesn't have the resources I do. I got my contacts at the FBI and I got you. Now I'd be an idiot to think you didn't start your own investigation on the side the second Rodman started messing with JJ. So instead of tripping all over each other and getting in each other's way conducting two top secret investigations, what do ya say we pool our resources?" Nicole frowned and Rafe said, "Come on, Nicole, you know me. I wouldn't double cross you."
"Of course not. You'd be too afraid." Nicole smiled, then let the smile fade. "Seriously, Rafe, it's not a matter of trust. I'm more worried about plausible deniability. I didn't let JJ in on who gave us those ransom photos so that nobody could use that as leverage if he found himself on the wrong side of a jail cell, and I don't want you knowing too much about what we're doing for the same reason."
"Lemme worry about that. After all my years with the FBI you think I don't know how to handle people who use handcuffs as an aid to blackmail?" Rafe sipped his coffee. "Look, Nicole, putting me on a desk was one thing, but what Rodman did, that crossed the line. JJ looked like he was an inch away from a nervous breakdown in that cell, and I'll be damned if some asshole on a power trip's gonna push him to the point where he throws away all the progress he's made. And on top of that, as far as I'm concerned, what happened to Rory's on Rodman too. We both know if the uniforms were doing what they were supposed to be instead of following his orders, they'd have left JJ alone and got Rory into a cell to sleep it off. Instead he's in a hospital bed lucky to be alive, and that's only cause the cop who found him happened to be one of the good ones. This stops here. You do whatever you gotta do to get Rodman, you understand? And Nicole, if you gotta bend the rules… do it. I'm looking the other way and if it comes to it I'll make sure Roman does too. All I ask is the second you get proof Rodman's dirty, you come to me so I can have the pleasure of slapping cuffs on him myself."
Nicole nodded. "You have a plan besides, you know, let's get Rodman?"
"Let's put it this way. Gathering all this info's just the first step, cause we gotta know what the hell we're up against. But that brings me to the other favor I need from you. This thing is gonna get ugly fast, and I got a feeling that bogus arrest they made's just the beginning. I need to take JJ to lunch one day soon so I can see where his head's at and figure out the best way to protect him. Think you can make that happen?"
"I'll see what I can do. Speaking of, I need to get back to the office, prep him for this source interview. In the meantime, I'll work on figuring out a way to get you what we know about Rodman so far." Nicole's eyes narrowed. "If he thinks messing with JJ's a good idea, he'd better think again. He's lucky I have you and Sally to keep me in line because you don't want to know what would happen to him otherwise."
Marlena and Elizabeth were both sitting in Marlena's office when Mrs. Hunter came in. "Am I too early?" she asked, standing in the doorway. "I always think I'm going to be late and end up with too much time to spare."
"Not at all." Marlena smiled at her. "You're just on time." As Mrs. Hunter came in, she added, "This is Elizabeth Harper. I thought since she's the primary therapist on Marissa's case she should sit in with us today. Of course, if you are more comfortable meeting with me one-on-one we can do that too."
"No, that's fine." Mrs. Hunter sank into her chair. "I'll be honest," she said, playing with her pearls. "This whole thing is my worst nightmare and exactly why I didn't want Marissa living in a big city. She's too vulnerable."
Marlena and Elizabeth exchanged glances. Elizabeth said, "The first thing you should know, Mrs. Hunter, is that what happened to Marissa is in no way her fault, or yours. It could have happened to anyone. "
"To anyone?" Mrs. Hunter blinked hard. "Do the other students at Salem University have so few social skills that they latch on to anyone who'll give them the slightest bit of attention and try to make that person their best friend? Do they trust too easily and miss all the signs that someone has bad intentions towards them? Tell me, how did she meet this boy who attacked her? How long was it before he showed his true colors to her? Why didn't anyone protect her?"
"It was a random act of violence, Mrs. Hunter." Elizabeth's voice was soft. "The boy who attacked her may have been in a class or two with her. We don't know. But whatever the circumstances were, it wasn't her fault and blaming Marissa won't help her now."
Mrs. Hunter was quiet for a second. Then she said, "It still wouldn't have happened back home. I'm not saying Pigeon Falls is perfect. I'm not stupid enough to think there's no crime in small towns. But there are way more kind people than mean ones there, people whose hearts go out to a girl like Marissa who isn't… who doesn't get it, who could so easily be taken advantage of."
Elizabeth started to say something, but Marlena held up her hand and interjected, "Mrs. Hunter, you keep mentioning that Marissa has some problems that make you scared for her. We haven't seen evidence of her social issues, other than her fixation on the boy she likes, but of course you know her far better than we do. Perhaps you could share with us some more of the specifics."
"Yes. Of course." Mrs. Hunter sighed. "I wish I knew exactly what was wrong with her. I've been trying to help her since she was five. God knows I've been trying." She blinked hard. "Back then everything was normal, you know? I had a husband I was in love with and a smart, beautiful little girl. Did you know she was reading before she started pre-school? And math too. She could add and subtract and even do a little multiplication before her fourth birthday. I thought that was something to be really proud of but I don't know, maybe it's part of her condition."
"What is her condition?"
Mrs. Hunter shook her head. "Nobody knows," she said softly. "She's always been a loner, always on the outside looking in. Every year it was the same thing, starting in kindergarten. The teachers would say Marissa is a sweet girl and so smart, but she doesn't seem to know how to make friends. Sometimes she seemed like she didn't care and other times she'd try too hard, latch on to other kids who always turned out to make fun of her behind her back.
"She came home in tears one day because some other little girl purposely gave her an invitation to a birthday party after it had already passed, just to let her know she wasn't invited. I tried to talk to her teacher and the teacher told me it was her fault, that she was too clingy and too sensitive and that the other children found her strange. She was six years old, Dr. Evans, six years old and her heart had already been broken and the teacher was blaming her and telling me to take her to a therapist so she could learn to be like other children. I walked out of there with my head held high but deep down I was ashamed, so ashamed of having a child who just was not normal.
"My husband hated the idea of therapy for Marissa. He said there was nothing wrong with her and he wanted to put her in a school for gifted children. But I felt she should learn to relate to other people in the world, and anyway there was no such school anywhere nearby. So I took her to the psychologist and he did all this testing and he said her social difficulties were symptomatic of autism but since she didn't have any other symptoms he couldn't make a diagnosis. To make a long story short, I kept taking her to doctors looking for answers and never getting any, and my husband and I drifted further and further apart the more I focused on trying to get Marissa some help. By her eighth birthday we were married in name only, living in the same house and barely speaking to each other. So I had to give up for the sake of my marriage, had to just accept that my daughter is an anomaly, that for all her intelligence she will never get how relationships work and that she's always going to be vulnerable to people who want to hurt her because she's different. Pigeon Falls was small enough that I could protect her but she just wouldn't stay put. She didn't come to Salem because the educational opportunities were so great - if she wanted to move away for her education she'd have tried for an Ivy League school, for Harvard or one of those. She came here because she wanted to run away from the one place where she'd always be safe, and eventually I gave in and let her because she was so damn stubborn about it. And now look what's happened to her."
Tears were running down Mrs. Hunter's face for the second time as in many days. She took the tissue Elizabeth handed her and dabbed at her eyes. "I don't usually get this emotional, especially around strangers. I'm sorry."
"That's what we're here for," Marlena said. "I'm glad that you trusted us enough to share that with us. It certainly sounds like Marissa's social difficulties created a wedge between you and her, as well as between you and your husband. You're right that we cannot change what happened to her. We can't go back and stop Jeff Adkins from following her into her dorm room. But the good news is that now that we know about this issue, Elizabeth can work with Marissa on her social skills. I don't know what the reason is that Marissa's social development lagged so far behind her intellectual development. From my limited observation of her I can assure you that I do not believe she is in any way autistic, nor do I believe she has any other neurological problem that could account for it. But I do know that your daughter is not unteachable. Perhaps now she will be open to learning some new ways to relate to people."
Elizabeth nodded. "Dr. Evans is right. One of my concerns about Marissa leaving the hospital is she just doesn't have a support system. So I will definitely be working on that with her."
"In the meantime," Marlena said, "let's talk about you. Right now, Marissa needs you to be part of that support system, but I'm afraid that your desire to protect her might get in the way. Marissa has made it clear that going back to Pigeon Falls is not an option she's willing to consider, so let's talk about some alternative ways you can help her."
Rodman was looking at an article about that Aiden Jennings on his computer when Lieutenant Howard, the press relations officer who had accompanied him to Salem from the capitol, burst into his office without knocking. "We have a situation," she said, slamming the door closed.
Rodman quickly minimized his screen. "You're talking about how the Deveraux kid slipped through this incompetent department's fingers yet again, aren't you? If they'd been able to make those charges stick, he would have done time in Statesville for sure, maybe even as much as he should have gotten for those drug crimes, and his career as junior reporter and thorn in our side would have been over."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Howard crossed her arms. "I'm all for discrediting the kid so that he can stop making us look bad, but we have to do it intelligently, as in, in ways that'll work. This is a PR nightmare. Just look at these videos going viral." She pressed a button on her phone. EweTube had ten videos listed, with titles like "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" and "Kid Arrested VIOLENTLY for Stopping Harassment"
Rodman scowled. "Who took these videos, and why haven't they been pulled yet?"
"I'd love to get rid of them, Tim, but we look bad enough already without violating people's rights to free speech! These were all taken by people in the crowd at Fall Festival, people who saw our uniforms arresting JJ Deveraux and felt so strongly it was wrong they had to film it on their phones and share it with the world. I've had to field calls left and right this morning about these damn videos, all of which are edited to make it look like this boy is a model citizen. My job is to make this department look good, not to make him look good."
"All right. All right. Let's issue a statement that I'm investigating the officers involved in this unfortunate incident blah blah. If we want to neutralize - "
Howard gave him a look. "Neutralize? What are you talking about, Tim? Our job is to fix the department. My job is to make it look as good as it's supposed to be and yours… yours is to weed out the bad officers to make it actually be that good. JJ Deveraux made us look bad and I don't like it either, but arresting him on flimsy evidence after he's just done our jobs for us again and walked off a drunk that was bothering a girl doesn't help. In fact, it kind of does the opposite. So my advice, Tim, is just forget about him and stick to your damn job. And if the fact that you just made mine twice as hard isn't enough to convince you to do just that, maybe this is." Howard threw a paper across Rodman's desk.
Rodman picked it up, slowly. "What's this?" he asked as he opened it.
"Aiden Jennings, the kid's lawyer - "
"I know who Jennings is."
"I'm sure you do. Anyway, he had a process server deliver this an hour ago. Supposed to go to Roman Brady but I intercepted so I could find out what's going on. He's subpoenaing the arrest report, and that means only one thing. He's getting ready to sue the department on JJ Deveraux's behalf. And no, I don't know what I'm doing about it yet, but I do know one thing. Whatever vendetta you have against the kid, you'd better put it on hold until this is settled." She stormed off without waiting for a response.
Rodman frowned, staring at the subpoena. He put it in an interoffice mailer and snapped his fingers. "Give this to Roman Brady," he told the assistant who came to see what he wanted. "Close the door behind you."
The assistant left and Rodman pushed some stuff off his desk, angrily. Then he picked up his phone and made a call. "It's me," he said in a low voice. "We have a major problem. The boy's suing the department, and that's going to put a major monkey wrench in the operation. Yes, I was just about to look at what you sent me." Rodman clicked on his browser window again; an article about Aiden being suspected of killing his wife appeared on his screen. "Hmm…" he said, scrolling through it. "There has to be more than the story to this. Do some more digging. In the meantime, I think I know exactly what we need to do. Listen…"
