(To answer one of my replies, besides saying hi, I just wanted to clarify something. Yes Carrie is not Marlena's biological daughter. However Anna dumped the child on Roman and Marlena adopted Carrie. Carrie called her Marlena on the show, but she went to her with her problems or her scrapes. So for all intents and purposes imo Marlena is the only mother Carrie needs.)

Nicole collected all of the bandages that the nurse handed her and set up a little station next to Lucas' bed. She was about to wake him when her cell phone started ringing. She stepped out of the room, closed the door behind her and answered, "Everything's going fine."

A very distracted Nathan told her, "You have major problems. Greta just announced to the news cameras that you kidnapped a grown man. I can't go down for this when even I don't understand how helping you separate Lucas from his family will help me win back Greta."

Nicole hated working with whiners. She had enough problems dealing with Jan back in the states. She told Nathan, "Look. I love Eric and I'm going to win him back. Lucas was the reason I lost Eric to Greta, and he's going to be the one to bring Eric back to me. Trust me."

Nathan told her, "I already helped you and that's the end of it. Nicole my family name cannot be caught up in scandal. If you breathe one word of my help to anyone, it will be your last. Do I make myself clear?"

Death threats? She rolled her eyes and said, "Clear as crystal. Thanks for the heads up and goodbye loser."

Nicole hung up her phone and saw Lucas staring at her awake. She asked him, "Listening in on my calls hubby?"

Lucas never answered either way. He just continued to stare at her. She stood a little taller and regained her composure before asking, "Is there anything I can get you before we change your bandages?"

Lucas stopped staring and replied, "Water and maybe crackers, soup something I can eat."

She left and returned a few minutes later with a glass of water. After watching him gulp it down, she asked, "Feeling better this morning?"

He finished the water and handed it back before saying, "More please."

He really was only testing her patience, and she shocked him when she left with the glass only to return with a full glass of water a minute later.

She then said, "So? How are you feeling, like you might die and leave me your money?"

Lucas almost choked on his water for a second. He then realized Nicole was joking with him which struck him as odd. He told her truthfully, "Will is my sole beneficiary, so if you decide to kill me you're going to have a lot of people to fight with for the money."

She sat next to him on the bed and replied, "I was kidding. You used to get my sarcastic remarks once, don't you remember?"

Lucas couldn't think of a polite way to tell her to back off. He was formulating a plan to get better, find Sami and somehow start over.

Nicole seemed to have read his thoughts though because she told him, "Sami's not looking for you. I called her, ok well that's not true. The hospital nurses called her, and she hung up the phone. I heard about your accident quite on accident, but I thought hmm maybe if I help my husband then he'll help me."

The oven beeped in the distance. She seemed to wait for him to say something, so he said, "Soup can scorch a pan pretty bad."

Nicole stood up and went to get the soup. In the kitchen she told herself to keep calm, everything was going to work out. Once she was calm again she returned with a bowl of Campbell's Chicken Soup. She told him, "Here you go, canned soup, yum."

She put the plate on the nightstand next to him before turning to him, "OK. First things first. Let's unbutton your shirt and change the bandages."

Before he could say a word she straddled him and started unbuttoning his shirt like it was foreplay. He tried to push her off, but he winced in pain from sudden movement.

She continued unbuttoning his shirt and joked, "Be a good boy for the nurse or I'll have to restrain you."

He stopped moving quite so much, as she pulled the bandage away. It had more blood on it than he expected. She put a new bandage on him before she told him, "Look, we're stuck together for a few days until you heal. And I have a proposition I'd like to talk to you about."

He decided to hear her out as he contemplated how he could hasten his healing. He had to have learned something so far at medical school. And he needed to get in touch with his someone.

Meanwhile Austin and Carrie decided to get coffee and pastries for themselves and to bring a bag for Kate and Sami. The two women who hated each other with a passion were certainly spending every waking moment together in the search for Lucas. Austin saw Carrie staring off and he asked her, "What are you thinking about?"

Carrie replied, "Honestly? I don't like Paris. I've never had much luck here. Last time we were here together we thought Will was yours and I watched you marry Sami."

Austin asked her, "I thought you forgave me for all that."

Carrie replied, "I did. But I think I didn't allow myself time to heal, and I kept making mistakes as I blamed Sami for everything. Oh granted she had done a lot, but it wouldn't have mattered if I had more faith."

Austin replied in a joke, "That's the saddest face I've ever seen on you. Someone as beautiful as you shouldn't be so bitter."

He said something similar to her years ago at a costume party she plotted with Shawn Douglas for Bo and Billie back when everyone thought Hope was dead. She kissed another guy that night, but she wanted him to be Austin very badly.

Austin saw the pensive look on her face and said, "I was just trying to get you to smile."

She saw his concern on his face and wondered for a minute before asking, "Do you have regrets Austin?"

He let out a nervous laugh. He couldn't help it. Carrie was about to apologize for asking when he finally told her, "You mean besides getting involved with Sami? I knew that she had a crush on me and I knew it would hurt you if I dated her. Lucas too, I knew it would be like punishing him because it seemed like he stole my son at the time. The time away from Salem helped me realize the lie that I lived in for a while."

Carrie nodded her head in agreement and said wistfully, "It's hard admitting this. For a long time I blamed Sami for everything including my affair which now seems so ridiculous. But at the time I was reacting not thinking anymore. And this is why I want to help Sami find Lucas and open herself up to him. It's a way to apologize."

Austin pushed a strand of hair that fell in Carrie's face as he replied, "Lucas and I were just starting to really get to know each other. For a long time I thought he was just like Curtis. It was my way of rationalizing that I should be Will's dad."

She knocked over her coffee cup because Austin was still petting her hair and her heart start racing. She flushed in embarrassment and tried to knocked more things over in her quest for her napkin. Just as she found her napkin, Austin was helping her clean up her mess. His hands were on her legs cleaning up coffee. He didn't even think of not helping her or putting his hands on her lap. Carrie felt the self recrimination growing that she ever pushed him away. She spent years with a man that she couldn't open her heart to fully because she couldn't trust. But Austin. Austin could make her feel insane. She finally told him, "I'll be fine. Let's get the pastries to Kate and Sami before they start attacking each other out of hunger and worry."

Kate and Sami were sitting in Kate's hotel room or as Sami called it, mission control center. Kate was currently on her phone talking to a newspaper or TV station. Sami was manning a call number for anyone that called with information; however, that mostly consisted of strange people calling in for possible cash or to get some sort of sick pleasure in sending people on a wild goose chase. Sami was starting to blame Kate for this stupid idea that wasn't helping them at all as she listened to some crackpot tell her that Nicole was spotted in Monte Carlo wheeling around a guy in a wheelchair who couldn't speak. If the caller knew either herself or Lucas at all, him not speaking wouldn't be a characteristic said in description.

Kate hung up the phone in annoyance after describing every dreadful sin of Nicole's for an hour. She put her hands on her knees and started to silently pray.

Sami hung up her own phone and hesitantly said, "We'll find him soon. He's smarter than Nicole."

Kate sat back up and asked bewildered, "Were you trying to comfort me?"

Sami felt her nose going up like that was absurd before she said, "I'm keeping my own spirits up."

Kate fired off her reaction, "Why are you here anyway Sami? Shouldn't you be off chasing Austin again, or is Lucas going to be your sucker until he leaves you?"

Sami yelled back at her, "Shouldn't you be back at home looking for the next man to screw like my dad again instead of here?"

Kate wasn't one to give in easily and deadpanned back, "You're quite the expert yourself using sex to keep a man aren't you?"

Sami flew out of her chair to attack Kate. But before she could get there her sister appeared in the way and said, "That's enough. We're here to find Lucas not scratch each other's eyes out."

Sami felt betrayed and replied, "Carrie she accused me of using my body to keep Lucas."

Kate straightened her suit and replied, "She's just a little viper out to hurt Lucas just as she did to Austin."

Austin told Kate, "Sami didn't hurt me. I hurt myself when I left Carrie."

Carrie stopped thinking for a moment. Austin regretted leaving her after her affair! She wanted to run into his strong arms and forget the world.

Sami then announced, "It's true that I was a horrible person after I found out Lucas was Will's father. I should have told him like I wanted to. I went to tell him immediately, but I rationalized it that I was just going to make things worse. Yeah it was selfish, but I was so stupid then. I should never have drugged Austin. I should have known that I loved Lucas all along. I could blame being raped or losing my mother, but that's just excuses. The truth is that I was a fool. I was even stupid the night we found out Nicole was his wife. I panicked like it was the end and told him to leave. I have to find Lucas and tell him I still love him."

Kate was never raped. But she knew how it felt to be beaten up, abused and then forced into sex by her husband. After Curtis she was healed on the outside, but inside she was dead. The only thing that kept her going was her little boy, Lucas. The only spark of humanity she felt was when he would smile or give her a picture or tell her of his big day picking weeds and fighting imaginary dragons. The thought of Lucas in trouble and her not being able to find him was overwhelming. She didn't want to know what life would be like without him. Kate walked into another room and to cry in private. She couldn't let anyone know what or how she felt. No one would understand.

Back at Chez Salem Eric and Greta moved some boxes into an empty room for storage.

Greta told Eric, "I feel guilty that we're not helping the others today."

Eric asked her, "So you don't feel sorry that I'm stuck carrying all your stuff?"

She laughed before replying, "No, not really. It's only a few dresses, the crown jewels, family momentos. The cannon can't be that heavy."

He put the box down and asked, "Do you really have a cannon in here?"

She nodded her head affirmatively but then started laughing when she said, "It's about this big." She stuck out her pinky finger.

Eric took a step to hold her in his arms but she stepped backwards and said, "Mr. Brady, you can't be expecting payment from me for your services."

He chased her and quickly caught her in his arms before saying, "You like me to catch you."

As he leaned down to kiss her she said, "We have to find my computer in these boxes." He then caught her opened lips and kissed her like he forgot that they made love only hours earlier.