"Here you go, Sweetheart." John said, kneeling in front of his wife to give her a glass of water. "Please drink this."
They had been in the hospital's waiting room for about 30 minutes waiting for news on Sami. After she had passed out at the Pub they had called 911 and she had been in and out of consciousness in the ambulance on her way to the hospital.
"I'm okay, John." Marlena promised him. "It's Sami we should worry about." She said but she did take a sip of her water just to please him.
John stood up, satisfied for now, and sat down next to her. "I can worry about both of you at the same time."
"We should have gone to get her from Italy earlier." Marlena said, giving him a guilty look. "I'm her mother. I should have known something was really wrong when she barely responded when I reached out."
"We did know something was wrong but we also both knew Sami wouldn't have just come home with us, Doc. Like Sami said, she needed time to deal with everything that happened with EJ and Lucas by herself." John tried to reassure her.
"I don't think she has dealt with anything yet, John." Marlena replied sadly.
"Any news on mom?" Johnny asked when he walked back into the waiting room.
"No, nothing yet, Honey." Marlena said, petting the empty chair next to her, motioning for Johnny to sit down there. "Were you able to reach your siblings?"
Johnny glared at Roman and Kate, who were sitting on the other side of the waiting room, before sitting down next to his grandmother. "Yes, I told them it was probably nothing life threatening but they are still all going to get on the first flight here."
Marlena smiled at the prospect of seeing her grandchildren. Also realizing that meant Sami couldn't just leave Salem as soon as she was feeling better. "That'll do you mother so much good to have all of you surrounding her."
"Do you really think mom will be okay?" Johnny asked his grandmother for the 3rd time since they had gotten to the hospital. But they were interrupted before Marlena could answer him.
"Johnny!" EJ exclaimed as he rushed into the waiting room. "What happened? Where's your mother?"
"Dad?" Johnny asked, standing up and shooting his father a surprised look. He had only informed his siblings that their mother was in the hospital, not his father. "Mom passed out at the Pub so we called 911. She came here in the amublance and the doctor's are examining her right now."
EJ stressfully let his hand go through his hair, the pit in his stomach getting worse. He couldn't even phantom something happening to Samantha.
"Marlena, do you know what's wrong with my wife?" He asked her, guessing she must know more because she was a doctor as well as Samantha's mother.
"Your wife?" Marlena asked, shooting him an incredulous look. The only reason she wasn't kicking him out was because he was Johnny's father.
"Ex-wife." EJ corrected himself. "Do you have any idea what's wrong with my ex-wife? Please tell me." He pleaded.
"I suspect my daughter passed out because she hasn't been taking care of herself very well. She refused to eat or drink anything substantial since we picked her up in Italy yesterday. In the last 20 hours or so she only drank two glasses of whiskey on the plane." Marlena told him.
"I noticed she lost some weight when she came to see me." EJ said, thinking out loud. Feeling stupid that he hadn't realized right away something was wrong.
"Why don't you stop pretending to care about my daughter, EJ." Roman said, walking towards them with Kate not far behind. "You weren't worried about her when you slept with her baby sister or married Nicole."
"Mine and Samantha's relationship is none of your business." EJ snapped back at his ex father-in-law. He knew he shouldn't take the bait but Roman had been irritating him like no one else lately.
They were interrupted by Kayla clearing her throat and everyone turned around to face her.
"Kayla! How's Sami doing?" Marlena asked worriedly.
"Sami will be okay." Kayla said and everyone let out a sigh of relief. "She passed out because she was dehydrated, slightly malnourished and probably exhausted. We are now giving her some fluids and nutrition through an IV. She'll have to stay here for a little bit to get her strength back but she'll be able to go home tomorrow morning."
"Thank god." Roman said, relieved. "Can we see her?"
"You can but she is sedated right now so it's very important to let her rest. And only two people at the same time." Kayla answered him.
"Wait, why is she sedated if nothing is wrong with her?" Johnny asked, confused.
"Your mom got really upset when we tried to perform tests on her and she kept trying to pull out her IV." Kayla told him. "But don't worry it's just a mild sedative and she will wake up in a few hours."
"Okay, I would like to see her. I promise I won't disturb her." Johnny said, looking at his grandmother to see it was okay if he went in first.
"Go ahead, Honey. I would like to speak to Kayla a little bit more but maybe one of your grandfathers can join you." Marlena suggested and Johnny immediately looked at John wanting him to come instead of Roman. John shot Roman an apologetic look before following his grandson.
"Roman, maybe you can join Kayla and I?" Marlena offered, thinking she should include Sami's father in this conversation even though they weren't on the best terms right now.
"Look, if there's anything else to discuss about Samantha I would like to hear it too." EJ told them and Roman scoffed.
"EJ, may I remind you that you are married to Nicole now. Why are you here worrying about my daughter when your wife's daughter is in a coma in Italy?" Marlena asked him.
"Samantha is still the mother of my children, Marlena." EJ answered firmly.
"Your children are adults, EJ. Stop using them as an excuse to hang around our daughter." Roman warned him. "She moved all the way to Italy to get away from you so you have nothing to do with Sami's care going forward."
"That's not true unfortunately." Kayla chimed in. "EJ is named as Sami's health care proxy in our records. That's why he was informed by the nurses of her hospitalization."
"That's just because she forgot to change it, Kayla." Roman told his sister. "I know my daugther wouldn't want him making decisions for her."
"Maybe." Kayla agreed. "But until Sami wakes up and tells us otherwise we have to discuss her care with EJ present." EJ couldn't help but shoot Roman a smug look. Even though he knew Roman was right, Sami wouldn't want him making decisions for her at this low point in their relationship.
"What else is there to discuss though? I thought you said Sami will be fine?" Kate asked.
"Well I'm not sure what Sami was doing in Italy but she was definitely not taking care of herself. If she continues on that same foot she'll be right back in this hospital in a matter of months. She needs to make some serious lifestyle changes like getting enough rest and having a healthy and balanced diet." Kayla explained, not telling them everything.
"There is more right, Kayla? Marlena guessed. "What did her blood work say?"
"Marlena..." Kayla warned her, not wanting to discuss those results in front of everyone.
"Tell us the results, Kayla. Like you said, I'm Samantha's health care proxy so I have the right to know what's going on with her." EJ pressured her.
"We found traces of Valium and alcohol in Sami's blood." Kayla told them.
"What?!" Are you saying our daughter is using drugs?" Roman exclaimed, jumping to the worst conclusion.
"No, I'm not saying that." Kayla answered calmly. "I spoke to her doctor in Italy. The Valium was prescribed by him because she is suffering from anxiety and insomnia."
"But she knows better than to be mixing that with alcohol." Marlena said, tears of worry forming in eyes.
"What do you think is going on here, Kayla?" Roman asked, feeling more worried about his daughter by the minute.
"When we were performing tests on Sami she was still really weak and out of it but she kept thrashing around saying things like 'let me go', 'please, don't hurt me' and 'don't kill me' Kayla explained and she saw the worry on the faces of her brother and Marlena get even worse. "So I believe her health issues might be brought on by psychological trauma."
"From her kidnapping?" EJ realized and Roman and Kate shared a guilty look.
"Possibly." Kayla confirmed. "But that's not my specialty." She said looking at Marlena.
"I know my daughter, she will never willingly go to a psychologist." Marlena sighed.
"Good thing her mother is one then." Kayla replied.
"I just hope that she'll let me help her." Marlena said, knowing her daugther might not accept her help.
"I know Sami might not accept this but I think it would be good for her to stay with one of you for a little bit." Kayla told Roman and Marlena. "The best thing for her right now is rest, stability and a safe and healthy environment."
"She'll be staying with John and myself then." Marlena said firmly.
"Maybe it would be better to give Sami some options so it doesn't feel like she is being forced to do this. It might be important for her to feel like she has some control." Kayla suggested.
"Staying with Roman is not an option, Kayla." Marlena said again.
"Why not?" Kayla asked, confused. Marlena looked at Roman, forcing him to tell Kayla the news himself.
"I was planning to discuss this with you this week." Roman started. "But Lucas is being released on early parole and he will be staying with Kate and I at the Pub."
"You should have discussed this with me before making that decision, Roman." Kayla told her brother sternly "Just because you are running the Pub doesn't mean you can make these decisions by yourself."
"I know. You're right. I'm sorry." Roman immediately aplogized. Knowing he was wrong.
"It's really my fault, Kayla." Kate started. "Roman came to support me during Lucas' parole hearing and then everything happened so fast and we had to make a decision right there on the spot. I was so happy that Lucas would finally be released from that dangerous place that I didn't think about anyone else." She admitted.
"Look, I'm all about giving people second chances but what about Sami? Does she know?" Kayla wondered.
"Yes, I told her today." Roman confirmed.
"That's why she passed out, isn't it?" EJ asked, shaking his head in anger. "For some reason Samantha thinks you hung the moon and it must have really hurt her to find out you are choosing her kidnapper over her."
"That's not how it happened, EJ." Roman told him in a warning tone.
"People call me a bad father but wow you really take the cake!" EJ went on.
"Wait, EJ, you already knew about this?" Marlena asked him, thinking he was responding rather mildly for his standards.
"Of course, I'm the D.A. and the court informed me of their decision after Lucas' parole hearing." EJ answered her.
"And what exactly are you planning to do about this, EJ?" Kate asked him, knowing he wouldn't just let this go.
"You know what, I haven't decided yet, Kate." EJ answered in a cavalier tone. "But why don't you use your imagination?"
"You leave my son the hell alone." Kate hissed. "He deserves a second chance just like everyone else."
"He locked my wife in a small room for months and then framed me for her kidnapping." EJ spat out. "He deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison."
"Oh like you haven't done things way worse than that." Kate scoffed at him.
"We are not talking about me right now, Kate." EJ shot back.
"Lucas is still Will and Allie's father." Kate said, trying a different approach. "And you know Sami will never forgive you if you hurt him."
That seemed to strike a chord with EJ. "Then you better keep your criminal son far away from Samantha and myself." He warned her before he walked out of the room.
"Okay, so this is exactly what Sami doesn't need right now." Kayla warned Roman, Kate and Marlena.
"I agree." Marlena said. "Roman, I think it's best if you and Kate keep your distance for a few days."
"What? I'm her father, Doc." Roman disagreed, not believing what he was hearing from his ex-wife.
"I know but she was really upset with you this morning and we have to do what's best for her now." Marlena told him.
"What's best for her is to know that her father loves her and is there for her." Roman countered.
"I will tell her that of course." Marlena told him. "And I will urge her to talk to you but not right now."
"Kayla?" Roman tried, looking at his sister, hoping she would back him up.
"I'm sorry, Roman." Kayla started. "But I think Marlena is right."
Roman put up his hands in defeat. "Fine, I'll go for now but I'm not staying away from my own daughter." He warned before walking out. Kate quickly following him.