Lucas was pacing the living room when Billie walked in, her eyes blazing. “What do you mean, Nicole isn’t coming home? She’s my wife. ”
“Not for long,” Billie shot back.
“This so-called marriage is a joke, Lucas. You bribed her into marrying you to get custody of Will. ”
“Oh, yeah? Really?
Is that why she’s at her apartment right now packing her bags to move in with me? ”
“I wouldn’t plan your honeymoon yet,” Billie said. “I just left Eric, and he’s determined to get her back. Given the way those two feel about each other, I’d say you’re about to get dumped.
”
Across town, Nicole was face-to-face with Eric in her apartment. “You shouldn’t be here,” she said. “We need to talk. We’ve got to work this out.
I don’t buy that you have feelings for Lucas. It was not your choice to marry him. ”
“Yes, it was. You’re just going to have to accept that.
”
“I’m not going to accept that, Nicole, because you’re not in love with Lucas. You love me. Don’t deny that. ”
Nicole’s silence was the only answer she gave.
Eric pressed on, asking what Lucas had on her, why she couldn’t look him in the eye. She finally snapped, telling him he was a sweet kid but not the man she wanted, that Lucas was. She said she was married to Lucas and that was the way it was going to be. “Do me a favor, Eric.
Back off. I don’t want you in my life anymore. ”
Eric watched her walk out, then headed to a bar. “Give me a beer.
Keep them coming. ”
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Rosa Barelli sat by her brother Roberto’s bedside. He was in a coma, but she was certain he could hear her. Kate Roberts had told her not to call Captain Brady, and Rosa had obeyed.
When Dr. Lexie Carver came in, Rosa said, “He has held my hand very tight, doctor. I’m sure he knew my voice. ”
Lexie explained that sometimes comatose patients do react to loved ones, but she couldn’t make promises.
After she left, Kate returned, her voice low and urgent. “Rosa, this is very important. You can’t tell anyone, not even Dr. Carver, about our agreement.
You must promise me that if Roberto wakes up, you will not let him talk to Captain Brady. ”
“But Captain Brady offered to protect Roberto from the Moroni family,” Rosa said. “Captain Brady cannot be trusted. If he thinks Roberto has broken the law, he’ll throw him right in jail.
And with Roberto behind bars, who’s going to take care of you and your sick mother? The only person you can trust now is me. ”
Rosa nodded, her fear outweighing her doubt. Kate’s mind raced.
She had been the one who ordered the hit on Franco Kelly, and Roberto had been the hit man. If he woke up and talked, her secret would be exposed. She thought, “Don’t you dare wake up, Roberto. ”
But Lexie had seen the blood results.
She told her colleague, “This is what I was afraid of. I’ve seen this in coma patients before. Sheer will gives them the strength to revive long enough to say goodbye to family and loved ones. ”
“How much time do you think he has?
”
“It’s only a matter of hours now. ”
At the police station, Sami Brady was reunited with her mother, Marlena, and her father, Roman. She had broken out of prison to spend time with her son, Will, and had been caught. Now she was back in custody, and the district attorney, Carson Palmer, was making sure she paid for it.
“I petitioned the judge to deny all appeals,” Carson announced. “If the judge agrees, she will be executed as soon as she returns to death row. ”
Roman was furious. “You can’t rush this.
”
“Samantha Brady has evaded justice for the last time,” Carson said. Sami didn’t care about herself. “All I care about is my son,” she told Roman. “I’d do anything to keep Will safe.
”
“And I’d do the same thing for you, Sami. You know that. ”
Roman had arranged for her escape to be kept quiet, but Carson had called a press conference anyway, spinning the story to make Sami look like a cold-blooded killer who had nearly killed a guard. Abe Carver, the police commissioner, confronted Carson.
“You’re using this case to help your political career, threatening a young woman with execution to prove you’re tough on crime. ”
Carson ignored him. “Ms. Brady is clearly a danger to society.
It is the will of the people that she be executed. ”
When Lucas got the call that Sami had been caught, he rushed to the station to pick up Will. “Sami has caused enough trouble,” he told Billie. “I’m taking Will home now.
”
Sami saw him coming. “No, Lucas, no. You are not getting your hands on him. ”
“Are you forgetting?
The judge gave me sole custody, remember? ”
Marlena tried to calm her daughter. “Sami, don’t. Let it go for now.
”
But Lucas was already there, and Will was his. Sami watched helplessly as her son was taken away. Then Carson delivered the final blow. “I just spoke to Judge Wells.
He’s issued a death warrant for the execution of Samantha Brady. At midnight tomorrow, Sami will die by lethal injection. ”
Roman lunged at him, but Abe held him back. “You bastard.
”
Meanwhile, Bo Brady was trying to reach his wife, Hope, who had been transformed into Princess Gina by Stefano DiMera. She was pushing him away, insisting they had changed, that she had lost the man she loved. Bo pleaded, “You didn’t lose me. I’m right here.
You’ll never lose me. I promise. ”
“You also promised you’d never love another woman either… and you fell in love with Billie.
How can I forget? ”
Bo knew he had hurt her, but he was determined to get her back. “I’ll find out why DiMera turned you into Gina, what you two did together, and then he’s going down for good. And you and I can be together.
”
Gina smiled, but her thoughts were elsewhere. “Poor Bo. He really does love Hope very much. And that is exactly why I will never give up.
I’ve got to get Rolf to bring back the old John Black. ”
John Black, meanwhile, had proposed to Marlena. “I want you to marry me tomorrow,” he said. Marlena hesitated.
“I’m just not sure it’s the right time. ”
“When’s the right time? How long do we have to keep waiting around to start our future? I am committed to you, to being your husband.
I don’t need to keep looking for pieces of who I was before, because you make me complete. ”
She finally said yes. John called Hope to tell her the news. “Doc and I have decided to get married right away.
Wedding’s tomorrow. Hope, are you there? ”
Gina’s voice was cold. “I will not let that happen.
”
Back at the bar, Eric was drowning his sorrows. He replayed the kiss he and Nicole had shared, convinced it was real. “That kiss was real, Nicole, and you still love me,” he muttered. “And you’ll be wearing this ring again soon.
”
Nicole had returned to Lucas’s house, where Billie was waiting. “I’m just trying to figure this out, Nicole. How did you go from being engaged to Eric to becoming Mrs. Lucas Roberts in the blink of an eye?
”
“Well, I don’t expect you to understand. ”
“You’re just a cold bitch, aren’t you? ”
“I don’t need to take this from you. ”
“Yes, you do, because I know exactly what you’re up to, and I am not going to let you get away with it.
”
Nicole said nothing. She had made her choice, and she was going to stick with it, no matter what it cost her. At the hospital, Rosa sat by Roberto’s side, praying. “Please wake up,” she whispered.
“We need you. ”
But time was running out. For Sami, for Roberto, for everyone caught in the web of lies and secrets that was about to unravel.
