Previously…
– Diane, who had been holding vigil over a comatose Samantha, snapped at Isaac after he encouraged her to rest. While Isaac explained to Tempest what had happened, Samantha awoke from her coma.
– Molly and Brent, convinced that Rosie had taken Gabrielle and gone on the run, received the results of the DNA test, which confirmed that Gabrielle is their child.
– Rosie woke up in a strange, sparse room with Gabrielle and realized that they had been kidnapped. 

With a to-go coffee cup in one hand and her iPhone in the other, Diane Bishop exits the hospital’s ground-floor cafeteria. She walks across the lobby toward the elevators, gaze focused on the phone as she scrolls through an inbox full of spam e-mails, when she hears something that yanks her attention right back to her immediate surroundings. 

“The name is Samantha Fisher,” a male voice is saying.

At the mere sounds of her daughter’s name, Diane looks to her right — and it is then that she sees the figure standing at the information desk. She stops in her tracks, her mind racing as it attempts to process the sight before her. 

Her feet carry her toward the information desk before her brain has fully caught up to any of it.

“What do you think you’re doing, throwing my daughter’s name around like that?” she asks.

The man, dressed in a pale blue, lightweight sweater and dark brown pants, turns around.

“That’s some timing you have,” he says with a grin.

“Brian! What are you doing here?” Before she even finishes the question, Diane is closing the gap between them and pulling him into a hug.

“I felt like I should come see Samantha,” he explains as they embrace tightly. “And you.”

“I appreciate it,” she says before giving him a final squeeze. She realizes that it has been far too long — years — since she had the chance to hug her old friend. 

“How’s she doing?” Brian asks in a more solemn tone as they separate.

“The same. The doctors detected some brain activity that indicated she could be starting to come out of the coma, but there hasn’t been anything solid. So I’m… waiting.”

“I’m sorry this is happening. And I’m sorry it took me so long to get up here to visit.”

Normally, Diane would have a snarky response at the ready, but the seriousness of Samantha’s condition and her genuine joy at seeing her friend overpower that instinct. “Thank you for being here now,” she simply says. “Do you want a coffee or anything? We can–“

“Diane!” another voice calls out. Both their heads turn toward the elevators, and Diane sees Tempest Banks rushing toward them.

A sharp spike of panic lodges itself in Diane’s gut. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Tempest says. “It’s Sam. She’s awake!”

—–

Meanwhile, on an upper floor of the hospital, an elevator dings as its doors open. Travis Fisher, flanked by his parents, steps out of the car and heads toward the waiting area, where his aunt and uncle stand.

“Any word on Rosie and Gabrielle?” Travis breathlessly asks Brent.

The police commander shakes his head. “The officers just finished processing the scene. But there are no leads yet, no.”

“Sarah called a little while ago,” Tim adds. “She wants to help.”

Brent hesitates. “You know I can’t share information about an ongoing investigation with a civilian.”

“Do whatever it takes to find them,” Molly says as she grasps Brent’s upper arm. “The longer this goes on, the further away they’ll get.”

“Rosie is not on the run,” Travis says firmly. “I don’t care how it looks right now. She wouldn’t do that.”

Molly sets her jaw, unconvinced.

“What’s important right now is that we find Rosie and Gabrielle,” Claire interjects in as soothing a tone as she can manage, given the circumstances. 

After letting out a sigh, Molly says, “Especially now.”

“What does that mean?” Travis asks.

Brent and Molly exchange a look as some wordless communication passes between them. Finally Brent speaks:

“We asked you to come down here because… the doctor offered to read us the DNA results already.”

Travis suddenly feels as if all the oxygen has been sucked out of the room. All he can do is stare at Brent and Molly in response.

“What did they say?” Tim finally asks, trepidatiously. 

“Gabrielle is our daughter,” Molly blurts out without even leaving room for a breath. “She’s the baby Dr. Longo took from us two years ago.”

Claire covers her mouth with her hand. “Oh my god.”

“No.” Travis shakes his head defiantly. 

“I know this is a lot to swallow,” Brent tells him, “especially with Rosie missing–“

“The test — it must be wrong,” Travis stammers. “Gabrielle — she’s our daughter. She’s ours.”

“We’ve all been lied to,” Molly says. “But this is the truth.”

“No!” Travis says even more loudly, causing a few heads by the nurses’ station to swivel in their direction. “No.”

Claire turns to her son. “Travis–“

“It isn’t true. It can’t be,” he insists, before he storms off to the elevators.

—–

The four gray cinder-block walls surrounding Rosie Jimenez manage to be both filled with and utterly devoid of possibility at the same time. While Gabrielle is curled up on the cement floor, sleeping and using Rosie’s hoodie as a pillow, Rosie surveys the small room where they are being held. No detail is too small for her to notice as she searches for a means of escape: the door (locked from the outside); the air vent on the opposite wall (too high to reach without help, and probably too narrow a duct to crawl through); the small cracks at the base of one wall (she might be able to chisel away at them if she could acquire a sharp object). 

As she walks the perimeter of the room once again, desperate to find some way out of here, she folds her arms across her body. The room is drafty, despite there being no windows and no air coming through that vent, and it makes her wonder what kind of facility they could be in. Her best guess is a nondescript storage facility, with this perhaps being an unused office or supply closet. 

The sudden rattling of chains and snap of a lock commands her attention. So there are chains and a padlock, she silently deduces as she continues to gather information, thankful for the police training that makes this sort of thinking second nature. 

The door opens inward, just a crack. Rosie tenses. If she were alone, she might make a break for it now, barreling through that opening in hopes of catching the person on the other side off-guard. But by the time she were to scoop up Gabrielle, it would be too late, and she knows that they might only have one shot at making an escape. It’s a miracle that she isn’t tied up or restrained already.

A black canvas sneaker — not from a major brand, Rosie notes, so it was probably purchased as a cheap, nondescript shoe to wear for this occasion — steps through the door, followed by a figure dressed in black pants, a partially zipped black hoodie that reveals a plain white t-shirt beneath, and a black ski mask over the head. The above-average height and general build make her almost certain that it is a man.

In his hands are a paper plate with several pieces of white bread stacked atop it and two plastic bottles of water. The man sets them on the floor just inside the door.

Rosie slumps against the wall and sinks to the ground, arms still folded. She hopes to convey that she is not about to make a break for it, as much as she wants to.

“Where am I?” she asks. Her voice bounces off the bare walls, echoing slightly. 

The figure pauses and looks at her. She studies his eyes and lips, but they do not spark any glimmer of recognition in her.

“Where am I? Why are you doing this?” she presses.

Without being too obvious, she strains to see past the figure, to get a sense of what lies outside this room. From her current angle, however, all she can make out is another gray, cinder-block wall. Judging by its distance from her room, it is the opposite side of a hallway.

The figure looks right at her but still not does answer.

“Please, just tell me what’s going on,” Rosie pleads. “Please.”

—–

“You’re awake. You’re really awake,” Diane says with amazement as she stands at Samantha‘s bedside. 

“Hi, Mom,” Samantha replies. Although she sounds ragged and weary, she still sounds like herself. Diane marvels at hearing her daughter speak for the first time in months.

She holds Samantha’s hand as she says, “And look who came to see you.” 

From behind Diane, Brian holds up his hand in a wave. 

“Brian. Hi,” Samantha says slowly, as if her internal processor is taking longer to compute regular sights and sounds than it should. Diane reminds herself that the younger woman has been in a coma for a long time and that it will take a while for her to get back up to her normal speed.

“It’s good to see you awake,” he says.

Samantha rolls her head from one side to the other and back again as she takes in her surroundings.

“Tempest said there was a car accident,” she says. “Did anyone else get hurt?”

“See? She’s worried about other people already,” Diane comments to Brian. “That’s the Samantha I know.”

Samantha’s face strains with worry. “But did anyone get hurt? What happened?”

“The rest of us walked away perfectly fine,” Diane says. “Landon was driving, and I was in the car with you two.”

“You, me, and Landon?” Samantha asks. “Why were we–” But her eyes snap open wider than they have since Diane and Brian entered the room. “Tori. Where is she?”

Diane hastens to explain, “Tori’s fine. She’s safe. And that bastard Zane is in prison.”

“It’s good that she remembers so much,” Brian says quietly. 

As Diane is nodding, Isaac Banks enters the room in his white doctor’s coat.

“How’re we doing?” the tall doctor asks, but he stops just inside the doorway when he notices the unfamiliar man standing beside Diane. 

“She seems good,” Diane answers. “What are the tests saying? When can she come home?”

“Vitals look good,” Isaac says. “But we have to run a bunch more tests, just to be certain.”

Samantha draws in a deep breath, sounding a little rickety, and lets her head sink back down into the pillow.

Isaac silently sizes up Brian for a moment.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” the doctor says.

Brian sticks out his hand. “Brian Hamilton. I’m a very old friend of Diane’s.”

“We go way back,” Diane adds.

Isaac shakes Brian’s hand, and Diane can’t help but take note of the competitive energy flowing out of Isaac.

“Thanks for taking such good care of Samantha,” Brian says. 

“Isaac is actually Tempest’s brother,” Diane expounds. “Tempest, who you met downstairs…”

“Oh! Well, it’s nice to have a doctor on the case who has a personal tie to Samantha,” Brian says. “We all really appreciate your hard work.”

“My pleasure,” Isaac replies, a little stiffly. “What matters is that Sam is okay and gets back to her usual self.”

“How long was I in a coma?” Samantha asks from the bed.

“I’m going to explain everything to you,” Diane says. “But first, we need to let your dad know you’re awake.”

—–

Elsewhere in the hospital, Tim hurries after Travis and barely makes it into the elevator before the doors close. 

“Trav,” he says as they stand in the motionless elevator. But he does not know where to go from there. 

Travis uses his index finger to poke the button for the lobby. It lights up, and the elevator begins its descent. After a few moments of excruciating silence, with the pressure to relieve his son’s pain pressing down on him like a two-ton anvil, Tim finds it within himself to speak again.

“I have some idea how devastating this must be for you. I know it isn’t the same, but when your mom and I found out that you and Spencer had been switched…”

With sadness in his eyes, Travis finally looks at him. “But you got to raise me.”

Tim decides to bite his tongue on that front; he recognizes that this is not some sort of Agony Olympics, that the years of Travis and Samantha’s childhoods that he missed out on when Nick Moriani kept him away from King’s Bay are not the point here. 

“We were lucky in that regard, yeah,” he says instead. “And we’re lucky that you chose to stay in our lives even after the truth came out.”

“It’s not like I was gonna pretend I didn’t know you just because I met Kathleen.”

“I know that. All I’m saying is… I understand some of the pain and shock you’re feeling right now.”

Travis sticks his hands in his pockets and nods, but he doesn’t respond otherwise. 

“First things first: we’re going to find Rosie and Gabrielle,” Tim then says. “Their safety is the priority here.”

Now Travis looks up. “So you don’t think Rosie ran, either?”

“No. I think someone wanted to make them disappear in order to — well, I don’t know, but considering the fact that your aunt and Brent figured out that their baby survived…”

“But that doctor is dead. And he’s the one who told them the truth, with that letter.”

“Right. Which means he was working for someone,” Tim says. “And I have a pretty good idea who that could be.”

Travis is about to respond when Tim feels his phone begin to vibrate wildly in his pocket. He reaches for it, hoping against hope that there might be news about his daughter-in-law and granddaughter. 

“It’s Diane,” he says, half to himself and half as a means of explaining to Travis why he is taking a call at a time like this. 

“Diane. Hey,” he answers. “What’s– Oh my god. We’re actually at the hospital. We’ll be right there.”

—–

Back upstairs, Claire stands awkwardly with Molly and Brent as they watch the elevator doors close. 

“He’s devastated,” she says, nearly under her breath.

“I’m sorry,” Brent says. “We’re both sorry. We’re sorry any of this ever happened.”

Claire looks at them. She feels such rage toward them right now, for having a claim to Travis’s daughter, her granddaughter — even though she knows that it is not their fault, that they are victims of whatever Dr. Longo did. And she understands that some of that rage comes from the fact that they conceived Gabrielle back when she and Brent were together, when she was planning for a future with him. 

“We aren’t trying to be cruel, Claire,” Molly says. “I can only imagine how painful this is for Travis to hear — especially with Rosie missing. But Gabrielle is our daughter.”

“This is a nightmare,” Claire manages to say, despite the tightness in her throat. An alert sounds on her phone, and she reaches into her purse to fish it out.

Her eyes go wide as she reads the message.

“What is it?” Molly asks hopefully.

Claire is already moving toward the elevators as she tells them, “Samantha is awake.”

—–

The silence inside the cinder-block room stretches on for many seconds. Rosie wills herself not to make a move, not to push too much. She knows that patience is crucial here, even though her instincts desperately want her to take some kind of action.

But she forces herself to wait. 

She can see that the masked man is considering something. Perhaps he wants to respond. Perhaps he is under orders not to respond.

“Please,” she repeats. “What is going on?”

Another long, quiet moment passes.

“Eat,” he simply says, nudging the plate with his foot. And then he backs out of the door and pulls it shut. 

All Rosie can determine is that she does not recognize his voice. 

A knot of frustration tightens inside her chest. Trying to be patient in a situation like this seems insane, but she keeps reminding herself that it might be their only hope of getting out of here. 

She glances over at Gabrielle, still curled up sleeping. The little girl appears so peaceful; the innocence of being able to rest in a situation like this is so striking to Rosie.

“I’m going to get us out of here,” Rosie says softly, almost inaudibly. She never wants Gabrielle not to feel that sort of peace and safety. “I swear, I’ll get us out of here.”

—–

“Careful. Not too many people at once,” Isaac warns as Samantha’s loved ones flood into her hospital room. “This can get overwhelming.”

“Wanna step out?” Tempest asks Diane. 

Diane nods. “I’ll go find Brian. He had to make a phone call or something.”

The two exit to the hallway. Molly and Brent settle in the doorway, watching as Tim, Claire, and Travis all surround Samantha’s bed.

“You have no idea how happy we are to see your eyes open,” Tim says as he hugs his daughter.

“We were really worried,” Travis adds. He and Claire take their turns stooping down to welcome Samantha back to the land of the living with cautious embraces, too.

“Where’s Rosie?” Samantha asks. 

Travis exchanges an alarmed, wordless look with Tim.

“Uh, she wasn’t with us when we found out,” he tells his sister.

Suddenly, Samantha’s hands grip the sides of the bed, and she pulls herself up slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Claire asks. 

“I have all these weird memories of people visiting me,” Samantha says drowsily, as if she is swimming through the pools of images and sounds attempting to find her way. “And I remember something about… is someone trying to take Gabrielle away from you guys?”

In the doorway, Molly and Brent both visibly tense but remain quiet. 

“You shouldn’t be worrying about any of this,” Claire says.

“I remember Rosie sounding really worried,” Sam continues. “She said if anyone tried to take Gabrielle away… she wouldn’t let them get away with it.”

“I knew it,” Molly says.

A chill settles over the room as the implications of what Samantha is saying begin to sink in.

END OF EPISODE 1146

Will everyone now think Rosie left of her own volition?
Can Rosie convince the masked man to help her?
Are you surprised to see Brian back in King’s Bay?
Talk about all this and more in the comments below!

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