Previously…
– After admitting to Diane that he’d secretly married Kelsey Barker, Brian was furious to realize that Diane had been trying to go through his phone.
– Rosie and Gabrielle were rescued after the old Moriani house, where they were being held captive, exploded and caught fire.
– Brent remained unconscious after suffering severe smoke inhalation in the explosion.

“Paging Dr. Myor! Dr. Myor to the sixth floor nurses’ station…”

A tinny voice sounds through the intercoms positioned throughout King’s Bay Memorial Hospital. But the announcement barely registers for Molly Taylor; she has heard so many of such calls since arriving last night that they have faded into the background for her. As she steps out of the hospital cafeteria with a coffee in hand, however, another voice jumps out of the haze and grabs her attention:

“Molly!” 

She recognizes it before she can even process what she is hearing. And when she looks toward the hospital’s entrance, she sees Danielle Taylor, flanked by her younger brother, his wife, and their father, hurrying toward her.

“Oh my gosh,” Molly says. “What are you all doing here?”

“We took the first flight out of L.A. this morning,” Josh Taylor tells her as Molly greets all of them with hugs. 

“Did Annie and Max come?” Molly asks.

Lauren shakes her head. Her light brown, shoulder-length hair sways softly as she does so. “The nanny is watching them. We didn’t want them to miss school.”

“How’s my boy doing?” Bob Taylor asks. He looks noticeably older and frailer than the last time Molly saw him, and it makes her sad to observe how much he has aged; she remembers him as a bull of a man, whose physical presence was as strong as his emotional one. Still, she understands just how meaningful it is that he has made this trip.

“They still have him on oxygen,” Molly explains. “I’ve been waiting for him to wake up all night.”

“And the baby — your daughter?” Lauren asks. “She’s okay?”

Molly nods, though her stomach wobbles at the thought of what might come next. “She is. Yeah. She’s — she’s with Travis and his wife.”

Danielle, who wears a camel-colored poncho and dark jeans, adjusts the pink fedora atop her head. “I can’t believe any of this actually happened. And why were they at Ryan’s old house?”

“We’re still figuring all of that out,” Molly says. “Unfortunately, the one person who might have answers died from his injuries. There were two other officers in the explosion who are still unconscious, too, so they might be able to…” She trails off, overwhelmed by the situation. “Come on, let’s go visit Brent. Hearing your voices might do him some good.”

“Let’s do it,” Josh says, and the group moves toward the elevator bank.

—–

Diane Bishop isn’t sure what to expect when she returns to her condo mid-morning. On one hand, she could see Brian Hamilton, waiting with folded arms and a stern look on his face for her to return. On the other, she knows she might find his luggage and all other traces of him gone, following their blowout about his surprise marriage to Kelsey Barker and Diane’s attempts to look through his phone to find out what he was hiding. Neither option is especially appealing, and as she turns the key in the lock, she finds herself clenching.

At first, the condo does seem empty. But then she spots Brian’s shoes to the left of the front door, and soon enough, she hears movement from the guest bedroom.

She closes the door, a little too loudly for emphasis, and stands there, holding her purse.

“Diane?” Brian calls after an uncertain pause.

“I’m home,” she says, and the exchange spurs her into motion. She places her purse on the kitchen countertop, taking out her phone in case Samantha needs anything, and glides down the hallway and into the guest room, where she finds Brian repacking his open suitcase.

Stooped over the suitcase, he glances over his shoulder at her. “Is Samantha okay?”

“Yeah. Tim had to leave — he went to meet Travis and Rosie at the hospital — and I said I’d stay with Sam, and I wound up falling asleep.”

“Okay. Good.” Brian finishes folding a shirt. “Rosie and the baby are all right, too?”

“Seems like it, yeah.” Diane leans against the doorframe. “I thought you might’ve left town while I was gone.”

“I thought about it,” he admits, standing up straight. “Guess we need to talk.”

“Yeah,” she says. “We do.”

—–

“I brought you those scones you like from Thaw,” Tempest Banks says as she steps into Tim Fisher‘s house.

“The cranberry-orange ones?” Samantha Fisher asks, eyes going wide with delight. “I was just thinking about those yesterday. I haven’t had them in months. I guess I haven’t had a lot of food in months…”

Tempest winks. “That’s why I brought you two. You’ve gotta eat up, girl.”

She hands Samantha the paper bag, and after locking the door, Samantha leads the way into the living room. Tempest notices the small nest of pillows and blankets set up in one corner of the large sectional, and Samantha wastes no time crawling into it. 

“Ugh,” she says as soon as she is nestled back on the couch. “I should’ve offered you something to drink. Do you want water? Coffee?”

Tempest holds up a hand as she takes a seat on the opposite side of the sofa. “I’m good. Don’t get up.”

“Are you sure?”

“All I needed was to see how you’re doing,” Tempest replies. “You look good. More like yourself again.”

“I hope so. Just being at home is doing wonders. I just wish I weren’t so tired.”

“You’re gonna be back to normal in no time.”

Sam fluffs one of the pillows behind her and asks, “Have you texted Travis? Or talked to him? My dad said they were allowed to leave the hospital with Gabrielle.”

“I sent him a text just to say I hope everyone’s good,” Tempest says. “They really think that lady blew up a whole house just to screw with your Aunt Molly?”

“I don’t think anyone knows why or how Loretta Ragan did any of this.”

“Well, someone needs to tell her about her ass, and then some,” Tempest declares. 

“It’ll be crazy if they can’t arrest her after all this,” Samantha says.

“Maybe the police will actually do something about it, for once, since there were cops in there who got blown up, too.”

Samantha frowns at the slightly irreverent commentary but doesn’t rebut it. 

“So Travis and Rosie get to keep Gabrielle?” Tempest asks. “Or what’s going on?”

“I don’t really know,” Samantha says with a half-shrug. “I’m not sure anyone does yet. But she’s with them now, yeah. They’re going to stay with Rosie’s mom for a while because they don’t want to be in their apartment.”

“I don’t blame them.”

“Me neither. I feel bad, though — my dad was going to offer to have them stay here, but he was worried it would be too much for me. I mean, I’m fine…”

“You’re still getting better,” Tempest says with a grin. “And it’s not like they have nowhere to go. You do need to rest and stuff.”

Samantha lets her head fall back against the pillows. “I know. At least everyone’s been good about visiting. I don’t feel crowded or anything.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah. Although…” Samantha hesitates, biting down on her lower lip. “I’m kind of surprised Jaq hasn’t come to see me. Or tried to come see me.” She narrows her gaze upon Tempest, as if searching for some kind of answer.

“What’s that look for?” Tempest asks.

“I’m not exactly dying to see Jaq,” Samantha says, “but is there some reason they haven’t come by yet?”

“Uhhh…”

“I knew it. Tempest, what aren’t you telling me?”

—–

Rosie Jimenez rubs her tired eyes as she descends the narrow staircase of the house in which she grew up. When she steps into the kitchen, her mother looks up from the tile-covered counter, where she is pouring coffee into three mugs.

“Please tell me that beautiful little baby is sleeping,” Juanita Jimenez says.

“It took a few minutes, but she was so exhausted that she couldn’t fight it,” Rosie tells her mother and husband as she joins Travis at the small, circular table.

“You want cream? Sugar?” Juanita asks them.

“Black is great,” Rosie says, and Travis nods in agreement. Juanita carries the steaming mugs over to the table and sets them down.

“Thank you,” Travis says. “For the coffee, and for letting us stay with you.”

“Do you think I’d let you and my nieta go anywhere else?” Juanita responds as she retrieves her own coffee from the counter and joins them at the table. “Not after what happened…”

Rosie pushes a reassuring smile across her lips, although she doesn’t quite sell it. 

“We’re okay,” she tells her mother. “Gabrielle and I, we’re okay.”

“You kept her safe,” Juanita says, as Travis reaches over to take his wife’s hand. “You’re a hero.”

Rosie dips her head. “I don’t know about that…”

“Your mom is right,” Travis says. “You did an amazing job keeping yourself and Gabrielle alive and unharmed after what you went through.”

“She’s my daughter,” Rosie says, a bit sheepishly. “I didn’t have a choice.”

Juanita brings her fist down atop the table. “She is your daughter! I don’t care what any DNA test says. You two have raised her and cared for her.”

“I wish it were that simple,” Travis says wearily.

“It should be,” Juanita says, folding her arms to emphasize her point. “It’s terrible your aunt and uncle had their baby taken away from them. Of course it is. But you are the only parents Gabrielle has ever known… Imagine how scary it would be for her to go home with strangers. The thought has me shaken to my very core.”

“I know, Mama,” Rosie replies. 

Travis nods. “The thought of that… it breaks my heart. But I don’t know how else this ends.”

A sudden fire appears in Rosie’s eyes. “We fight. That’s how.”

“Yes!” Juanita agrees enthusiastically.

Now it is Rosie’s turn to reach over and squeeze Travis’s hand. “I’m serious. If Brent and your aunt wanna take us to court — then let them. Let the court decide. We know we are Gabrielle’s parents. We can convince a judge of that.”

Travis lets out a sigh, unsure what to think anymore.

—–

“They’re optimistic they’ll be able to take him off the oxygen in the next day or two,” Molly says as she leads Brent’s family from the elevator toward his room in the Intensive Care Unit.

“But that only means so much if he isn’t awake, right?” Josh remarks.

Molly lets out a sigh. “Right.”

“Are the twins around?” Danielle asks. “I was going to text them, since I know neither of them would ever pick up a phone call, but I didn’t want to cause confusion.”

“They went back to the dorm pretty late last night, so I don’t even know that they’re awake now,” Molly says, “but they should be back later today.”

Bob, who sports a noticeable limp as he walks beside Molly, turns to her. “My boy is lucky to have you by his side, Molly.”

Touched by his statement, Molly feels a slew of words suddenly competing to leap out of her throat, but she reminds herself to rein them in. She knows that her emotions are beyond heightened right now, between finding out that Gabrielle is really her daughter and the shock of her and Brent being caught in that explosion, but the feelings are so present, so real, that all she wants to do is thank Bob and tell him that she has never stopped considering him family.

“I just want to see him get better,” she says in as measured a tone as she can manage. “We have two boys and a little girl who need us.”

Before Bob can respond, they reach Brent’s room. Molly stops, indicating to the rest of the family that this is their destination. But when she peers through the doorway, nothing that she sees makes sense.

“Brent?” she asks loudly, even though the bed is empty.

“Is this the right room?” Lauren asks, confused.

Molly double-checks the number on the wall outside, but she already knows that they are in the correct place. Her blood runs cold as she processes that number and then the empty bed inside the room.

“Brent?!” she asks again, her voice ragged with desperation.

—–

Diane stares Brian down, waiting for him to break the silence. She remembers this facet of their interactions well, and she knows that she is right: if she waits him out, he will be the one to crack. And he is.

“Look. I’m sorry I stormed out of here,” he finally says. “But I was pretty pissed — I am pretty pissed. What you were doing is not cool.”

She holds up both palms. “Fine. You got me there. I own it. I shouldn’t have tried to go through your phone.” 

He freezes, not having expected such an upfront admission. She knew that it would have this exact effect, of disarming him.

“Okay, well, thanks for acknowledging that,” Brian responds. 

“But you lying to me about the fact that you got married wasn’t exactly something a friend does, either,” she says. 

“I told you — we got married right when you and Samantha got into that accident, and by the time I got your message, it was like — what was I supposed to do? Say, ‘Sorry your daughter’s in a coma! I was busy eloping’?”

“You could’ve found a time to tell me.”

“What do you think I came here to do?!”

“I thought you came to visit me and see Samantha,” she fires back.

“Yeah, and part of that would’ve been having a conversation with you in person about what was going on in my life,” he says. “I thought it would be better to find some time to sit down and talk once I’d seen Samantha and checked on how you were doing.”

Diane grits her teeth.

“Why does this bother you so much, Diane?” Brian presses. “So Kelsey and I are married and have a baby on the way. How does that affect you?”

Before she can answer, however, she feels her phone vibrate in her hand. And when she sees who is texting her, she has to check the message.

“Hang on,” she tells Brian, holding up the index finger of her free hand as she reads the text from Tempest.

“Crap,” she says aloud, though it is directed more toward herself than Brian.

—–

“I’m not not telling you something,” Tempest says to Samantha as she fires off a quick text message to Diane. 

“Well, you sure aren’t telling me much of anything,” Samantha comments, a little wryly. Tempest gets a jolt of joy in hearing that harder edge in her ex’s tone; Samantha suddenly doesn’t sound so weary, sounds more like her full self. But she also knows that she has to produce some kind of explanation about why Jaq hasn’t come around.

“There is kinda something you need to know,” Tempest explains, “but I don’t think I’m the one who should tell you.”

“Tempest…” Samantha’s eyes plead for the truth. “Tell me what’s going on. Please?”

END OF EPISODE 1157

Should Tempest wait for Diane to explain the situation?
What has happened to Brent and where could he be?
Should Travis and Rosie fight for custody of Gabrielle?
Discuss all this and more in the comments below!

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