Previously…
– Elly called a surprise witness to the stand in the custody trial, and he testified about Rosie’s culpability in her own father’s death.
– In the family fracas that broke out in the courtroom, Paula suffered a heart attack and collapsed. While undergoing surgery, she had visions of meeting with the late Ryan, Stan, and Bill.
– Much to the relief of her family, Paula woke up.
– Thanks to Natalie’s confidential statement to police, Loretta was finally arrested for kidnapping Gabrielle and Rosie last year.

“I’m still here.”

Paula Fisher‘s words are spoken in a croak,  her eyelids still fluttering as her vision adjusts and she becomes aware of her surroundings. She lies in a bed inside King’s Bay Memorial Hospital, hooked up to a variety of monitors, as her four grown children surround her.

“I’m still here,” Paula repeats, as her children crowd around the hospital bed.

“Mom.” Molly presses herself against the side of the bed and grasps her mother’s right hand. “Can you hear us?”

“Yes,” Paula says weakly. “Where am…” She pauses and scans their faces and the room. “What happened?”

“You had a scare,” Tim tells her. “It’s okay. You had surgery. You’re okay.”

“Surgery?” Again she looks at all of them, desperate for answers. “I’m okay?”

“You’re perfectly okay,” Molly says.

Sarah, standing right behind Tim, grasps Jason‘s arm. “Mom, you’re going to be fine,” she says. “We’ve all been here waiting for you to wake up.”

“You had a heart attack,” Jason tells their mother. “But you’re okay. They were able to do the surgery, and–” He stops himself. “Don’t get stressed out. You’re doing great.”

Paula breathes in deeply and becomes aware of the tube in her nose. She reaches up and touches it.

“You’re fine,” Sarah says. “We should get a doctor.”

“I’ll go find one,” Tim says. “Mom, you’re okay. You’re okay.”

Exhausted, Paula leans back into the pillow behind her, still taking in what is around her and processing what has happened.

—–

“You know it’s not the same as it was… as it was…”

Natalie Bishop pays particular attention to the lyrics of Harry Styles’s “As It Was” coming through her car’s speakers as she pulls up to the home that she and her son share with her husband and his mother. Part of her expected to find police cars outside; another part of her anticipated Loretta with a burning pitchfork, ready to throw it at her. But there is no indication of drama as Natalie parks in the driveway… and that almost makes her more nervous.

“We’re home,” she tells Peter, who is strapped into his carseat in the back of the SUV. But she knows that she is mostly stating it for her own benefit. She presses a button to turn off the ignition, hops out of the vehicle, and moves to open the back door.

“What’s going on?” a voice calls, and Natalie turns to see  their neighbor, Delia, running at her with what appears to be great excitement.

“I… don’t know,” Natalie says cautiously. “What do you mean, Delia?” She is all too accustomed to the woman showing up at their door with seasonal gifts or leftovers of her “Mexican lasagna,” which Natalie has tried and does not care to try again.

“There were police cars here earlier!” Delia shrieks. “We were worried about you all!”

Natalie swallows hard. “Police cars? What?”

“You don’t know?” Delia presses a hand to her chest.

“I… I didn’t hear,” Natalie says, as her mind races. The police were already here?! She just gave her statement to the D.A. before picking Peter up from school. “Are you sure?”

“Your mother-in-law. She got arrested or something,” Delia says. “They brought her out and put her in a police car.”

“Oh my god.”

Natalie fights to keep a smile from spreading over her face. She takes a deep breath and asks, “They took her away?”

“Like a common criminal,” Delia replies, with an emphatic nod. “You had no idea?”

“No idea at all,” Natalie says. “Um, I need to get Peter inside and I don’t want him to hear, so…”

“I’ll give you some room,” Delia says. “If you need anything — maybe any Mexican lasagna–“

“I’ll let you know. Thanks, Delia.” Natalie decisively opens the back door of the SUV to mark the end of the interaction.

“Thanks again,” she adds, as Delia retreats across the adjoining lawn, never taking her eyes off the scene of the crime.

“Is she bringing over food again?” Peter asks as Natalie undoes the straps of his carseat.

“That’s the least of our problems,” Natalie mutters, as she untethers her son and wonders what comes next now that Loretta has been arrested.

—–

Once a doctor comes in to run tests on Paula, the Fisher siblings exit her hospital room and file out to the waiting area. While Sarah and Jason converse about Paula’s recovery, Molly goes toward Brent, who holds her close.

“She seems good,” Molly tells her husband.

“She’s going to be fine,” Brent replies as he strokes her dark brown hair.

Meanwhile, Tim and Claire approach Spencer, who has been standing anxiously alone.

“How is she?” he demands as soon as they get within hearing range.

“She’s awake and seems okay,” Tim says.

Spencer exhales loudly. “Good.”

“Where’d Travis and Rosie go?” Claire asks.

“Downstairs to get food, I think,” Spencer says. “They were– it doesn’t matter. I’m glad Paula made it through okay.”

“Thanks. Yeah.” Tim swipes a hand over his weary eyes. “She can’t have any more visitors right now, but I’m sure she would be happy to see you when she can.”

“I’ll hang,” he tells them. “But there’s something else I need to tell you guys, if you haven’t heard.”

Claire lifts an eyebrow, as Tim folds his arms beside her.

“What?” Claire asks with concern.

“It’s Loretta,” Spencer says. “She got arrested today.”

Both of them lean forward, eyes wide.

“What?” Tim asks. “Why? For what?”

“For the kidnapping,” Spencer says, lowering the volume of his voice. “I don’t know what happened — but I got a call from her lawyer. She’s in custody.”

Claire pushes back her brown hair as she takes this in. “You don’t know anything else?”

Spencer shakes his head. “Not really. I need to figure out what’s up, but…” He trails off, overwhelmed.

“This could change the whole custody case,” Tim says, almost under his breath.

“Maybe. And I think Natalie had something to do with it,” Spencer adds.

Tim cocks his head. “Because of what she told Travis and Molly?”

“I think so. I don’t know. But it has to be that, right?” Spencer flips his head left and right, as if expecting someone might be eavesdropping. “I haven’t talked to her yet.”

“This could be it,” Tim says, turning to face Claire. He grasps her hands. “She could really be locked up.”

Claire lets out a loud exhale. “Yeah. Wow.” Then she turns toward Spencer. “How are you feeling about this? Are you okay?”

He hesitates before admitting, “I guess. I know she’s caused all of you a lot of trouble, and…”  He pauses, pulling a long breath through his nostrils. “I don’t know. It’s weird.”

“That’s okay,” Tim says. “It must be strange for you.”

“Thanks for telling us,” Claire says. “I know she raised you…”

“And I know she hurt all of you,” Spencer responds. “If she was behind taking that baby away from Molly and Brent… it’s no that different from what she did to Travis and me. So maybe the best thing is for her to be behind bars.”

—–

In the lobby of the hospital, Rosie Jimenez and Travis Fisher sit at a small, circular table, picking at halves of a sandwich that neither of them feels interested in eating even though they know they should consume something.

“This is not where I expected we’d be spending the rest of the day,” Travis comments.

Rosie tilts her head to one side. “Kind of makes court not look as awful, huh?”

Just as Travis is acknowledging this with a sigh, he spots his sister entering through the hospital’s main entrance. He springs to his feet.

“Sam!” he calls, waving.

Samantha Fisher takes a moment to register the greeting and then hurries toward Travis and Rosie.

“Any news?” she asks breathlessly as Travis hugs her.

“Dad, Aunt Molly, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Jason went in to see her a few minutes ago,” Travis explains. “Sounds like it was a heart attack. They already did surgery.”

“And she’s doing all right?” Samantha asks, as Rosie stands and embraces her sister-in-law.

“It sounds like surgery went okay,” Rosie answers. “We don’t know much else yet.”

Samantha takes a step back and shakes her head at the unbelievability of the entire situation.

“What actually happened?” she inquires. “You were all in court?”

“It was during a recess,” Travis explains. “Elly called a, uh, surprise witness.”

Samantha squints. “Uh-oh. Who was it?”

Rosie and Travis exchange a troubled look.

“Someone Rosie used to know,” Travis says quickly, waving the whole thing away with her hand. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does,” Rosie cuts in. “Elly put someone on the stand to testify about my family history, and my dad’s death, and basically to make me look as unfit a parent as possible. We all got into it during the recess, and your grandma…”

“It was the stress that did this to her,” Samantha finishes the thought. “Why would Elly be so vicious?”

“It wasn’t only Elly who did this,” Travis says. “It was the people who put her up to it: Aunt Molly and Uncle Brent.”

—–

After the doctor finishes evaluating Paula, Jason returns to her hospital room to visit her.

“Hey, Mom,” he says softly. “How are you feeling?”

“Jason, dear.” She sounds rather out-of-breath. “Hi. I’m all right.”

“I just wanted to check on you now that the doctors are done.”

“It’s… it’s wonderful to see you.”

He finishes gently closing the door, then turns back to look at her. She looks tired and, as much as it shocks him to admit it, old. He would never say it aloud to her, but it is a strange thing to see his own mother as such an elderly woman. She looks so much like he remembers his own grandmother — who passed away when he was very young — looking.

“We are so happy that you’re okay,” Jason says as he moves to her bedside. “You’re going to be fine, once you rest up.”

“I think so. Yes.” Though the gesture appears a bit pained, Paula smiles. “I know this sounds crazy, but I had the strangest experience.”

“Strange? What do you mean?”

Her head thrust back against the pillow, Paula scans the ceiling for a long moment. “It was so real. It’s almost as if I really did see them.”

“Them?” Jason asks. “Who?”

“Your brother,” she says. “And your father. And– well… never mind.”

“You saw Dad? And Ryan?”

“Yes.” The smile returns, less anguished this time. “I spoke with them, and I– I touched them. I hugged them. It was all so real, dear.”

He considers this for several seconds before responding, “Maybe you did. Maybe they were visiting you.”

“They were. They must have been. They’re the ones who told me…”

“Told you what?”

“That I had to come back,” Paula says. “And then I woke up. Does that sound crazy? I’m sure it does.”

“It doesn’t sound crazy at all.” Jason takes her hand and holds it between both of his. “Maybe Dad and Ryan really did send you back to us, Mom. Because they know how much we all need you.”

“I need you all, too,” she says, squeezing his hand back with as much strength as she can muster right now.

—–

Back in the waiting area, Sarah is talking on her iPhone by a window that overlooks the hospital’s parking lot.

“Don’t leave work,” she is saying. “She’s out of surgery and awake. Finish up what you need to do. You can come visit her later, or tomorrow.” She listens as Matt, who is on the other end of the call, responds. “I’ll be okay. I promise. I’ll see you at home, okay?”

After Matt tells her that he loves her, she responds, “I love you, too,” and then hangs up the call.

“Was that Matt?” Tim asks as he approaches his sister.

She nods. “He was trying to insist on leaving the restaurant to come be here with us, but I told him it isn’t necessary.”

“He wants to support you,” Tim tells her.

Sarah smiles gratefully. “Yeah. And he’s worried about Mom. I appreciate it. But there’s not that much he can do now, you know?”

“Yeah. Listen… there’s something else going on.”

She uses one hand to push back her dark blonde hair. “What else could possibly happen again?”

“Loretta got arrested.”

Tim drops this declaration and then stands back, folding his arms, as he waits for Sarah to react.

“She what?” she finally manages to ask. “For the kidnapping?”

“Mm-hmm. Do you know what that means?”

“That we can all breathe a little easier tonight?” But almost before she finishes the reply, her eyes widen. “Sonja.”

“Right,” Tim says. “If Loretta is behind bars and is no longer a threat…”

“Then maybe we can convince Sonja to come back. She and TJ wouldn’t have to be in that safehouse anymore.”

“And she wouldn’t have to live in fear every second of the day. This could change everything.”

“Tim, this is great news.” Sarah moves forward and gives him a hug. “I know I haven’t had much luck yet, and I’m sorry about that–“

“It isn’t your fault.”

Her facial expressions are stiff, as if she doesn’t quite believe him. With resolve, she says, “Getting the word out about this could make all the difference. If Sonja hears about the arrest, maybe we can convince her to get in touch, if nothing else. She’s not the one who’s in trouble.”

“I might finally get my son back,” Tim says, a note of irrepressible hope spilling into his voice. “And this time, I’m never letting him out of my sight again.”

END OF EPISODE 1202

Will Loretta’s arrest bring Sonja and TJ back?
Can Natalie breathe easier with Loretta behind bars?
Is Paula’s recovery the key to mending the Fishers?
Discuss all this and more in the comments below!

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