Previously…
– An earthquake struck King’s Bay. Isaac and Sienna were trapped in the hospital elevator with Noelle but made it out okay, though Diane was disturbed to find them together.
– A guilt-ridden Sonja, fearing she might not see her son again, told Spencer that there was something else she had to confess to him.
– Jason was rushed to the hospital after suffering burns, while Landon managed to find help to free Lucy from beneath the rubble in the parking garage.
– Trapped at the Taylor home after the quake, Rosie went into labor, and Molly began helping her deliver the baby.

Brent Taylor bursts into the living room. “Molly!”

“Get me some towels!” Molly shouts from beside the couch.

“What?!” He takes in the living room, confused. Why is she kneeling? Then his wild eyes see it.

“Towels, Brent!”

There, on the floor, is Rosie, her face flushed and sweaty, in a position in which he never, ever expected to see her. She lets out another anguished cry.

“Oh, God!” she wails. Then, between breaths and groans: “The baby’s coming!”

Brent stares at them. “I– I can tell.”

Molly shoots him a look. “Towels! I need more.”

Brent spins around and hurries toward the stairs. As his footsteps clamber up the steps, Molly shouts after him:

“Not the nice new guest ones I just bought!”

Almost imperceptibly, Rosie rolls her eyes, but then another contraction overtakes her. She squeezes her eyes shut.

“Dios mio!” she blurts out.

“That’s it. Breathe,” Molly coaches her in a soothing tone.

Brent rushes back in with an armful of towels. “These?”

“Perfect,” Molly says. He drops down beside her and begins arranging towels beneath Rosie, around her, on the floor, everywhere.

“You’re really having the baby,” he says to Rosie.

Rosie blinks. “Somehow. Yeah.”

Molly offers a rallying smile. “On this next one, you’re gonna push hard, Rosie. Let’s have this baby.”

—–

Travis Fisher grips the steering wheel as he drives through the damaged streets of King’s Bay.

With a shaky finger, he punches the touchscreen in the center of the dashboard to try Rosie’s number again.

Nothing.

“Come on, Rosie…”

The call drops with an infuriating series of beeps.

Ahead, a police cruiser has blocked the road. Travis slows, looking for a way around.

He spots a narrow side street and turns onto it, bouncing over a chunk of fallen masonry.

His phone rings. His eyes shoot to the display. But all it says is Potential Spam. He is about to ignore it when a thought hits him–

“Rosie?” he asks desperately as he picks up.

“I’m calling about your auto loan,” a robotic voice begins.

He stabs the screen with his finger, silencing the robocall.

“Jesus,” he mutters as he keeps driving. The Taylor house is only a few minutes away. He just has to get there.

Diane Bishop stands near the windows overlooking the hospital parking lot, watching the steady stream of people coming and going below. Isaac Banks joins her.

“You okay?”

Diane turns toward him. “I’m fine.”

He gives her a knowing look.

“What?”

“I saw how you were sizing up Sienna.”

Diane sighs. “She’s your ex.”

“Yes.”

“She’s the mother of your daughter.”

“Yes.”

“And she’s suddenly very dependent on you. You were her hero back there in the elevator.”

Isaac frowns knowingly. “It was a scary situation. We just had a damn earthquake, Diane.”

“I know.”

“But?”

Diane looks away. “I just don’t trust her.”

Isaac is quiet for a moment. Then he looks her square in the eyes. “Do you not trust me?”

“You’re not the one I’m worried about,” she says.

“Then keep that in mind. Sienna’s been a good mother to Noelle. She’s been respectful of our relationship. She even said she’d let us take Noelle to the beach.”

Diane’s expression begrudgingly brightens. “Really?”

“Well, she said she’d think about it. Which is progress.” Isaac reaches for her hand. “I promise I can handle Sienna.”

Diane looks down at their joined hands. “Okay.”

Before Isaac can respond, Samantha and Sophie come around the corner.

“Sophie?” Diane asks at the sight of her daughter’s teen cousin.

“Uncle Jason was just brought in,” Samantha announces.

Diane’s expression changes immediately. “What happened?”

“The stove–” Sophie looks down, shaken. “It– it exploded at the house. He was burned pretty badly.”

Isaac nods, already turning toward the emergency department. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

“Have you called your grandmother yet? Or your Aunt Sarah?” Diane asks the cousins.

Sophie’s head wags from side to side. “No…”

“Let’s do that,” Diane says, almost relieved to have an outlet for her energy.

—–

Inside the prison, Sonja Kahele shifts painfully beside the table in the interrogation room, cradling her recently dislocated arm against her body.

“I didn’t become your nurse by accident.”

Her words hang in the air. Spencer Ragan stares at her, perplexed.

“What?”

Sonja takes a breath. “I was paid to be your nurse.”

“Yeah. By the agency. Who our insurance paid.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “Not just by them. Someone else was paying me. A lot more.”

Spencer’s expression hardens. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Sonja looks him directly in the eyes. “Loretta sent me to interview. She planted me. She wanted me to get hired.”

The statement lies between them. The interrogation room feels airless. Spencer glances around, seeing the prison guard still knocked unconscious on the floor a few yards away. None of this makes sense.

“Loretta sent you? Why? She didn’t trust Tim?”

“She didn’t want you to remember what happened.”

He continues staring, unable to make sense of what she is saying.

“She wanted me to help you recover physically,” Sonja continues. “But she also wanted to make sure your memory of the fall never came back.”

Spencer’s face goes blank. “You’re saying Loretta hired you to keep me from remembering? To keep me from getting better?”

Sonja nods slowly. “I was supposed to help you heal. And make sure you never remembered what happened before your accident.”

Spencer’s mouth opens, but he can’t force a response out of it.

—–

Paula Fisher and Sarah Fisher Gray stand in the hospital lobby, waiting for one of the elevators.

“Is this one working?” Paula asks, pressing the button again.

Sarah looks up at the display. “I think so.” A beat. “Although the other one isn’t.”

Paula glances toward the second elevator, its doors standing open and a small OUT OF ORDER sign taped across the panel.

“Of course,” she says with a sigh.

Before Sarah can answer, the automatic doors at the hospital entrance swing open.

Landon Esco rushes inside behind a stretcher.

“Come on!” he urges the orderlies. “She’s been trapped for a long time. She can’t feel her legs.”

Sarah’s eyes widen. “Landon?”

He looks up. “Sarah. Mrs. Fisher.”

Paula turns toward the stretcher. Lucy Champlain lies beneath a hospital blanket, frightened and pale.

“What happened?” Sarah asks, hurrying toward them.

“This is Lucy,” Landon says, breathless. “Tori‘s friend. And mine.”

“The one who’s been staying at your place,” Sarah says.

Landon nods. “She was trapped in the parking garage after the earthquake. We just got her out.”

Sarah looks at Lucy, then back at Landon.

“Is she going to be okay?”

“I don’t know.” The honesty in his voice stops her. Landon reaches for the side of the stretcher as the orderlies wheel Lucy toward the emergency department. “I’m going with her.”

Sarah nods. “Of course.”

Paula watches as Landon disappears down the corridor with Lucy. She turns to Sarah.

“My goodness,” she says. “More and more horrible news.”

The elevator dings behind them. Neither woman moves at first. Then Paula looks toward the corridor where Landon and Lucy have disappeared.

“Come on,” she says quietly. “Let’s find out what’s happening with Jason.”

—–

Travis pulls his car into the circular Taylor driveway — a place he used to visit all the time, a place that is now so loaded because it’s the place Gabrielle went to live — and barely waits for it to stop before throwing open the door.

He runs toward the house. The front door is already open. He rushes inside.

“Rosie!”

At first, there is no answer. Then he hears his aunt.

“Push. Rosie, push!”

Travis stops in the entryway. For a moment, he just stands there, trying to understand what he’s hearing. Then he rounds the corner into the living room.

Rosie is on the floor, Molly beside her, and Brent is kneeling nearby with a pile of towels.

Travis stares. “What…?”

Rosie looks up at him, exhausted and sweaty. “You’re here.”

His eyes widen. “The baby?”

Rosie manages a tired smile. “The baby.”

A contraction hits. The smile fades as she grabs Molly’s hand.

“Oh, God!”

Molly looks up at her nephew. “You picked a good time to get here. Come here.”

Travis takes another step toward them, his face breaking into a stunned grin.

“You’re about to become a father,” Brent says, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah.” Travis stares at Rosie in wonder. Her face is contorted with effort and agony, her hair matted to her forehead by sweat. He kneels and grasps her other hand.

“Come on, Rosie,” he says, overwhelmed by the swell of love that he feels for her in this moment.

—–

Sarah and Paula step off the elevator onto the hospital’s upper floor. Sarah immediately spots Diane standing near the nurses’ station.

“Diane!”

Diane turns, and the two women hurry toward each other.

“Sarah. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Are you?”

Diane nods, a frazzled exhaustion evident in her brown eyes. “I’m fine. Samantha’s fine. Tempest is fine.”

Sarah exhales. “Thank God.” She looks around the crowded hallway. “This has been the most insane day.”

“You have no idea,” Diane says, then catches herself. “Well… you probably do.”

Sarah gives her a tired smile. “Tori’s okay, too. The Objection building wasn’t badly damaged, although the elevators are out. She stayed there to help.”

“That’s good.”

“What about Tim?” Diane asks.

“I talked to him and Claire. They’re both safe at home. Claire wasn’t on duty when it happened.”

“For once, she might’ve been useful to have around,” Diane comments wryly. “But Isaac is checking on Jason. He said he’d find out what he could.”

Sarah nods, taking a breath. “Good.”

Diane hesitates. “There is… something else.”

Sarah looks at her. Diane glances toward the corridor where Isaac disappeared.

“Sienna. Isaac’s baby mama. Are we still saying baby mama?”

“We can right now.” Sarah’s expression shifts. “What happened?”

Diane shakes her head. Her slightly mussed hair wag behind her. “Nothing. It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”

Sarah gives her a knowing look. “I’m holding you to that.”

Diane manages a grin. “You always do.”

For a moment, the two friends simply stand together amid the noise and confusion of the hospital.

Then Sarah reaches for Diane’s hand. “Come on. Let’s find out how my brother is.”

—–

Spencer stands over Sonja, his eyes blazing.

“You were my nurse.”

Sonja watches him nervously.

“You were supposed to be helping me.”

“I was. I did help you–“

“You were working against me!”

Sonja flinches, and her still-cuffed wrist rattles against the table. “I was following Loretta’s orders.”

“And you took her money.”

This time, Sonja has no answer. She knows that he is right. Spencer shakes his head, anger and disbelief colliding.

“After everything you’ve done, I thought I understood why you killed her. You were trying to save yourself. You were trying to save TJ.”

Shamed, Sonja looks down at the dirty concrete floor.

“But this?” Spencer’s voice cracks. “You were taking money to make sure I stayed…  broken?”

“I didn’t–”

The door suddenly swings open. A guard appears in the doorway.

“Thank god,” Sonja exclaims breathlessly.

Spencer whips around and indicates the unconscious guard who was supervising their visit before the earthquake. “You have to help him. He got knocked out.”

He turns his attention fully away from Sonja, still crouched on the floor beside the table, as the newly arrived guard moves toward his colleague.

Then, with only a single sharp glance back at Sonja, Spencer walks out of the room. Sonja watches him go and then sinks even further into the floor, into herself. For the first time since she began telling the truth, she wonders if she’d been better off keeping it to herself.

—–

Isaac steps out of the emergency department and spots the others gathered in the hallway. Samantha immediately turns toward him.

“How’s Uncle Jason?”

He hurries over to them.

“He’s still being evaluated. But he’s stable.”

Sophie lets out a breath she seems to have been holding for hours. “Is he gonna be okay?”

“We don’t know yet,” Isaac says with honesty that seems painful to him. “The doctors are working on him.”

Paula reaches out and takes Sophie’s hand.

“That’s all we can ask for right now,” the matriarch says. She looks around at the small group that has gathered: Samantha, Tempest, Sophie, Sarah, Diane, and now Isaac.

“So many people have been hurt today,” Paula says quietly. “And there are so many people we still haven’t heard from.”

Sarah nods. Paula looks at each of them.

“Can we pray?”

No one objects. They gather closer. Samantha takes Tempest’s hand. Sarah reaches for Sophie’s. Isaac places a hand gently on Diane’s shoulder.

Paula bows her head. “Dear God, please watch over everyone who has been affected by this earthquake. Please be with those who are hurt, those who are frightened, and those who are still waiting to hear from the people they love.”

Her voice catches slightly. “And please give the doctors, nurses and first responders the strength they need to help everyone who needs them.”

The group remains silent for a moment.

“Keep our families safe,” Paula continues. “And help us remember that even when we don’t know what comes next, we don’t have to face it alone.”

She opens her eyes. “Amen.”

“Amen,” the others echo softly.

Several feet away, Sienna stands near the wall with Noelle in her arms. She has been watching them. Watching the way they hold each other’s hands. The way they close ranks around one another.

Noelle rests her head against her mother’s shoulder, clutching Fluffy. Sienna looks at Isaac. Then at Diane.

For a moment, she seems to consider joining them. But she doesn’t. She simply stands there, holding her daughter, and watches.

—–

A short time later, the Taylor living room is quiet. Rosie lies back against the couch, exhausted but smiling. The baby is nestled in her arms, wrapped tightly in a soft blanket.

Travis sits beside her, staring down at his son as though he still can’t quite believe he’s real.

Molly stands nearby, smiling. Brent enters from the kitchen, the landline receiver in his hand.

“Finally got through. An ambulance is on the way. We’ll get you both checked out.”

“Thanks,” Travis says.

Rosie looks at her husband. “We did it.”

Travis laughs softly. “Yeah. We did. You more than me, that’s for sure.”

He reaches over and gently touches the baby’s cheek. “He’s beautiful.”

Rosie smiles, overcome with emotion. “I know.”

For a moment, neither of them says anything. Then Rosie looks toward Molly and Brent.

“Thank you both.”

“You don’t have to thank us,” Molly says with a shake of the head.

“Yes, I do,” Rosie says. “Both of you.”

Travis nods in agreement. “Thank you. Really. After everything…”

Brent smiles at them. “You’re family. Both of you.”

“And now you have a new member,” Molly says.

Rosie looks down at the baby. “Dexter,” she says softly.

Travis looks at her. “Dexter?”

She nods. “I don’t know. I was lying here in labor, and I kept focusing on the TV.” Travis follows her gaze. The television is still frozen on an episode of Dexter’s Laboratory.

He laughs. “That’s where you got it?”

Rosie shrugs. “It’s what got me through.”

Molly laughs softly. “Whatever works.”

Travis looks back down at his son.

“Dexter Fisher.” He says the name again, more quietly. “Dexter.”

Rosie rests her head against his shoulder. Travis puts an arm around her. Molly and Brent exchange a look.

For the first time in a long time, there is no argument between the couples. No tension. No question about who belongs where. Just a family and a brand-new baby.

They sit together in the quiet house, the chaos of the day finally subsiding, listening to Dexter’s tiny, contented sounds.

END OF EPISODE 1315

What did you think of the earthquake arc?
How will Jason be after treatment?
Will Lucy make it out of the hospital okay?
And what’s next for everyone?

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