Previously…
– Tori and Zane reconnected as they mourned the loss of their unborn child.
– The Grays continued to hold vigil over Marcus, who was in critical condition following his and Tori’s car accident.
– Claire was surprised to discover what looked like an engagement ring amongst Brent’s belongings at the hospital.

The numbers above the elevator door light up in green one at a time: 1, 2, 3… Sarah Fisher Gray and her mother watch anxiously as the lit-up buttons tick off the floors until they reach their destination. When the doors open, Paula steps aside, allowing Sarah to exit first with the empty cardboard box cradled in her arms.

“I’m going to be so happy not to have to come here every day,” Sarah says as they wind their way out of the elevator bay and past the nurses’ station.

Paula nods. “It will be good for everyone to have Tori back at home. Now that she’s out of the woods, the real healing can begin.”

They move into the corridor that houses the patients’ rooms. This path has become well-worn and all too familiar to the Fishers recently; the hushed chatter, the constant influx of flowers and balloons, and the nonstop drone of voices over the P.A. system are just standard background noise now.

“Good morning,” Sarah announces as she turns into Tori’s room, the box partially blocking her view. As she lowers it, however, she finds that the scene is not what she expected.

“Someone was up early and ready to get moving, I see,” Paula says.

Tori stands over the bed, carefully organizing a variety of vases full of bright flowers in another cardboard box.

“I want to get out of here as soon as I can,” the young woman, who is now dressed in yoga pants and a zip-up hoodie instead of the hospital gown that has been her constant attire of late, tells them.

“I don’t blame you,” Sarah says. She moves to the bed and sets down the box that she brought with her. “We were going to pack all this stuff up for you, though. You didn’t have to do all this.”

Tori remains tight-lipped for a long moment.

“Did the hospital staff give you a box?” Paula asks. “That was nice of them.”

“Actually,” a male voice says from the doorway, “I did.”

Sarah and Paula both turn to see Zane Tanaka standing there in a black t-shirt and dark jeans.

After a terse beat, Sarah says, “Thanks, Zane.”

“I suppose it does help speed things along,” Paula says. “We’re all so excited to have you back at home, Tori. We could hardly get Billy to go to sleep last night.”

Tori pauses over the box full of flowers and lets out a sigh.

“That’s the thing,” she finally says.

“What do you mean?” Sarah asks, but the pieces are already aligning inside her head.

Zane moves into the room and joins Tori by the bed. He wraps one arm around her shoulders.

“I’m not coming back to your house,” Tori says. “I’m moving in with Zane.”

—–

“There you are! Oh, baby, it’s me. You’re okay!”

Mia Davich Gray can barely hold back her tears as she hovers over the hospital bed where her son lies, his head bandaged and his body hooked up to all manner of machines and monitors. Her husband flanks her, and even his normally more stoic demeanor has given way to emotion, as his eyes brim with tears of relief.

“Your mom and I are right here,” Jake says calmly.

In the bed, Marcus draws deep, labored breaths. His eyelids flutter open and closed, as if scared to commit to one state or another.

“Mom,” he says weakly.

“Yeah, baby. I’m right here.”

Mia clasps his right hand with both of hers. Her nails, which have gone without a manicure ever since Marcus landed in the hospital, gently stroke his dark skin.

“Where…” Marcus pauses to swallow hard, a rough movement that looks painful to both his parents. “Where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital, buddy,” Jake says. “There was a car accident. But you’re fine.”

“The doctors have been taking really good care of you,” Mia explains. “And we’ve been waiting right here for you to wake up.”

Marcus’s brow furrows. “Car accident?”

Jake and Mia can see the gears turning behind his watery brown eyes, as the teenager works to grasp onto a concrete memory and break through the fog of confusion.

“You were driving, and someone hit you,” Jake explains. “You just needed to rest up.”

“Oh. Am I…” Marcus lifts his head only a few millimeters off the pillow as he looks down at his body, covered by a white sheet. His gaze slowly traces its way around the room. “I’m okay?”

“You’re okay,” Mia says, nearly choking on her own emotion. “We’ve been waiting for you to wake up, that’s all.”

“The doctors say you’re gonna be fine,” Jake says. “Just gonna take some time and a lot of rest. But you’ll be back to your old self soon enough.”

Before Marcus can respond, he jolts halfway upright, as though he has just been hit by an electrical shock.

“Tori,” he says in a frantic, raspy voice. “Is she okay?”

“Tori’s fine,” Jake says quickly, avoiding the alarmed expression that he can tell Mia is trying to throw his way. “She’s getting released today, actually.”

“And what about the baby?” Marcus asks. His face is suddenly a tight mask of fear.

Mia continues to squeeze her son’s hand, as a lump forms in Jake’s throat.

“What about Tori’s baby?” Marcus asks again, growing more upset. “Tell me what happened. You have to tell me.”

—–

Claire Fisher closes and locks the door of her apartment. As she kicks off her shoes and places her purse on the nearby console table, she lets out an exhausted sigh. Morning sun spills into the living room, but the main thing on her mind is crawling into bed.

“Good morning,” Tempest Banks says as she strolls into the room from the hallway bathroom. “Or goodnight, for you, I guess.”

Claire smiles as she pulls the rubber band out of her hair, releasing her ponytail.

“Even after all these years, these overnight shifts don’t quite feel natural,” she says. “But I’m glad I caught you before you left for work.”

Tempest, who has been buttoning up her plaid shirt, pauses mid-movement. “Why?”

“Nothing bad,” Claire says with a small laugh. “Just that we’ve been on opposite schedules for a few days.”

“Yeah. Feels like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“I know. How was Pride? I’m sorry I missed it.”

“It was fine. It was cool.”

Tempest resumes buttoning her shirt, but Claire recognizes the tight-lipped response.

“I guess that answers my next question,” she observes.

Tempest lifts her eyes toward Claire. “What do you mean?”

“I was wondering if you’d have any run-ins with Samantha at the parade. Or maybe… reconnect some more?”

Suddenly Tempest is focused extra-hard on the final button on her shirt.

“It sounded like things had eased up between the two of you,” Claire says, adding a hopeful note to her words.

“Wouldn’t hold my breath about that,” Tempest says. Before Claire can ask any kind of follow-up, Tempest adds, “How’s Brent doing?”

“Better now that he’s at home. I’m going to go over there after I sleep for a few hours.” Although the statement is straightforward, a tiny grin plays upon Claire’s lips, something that gets Tempest’s attention.

“Okay, what’s that all about?” Tempest asks, her index finger trained firmly upon Claire.

“What’s what about?”

“That look. Why don’t you tell me what’s really up with you and Brent?”

—–

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Sarah says, but she can tell from Tori and Zane’s expressions that they absolutely are not.

“I’m dead serious, Mom,” Tori replies. “I don’t want this to be some big, dramatic thing.”

Sarah breathes out loudly through her nostrils, though it does little to expel the fire mounting inside her.

“Tori, honey,” Paula says, in a gentler tone. “You’re recovering from major surgery. You’re going to need a lot of care.”

“And I’ll be there right there to do it for her,” Zane says. “All of it.”

Sarah is unable to keep a skeptical scowl from overtaking her face.

“This is my decision, and I’m asking you to respect it,” Tori tells her mother. “For once.”

“This is about your well-being,” Sarah says.

Tori shakes her head in annoyance. “I can lie on a couch and take my pain medication on schedule. Zane will be there if I need anything else. Don’t pretend this isn’t about you controlling my life–”

“I don’t want to control your life,” Sarah cuts her off. “I want to keep you safe.”

“Tori is safe with me,” Zane says.

After a sharp glare at him, Sarah focuses firmly on her daughter. “You can’t really believe that.”

“You’re in no position to tell me who’s good or bad for me,” Tori responds. “Not after what you and Dad have done.”

“Tori, these are your parents you’re talking about,” Paula interjects, maintaining as soft a voice as she can. “You only have two of them.”

The younger woman’s eyes flare wide. “And I only had one baby. Had. Because of what Dad did.”

Sarah and Paula trade anguished looks; neither is able to produce an immediate reply.

“All I’m asking is that you respect what I’m choosing to do,” Tori says as she picks up the canvas tote from the bed. “I’m not living under the same roof with Dad. End of story.”

Zane picks up the box full of flowers and vases as he adds, “I promise I’ll take care of her.”

Every muscle fiber in Sarah’s body wants to leap into the doorway and block them from leaving, but her brain knows that anything she does right now is going to make this worse.

“I’m going to check in every day,” she says instead. “Multiple times a day.”

“That’s fine,” Tori says, though she still sounds irritated.

“I love you,” Sarah calls after her from the doorway.

“Love you, too.” But Tori makes it sound perfunctory, almost grudging, and within an instant, she and Zane are gone.

Sarah turns to her mother in disbelief. “This is a disaster. I can’t let her get sucked back into his web.”

“I don’t like this, either,” Paula says. “But I’m afraid there isn’t much we can do. At least not right now. Everything is too fresh.”

“Zane’s going to hurt her again.”

“I pray that isn’t the case.”

“And I pray that I’ll find a winning lottery ticket in my purse, but that hasn’t happened yet.”

“Sarah.” Paula joins her by the door. “I know you’re upset. I am, too. But the last thing that’s going to help would be to provoke Tori or Zane. Please don’t do anything rash.”

“I’m trying,” Sarah says as she gazes out into the corridor, feeling her restraint slipping through her fingers like a handful of water.

—–

Even the air in Marcus’s hospital room goes completely still.

Horror pries the young man’s weary eyelids open. “Oh, man. No… no.”

Mia tenderly touches her own hand to his forearm. “The doctors did everything they could, but the baby didn’t survive.”

“No.” Tears swell in Marcus’s eyes, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

“What’s important right now is that you get better,” Jake says.

“Get better?!” Marcus’s face contorts with agony. “I killed Tori’s baby!”

“It was an accident,” Mia says.

“I missed the stop sign,” Marcus says. “I remember. I didn’t see it, and– I killed Tori’s baby.”

Jake moves around to the other side of the bed. “You are not responsible for this.”

“I missed the stop sign!”

“You need to stay calm,” Mia says, holding her son’s arm. “You just woke up–”

“I wish I hadn’t.” Marcus sobs in the bed. “I should’ve seen the sign.”

“No one blames you for this,” Jake says.

“It’s my fault,” Marcus manages to say before tears swallow his words.

Mia looks helplessly to Jake.

“We should get a doctor,” she says. “They need to check him out.”

“Yeah,” Jake agrees. Both parents reluctantly leave their son’s bedside.

Out in the hallway, Jake surveys the area for a nurse or orderly.

“I’m not letting him think this is his fault,” he mutters as he leans in closer to his wife. “My brother did this.”

“Not now,” Mia says as she flags down a nurse.

“The last thing Marcus needs is to blame himself for this.”

Mia shoots him a warning look before she gets the nurse’s attention and explains that Marcus is awake.

“Not now,” she repeats quietly to her husband before they return to Marcus’s room.

Jake hangs back for a moment, rage simmering inside him.

“This is your fault, Matt,” Jake says through gritted teeth as he watches the scene inside Marcus’s room.

—–

Caught in Tempest’s stare, Claire opens her mouth to deflect — but no rebuttal comes out.

“You’re a bad liar,” Tempest says with a smirk.

“You’re no Mr. Ripley yourself,” Claire responds.

“Huh?”

“Not important. But like I said, I could tell something happened with you and Samantha at Pride.”

“What happened is that she was on a date with some girl,” Tempest says.

“Oh. Tempest, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Tempest waves away the concern with a swipe of her hand through the air. “All good. You didn’t know. But it’s, like, done, you know?”

Claire’s lips pull together in a tight line as she nods gravely.

“And now I told you,” Tempest says, “so you’ve gotta tell me what’s up with Brent.”

“It’s nothing,” Claire says quickly. “Well, nothing yet. I don’t know.”

“You weren’t smiling like that over nothing. Come on. Spill that tea.”

Claire deliberates privately for a few seconds. “You have to promise to keep this between us.”

“What, you don’t trust me?”

“Of course I trust you. This is just… I don’t think I’m imagining things, but I’m in a weird position.”

Tempest folds her arms across her chest. “This isn’t sounding like something that’d have you smiling like that.”

“It is. Or it could be. I think it is.” Claire draws a deep breath and then releases the explanation quickly: “I found a diamond ring. I think Brent is going to propose.”

“Whoa. Okay, yeah. That’s good. That’s good, right?”

“Of course it’s good. I love Brent.”

“But you were snooping, and you don’t want him to know.”

“I wasn’t snooping. It was with his things at the hospital. He must have had it when he was brought in — and we were supposed to meet for a romantic dinner before he and Molly were kidnapped.”

“So you’re thinking it could happen any time now.”

“If that’s what it was.”

Tempest cocks her head. “You think he’s carrying around some rock for no reason?”

“No, but… I don’t know for sure that it was an engagement ring.”

“I’d bet it wasn’t his.”

“I’m trying not to get ahead of myself. That’s all,” Claire says. “But I’m also excited.”

“Then why don’t you get over there and see him?”

“Because I need to sleep, and because he’s still recovering. For the time being, I’m going to pretend I know nothing at all.”

“And then when it happens–”

“If it happens.”

Tempest rolls her eyes. “–it’ll be a surprise. Kinda.”

“Exactly.”

“Then let me know when he asks, and we’re gonna celebrate,” Tempest says as she picks up her backpack from beside the couch.

“I will. But for now–”

“I told you, you can trust me,” Tempest says. She gives Claire a quick hug before moving for the door. As she opens it to exit, she adds, “In the meantime, I’m gonna pick up some bubbly. Just in case.”

“Just in case,” Claire says with a laugh as she watches Tempest leave.

END OF EPISODE 981

Will Brent go through with the proposal?
Should Sarah have let Tori leave with Zane?
Can Jake forgive Matt for the accident?
Talk about all this and more in the comments!

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