Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 240,879 times)

[heroicmuse]

Week 243 - 1
“What is it?” Sami asked, her eyes wide. She lowered her voice. “It’s not Sydney, is it? Oh God, I knew Nicole couldn’t be trusted to - “

“Sami,” Rafe said, “this doesn’t have to do with Sydney, except that she’s too young to know what to say or not say so I’m doing it before she can.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” Rafe said heavily, “that me and Nicole are dating, and I’d rather you hear it from me than from Sydney.”

Sami’s eyes widened. “So Syd wasn’t the only one having a sleepover last night?”

“Did I say that?”

“You didn’t say I was wrong.”

Rafe crossed his arms. “I wasn’t gonna do that to the poor kid. As it is, chances are 50/50 that she’s gonna avoid slipping up and telling you she knows about me and Nicole, I wasn’t gonna make her keep it to herself that I was over there. Besides, she was there to spend time with Nicole and I wasn’t gonna stand in the way.”

“At least you had that much sense.” Sami turned her back on Rafe.

“Sami, come on,” Rafe said. “You’re happily married, so what difference does it make if - “

“Because you know what that woman did to me! I have to put up with her because Sydney doesn’t think Nicole snatching her away from me means anything except that she has two mommies. She probably gets that from Will, Ari has two daddies so she can have two mommies, right? Anyway, Lucas thinks it’ll ruin things with Sydney if I don’t let her spend time with Nicole once in a while and she’s the only child of mine I haven’t managed to damage beyond repair yet so I do but for you to hook up with Nicole too…”

“It’s not a hookup! It’s not. It’s taken me and Nicole three years to realize we wanted to go beyond friendship and all that time neither of us wanted to make a move cause we didn’t wanna destroy the good thing we had going. Now I’m sorry things didn’t work out between you and me but you know whose fault that is and - ”

“Yeah. EJ. Always EJ.” Sami sighed. Lowering her voice, she said, “Johnny’s upset about his father’s death. Apparently hearing the truth about EJ is too much for him. That’s why he’s been acting out.”

Rafe nodded. “Want me to see what I can do for him?”

Sami hesitated, her face trembling. “This doesn’t mean you’re off the hook for dating Nicole,” she said, “but we’re losing Johnny and you might be his only hope to turn out better than his mother did.”

“Hey.” Rafe’s voice was soft. “You didn’t turn out so bad. You got a great guy in the end, four amazing kids, and a real good friend in me. What else could you ask for?”

“A kid who’s not going off the rails, for one thing,” Sami said. She sighed. “Johnny!” she called. “Get dressed in the next five minutes and Rafe’ll take you to breakfast.”

“I figured,” Johnny said, coming back into the living room. “I’m ready to go.” He smiled the first real smile Sami had seen in ages. “Can we get pancakes?”

“I don’t see why not,” Rafe said, “and if it’s okay with your mom we can go to the park after, shoot a few hoops.”

“Just have him back before dark,” Sami said. “I’d rather not have to expose him to you shooting some mugger where it hurts.”

“I’d rather not expose myself to that either.” Rafe put his hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “Come on, kid.”

Sami watched Rafe go with Johnny. “I hope I made the right decision,” she said to herself. “He is supposed to be grounded until further notice but…” She got her phone and texted Lucas.


Sarah was flipping channels in a bored sort of way. “God, daytime television sucks,” she said to herself. “All game shows and ridiculous stories about insanely evil people who can instantly turn into someone else just by putting on a mask.” She threw the remote down and rubbed the side of her stomach, testing it to see if it still hurt. “When am I gonna get OUT of here?”

“When the doctor feels comfortable letting you go home,” a voice said. Sarah turned to see a new doctor standing there. This doctor didn’t have a lab coat. Instead, she had a mess of brown hair tied into a ponytail and a pair of black-rimmed glasses. “Hi,” the woman said, coming over and holding out her hand. “I’m Karen. I’m an addiction counselor here at Nashville General.”

“Ugh.” Sarah flopped back on her pillow. “My mother sent you, didn’t she? She’s convinced that just because I overdid it this one time, I have a drinking problem.”

“So your mother thinks you have a drinking problem, and I’m guessing that you disagree.”

“Yeah, because I don’t.” Sarah crossed her arms. “So go ahead. Tell me how my liver is failing and if I don’t stop drinking the world is going to end.”

“You said it, not me. Can I sit?”

Sarah shrugged. “You’re going to anyway.”

Karen didn’t, though. She just stood looking at Sarah. “You have more control than you think,” she said. “You prove it every day, choosing to keep drinking despite what your family might think about that choice.”

Sarah bit her lip. “What did my sister tell you?”

“Nothing,” Karen said. “So far you’ve told me you have a mother and a sister who want you to stop drinking and that the doctors have told you your liver is failing. You seemed pretty angry about your liver disease, or maybe about your family wanting you to stop drinking, I don’t know.”

Sarah’s face trembled. “Well, yeah,” she said, recovering. She picked at the stitching on her pillowcase instead. “I said I would stop drinking,” she said. “I just didn’t promise I’d stop forever, that’s all.”

Karen nodded. “But you’re willing to stop temporarily?”

“I don’t want to die.” Sarah bit her lip. “That is, if it’s even true that my liver is all messed up. I have trouble believing it myself but everyone else in this hospital thinks it’s legit so…”

“You’re not sure?”

Sarah shrugged. “Some people might go to extremes to get me to stop drinking.” She picked at the stitching some more. “You know, everyone acts like I like being like this. I don’t. I don’t want to be sick from drinking too much and I definitely don’t want to make everyone worry about me. It just gets out of hand sometimes, that’s all.”

“You don’t like drinking so much you get sick. How much do you drink, usually?”

“Here we go.”Sarah bit her lip again. “I don’t do it all the time. And I wasn’t even planning on it the day my mom came to visit. It’s just, I found some vodka in the refrigerator and I didn’t think it would hurt to drink a little. Only I overdid it.” Sarah sighed. “I guess it would have been better not to drink at all, then there’s no way I could have overdone it. Too late now.”

“So on the one hand you feel like you just need to learn when to stop so that you can drink a little, and on the other you feel like it would be better not to drink at all so you can’t overdo it.” Karen leaned forward. “Now here’s the million dollar question, Sarah. On a scale from 1 to 10, how willing are you to not drink at all?”


“Seriously?” JJ said after Duncan had told him her story. “That’s totally not like Abe Carver at all.”

“Right?” Duncan said. “And you’d think since he’s black too he’d be more sensitive to a false complaint against a black officer, especially since he knows what a piece of trash this Ms. Willis is.” She sipped her beer. “What I wanna know is, what bug got up his ass?”

“Me too,” JJ said. “We were just there, he got a text and took off.”

“Probably about this,” Alison said. “What did he say, exactly?”

“I just told you,” Duncan said. “He said that he couldn’t investigate Hannah Martin’s complaints against Wolfe and not this Willis idiot’s complaints against me cause then it’d be prejudicial.” She shook her head. “I think he’s been a cop too long, the nonsense we have to deal with got into his system somehow.”

JJ and Alison looked at each other. “We gotta get a statement from Abe,” JJ said. “Soon as we do I’ll loop Nicole in.”

“You gonna mention my name?” Duncan asked.

“We don’t have to,” Alison said. “We can keep you anonymous so you can try to save your job.”

“Nah,” Duncan said. “If I’m gonna go in I’m gonna go all in. They wanna kick me off the force cause of this nonsense, but I’m not going down without a fight.”


“Thanks,” Hannah said when Paige handed her her iced coffee. She stirred it with her straw. “Um, you got any advice about job hunting when you got a criminal record?”

“I wish I did,” Paige said. “JJ and I both got internships after our run-ins with the law, but that was through people we knew.”

Hannah sighed. “Guess I’m stuck with whatever stupid job my mom digs up for me at her hospital. I gotta show the probation people proof of a job or else proof I’m looking every week til I find one and Mom thinks it’s the best way. She just texted me she's talking to some doctor she knows right now to get me hired.”

Paige patted her hand. “It won’t be that bad. Maybe you’ll get some new ideas about what you want to do with your life.”

“I KNOW what I want to do with my life. I want to make movies. But there’s no point to that, not when I can’t even leave town.”

Paige frowned. “Did you finish that Salem U application yet?”

“Haven’t even started. You finish yours?”

“No.” Paige sighed. “I still have to write an essay. I was going to do it when I got home today but maybe we should go to the library.”

“What for?”

“So we can both get our applications done,” Paige said.

“I guess,” Hannah said. She finished the last little bit of her coffee and tossed it into the trash as she followed Paige.

[André DiMera]

It’s nice that Sami let Rafe take Johnny out for a while. Hope it helps. It makes sense that Sami wouldn’t be thrilled Rafe and Nicole are together.

I’m gonna guess that that number is 0. Glad Karen’s trying to help, though.

I really hope Duncan doesn’t do anything to jeopardize her career.

Paige, stop trying to avoid writing your essay. If they do go to the library, Paige is just gonna focus more on helping Hannah with hers.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

I don't often agree with Sami, but she's not wrong with her characterization of Nicole.

[lumiforeverandalways]

Great chapter.
Nice to see Sami letting Rafe try and help Johnny.
Sami is right about Nicole

[heroicmuse]

Week 243 - 2

The kids all ran towards the table the waitress had set up for them. “I want to sit next to Chase!” Claire announced.

“Way to be super obvo,” Ciara said, rolling her eyes. She grinned. “Chase should sit between you and Allie.”

“HEY!” Hope said. “First of all, we’re not going back to when you were five years old. All of you are old enough to know how to behave in a restaurant. And Ciara - “

Ciara’s eyes narrowed. “What’d I do now? Breathe too hard?” She threw herself into a seat.

“Assuming facts not in evidence,” Aiden said. “You don’t have any idea what your mom was going to say. Sit up properly and listen to her.”

“I do know what she was going to say,” Ciara said, glaring at her silverware. “Any time a sentence starts with my name it means Mom wants to remind me that I’m the worst child in the history of the world.”

“I see she hasn’t lost her gift for exaggeration,” Aiden said to Hope.

“Not at all,” Hope said. She turned towards Ciara. “I’m guessing you didn’t get enough sleep last night. Hopefully you’ll - “

Ciara’s eyes lit up. “Can I have coffee? SInce I’m exhausted and everything?”

“There she is,” Aiden said. “I knew the Ciara we know and love was in there somewhere.”

Ciara rolled her eyes. “No, I’m a fake created by the Dimeras.”

Allie’s eyes widened. “The Dimeras can create fake people?”

“She was joking, honey,” Hope said.

“But they can, for real,” Ciara said, leaning over Chase to talk to Allie. “My dad caught a fake version of Rafe once who was doing all sorts of crazy things.” She stared down into her plate. “Sorry, Aiden.”

“For what?” Aiden asked.

“For reminding you that my mom loved someone else before you.”

“So what?” Chase said. “My dad loved my mom before Hope, but they were wrong for each other.”

“My dad and mom were right for each other!” Ciara snapped. “He’d still be alive if Mom hadn’t driven him away!”

Everyone turned and stared at her. Ciara felt like sliding under the table but instead she glared back at her mom.


“Now what?” Alison asked after Duncan left. “I’d feel really awkward going to Abe Carver and asking him if he suspended Officer Duncan because she’s black, considering that he is too.”

“Yeah,” JJ said. “She got it wrong, she had to have. Abe’s by the book but he doesn’t put up with BS. Back in my wild days he wasn’t afraid to tell me exactly what he thought of what I was doing to myself. I was so screwed up I figured he was only riding my ass as a favor to my mom but he was trying to straighten me out before he had to slap cuffs on me for something serious.” He stared down at the table. “Anyway, no way he took Duncan’s gun just cause some bitch made a stink. There’s gotta be more to it than that.” His phone buzzed. “You want me to come with you to talk to Abe?”

“I guess,” Alison said. She sighed as JJ's phone buzzed. “I’d rather be looking into what Kelsey’s up to but business before pleasure, right?”

JJ glanced at his phone. "Um, Alison - "

“I know, I know. I’m a hypocrite. I told you not to snoop around Commander Carver’s desk and I’m planning to spy on my girlfriend.”

“It’s not that,” JJ said. “It’s… check your phone.”

“Why?”

“Cause I just got a text from Dr. Blanton and I thought you might have got one too. Contest results are in and he wants me to come to his office so he can give me the news in person. “


At the hospital, Maxine was smiling to herself while she organized her files.

She and Abe walked down the block together towards their cars. “Well, I guess this is it,” Abe said. “I want to thank you for a very nice time today.”

Maxine patted her hair, smiling slightly. “The pleasure is all mine. I’d invite you to my apartment for coffee but…”

“I’d have to take a raincheck anyway. I don’t want to leave Theo with Roman too long. He’s not very good with deviations from his routine, I’m afraid, and the party may have been too much for him to begin with without adding an extra variable into the equation.”

“No explanation needed. I do like a man who is so dedicated to his child.”

“Theo doesn’t have anyone but me,” Abe said. “Lexie was far better with him than I could ever dream of being, but I try my best for him.”

“You’re as humble as you are heroic. Let me tell you something, Superdad, you’re a lot more than the father who was forced to step up. You love that boy with all your heart and there’s not a moment that goes by that you’re not thinking about his special needs and how to make life easier for him. And all that on top of running that police department, trying to keep it in tip-top shape, which isn’t easy given the bad habits so many of your officers have got into.”

“Most of them are good people that make it easy to do my job,” Abe said, “but I do thank you for the compliment.” He leaned forward like he was going to kiss Maxine, then suddenly held out his hand. “I’ll see you around, I’m sure.”

“Oh, I’m sure you will,” Maxine said to herself now. “Sooner rather than later if I have anything to say about it.”

Someone cleared his throat. Maxine flinched. “Oh. Brady. Sorry. I didn’t see you standing there.”

“Clearly,” Brady said. “Listen, Philip and Chloe need to check their little girl in for surgery and they’re both nervous wrecks. So do you think you could actually do your job instead of daydreaming about whatever you’re daydreaming about?”

Maxine looked him in the eye. “I’m not sure who you think you’re talking to, but it can’t be me, cause Brady Black knows better than to talk to me that way.”

“I’m sorry,” Brady said, “but like I said, Philip and Chloe are anxious to get this over with and I guess so am I.”

“I’ll be right there to get little Charley all signed in and ready to go,” Maxine said. “You just have a seat.” Brady stood there for a second, but Maxine raised her eyebrows at him and he turned and walked away.

“‘Could you do your job instead of daydreaming?’” Maxine mumbled to herself. “I’m the hardest working nurse on this floor! Excuse me for having a reason to have a smile on my face while I do it.” She shook her head and picked up Charley’s folder before she went to meet Philip and Chloe.


On the other side of the hospital, Chelsea lay back on the exam table while the ultrasound technician put some gel on her stomach. She was very clearly pregnant now and as she lay there staring at the ceiling, she hoped she could get up without help afterwards, since Max hadn’t been able to come with her.

“You okay?” the technician asked as she winced.

“Yeah, just cold.”

“Sorry about that.” The technician plugged a probe into a computer system. “This’ll only take a minute.” The technician put the probe over Chelsea’s belly, staring at his computer screen as he moved the probe. “Hold your breath for a second.” Chelsea did and the technician took more images. “And breathe. Good. Can you roll over onto your side?”

Chelsea felt more and more uncomfortable as the ultrasound continued. Finally, the technician put the probe away and wiped the gel off.

“Are we done?” Chelsea asked.

“I’m going to ask you to wait a few minutes while I talk to the doctor,” the technician said. “She may want to see you.”

“Why?” Chelsea asked as the technician began rolling his computer cart out of the room. “What’s going on? Is something wrong with my baby?”


In a hotel room in Kentucky, Eduardo was getting into the clothes the ISA had given him. He’d already put on a plaid shirt and rolled up his sleeves and was putting on his jeans now.

He stared in the mirror as he pulled his pants up. The fake glasses he’d been given to wear made him look strange to himself. He supposed he looked more like the kind of guy who would be willing to pay for a baby stolen from its mother this way, but he didn’t like them. He pulled them off again, thinking.

There was a knock on the door. Eduardo put the glasses back on and said, exaggerating his Spanish accent, “Who it is?”

“It’s time for your English lesson, Senor,” a female voice said from the other side of the door.

That was the code that the ISA had told him his partner would use. Eduardo opened the door a crack and said something in Spanish, then opened it all the way.

The ISA agent they had sent to work with him was a white woman, short, with black hair that was surely dyed to cover some grey. She locked the door and said, quietly, “Agent Hernandez. I’m Agent Billie Reed. I’ve been asked to play the part of your wife in this undercover operation.”

[lumiforeverandalways]

Great chapter
This is the one time I will say poor Ciara

[André DiMera]

Ah, I was wondering if this had something to do with Bo. This’ll be interesting!

Can’t wait to hear who won the contest!

Brady was kind of rude to Maxine. Glad she told him off.

I really hope there’s nothing wrong with Chelsea’s baby! Wonder what the doctor will say.

Billie’s back! And she’s pretending to be Eduardo’s wife? This is gonna be good!

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

Brady was unnecessarily nasty to Maxine. Seems like she's a little bit smitten with Abe.

[heroicmuse]

Week 243 - 3
“Thank you for coming in so quickly,” Dr. Blanton told JJ. “I guess you’re as eager as I am to hear the news I have to give you.”

“More nervous than anything,” JJ said. “It’s okay if I didn’t make it. I didn’t expect to, it’s only my second year and I kinda threw this together in a hurry.”

“I would not recommend saying that when you talk to the judges during the next round.” Dr. Blanton smiled. “Congratulations, JJ. You will be going to the Capitol for the state level competition.”

JJ grinned. “No way!”

“Yes way,” Dr. Blanton said. “You may be surprised, but I am not. You have done exemplary work from the moment you set foot in my classroom and I hope I am not going too far out of bounds by saying that I believe if your father was here he would be very proud of you.”

JJ reddened. “I wish he was here. I could totally see the smile on his face.” He sighed. “I’ll do the next best thing and tell Uncle Steve. I’m supposed to be working with him on this Paula Jefferson thing anyway.”

“Don’t let me keep you. But before you go, I want to make sure you have the information you need for Round 2. This round will take place at Northwestern University. You will be attending a conference there, as both a guest and a presenter. All state-level competitors will be part of a panel discussion about the role of journalism in the 21st century and will also have a private interview with a panel of state judges. The judges will grade your performance in both these events to determine who moves on to the final round in New York. In addition, you will have the opportunity to meet people who work in our industry from all over the state and ask questions about what they do. There will be a meet-and-greet specifically for this purpose and time after each presentation you will have time to meet the presenters. I will be emailing you information about how to make the most of this opportunity and I want you to feel free to come see me if you have any questions before the conference.”



Agent Maxwell was looking at Duncan’s file when Abe knocked on her door. “Commander Carver,” she said, smiling slightly. “Please, come in. What can I do for you?”

Abe crossed his arms as he came in. “I heard you’re going to talk to Miranda Willis about her allegations against Lisa Duncan.”

“Yes. I am. And afterwards I will talk with Officer Duncan and then make a determination.”

Abe nodded. “I spoke with Officer Duncan myself, as you know. And I also reviewed her bodycam footage.”

“Yes, I am aware of that. I will be taking that evidence into account along with the evidence I am gathering today to determine whether Officer Duncan behaved in any inappropriate manner during Miranda Willis’ arrest.”

“I am sure you will. I am also sure - “

“Commander Carver.” Maxwell took her reading glasses off. “I’m sorry, but I must remain impartial. I cannot allow even the appearance of bias towards an officer. Otherwise my decision not only in this case but in all the cases I have handled will be called into question. So I cannot talk to you about Officer Duncan’s potential guilt or innocence in this matter.”

“Of course,” Abe said. “But be that as it may, I’d like to observe your interview of Ms. Willis. I won’t question her myself or interfere with your investigation in any way, but - “

“Did you not hear me? I can’t afford even the appearance of impropriety.”

“Hear me out,” Abe said. He leaned forward. “I suspect that Ms. Willis is retaliating against my officer because she arrested her instead of the black girl she called 911 on for no reason.”

“And if that’s the case, it will be borne out by the facts after a thorough investigation.”

“And that investigation should include the presence of the first black Deputy Commissioner of Police in the history of Salem. If Ms. Willis is in fact a racist, her response to my presence in the room will help tell the story.”

“Not necessarily. I am sure that if that’s the case, Ms. Willis is smart enough to hide it when confronted by the Deputy Commissioner of Police. This plan will do nothing but muddy the waters.”

“Muddy the waters. That is an interesting turn of phrase, all things considered.”

Agent Maxwell stood. “Commander Carver. It is my job to investigate this citizen’s complaint. Not yours. And we will do it my way.”

Abe’s eyes flashed. “I certainly hope that your way will take all factors into consideration, including the fact that we have a prejudiced person at the heart of this who is angry that she did not get away with using 911 as a weapon against a black teenager.”

“And I certainly hope that after having worked together for as long as we have that you trust me to do my job! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to prepare for Ms. Willis’ arrival.”

“Of course.” Abe stood too. He locked eyes with Agent Maxwell for just a second, then turned and walked away.

Outside in the hall, he said to himself, “I suspended Duncan because I had to follow procedure. I just hope that I didn’t make a very big mistake.”


Ciara looked away as Hope stared at her. Hope said, quietly, “I think you’d better explain what you mean by that, Ciara Alice.”

Ciara shrugged. “Shouldn’t we talk about this at home?”

“Probably,” Hope said, “but you didn’t seem to have a problem airing whatever dirty laundry you think we have in front of your friends so you can explain what the hell you’re talking about in front of them too.” Ciara crossed her arms and Hope sighed, giving in even though she didn’t like giving her daughter so much power. “All right,” she said. “Come over here with me and we’ll settle this privately.”

Ciara’s eyes were wide as she pushed her chair out. “I didn’t mean I don’t like you,” she told Aiden. “I swear I didn’t.”

“Never crossed my mind that you did,” Aiden said. “But obviously you got stuff to work out. Go with your mom.”

Ciara shuffled her feet the whole way.

Chase stared down into his plate. “You and Hope are still going to get married, aren’t you?”

“Course we are,” Aiden said. “You think we’re gonna let one offhand comment tear us apart?” He ruffled Chase’s hair, then picked up his menu. “Let’s figure out food while we’re waiting for them to come back.”

“I want pancakes,” Allie said, “but not the kind with fruit in them.”

“Not even peaches?” another voice said.

Allie turned to see Johnny was standing between the tables sneering at her.


Hannah’s eyes darted all over the place as she and Paige walked into the library. Paige said, “I’m not sure if you can use the computers with a card from East Salem, you might need to get a visitor’s pass first.”

“Right,” Hannah said, her voice flat.

Paige glanced at her, then away. “You okay?” she asked, then remembered she was supposed to be focusing on herself. But it wasn’t wrong to check in on a friend who seemed freaked out. Was it?

“Yeah. It’s just, this library is so big. The one in East Salem wasn’t much better than what we had when we were locked up.”

Paige patted her hand. “I’m sorry you don’t have a real library.”

“It’s real!” Hannah’s voice rose slightly. She swallowed hard, sure everyone was staring at her. “There’s just not a lot of money for books over there, that’s all. I don’t know why my mom insists on living in the poorest town in the world, you’d think we had no money at all the way she does things.” She sighed. “Anyway, let’s get me that visitor pass or whatever, I guess.”

They went up to the circulation desk. Hannah said, “I’m not from Salem proper, do I need a pass to use the computer?” She took out her library card. “I got a card from East Salem and everything.”

The librarian frowned and Hannah thought she saw her stiffen when she said East Salem. “You’ll need a visitor pass. Let me see some ID.”

Hannah gave it to her. The librarian took her time writing out the visitor pass. “Here,” she said as she gave it to her. “If you take out books you need both this pass and your East Salem card. Non-patrons are limited to using the computers for two hours. No eating or drinking, no loud talking, and absolutely no using the computers for gang activity or any other illicit purpose."

Hannah’s eyes flashed but she made herself say, quietly, “Got it.” She didn’t want to risk getting accused of having an attitude again and thrown out of the library or worse.

“Can you believe her?” she said under her breath to Paige as they headed to the computer room. “There anyone in Salem who doesn’t think I’m in a gang cause of the color of my skin?”

Paige frowned. “I’m sure that’s not what she thinks. She probably has to say that to everyone.”

“Not in that way she doesn’t.” Hannah threw herself into a seat. “But forget it, I don’t want to waste the little time she was so nice as to let me have on this computer.” She clicked the mouse angrily, wondering if there was really any point to filling out an application for Salem U or anywhere else.

[lumiforeverandalways]

Great Chap
Hopefully Ciara can talk to Hope
Poor Allie

[André DiMera]

Yes! I’m so glad that J.J. won the contest!! That’s awesome!!

I have a feeling Abe did make a mistake, even if he was going by the book. I also hope Maxwell is fair during her investigation.

Of course Johnny and Rafe would turn up at the same restaurant so he can torture Allie more. I hope Ciara tells the truth to Hope.

I can see how what the librarian said could be taken the wrong way, but I think Hannah’s just assuming that she’s being racist because a lot of people have been lately. Paige, stop hyperfocusing!

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

I'm so happy JJ is advancing to the next level!

[heroicmuse]

Week 243 - 4

Hope had taken Ciara to the alcove where the bathrooms were. It wasn't exactly private but when Ciara complained, Hope said it was this or the car so Ciara gave in.

"Now," Hope said quietly, "what did you mean about me driving Daddy away?"

"Nothing." Ciara looked away. "What does it matter anyway? He's gone and you're marrying Aiden. Not that I don't want you to."

"It matters because obviously it's bothering you."

Ciara shrugged. Hope said, "Okay. Maybe we should call Marlena and you can tell her whatever it is that you're afraid to tell me."

"No!" Ciara's eyes flashed. "I'm not that messed up in the head. Am I?"

"You're angry all the time. You're mean to your cousin for no apparent reason. And apparently you have some deep seated beliefs about your father's death that might be driving this obnoxious behavior. There is no shame in asking for help, Ciara Alice. None at all."

"Not from Marlena."

"Who, then?"

Ciara shrugged. "I dunno. I wouldn't mind it if Paige was my sister."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "I'll ask her if she minds me giving her number to you. But she's not a professional, sweetie. She's just someone you look up to."

"Whatever," Ciara said. "Can we go sit down now?"

Hope sighed. "I really want to clear this up first. I didn't drive your father away. He just wasn't able to stay home. That wasn't anyone's fault. It's just how he was built. He loved going all over the world, honey, and it wasn't because he didn't love us."

"Yeah but you took me away from him. Don't you remember? We moved into Grandpa's house and you kept telling Daddy to stay away. And then he gave up and moved on with that stupid Carly."

"You have your story mixed up. Yes, Daddy and I separated for a little while, but we got back together. Then when Grandma Caroline got sick, Daddy decided to travel the world looking for a cure for her and he got mixed up with some bad guys and couldn't come home."

“It still wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t break up our family,” Ciara said. “I hope you don’t do the same thing with Aiden.”

“Ciara…”

“I’m going back to the table.” Ciara stomped away, leaving Hope standing there looking worried.


Sarah scowled. “I knew it. I knew it was coming eventually. I know it’s your job to make me stop drinking, but I already told you that I was going to! Why isn’t that good enough?”

“First of all,” Karen said, “it’s not my job to make you stop drinking. It’s my job to help you decide for yourself what you want to do about your drinking. Because it is up to you, and only you can make the choice to work on moderation or abstinence or whatever you decide to do. Now, if you have already made the decision, what is the harm in assigning a number to how willing you are to follow through?”

“It would be nice if anyone believed me,” Sarah said petulantly.

“Believed you about what?”

“Drinking. Or not drinking. Whatever.” Sarah glared at Karen. “My mother was in here earlier. My dear, sweet mother, who has been sober for 30 years because she goes to meetings night and day. You know what she had to say?” Sarah put on a high pitched voice. “‘Alcoholism is a disease, Sarah. You have to go to AA with me or you’re going to die.’ I don’t need stupid AA! That’s her, not me. I SAID I wasn’t going to drink and right now I’m stuck in this stupid hospital so I couldn’t if I wanted to anyway.”

“You have a lot of resentment towards your mother. You feel your way is better than hers and you’re managing your drinking by staying in the hospital so you can’t drink.”

“I didn’t say that. Stop twisting my words.”

“It’s a logical extension of what you’re saying. Sarah, AA is not the only way to stop drinking. It works for your mom and that’s wonderful -- for her. But you are not her and you don’t have to do what she does if you don’t want to.”

“Good, because I don’t want to and I’ll never go to AA. All that idiotic God talk, like God cares if I drink or not.”
Karen raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think God cares if you drink?”

“How can he? He doesn’t exist.” Sarah looked away. “If he did he wouldn’t have let me find that vodka the other day.”

“You keep going back to that vodka. Was that the last time you drank?”

“Yeah, and it’s the last time I’m going to. I woke up in some stupid alley with the world’s worst headache. Someone hit me over the head and took my purse. I’d be an idiot to want to keep drinking after that.”

“It must have been scary to wake up and find you’d been the victim of a crime you didn’t remember.”

“And yet my willingness to stop drinking isn’t a perfect 10. What is WRONG with me?”

“Nothing is wrong with you. You’re used to drinking and change is hard. Okay, so it’s not a perfect 10. What IS it?”

“A 3.” Sarah’s eyes darted away from her counselor’s. “Go ahead, judge me, because honestly, even though it’s probably the worst idea in the world, if someone came in here with a six-pack of beer I would love them forever.”

“So you’d like someone to bring you some alcohol even though part of you feels it’s not a good idea to drink. Let me ask you this, Sarah. What makes your desire to stop drinking a 3 instead of 1?”

Sarah raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you mean instead of a 5 or 7?”

“No,” Karen said. “I mean instead of a 1. You could have chosen any number. You chose 3. That means that while your desire to stop isn’t as high as you wish it was, it’s not completely non-existent either. So let’s look at that. What are the reasons that you want to stop?”



Charley had been checked in and changed into a hospital gown and the nurses were taking her vitals as part of her final pre-op check.

“Everything looks good,” Maxine told Philip and Chloe. “You want me to give you a minute with her before we take her to the OR?”

“Please,” Chloe said. Maxine nodded and left the room.

Chloe kissed the top of Charley’s head. “In a few minutes, the doctor is going to come take you to a special room, sweetheart,” she said, her voice shaking, “and give you some medicine to help you go to sleep, and then when you wake up you’ll be all better and Mommy and Daddy will come see you in your hospital room.”

“Mommy sad,” Charley said, uncertainly.

“Mommy wishes you didn’t have to have an operation,” Chloe said. “But it’ll be all right.”

“That’s right,” Philip said, taking her hand. “You’ll come through this with flying colors cause that’s what Kiriakises do.” He turned towards Chloe and said under his breath, “God, I sound just like my father.”

“Nah,” Chloe said. “He’d use the Greek pronunciation.” She smiled slightly.

“Sing,” Charley said.

Chloe leaned over her bed and began singing:

Five little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
“Quack, quack, quack, quack.”
But only four little ducks came back.

Charley smiled as Chloe went on singing.

As the song ended, Maxine came back in. “It’s time.”

“Oh.” Chloe sighed. “Can we walk with her to…”

“You can walk partway down the hall with her but it might be easier just to say goodbye here.”

Chloe hugged and kissed Charley, remembering hugging and kissing Parker before his heart surgery. Philip hugged Charley too and said, “See you later.”

“Mommy come, Daddy come.” Charley said as Maxine began wheeling the gurney away.

“I wish we could,” Chloe said. “But we’ll see you soon.”

Charley began to cry. “Mommy come!”

Maxine smoothed back her hair. “Ssh… Mommy and Daddy will be right there when you wake up.”

But Charley kept crying as the gurney was wheeled away. Chloe put her hand to her mouth to stop her own tears. She leaned on Philip, unhappily.


Hannah stared at the clock on the bottom of her screen. “I only got 10 minutes left,” she said. “You sure this is gonna save so I don’t have to start all over? Cause I’m not gonna finish.”

“Click the green button here,” Paige told her. “That’ll save it. But I’m sure if you need a few extra minutes - “

“It’ll probably cut off,” Hannah said. “And even if it doesn’t, the librarian said two hours so I don’t want to take a minute more. All I need’s someone complaining I was on the computer longer than I’m allowed. For all I know that’s a violation of my probation too.”

“There’s plenty of computers here,” Paige said. “No one’s waiting for yours.”

“Yeah, well, I can’t risk it anyway.” Hannah clicked Save, annoyed. “This application takes forever, if they didn’t need to know all this stuff I’d be done already except for the stupid essays.”

“What’d you do about the criminal record question?” Paige asked.

Hannah wriggled. “The truth. I told them I was on probation for something stupid.”

“Let me see it.”

Hannah scrolled up. Paige read it, frowning. “You can’t say it like that, Squeaky. They’ll think you’re immature.”

“It’s true, though,” Hannah said. “And if they don’t want me cause I won’t lie about being locked up over nothing that’s their problem.”

“Squeaky - “

“My time’s about up,” Hannah said. She closed the application before Paige could say another word.

[André DiMera]

Ah, so this goes back quite a bit. I hope Ciara and Hope talk more about this.

I’m kind of surprised that Sarah even chose a 3. Wonder how she’s gonna answer this question.

Glad Charley is having the operation. This has to be so hard for Philip and Chloe!

I’m...conflicted over this scene. On the one hand, while it’s nice that Paige is helping Hannah, did she do any of her own actual work? Because it doesn’t seem like she did. She just spent the whole time once again over focusing on Hannah. Also, Hannah needs to learn that there’s a difference between not lying and being a smarta** about things. I get that it’s unfair that she has to do this, but she’s being extremely immature.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

Chloe didn't do Charley any favors by saying she wishes she didn't have to have the operation. Children reflect their parents' emotions.