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Post by fluffysmom on Feb 2, 2015 21:32:37 GMT -5
I liked Abby and Jennifer's conversation. That was smart thinking of Eve. I wonder if her plan will work.
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Post by heroicmuse on Feb 3, 2015 5:29:26 GMT -5
“Sorry, Eve," Hope said. "There’s no law requiring homeless people to seek shelter. If you really don’t want her in your home, your only option is to call 911 if she won’t leave.”
“Even though she might be putting her baby in danger by staying out there on the streets?”
“Look, if she seems like she’s a danger to herself or her unborn child, we can get her into a hospital for a few days. But otherwise, I’m sorry, there’s really nothing I can do. Now I really can’t spare another minute, Eve, so if you don’t mind…”
“Of course. You’ve been more helpful than you realize.”
Eve walked out of the station. “A mental health hold might be just what the doctor ordered,” she said to herself. She made a face. “I hate to go that far, but if you leave me no choice, Jill, that’s just what I’ll have to do.”
The lab technician had already brought in the portable X-ray machine by the time Chloe and Daniel got back to Parker’s room. The technician handed them lead aprons and told them to put them on.
“So what’s this test for again?” Chloe asked as she put hers on.
“The doctor’s going to take a look at the size of his heart,” the lab technician explained. “We’re going to need him to lie still; can one of you hold him?”
“I’ll do it,” Chloe said. The lab tech showed her exactly how he needed Parker to lie so that she could hold him still. Daniel took his hand.
“I don’t like it,” Parker said when the X-Ray machine began to hum. He started to cry. “No, no, I don’t like it.”
“It’s okay,” the lab tech said. “Just keep holding him. Crying won’t mess up the results.”
“No,” Parker sobbed, working his way up to a tantrum. “no, no, no, make it go away.”
“Ssh…” Chloe was blinking back her own tears. “It’ll be over in just a second, it’s okay…”
The X-ray flashed. “Hold still for just a few more seconds,” the technician said, “and then we have to turn him around and take one from the other side.”
“I don’t think he can handle it.” Chloe’s eyes were wide. “Daniel, do something, I don’t think they should make him do this.”
Daniel turned to the tech. “Any chance Dr. Collins can get what she needs with just one picture?”
The tech sighed. “Risky. She probably can, but she wants an image from both angles so that she can double-check what she’s seeing.”
“He’ll be fine,” Daniel decided. “Let’s get this over with.”
“You hold him then,” Chloe said. “I can’t… he’s gonna fight me and I just… I can’t make him do it.”
“We can come back later,” the lab tech suggested. “Maybe after a break he’ll be more amenable to another X-ray.”
“Yeah, do that,” Daniel told him. The lab tech collected the lead aprons and took the machine away.
Daniel sat down on the edge of the bed, Chloe in the seat next to Parker. Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose. “He was the same way about the blood test,” he said. “He… every one of these tests is gonna be a new traumatic event for him.”
“It’s a good thing I’m here then,” a voice said. Daniel and Chloe looked up to see Elizabeth Harper standing in the doorway.
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Post by Kpatch on Feb 3, 2015 9:05:03 GMT -5
I feel like I'm supposed to know who Elizabeth Harper is. I think she was in an earlier chapter but I'm not sure. Personally, I think Daniel and Chloe needed to get this test completed so they can get answers. Time is of the essence! I feel like they are coddling Parker too much and letting their emotions cloud their judgment. You are doing such an amazing job with this story heroicmuse. There is such a variety of Salemites and storylines and you keep everyone perfectly in character and all stories going on all burners at all times. I love it! P.S.: I just tweeted it to the Days community. Everyone should be reading this! |
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Post by fluffysmom on Feb 3, 2015 20:02:51 GMT -5
I agree that Chloe and Daniel can't wait for Parker to be more agreeable. Time is definitely of the essence.
I liked Eve and Hope's conversation. I don't think Jill has any idea who she's messing with.
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Post by heroicmuse on Feb 4, 2015 7:58:07 GMT -5
“So what do you want to do first?” Daphne asked Paige. “Unpack or check out the campus?” Paige was staring off into space and didn’t answer. “Earth to Paige,” Daphne said. “Hello?”
“Sorry.” Paige stared at the table. “Um, I guess unpack. I’m not really in the mood for socializing on campus.”
“Okay, what happened now?” Daphne asked. “It was that weird guy, wasn’t it? What did he say?”
Paige bit her lip. “JJ’s friend Rory was arrested for the robberies,” she said. “I can’t believe it. I talked to him… I mean, it was months and months ago, but we all sat in JJ’s living room studying for finals last year. How could he turn out to be this violent felon?”
“Paige.” Daphne’s voice was firm. “Don’t believe everything you hear. I bet you anything that Rory got picked up for some other stupid crap.”
“No, Jeff was pretty clear. He said Rory was in jail for the robberies.”
“That guy. Now I know where I’ve seen him before. He’s a wannabe sleazy reporter, thinks he’s a big shot but really he doesn’t know anything about anything.” Daphne shuddered. “Ugh, please don’t tell me you’re actually into him.”
“What? No! Ick.” Paige took a sip of her soda. “He’s just a good source of information, that’s all.”
“Yeah, if you like lies and innuendo. Paige, forget about him. You have a room to unpack and then we should go to the student center and celebrate. Our first night on campus. This is going to be great.”
Paige pushed away from the table. “That sounds good,” she said. “But can you give me a little bit? There’s something I have to take care of real quick.”
“Paige...”
“It’ll be less than half an hour. I promise. I’ll meet you at the room.” Paige grabbed her purse and ran off, leaving Daphne to shake her head.
Marissa was sitting on a park bench, staring at her phone. Her missed calls log was full of calls from Detective Brady. She sighed and shook her head. “How stupid was I, thinking the police would actually do anything to get the guy who attacked me? I’ve watched enough TV to know it never works out that way.” She blinked back tears. “Sorry, Detective Brady, if I want justice I’m going to have to track down this animal myself.”
It was starting to get dark. Marissa looked over her shoulder to make sure nobody was watching her as she continued playing with her phone. She opened her Salem U Social account and logged in quickly so that she could access the student directory. “If you go to school with me, I will find you,” she mumbled. She flipped through pictures quickly, hoping for some sign that she was looking at her attacker.
She hesitated when she came to JJ’s picture. His eyes were full of life and she half smiled, then sighed. She flipped past his photo, then changed her mind and went back to it. She looked into his eyes again, then scrolled down and clicked the button under it that said “Add as friend on Social.”
A shadow fell over her, and she looked up, her eyes wide with fear. A woman was staring at her--the woman was pretty and blonde, though her makeup was overdone, and she was very obviously pregnant, though she didn’t look like she was much older than Marissa.
“What are you doing here, honey?” the woman said. “Don’t you know what this park’s like at night?”
Jennifer glanced at the steps, then lowered her voice so that JJ wouldn’t overhear. “After Theresa’s overdose, how did you stage that intervention?”
In her home in LA, Kim put her feet up on a chair across from the one she was sitting in. “Oh dear. JJ isn’t doing drugs again, is he?”
“No, no,” Jen reassured her. “It isn’t that, not yet anyway. But Kim, he’s spiraling out of control and he won’t listen to me. He’s hanging out with that bad crowd again and starting to get into trouble. I have to do something before it’s too late.”
Kim sighed. “I’m really not the best one to talk to about this, honey. I can’t exactly say that I’ve had any success in getting Theresa to turn around, or even getting her to talk to me. If you really want to do an intervention, I think Maggie is probably a better person for you to talk to. I understand she’s kind of the go-to gal for drug and alcohol problems. But tell me what’s going on. Maybe there’s some other way I can help.”
“He…” Jen blinked back tears. “Oh, Kim, I don’t even know where to begin. He’s been so distant since he and Paige broke up, and so full of rage again. I should have done something earlier, but as usual with him, I’m the last to know that something’s wrong.”
“I know the feeling.” Kim sighed. “I’m sure you did already, but I have to ask...have you tried talking to him?”
“Of course. Kim, he mouthed off to a cop today and almost ended up in jail, but trying to confront him about it didn’t accomplish anything.”
“He just lashed out at you and insisted he knew what he was doing.”
“Yes. So what do I do to get through to him?”
“Oh, honey, I wish I had the magic answer. But really all I have is advice about what not to do. When Jeannie… I mean Theresa… anyway when she was JJ’s age I was so scared for her and her out of control behavior that I did everything completely wrong and just ended up alienating her totally. I’ll be lucky if she calls me for Christmas, and every time she’s thinking about visiting me, somehow she changes her mind. So learn from my mistakes, Jen. Don’t push JJ away. You absolutely should state your concerns, but then after that, as heartbreaking as it is, you have to back off him, let him make his own choices.”
Jen shook her head. “I can’t let my son ruin his life.”
“Oh Jennifer, I never said this was easy. Of course you want to jump in there and protect him from himself. But honey, with you in the middle, if things blow up in his face he’ll think that if only Mom hadn’t interfered everything would have been fine. If you get out of the way, it’s all on him.” Kim’s leg began to cramp; she rubbed her ankle. “Look, maybe JJ will make the right choice and maybe he won’t - “
“And if he doesn’t, this time I don’t think anyone’s going to come along that can keep him out of jail.”
“Nobody wants that to happen, of course we don’t. But the good news is if you leave him alone, he’ll still have a mom in his corner he can lean on to try to put his life back together when he’s ready. Otherwise… well, like I said, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss my Jeannie and wonder where the hell I went wrong.”
Jen was silent, blinking back tears, thinking. Kim said, “If you decide you do want to do an intervention, call Maggie. And Jennifer, keep me in the loop, okay? I know sometimes when people leave Salem it’s out of sight, out of mind, but as far as Shane and I are concerned, you’re still like family.”
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Post by fluffysmom on Feb 4, 2015 13:47:08 GMT -5
Great honest conversation between Kim and Jennifer.
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Post by André DiMera on Feb 4, 2015 18:17:15 GMT -5
Just finished catching up with this story.
Wonder who the woman is that's come up to Marissa in the park.
I loved the conversation between Jennifer and Kim. That was great!
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Post by Kpatch on Feb 4, 2015 19:10:49 GMT -5
Wonder who the woman is that's come up to Marissa in the park. , I'm thinking that was Jill, the "working girl" Eve hired a while back to set up JJ and whose been blackmailing Eve. Why is Marissa so fascinated with JJ? Thank you for keeping Kim and Shane involved, and giving us a little bit of backstory on Teresa. It makes sense that Jennifer would call Kimberly since Kimberly went through the same thing with Teresa that Jennifer thinks she's dealing with regarding JJ. I agree with Kim's advice. Hold on loosely. I hope Jennifer takes it. |
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Post by heroicmuse on Feb 5, 2015 5:33:06 GMT -5
Kpatch I just realized I never answered your question from the other day. Sorry about that. Elizabeth Harper is the pediatric counselor that Kayla was encouraging Daniel to talk to after they got the diagnosis.
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Post by heroicmuse on Feb 5, 2015 5:33:18 GMT -5
Hope went to the front of the police station to meet Jeff. “Thank you for coming in,” she told him. “Let’s go to my office so that we can go over the details of your attack again.”
As they headed back, they passed Rafe in the hall. “Hope!” he said. “You still working? Thought you’d be back home tucking your kid into bed by now.”
“You know how important this case is,” Hope replied. “If we don’t clear up some of these discrepancies, we might have to let the suspect go, so I wanted to get Mr. Adkins’ statement as soon as possible.”
Hope and Jeff went into Hope’s office. Jeff plopped into a chair without being asked. He sat up straight, a half-smile on his lips, as Hope picked up her notebook. “Now, Mr. Adkins,” she began.
“I’m glad you’re interviewing me this time,” Jeff said. “Between you and me, I don’t think that Hispanic dude really knows what he’s doing. I guess he hasn’t had a lot of high-profile cases like this.”
Hope looked Jeff in the eye. She was tempted to tell him she knew that he was trying to antagonize her and that it wouldn’t work, but she didn’t want to tip her hand. “I’m sure you didn’t come here to gossip about my partner,” she said. “So let’s stick to the facts of this case. Tell me again from the beginning what happened.”
“Dr. Harper,” Daniel said. “I appreciate that you have a job to do here, but Parker’s mom and I are trying to absorb - “
“Relax, Dr. Jonas,” Elizabeth said lightly. “I’m not here to try to get inside your head. Not today, anyway. I told you I was going check on how Parker is handling his illness. From the looks of things - “ Chloe glanced at her and Elizabeth seemed to notice her for the first time. “Oh, hello. You’re the mother?”
“That’s me,” Chloe said. She gave Daniel a look. He shrugged.
“I’m glad he has both parents here now. That’ll help.” Elizabeth came all the way into the room. “Now, from the sound of it, Parker is having a hard time with all the tests they have to run on him. Needles and machines are scary, aren’t they, Parker?”
Parker turned his head away and said nothing. “I told you,” Daniel said. “He doesn’t talk to strangers.”
“Well, that’s all right. He and I will get to know each other soon enough. In the meantime, I’m going to leave this here.” Elizabeth fished around in her bag and pulled out a toy. It looked like a miniature hospital. She put it on the stand by Parker’s bed. “If you want, Parker, you can play with this. You can make the dolls inside get X-rays or needles or anything else that scares you. You can even ask Mommy or Daddy to play it with you.” She turned towards the adults again. “Encourage him to act out his feelings in play. It’ll help him feel more in control. I’ll come back probably a couple times a day so he can get used to seeing me and we’ll take it from there.”
There was a knock on the door. Daniel turned to see Eric. “Looks like you have company,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll get out of your way for now.”
Rory was sitting on his bunk when he heard the guard say to someone, “Two minutes, and that’s it.” He looked up to see Paige coming around the corner towards his cell.
“What’re you doing here?” Rory asked, getting up. “Don’t tell me the second I got locked up, JJ made a boneheaded decision and got back with you.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it,” Paige said, her voice soft. “All the time you and me and JJ spent together last summer, I never realized you were so violent. How could you, Rory? What, you needed a few dollars for weed and you didn’t care who you hurt?“
“You got it all wrong, as usual,” Rory said. “I never bought you were half as smart as JJ said you were supposed to be.”
“Don’t make excuses. Actually, do. I want to see what you’re going to come up with to try to get out of this.”
“Here’s one,” Rory said. “I didn’t do it.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Go home, Paige. Feel nice and safe cause I’m behind bars.” Rory flopped back on the bed. “There’s plenty of people who believe me, and the funny thing is, none of them came running down here to spout off crap while I’m locked up that they’re too chicken to say the rest of the time.”
“Look, I didn’t come here to be mean to you. I just… why would the police arrest you if you didn’t have anything to do with it?””
“Big surprise: you don’t get it. Look, why don’t you ask that new girl JJ was with when the cops grabbed me? She was so mad, she made JJ come with her so they both could
raise hell about locking up the wrong guy.”
Paige blinked hard. “JJ...has a new girlfriend?”
“Dunno. I’d just met her like two seconds before it all went down. But she’s definitely hot. I’ll tell you something else too. I could tell she’s the kind of girl who doesn’t think twice before going after what she wants, and one look told me, she wants JJ.”
Jen heard JJ coming down the steps. She composed herself, taking some deep breaths and wiping her eyes so he wouldn’t see she’d been crying.
“I really appreciate you taking the time to see me,” JJ said to someone on the phone. “Yeah, I’m heading out right now.”
“JJ?” Jen asked as JJ hung up the phone. He turned towards her, a strange look that she couldn’t quite read on his face. “Um…” Jen got up. “I’m not trying to pry, honey, but if that was Daniel you were just talking to… just keep in mind he’s going through a lot with Parker right now and it may be best to give him some space.”
“I know,” JJ said. He shifted his weight as he thought about what he wanted to say. “Don’t worry, Mom, I’m not going to bitch about you or anything. I… uh, that was Aiden Jennings I was talking to.”
“Why?” Jen asked. “JJ, is there something more to what happened today than what Hope told me?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? Because if you’re in trouble, I’d rather you just tell me.”
“You’re not gonna like this, but okay.”
“What… what is it?”
“It’s a favor to Rory. He needs a lawyer, a good one.”
“JJ…”
“I know what you’re gonna say, but look, Mom, Rory’s my friend and I want him to have the best chance. Look, if Hope had gone to Mr. Jennings like I asked instead of running over here to get you all riled up about me, I wouldn’t have to do this. But it’s gotta be done, so I’m taking it into my own hands.” JJ pulled on his coat. “I’ll be back soon. I promise.”
“JJ, wait,” Jen said as JJ opened the door. “Please.” JJ turned and she said, “I’m sorry about earlier, honey. I don’t mean to be so hard on you. But you know me, I worry about you. Maybe too much, but it’s better than not caring at all, right?”
“I know, Mom. I’m sorry too. Really. About everything.” JJ sighed.
Jen held her arms out, and JJ let her hug him. “I love you, Mom. I wish I could take back every stupid thing I ever did to you and to Abs and to Daniel. I think about it all the time and no matter how sorry I am, I know it’s never gonna be enough to make you trust me again.”
“I do trust you,” Jen told him. “It’s just that I remember being your age, and the stupid things I did, and I don’t want you to make those same mistakes.” Jen adjusted JJ’s collar. “Go so you don’t keep Mr. Jennings waiting,” she said. “Just promise me, when you come home, you won’t avoid me.”
“I’m not - “
“Please, honey, I need to hear it.”
“I promise.”
JJ left. Jen watched him go. I’m going to have to do something, no matter what Kim said, she thought. But what?
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Post by Kpatch on Feb 5, 2015 12:38:06 GMT -5
I like Elizabeth Harper. I hope Chloe and Daniel take her advice!
Love the jail visit convo. It's funny that Rory is trying to get under Paige's skin. They are oil and water!
I think Hope and Rafe are baiting Jeff, not the other way around.
Was this Jennifer's idea of backing off JJ? LOL.
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Post by fluffysmom on Feb 5, 2015 18:57:45 GMT -5
I hope Elizabeth can help Parker and his parents.
I'm looking forward to Paige realizing she's wrong about Rory.
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Post by heroicmuse on Feb 5, 2015 20:34:43 GMT -5
Was this Jennifer's idea of backing off JJ? LOL. LOL poor Jennifer...even when she tries she just can't seem to help butting into JJ's business. Plus, I think she was scared that maybe JJ was going to embarrass her by telling Daniel about her earlier freak out. |
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Post by André DiMera on Feb 5, 2015 23:02:03 GMT -5
Elizabeth Harper is a great character! Daniel and Chloe really need to take her advice! I love the bit with the jail visit conversation between Rory and Paige. That was great! I think Hope and Rafe are baiting Jeff, not the other way around. I agree with you there! |
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Post by heroicmuse on Feb 6, 2015 5:29:33 GMT -5
“I could ask you the same thing,” Marissa said. “If the park’s no place for me, it’s no place for you either.”
The other woman blinked back tears. “Do you think I want to be here? I don’t know what your story is, but I bet you have nice parents, a nice place to live. Me, I did one stupid thing, made one mistake, and I ended up pregnant. I thought my parents would help me out, but they told me Jill, if you’re old enough to have a baby you’re old enough to take care of yourself.” Jill sniffed. “And now, I’m $25 short of a hotel room, and my friend’s apartment won’t be ready for another week, and I don’t know what to do.”
Jill sat down on the bench next to Marissa without being asked. Marissa slid over, not wanting to get too close to this girl. “You really came here from wherever you were without any plan?” Marissa asked, sliding her phone into her purse before Jill could ask to use it.
“Hey when things get bad, you do what you have to do.” Jill sighed. “I hate to ask this of a total stranger, but do you think you can lend me $25, just til tomorrow? That way I have a place to stay tonight, then tomorrow I can get to the bank and take it out to give back to you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Come on. A girl like you with a real nice purse and real nice clothes doesn’t have a single dime to give to someone like me? I swear I’ll pay you back.”
Marissa didn’t like the way Jill was eyeing her purse. She grabbed it and held it tight against herself. “I’ve already been robbed once,” she said, “and I’m not gonna let you make me a victim a second time. Now leave me alone!” She got up and hurried away.
Jill watched Marissa leave, puzzled. Wonder what her story was? Jill thought. I can’t be losing my touch that quick.
Daphne could tell something was upsetting Paige as soon as Paige showed up at the dorm room, but she didn’t feel like dealing with any more drama. She smiled and said, “So glad you’re finally here! Let’s get started.”
“Okay,” Paige said flatly.
“I brought up both boxes,” Daphne said. “Let’s get your bed set up first, then we can worry about the rest.”
“Right.”
Daphne crossed her arms as Paige went through the motions of opening the box of bedroom stuff and digging out her sheets to put on the bed. “Come on Paige,” she said. “This is supposed to be, like, one of the happiest days of our lives so far, but tonight it’s been one thing after another. Is it always like this with you?”
“What, are you having second thoughts?” Paige glared at Daphne, then went back to pulling at the sheet to try to stretch it across the bed.
“No, of course not. I just hate seeing you so unhappy. I thought moving to the dorms would be good for you or I never would have pushed it.”
“It is good for me.” Paige finally got the sheet on. She picked up her pillowcase. “Change is always a little rough, that’s all. My mom and I, we’ve moved dozens of times, and every time, I always got attached to the place I used to be. Mom would always tell me not to care too much because nothing lasts forever, but I couldn’t help it. No matter how much I knew we were going to pick up and move again, I fell in love with wherever we were.”
“Ohhh.” Daphne smoothed out a wrinkle in Paige’s blanket. “Feeling homesick is normal, even if you only live on the other side of town. Believe me, I felt it at first. I would have gone home the first weekend but my parents wouldn’t let me. They said I had to adjust to living here. And they were right. Paige, once you get past this we’re going to have so much fun! There’s study groups, and ice cream socials and parties… you’ll see.”
Paige shrugged.
“Where’d you go, anyway? To see your mom one last time?”
“Not exactly.” Paige sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it, Daphne, it was stupid.”
“You went to see JJ?”
“No! Daphne, I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”
“Sorry, sorry. You’re right. The bed’s all made--now let’s get started on decorating.”
After JJ had told Aiden about Rory’s arrest, Aiden said, “I hate to tell you this, JJ, but it sounds like the police have your friend dead to rights on the weed charge.”
JJ slumped down in his seat. “So there’s nothing you can do for him?”
“I didn’t say that. You might not know this about me, but I don’t give up that easily. We can’t deny that your friend had the drug in his possession, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the police had the right to search him.”
JJ’s eyes lit up. “You mean, like, they went through his pockets when they shouldn’t have?”
“Exactly. And if that’s the case, they can’t use it against him. Now there are two ways we can argue this. We can either go for the search being illegal or we can go for the gold and try to argue they didn’t have cause to arrest him. “
“They didn’t,” JJ said. “They were going off the say so of the guy that tried to rob Rory.”
“Okay, well, I’ll start by getting a copy of the police report. So the two of you were hanging out, having coffee with your other friend… what’s his name?”
JJ blushed. “Marissa.”
“Strange name for a boy,” Aiden joked, but JJ just blushed deeper. “I’m guessing this is a date that didn’t exactly go according to plan?”
“It wasn’t a date. It was just...coffee.”
“Mmm hmm. Well, anyway, I might need to get her version of events too after I’ve read the report.” Aiden closed his notepad. “Now, before I get started on this, is there anything else you want to tell me about how this arrest went down?”
JJ scowled. “Didn't Hope tell you?”
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