Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 251,956 times)

[Kpatch]

Marlena can call it completely separate, but it already feels like a conflict of interest to me. She is talking too much about the "case" and Marissa already stated that she gave the police as much as she could.

This interaction between JJ and Jeff is very interesting. Jeff appears so smug. Funny that JJ is the one who's nervous and he's done nothing. He's a good friend to Rory.

[heroicmuse]

As Hope was walking into the police station, a young man came running in behind her. “You’re that detective that’s related to JJ, right?”

Hope turned. She put her purse behind her desk and said, “I’m Detective Hope Brady, if that’s what you’re asking. Why?”

“Yeah. Detective Hope Brady. Yeah. JJ said that was your name once. I’m Kurt, um, Kurt Adams.”

Hope gave Kurt a puzzled look. “How can I help you?”

“My little brother is missing,” Kurt said, talking very fast. “The other night, um, I was kind of not at my best, and he didn’t come home. And I told JJ yesterday, I told him, tell Rory to call me, right? And he said okay, but still I never heard from Rory so I figured, I figured I’d have to overcome my fear of this place--cause I don’t like cop shops, I have to tell you, they’re not my favorite place… anyway, I figured I should fill out one of those missing person reports or whatever.”

“I can save you the trouble,” Hope said. “I know where your brother is.”

“You do? That’s great.” Kurt grinned. “So um, Detective Brady, um, where is he?”

“Your brother’s in the courthouse,” Hope said, “waiting to be arraigned on drug charges.”

Kurt looked upset for a second, but then he laughed and said, “Great! He’s not missing! Thanks Detective!” He ran out of the police station.

Hope sat down at her desk, shaking her head. What is going on in Rory’s home life? she thought.


Eve had barely got out of the shower and gotten dressed when someone pounded on the door. Who in the world? she thought, going to answer it. Paige said she was having breakfast with that friend of hers first, and anyway she has a key. She opened the door to find Jill standing there.

Jill pushed past her, coming in without being invited. “I’m tired of playing games,” she said. “You didn’t even give me enough for one night at the Salem Inn. I had to stay in the park last night. Do you know how creepy that place is after dark?”

“My heart just bleeds for you, it really does, but I told you that the room isn’t available until the end of the week. Now get out!”

“I don’t think so.”

“Now come on, Jill. You don’t want me to have to call the cops to come get you after all we’ve been through, now do you?”

“You’re going to call the cops on me? When I’m pregnant and I have no place to stay?”

“I don’t want to, believe me I don’t, but if I have to, I will.”

“Good.” Jill plopped down on the couch. “I’d love to tell them all about what you hired me to do...here I am, a poor girl desperate to get off the streets and you pay me a lot of money to drug your daughter’s boyfriend. Is Paige coming over today, by the way?”

Eve glared at Jill. “What do you want?”

“I’m not waiting til the end of the week to move in. I’m staying here from now on. Your precious daughter will just have to deal with it.”

Eve’s eyes widened. She picked up her phone and started to disappear into the other room. “Hey!” Jill said. “What are you doing?”

“Calling your bluff.” Eve went into the bedroom, leaving the door open just a crack so she could see Jill sweat. She dialed a number, lowering her voice. “Eric? This is Eve Larson. I am so sorry to have to bother you, but I couldn’t think of a better person to call to help a poor homeless girl who just crossed my path. I’ll explain more in person… now I hate to ask this, but is there any way you could head over this way right away?”


When Daniel rushed into the room, Parker was sitting up in bed, smiling and playing with the toy Elizabeth Harper had given him. He turned towards Chloe, trying to catch his breath. “From your message… I thought…”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “So did I. I thought I heard his monitor going crazy, but I… I guess I was hearing things.”

“Wait...where were you?”

“I had to take a call.”

“You had to take a call.” Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Our son… our son, Chloe, he’s… you told me to go home and then you, you walked out of the room to take a call.”

“I didn’t leave him alone. Maxine was here.”

“Maxine. She has… she has been a wonderful friend to me, and to Parker and I guess to you… but she… she is not his family, Chloe.”

“Really?” Chloe’s eyes widened. “So it’s okay for you to leave him with Jennifer while you go do God knows what, but if I need a minute, that makes me a horrible mother?”

“He knows her. God, Chloe, I cannot believe I have to explain this to you.”

“You weren’t here!” Chloe blinked back tears. “They wanted him to do another x-ray, and he was freaking out, and I couldn’t… what was I supposed to do, Daniel? I was here by myself with him and yes I stepped out for a second, but don’t you dare come waltzing in here after the fact judging me!”

“You’re right. I wasn’t here. Cause you told me not to be.”

“I told you to go home and get some sleep. I figured you’d be back first thing in the morning, that you’d want to be back. My mistake. I should have realized, everyone in the world is worth being saved by Daniel Jonas except his own son!”

Parker began to cry. “Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy.”

“Now look what you did,” Chloe said. She turned towards the bed. At the same time Kayla came in.

“Hey!” Kayla said. “What is wrong with the two of you? Parker doesn’t need this kind of drama, and neither does the rest of the ICU.” She glared at both of them. “I understand that right now this is a stressful time for everybody, but this is not acceptable. Don’t make me treat you like children and assign times for each of you to be in this room with Parker...alone.”

Chloe had her back to everybody. She was sitting by the bed, singing quietly to Parker and trying not to let tears seep into her voice. Daniel’s arms were still crossed but he said, “You’re right, Kayla. Chloe, uh, I’m sorry I jumped down your throat. I kinda panicked when I got your call.”

Chloe kissed the top of Parker’s head. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Daddy and I aren’t fighting anymore.” She turned towards Daniel, her eyes wet, and said, icily, “Yeah. You did.”

“Chloe,” Kayla said softly, “I know you want more support, but do you mind if I borrow Daniel for a minute?” Chloe nodded. Kayla gestured to Daniel to follow her out of the room.

[Kpatch]

Chloe and Daniel are a train wreck (which of course I always knew )

I feel bad for Rory's brother, but how weird is it to be relieved that your brother's in custody. LOL.

Go Eve. Don't let Jill keep blackmailing you! I hate Jill. You are capturing the character so perfectly. All the characters, actually.

[fluffysmom]

I liked Kurt actually worrying when he thought Rory was missing.

Daniel needs to quit taking his fears and upset out on Chloe. She's allowed to step out of the room and make a phone call.

[heroicmuse]

Well there is a reason Chloe and Daniel co-parent from different cities In the same room doesn't work so well for them, especially in a high stress situation. And yeah, Daniel was really out of line. Kayla is going to have something to say to him tomorrow.

[heroicmuse]

Judge Walston took the case file and said slowly, reading aloud, “Rory James Adams, one count of possession of less than 2.5 grams of marijuana.” He looked at Aiden and the DA over his glasses. “Dare I presume that the two of you are going to come to an agreement on this one?”

The DA glanced at Aiden, who shook his head slightly and said, “Unfortunately, we were not able to do that as of yet, your Honor.”

“Well, try harder. I don’t want to waste too much of the court’s time with this. But in the meantime, how do you plead?”

“Not guilty, your Honor.”

“Bail?”

“Own recognisance, your Honor,” Aiden said. The judge nodded but the DA said, “Your Honor, with all due respect…”

“Please tell me you have a good argument for keeping this defendant in custody prior to trial.”

“I know this particular offense doesn’t seem like it’s very important,” the DA said, “but it’s a question of frequency rather than degree. His arrest record would kill quite a few trees to print out. In and out of juvenile detention from the age of 13, drug dealing, assault, vandalism, theft… and that’s only what he’s been caught doing. Your Honor, his own mother had to call the police on him several times because she was afraid of him, and he no longer resides with her as a result of that fear. Not to mention, your Honor, that these drugs were found on him during a routine search after an arrest on suspicion of multiple counts of armed robbery.”

“Counts that you couldn’t make stick,” Aiden argued, “and therefore are not relevant. Your Honor, what does any of this have to do with whether or not my client is a flight risk? He’s a student at Salem University who has already missed two days of classes due to his arrest, and to keep him in jail awaiting trial seems needlessly punitive. It seems to me that the district attorney is determined to go around your authority over sentencing and put my client in jail regardless of whether the court ultimately plans to limit his freedom.”

The DA crossed her arms. “Your Honor,” she said, “are you really going to allow this attorney--and I use the word lightly--to sling accusations around your courtroom like that?”

“I know what I won’t do. I won’t have this descend into a circus. Both of you be quiet and listen to my decision.”


“No.” Marissa’s voice was almost a whisper. She pressed her arms tightly against her chest. “I spend way too much time going over it again and again. Whenever I close my eyes, I see it.” Her eyes darted to the floor, than back to Marlena. “All I really need is a good night’s sleep, just one, so I can think clearly again. I was hoping maybe you could prescribe some sleeping pills.”

“Getting sleep will help, but one night’s sleep won’t cure it. I think you’re looking for something easy. Take this pill and it all goes away. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. When something as traumatic as what happened to you occurs, the only cure is time. Time and talking. The more you talk about your attack, the easier it will be for you to heal.”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it!” Marissa got up. “This isn’t going to work. I’m sorry, Dr. Evans, to have wasted your time.”

“Tell you what.” Marlena put her pen down. “Let’s at least finish the session. If you don’t want to talk about what happened to you, perhaps talking about something else will be helpful for you.” Marlena gestured towards the chair. “For example, let’s talk about what’s causing you to have so much difficulty sleeping.”


“First things first,” Kayla told Daniel in her office. “As Chief of Staff, I have the authority to reduce patient loads as needed. I’m sorry, Daniel, but until we start seeing some movement in Parker’s condition, I’m taking you off the surgical roster.”

“With all due respect, Kayla, this… this is not necessary.”

“I disagree.” Kayla put her pen down.

“I’m an excellent surgeon.” Daniel turned his back to Kayla. “And right now - “

“Nobody is arguing with that. But you know as well as I do that no matter how good a doctor is, he can’t do his best for the patients if he’s distracted. You’re not going to be able to turn it all off and give your full attention to the patients on your operating table while your son is lying in the ICU with a potentially life-threatening condition. I couldn’t, if it was Joey. Dr. Chung couldn’t, if it was Peter lying in that hospital bed. No doctor can, Daniel. Not even you.”

Daniel bit his lip, trying to get his words together. “Not only, Kayla, not only do my patients need me, but I need this. On a selfish level, I… I need that distraction, Kayla. I cannot just sit in that room thinking about Parker, thinking about what’s going on with him and what might happen. You say I can’t turn it off to assist my patients but Kayla, turning it off completely is how I am surviving this. If I can’t operate, if I can’t do my job, I don’t know how I’m going to function.”

“I see,” Kayla said, giving Daniel a puzzled look. “Don’t you want to spend more of your time with Parker?”

“Of course I do. Every minute I’m away from him, it kills me.”

“You can’t have it both ways, you know.” Kayla’s voice was soft, sympathetic. “You can’t be in his room 24 hours a day and at the same time perform complicated, lengthy surgeries. And really, Daniel, nobody is going to fault you for taking time off when your son is this seriously ill.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Kayla sighed. “As the chief of staff in this hospital, I have to do what’s best for the patients. And as your friend, I also have to tell you I’m concerned about you. I don’t think you can be there for either your patients or Parker the way you need to be right now. You’re frazzled, you’re stressed out, and that’s affecting everybody negatively. So as of today, I’m giving you some time off so that you can just be there for your son. And in the meantime, I also strongly urge you not to try to handle this on your own.” Daniel stiffened and she said, “I’m not going to push Elizabeth’s services on you. But if you don’t want to talk to another professional, at least lean on your friends and family. You’re right, you can’t be in Parker’s room all the time. Neither can Chloe; that’s why she stepped out. But when you need a break, don’t go see patients. Go home and relax. Spend time with Nicole… Brady… Eric… Maggie… all the people whose lives you’ve touched and who are waiting in the wings to be there for you the same way you’re always there for them.”

Daniel was quiet, thinking. It suddenly popped into his head that he had promised Jennifer a continuation of a conversation about JJ. He didn’t think he had the energy for her right now though, or for anybody. He’d slept fine despite worrying that he had somehow led Nicole on, let her think that they could ever be more than friends, but now a tidal wave of weariness hit him and he sank down into a chair, unsure whether they were done or whether Kayla was still talking.

[Kpatch]

Daniel doesn't think he has the energy for Jennifer right now LOL. Not sure how he ever did! She is draining. I think Kayla is doing the right thing.

Cliffhanger! How will the judge rule???

I feel like Marlena is pressuring Marissa too much. Poor girl wants help but seems unable to help herself.

[heroicmuse]

I'm not a big fan of Marlena’s therapy style. She feels she's the doctor and knows best, which doesn't always work.

I agree with Kayla too. Daniel can't use surgery to distract himself. Not good for snybody, especially the patient.

The judge will be back tomorrow

[André DiMera]

I agree with kpatch. Marlena is putting a bit too much pressure on Marissa.

I liked Kayla's talk with Daniel. Uaing surgery to distract himself could lead to major problems for him as well as the person he's operating on.

Can't wait to see what the judge says!

[fluffysmom]

I'm glad Kayla was firm and honest with Daniel. He needs to step back from his patients.

I'm eager to find out about Rory's sentencing.

Marissa needs to talk to someone. Maybe that's not Marlena.

[heroicmuse]

Marissa sank into the chair. “I’m so tired, Dr Evans,” she said. She held on tight to the arms of the chair while she tried to put her words together. “Every night’s the same. I’m exhausted, so exhausted my… my bones hurt, and I think, I have to sleep tonight. And then I lie in bed and I close my eyes and… and I see things I don’t want to remember.”

“Memories of your attack?”

“I guess. Sometimes it’s like… like a movie in my head. Other times it’s just… a shadow moving on the wall that I think is something else… or a voice in my head asking me if I’m sure I locked the door, am I sure nobody’s in the room. It goes on all night and then morning comes and I think, I must have slept, that couldn’t have been going on all night. But I’m tired, so tired, and coffee doesn’t help and a shower doesn’t help and nothing helps.” Marissa’s eyes burned, this time from exhaustion. She blinked and said, “So you see, that’s why I need sleeping pills.”

“I’ll prescribe them,” Marlena agreed, “on one condition.”

“What?”

“I want you to make another appointment with me. Your insomnia as well as your mood swings and your panic attacks are all symptoms of your mind and body trying to make sense of what has happened to you. As we discussed earlier, that’s not something that can be cured in just one session. For now, I’d like to see you twice a week. If you will agree to that, I will try you on mirtazapine and see if that helps relieve your symptoms enough to allow you to sleep.”

“That sounds like blackmail,” Marissa objected, but she was too exhausted to be forceful about it.

“That’s one way to look at it. Another is that I’m trying to be as conscientious about your care as possible. Even if I weren’t a believer in therapy as an adjunct to medication, I’d still need to see you to monitor how the medication is affecting you and make sure you’re on the right dose. Now you should know,” Marlena said, picking up her prescription pad, “that this isn’t a sleeping pill, strictly speaking. It’s an antidepressant, and it may take some time to start working. But I think you will find that soon enough you’ll be able to regulate your sleep and some of your other symptoms. In the meantime, our work together will certainly help you get the control over your life that you want. So all that’s left is for you to agree to our next appointment.”

Marissa nodded.


“Both the DA and the defense attorney make a point,” Judge Walston said. Just then, the courtroom door opened again. JJ turned, along with most of the courtroom, as Kurt ran into the room, allowing the door to slam closed behind him. JJ tried to catch his eye, but Kurt looked the other way, maybe on purpose.

The judge banged his gavel. “I will have it quiet in here. Young man, I don’t know who you are, but I expect your presence at these proceedings to be more respectful than your entrance. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes your… your Honor.” Kurt seemed to be slurring his words a little.

“Good. Now, as I was saying… both sides have a point when it comes to the bail in this case. I am not pleased that this case is even going to trial. Mr. Adams--”Judge Walston gave Rory a pointed look--”if the police mistakenly arrested you for a serious crime, perhaps you should take a good, long look in the mirror to figure out why they would think such a thing. In any event, it is illegal to possess even small amounts of marijuana, and the fact that the drugs were found during an arrest you or your attorney plans to object to is irrelevant. Now, you have the right to claim innocence and to put on a show to try to convince a jury--and perhaps myself--that there is some reason we should all overlook the letter of the law, but I hope you choose instead to simply take responsibility for having broken it, and that the DA’s office in response exercises leniency.”

Judge Walston gave the DA an equally pointed look. JJ, feeling like he was the next to be on the receiving end of the judge’s annoyance, made an effort to get rid of the scowl he could feel creeping onto his face.

“Now,” Judge Walston went on, “regarding the bail itself. It is true enough that this defendant has a lengthy arrest record, but that is neither here nor there as far as this case goes. Despite the fact that he was initially accused of a serious, violent crime, the defendant cooperated fully with the police during his arrest, demonstrating that he respects the authority and seriousness of these proceedings, even if he does not appear to respect much else. As Mr. Jennings points out, the defendant is a full time student, and it seems to me that to keep him in custody is to deny him the only chance he has for a future outside of a jail cell. At the same time, I would be remiss if I didn’t take into consideration his full history. Ms. Rubin has a point as well--it is more than probable, given this history, that the defendant simply has not been caught for a more major offense than the one he committed, and part of the reason for keeping defendants in custody is to intervene with their tendency to wreak havoc in our community. Thus, for the defendant’s sake, the sake of all of Salem and most importantly for the sake of my own conscience, I am splitting the difference. Bail is set at $500, and trial is set for two weeks from now. The defendant will remain in lockup until such time as bail is paid in full.”

Rory looked around the courtroom as the judge’s gavel came down. He doesn’t have $500, JJ realized. He racked his brains trying to figure out what to do. Maybe he could take up a collection or something.

As the guards began to escort Rory back to his cell and what few spectators there were emptied out, Kurt said, loudly, “Excuse me, your Honor!” The judge turned slightly, his lips pinched together. Kurt said, fishing some bills out of his wallet, “I just got paid, I have the $500. Do I give it to you or something?”

“See the clerk,” Judge Walston told him, “and if I were you, I would try to at least appear sober so that he can accept your payment.”

[fluffysmom]

I'm glad the judge acted fairly. Way to step up Kurt. I liked Judge Walston telling Kurt to try and act sober when he pays Rory's bail.

[Kpatch]

I'm with Marissa, I thought Marlena was blackmailing Marissa in a way. But I agree, Marissa's reaction to the medication does need to be monitored, especially if she is in an anxious or depressed state. That was a really good scene.

I hope Rory takes the judge's words to heart.

Can we get previews for next week?

[heroicmuse]

Feb 20, 2015 16:09:28 GMT -5 Kpatch said:

Can we get previews for next week?

Yes! Previews will be up tomorrow morning

I hope Rory takes the judge's words to heart too. Judge Walston really tried to be as fair as possible but if Rory keeps goofing around he may not be too happy.

[heroicmuse]

Next week...
-Jeff’s reaction to Rory being freed raises JJ’s suspicions.
-JJ sees Paige and Jeff getting closer.
-Aiden makes an offer Rory can’t refuse
-Dr. Collins asks Kayla to help her share some news about Parker's condition.
-Marissa and JJ have a miscommunication.