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Post by heroicmuse on Feb 26, 2015 5:40:06 GMT -5
I am eager to hear news about Parker. Dr. Collins' meeting with Kayla is coming up tomorrow.  |
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Post by Kpatch on Feb 26, 2015 11:51:08 GMT -5
I think Aiden is going really easy on Rory, but maybe it will teach him some responsibility. "I don't have any money" is not a good enough excuse.
Loved the text from Philip. Yay. But it made me a little sad that he is out of the loop in terms of whether Parker still likes trains and what-not. I get the feeling that Chloe would like Daniel to be involved with Nicole in order to level the playing field, so that Daniel can't pitch a fit when he finds out that Chloe is involved with Philip again.
Great chapter!
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Post by fluffysmom on Feb 26, 2015 20:45:01 GMT -5
I'm so happy that Philip and Chloe are together. Parker will love the museum. I've been there. I hope Rory will behave himself. Aiden is giving him a great deal. I liked Daniel and Chloe's conversation about Nicole. |
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Post by heroicmuse on Feb 27, 2015 6:05:05 GMT -5
Kayla knocked on Dr. Collins’ door. “You wanted to see me?”
“Mmm hmm.” Dr. Collins didn’t look up from her tablet. “Come over here and look at this.” She shut the lights and pressed a button to project the x-ray images onto the wall.
Kayla looked. The x-rays showed Parker’s chest; from both angles, his heart looked a little larger than most four-year-olds’ hearts did, and there were dark patches in his lung area. “Enlarged heart, fluid in the lungs,” Kayla said under her breath. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
“I don’t know, what you think it means, but I’m sorry to say that yes, it probably does. The size of the heart plus the backup of fluid suggests to me that this little boy’s heart is not pumping hard enough to meet his needs.”
“What’s his prognosis?” Kayla asked.
“Hard to say. A lot of children with pump failure do well with medication, but eventually, we’re probably going to have to replace either his valves or the heart itself.” Dr. Collins glanced at Kayla. “You know the parents better than I do… do you think there’s any way you could soften the blow ahead of my giving them the news?”
“I’ll do my best,” Kayla promised. “They’re already on edge now that they know that something’s going on with his heart, but maybe getting a definitive answer will in some way be a relief to them.”
“You always were the eternal optimist,” Dr. Collins said. “But thank you. I’ll wait for your all-clear before I ask the parents to come in.”
Kayla left the room. Dr. Collins looked at the x-rays again, shaking her head sadly, before she turned off the projection.
JJ kicked out his seat and plopped down into it. “Sorry I didn’t see you over there,” he said, glancing at Marissa. Her eyes looked bigger than usual and were red, as if she had been crying recently. JJ sighed. “Great. You’re upset too.”
“Not exactly.” Marissa pushed her coffee aside. “Not with you, anyway. But I don’t really feel like talking about that, okay?”
“Whatever. Look, it wasn’t what it looked like, I swear, Marissa. That girl - ”
“It’s not about her! Aren’t you listening?” Marissa crossed her arms. “I just came from therapy, okay, and the last thing I want to do is talk about it and get upset all over again!”
“Oh.” JJ glanced down at the table, embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I guess neither of us is at our best right now.”
“You can say that again.” Marissa sipped her coffee. “Do over?”
“Yeah.”
They didn’t talk for a second, each of them lost in their own world, breathing deeply, trying to calm down. Then Marissa asked, “At the risk of starting World War 17, who was that girl, anyway?” JJ gave her a weary look and she added, quickly, “I’m not upset about her. I’m just curious cause she just moved in down the hall from me. I almost introduced myself last night but I changed my mind. Guess maybe that’s a good thing.”
“She’s living in your dorm?” Fear shot through JJ. He didn’t think Paige could handle it if what happened to Marissa happened to her.
“Yes, I just said that. Why?”
“Cause…” JJ didn’t want to worry Marissa with his fears. “Well, the thing is that Paige… she’s kind of my ex-girlfriend.”
“Oh.” Marissa stared down at the table.
Here we go, JJ thought. “What?” he said aloud.
“Nothing. It’s just... “ Marissa sighed. “It’s not like I thought we could ever be… or that you wanted to be… or that I wanted… God I sound like an idiot!” She took a sip of her coffee. “Okay, another do-over. What I’m trying to say is, it makes sense now that you’re not all that into us becoming friends or whatever. You’re still holding out hope that you’ll get Paige back.”
“No, Marissa. I swear, it’s not like that at all.” JJ pushed his water away. “Look, things ended with her really badly, and I - “
“You don’t owe me an explanation.” Marissa blinked hard. “I don’t care that you’re still into her, it’s really understandable, actually. She’s really pretty and… and she probably doesn’t have baggage from being tied to her bed or anything. I just wish that instead of trying to avoid me, you’d have just told me that.”
“I did,” JJ protested. “Don’t you remember me saying I just got out of a really bad relationship?”
“I guess.” Marissa sighed. “Look, I... I have to go now.” She pushed her chair away from the table.
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Post by André DiMera on Feb 27, 2015 12:28:39 GMT -5
I really like J.J. nd Marissa! I hope they get together, but at the same time, neither of them is ready to be in a committed relationship of any kind yet.
Chloe and Daniel are already on edge, I wonder how much more on edge they'll be after finding out that Parker may need a heart transplant.
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Post by Kpatch on Feb 27, 2015 15:55:35 GMT -5
Seemed to me that Marissa was making some assumptions about her and JJ. She is the one who set up the "date." At any rate, it was pretty much a disaster. I am nervous for Chloe and Daniel when they find out about Parker's condition. My heart is broken for them! I sure hope Dr. Collins has a plan. Parents don't want to hear "It's hard to say." Previews? I'll post previews if you do. |
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Post by heroicmuse on Feb 27, 2015 18:31:39 GMT -5
Previews? I'll post previews if you do. Definitely! I'll post mine tomorrow morning. |
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Post by fluffysmom on Feb 27, 2015 21:12:04 GMT -5
Poor Parker! I hope Daniel and Chloe can hold it together for Parker. Chloe is really going to need some support. Daniel has a lot of family in Salem but Chloe only has Parker. I feel bad for Marissa. I don't think the conversation with JJ could have gone any worse. I'm looking forward to the previews heroicmuse. |
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Post by heroicmuse on Feb 28, 2015 7:27:41 GMT -5
Next week on Breaking Ties...
-A turning point for JJ and Marissa's friendship.
-Eve’s spin of the Jill situation piques Eric’s interest more than she thinks.
-Kayla and Dr. Collins give Parker’s parents the final diagnosis.
-Getting high causes Bev to make a bad decision.
-Hope finally catches up with Marissa
-Nicole gives JJ some advice
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Post by Kpatch on Feb 28, 2015 8:11:08 GMT -5
The final diagnosis. That does not sound good.
I am so happy you're putting Eric and Eve in scenes together!
I will definitely be reading all week! Thanks for the previews.
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Post by UhSir on Feb 28, 2015 12:59:49 GMT -5
I've only read through Episode 2 so far. Family drama and a police mystery. I'm hooked! You've got a great writing style. I want to keep reading now but I have to pace myself.
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Post by André DiMera on Feb 28, 2015 14:53:11 GMT -5
For some reason, the words "final diagnosis" does not bode well with me. Wondering what kind of turn comes for J.J. and Marissa's friendship, as well as what advice Nicole gives J.J. Thanks for the previews, heroicmuse! |
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Post by fluffysmom on Feb 28, 2015 22:24:28 GMT -5
Thanks for the previews heroicmuse. I'm worried about Parker, Chloe and Daniel. I'm looking forward to Eric and Eve interacting. |
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Post by gapeach on Mar 1, 2015 11:19:14 GMT -5
Thanks for the previews. Can't wait til Monday!!
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Post by heroicmuse on Mar 2, 2015 7:01:39 GMT -5
“Hold on!” JJ shouted. People turned and stared at him. Marissa flinched, but she turned around. “This is why I didn’t want to get involved with you, or with anyone,” JJ said, his voice slightly quieter. “The reason things went bad with me and Paige, it’s cause she thought things about me...cause of my past...and I just got so sick of trying to straighten out what she thought was going on. And now you… we don’t know each other but you’re already doing the exact same thing.”
Marissa sank down into her seat again. “I’m not doing anything,” she said weakly. “I just see what I see. Look, JJ, I’m not saying I don’t want to get to know you or be your friend or anything like that.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“Nothing. I don’t know.”
“Neither do I.”
“All I do know is, from the second we met you’ve been trying to tell me that there’s something in your past that makes you no good, and for some reason that made me want to know you more when maybe I should have run away screaming. I don’t know why, maybe I should have brought it up to my therapist because it sure as hell doesn’t make any sense, especially when so far the only thing you’ve told me about yourself is that you have a gorgeous ex-girlfriend who I don’t think you’re over, and that’s only because I found out by accident. I want to know you, JJ Deveraux, God help me, no matter how many signals you give off that you’re not interested, I can’t stop wanting to know you. So even though my brain says I should just take you at your word and walk away from whatever nightmare you’re harboring, my heart says differently.” Marissa played with the cardboard around her coffee cup. “So please, would you stop telling me how horrible you are and just tell me what the hell your secret is so that I can decide for myself whether or not I’m crazy to want to know you?”
When Roman and Rafe got back from Salem U, Hope stuck her head in Roman’s office. “Got a minute?”
Roman nodded. Hope came in, closing the door behind her. “Please tell me you got good news,” Roman said.
“Sort of,” Hope said. “I have some updates, anyway. First of all, I think I might have figured out the link between the victims.” She opened her tablet to show Roman something. “Every one of the victims, except for Rory, said that the attacker followed them into their dorm room after class.”
“Yeah, I remember reading that in the reports.”
“Right. So maybe Jeff, or whoever the attacker is, goes to class with his victims. While everyone else is focusing on the lecture, he’s looking around, seeing who looks tired, who looks like they’re not surrounded by a ton of friends.”
“Looking for targets, you mean?”
Hope nodded. “Then class ends, the kids who have plans head out to the student center, but one of the ones who doesn’t gets followed home.”
Roman nodded. “Makes sense. But what about the kid in the woods?”
“He deviated from his standard M.O.,” Hope said. “From the way he reacted during the interview, I’d say Jeff has something against Rory. This one wasn’t just a crime of opportunity--not that the others necessarily were, either. In this case, it was definitely personal.”
Roman thought about it for a minute. “Any ideas how we can proceed?”
“I’ll fill Rafe in, for one thing. Then after that… I think we should see if we can get access to the class lists so we can make the connection. Reinterview the victims, ask them about their classmates. Also, I’ll mention it to Marlena. If we want to do cognitive reenactment with any of the victims, she’s willing to supervise.”
“I don’t know. That seems like some kind of psychological mumbo-jumbo, but I know firsthand that Marlena knows what she’s doing, so I’m willing to give it a shot. My bigger concern is whether the victims are gonna put up with any more questioning. Have you got ahold of that one who seemed to be refusing your calls?
“Marissa Hunter?” Hope shook her head. “I hope she’s all right.”
“Me too. Tell you what. I’ll let Rafe in on our new theory. In the meantime, you go find that girl and try to convince her to cooperate with the re-enactment. Since she was the first victim, there had to be a reason he chose her. So her cooperation is vital.”
Nicole sat at her desk, flipping through photos on her phone while she waited to hear from JJ. She ran across some photos of Eric, which she promptly deleted, then found one of her and Daniel and Parker from last Christmas. She remembered helping to zip up Parker’s coat before the three of them headed out for hot cocoa soon after she had moved in. Poor kid, she thought. Maybe I should call Daniel and see if there’s any update… but no news is good news, right? Besides, he’s probably reconnecting with Chloe right now.
Her mind went automatically to the time last year when she and Daniel had kissed, which of course led her to last night and this morning. She threw the phone down. If there was one thing she’d learned, it was that dwelling on what she couldn’t have would just get her into trouble.
“Slow news day?” Sally asked from across the room.
“Isn’t it always?”
Miles stuck his head in. “Glad to see both of you are so dedicated to this job. Nicole, where’s my intern?”
“He’ll be here soon. Right now you’re only the second most important person in Salem--he’s covering a bail hearing and he’ll be here as soon as it’s over.”
Miles looked at his watch. “Better be soon, or I’ll start assuming you’re making things up just to stop me from hiring Jeff Adkins.” He left.
Nicole sighed as she picked up the phone again. Sally said, “So this new intern… is he a hunk too?”
“He’s a college kid. And he’s practically Daniel Jonas’ step-son.”
“Ah, so that’s why you’re distracted. Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll put in a good word for you with Dr. Jonas even after he sees what you do for a living.”
“Ha ha,” Nicole said. She stared into the phone, trying to decide whether to call JJ. There was no way she was working with Jeff Adkins, no matter what Miles had to say. You’d better come through for me, JJ Deveraux, Nicole thought.
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