"The winter weather was still frigid as Ryan and Gillian trudged across the ice to the vacant fishing shack that Stuart and Marian had recently shared. Gillian was frantic that she might have seriously injured Mateo. Ryan promised to call someone to help but wondered who to call. They could not call the paramedics, the police, or just about anyone else in Pine Valley. Gillian suddenly thought up an idea to rectify the situation. She called Wildwind, and thankfully, the person she wanted to speak to answered the phone.
Raquel was stunned to hear Gillian's voice on the other end of the line. She started asking where Gillian had gone, why she wasn't going to turn herself in, and where she was headed. Gillian refused to answer any questions, saying simply that Raquel needed to get to Linden House immediately. Still unfamiliar with the lay of the land, Raquel wasn't sure how to find Linden. More importantly, she didn't understand why she was supposed to go to the gated house. Gillian stated that Mateo needed Raquel. That was all that Raquel needed to hear. She hung up the phone and headed out of the house.
Meanwhile, Gillian and Ryan returned to plotting their escape. They knew that their options were becoming extremely limited. Gillian was frightened by the prospect that assisting her husband's escape could land her in jail. Because of that, Gillian vowed to make sure that Ryan was never apprehended. Her mind flashed back to her most recent "affair" with David Hayward, the one in which she had slept with David in order to raise Ryan's bail money. Of course, the money was not needed.
Gillian decided that there was something she could do to help finance her husband's exodus. She concocted a tale about a secret safe in Edmund's Wildwind office. She'd once been shown the combination to the safe and had been told that she could access the safe's contents if ever an emergency arose. Ryan offered to go in Gillian's place, but Gillian confidently insisted that she could accomplish her goal.
Gillian never made it to Wildwind. She headed directly for Pine Valley Hospital. Dressed in surgeon's "scrubs" and black-rimmed glasses, the disguised princess walked up behind David and told him that there was an emergency that needed his attention.
Writhing in agony on the floor, Mateo attempted several times to get to his feet. Each time, however, his injuries overcame him, and he collapsed back to the ground. Following up on the cryptic advisory Gillian had given her, Raquel arrived at Linden House. She called out to her husband, but there was no response. She slowly wandered around the house until she stumbled upon Mateo sprawled out on the floor.
Tears flooded Raquel's eyes and she dropped to her knees and fell atop the man she still loved. She tried to resuscitate him, but Mateo finally awoke under his own power. Again Mateo tried to stand up, and again he failed. Raquel gave him a hand and helped him to a chair. Mateo blinked his eyes several times and remarked that his vision was out of focus. That was all that Raquel needed to hear. She told Mateo that she was either going to take him to the hospital or call the paramedics.
Once Mateo was at the hospital, Jake gave him a thorough checkup. Mateo's double vision had gone away, and he was feeling fine -- except for a bad headache. Since Mateo had been in a coma for several weeks, Jake was worried that the blow to his head could result in some sort of relapse. Mateo was also unwilling to discuss how he'd gotten clobbered. Jake left the room to arrange some additional tests.
While Jake was gone, Mateo asked Raquel how she had known where to find him. Raquel quietly explained that she'd received a call from Gillian alerting her to Mateo's condition. Mateo rolled his eyes and snidely remarked that it was nice of Gillian to be so concerned -- considering she'd been the one to hit him with the champagne bottle. Raquel was stunned by the news that Ryan and Gillian had hurt Mateo. She was even more puzzled by Hayley's allegiance to the fugitive couple.
Jake returned, and Mateo was wheeled off to have a few x-rays taken. Raquel stepped in to help update Mateo's medical records, proudly noting that she was his wife. After the update, Raquel decided that it was only fair to let Hayley know what she was missing while in jail. She picked up the phone and called the Pine Valley Police Department. "I'd like to leave a message for Hayley Chandler," Raquel said matter-of-factly. "No, not Santos. Hayley Chandler."
Raquel was pleased by what she was doing, choosing every word carefully so that it would have the most impact on Hayley. Raquel told the person on the other end to tell Hayley that Mateo was in the hospital, but that Hayley should not worry because "Raquel is by his side."
Permitted a phone call, Hayley placed an urgent call to a friend. After the call had been made, Hayley paced feverishly around her cell, waiting for her visitor to arrive. Minutes and hours passed, and there was still no sign of the visitor. Then, just as Hayley seemed convinced that her call would go unanswered, Dimitri arrived. Hayley was overjoyed to see her friend and immediately asked him to do her a "huge favor." Hayley told Dimitri that she had promised to deliver a sizeable chunk of cash to aid in Ryan and Gillian's escape.
Dimitri stopped Hayley mid-sentence and told her to say nothing further. "If you tell me [about the plan]," Dimitri said, "I'll have no choice but to tell the police." Hayley was stunned that Dimitri would turn in his own cousin. Dimitri explained that he had been on Ryan and Gillian's side up until the DNA evidence had shown that Ryan could very well have raped Kit. Hayley returned to her conspiracy theory, insinuating that someone close to the case could have fudged the results.
Dimitri sighed heavily and lowered his head. He urged Hayley to step forward with what she knew before things got worse for Ryan and Gillian. The longer the pair was on the run, he explained, the worse things would be for them. Hayley wasn't about to back down. Dimitri told Hayley that he knew she was having personal problems of her own, mainly with Raquel. He told her to do whatever she had to do to get out of jail. Then she and Mateo could go back to Jamaica or elsewhere for a much-needed vacation.
Hayley shook her head and glumly noted that Mateo would not go anywhere without Max -- and Max wouldn't go anywhere without Raquel. Dimitri reminded Hayley that it had been her decision to allow Raquel to stay at Wildwind. Hayley told Dimitri that she'd caught Raquel and Mateo holding hands. Dimitri chuckled and told Hayley that Raquel only wanted her son to have a father. Hayley disagreed. "No, she wants Mateo," she snarled.
Dimitri again asked Hayley to tell the police what she knew, but Hayley kept her silence. Dimitri left the cell area, and Hayley broke down in tears. The guard appeared at Hayley's cell with a message -- the one Raquel had asked be delivered to Hayley. Hayley read the note, and her face turned white. She began pounding and screaming, demanding that she be released from jail.
Adam was definitely observant -- and even more crafty. With Dixie's red nose glaring, Adam asked her if she'd been crying. Dixie nodded ever so slightly and admitted that she had been sobbing. Dixie was not about to tell the truth about why she'd been crying. Instead, she concocted a story about having taped an emotional videogram for some friends back in Pigeon Hollow.
Adam said that he knew almost everyone in the small rural town and asked if he could tape a few words of his own. Dixie denied Adam the opportunity to tape a message, saying that the contents of the videotape were personal. "Personal," Adam repeated. "Or perhaps pornographic?" he asked. Braden and Dixie both interjected their disgust with Adam's allusion. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Chandler," Braden groused. Adam was almost amused by Braden's remark.
Adam blinked several times before explaining to Braden that he was trying to have a private conversation with the mother of his child. Braden didn't back down, but he did agree to give the pair some privacy. Dixie tucked her videotape in her purse as Adam fielded a call from Owen, the judge that had presiding over Mateo's custody hearing. The crooked judge told Adam that he had not been able to get the contempt charges against Hayley dropped. Apparently, Owen had no favors to "call in" with the judge that had sentenced Hayley to jail.
Adam was frazzled by Owen's inability to get things done and angrily hung up the phone. Dixie smiled arrogantly at her former husband's failure to rock the system. Dixie decided that it would be better if she took Junior to stay with her at Cortlandt Manor. Adam argued that he wanted to spend time with Junior. Dixie explained that she feared Adam would have no time for Junior once he and Liza got back together. "You had Junior very young," Adam told Dixie, adding, "I'm a lot older [than you.]" The implication was that Adam didn't have as much time left with his son as Dixie.
Adam vowed to make every minute with his son count and to be the best father he could be. "I want to believe you," Dixie replied softly. Adam could sense that something wasn't quite right. He asked Dixie if everything was okay. Dixie nodded and said that she was worried that Junior might be neglected once Liza's child was born. Dixie agreed to let Junior spend the night at Chandler Mansion. She headed off to tuck her son into bed.
While Dixie was gone, Adam slipped into her purse and removed the video cassette from Dixie's purse. Tape in hand, Adam scurried to his private collection of tapes and grabbed a tape. He then switched the label Dixie had put on her tape with his own tape and then slipped the new tape into Dixie's purse. Adam waited for Dixie to return -- and she did look in her purse to make sure that the tape was still inside. Dixie said goodnight to Adam and headed on her way to Cortlandt Manor. Adam looked out his office window to make sure that Dixie was really leaving before scurrying over to his VCR and popping Dixie's tape inside."
- Soap Central