"It seemed like hours since David's emergency call had come in. Dr. Weiss paced nervously around the emergency room. He pulled Jake aside and demanded to know when his patient would be arriving. Jake knew little more than his colleague. The MedEvac chopper pilot crossed the waiting area and announced that he was headed home. Jake asked the man if he'd go back up to pick up David and Erica. The man cited numerous reasons for being unable to head back out, but none of them were substantial. Joe appeared by the man's side and ordered him to go back out. The man jumped out of his seat and headed for the chopper. Jake asked his father he he'd managed to get the man to move so quickly. "I guess I've seen more people die [than you]," Joe said glumly.
At the crash scene, David tried to will Erica back to health. "I've done my part---now you do yours!" he said encouragingly. Erica remained unconscious. David noted that her blood pressure was dropping and her breathing was becoming more shallow. The makeshift suture the cardiologist had used on Erica's torn aorta was leaking and it would be only a matter of time before Erica's condition went from bad to worse. Overhead the chopper's blades sounded and an ambulance's siren wailed in the distance.
From his office at WRCW, Tad placed calls all around town hoping to locate Braden. Tad wanted to blast the "little weasel" for leaking his past dealings with Kit to the newspaper. Adam burst into the office and plopped the morning edition of the Bulletin on Tad's desk. He scolded Tad, saying that "a man is judged by the company he keeps." Adam thought that Tad had given his story to the paper. He had failed to realize that the story was negative publicity for Tad. The two men bickered back and forth for several minutes before Adam suggested that they try to become friends. Tad grimaced and commented that friendship was not an option for them. "We hate each other's guts," Tad said, requesting that they keep the relationship since it "worked" for them. Adam headed off to locate Liza so that he could take her for an appointment with Dr. Clader. He must have just missed bumping into Liza in the hallway because she showed up in the office just seconds after Adam left. Tad locked the door behind Liza and informed her that it was time they had a talk. Tad berated Liza's decision to get re-engaged to Adam. He told her that the men with the "oversized butterfly nets" should lock her up in a mental institution! Liza defended her engagement even after Tad implied that her hormones were clouding her judgment. Liza snapped that her relationship was none of Tad's business. This was the same argument that Tad had used to keep Liza from meddling in his relationship with Dixie. Tad claimed that he was trying to return the favor Liza had done by reuniting him with Dixie. "Then buy me an expensive gift," grinned Liza. A knock on the door sounded Liza's possible release from her pseudo-prison. Dixie was permitted into the room and Liza hoped that she'd side with her against Tad. Dixie didn't want to trash the "friendly-like" association she and Liza had formed, but she did want to warn Liza of the dangers of marrying Adam again. She urged Liza to think of her unborn child. Even if the baby was not Adam's flesh and blood, Dixie was certain that Adam would interfere in the child's life---the same way he'd interfered in Max's life. Tad wasn't sure what Dixie was talking about and Dixie had no way of knowing that her newsflash was actually passé. Liza informed Dixie that she already knew about Adam's interference in Max's custody hearing. She said that since a second hearing had already been scheduled there was no reason for Hayley to know about her father's interference. If she did, Liza snapped that she would believed that either Tad or Dixie had squealed out of spite. Adam poked his head in the room and told Liza that he'd been looking all over for her. The couple headed off to the hospital leaving the other couple to decipher what had just taken place. Neither Tad nor Dixie approved of Adam and Liza's engagement. Tad wondered if it was possible that Liza felt "vulnerable" and needed Adam in her life for stability. Dixie chuckled and hoped that Liza's "mama lion" instinct kicked in before it was too late.
Mateo remained fast asleep on the sofa... and Raquel was still by his side. When Raquel heard the front door knob twitching, she had to hightail her scheme into action. She nuzzled up next to Mateo and pretended to be sleeping. Hayley walked in to the parlor area and rolled her eyes. She walked quietly towards the sleeping pair. She plunked her purse on top of Raquel's head and gently roused her almost-husband from his sleep. Mateo's eyes slowly opened. When Matt set his eyes on Raquel, he jumped. He wondered how---or why---Raquel was by his side. Raquel claimed that she must have "passed out" from exhaustion. Raquel asked Hayley why she was just getting home. It was apparent that she wanted to stir up some trouble. Hayley explained that she'd been trapped all night at the gallery. Max burst into the room and asked his father if he could teach him how to ski. Mateo smiled and agreed to take his son out into the winter wonderland. While the Santos men were frolicking in the snow, Hayley decided that the time was right for another girl talk session with Raquel. Hayley angrily told Raquel that she was on to her tricks. This, she said, was not the first time Raquel had positioned herself next to a slumbering Mateo. Raquel again denied that she had deliberately set out to sleep next to Mateo. Hayley sighed deeply. In their past discussion, Raquel had already admitted that she would do anything to win back Mateo, so this detour from honesty was a big waste of time as far as Hayley was concerned. Hayley had constructive advice for Raquel. She advised her to head upstairs and back Max's bags so that they could move out of Wildwind as soon as possible. Raquel refused to let Hayley "steal" her son from her. She snapped that the last time Hayley had been in charge of looking after Max, Max wound of disappearing. Raquel stormed out of the room after threatening to call her attorney to get the court date moved up. Trevor entered the room, his presence preceded by a loud cough. The attorney was fighting a nasty cold, but he knew that the show had to go on. Hayley informed her uncle that she now believed that Raquel had staged Max's disappearance. Raquel's demeanor and continued sarcastic remarks made Hayley realize that Raquel was capable of just about anything. Trevor already suspected that Raquel had staged the disappearance and urged Hayley to go to Mateo with her suspicions. Hayley explained that without hard evidence she feared that Mateo would think she was out to stick it to Raquel. She made her uncle promise that he would not talk to Mateo about their hunch. Trevor nodded his head. Hayley headed off to take a shower. Trevor was only alone for a few minutes before Mateo arrived. Trevor handed Matt a few papers to sign. While he inked his name, Mateo asked his attorney if he thought that Max's disappearance might jeopardize his case. Trevor shook his head and said that it wouldn't hurt their case because "that wondering off thing never happened." A look of shock crept over Mateo's face while Trevor explained his theory. He said that something about Raquel's story just didn't make sense. First, he doubted that Max could have found his way across town on his own. Second, why would the boy seek refuge at the hunting lodge when the main house was only a little further away? Mateo refused to believe Raquel would use their son as a weapon. Trevor offered to talk to Max to find out the truth about his supposed disappearance. Mateo shook his head and said that as Max's father, he should be the one to ask the questions.
Liza drove like a maniac to make her appointment with Dr. Clader. She and Adam wandered by the sun porch and Adam observed that Jake was sitting by himself. Adam wandered in and could wait to break the news that Liza had agreed to marry him. Don't be mistaken, though. Adam didn't want to spread the good news. "The best thing," Adam said, "is that [Liza's] asked me to be the baby's father!" Smiling sinisterly, Adam walked away.
Liza and her baby received a clean bill of health from Dr. Clader. As a memento of the occasion, Liza was given a printout from the ultrasound. Liza smiled and told Adam that he should have the photograph. It was then announced that her baby's name would be Colby Marian Chandler. Dr. Clader was paged away. Adam told Liza that he had a surprise for her and the couple walked off arm in arm. Moments later, Jake happened to walk into the room. The ultrasound image caught his attention. He looked at it for several moments before realizing that it was Baby Colby that appeared on the monitor. He looked sadly at the monitor, sorrow covering his face.
Erica arrived via ambulance still in very critical condition. Feeling responsible for Erica's injuries, David insisted that he be allowed to operate on Erica. He didn't anticipate having to jockey for position with a plastic surgeon. Dr. Weiss angrily demanded that he be allowed to tend to Erica's facial injuries before the wounds scarred. "Nobody's going to care was her face looks like from the inside of a closed coffin," David snapped. He told his fellow surgeon that he'd have to stand in line---because Erica would die if her injured artery wasn't fixed. As she was wheeled off to the operating room, two nurses shared their thoughts on her injuries with one another. "If it were me," said one nurse in reference to Erica's lacerations, "I wouldn't wanna wake up.""
- Soap Central