""Where is she, mother?" David asked in exasperation. Vanessa smirked as she informed her son that Erica was showing the press her damaged face. David's eyes widened. He demanded that Vanessa stop beating around the bush and tell him everything she knew. Still, Vanessa went with her long, drawn out version of what she knew. David worried hat Erica's "frail mental state" could compromise her health. Vanessa mused that the correct term was "psychosis." David became infuriated by his mother's obvious lack of concern. Vanessa was about to walk out without telling David anything further. Before she could leave, David grabbed her by the arms and shook her violently. As he was doing this, Adam entered the office and demanded that David unhand his mother and show her the respect she deserves. Vanessa pretended to be traumatized by the incident and told Adam that David always accuses her of horrible things. Meanwhile, Liza placed an urgent call to David to find out why he hadn't arrived at the school. David almost went through the roof when he learned that Liza had left an urgent message with his "secretary." David informed Adam about Erica's whereabouts and the two men agreed to travel to the high school together. Before leaving, David turned angrily to his mother and snarled, "You make me sick."
The news that Erica had been located found its way to Myrtle, Janet, and Opal, who were still gathered in Erica's hospital room. The three women out their heads together to try to determine why Erica had run off. As they concluded that Erica must have learned the truth about her injured face, Vanessa waltzed into the room. Opal asked Vanessa if she'd said anything to Erica about her face. Vanessa shrugged and remarked that she'd kept her promise to stay mum on the topic. Vanessa, however, went on to imply that Opal might have unwittingly tipped Erica off. Opal nearly burst into tears; She believed that she might have been the one to make the blunder. Janet took Opal in her arms and assured her that "none of Erica's friends" would hurt Erica that way. There was a marked emphasis on the word "friends." Janet's head slowly turned towards Vanessa, who was standing across the room from them. Janet looked coldly at the stranger and warned her that she'd pay if they found out that she'd been the one to tell Erica about her face.
In the courtroom, Gillian sat alone in the last row of seats. Mateo entered a few minutes later and asked Gillian why she wasn't in the witness room with Ryan. Gillian softly explained that she was doing exactly what Ryan wanted her to do---"for once." Mateo begged Gillian to reconsider before it was too late. Gillian explained that Ryan has had her at arm's length for weeks. The princess noted that she'd prefer that Hayley be there for Ryan instead. She praised Hayley for having stood by Ryan throughout the ordeal. Mateo nodded and agreed that Hayley had been a great friend. Mateo was puzzled by Hayley and Gillian's continued belief that Ryan's confession was bogus. He did, though, admit that he's misjudged a few people in his life---most recently Raquel. Mateo finally told Gillian that he was not angry with her for "clunking" him on the head because he'd have done the same thing for Hayley. A broad smile erupted on Gillian's face.
In the witness room, Belinda helped straighten Ryan's tie and quickly went over the statement of remorse he planned to read to the judge. Hayley entered the room and Belinda agreed to give the two some space. Hayley pleaded with Ryan to come clean and admit the truth, warning him that the truth would be revealed eventually. Hayley told Ryan that Tad and Dixie had gone to Iowa to learn more about his relationship to Braden. Ryan pitched a fit and nastily told Hayley that no one should be sticking their noses into his personal affairs. As if on cue, Tad and Dixie entered the room and announced that they finally figured out why Ryan was protecting Braden; They're brothers. All at once, everything fell into place. Hayley commented that she now understood why the DNA match was only seventy percent: Braden had raped Kit. Ryan didn't dispute that he and Braden were brothers, but he stuck to his story that he, not Braden, had assaulted Kit. Tad, Dixie, and Hayley all took turns trying to convince Ryan that he should not confess to a crime that he hadn't committed. Tad claimed that her understood Ryan's sense of devotion to his brother, but serving time for a violent crime didn't fall under the header of brotherly love. Dixie could see that she and Tad were not help things, so she made up a story about having to go and check on Junior. She and Tad left the room. Outside in the hallway, Dixie told Tad that Hayley stands the best chance of convincing Ryan to do the right thing. Dixie did make a phone call, but it wasn't to her son. She phoned Adrian and learned that Braden had already checked out of The Valley Inn---and was headed to Japan. Back inside the witness room, Ryan doubted that anyone could understand what he was going through. He was wrong. Hayley told Ryan that she once took the fall for car accident her mother had caused. Arlene had been driving under the influence of alcohol and risked having her license taken away from her permanently because she'd already had several DUI convictions. Hayley scooted behind the steering wheel and claimed that she'd been driving. Hayley knew now that she hadn't done the right thing, but at the time is seemed so right. Thankfully, Arlene never killed anyone while driving drunk, but was Ryan willing to take a similar leap of faith with Braden? "Braden's not gonna go and," Ryan stopped mid-sentence. "Rape another woman?" Hayley asked. Ryan lowered his head and said nothing.
"Who are all these people?" Erica asked. She didn't appear frightened by the flash of the cameras. Instead, she looked oddly pleased by the huge media presence. Erica stepped out from behind Jerry and informed the reporters that they'd all have to leave because she'd granted Jerry an exclusive interview. One member of the media spoke up and claimed that Erica had been the one to call the press conference. Erica softened a bit and agreed to let the photographers snap off a few pictures. She smiled and twirled and otherwise performed for the cameras. Again someone from the press corps spoke up and asked Erica what had happened to her face. Erica was caught off guard by the question and asked the man what he was talking about. Liza and Jerry looked at each other in concern. "Nothing's wrong with my face," Erica grinned. "Why would you ask such a thing?" Liza scurried over to Erica and pleaded with Erica to return to the hospital. Erica refused, saying that she felt fine. After watching Erica's bizarre spectacle, several of the reporters cracked that Erica must be "back on the pills." Another of the reporters asked Erica why she was wearing such a fancy dress. Erica again smiled broadly. She looked at Jerry and told him that she was going to have to tell the press about her new campaign. Jerry was no longer concerned about getting an exclusive interview; He was worried that Erica was on the verge of a meltdown. In an effort to get Erica to step aside and avoid the media feeding frenzy, Jerry told Erica that he was upset with her for backing out on their deal. Erica apologized and promised to give Jerry an exclusive first look at her new products. For now, their exclusive interview was off. Erica informed the crowd that she was on the verge of launching a new line of cosmetics. As she gushed about the ideas she had for the advertising campaign, a reporter asked her if she was worried that having her face on the ads would hurt sales. Again, a puzzled look emerged on Erica's face. Delusional, Erica didn't realize that her face was covered in bandages nor did she recall that she'd been involved in a car accident. From the reporters' comments, Erica inferred that she was being labeled too old for the ad campaign. That, of course, was not the case. Erica's hand slowly returned to the side of her face. After feeling that there were, in fact, bandages on her face, Erica relented to pressure from the press and agreed to show them what was underneath her bandages. Liza raced over to Erica's side and pleaded with her not to take off her bandages. It did no good. Erica insisted that she had nothing to hide and started to pick away at the tape that attached the bandages to her face. Liza raced over to one of her cameramen and ordered him to stop taping the macabre spectacle. He refused, so Liza fired him on the spot. The man was unmoved. He placed the station-owned camera on a nearby table and proceeded to pick up a camera that he presumably owned. From there, he announced that he was going to work freelance and resumed snapping photographs. David, Adam, Dimitri, and Trevor entered the library just as Erica had unattached some of the tape on her face. David pushed through the mob and got to Erica before she could remove her bandages. He reminded her that she was not to remove the bandages because the wound could get infected. David managed to convince Erica that he needed to check her vital signs. She followed him to another room. Meanwhile, Adam took out his checkbook and offered to pay the media to walk away and not report anything they'd seen. The media wanted entirely too much money---a million dollars a piece---so Adam was forced to withdraw his offer. Trevor got on the phone and placed a bogus call to the hospital. When the media heard that Erica was supposedly outside waiting for an ambulance and a straight jacket, they raced to be the first to capture the images. After everyone left, Liza informed Dimitri, Adam, and Trevor that she believes Erica is delusional because she doesn't even realize that she was in a car accident.
David took Erica to a nearby locker room and gave her a quick once over. He softly asked Erica to let him take her back to the hospital. Since Erica apparently had no recollection of the automobile accident, David told her that she'd just undergone heart surgery and needed to rest. Erica shook her head and told David that what she really needed was a chance to "freshen up" before she returned to her interview. Erica noticed a mirror hanging inside an open locker. She made her way towards the locker and froze when she noticed that her face was bandaged. She ran her hand over her reflection and at one point covered the side of her face that had been damaged. Erica heard Vanessa's voice telling her that the damage to her face was "far too extensive---and irreversible." Erica turned to David and told him that a woman told her that her face would be scarred. In a child-like voice, Erica asked David if her face would be scarred. "Erica," David said, his voice hanging. "Yes.""
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