"Hoping to capitalize on a rare moment alone, Adam met with the private investigator Barry had hired. Adam briefed the man on the duty at hand: following Jake and finding out what he knew about Dr. David Hayward. Adam warned the would-be tail to remain in the shadows so that no one would see him. He nodded his head and assured the multi-millionaire that he would be professional. Within seconds of the man's departure, Liza appeared behind Adam and asked who he'd been talking to. Adam tried to dodge the question by asking if Colby was still sleeping. Liza shifter her weight onto one leg and told Adam that she knew that man was a private investigator. Adam was taken aback by his wife's observation skills. Liza, on the other hand, thought the man's "cheesy suit" and beat up car was a dead give away of his occupation. She also correctly deduced that Adam had hired the man to find out what Jake had on David. She asked that he call off the pursuit. Adam had no other choice but the agree to Liza's demands. Liza didn't see David as a threat any more. Liza went upstairs to check on Colby. Meanwhile, Marian arrived and scolded Adam for treating Stuart "like a child." She said that she found it mean for Adam to give Stuart a "weekly allowance" rather than letting him handle his own finances. Adam swore that he did everything in Stuart's best interest. Adam explained that he doesn't even handle his own finances. "That's what business managers are for," he said matter-of-factly. Adam had to dash out on business. Marian, who'd come over to see Colby, was surprisingly grumpy when Liza brought the baby downstairs. She looked at the Colby and told her that her "stepfather is mean, old ogre." Colby burst into tears. Liza scolded her mother for talking like that about Adam. After Liza managed to soothe the infant, she voiced her support for Adam's way of handling finances. Stuart, she said, is a marvelous artist, but he's not a financial wizard. "Adam would never short-change Stuart," she said confidently.
The emergency room at Pine Valley Hospital spilled over with patients. To make matters worse, the hospital was understaffed. Gillian reported for volunteer duties assuming that she could help out in some way. A nurse pointed her to the computerized registration system and told her to enter patient information into the system. Gillian had no idea what to do, but she felt obligated to give it a try. Her first test came rather quickly. An unnamed man wandered up to the desk and stated the nature of his medical emergency: he'd gotten his finger stuck in a bowling ball. The computer glitch that had struck Edmund earlier in the day now struck Gillian. As she was entering the man's information into the system, the computer crashed. Out of the corner of her eye, Gillian saw Ryan enter the emergency room. She panicked when she saw the burn on his hand. She flew past the patient she'd been registering and raced to her husband's side. "What about me?" asked the man with the bowling ball attached to his hand. "You have a bowling bowl," Gillian replied curtly. "My Ryan has a noble wound." The man noted that he had gotten their first. "With me, Ryan always comes first," Gillian responded. Gillian took hold of Ryan's arm and escorted him into a cubicle. She asked Jake, who was in the middle of checking out another patient, to tend to Ryan's wound. Jake asked Gillian to have Ryan sit in the waiting room. That wasn't good enough for Gillian. Jake directed her to put an ice pack on Ryan's hand to take away some of the stinging. Jake finished with the patient a short time later and checked on Ryan's hand. Gillian told a spectacular tale of daring, bravery, and near-death; it was an account of how Ryan had rescued Max and Raquel from a blazing inferno. Jake was taken into an examining room. Meanwhile, the private investigator hired to follow Jake poked his head into the emergency room. He told Gillian that he thought he recognized the man with the burns to his hand. Gillian mentioned that the man, Ryan Lavery, was her husband. The investigator then realized that Ryan was the man that had been accused of raping the District Attorney's sister. Gillian became furious and ordered the man never to use the words "rape" and "Ryan" in the same sentence. Gillian returned to work, finally helping out the man with his thumb stuck in the bowling ball. Gillian applied some petroleum jelly to the man's fingers and to the ball. She carefully twisted the ball and with an audible pop, the ball came flying off. The man was thankful, but wondered if he'd be getting a bill for the service. Gillian sort of shrugged her shoulders and said that since she wasn't a doctor she saw no reason for him to be charged for her services. As Jake tended to Ryan's injured hand, the private investigator eavesdropped from just outside the door. He heard every detail of the men's conversation---including numerous references to the trouble that David had caused for Ryan and Gillian. Never was it mentioned that Gillian had had an affair, but the eavesdropper knew that David had done something nefarious.
Erica scolded Trevor and Janet for dropping by unannounced. Trevor noted that another thing Erica doesn't like is her "friends holding out" on her. Janet asked to speak to Erica in private, but Erica insisted that Janet speak freely in front of Vanessa. "I think I know what this is about," Vanessa said with a slight laugh. Vanessa stated that Janet and Myrtle had "made a tape on the slide," a tape that claims that she is trying to "exploit" her friendship with Erica. Janet proudly stated that she'd tried to use the tape to run Vanessa out of town. Erica wasn't amused. "Blackmail, secret tapes, ultimatums," Erica said shaking her head. "Next you're going to tell me that you've taken hostages." The small talk tired Erica and she asked that Janet play the tape. The tape was every bit as incriminating as Janet had promised. In the taped conversation, Jerry Reeves thanked Vanessa for tipping him off to Erica's appearance at the grand opening of Sounds of Salsa. He also urged her to keep in touch so that he could track down Erica in the future. Erica turned to Vanessa and blasted her for tipping off the reporter. Surprisingly, Vanessa made no attempt to distance herself from the charges. She admitted that she'd called Jerry. The admission was quickly followed up by a new spin. Vanessa claimed that she'd only contacted Jerry after Erica had decided that she would not attend the opening. She said that she thought that it would keep Jerry off of Erica's scent. Little did she know that Erica was going to change her mind and show up at the club anyway. Janet didn't buy. She recalled that Vanessa had flashed a "thumbs up" to Jerry as he was leaving, er, being escorted out of the club. Vanessa said that the signal was her attempt to appear friendly with Jerry so that they could keep in contact in the future---and so that she could feed him more false leads. Vanessa had an explanation for everything. Trevor announced that they'd found out that Vanessa was working with Donald Steele to write a tell-all book about Erica. Erica again was stunned. And yet again Vanessa acknowledged that what Trevor and Janet were saying was the truth. Vanessa walked across the room and retrieved a manila envelope. She handed the envelope to Janet and urged him to review its contents. Janet passed the envelope to Trevor and Trevor to Erica. Erica carefully read the papers inside and learned that Vanessa had been writing a book---but the book was hardly the "hatchet job" that Janet and Trevor had claimed. The book's dedication read, "To Erica Kane, the truest, bravest, most beautiful person a friend could have." Janet and Trevor jumped all over Vanessa, accusing her of having a bogus copy lying around just in case someone caught on to her scam. Erica shook her head and made her way towards the door. She grabbed her purse and told the trio that their bickering was enough to drive her out of her own house. Erica stormed out of the house, leaving The Dillons and Ms. Bennett to assign the blame for running Erica off.
Dr. Erle said that Max was "extremely unsettled." The diagnosis came as no surprise to anyone in the room. She explained that Max was fearful that he was going to lose Mateo. Mateo assured the doctor that he'd told Max over and over that he wasn't going anywhere. "Max is afraid of losing the perfect family... the family he never knew he had," said Dr. Erle. By that she meant that Max had such high expectations for what life would be like with a mother and a father, that it was impossible for anyone to measure up. Any change in Max's daily routine could potentially cause problems. Her advice was to set up and maintain a rigid daily schedule. That meant that Max was to wake up at the same time every day, go to bed at the same time, and see Mateo at the same time. Any deviation would only worsen the problems. Hayley walked Samantha to her car. In the courtyard area, Hayley asked how long it might take before Max adjusted to everything. There was no easy answer. Hayley explained that she and Mateo were trying to have a baby and she wondered if having a baby would further complicate matters. "I don't like to tell people what to do," the doctor replied, "but [having a baby] would be very hard on Max." Hayley had hoped that a brother or sister might be good for Max. Actually, the doctor said that it was just the opposite. A baby would divert Mateo's attention---even if it was only slight---and Max would perceive that as losing his father. Hayley was devastated. She somehow managed to hold herself together, but a lone tear escaped and rolled gently down her cheek. Dr. Erle assured Hayley that things would get better in time and continued on her way. Hayley's knees buckled slightly. She sat down on a bench and looked into Raquel's condo through a window. She saw Mateo and Max sitting at the dining room table. This hammered home the disappointment of not being able to have a child of her own. Mateo wandered outside a little while later and asked Hayley if she was okay. Hayley again fought back tears, but struggled to find the words to tell Mateo that they had to put their plans for a baby on hold. Before she could get out the words, Mateo told Hayley that she was "becoming an excellent mother" and promised that things would get better soon. Again Hayley struggled to tell Mateo about Dr. Erle's advice. Another interruption prevented her from breaking the news. Nurse Kelly arrived for her shift. This time, Hayley decided that she'd keep silent and told Mateo not to worry about what she was trying to say. Mateo told Hayley to stand up and close her eyes. He led her across the courtyard to their condo. Once inside, Hayley was permitted to open her eyes. Mateo had recreated a park setting inside their condo. Hayley smiled broadly as she realized that Mateo had remembered their "wedding" anniversary.
Erica walked determinedly through the corridors of Pine Valley Hospital. She entered David's office and took a deep breath. The back of David's chair faced out into the room, but Erica wasn't going to let a little thing like not being able to see the doctor' face deter her from speaking her mind. "David, I need to talk to you," she said. "No, Erica," said a voice as the chair slowly swiveled around. "You need to talk to me." Erica was taken aback when she saw that Adam had been waiting for her."
- Soap Central