"Fresh from her whirlwind tour of Europe, Opal returned home to the Glamorama. Upon her return, Tiffany scurried over to Opal and chirped the news that she was the new manicurist. Opal gushed proudly and welcomed the woman aboard. Tiffany's mother, Ethel, had worked for Opal at the old Glamorama. Vanessa strolled into the salon and told Opal that needed to speak to her. Opal turned her back on Vanessa and diverted her attention to getting caught up with Myrtle. Myrtle didn't want to dump bad news on Opal so soon, but she felt that she needed to know about Tad and Dixie's loss.
Erica was also back from her trip with Bianca. Upstairs in her bedroom, Erica gently brushed her hair. Suddenly, the sounds of a piano filled the room. Erica slowly rose from her seat and headed off to investigate. She made her way down the stairs and found David sitting at her piano. It came as somewhat of a surprise to Erica that David knew how to play the piano. Perhaps it shouldn't have since David's livelihood depended upon the skillful and delicate use of her hands. As the piece concluded, David rose from the bench and made his way towards Erica. Without so much as a word, David and Erica fell into each other's arms and kissed passionately. Their lips separated momentarily and David welcomed Erica home. "I missed you," he said softly just before admitting that he'd bribed Coral, Erica's housekeeper, to let him into the house. Erica puckered her lips slightly and noted that Coral would do anything for David because she has a crush on him. Erica and David kissed again. This time, however, David hoisted Erica into his arms and carefully carried her upstairs.
The news that "jill" was going to have babies failed to move Tad. In fact, he became somewhat concerned when the boys burst into the house and asked if they could have one of them. Junior explained that "jill" was the term used to refer to a female ferret. Tad told the boys that they'd have to ask Dixie if they could get a new pet---and that they'd have to wait to ask her because she was sleeping. Junior worried that his mother wasn't well, but Tad explained that she was "just really tired." Opal arrived at the house with gifts for everyone. After Junior and Jamie raced to her car to get their packages, Opal approached her son and gave him a big hug. "I wish I could do something for you and Dixie," she sighed heavily. Tad nodded his head. "You could talk her out of having another baby," he replied. Opal tried to convince Tad that trying for another baby might not be such a bad thing...in time. Tad didn't agree. "Why tempt fate all over again?" he asked with a twinge of anger. "I'm not gonna lose her." Always optimistic, Opal noted that Tad didn't have to lose anything. In fact, he might actually "gain a child." Tad, however, was not prepared to "gamble" with Dixie's life. Tad burst into laughter as Opal urged him to "side with the angels." He was amazed that Opal could continually look on the bright side. "You survived Ray Gardner and Palmer Cortlandt," Tad conceded. "That would have killed most people." Adrian and Belinda entered the house through the still ajar from door. Carrying flowers, Belinda offered her condolences to Tad. She asked if she could see Dixie, but Tad was sure that Dixie was still fast asleep. Opal offered to go and check on Dixie. Adrian approached Tad and the two men embraced. Opal looked on from the background with a proud smile. Adrian offered to take the boys for a little while if Tad and Dixie needed some time alone. Opal returned and said that Dixie was now awake, but still resting. Belinda decided that it was a good time to put the flowers in a vase and for Adrian to make some iced tea. Of course, this was just an excuse to allow Tad and Opal some time to talk. Opal told Tad that Dixie had mentioned her desire to have another baby. Opal understood that Tad was afraid of what might happen. "Stare down those fears," she encouraged her son. After Opal left, Tad thought about what his mother had said and realized that maybe it was time to talk openly with Dixie. Adrian and Belinda returned to the den. The boys returned to the house looking for Tad. When Belinda said that Tad was upstairs with Dixie, Junior put two and two together and determined that his mom must have lost the baby. Adrian sat on the sofa and prepared to talk to the two boys. In the back of the room, Tad looked on unnoticed. Adrian confirmed that Dixie had suffered a miscarriage. He told Junior and Jamie that under normal circumstances, Tad and Dixie would not keep secrets from them. But this was something different. Tad and Dixie were so upset by what had happened that they were not sure how or when to tell the boys about the bad news. Adrian's explanation really seemed to help. Jamie, however, still had one question. "Does this mean we'll never have a baby sister?" That, though, was a question that Adrian could not answer. The boys headed on their way and Tad returned to the room. He thanked Adrian for handling the question so well. Adrian said that it may not be any of his business, but he too was wondering if Tad and Dixie were going to try to have another baby. Tad said that his gut feeling was no---but that a little bird had urged him to "go for the gusto." Adrian smiled and asked Tad if that little bird was a "spunky, [wearing] bright colors, and lots of jewelry."
For privacy's sake, Alexandra took Edmund to the hunting lodge. Once there, Edmund vented his frustration over Alex's constantly changing stories. "I am a neurologist," Alex said clearing up any doubt about her medical background. She said that it was her career, not social life, that led her and Dimitri to their first meeting. Edmund angrily grabbed Alex by the arm and demanded that she tell him the whole truth---not just bits and pieces of it. "I never wanted this to happen," she sighed as she began recounting the past.
As before, Alex recalled her first date with Dimitri. He had said that Alex would never have met him if she knew the reason he was there. That, of course, hinted that this was more than a social call. "Perhaps there are some things that I don't want to see," Alex replied as she tried to avoid the subject. Where Alex's flashbacks previously ended at this point, this time there was more... much more. "I'm dying," Dimitri said with noticeable concern. Alex continued eating, between bites informing Dimitri that she was no longer practicing medicine. "Your last patient was a nine-year old boy. You struggled for fifteen months to save him [but] he died in your arms," Dimitri responded. It became clear that he had done his homework. "I've had my life. Whatever you can give me would be gravy. I'm not afraid to die but I want to live. Life is sweet and I want it."
Edmund was stunned that his brother was ill. He and Dimitri had gone on a skiing trip just a few weeks before Dimitri and Alex first met and Dimitri seemed fine. Alex nodded her head and said that the disease that Dimitri suffered from has no real physical symptoms. If Alex had not been practicing medicine, Edmund to know how and why she'd decided to treat Dimitri. "I could never refuse [Dimitri] anything," she said with a smile. Dimitri had dropped by Alex's office the day after their first date.
Alex carefully reviewed the medical files that Dimitri had given her. The doctors Dimitri had seen were all top-notch, but Alex badmouthed their practices. One doctor, she said, gives up entirely too easily. According to Dimitri, he first noticed that something was wrong a few days after he and Edmund escaped from the aqueduct. He felt slightly dizzy, but thought that he had some water trapped in his inner ear. When he checked with a doctor, he was told that the problem was much more severe. The final diagnosis was a rare but fatal disease for which there was no cure. Alexandra explained that the cell regeneration process in Dimitri's brain had become flawed. Instead of shedding and replacing cells on a one-to-one basis, the shedding process had become extremely accelerated and the replenishment almost non-existent. In essence, Dimitri's brain was slowly dying. Dimitri told Alex that he could not tell his brother about his health problems because Edmund was still mourning the loss of his wife. After an extended treatment period, Alex had someone managed to cure Dimitri of his previously untreatable ailment. Although she preferred to say that the disease was in remission rather than fully cured. Dimitri became jubilant and kissed Alex in thanks. He pulled away when he realized that he might have overstepped the bounds of their relationship. To his surprise, Alex stepped towards him and gave him a kiss in return.
Something about Alex's explanation just didn't jive with Edmund. Dimitri had been cured of a strange disease---and died anyway. Alex explained that Dimitri's death had been the result of something entirely different; he did not die from the disease. Edmund wanted to know if Dimitri knew that he was healthy when he asked Alex to marry him. She reminded Edmund that it was Dimitri's wish not to have his loved ones know the full-extent of his illness. Edmund snapped that Alex, not Dimitri, was the one causing him heartache. Furious that more uncertainty had been raised, Edmund stormed out of the lodge. Alex threw her arms in the air and began pacing about the lodge. She took off her shoes and slowly walked over to the chest of drawers. There she opened the lid to the music box that Dimitri had given her and listened to the tune. Her mind drifted once again to the past.
David and Erica returned downstairs, their wardrobe slightly altered. David's shirt was now wrinkled and untucked and Erica was wearing a white bathrobe. David asked Erica to play him something on the piano. Erica smiled slightly and informed him that "the only thing I play is the radio." David asked Erica about her time with Bianca and Erica was only too eager to talk about the most important thing in her life---her daughter. She said that Bianca was doing better every day, but that she was disappointed that she would not get to have Dimitri's horse, Maximillian. David wondered if it was possible that Alexandra was a "horseman" and wanted Maximillian for herself. Erica doubted it, but conceded that it was a remote possibility. She was still convinced that Alex was up to something. She also said that she resented that way that Alex carried on as though she loved Dimitri more than anyone. She muttered that Alex would probably keep Dimitri "under lock and key" if he were still alive. The ringing of David's cellular phone interrupted the conversation. On the other end of the line was Edmund, though David never once offered a hint as to who he was talking to. Edmund told David that he was at the mausoleum and that he needed to talk to him about Alexandra. David told Edmund that he'd be there in a few minutes.
Inside the Marick family crypt, Edmund crouched before his brother's vault with a somber face. "Did you love her Dimitri?" Edmund asked aloud. "Did she love you... or did she kill you? I have to know."
Opal returned to the Glamorama just as Tiffany was putting the final touches on Vanessa's manicure. Opal praised her new hire's work, but encouraged Vanessa to return to the salon. "Come back next week," Opal said. "We're having a special on declawings." Vanessa said that she would be taking her business elsewhere---Paris, in fact. Opal's eyes lit up and in a roundabout way told Vanessa that she'd be happy to see her go. Opal hurried Vanessa to the front door, but before she could get rid of the customer, Palmer appeared. Opal assumed that her former husband had dropped by to see their son, but that was not the case. Palmer smiled lovingly at Vanessa. He admired her recently touched up hands, but couldn't help but notice that they looked unusually bare. Vanessa explained that she'd had to take off all of her jewelry for the manicure. Palmer then produced a stunning diamond ring and helped ease it on to Vanessa's finger. Opal's face turned a ghostly shade of white. Myrtle entered the foyer and also looked on in shock. "May I present the new Mrs. Palmer Cortlandt," Palmer smiled proudly."
- Soap Central