"Late in the evening, Erica was walking around her living room with a cup of tea, looking rather pensive. She heard noises from upstairs and hid behind a door as Bianca and Rain tried to sneak downstairs for something to eat. Rain worried out loud about Erica catching them, but Bianca said that her mom was so wrapped up in her own life that she wouldn't know they were there. Erica heard everything and saw them run hand in hand into the kitchen. She muttered to herself, "How could Bianca have brought that girl under my roof?"
As Bianca and Rain left the kitchen, Erica stopped them and told Rain to get out of her house. Bianca said okay; Rain would leave in the morning, since she had nowhere to go and it was the middle of the night. Rain tried to prevent trouble between mother and daughter, saying she'd go to the shelter for the night. She went upstairs to get her things. Bianca tried to reason with her mother, but Erica said that Rain was a horrible influence. Bianca wanted to reach out and help Rain, but Erica said she didn't want to help Rain, and she didn't want Rain in Bianca's bed.
Bianca, horrified, said, "Oh, my God! You think I'm sleeping with Rain!" Rain walked downstairs with her coat, and Bianca walked her outside. They hugged, and Rain told Bianca to visit her at the community center. Bianca went back in to face her mother and told her that the two girls had not slept together. She told Erica that she would never disrespect Erica by taking a girlfriend into her house, but Erica thought Bianca was trying to hurt her.
"You do whatever you want, my feelings be damned!" Erica screamed at Bianca. "I'm just looking for someone who won't judge me," Bianca told Erica. She went on to tell her mom that she hated to see Erica so unhappy and that she missed her mother as much as Erica missed Bianca. Bianca went upstairs and left Erica to sit on the sofa and cry. Before too many tears fell, Erica stopped herself and said that falling apart was not an option. She then said she'd be strong for Bianca and stood up, saying she knew what she had to do.
Erica walked into the community center and found Rain alone. She held out a wad of cash and told Rain to take it and leave town -- and to never contact Bianca again. Rain didn't want it, but Erica forced the $10,000 into her hand and said, "If you don't take it and leave, you'll be very sorry." Erica stormed out, leaving Rain standing there with the money.
Hayley, who was dressed as Arlene, took the guy from the pier into Hayley and Mateo's home. He was shocked at how nice the place was because he had thought she was a hooker. "Arlene" laughed it off, telling him everything for the night was on the house. She told him the place had been her daughter Hayley's, but Hayley was gone. She told him about her plans to redecorate the place in black leather and leopard skin. She said that Hayley had passed on, stating, "Only the good die young."
"Arlene" offered the guy a drink, "a toast to Hayley's timely demise." He asked what had happened to Hayley, and "Arlene" said she had killed her in self-defense. While opening a bottle, she glanced at a wedding picture of Hayley and Mateo and stopped what she was doing. She walked over and picked up the photo, and the guy took one look at it and exclaimed, "It's you!" "Arlene" told him no, it was her daughter Hayley, and he said they could be twins.
"Arlene" said she and Hayley were nothing alike; Hayley had the perfect life, perfect job, and perfect husband, and "Arlene" had nothing. Then "Arlene" said that she had gotten Hayley's life, and Hayley had the life she deserved. The guy was creeped out, and he left the condo. "Arlene" just stared at the wedding photo and heard Mateo's voice repeating his wedding vows, ending with "till death do us part, this is my solemn vow." Hayley whispered desperately, "Please help me, Mateo!"
"Arlene" left the condo and went back to the Pit, where she found her friend Bud. She grabbed a bottle of champagne and shared a swig with him. Then she shook the bottle and sprayed him with the wine. Bud wasn't thrilled and asked for his check, telling "Arlene" that they could go find a motel with a heart-shaped bed. She told him she couldn't go with him, and he got angry, telling her she was all tease, and then walked out.
At the hospital, Adam was getting frantic that he couldn't find Hayley. Liza wondered why Arlene would shoot Vanessa. Mateo told them that Hayley was gone, but he wasn't sure that Arlene had kidnapped her. He thought that Arlene had left too many clues and wondered how she had gotten off the boat without anyone seeing her.
Adam, Liza, and Mateo thought it was strange that all of a sudden, Arlene, who normally liked the spotlight, was keeping a low profile. Adam went to check on Vanessa's condition, and Mateo's phone rang. He walked away to take the call privately, and it was Tina, who told him she had heard noises from his place. He told her he was on his way and ran out of the hospital.
Mateo and Tina walked into the condo, and he found the picture frame that had held the wedding picture smashed and the photo missing. Tina found a jacket and commented on how tacky it was -- "just something Arlene would wear." She told Mateo she was glad Hayley was at her dad's house, safe. Mateo told her he didn't think she was safe and that Hayley was actually missing. He picked up the tacky jacket and put his hand in a pocket. He pulled out Hayley's wedding rings.
"She'd never take these off willingly," Mateo told Tina. Tina found the missing wedding picture and handed it to Mateo. He turned it over and found a message: "The guilty cannot love, the guilty cannot exist." Mateo told Tina it was Hayley's handwriting. The police arrived but found nothing, and Mateo told them to return in the morning because he wanted to be alone.
Mateo sat down with the photo and Hayley's rings and tried to figure out the clues Hayley had left for him. Picking up the jacket again, he felt the pockets and pulled out a matchbook from the Pit. He left the condo and went to the bar to look for clues. As he walked into the bar, "Arlene" saw him.
In the waiting area at the hospital, Leo told David that he had to operate on their mother, but David said he couldn't. Leo got upset and grabbed David, saying, "She gave us life. You can't let her die!" Leo begged David to save Vanessa and then went into Laura's arms. They walked over to the chairs, and Leo told Laura about growing up with Vanessa and some of their adventures in Europe. He said he had thrown her out of his life when she had left him in jail for murder. Laura said he still needed his mother, just like he had when he had been ten years old. Leo said he didn't want to lose her.
Joe and Jake tried to talk David into doing the surgery, but he still refused. Dixie asked to talk to David alone, and Jake told her no. She said she wasn't asking him and walked off with David. Joe and Jake discussed that situation, and Jake told Joe where the two of them had been when he had paged David. Joe told Jake to stay out of it; they had to let Tad handle his marriage.
Meanwhile Dixie asked David why he wouldn't operate on Vanessa. He said he hated his mother too much to save her. He was afraid that his childhood memories and feelings would guide his hands during surgery. The little boy inside him would be begging him to even the score with his mother, and he couldn't take that chance. Dixie told David that he still loved his mother no matter what he said, but he denied it. She said she believed in him with all her heart.
Palmer asked Joe why they were waiting to operate, and Joe responded that David wouldn't cooperate. Jake was on the phone to Tad and watched as Palmer walked up to David, asking humbly for David to please save his wife. David said he'd do what he could, and Dixie smiled at him as he walked away to surgery.
Later, Leo asked Jake how long the surgery would take and was told it would be several hours. Laura talked Leo into going to the cafeteria to get some dinner. Greenlee went up to the desk and began to ask Jake to tell Leo that she had gone home but then stopped and just walked away. A little while later, Leo and Laura returned from dinner, and Leo looked around for Greenlee. He said he wanted to apologize to her for not believing her when she had called him earlier.
Palmer told Dixie he should go get some of Vanessa's things, explaining, "You know how she doesn't like to be seen without her makeup." Dixie volunteered to go for him, and he told her that he had met his match in Vanessa; he just couldn't lose her. She started to leave but went up to speak to Jake first. Jake got very upset with her for being with David. He asked what had happened to her, and Liza walked up behind them and wondered the same thing.
Jake had to leave, and Liza said she'd heard that Dixie was cheating on Tad. She asked if Tad and Dixie were getting a divorce. Dixie said they had lots of problems, beginning with Liza sleeping with Tad. The two women had some choice words for each other but were interrupted when Adam told Liza that Colby was at home, crying for her. Adam and Liza left, and Dixie stood there, looking rather annoyed.
After the surgery was over, David walked out to give a report on Vanessa. He told everyone that he'd removed the bullet and that she was stable, but the next few hours were critical. Adam wanted to see her but was told "immediate family only." Palmer and Leo went with Joe to see her. Palmer leaned over her and talked to her, and Leo asked if she knew they were there. Adam barged in and said of course she knew and demanded to know what she could tell him about Hayley and Arlene.
Dixie and David sat down in the waiting area, and she told him she had known he could do it. He said he could've only done it because of her, and they hugged. Jake was standing at the desk and glared at them, and Dixie looked up and saw him. She closed her eyes and laid her head on David's shoulder. Tad walked in and saw the two of them embracing."
- Soap Central