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Episode 42

"Past Faces, Bloody Glass"

PREVIOUSLY ON SUNRISE BAY...

*Upon spotting a man at Shirley's Bar and Grille, Annie became very unhinged, forcing Todd to leave the restaurant with her. In the car, while Todd questioned her about the mystery man, Annie was an emotional wreck speeding down the road. This led to her getting pulled over by the cops for a ticket.

*Barbara hoped for Gabi's recovery so that ex-husband Patrick Kane would leave town.

*An infuriated Amy confronted Jarrod over him sleeping with Cassie. An upset Jarrod told Amy of his father's lies. Meanwhile, Keith came home desperately wanting to make amends with Jarrod.

***************************************************************************

TODD'S HOUSE

The sister and brother enter the house with a slow walk. Todd slowly shuts the door, letting it ease shut with a click. With his hands on his waist, he looks up to his sister. Annie turns around slowly, wearing  a face of guilt, while clenching the speeding ticket in her palms.

Todd motions Annie to have a seat on his couch, "OK, we are not leaving this house until you tell me what is going on with you."

Annie wears a face of complete defiance. "I don't think I want to tell you anything. This was a bad idea. Could we please pretend none of this ever happened?!" She waves the ticket in the air.

"You better be kidding me, Annie. There is no way you are leaving this house until you explain what has got you so worked up. It all started with you going nuts over seeing some guy at the restaurant. Who was he?"

Annie bolts up from the couch. "Can we talk about it another time? I almost forgot I was supposed to meet Keith. I think he had something real important to talk about." She makes the motions toward the front door but Todd quickly runs ahead of her, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Jeez, Todd! Why the hell is this so important to you?!"

"Annie, you went crazy! I swear you weren't planning on stopping to get that ticket and you had full-blown tears in your eyes. Annie Lansing never cries--at least in front of someone. Now stop avoiding it, tell me everything. I'm your brother and I love you. I want to know what is bothering you so much!"

Annie swallows hard. Todd's words hit her like a ton of bricks. She feels touched by his verbal expression of care. She lets out a deep sigh and runs her hands through her red hair.

"So? Are you going to tell me?"

"Fine. If you're so deadset on it. I'll tell you who that guy was and why I flipped out." Annie scratches her neck as her eyes worriedly scan the house. Random magazines are scattered about the kitchen counter and it appears her brother forgot to put away a gallon of orange juice. She forces herself to not be distracted and brings her gaze to meet Todd's. She can tell he genuinely cares and knows that she shouldn't take that care for granted by making up a lie. She can't excuse the idea because it would make this moment much easier. Another part of her has been carrying this burdened secret for far too long. Maybe it's time to confess to the year in Annie's life that she wishes never had existed. "Todd, this isn't easy. I want you to understand that. I can tell that you want to help me. I did act like a complete psycho and I'm sorry I scared you like I did."

"All is forgiven if you tell me why, Annie." Todd's tone is gentle and laced with concern.

This is going to be so damn hard to admit but I need to! Just tell him, Annie. You'll feel better afterwards. At that thought, Annie takes a deep breath and lets the words spill:  "Remember when I was 15 and ran away from home? When I didn't come back home for an entire year?"

"What? No, I don't. A whole year?"

"Derrr, what am I thinking? Of course you wouldn't have remembered: you were like 2. Anyway, yes, when I was 15 I ran away from home. However, this wasn't some walk down the road and turn back around after being scared of strange noises kinda thing. It was the real deal. It also didn't help that my older friend Jessica was leading the way. That girl was something, I'm telling you. Anyway, well, she had this big idea that we should live in Boston together. She was 19 and had her license and was a complete wild child with a young spirit. She always complimented me on how much older I looked for my age. Come to think of it, I think she had the hots for me." Annie pauses to let out a small chuckle. "Anyway, I was all over the idea. Mom and Dad were complete lunatics who were deadset on sending me to the mental ward. Todd, I couldn't breathe without them criticizing me for doing it wrong!"

"I know what you mean..." Todd states as he glances at his feet. Momentarily all the emotional burdens come to the tip top and brim over in the same way they did years ago when he was a vulnerable child.

Annie slowly nods before swallowing hard to continue on with the rest of her story. "Yeah, Mom never changed and Dad sure as hell didn't until the day he was murdered. Anyway, let's get back to my fucked up childhood, shall we? As I was saying: Jessica and I came up with the wonderful idea to escape our lives by running off to Boston. I may have been young but I sure as hell wasn't stupid. I constantly questioned Jessica how her and I planned on supporting ourselves. She could easily find a job but I was only 15! I still had a year before I probably had a running chance of landing a minimum wage job. Jessica assured me that she knew some people in Boston and that I wouldn't have to worry. She was so confident and I loved that about her. It was infectious. Now I'm going to make the rest of this short and sweet to provide you with the explanation that you are dying to hear. Ready to be disgusted with your older sister?"

Todd shakes his head vehemently. "Annie, don't say that! You could never disgust me. Look at the lengths you went to as a 15 year old to escape our parents from hell. You were desperate and I don't blame you a single bit. Come on, lay it on me. Don't hold anything back. I'm here for you."

Annie closes her eyes tight and gathers all the strength within her to continue the story. When she feels that she's had the proper amount, she slowly brings her eyes open. "Todd, there's no other way to put this. Jessica definitely had a plan on how we were going to make money. Todd, your older sister, I don't even know how to tell you this." Tears flow to the surface of her eyes. "Todd, I had sex with men to make money. I was a prostitute."

Todd's eyes widen in complete shock.

SUNRISE BAY HOSPITAL

It's him. I know his figure. I know his crevices. I know his fingertips and smell...it's the man I love. I'd give up anything to spend my life with him.

"It was a mistake! It was a mistake! It was a mistake! It was a mistake!" Todd's voice rings in her mind with persistence.

Gabi's head moves to the right. Her cheek twitches and she begins to move her head quickly from side to side.

Barbara is by the bedside while she watches in glee, "Gabi? Gabi!!" Barbara squeezes her daughter's hand as she watches her eyes flutter open.

Gabi suddenly sits straight up, losing her breath. Coughs ensue afterwards.

"Nurse!! Oh my god, Gabi! DOCTOR! MY DAUGHTER IS CONVULSING!!" Barbara goes nuts as she watches Gabi appear to be caught in a cross of an asthma attack and a coughing fit.

Dr. Carl Jones and a nurse by the name of Wendy James hear her frantic yells and rush toward the scene of the cries. Gabi's coughing seems to "compete" in being louder than Barbara's pleas.

"Don't worry, Ms. Winthrop, we are going to take care of your daughter." states nurse Wendy in a very calm voice, obviously having no emotional attachment to the situation that is playing out.

"Please! I can't lose her!" Barbara wipes her teary eyes but it serves no purpose considering the buckets of tears rushing out immediately afterwards. She decides to say a quick prayer, though she and God haven't been on speaking terms. "Dear God, Gabi is finally waking up. Please let her be OK. Don't take her away from me again! Don't let this be some cruel twist of fate!"

"Barbara? Is there something going on with Gabi? Has she woke up?" The new voice belongs to Patrick Kane. The worried father rushes towards his ex-wife's side.

Barbara pulls Patrick against her, "Yes, she's waking up but she started coughing and couldn't keep her breath! But we don't have to worry, do we?! They're gonna fix her. It will be all OK. Right?!"

Patrick puts his hands on Barbara's shoulders and looks her straight in the eyes. "Please settle down, Barbara. It's not gonna help Gabi or anyone if you’re frantic like this."

Barbara maintains the eye contact and swallows hard. She swiftly turns around to gaze into the room where Carl and Nurse Wendy are trying to ease a newly awaken Gabi. "I guess you're right. I should be happy that's she's finally woken up. Oh my god, Patrick. We have to break the news to her that she's pregnant! I wonder how she's gonna react. I hope her being in this coma and having all that medicine pumped into her hasn't hurt our grandchild."

Patrick once again touches Barbara's shoulder. The sweet feeling of knowing he's gonna be a grandparent rushes through his veins.

Barbara glances at the point of touch and on instinct jerks away. Chill out, Barbara. You're only drawn to this man because you are both going through a crisis.

Patrick crosses his arms and quickly walks up to the glass door. "You should call Nicholas. He'd be thrilled to know his sister has woke up."

Barbara tries to get a good view of what is happening in the hospital room as she speaks: "No need to, Nicholas is in the cafeteria getting him and I some coffee."

At that moment, Nicholas appears in the waiting room holding two Styrofoam cups. "Actually, I'm right here. Whoa, what's going on in there? What's happening with Gabi?"

Barbara reaches out and accepts her coffee. "Oh, honey! Your sister woke up while you were gone! Isn't that wonderful? She just seemed to have trouble catching her breath. However, by the looks of it, the doctors are taking care of that issue as we speak. I can't wait to hug her and tell her that I love her."

"Oh my god, this is such a relief. I didn't think she'd ever wake up." states Nicholas excitedly. His eyes meet with his father's but he quickly jerks them away. "I'm sure you are thrilled as well, Dad." Sarcasm is thick in his voice.

Patrick is caught off-guard, "Of course I'm happy that she's awake, Nicholas. Why wouldn't I be?!"

Nicholas shrugs his shoulders. "You only seem to provide concern to your children when they are fighting for their life. I just thought I'd see if that was still the drill."

Patrick is at a loss of words on how to answer Nicholas. However, his reaction is demonstrated by the nasty glare he casts in Barbara's direction.  I don't care what that woman says: she has consciously turned Nicholas and Gabi away from me! Why would she do that? One thing for sure: I'm not leaving Sunrise Bay until I get some answers from her. This war she wants to throw against me will be over if it's the last thing I do.

Barbara pretends she doesn't feel his angered expression burning into her back.

HETRICKE APARTMENT

Jarrod and Keith's eyes lock. Amy feels the tension multiply and realizes that things are probably going to get very ugly.

"I love you, Jarrod. Don't ever doubt that." Keith's words sound more like a plea than an affirmative statement. He already fears he's lost the trust and love of Jarrod forever.

"I can't believe that you've been lying to me my whole damn life." Jarrod states in a tone of disappointment.

Keith decides to stop the lying. He decides to acknowledge the fact that Jarrod isn't his biological son. No matter how many years he's dedicated to burying the hard truth, it's that--the truth. He can no longer run from it. It's time to face the music. "I'm sorry, Jarrod. I truly am. I should have told you."

Jarrod seems surprised at Keith's affirmation of his real paternity. "So you're admitting that it's true? You aren't convincing me that it's something that Cassie made up to get revenge?"

Amy is overcome with the feeling that she doesn't belong here and jumps from the couch. "Look, I'm going to give the two of you privacy. I'll call you later, Jarrod." She makes a hurried dash toward the door, slamming it behind her.

After the slamming of the door, Keith waits a few more seconds before he continues, "I never thought it would have to come out like this, Jarrod. I wanted to tell you the truth myself."

"What were you waiting for, Dad? Till I was retired? Come on! You were going to take this secret to your grave. After all, Mom is dead so you never had to worry about her spilling the beans!"

Keith is taken aback, "What do you mean by that? Jarrod, I loved your mother with every fiber of my being! You never got a chance to know her but she was absolutely incredible. Anyway, that's not the point here. The point is that I'm deeply sorry that I never told you the truth. I'm sorry that you had to learn it from Cassie, of all people."

"I bet you are wondering how in the hell she knew. Aren't you?" Jarrod turns around and scans the ground near the coffee table and couch, bending down to pick up the blue diary.

Keith's eyes light up when he spots the familiar book in Jarrod's hands. "Oh my god, it's your mother's diary. I can't believe it. Where did it come from?" He walks toward Jarrod and his eyes remain locked on the diary he saw his wife writing in on many occasions. Sometimes he'd watch as she wrote while overcome with tears, each teardrop staining it's pages.

As Keith reaches out to take the diary, Jarrod jerks it back. "No, don't touch it. Don't touch it!"

"Jarrod, please, please see where I'm coming from! I love you more than anything! You are your mother's son through and through but you are also my son. I may not be your father by blood but I raised you and I never stopped loving you. After your mother died, you became number one and above all to me. Please, you have to understand why it pained me to know that the ultimate memento of our marriage wasn’t created by me. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to..."

"You didn't want me to what, Dad? Why did you keep this secret from me all these years?! From what I can tell it’s nothing but a bruised ego! Mom cheated on you, Dad! She..She" Jarrod stops mid sentence and it seems as though a realization has smacked him in the face. "Oh my god..."

Keith is confused. "What, Jarrod? What's wrong?"

Jarrod swallows hard and looks Keith in the eyes, "My dad. My real dad. He's in the hospital in a coma. My dad is fighting for his life right now."

A switch seems to have flipped in Keith and angry words spill without hesitation: " I AM your real dad! Don't you understand?! Don't say that, Jarrod! You hear me?! I am your father! I have loved you all these years and provided the love and support that a scum like Mason never could!"

Jarrod can't fight it anymore. The enormity of the last few days hits him hard. He feels the emotions rushing up from his stomach and to his throat, "You don't know that! You don't!"

Keith reaches his arms to hold Jarrod. "Jarrod! Please, of all things to do, never doubt me as your father! You can't do that. You just can't. I would die for you, Jarrod. Mason doesn't even know that you exist."

Jarrod's hands are shaking, "Oh really? Well, that's so damn fair to him, isn't it?"

Keith reaches and grabs Jarrod by the hands and looks him directly in the eyes, desperation plastered on his face. "Jarrod, that man is a pathetic piece of life. He kidnapped Melissa and raped her! Mason never could be the father that I've been to you."

Jarrod breaks Keith's grip and backs up, "Like you have any right to judge him for what he did to Melissa! After you beat Cassie and left those marks on her? What gives you the right to criticize my real dad?!" Jarrod then shakes the diary in Keith's face, "You also claim that Mom was so incredible and that you loved her so damn much but this a diary of a woman who's husband doesn't care about her! She describes an uncaring drunk-- not a loving husband!"

Jarrod's accusations hit Keith like a train. His vocal cords become paralyzed as his mind is thrown in the past. A past where he often came home trashed and wasn't able to walk in a straight line. Time and time again Shayla would plead with him to get help for his problem, but he never would.

Jarrod shakes his head, disgust decorating his face. "You being quiet is all I need to see. I'd be to if I had to live with guilt like that. I never got to know Mom because you drove her to suicide! First you drove her to that affair and when that wasn't enough you had to drive her to killing herself!"

At Jarrod's harsh accusation, Keith's vocal cords "miraculously" seem to be healed, "HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" screams an angry Keith as he lunges at Jarrod. Keith gives into the fury seething in his veins and with a swift motion, punches Jarrod square in the nose.

"Get your hands off of me!" Jarrod screams as blood seeps from his nose. Adrenaline kicks in and Jarrod fights back by pushing Keith with all his force. Keith goes flying backwards, his head slamming on the glass coffee table behind him. Glass shards go flying in every direction. Jarrod watches in horror as he realizes that Keith isn't moving.

"Oh my god..." whispers Jarrod in a panicked voice as he rushes to Keith's unconscious figure. He tries propping Keith's head up and is terrified when his hands become soaked in blood.

TODD'S HOUSE

Annie lets out a nervous grin, "I knew you were going to be disgusted with me. Look, I better go. I think you've heard enough." Annie's eyes begin to scan the house for her purse.

"No, Annie! Stop. I'm not disgusted with you. I'm shocked but not disgusted. Annie, the horror you must have went through...it's awful to put in words."

"Yeah, that's putting it lightly. But hey, it was all my fault. I'm the one who ran away from the nuthouse with Jessica. I'm the one who put myself in her hands."

"Don't do that! You were only 15. Mom and Dad have always been lunatics. If I was old enough at the time I would have gotten the hell out of there with you guys."

"And joined in on me and Jessica's prostitution career? Oh, it was the life, let me tell you." Annie states in a sarcastic voice, her voice cracking with emotion.

Todd takes a deep breath, "Annie, I'm sorry. This has to be so painful for you to admit. I never thought you would say something like that. Come here." He extends his arms and pulls his sister in a tight hug. "No girl should have gone through what you did. You were only 15! What kind of pervert would do anything with someone so young?! It just sickens me to think of it."

The man at Shirley's Restaurant, Todd. That's the kind of pervert that would have sex with a 15-year-old. Thinks Annie as she continues the tight embrace with her younger brother. Tears are streaming down her face.

"So that man at the restaurant? How does he tie into all of this? Wait, you're not telling me he was one of the..." Todd stops the statement abruptly, not wanting to complete the thought.

Annie doesn't confirm his statement as she wipes smeared mascara from her eyes. "I really have to go, Todd. Keith is waiting for me at his apartment." There's no need to tell Todd the rest of the story. She spots her purse on the kitchen counter and quickly goes to fetch it.

Todd watches as Annie walks toward the front door, a sadness overtaking him as he relives Annie's confession. "Please call me if you need someone to talk to. I'm here for you."

Annie slowly opens the door while maintaining her gaze on Todd. "Thank you, Todd. I just might have to take you up on that offer." At that, she gently closes the door behind her.

Once outside, Annie inhales deeply and stands in front of the door with her eyes closed. That's all Todd needed to know. Nobody can find out about the baby. Nobody...

THAT CONCLUDES THIS EPISODE OF SUNRISE BAY!

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