From vkorosei@sinclair.edu Mon Sep  8 08:05:04 1997

Here is the update for Another World for Friday, September 5, 1997 (I know
what you're thinking, how could she find time to do such a wonderful
update after being up until all hours watching the Diana coverage on
C-SPAN?  Just magic, what can I say?) - most of the action intermingles at
the hospital, so please bear with me: 

* "Had-ley" (Freudian?) sets out her bait to trap Carl
* Chip watches Josie and Toni plot his downfall
* Paulina comes "clean" (verbally) to Joe about her pills
* Shane gives Vicky and Jake the bad news about Kirkland's condition



AMANDA SETS UP HER OWN MOTHER?

     Cory Mansion - Amanda sprays perfume all over Carl's jacket and hangs
it on the back of the desk chair.  She puts the phony gift box on the
chair, then scurries across the room when she hears Rachel approach.
Amanda tells Rachel she has to leave town briefly on business.  Rachel
wishes Carl were here for Paulina and Vicky; missing him, she spots his
jacket and picks it up tenderly, noting it reeks of an awful perfume.  As
Amanda plays innocent, Rachel spots the gift box and, assuming it's for
her, opens it.  It's a bottle of the same awful perfume, which puzzles
her.  She's even more puzzled at the card, which appears to be an
affectionate note from Carl to "Hadley Prescott."  Do we know her? Rachel
wonders, her brow beginning to furrow.  Beats me, says Amanda, why don't
you call Carl in N.Y. and give him hell - well gotta run, 'bye! (Something
else happens here, our signal went out briefly - my apologies, I hope
someone will fill me in?  I'm guessing either Amanda planted even more
misinformation, or she was eavesdropping on Rachel expressing her
heartache?)  Amanda exits the front door, looking upset [I suppose it's
too much to hope, that she's feeling guilty for ruining her mother's
happiness?], but she pulls herself together and strides away to make her
flight.  [Does she remind you of a rookie version of Iris, or what!?]



THE STING (BCPD-STYLE)

     Josie's place - Josie and Toni plan their sting operation at Josie's
place, not noticing that Rayburn spies from outside through her open
draperies!  He clearly sees her putting on the borrowed Guard uniform and
wig.  She also wears a wire and a tape recorder: Toni is to wait for
Josie's signal, then arrive at the bar and hide nearby to listen in - when
Rayburn attacks Josie, Toni will jump out and arrest him, piece of cake.
Undercover Josie exits, with Toni following at a discreet distance [see
below].  Chip watches, plotting to outsmart them [apparently not a
difficult task - I thought they were done with these "dumb cop" 
storylines, also "women in jeopardy" - but I guess not].
     Later, at the Mermaid Bar, Undercover Josie uses the pay phone to try
to call Gary at his hotel [sorry, I've forgotten where he went], but no
luck.  Meanwhile, she has her eye on Chip, who's at a table laughing and
drinking (gin) with a couple of friends.  Eventually, it looks like the
three drinking buddies are about to leave, so Josie tries to contact Toni
- I heard you call me before, but I couldn't talk then...  Hearing no
response, does she abort the mission until she's sure of her back-up?
NoooOOOOOOOoooooo, she assumes her earphone is faulty, and she tells Toni
it's time to get over here and tail Chip, he hasn't spotted me [oh, Josie,
Josie, poor naive Josie...I guess Darwin was right].  Josie follows the
guys out of the bar, but when she gets outside, the street is deserted. 
She tries again to contact Toni, hurry up, I've lost him - no answer.  As
she mills around, she hears a banging trash can, then a cat howling. 
Relieved, she advises the kitty to go home to bed.  "Something you should
have done hours ago, lady,"  Rayburn sneers, grabbing Josie from behind
and clapping his hand over her mouth.



THE (FURTHER) PERILS OF PAULINA

     Hospital - Tom'as stops by Paulina's room to check on her.  She's
frantic for news on Kirk's condition.  Tom'as was about to go see; she
starts to come along, and he barely manages to stop her, but promises to
get the scoop and come right back to fill her in.  As soon as he exits,
she (predictably) crawls out of bed, throws on a robe, and steals out down
the hall.

     At Kirkland's bedside, Vicky and Jake are overjoyed when the child
finally opens his eyes and squeezes Vicky's hand.  Beside herself, she
sends Jake to get a doctor, as she tries to comfort and reassure her son.
Jake returns with a bunch of balloons from Tom'as.  Kirk is alert, but
upset that he ruined the wedding, afraid that now it will never happen
[what is this kid, a soap opera writer?].  Jake and Vicky insist they'd
changed their minds about a wedding in stupid Lassiter anyway.  Paulina
enters, relieved to tears that Kirk seems to be doing so well, but
mortified with shame and guilt to face Vicky and Jake.  They usher her out
to the hallway to assure her it wasn't her fault, which Paulina can't
accept.  John comes by and chews Paulina out for leaving her bed.  With
another reassurance to Paulina, Jake and Vicky return to Kirk, as John
escorts Paulina back to her room.  On the way, he makes another plea for
her to level with Joe about her addiction.  She gets hysterical, sure Joe
and everyone else will hate her if they know the truth.  As John comforts
her, Joe intercepts them in the hallway and tells his wife she looks
great.  Unconvinced [maybe because he doesn't actually look at her before
he says it?], she calms herself, until he mentions bringing Dante to see
her.  No, she wails, I want so much to hold him, but I don't want to hurt
him, too!  John ushers the sobbing Paulina into her room, with Joe right
behind.  John puts Paulina back in bed and checks her vitals.  Joe, a
trained cop, senses something is wrong, and John leaves them alone to
talk.  She tearfully apologizes for not being the same woman he fell in
love with, which he denies.  He thinks she's just feeling guilty for
hitting Kirk, as a cop I see that reaction all the time after an accident
involving a child - but it wasn't your fault!  She finally gets him to
pipe down and let her tell her story - she reminds him how she was so
embarrassed by her weight gain that she'd tried diet pills; when he caught
her, she swore she'd stopped. Unfortunately, the pills were the only thing
that seemed to work for her, so she secretly went back to them.  Now I
can't stop - I've tried, but I can't do it, she confesses, sobbing with
shame, please don't be angry with me.  I'm not angry, I'm scared, he tells
her.  Then she blurts out the bombshell: when she hit Kirk she was "going
faster than the car!"  She curls up in a fetal position, her back to Joe,
overcome with tears.  He tries to comfort her - I love you, you're a good,
caring person, but she's inconsolable.  He compares her to Gary - with
him, it's booze, but you both think you can tackle anything alone, when
you're really both only human. He doesn't understand why she felt she had
to keep this a secret from him - the hardest thing is to admit you need
help, like everybody else, he argues.  Yes, she agrees, that all makes
sense, I know I can do it - all I need is just ONE MORE PILL TO GET ME
THROUGH!  Face it Joe, she wails, I CAN'T STOP! 
     Later, emotionally drained, Paulina admits she's scared to death
about the future.  Joe promises she doesn't need to do it alone anymore,
now everything's out in the open, and we'll face the future together -
I'll make you feel how much Dante and I love you.  But, he points out,
it's nearly dawn, they both need rest and he needs to go home to Dante
[who's probably home fixing breakfast as they speak...], we'll talk it all
out tomorrow.  Just then John enters, wanting a private word with Joe [any
guesses why?].  Paulina wants to be included.  Tomorrow, John says,
stonewalling.  She looks worried, as Joe kisses her tenderly, then exits
with John.
     Paulina, of course, peeks out and eavesdrops, as John tells Joe that
Paulina's "diet pills" are really a street-quality methamphetamine -
speed.  You have to track down the scum who's making this stuff, says
John, it's highly addictive within a week, and Paulina needs to be in a
detox facility to get clean.  Paulina panics and makes a dash for the
closing elevator doors down the hall.  She has a head start on Joe and
John, who chase after her - she makes it in time, but the men are too
late. 
     Meanwhile, Toni [see above] is pacing around in the square outside
the station house, trying to raise Josie on her hidden mike, but no luck. 
Suddenly, Paulina dashes out of the hospital, heading for Carlinos, and
slams smack into Toni, sending the listening equipment flying in her
terror.  Joe, John, and Tom'as manage to subdue Paulina and drag her
kicking and screaming back to the hospital - while Toni frantically
gathers up the broken pieces, worried that Josie is now incommunicado...


PARENTHOOD

     Shane, John and Morgan study Kirk's MRI pictures [yeah, yeah - I was
just kidding about Morgan, it was just a thought...but, really, isn't this
a classic Morgan scene?], which show an aneurism in the child's brain. 
Shane says he's sent the pictures to Dr. Sol Guardia [at least, that's
what it sounded like to me, sort of Jewish-Italian], a famous pediatric
neurosurgeon he once studied with, for his opinion.  John thinks surgery
is an unnecessary risk, and accuses Shane of letting his feelings for
Vicky cloud his judgment [oh, ya think?  What are the odds?].  They get a
phone call saying Kirk is awake [see above], and they order the respirator
removed. Then they agree to keep Vicky in the dark until they "know
something for sure."  John thinks the aneurism could be benign and may
never cause a problem, but Shane says other similar cases have been fatal
without treatment.  He places another call to Dr. Guardia, as John exits. 
He's just finishing the call, when Jake and Vicky enter to thank him for
pulling Kirk through this crisis, when can we take him home?  Shane says
Grant really ought to be here; but they tell him they tried to contact the
guy, no luck.  Ignoring his recent agreement with John, Shane tells them
all about the congenital brain abnormality they found [gee, who could Kirk
have inherited a brain abnormality from - hard to guess].  If not treated,
he mumbles, the aneurism could burst, and cause physical or mental
impairment - or even death.  John enters, and Vicky throws herself into
her uncle's arms, so he guesses Shane spilled the beans.  John says he and
Shane disagree on the need for surgery.  Shane informs them there's a 1 in
30 chance the aneurism will rupture, but only a 1 in 3 chance Kirk would
survive if it does.  John agrees it's a risk, but the location of the
problem makes surgery a risk itself.  Vicky asks about the surgery - Shane
tells her about Dr. Guardia, the expert, who agrees it could be done.
However, Dr.  Guardia is old and doesn't operate anymore.  He did agree to
assist - and there are a couple of surgeons he's taught...  Don't tell me,
Jake nearly sneers - you?  Shane nods - I've done it before, with help,
and Dr. Guardia would assist me.  Vicky, overwhelmed with the enormous
decision, flees to the hallway to think it over and discuss it with Jake
[could you imagine Grant's "input"??].  Jake stares at Shane, then follows
her out. 
     Jake finds Vicky gazing at Kirk, looking like a healthy sleeping
child, through the window.  Kirk awakens and calls out to them. 
Responding that they'll be right in, Vicky then tells Jake she wants them
to get married, right now, for Kirk, she'll think about the surgery
decision later.  He reassures her, she always makes the right decision
[Hello?  She married Grant, remember?], but she's afraid of messing up
when it matters most.  They look at each other, then with a shrug Jake
swipes the flowers out of a vase at the nurse's station.  They go in
together, arm-in-arm, humming the Wedding March.  Kirk guesses they're
(we're) getting married, and they stage a quick ceremony.  Jake asks
himself if he takes Vicky and her two fine sons to be his wonderful new
family, then answers "I do."  Then Vicky asks herself if she takes Jake to
join this wonderful family, and answers, "I do."  Finally Jake asks Kirk,
do you take Jake to be your new dad, promise always to love your mom and
your brother and make this the best new family ever?  "I do, I do," chirps
Kirk happily.  Time to kiss the bride, says Jake.  He and Vicky kiss and
embrace - but Vicky's expression changes when Kirk adds, "'Til death do us
part." 
     Later, Jake draws faces on the four balloons [see above] to represent
their new family, then offers to get some ginger ale from the pop machine
for Kirk's sore throat.  He kisses his "wife and child" and exits.  Kirk
asks Vicky when's our honeymoon?  When you're better, she smiles. 
     On his way back from the soda machine, Jake spots Shane updating
patient charts and asks for a word.  Jake wants Shane to help Vicky make
her decision, maybe say something to make her choice clearer.  Shane
reveals that he just talked to Dr. Guardia after sending him Kirk's latest
stats.  Guardia agrees, the aneurism is dangerous, could rupture at any
time, we should remove it as soon as possible, he mumbles grimly.  Jake,
not greatly comforted, returns to Kirk's window.  Gazing inside, he sees
mother and son playing "Rocks-Paper-Scissors."  When one round results in
two "scissors," Vicky suddenly looks disheartened - and so does Jake. 
FADEOUT... 



* Question of the week:  If BCUH (formerly BCGH), with its new wing and
Bobby-directed construction, is such a huge hospital - how come everyone's
rooms are right next to each other (e.g., Kirk & Paulina)?


Thanks for listening,

Vicky (vkorosei@sinclair.edu)
mff1





