From: Marni Centor <marni@panix.com>

GUIDING LIGHT UPDATE -- THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 1996

Highlights:
*Josh pries; Annie lies & denies.
*Roger spies.
*Dinah & Hart agonize.
*Bridget defies.
*Matt buys.
*Vanessa cries; Nola tries to sympathize.

CEDARS: Josh interrupts Annie's paperwork. She's happy to see him & they 
discuss Shayne. Annie looks at Josh quizzically & asks what's up. He 
says it's nothing, but she can tell something is bothering him. He tries 
to make it sound like it's no big deal -- he was shooting hoops into the 
wastebasket in Shayne's room & missed a shot. He happened to glance in 
the wastebasket & saw that the pills she had thrown there earlier were 
gone. Annie asks if Josh agrees with Rick that she has a drug problem. 

Out in the reception area, Nola picks up some papers that Vanessa has 
dropped & notices that Van has had an MRI. Van says it's nothing & 
angrily refuses to divulge any details. Nola looks at her with concern & 
asks gently, "Is there something wrong with you?"

PSYCH HOSPITAL: Dinah tries to shake Roger awake & winds up staring at 
his papier mache alter ego. She pulls it from the bed & screams that 
Roger is gone. The doctor immediately hits an alarm & calls security to 
secure the grounds. Dinah insists hysterically that they have to find 
him before he kills somebody.

HART'S ROOM: Hart wants to know why the exterminator in the gas mask is 
rifling through his stuff. 

NUT HATCH: Security is unable to locate Rog. Dinah thinks they're not 
trying hard enough & obviously have no idea who they're dealing with. 
She insists they call the police. The doc gives in & authorizes this. 
She also worries that Dinah needs protection. Dinah worries about Hart.

HART'S ROOM: Rog, behind his gas mask, affects a foreign accent & 
mumbles about bugs laying eggs. Hart asks for some literature & gets a 
pamphlet from Rog. Hart sees that he's supposed to stay out of the room 
for 1.5 hours, so he decides to run some errands & leaves Rog alone in 
the room. Rog removes his gas mask & starts talking to himself. He vows 
that once he finds proof of what Hart & Dinah did, Hart will be sorry.

MARLER YARD: Matt exults to Blake about impossible dreams coming true. 
Everything has fallen into place. Blake knows from whence he speaks. 
Matt explains that he is going to build a great house for Vanessa in 
Lake Geneva, where they first met. He remembers (in a voice-over to 
flashbacks of their budding romance: sailing, kissing, cuddling in the 
cave) how wonderful it was getting to know each other & falling in love 
in that magical place. And if that storm hadn't washed them ashore on 
that island, none of it would have happened. Blake wonders how they 
could bear to leave. Matt says they never have, in their hearts.

A year ago, he learned that the island was for sale, but it was tied up 
in litigation. He never mentioned it to Van. About a month ago, it came 
on the market, so he scraped his pennies together & made an offer, which 
was just accepted. "For the rest of our lives we'll wake up & go to 
sleep, watch the sunrise & sunset in the paradise that we found 
together." Blake thinks Van is the luckiest woman in the world, next to 
her. Matt says he's the lucky one.

CEDARS: Van says athletes have MRIs all the time & it's no big deal. 
Nola wonders if Van's is no big deal too. Van asks why Nola is there, 
anyway. Nola's looking for Marcus because she just heard about Griff 
being shot. Van says he was there, but he left. Nola asks if Van's going 
to tell her what's wrong. Rick comes by & asks to speak with Van. Van 
asks Rick to help Nola find Marcus. Rick says Marcus stepped out, but 
will be back soon & is staying at Cedars until his dad leaves. "Families 
do that for families, you know," says Nola. She promises to talk to Van 
later, then excuses herself. Rick says Dr. LeMoy wants to talk to them. 
Van asks what it is. Rick says they should wait for the other doc. "It's 
not good," predicts Van.

Elsewhere in the hospital, Annie accuses Josh of succumbing to Rick's 
concern regarding the pills. Josh just wants to know what happened to 
the pill. Annie says she took them; is that what he wants to hear? "I 
want to hear the truth," says Josh. Annie says it was stupid of her to 
toss the pills in the wastebasket of a child's room; he could have found 
them & taken them. She removed them from the garbage & disposed of them 
properly with other medical waste. Josh accepts this & is glad to hear 
it. "I just had to ask." "No you didn't," retorts Annie. She thinks Rick 
got Josh all stirred up about her addiction. She worries that Rick has 
destroyed Josh's trust in her & if that's true, she has to know.

Meanwhile, Van & Rick have hooked up with Dr. LeMoy, who wants to find a 
better place to talk. Van says they can talk right where they are. Dr. 
LeMoy says it's serious. The MRI showed that her symptoms are being 
caused by a degenerative condition.

BOARDINGHOUSE: Jet follows instructions in a magazine as she applies 
mascara to enhance her mystery. Dinah barges in & Jet hides the 
magazine. Breathlessly, Dinah says she needs Jet's help. She's scared 
because Hart's life is in danger. She explains that Rog escaped & is on 
the loose. They're both worried that he's after Hart. Jet can't believe 
Dinah hasn't warned Hart yet. Dinah was afraid to contact him because 
the DA may be following her. Jet wants to call Hart but Dinah says the 
phone might be bugged. She urges Jet to go to Hart's to warn him & 
offers to watch Peter. Jet says Peter's in day care & goes to find Hart.

HART'S ROOM: Rog starts to ransack the place, looking for evidence. He 
sees something reflected in the mirror & turns to find a snapshot of 
Hart & Dinah staring into each other's eyes over a tropical drink. He 
quotes scripture about thankless children sharper than serpent's teeth & 
continues talking to himself in a weird monotone about how they betrayed 
him & had a good time while he suffered. Not for long, he muses.

CEDARS: Josh hugs Annie & says Rick could never destroy what they have. 
He doesn't want to talk about it anymore. He reminds her of the time 
they went to her grandmother's house & how Annie said she could always 
tell if someone was lying by whether they could look her in the eye & 
says "cabbage" 10 times. [What IS this nonsense?] Josh wants Annie to 
believe him. He's going to tell her something from his heart & when he's 
done, he will look her in the eye & say "cabbage" 10 times. 

He says he has as much faith in her now as he did both times they were 
married. The vows that he said about sickness & health hold true for 
migraines too. Annie & the kids are his life, & he'll always be honest 
with them. When he has a question, he'll ask it, and it doesn't mean he 
doesn't have faith in her or doesn't trust her. As for Rick, let him do 
his thing. It's obvious Rick hasn't gotten over her & is doing whatever 
he can to be with Annie in some way. Josh can't really blame him, since 
the idea of falling in love with Annie & then having to fall out of love 
with her sounds almost impossible. [But not entirely.] They pledge their 
love to each other. Josh looks Annie in the eye & says "cabbage" 3 times 
before they kiss. He says he'll save the last 7 cabbages for when they 
get home. Annie says she'll be up to see Shayne in a few minutes. Josh 
leaves & Annie takes the bottle of pills out of her pocket & looks ill.

Back in consultation, Van sits heavily. Rick suggests going to Ed's 
office. Van wants to know more about the disease affecting her brain. 
Dr. LeMoy says they don't know much. They don't know the cause & they 
don't have a cure. [Do they have a name?] The disease isn't fatal, but 
it does progress. Van asks what they can do. The doc says there really 
isn't anything. Van asks if it means she's going to keep getting weak & 
blacking out for the rest of her life. Not exactly, says Rick. The con-
dition will probably escalate. Eventually, adds LeMoy, she will lose all 
her "voluntary faculties." Van takes this in & sighs deeply. She asks 
for it in plain English. LeMoy hedges, but Van wants to know everything 
right now. Rick says it won't happen all at once, but she'll gradually 
lose all her abilities until she enters a vegetative state. "And then 
I'll die?" she asks. "No, you could live on like that for years," says 
LeMoy. Van gasps as if gut-punched. "You're telling me that I won't be 
able to move or feel?" she asks slowly. "I won't recognize my children? 
Or my husband?" Her voice quavers. Rick says it's true. Van trembles.

BOARDINGHOUSE: Dinah paces & wonders what's taking Jet so long. She sits 
& finds Jet's magazine. "Oh, Bridget, you don't need makeup. You need a 
miracle." She jumps when she hears someone at the door. It's Hart & she 
gives him a huge, excited hug. He tells her to watch out & asks what the 
problem is. Dinah goes on about how dangerous Rog is & it finally dawns 
on her that Hart doesn't know that Rog escaped. She fills him in. "All 
that training really paid off," he muses. Hart wants to take Dinah to 
her mom's, where she'll be safe. Dinah is worried that Rog will get to 
Hart. Hart suddenly realizes that the exterminator in his room was Rog. 

HART'S ROOM: Rog gazes at the photo & says it's worth 1000 words. This 
is the proof he needed. He wonders if it was taken before or after Dinah 
looted "his" bank account. He's sure that was the 1st thing on her 
agenda. He hopes they enjoyed their celebration, because now it's his 
turn. Bridget enters the room, sees Rog, and gasps.

Rog says he told her he wouldn't let Hart get away with it. Jet asks 
what Rog has done with Hart. Rog says he won't hurt her. She enters & 
closes the door, asking again about Hart. "I killed him months ago, 
remember?" jokes Rog. Jet says Rog thought he killed Hart & had a 
breakdown. She starts calling to Hart with concern & looks for him in 
the bathroom. Rog asks what Jet was going to tell him when she came to 
visit him. "Nothing," she says. Rog says he now knows what Jet has 
apparently known all along--that Hart & Dinah conspired to get rid of 
him. And now he has proof. He shows the photo to Jet, who looks at it & 
turns away. Rog says he was hurt by it too. Jet goes to the phone & says 
she has to call Peter. Rog asks her to come with him to the judge & back 
him up. Jet asks why she should, after he tried to hurt her. Rog didn't 
mean it; he was just upset. Does she know what it's like to have her 
whole life turned into a joke? Actually, she does, she says.

Rog pulls the phone out of the wall & says Jet disappoints him. "You 
know I'm no amateur." "Neither am I," replies Jet, "I'm going home." Rog 
says she's coming with him to the judge. He chases her around the room, 
but she still refuses. Rog begs. Jet says she can't send Hart to prison. 
"Oh, you poor fool. You're still in love with him," guesses Rog. 

BOARDINGHOUSE: Hart can't believe he was so stupid as to not recognize 
Rog. Dinah can't believe Rog let Hart go. Hart asks about Peter; Dinah 
says he's in day care. Hart asks if Jet went to get him. Dinah hedges. 
Hart wonders where Jet is & worries because Rog is running around. Dinah 
is surprised Jet's not back yet & is also suprised that Hart didn't bump 
into her. She finally admits she sent Jet to find him. Hart gives her a 
look & she defends herself, saying she couldn't take the chance because 
of the DA. Hart is now worried about Jet, but Dinah thinks Jet can take 
care of herself. "That's what she thinks too," broods Hart. He tells 
Dinah to wait & goes to make sure that Jet is OK. Dinah tries to 
convince him not to go, but her shouts go unheeded.

CEDARS: Rick wishes he could make things easier. "But you can't," Van 
sighs. Rick can't lie; the prognosis isn't good. Van asks how long she 
has. Rick says there's no way to know. Van just wants an estimate of how 
long she has before she loses her faculties. Days? Weeks? Months? LeMoy 
says weeks, maybe a month or two. Van tries to swallow this additional 
horror. Rick wants to call Matt, but Van vehemently disagrees. Rick 
thinks she needs to prepare her family, but she says she needs time by 
herself to understand what's happening to her. Crying, she reminds him 
of his promise to keep quiet. "That's what I need." 

LeMoy steps in to say that as her condition progresses, she's going to 
need all the support she can get. Van cuts him off, yelling at him to 
shut up & keep his platitudes to himself. She runs out of the reception 
area just as Nola walks back in. Nola sizes up the situation, grabs 
Van's purse from a chair, & races after her.

Annie finds Rick, who is obviously distressed, in an empty exam room. 
She rips into him & doesn't care when he says he's had a really bad day. 
She says he deserves it after what he did to her. Rick says Josh has a 
right to know that Annie is abusing pills. Annie accuses Rick of being 
her judge & jury. Rick says maybe Josh can help her, since Rick can't. 
She needs to level with Josh and with herself. 

They have one of those arguments where they both talk simultaneously. 
Rick says there's enough trouble in the world without creating more. 
Annie wants Rick to stay out of her personal life. She says she can't 
win with him. Whatever she says or does, Rick blames it on her addic-
tion. Rick asks her what the truth is. She says she's a recovering 
alcoholic who takes pills prescribed by a fully competent & informed 
physician. Rick applauds her performance. He's heard the song a thousand 
times & doesn't buy it. She needs help. Anne says that's his opinion & 
it's time for "a major change around here."

HART'S ROOM: Rog catches Jet as she makes another break for the door. He 
says Hart doesn't deserve her loyalty, despite how charming he can be. 
Rog says Hart charmed Dinah too. He tries to get her to look at the 
photo, at how they're gazing into each other's eyes, to convince her she 
doesn't stand a chance with Hart. Jet resolutely stares past the photo. 
Rog wheedles, trying to get her to come to the judge with him, so Hart & 
Dinah will both be locked up. They have to be punished. He asks her to 
look again at the photo & imagine what they did right after it was 
taken. "You want to protect this beast?" he asks.

MARLER YARD: Blake warns Matt to watch out with the power tools, because 
his mind is obviously on Van & the island. Matt proposes building a 
guest house so all their friends can come see how happy they are. Blake 
asks what Van said when he told her about it. Matt admits he hasn't told 
her yet, because he wanted to finish the dormer he was working on. Blake 
shoos him out so he can go tell Van the wonderful news. Blake rubs her 
tummy & tells her kids that life can be really great.

REARDON HOUSE: Van sighs heavily, tears in her eyes, & takes a photo of 
Bill off the mantel, hugging it to her chest. She shakes, crying 
quietly, then turns to see Nola in the doorway. Nola returns the purse & 
approaches Van. She guesses that Van didn't get good news. "My beautiful 
life," says Van. "I won't see him graduate." She wipes her nose. "I 
won't see his wedding." She puts the photo back & hangs onto the mantel. 
"I won't know who he is. The man I love. I won't recognize him. I won't 
know myself. And Matt's going to be chained for the rest of his life to 
this thing in a bed! Oh God!" she wails. Nola hugs her hard as Van cries 
her heart out [and so do I].

CEDARS: Rick says change means progress; does Annie want a transfer or a 
schedule shift? No, she wants their relationship to be strictly 
professional. He stays out of her life and she'll stay out of his. If he 
butts in, he'll be sorry. Rick says that's fine & adds that he's putting 
her on notice. Annie laughs, but Rick if he ever catches her taking 
pills or putting a patient in jeapordy, he'll have her before the 
medical board so fast her head will spin. Josh enters & asks if there's 
a problem. No, says Rick, staring at Annie. Annie stares back steelily & 
says they should go get Shayne. She breaks Rick's gaze & walks out. Josh 
holds out his hands questioningly at Rick before following her.

REARDON HOUSE: Nola continues to hold the crying Van, stroking her hair 
& saying she wants to call Matt. Van calms down a little & steps back 
from Nola's embrace. Nola says Matt loves her & would want to be there 
now. She begs Van not to lock him out. Van takes Nola's face in her 
hands & says she doesn't want him there. Too late, because Matt calls 
into the house with a gleeful tone. Van asks Nola to go out the back way 
& Nola obliges. Van turns her back to Matt & tries to steel herself. 
Matt comes up behind her & gives her a big hug. "Baby, you are about to 
experience the biggest surprise of your life!" Van looks miserable.

BOARDINGHOUSE: Dinah paces, sits, then paces some more. She thinks she's 
going to go crazy, so she grabs her purse & runs out.

HART'S ROOM: Jet says Hart is Peter's father & she can't send him to 
jail. "Look what he did to you!" argues Rog. Jet refuses & begs Rog not 
to do it. He calls her a "poor deluded soul" & says she's in on it with 
Hart & Dinah, & he will tell the judge. He heads for the door & Jet 
tries to stop him. Rog opens the door & finds himself face-to-face with 
Hart. They grab each other. "Going somewhere?" asks Hart. Father & son 
lock eyes as the screen fades to black.


--Marni (marni@panix.com)


