Satan's Playground

Chaos reigns at the bottom of the stairwell where the broken and bleeding Lauren lies. Phillip rushes to her Shawn goes for help. Belle madly leafs through her Nursing 101 textbook. Phillip begs Lauren to hang in there as blood gushes. Help arrives and the guy tells Phillip they will be there with a backboard and brace in a few minutes.

Belle tends to Shawn, who is still in pain. Shawn, of course, don' wan' no stinkin' help. As they go back upstairs, Phillip turns and says, "Shawn... Thanks." Feel the love.

Lauren whimpers, "Phillip?"

Phillip leans over her and asks, "I need you to tell me one thing. Is my son alive?" Lauren gurgles.

Sami flashes back to her scene with EJ as she mops the floor in the pub. Caroline and OMB have a 'you break it, you fix it' policy. She remembers begging EJ to live as Lucas looks on. EJ comes in and says she shouldn't be mopping in her condition. Much to our dismay she doesn't whack him in the face with the mop. he asks about Roman and Sami tells him he will be OK. EJ says he thought Sami would be a little bit happier about that.

"Life is one never ending party, huh," says Sami. He offers to finish but Sami declines. EJ insists. Sami snaps, "Can you just get the hell away from me... Please!"

The medical team arrives to help Lauren as Phillip makes one more shot at it, "Please tell me, is my son alive?"

Lauren squeaks, "Yes."

EJ is very perceptive today, "My intimate knowledge of your many moods tells me you're upset, Samantha." He's faking it. EJ is too young to have seen all of Sami's moods. He thinks it's because when she nearly lost him she suddenly realized she really cares. Sami tells him that's ridiculous. He says if that's the case, he wants her to tell him what really is bothering her.

"Are you really that clueless," asks Sami, "I AM SICK TO DEATH THAT I HAVE TO DIVORCE THE MAN I LOVE TO MARRY A MAN I HATE!" EJ tells her she had a choice in the matter. Sami thinks EJ has a warped idea of what the word choice means. She is marrying him to end the vendetta and will take off after Stefano dies. EJ reminds her Andre has a nasty way of dealing with people.

"Really? Wait till we're married and you'll see a new meaning of the word 'nasty.'"

EJ plays Rodney King, "As long as our lots are thrown in together can't we just get along? Let me prove I'm not the scoundrel you think I am."

Sami insists the marriage is just to stop the vendetta and nothing more. EJ claims it's a lot more than that, "You wait... Before long you will be begging, screaming, for the devil to take your soul to get you away from me. Why, I can practically smell the fire and brimstone."

"I didn't know you were cooking," says EJ.

Nurse Grumpy lectures Shawn for running around the hospital in his condition. Shawn heaves a big sigh as the drugs kick in. Shawn hopes Lauren will be OK. As she leaves, Nurse Gillian says she will keep him informed about Lauren's condition. Gillian has never heard of HIPA.

Belle gets cozy and tells Shawn as soon as he gets out of there they can set the wedding date. Shawn screams for Gillian to come back with more drugs.

EJ continues to work on Sami. Sami continues to resist. She thinks the whole solution to the vendetta could just as well have been EJ's idea. He tells her he isn't that devious. He doesn't want her to marry him because she's forced to do it. EJ says, "I want you to want me. I need you to need me. I'd love you to love me. I'm beggin' you to beg me. Didn't I, didn't I, didn't I see you cryin'...

"This is all a Cheap Trick," says Sami.

"I want you to want to be with me," says EJ, "I want you to want to share your bed with me."

"What," snaps Sami, "Who said anything about sharing a bed?"

Shawn tells Belle about being up, seeing Lauren and following her. Belle wonders what Lauren is doing in Salem in the first place. Shawn says he couldn't hold Phillip back when he saw Lauren so, naturally, Brainiac thinks it's his fault Lauren fell down the steps. Belle tells him he acted on instinct to help Phillip find his son, and that's a good thing.

"I wasn't thinking about helping Phillip," says Shawn, "I was thinking about helping myself. If Phillip gets his kid back, then I get you back."

Billie is on the phone with Philip, who fills her in on Lauren's fall. Phillip says she took a pretty bad fall and doesn't know how she is. He also tells her Lauren said Tyler is alive.

Shawn tells Belle to go ahead and call him jealous. Belle tells Shawn women love jealousy – in moderation, of course. She thinks she encouraged his jealousy by letting Phillip do things for her and going with him to find his son. Belle rationalizes about why she went to Tulsa with Phillip. She thinks Shawn has been amazingly patient with her. She can't wait to marry him. Shawn decides they should split their guilt. Belle says Tyler is Phillip's kid and from now on she is going to concentrate on her own family from now on. Claire stands outside the door, listens, and panics.

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep! Lauren's machines go berserk. A doctor screams, "She's arresting! We need a crash cart – STAT!"

Sami insists the marriage will include separated bedrooms on separate sides of the house. "So we are buying a house together," asks EJ.

"I am not living with you in that apartment across from Lucas and rubbing his face in it," says Sami.

EJ understands, "I guess it will also cut down on the flaming bags of dog poop we find at our door, too. You know, we could also live with my dad."

"I'm not raising my twins in Satan's Playground," says Sami.

"No matter what you think of him, Stefano is my father and he's dying," says EJ.

"Not soon enough for me," snorts Sami.

Sami gets back on track and tells EJ she's not sharing a bed with him no matter what. EJ says he knows Sami is in a difficult situation, but if they are to end the vendetta, they have to agree to all the conditions, "And that means uniting Santo and Colleen's souls." Sami says in that case, they will let Stefano believe they have consummated the marriage. EJ says they can't do that. If they are going to end the vendetta they have to follow the spirit of Santo's terms, not just the letter.

"Or what," asks Sami, "Your grandfather is going to come up from hell and push our beds together? You are not trying to honor Santo and Colleen. This is just another trick to try to get me into bed. You know every trick in the book, don't you?"

"I'm not that man anymore," says EJ, "I thought you knew that. I may try gentle persuasion, but there will be no trickery."

"Persuade all you want," says Sami, "It won't work."

EJ gets just a bit testy, "If you want to end this vendetta, then you must become my wife. And that means being my wife in every sense of the word."

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep! "CLEAR," yells the doctor. ZAP! As they work on Lauren, Phillip remembers being at the safe house and offering her a bribe to tell him where Tyler is.

"CLEAR!" ZAP! "CLEAR!" ZAP! "CLEAR!" ZAP!

"You can't let her die," screams Phillip, "She's the only one who knows where my son is."

"Give me Epi," screams a doctor.

"She's on break," says a nurse.

"CLEAR!" ZAP! "CLEAR!" ZAP! "CLEAR!" ZAP! Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

The doctor turns to Phillip, "I'm sorry... she's not coming back."

Phillip can't accept it, "Everyone in Salem does!"

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Lauren sits up, "Turn off that stupid machine. It's loud enough to wake the dead."

Shawn decides they should go on a vacation when he gets out of the hospital. "Well," says Belle, "I've been to one class... I think it's time for a break." Shawn asks where she would like to go. Belle decides if they had the money she would like to go to one of those fancy resorts where they pamper the guests.

"If we go to Club Med," says Shawn, "They'd have to rename it Club Dud. Maybe I should just pick someplace and surprise you."

Phillip appears in the doorway. His face is a blank. Apparently he's finally rejected the transplant. "She's gone," says Phillip.

Sami tells EJ if he loves her just to go to Stefano and tell him to end the vendetta. EJ says he can't lie to Stefano, "And besides, he doesn't fool that easily."

"What's he going to do," asks Sami, "Hide a video camera in our bedroom?"

"No," says EJ, "I'm going to do that. You can make a fortune with that kind of stuff on the Internet."

"Damn you," says Sami, "I am sick of this conversation."

"You're not the only one," yells a viewer.

Sami kicks him out, and then breaks down. Hope comes in and asks if she is OK.

EJ goes out and pours himself a stiff drink. Tony comes in and asks if he is having a tough day. He recommends a nice little island he knows about in the South Pacific for the honeymoon, "You will need two huts, though – one for you and one for your fair bride."

"She'll love me in time."

"Is that what you believe," asks Tony, "Those shot glasses would say otherwise."

Belle asks, "What happened."

"Her heart stopped," says Phillip.

Belle leafs through her nursing book and finds the chapter on hearts and reads. "That could be serious," she says.

They try to encourage Phillip. He thanks them for being there when the chips were down. He turns to Shawn, "You did a really great thing."

"Lauren probably doesn't feel that way," says Shawn.

Phillip is discouraged. Billie shows up, "Not only are we gonna find Tyler, we're gonna bring him home. I have experience at this."

"If finding Tyler works out like finding Chelsea," says Phillip, "I'd just as soon not find him."

Sami picks up the pieces once Hope suggests making that cure-all elixir, tea. Herbal tea at that. "You wanna talk about it," asks Hope.

"Does a bear poop in the woods," asks Sami.

So, for those of you who have been brain-dead for the past 45 minutes, here we go again. Given that, this might really be of interest to Lauren.

"I can't believe I am doing this to save my family," says Sami, "I used to do what I wanted, when I wanted, with whom I wanted. I was a selfish... you know what."

"Rhymes with rich," asks Hope.

"Yeah," says Sami, "And here I am, willing to give up what I want most in the world for my family."

"You know why," asks Hope, "Because you never stopped caring about your family, even back when you were making our lives miserable - last week.

Sami just hopes someday Lucas understands she had to do this to protect her family and their kids. Hope says, "You're about to marry EJ. Aren't you worried that decision will haunt you for the rest of your life?"

EJ tells Tony he and Sami hit it off really well at first. They are getting married but she really doesn't love him. Tony suggests she can grow to love him. EJ thinks Santo turned Stefano into a vengeful person who forced EJ to do reprehensible things, "The DiMera family is in ruins. This has to stop. It has to stop."

Billie wonders what Lauren was doing in the hospital. They examine her behavior since the time she agreed to have the baby and think it just doesn't make sense. "Tyler could be anywhere," says Phillip.

"Maybe not," says Billie.

Hey! Here's something we haven’t heard before! Sami thinks she could ruin her relationship with Lucas if she marries EJ and it could ruin her life. Hope asks if there is something else going on – some other reason why she wants to marry EJ."

Sami explodes, "Aunt Hope, I don't have feelings for EJ!" Hope thinks she may have just struck a nerve. Since she looks like Colleen, Sami wonders what if it is more than just chance, "What if it is fate? Tell me I am doing the right thing."

Hope can't. And she doesn't know if she would make the same choice if she were in Sami's position, "You need to look inside your heart." Hope leaves. Sami calls and schedules a chest MRI.

EJ comes in. "I thought I told you to go," snaps Sami.

"I'll respect your wishes," says EJ, "If you want a separate bedroom, you can have it. I will do whatever it takes to make this situation more tolerable. I'll tells Stefano we are sharing a bed together. He'll never be any the wiser."

"What do you expect in return?"

"Nothing."

Billie says there are two mysteries that need solving – where Lauren kept Tyler, and what she was doing back in Salem, "Add those two things up and what have you got."

"I never have been good at math," says Shawn.

"Tyler has been in Salem all along," says Phillip.

Sami wants to know what has changed. EJ says he knows she's making a big sacrifice and he wants to make it as easy as possible. He says there is no catch, "Because I love you and want the opportunity to prove it to you."


Previews
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