Shacked Up With A Hack

We start out today at the pub with an oh-so-familiar scene. Sami and EJ are at each other's throats. She tells him not to blame Rafe and he tells her Rafe has nothing tangible to offer her, "He is the reason we don't have our daughter. And now you bring him into your... bed?"

"Shut up," screams Sami, "Rafe wants Sydney back as much as we do."

"She is not his daughter!"

"He is connected to her through me."

"You should be ashamed," lectures EJ, "shacking up with him with your daughter missing. We both have to face reality."

Phillip asks Brady when he's going to take the big leap, "Arianna is a great girl." Brady tells Phillip he has a point.

Arianna tells Melanie they were getting worried before she showed up for the ceremony. Then she disappointed them all by walking in, "Were you having second thoughts?"

"I'm lucky to have any thoughts," says Melanie, "But I just wanted things to be perfect." She looks around for Stephanie so they can start that endless chain of pictures of the wedding party — you know the never-ending series of photos that keeps everyone from getting to the food line at the reception. She sees Stephanie is not there and goes to look for her.

Outside, Stephanie says she got Nathan's text. Nathan wants to bug out to Alpine Valley now. "OK," says Stephanie, "but first I want to tell you something."

Melanie rushes toward the door, but Vivian stops her.

Bo arrives at the warehouse to find Hope... uh... boxed in. He pulls the boxes off and stoops down, "Fancy Face! Fancy Face!"

Abe and Lexie are up on the roof. It's chilly and chivalrous Abe offers her his coat. "Most men would put their arms around a woman to keep her warm," says Lexie.

"Let's not go overboard," says Abe. He says he wants a moment alone with her. Lexie compliments Hizonner on the way he conducted the ceremony. Abe thinks he's good at that because he has a wonderful wife and that somehow means he knows a lot about marrying people, I guess, "I love you now more than ever."

"I love you, too," says Lexie, "Since there doesn't seem to be a good candidate available right now for me to have one of my sleazy affairs with."

Chloe shows up at the hospital. Daniel asks if she was OK driving over there. "I had a little morning sickness," says Chloe, "even though it's afternoon." Chloe always was a little slow. Daniel has asked her to meet him there for a special surprise.

Stephanie says she wants the kind of love Phillip and Melanie have. "OK," says Nathan, "I'll set up the Internet camera when we get to Alpine Valley."

Stephanie says, "I really want to find true love. I think I can find that with you."

Nathan feels the same way, "I want this trip to be a turning point... a new beginning."

"Good answer," says Stephanie, "Let's go to Alpine Valley and bang each other's brains out."

"I was hoping the experience would last a little longer than that will take," says Nathan.

Vivian tells Melanie she was detained, but now she has something for her, "I have a life-changing gift I want to bestow on you."

"Bestow?"

"It doesn't come in a box," says Vivian, "I found some startling information about your mother. Let's discuss it in private." They go upstairs as Maggie comes out and watches.

Sami goes to the darkside and vows never to give up on Sydney. EJ thins she is headed for a crushing disappointment. Things ramp up and get nasty. Sami thinks he's taking his nightmare out on Rafe. She insists Rafe will bring Sydney back. EJ's cup of anger overfloweth, "To hell with you. To hell with Rafe."

Will and Mia get together. Will asks, "So... what do you think of Valentine's Day... on the cheesiness scale.

"Cheesiness," repeats Mia, "I don't think it's cheesy at all, but DOOL can instantly turn fine caviar into Cheese Whiz."

"So," asks Will, "Would it be cheesy if I gave you a gift?"

Mia may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night, "Oh, not at all!" Will pops out a box and gives it to her. Mia opens it to find a necklace. She has him put it on and while he does he tells her he's glad they're together again.

"And we may stay together," says Mia, "But next time you'll have to do better than a little necklace."

Brady says, "I never got Phillip and Melanie as a couple, but Phillip seems happy. It makes me want to go down on one knee right now. Yep... Gonna do it... Goin' down."

Arianna looks around, "People are staring."

"I want them to," says Brady. He takes a knee and goes into smooch-mode.

Bo panics, picks Hope up and carries her out of the warehouse.

Magnanimous Sami decides to forgive EJ because he's not thinking straight, "It's the grief and fear that makes you crazy. We are in this together."

EJ stews, "You are in this with Rafe. I am not."

"I don't understand you," says Sami, "I thought we were getting along."

"That was before Rafe," says EJ, "He is the reason your daughter is gone. Think about that the next time he holds you."

"I'm not arguing about this any more," says Sami. She keeps arguing. Finally, she huffs out. EJ flashes his teeth à la Bo Brady.

The big surprise is that Daniel has arranged a sonogram. "I might be further along than I thought," says Chloe, "My pants are feeling really tight. Did you notice?" Daniel cops a feel so he can give an accurate answer.

He cautions her, "The sonogram might reveal the gender. Do we want to know?"

Mia shows Lucas her new necklace, "Will must have inherited his romantic side from you."

"Also his knack for choosing women," snorts Mr. Unlucky-In-Love. Phillip comes up and hauls Lucas off before he sucker punches her.

Mia turns to Will, "Your dad still doesn't like me." Will suggests they sneak out the back for a little 'thank you for the necklace' smooching. Phillip and Lucas watch them go.

Victor finds Maggie in the foyer. She says she just needed a moment away from the crowd. He thinks it must have been painful for her to come to a wedding on her anniversary. He thanks her for coming, "We welcome Melanie with open arms."

"I Hope so," says Maggie, "I will be watching... and reporting." Victor leaves. Carly busts in looking for Melanie. Maggie says, "She went upstairs with Vivian."

Carly gasps, "ALONE?"

"No," says Maggie, "She was with Vivian."

Vivian and Melanie are outside on the balcony. Vivian drags her over to the ledge to look at the view. Melanie says she's terrified of heights. "It's beautiful up here," gushes Vivian, "It's like being in heaven. Look now because you'll never make it there."

Rafe and Sami sit together at the pub. He talks about buying a sweater for Gabi. "You're just an old softie," says Sami.

"That's because my head takes a lot of blows in my line of work," says Rafe. She tells him about her conversation with EJ. That soft head of his explodes and he bolts up to go have a chat with Mr. EJ.

Sami stops him, "Just prove him wrong. Find Sydney and bring her home."

"I promise I will." Rafe pulls out his gun and puts another notch on it. Sami asks why. "I put a notch on my gun every time I promise to bring Sydney home but don't follow through."

EJ arrives at the hideout. He flails around the room and rants about Rafe and Sami, "She's supposed to be alone but instead she's shacked up with a hack! What she is doing is complete and utter devastation. I will not stand for her to be happy with any other man."

Stefano tells Kate Tokyo just called and he has to leave. Kate says they have to talk, "I've had a change of heart about Vivian — if something happened to her and it was traced to us, Phillip would hate me more than ever." Stefano tells her Vivian is no longer on his radar.

Phillip asks Justin and Lucas if they have seen Melanie.

Melanie creeps away from the ledge. Vivian tells her she has a history with her mother. "Tell me everything," says nervous Melanie.

"We don't have time," says Vivian. She drags Melanie back to the ledge.

Suddenly, Carly rushes into the scene, "Get your hands off of her!"

EJ vows to find a way to make sure Sami has nothing left. He stomps out. Rafe calls Anna and asks to meet with her, "We need to talk."

"Yes," agrees Anna, "I believe we do."

Daniel introduces Chloe to Dr. White, who will preform the sonogram. She asks, "If the test indicates the gender of the baby, do you want me to tell you?"

"No," says Chloe, "But I would like to know if it's a boy or a girl."

Nathan and Stephanie arrive at their room in Alpine Valley.

"It's just like I pictured it," squeals Stephanie.

Nathan has something else in mind, "I pictured what we might be doing when we got here."

"What was that," asks Stephanie.

Nathan moves in, "Shut up." We should be so lucky.

Back at the hospital, The doc tells Bo Hope is unconscious but should make a full recovery. Despite the bad news, Bo goes in to see her, "Hey, fancy face, the doctor says you will be OK, but you have to wake up. Wake up... I'm right here."

Hope thinks, "Maybe if I keep pretending to be unconscious, he'll leave."

People gather 'round and wonder where Melanie is. Phillip goes to check. Maggie tells him Vivian and Melanie went upstairs and Carly went up to look for them.

Carly points Hope's pistol at Vivian and tells her to back off. Vivian doesn't move quick enough for her, so...

BANG!

Someone should have warned her. It's Hope's gun and it's jinxed. No matter whom you aim it at, it hits someone else. In this case, that would be Melanie. She drops like DOOL ratings during February sweeps.

Oops. Carly rushes her screaming, "NOOOOOOOO!"

Downstairs, everyone wonders what the noise was. Phillip bolts.

Rafe and Anna agree to meet at the cop-shop. EJ comes back in and overhears as Anna finalizes things. When she sees EJ, she shuts up and stares.

Rafe asks, "Mrs. DiMera, are you still there?"

"Until he kills me," says Anna.

Dr. White stares at the sonogram's monitor. The blood drains from her face, "There is no easy way to say this. I can't find evidence of a baby. I am so sorry. It looks like the unimaginative DOOL writers have drug out the old hysterical pregnancy routine again."

"That is kind of hysterical," chuckles Daniel.

Nathan moves in. Stephanie backs off. Nathan asks, "You're still having doubts about Melanie, aren't you."

"No," says Stephanie, "I'm over her."

Nathan assures her there is nothing between Melanie and him. Stephanie remembers the note, "I'm not so sure about that."

Bo goes all mushy and Hope wakes up. "What happened," says Bo.

"Carly..."

Carly stoops by the dying Melanie and checks out the gaping hole in Melanie's body, "Somebody get me a cork, quick!"

Vivian soaks it in, "Thank you, Carly. You've done my work for me."

Carly has a meltdown.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Dr. White says, "I don't see a fetus."

"I don't care about its feet," says Chloe, "Do you see a baby?"

Chloe insists she's pregnant. Dr. Daniel walks over to the machine and takes a look.

Ana recovers and tells Rafe she will see him soon. She hangs up. EJ asks, "So... going to the Salem police station?"

"There was nothing else I could do," says Anna, "He had me cornered."

"That's fine," says EJ, "As long as you stick to the script."

"I really need to know what you are going to do," says Anna, "Are you going to kill Sami?"

Back at the Kiriakis mansion, the crowd rushes around, bouncing off of each other.

Up on the roof, Carly begs Melanie, "Stay with me."

"That doesn't seem to be a very healthy thing to do," mumbles Melanie.

"She's already gone to her reward," taunts Vivian.

Phillip rushes in. He sees the smoking gun, Melanie lying on the ground, the gaping hole in her body and the blood pouring onto the floor, "What happened here?" Phillip's not the sharpest crayon in the box.

"I shot her," Carly hyperventilates, "I shot my own daughter."

Daniel goes back to Chloe and gives her the bad news. Chloe is totally in denial, "What is going on?" Dr. White starts to 'splain.

Daniel stops her, "Sheila... let me." Sheila leaves.

Chloe asks, "Why couldn't she see our baby?" Phillip's a Rhodes Scholar compared to Chloe.

"There is no baby," says Daniel.

"Did you find out if it's a boy or a girl," asks Chloe.

Nathan can't take it any longer
Lord, he is crazed
And the feeling comes upon him
Like a tidal wave
He starts swearing to his god and on his mother's grave
He will love her to the end of time.
Stephanie buys it. Nathan moves in. A knock interrupts. Nathan answers and a hotel employee tells him, "You left your lights on."

In this situation, the Guy Manual advises one should remember car batteries can be recharged, but if her batteries are charged, immediate follow-through is recommended. Nathan, however, tells Stephanie he'll be right back, "Don't move."

Nathan leaves. Stephanie moves. The idiot gets the note out of her purse and reads it, accompanied by a flashback about reading it. A flashback of doing what she's doing. It's enough to make a viewer's head swim. Stephanie wads up the note and puts it back in her purse.

Bo tells Hope to take it easy. Hope writhes as the doctor rushes in to stabilize her. Bo asks, "Is there any chance one of the side effects of that medicine is to paralyze her vocal cords?"

The crowd searches as Victor tells everyone to be calm. The whole calm bunch of them panics and they all rush upstairs.

Phillip ejects himself from the game of sanity, "YOU SHOT HER? GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!" Lexie rushes in. Phillip goes crazy and the helpful onlookers pull him and Carly away. Lexie starts CPR and barks orders.

A crazed woman from the audience runs up on stage and pulls Lexie off, "What? Are you trying to save her? Are you MAD, woman?"

Phillip nukes, "Why did you do this? Why?"

Someone asks, "Didn't Carly just say Melanie was her daughter?"

Carly blows a gasket, "I am her mother! Let me hold my child! Please!"

Downstairs, Arianna asks, "Are you ever going to get up off that knee?"

Brady struggles, "I can't. Lucas sneaked up behind me and crazy-glued it to the floor."

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