Updated 2007-12-07 19:46:49
The Lavery brothers find their way to the office of the insurance agent that sold Richie his life insurance policy. Posing as FBI agents, Ryan plays the nicer of the two as they intimidate him into talking. When the agent caves, Ryan invites him out into the hall to spill his guts, leaving Jonathan in the office to snoop. The agent offers that he didn't know that Richie was connected to the mob, as the brothers suggested, and promises that he would never have done business with the prisoner if he'd had any inkling. Just when the agent starts to get nervous about Jonathan being alone in the office and suggests that maybe he should call a lawyer, Jonathan comes bursting out and says they've been called away to a drug bust. Safe for now, the agent scuttles back inside his office. Once the door closes, Jonathan says that he hit pay dirt and whips out a copy of Richie's policy. Ryan looks it over and discovers that Dr. Chambers is the beneficiary. They connect that fact with the evidence that proved that Chambers was the force behind getting Richie out of jail early. Ryan is confused though, when he reads the policy and finds that it is null and void if the policyholder dies from a pre-existing condition. He then stops for a minute and it all comes together: trying to hang himself, trying to crash the plane, trying to get Annie to poison him they were all attempts to die in a way that would award Dr. Chambers the money.
At the hospital, Richie asks Annie if she had any regrets about not killing him when she had the chance, believing that she lacked the guts to go through with it. She tells him that the guts came in to play when she was trying to resist the urge to help him die. She backs off of the animosity, telling him that she and Ryan agreed to Babe's idea to provide nurses for him when he is released from the hospital, and says that once she gets the information finalized, she would forward it to him. Richie walks about the room, stopping at the window when he notices how friendly their father has become with Emma. Annie thinks he is threatened by it, but Richie tells her that he thinks it is long overdue. He then asks her to send their father in so that he can say goodbye to him before he returns to Chicago. She does as he wishes, and he waits for her to look up from outside before closing the blinds to his room. Sealed inside, Richie begs his father to not fall for Annie's games, and says that after everything that she has done to them, the only real family that Walter has left is his son. Walter protests slightly, saying that Emma was not the one who did wrong, and that because she is of their skin, it's only right to get to know her. Richie convinces him that Annie is just using her daughter as a pawn to get back into his life, and he needs to protect himself from that. He then tells his father that he doesn't want to be mean, but says he is worried that Walter will fall prey to Annie when he is gone. Walter caves, and when he leaves the room, he angrily tells Annie that he no longer needs her offered ride to the airport, despite the fact that his granddaughter is hugging him lovingly. He leaves, and Annie storms back into the room and demands to know what Richie said. He feigns weakness, and says that he only told his father goodbye and that he loved him. Annie doesn't believe him, saying that he really was threatened by the bond that was being formed between Walter and her daughter. She tells him that she will not allow him to take everything that makes Emma happy away from her, but Richie plays innocent and asks her to go so that he can get some rest.
Kendall bursts into the cabin and despite Aidan's efforts to get her to leave, or to be helpful elsewhere, she stays put. She tells him that he needs to clue her in on his game plan so that she can lend a hand. He asks her what she could possibly bring to the table, so she invokes the thoughts of her sons one premature who is missing out on precious bonding time with his father, and one about to go into surgery and who needs all the love he can around him. Aidan accepts that offer and proceeds to dangle several strings in front of her face as they talk about possible plans of action. He then asks her to look through a box of things comprised of items that were left behind by the previous owner and things that Aidan had found on the grounds from his searching thus far. As she does so, she asks if apologizing at this juncture would do any good, but he tells her no. She continues to look and then finds a piece of paper and asks where he got it. He looks at it and tells her that he found it in the ditch by the road near where he found Greenlee's cell phone. She gets excited and shows him the bracelet that Zach had made for her, which bears more than a striking resemblance to the drawing. She tells him that it is 100% proof that the two loves of their lives are together, and if so, this means they have a better shot of surviving.
Tad meets up with Julia at the hospital for coffee, and confides in her about his latest ire regarding Adam. Julia tells him that Krystal may not be able to, or may not want to get rid of Adam, and that he might need to get used to that. Unwilling to sacrifice his daughter for Krystal's choices, he says that if Krystal can't decide, he may just do it for her.
On the other side of the hospital, Adam, carrying baby Jenny, brings Krystal in so that a doctor can attend to her wound. One takes them into the nearest cubicle, and although Krystal protests and says that the cut is nothing, the doctor agrees with Adam and thanks him for bringing her in. Krystal tells her ex-husband that she will be fine, and that he can feel free to put her daughter in the bassinette and leave. He refuses, wanting to see her through the ordeal and help her out any way that he can. When the doctor finishes sewing her up, he gives her the standard warnings about keeping it clean and covered while it heals. She tries to take Jenny in her arms, but Adam indicates that he will carry her out to the car so that she can avoid breaking her wound open. When they exit the room, they run into Tad and Julia. Rage immediately flows through Tad's body when he sees his daughter in his archenemy's hands. He immediately takes hold of his daughter and reassures her for a moment. He then hands her off to Julia and asks if she can take her away for a while so that three of them can talk. Julia obliges, and when they are gone, Tad is forced to listen as they admit that in addition to holding the baby, Adam was again in their house. Adam tells him that he needs to cool off because he came over to talk to Tad. He says that whether Tad likes it or not, Krystal has been choosing to see him and that can only mean that they need to come to some sort of more peaceful agreement, but when he looks at Tad's face, he sees that his offer will not fly. Tad says that he would never consider anything of the sort, and that it is now apparent that he will have to look after Jenny's welfare all by himself. Julia returns and hands off the baby to Tad, citing that she has to return to work. Tad stalks off with her, with Krystal behind, trying to find out where he planned on taking their daughter. Adam tries to follow, but drops a paper out of his pocket. Julia calls to him so that she can give it back, and he rudely snatches it from her hands. He finally takes a good look at it and realizes that it is a certificate of adoption. He then wonders aloud how it got underneath the couch in his house.
In the bomb shelter, in the midst of chipping away at the wall, Greenlee starts to have another panic attack and can't breathe. Zach thinks that she must be hungry, and suggests that she take a look at the supply of food again. She thinks that the selection is much less than appealing but she gives in as a way to try and staunch the overwhelming tide of her fear. She picks through the cans but doesn't find anything that she can imagine stomaching. She then makes a find a stack of love letters written by a previous tenant. He tells her that she should read them if it will help her calm down, and she proceeds to do so aloud. He only lets her continue for a few minutes before demanding that she stop, as they are reminiscent of his feelings of missing his family. He continues to dig and suddenly hits something solid. Greenlee excitedly races over to see what it is, thinking that perhaps their work hadn't been in vain and that they might get out soon. Zach works at the object so they can find out what it is, and Greenlee is horrified when Zach pulls out a skeleton hand.
Ryan returns to the hospital and Richie pretends to be excited that his entire family has been in to see him. Not in the mood to play games, Ryan drops a copy of Richie's insurance policy in front of him. Once he realizes what it is, Richie sees that the game is changing once again. Ryan announces his realization that Richie's arrival in Pine Valley was never about the damage he could inflict on his sister or her family, but rather about finding a way to accidentally die so that the policy would pay out to Dr. Chambers.
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