-At Green Mountain Lodge, Eric and Nicole are sitting by the fireplace talking. The conversation is romantic as they reminisce about the journey they have taken to get to this point. Nicole reminds Eric about how selfish she used to be. She still can’t believe some of the things she did to people. Eric tells her that those things and her past are all behind her. She should be happy with who she has become, especially now that they want to start a family. Nicole’s mood turns somber and Eric notices that. When he tries to ask her about adopting again, Nicole gets up and excuses herself, saying she needs some fresh air.

Eric looks at her walk out of the room, wondering how they will get past these latest problems. He now feels that their marriage is falling apart and he may be powerless to stop it.

-Alan walks back into his motel room. When he closes the door, he slowly turns, smiling, at a tied up Will, whose mouth is also gagged. He walks over to the bed and removes the gag from Will’s mouth. Will coughs a few times and then lashes out at Alan, calling him a bastard for lying to him and kidnaping him. He then asks if this is how he gets his rocks off. Alan jumps on the bed and holds a knife to his throat, telling him that he better be quiet.....if he knows what’s good for him.

Alan then places the gag back in his mouth, right after Will asks what is he going to do with him. Alan doesn’t respond. All he does is calmly walk over to the phone and calls the hospital to check on Carrie’s condition. When he receives the information that she is in surgery, he hangs the phone up and whispers that he has got to get over there. He walks to the door and opens it and then turns back towards Will, telling him that he will deal with him.....later. He will have to find some way to keep him quiet....permanently. He then walks out and closes the door as Will squirms against his binding, trying to get free so that he can warn his family.

-Dr. Glancy has come down to the waiting room at University Hospital. Everyone gathers around him as Roman walks up to him and asks how Carrie is doing. The doctor informs them that she is in critical but stable condition. They will monitor her overnight, which is now crucial to her survival. Lucas steps up and asks about the baby. The doctor pauses before telling the family.....that Carrie’s baby was stillborn. Austin almost collapses as Roman runs up to grab him. Lucas starts banging his fists on the nurses’ desk in sorrowful anger. Sami tries to calm Lucas down while Austin is unconsolable. Kate runs over to Austin and, with Roman’s help, picks him up and places him on the couch.

Sami finally gets Lucas to calm down long enough to turn him around and hold him as he cries uncontrollably. Caroline stands back and witnesses everything, having walked in right before the news about Carrie and the baby was given. She can’t believe it. Neither can Roman. As Shane walks back in with Abe, Roman once again says that he can’t believe his daughter was in the hands of a madman while a man he thought of as a brother knew about it and didn’t say a word. As Caroline looks at Roman with a shocked look on her face, the rest of the group stares with cold anger and hatred at Shane.

Caroline slowly walks over to Shane and asks him if this is true. Did he really keep everything from them? Shane slowly shakes his head yes. A cold look comes over Caroline’s face as she tells him that she is truly sick to her stomach. Shawn Sr. and her accepted Shane into their family when he married Kimberly and now she can’t believe he would betray them all in this fashion. Shane tells her and everyone else that he is so ashamed of himself and they all have every right to hate him for his part in this. He only hopes that some day, they can find it in their hearts to forgive him.

A voice then says the very same thing. When everyone turns around, they see Alan standing there, looking sad and shaken. Roman’s eyes grow wide with anger and he runs towards Alan. Lucas & Austin follow suit with all three men being restrained form attacking Alan by Abe and a couple of his officers. Roman then pushes one of the officers away, yelling at Alan about what he did with Carrie’s dead baby. Alan looks confused and asks Roman what did he say. Roman repeats the question and that’s when Alan realizes that this is Carrie’s cover story about her child. He then straightens up and says that he buried the child, like Carrie asked him to do.

When Roman and Lucas ask where, the doctor walks out into the waiting room and tells everyone that Carrie wants to see them all. She is very weak and it is against hospital policy but he will allow it.....so long as everyone behaves and doesn’t stress Carrie out. They all slowly walk down the hallway and enter Carrie’s darkened room. Sami starts to cry as she walks over to her bed and a very weak Carrie takes her hand as Sami sits on the head of her bed. She tells everyone that she wants to now explain what is going on.

Carrie begs everyone to not blame neither Shane nor Alan. Both men look on as she speaks. She feels that Alan has proven to her that he has changed and Shane only did what she asked him to do because she wanted to keep the whole reason why she left and stayed in hiding a secret. Austin then steps forward, asking her why she went to all this trouble to do this. When Lucas wants to know the answer to the very same question, Carrie says that she just can't take it anymore. She can't take the lying anymore. Sami looks over at Austin, who gives a deep sigh as he and Sami both know what she’s talking about.

Austin stands there, almost wanting Carrie to not say what he knows she’s about to say. She says that she left out of fear. Fear of how much she had hurt Lucas and everyone else. When Lucas asks what does she mean, all Carrie can say is that she is so sorry. She is so very sorry.....

For cheating on him......with Austin.

Lucas steps back in shock, as Sami pats Carrie’s hand. She continues, telling Lucas that she slept with Austin while they were engaged to be married and when she found out she was pregnant, she didn’t have a clue who the father was. Everyone is stunned at this news. Alan and Shane look at each other while Sami, Austin and Kate don’t look stunned in the least. That’s because they knew all along what Carrie’s secret was. Lucas walks around the room, looking at Austin and Kate, who bow their heads in shame. He then turns towards Sami, who slowly stands up. When Lucas says....

Lucas: No. Not you too.

All Sami can do is look at him, with tears coming down her cheeks.

-Back at Green Mountain Lodge, Nicole is walking in a wooded area in tears. She looks up to the heavens and asks why she can never have the perfect life. Something always has to go wrong. She then hears a baby crying nearby and begins looking around as it sounds very close. Nicole notes that the child sounds like it is in pain or something. She follows the sound of the cries near some bushes and is shocked when she looks down to find what looks like a newborn baby lying on the ground.

Eric catches up to Nicole and asks if she is ok. He is stunned when she turns around holding the baby. Nicole explains that she heard him crying and found him near the bushes. Eric realizes that the baby appears to be a newborn and still has blood on him. They need to get him to the hospital.

-In the cafeteria, Max and Chelsea run into each other. He asks how she’s doing and she says that her arm is getting a little better. When he tells her that she looks like something else is bothering her, Chelsea has another flashback to the blackmail threat that Cassie laid on her. She lies to Max, saying that there is no problem with her. She then asks him a question. When Max says what is it, she wants to know if he meant what he said about staying by Abby’s side. Or, were those just words? Max tells her that he likes Abby a lot. He would never hurt her. He is very committed to her and their relationship.

She then asks even with a baby on the way? He says that Cassie is just the mother of his child that’s all. He will do the proper thing by the baby but that’s it. Chelsea smiles, glad that he said those things but, once again worried about what Cassie will do to break up Max & Abby.

-Cassie now arrives at the hospital. She is telling herself that she is adamant about not giving up on getting Max away from that witch Abby and have him be a father to her baby. She has many ways of removing Abby from the picture and getting Max all to herself. What she doesn’t notice is one of the nurses looking at her as she talks to herself. She turns and asks the nurse what is she looking at? The nurse just walks away. Just then a nurse is wheeling Abby to the cafeteria. She tells the nurse that she is tired of always sitting in her room and in therapy sessions so this is nice to finally get out. The nurse is almost to the cafeteria when she gets paged. Abby says that’s alright, she’ll wheel herself there. At that moment, she bumps into Cassie, who tells her they need to talk.

Cassie wheels Abby to the side of the hallway and starts in on her, telling her that she is weighing Max down. She goes on and on about how Abby almost ruined her life being Chelsea’s shadow, the bad choices she made when she was drinking, the car accident that landed her in the hospital, and how she now is his burden. Cassie reminds a now tearful Abby that he should be with her and her baby at this time but can’t out of obligation to her. Cassie then tells her that she owes him for sticking with her through all this, which she feels isn’t fair to Max. When a now crying Abby asks Cassie what she should do, Cassie tells her, in the best interest of Max and the baby....give him up. It’s the only decent thing to do.

The conversation grows more and more heated. Abby wipes away her tears and now regains her strength, telling Cassie that she is nothing but a manipulator who is using this entire situation to her advantage. When the hospital staff start to stare, Abby says that either they can move this conversation to a more private setting or end it outright. This is getting ridiculous, Abby says. Cassie says ok, Ms. Goody-Goody, and wheels Abby into the stairway. She asks is this private enough? When Abby rightfully asks her what is her malfunction, the two girls then start shouting at each other.....about Max, the baby, and what he should do. After Abby tells Cassie that she is just like her grandfather, she starts to wheel herself past Cassie, but hits her leg and runs over her toe. When Cassie yells out, Abby apologizes, saying that she isn’t used to the wheelchair just yet.

Meanwhile, Max and Chelsea go to Abby's room and see that she is gone. They go to look for her. The scene then shifts back to Cassie and Abby, who continue to fight. Cassie thanks Abby for the bruises she now has thanks to her inept wheelchair skills. Abby scowls at her and says that before she felt for Cassie, despite her being mean to her and Chelsea about their conditions but, now, she feels bad for the baby having her as a mother. She tells Cassie that she can't manipulate her anymore. She is going to fight for Max and not let him go.

Cassie then tells her then it looks like they are at war and she is a Dimera. Dimera's always win. Abby says not this time. Cassie mentions she has a secret weapon. Abby asks what it is and Cassie smiles, saying wouldn't you like to know. Abby is finished with the argument and about to wheel away as Cassie continues to tell Abby she is fighting a losing battle. Abby just tries to turn her wheelchair around. Cassie moves to get out of the way, saying she isn't going to get another bruise from that thing.

As Cassie backs up to get out of the way, she backs up too far and loses her balance and falls down the stairs. Abby wheels over and looks down just as Max and Chelsea come into the stairwell and look on in horror.

The screen then splits into four separate boxes with Cassie laying unconscious at the bottom of the stairs, Lucas and Austin staring at one another, Nicole and Eric walking off with the newborn baby.......

And The MCF, celebrating the tragic fate that awaits many due to the events now set in motion. The MCF then gives off an evil, echoing laugh as the screen then slowly fades to black.

On the Next Salem Lives...

Sami to Lucas: Can you please forgive me?

Carrie to Alan: Now that the truth is out, I want my baby back. So, find him. Find him and bring him to me

Nicole to Eric: Maybe this is our miracle. Maybe this child was brought to us to be our's.

Max to Cassie: How did this happen?

Abby to Chelsea: This is bad. This could be the end of Max and I for good.