Feeling more like her old self again, Meg informs Tom that she's having her lawyer pursue the malpractice suit. Tom expresses his disappointment and asks Meg to reconsider pressing charges against Liane. He reiterates that he cares deeply for Meg and wants to remain her friend. Tom can't understand why Meg is determined to destroy the career of a person who saved her life...

When Tony presses Bambi to reset their wedding date, she points out that it would be very cruel of him to pull away from Kim. Tony insists Kim is strong enough to make peace with the fact that he's in love with Bambi. "You're the only woman I love, and I can't face a life without you by my side," he reaffirms. "Please let's set a wedding date...."

Liane laments to Dr. Marriott that she's lost her self-confidence as a surgeon and wants to practice general medicine, rather than surgery. She's afraid of what would happen if she ever tried to operate on anyone again. "I just can't. I just can't," Liane sobs.

...Later that day, Maggie's (Liane's friend) little boy gets something stuck in his throat and can't catch his breath. Because there isn't enough time to get him to the hospital, Liane forgets her anxieties and performs an emergency tracheotomy on the child. After successfully completing the operation, Liane exclaims: "I did it! I really am a surgeon!" That evening, she telephones Dr. Marriott with the news that she's decided to return to Rosehill Hospital and resume her surgical residency there.



Commenting on how attractive and "special" Mia is, Elliott makes a pass at her. She pulls away and shouts that he should stop pretending he's attracted to her when he's really thinking of Betsy. "I'm sick of being a substitute for Betsy!" Mia complains. "Look where it got me with Ben!" Elliott admits it's true that he can't get his mind off Betsy. He figures the only way to get her back is to put Ben behind bars long enough for him (Elliott) to regain her affections. Elliott suggests that if Mia really wants Ben back, she should testify against him! After Ben is sent to prison, Elliott will arrange for him to be paroled early. Mia and Elliott seal their "masterplan" with a kiss....

Much to Tom's surprise, Meg tells him she might have been wrong about Liane. Since destroying Liane would diminish Meg's own life, she's decided to drop the lawsuit. Meg claims she is doing it for Tom, as she wants to marry him! Meg points out that Liane will have her career, and she (Meg) will have Tom! Though Meg is aware that Tom doesn't love her the way she loves him, she's willing to settle for "friendship." Playing on Tom's guilt, Meg explains that she needs him -- he's the only reason she wants to go on living. "I'll be good for you," Meg adds. "We can make a life together."

Betsy, obsessed with the accident, has a frightening nightmare during which she screams that what happened is all Mia's fault. When Carrie tries to calm her, Betsy thinks that Carrie is Mia! Unable to stand the sight of Carrie, Betsy shouts for her to leave the room. After injecting Betsy with a sedative, Paul tells Tom that she's suffering from aftershock; her condition is getting worse. Every day, Betsy grows more agitated....

Anxious to wed Tom, Meg presses him for an answer to her proposal. "You're the most important thing in my life," she utters. Meg resolves to make Tom love her if he agrees to marry her.

Optimistic about the future, Meg announces to Ben that she wants to make the best of a bad situation (her paralysis) by starting a physical therapy program. When Meg declares Tom is going to marry her, Ben becomes infuriated.

Ben bursts into Tom's office and demands to know why he's planning to wed Meg. "What's in it for you?" Ben angrily asks. Tom replies he cares deeply for Meg and wants to make her happy. Ben accuses Tom of wanting to marry Meg because he feels guilty for pushing her down the stairs! Their tempers flaring, Ben and Tom get into a punching match. When they both realize how ridiculous it is for them to be fighting, they apologize to each other.

To make certain Tom will marry her, Meg offers to drop the lawsuit as a wedding present. Because he loves Liane and wants to spare her the humiliation of a court battle, Tom agrees to marry Meg! "You're making me very happy," she exclaims.

Liane returns to Rosehill Hospital and is given a warm welcome by her co-workers.

At Ben's hearing, a fisherman, Mr. Wilbur, testifies that he saw Ben and Betsy arguing in the boat. While Ben was shouting at Betsy, the fisherman says, he was holding an oar over his head, and it looked as though he was going to hit her with it! Mr. Wilbur elaborates that he heard a scream, and the next thing he knew, the boat overturned. The judge announces that Elliott's evidence is more than sufficient for Ben's case to go to trial. Ben, who's been praying the case would be dropped, is enraged.



After apologizing for not getting in touch with her while she was in Lockridge, Tom tells Liane that Meg's dropping the lawsuit. Liane is elated -- this news is much more than she'd hoped for.

The next day, Liane, unable to really believe that Meg's decided to drop the malpractice suit, asks Tom if he's sure he is not holding back anything about Meg's change of heart. Tom responds he'd rather not spoil Liane's delight over being back in Rosehill by discussing anything serious....

Paul notifies Arlene that she's pregnant! Arlene jumps for joy and can hardly wait to tell Ray the good news.

Determined to endear herself to Tom, Meg sends him a centrifuge for his cardiovascular research project. When Meg later stops by Tom's lab, she apprises him that if he doesn't wed her soon, she'll revive the lawsuit. Tom reassures Meg he'll make her his wife, but she's got to give him time to work things out with Liane....

Mia explains to Wesley she's testifying against Ben at his trial because she loves him! Mia believes the only way she can get Ben back would be to cause, with Elliott's help, a permanent rift between Ben and Betsy....

Ben tries to help Betsy recall the accident. When he mentions the snake, she gets hysterical and shouts: "No, there wasn't any snake! I don't remember a snake!" All Betsy recalls is Ben holding an oar over her head before the boat capsized.

Meg attempts to bribe Mia into changing her mind about testifying, but Mia turns Meg down, refusing to be "bought."

Tom and Liane make love; the next morning, he asks her to marry him right away. Tom now realizes he loves Liane too much to give her up to wed Meg. Liane tells Tom she can't get married until she finishes her residency -- in five years.

After meg finds out Tom spent an evening with Liane, she bawls him out, saying she can't trust him. Tom counters he's been honest with Meg all along: he loves Liane. Although Tom doesn't love Meg, he promises he'll do everything he can to make her happy, should they marry. Meg points out she has the time and the money to make Tom a leader in his field -- Liane can't do that for him.

Since Ray had urged her to have a baby, Arlene expected him to be ecstatic to learn she's pregnant. Instead, Ray says he's uncertain it's the right time for her to have a baby. Ray explains he thinks Arlene isn't strong enough, having recently suffered through the ordeal in the mountain cabin... Is Ray really afraid the child is Hal Carson's?

Because he needs a deposition from Betsy, Elliott grills her about the accident. Betsy reveals she ran out of the lake house because she was angry with Ben. They rowed out on the lake. Although she'd like to remember the snake, Betsy can't recall Ben trying to kill it when it crawled on her. Talking about the accident causes Betsy to become hysterical again, so Dr. Marriott orders Elliott to leave her alone, as she's in no condition to be interrogated.

Mia swears to Ben that she never meant to hurt Betsy -- what happened is going to haunt her (Mia) the rest of her life. Furthermore, Mia insists Ben and Betsy were never meant to be together, for Betsy can't satisfy him the way she (Mia) does! And, Mia continues, Betsy can't make Ben happy. Ben retorts he despises Mia for what she did -- she's a manipulator. Mia counters she loves Ben -- everything she did was for him. When she offers to help Ben at his trial, he demands that she stay out of his life once and for all!

Bruce asks Elliott to postpone Ben's trial, but Elliott adamantly refuses, more determined than ever to do Ben in. Later that day, Elliott stops by Mia's office and tells her Betsy doesn't remember the snake. Noticing that Mia's crumpling several pieces of torn paper in her hand, Elliott inquires what they are. Mia reveals that it's the check with which Meg tried to bribe her into not testifying. Seeing the check as potentially explosive courtroom evidence, Elliott pastes it together. "Another nail in Ben's coffin," he snidely remarks.

"Oh, no, it's happening!" Meg exclaims. For the first time since the brain operation, she ahs feeling and movement in her left leg. The following day, Meg has movement in both legs.

Tran's foster parents show up in Rosehill, worrying Kim that they might try to take her little boy away....

Arlene, upset that Ray's been brooding the last few days, presses him to tell her what's bothering him. Ray admits he'd been thinking about Arlene and Hal together in the mountain shack. He wonders how things really were: what did Arlene think about... what were her feelings? Arlene recounts how tired, scared, and hungry she was, but Hal kept her going. She adds that they became very close and shared their deepest feelings. Arlene points out that Ray should be grateful to Hal -- if it hadn't been for him, she wouldn't be alive today....

Liane apologizes to Tom for taking his marriage proposal so lightly. She explains that if she married Tom, her heart wouldn't be totally in her work, and she's committed to being a top-notch surgeon. Liane fears her work would keep her so busy she wouldn't be there for Tom when he needed her.