As EJ and Philip Head Into Battle, Sarah and Xander Make Baby No. 2 Plans!
It looks as if we’re not quite done talking about Roman’s gun and the missing lockbox. In fact, he tells her a bit of shocking info which puts Johnny back in that very bad light: The night of EJ’s shooting, Roman told the younger man about the gun, which soon after went missing. Fearing the worst, Roman had trucked on over to the DiMera mansion where he found his gun (badly) hidden in a flower pot outside the front door!
Roman admits he didn’t tell Sami, because she’s got a knack for making a bad situation worse. He also doesn’t intend to talk to Johnny about it, given the guilt he feels about having accidentally tipped the young man off to the story of his conception. “I’m not going to let his life be ruined because of something any number of people would have done if they’d gotten to EJ first!”
Continuing Confession Hour, Kate fills Roman in on the truth about the letter Vivian forged and Philip presented as genuine. They agree they’re both protecting the people they love, but that moving forward, they need to be more trusting of one another.
A very happy Johnny is packing his bags and preparing to check out of the Salem Inn when Paulina shows up for a chat. She likes Johnny and always has, but issues a stern warning: “If you break [Chanel’s] heart one more time, that’s it. You will have burnt your very last bridge with me!”
Johnny tells his mother-in-law that he’s starting therapy (and not with his grandma!) and a new job. Translation: He’s doing everything in his power to get his life back on track. Flashing back to having pulled a gun on his father, Johnny admits he never wants to be like EJ. They discuss the shooting, and Paulina asks if Johnny was being truthful when he told Chanel he didn’t commit the crime.
Xander sits at Sarah’s hospital bedside and is (rightly) taken to task by his wife for the way he treated Felicity earlier in the day. He owes Felicity and Cat an apology. Fortunately enough, they soon cross paths and he asks that she extend his apology to her sister. Instead, she says he needs to apologize directly to Felicity, and that he needs to show more compassion. “Are those the qualities you exhibited while running around pretending to be the late Abigail Deveraux?” Admitting she’ll regret that for the rest of her life, she says she’s trying to make amends and hopes he’ll do the same.
EJ’s cane is getting a lot of use. First, he hobbles into Kayla’s office to tell her he went over her head to secure a meeting with the board about his proposal to purchase the hospital. He’s added a condition to his offer he hopes “won’t ruffle too many feathers.” What that condition is, we’re not told immediately, because instead we next find him in the Square, crossing with Cat, who is curious why he bid on her at the auction. “I didn’t want to go out with someone who hates my guts, so that eliminated more than a few candidates,” he admits. “But I also didn’t want to go out with a total stranger.” And they do, he quips, share a connection: “You did trick people into thinking you were my dead sister-in-law!”
Cat nearly walks away in a huff, but EJ convinces her to stay and they continue their chat in a more friendly vein. She explains that her upcoming outing with Chad isn’t a “date-date,” although she clearly wouldn’t mind if it was. For his part, EJ suggests his brother cares from the blonde beauty. Cat is surprised how pleasant EJ is given… well, the stories she’s heard. With a twinkle in his eye, EJ dubs himself “a gem of a human being. Virtuous, moral, wise, altruistic, magnificent… the list goes on and on!”
Returning to the family manse, EJ is happy to see Belle already perched on the couch. He shares with her his plan to buy the hospital… and Kayla’s displeasure at the notion. Then there’s Xander’s bid to deal with as well, which is why EJ needs his girlfriend’s help in charming the board in general and her brother in particular!
Outside the pub, Philip talks to Belle in cryptic terms about his determination to score points with Xander by helping him pursue the hospital deal. To that end, he later asks Kate to put in a good word with the board. And it is here that we learn the condition EJ is putting on his offer: Unless the hospital accepts it when he makes it, the offer will be withdrawn. (How, exactly, Kate knows this is unclear.) Philip in turn shares what he’s learned about the real reason everyone is trying to buy the financially-strapped facility: A doctor who is under contract to University Hospital has developed a cure for sepsis and, should it move forward with FDA approval, everyone involved would make a fortune. Plus, given that sepsis is what Bo is being treated for, they might be able to get him the drug early. “If I could get my hands on that drug myself, maybe I could save Bo and win over Xander,” muses Philip. Meanwhile, Philip tells Kate Kevin Lambert — a blast from the past — reached out looking for a job and he’s a pharma genius who happens to be currently working for the developer of the sepsis cure!
Kayla swings by to check on Sarah… and inadvertently shocks the patient with the news that Xander’s trying to buy the hospital, not to mention that his competition is EJ. Kayla swears she’ll do everything in her power to make sure Xander wins the battle. When Xander returns, he explains that she played a big role in his decision to pursue the hospital, given her family’s longtime connection to the facility. Sarah worries, but he promises to keep everything above board.
In the final moments, Cat gets a call which clearly leaves her shaken. She tells the person on the other end she’s not interested and they need to stop calling. Xander and Sarah decide it might be time to start giving it the ol’ college try where having another baby is concerned. EJ swears that even if the “old” him rears his ugly head again, it won’t change how he feels about Belle. And Philip places a call to Kevin Lambert, suggesting they get together. “We have a lot to discuss…
