At Llanview Hospital, Bo meets Paige, and he expresses how uncomfortable he is about keeping Paige's child a secret, in large part because of his situation with Matthew (though he assures her that he won't blab to Spencer). Paige's pleasant mood turns sour quickly---she becomes VERY upset that he seems to be more concerned with some male code of honor than supporting her, and rescinds her request for his help in finding her son.
With Duke and Kelly at his bedside at LH, an impatient Kevin learns from Michael that he was probably waylaid by a virus---they'll know more once his blood work is back from the lab in Maryland. Spencer then takes it upon himself to list all the possible side effects, and very casually names sterility as one of them! So angry is Michael at Spencer (for worrying Kevin when no one's positive what's wrong with him) that he demands an explanation---with all due respect. Dr. Truman tries to put a spin on things, but Michael is not satisfied and later goes to Paige with his concerns.
After Kelly's departure leaves them alone, Kevin asks his son point blank if he has feelings towards Kelly---Duke struggles with the question initially but eventually denies it in such a way that Kevin apologizes for even bringing it up.
Antonio informs Tess that Nash has a restraining order out against him. Tess doesn't believe him until Nash confirms it's true. Though it took an effort, Tess manages to get Antonio to wait outside while she gets answers from Nash. Only Nash isn't giving any! He calmly refuses to discuss something that happened before Tess came along and has no effect on their relationship---even when Tess reminds him he just got through asking her to do the same. Knowing full well the order had to have been filed by a woman, Tess gets so frustrated and angry she slings a lamp across the room which brings in Antonio running, of course. She is simmering with rage at both men and demands to be taken to Viki; Antonio obliges as Nash begs her to reconsider.
One by one, prosecution witnesses line up to testify---including an emotional Denton, who tries valiantly to protect Todd---though every other question Hugh asks is objected to by Evangeline, it's clear the prosecution is winning. That is, until one Victoria Davidson takes the stand! Called on as a last-minute witness, Viki makes it clear to the jury she is on her brother's side. Though flustered, Hugh cleverly swings momentum back the other way, forcing Evangeline to reluctantly discredit Viki's testimony by bringing up her recent D.I.D. problems---Viki shamefully leaves the courtroom. Later, Spencer is called to the stand.
Starr has perched herself in the center of the police station, refusing to leave until she hears something about her father's case, she tells John. John gives the worried girl his word that the Llanview PD. will not railroad Todd if they find proof he's innocent, and later Natalie takes her out for hot chocolate. Before John can even stop gazing at Nat's back, Bo summons him into his office PRONTO. The commish is not happy about John's episode with the therapist, or his failure to promise an effort. Left with no choice he asks for John's weapon and badge!!! Only then does the detective agree to participate fully in his therapy sessions.
Upon returning to the station, Natalie finds out about John's sparring match with Cris. John asks if what Cris said is true---is she divorcing him to be with John?
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"What did you think he was going to do, talk to you about sports?" - Bo, after John complains that his shrink was getting "way too personal."
Natalie icily informs John that her divorce had nothing to do with him. Todd fears the worst when Spencer takes the stand as a witness for the prosecution. Clint and Bo interrogate Asa about what transpired at the lodge on New Year's Eve. Paige accuses David of betraying her confidence but he swears he hasn't told anyone about the son she gave up for adoption. Spencer testifies how he heard a delirious Todd mumbling about Margaret being pregnant with his child and that he tried to kill her. Later, during a recess at the courthouse, Evangeline apologizes to Viki for being forced to humiliate her during cross-examination. Asa deflects his sons' questions but cautions a puzzled Bo and Clint to watch their backs. Todd argues with Blair after she defends Spencer's actions. Natalie tells John she hates him and can never forgive his lies. Dorian asks Clint out on a date. John thinks about his own dad as he watches a tender father/son moment between Bo and Matthew. At the jail, Denton pressures Todd to fork over a hundred grand to prevent him from telling the D.A. how his boss confessed to murder. Natalie is outraged to hear how Evangeline brought up Viki's DID in open court. Matthew suggests to a startled John that he may need closure on the subject of his late father. Spencer instructs his brother to sneak into Asa's mansion and seek out a certain photograph.
Breaking into Asa's to steal the photo that Spencer wanted doesn't work out as David is routed by the maid and leaves the photo behind. Not before he expresses shock and wonders why "she's" been dragged into things.
At the police station Rex encounters Evangeline going through statements, trying to find something to help Todd. He offers his own help. Blair overhears Todd admit to Denton that he killed Margaret and his agreeing to pay him the money he wants to keep quiet. She's in a state of shock and confronts her husband after Denton leaves. She's concerned for her kids. He doesn't want to lose her, he says but she advises him that it's not his decision. She's sick of all of his sides to the story and she loses it, yells and cries at him and leaves. Antonio asks Bo for help and presents him with the information concerning Nash's past; the fact that he took thousands of dollars from Claudia Reston who then ended up in rehab and the order of protection filed against him. He plans on telling Viki though Bo advises him that Jess' money is tied up in trust until she's 30. Rex pays Todd a visit and is told that Denton set him up, that Denton is the one who killed Margaret and now he's blackmailing Todd into admitting guilt. Rex thinks the idea silly and is concerned that it'll look exactly like what Todd doesn't want it to look like. Rex needs to figure out what to do, Todd says, as he borrows his cell phone to transfer his money. Rex is highly doubtful this will work.
Tess meets her equal when she finally faces Natalie who is there to watch over her while Viki is sleeping. The pair have a verbal tennis match until Tess spots something in the newspaper about the death of her only friend, Ginger. She shows some emotion but is quick to bounce back to form when Natalie expresses her sympathy and believes that the two of them are quite alike. She cleans up messes for Jess all of the time, Tess quips. She doesn't appreciate Natalie going soft momentarily and has no intention of bonding. When Antonio arrives, Nat asks him to take over and she heads out. Tess tries to provoke Antonio but he suggests that Nash is in trouble and she should spend time worrying about him. He tells her she should integrate, that she can't win out. He asks if she needs Jess too.
Spencer meets Nash at the Palace but before they can find out too much about each other, David arrives, demanding to speak with his brother. Clint and Dorian arriving together piques everyone's curiosity. When they finally settle down to try to enjoy each other's company, Dorian follows her usual pattern of badmouthing Viki which infuriates Clint. He leaves her to dine alone. Lindsay meets with Cristian and has to turn down his request that she be his art dealer again. He realizes that people mainly bought his paintings when they thought he was dead. He vows to be the kind of man that Natalie wants. Clint stops to thank Cris for protecting Natalie in the midst of photographers and expresses his own sympathies to Lindsay regarding Jen. Nash approaches Clint, who notices that the young man has had a little too much to drink. He's worried that everyone will find out all about him, he says, which compels Clint to demand some answers. He unintentionally hurt someone but Claudia wanted him to have the money. He hurt her but he loves Tess and would never do the same thing. Blair arrives and takes Spencer down with a mean right punch (which thrills a nearby Dorian). She's furious that he kept secret the fact that he knew about Margaret's pregnancy. He cites patient-doctor confidentiality even though he did admit as much on the stand. She thought they had something, she states. They're only friends, he replies. She feels like a fool for trusting him. He suggests that she figure out who she's really angry at and who she believes. He walks away, smiling so that she can't see it. Denton looks for Blair, tells her he came into some money and offers to buy her a drink. He's left his resignation on Todd's desk. She turns him down as he recites poetry to her. She walks off alone and cries. She can't deny it; Todd killed Margaret and the baby.
Nat confronts Evangeline and warns her that she'll destroy her if she talks about her family again.
Antonio comes to Llanfair to let Viki and Clint know about the skeletons in Nash's closet. A melancholy Duke tells Kelly how he and Adriana have broken things off. Layla urges her sister to call John but Evangeline balks at stirring up more trouble for Natalie. Meanwhile, John receives Dr. Crosby's assessment and is irked to read that the shrink has diagnosed him with a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder. Cristian glumly explains to Adriana how much trouble he's having finding work once potential employers learn he spent the last year and a half in prison. Nash begs an angry Tess to let him support her during the amniocentesis. Kelly looks forward to bringing Kevin home from the hospital. Cris gives Rex an impromptu boxing lesson at the gym. Hugh reminds John that he's the prosecution's key witness against Todd. Layla encourages Adriana to believe that Rex loves her. John offers Evangeline a sympathetic ear and a comforting hug. Kevin hides from his fiancée the possibility that he may have been rendered sterile by the virus. Though Viki is upset by the new information about Nash, Clint reminds her how Antonio has also had his own share of serious problems over the years.
Adriana persuades Rex to go to the hospital to have his head wound treated. At the same time, Michael is coming off duty and runs into Marcie, who has been visiting a comatose Nora. Michael tells Marcie that he is going to treat himself to a lunch at the Palace, and she asks if she can come along. First, however, Adriana persuades Michael to sew up Rex's wound. As Marcie and Adriana stand on the sidelines and taunt Balsom, Michael performs his work. He and Marcie then take off for a well-earned lunch at the Palace, during which they make a brief mention of Hugh. Marcie reminds Michael that she and Hugh are friends, and Michael is obviously jealous. He blurts out the fact that he still loves Marcie, and she is visibly touched. The two join hands across the table.
Rex and Adriana almost kiss in the hospital, but she pulls away, reminding him that she hates him for what sleeping with his employee. Before she leaves, however, she tells him that what happened on New Year's Eve affected her feelings more than anything else in her life. In the alley outside the hospital, she wistfully flashes back to their time in the car. After Adriana leaves the alley, Rex wanders in and fantasizes about kissing her. Will the two of them ever give in to their passion?
At the station, Natalie walks in on Evangeline and John locked in a friendly embrace. She tears into them, accusing John of cozying up to the woman who just attacked her mother on the stand. Evangeline says that she's not putting up with this and removes herself from the scene. Natalie then proceeds to rip into John, asking him how he can be friends with a woman who tried to destroy her mother. John reminds Natalie that Evangeline is just doing her job, and he also points out that not everyone is in a conspiracy against Natalie. She tells John that she is done with him, and he finally unleashes his anger, telling Nat that she can't have it both ways ... either she needs to stop talking to him altogether or quit sticking her nose into his business. When he says that he's always been upfront with her, she reminds him that the whole reason their relationship ended is because he kept Cristian's secret. As she walks away again, John grabs her and pulls her towards him. He tries to remind her of their connection, but Natalie insists that he only wanted to be with her because she needed saving. She says that Evangeline didn't need to be saved, and that's why things didn't work out between them; and now, Natalie claims that she no longer needs to be saved either. She storms out of the station. Is it over for good?
Meanwhile, Evangeline and Cristian bond at the boxing rink. She presents him with a letter of recommendation in hopes that it will help him secure a job. Cris pours out his feelings about his inability to paint, and Evangeline tells him that he is letting the problems in his love life interfere with his art. Cris says that Natalie is the one who made him a good painter, but Van insists that Natalie simply saw what was already in him. She tells Cristian to put his talent back to use, and to use the pain of his love life (and her own) to paint a masterpiece.
Tess completes her part in the paternity test, but is disgusted to learn that it will be a week before she learns who the father is. Antonio takes her back to Llanfair, which she refers to as her own prison. Nash follows them and barges in, determined to tell Tess the truth about what happened to Claudia Restin. Viki protests, but Clint sticks up for Nash and encourages everybody to let him speak his piece. Slowly but surely, Nash tells the story of Claudia Restin in all of its unseemly detail. He admits that he seduced her in order to get her money, and that when her father cut him off from the funds, he dropped Claudia. However, she was in love with him and attempted suicide. Viki, Clint, Antonio, and a horrified Tess listen to the story, as Nash tells them that Claudia subsequently became addicted to pain killers and is in rehab to this day. He then swears that he is not using Tess, and that she is the one who caused him to realize just how much he hurt Claudia. He insists that he is truly in love with Tess and wants a chance to be a father to their baby, if in fact the child is his. Viki, Clint, and Antonio reluctantly leave Tess and Nash alone in the library, and Tess tells him she is sorry as she pulls him into an embrace. Has she forgiven him for his treachery with Claudia Restin?
