Krystal woke up to David playing the piano. She smiled as she listened, but suddenly panicked when she remembered that the house was in disarray due to the fire. David urged her to relax, so she did not have another anxiety attack. He then offered to drive her home.
David brought Krystal to her house and she was shocked to see that all of the damage to her home was repaired. David slyly smiled as he thanked a handyman and paid him. Krystal inquired how David accomplished the renovation. He explained that one of his patients was a contractor. The contractor owed David a favor, since he saved his life. David called in the favor to make sure that Krystal's home was repaired before the children returned home. She was very impressed with his kindness. He joked that the Grinch was reborn. She proceeded to apologize to him for her outburst. She stated that her tantrum almost burnt down the house and killed her. She was grateful that David saved her life. He was glad to help, especially since Tad was not there. She admitted that she missed her husband during her time of grief. David said that he understood Krystal's pain, and vowed to support her.
Colby and Pete brought Kathy and Jenny home. Colby and Pete were surprised to see Krystal and David looking cozy together. Colby asked where the tree was and David said that Santa took it, so he could give it to a family that needed it more. Colby and Pete were suspicious. Pete questioned David further about the tree. David assumed that Palmer told Pete terrible stories about him. David urged Pete not to pass judgment on him until they got to know each other better. Pete agreed. Pete then commented that he liked Colby, but she did not feel the same way. David warned Pete that getting involved with the Chandlers could ruin his life.
David told Krystal that he was leaving, so she could spend time with her family. He proceeded to slip her a bag of pills. After David left, Colby asked Krystal why she was spending time with David. Krystal stated that David was a changed man.
Pete asked Colby if she would be his date on New Year's Eve and she rejected the offer. Pete pointed out that he was wearing a cool new outfit and contacts, instead of glasses. Pete's fashion overhaul did not make a difference to Colby. She affirmed that they were just friends, which hurt his feelings. He declared that he was going to find another girl to be his date.
Krystal called Winifred and asked if she would watch Kathy and Jenny. Then, Krystal went to David's house. She announced that she did not need pills because he was what she truly needed. They kissed.
Jesse arrived at the asylum to question Dr. Sinclair about Annie's escape. Jesse could not comprehend how Annie escaped a high-security facility. Dr. Sinclair explained that Annie knocked her unconscious and then stole her clothes. She hoped that Annie was still on the facility's grounds. Jesse wanted to question everyone involved, so Dr. Sinclair brought Jesse to see Aidan. Aidan covered his head and refused to speak with Jesse. Just then, Jesse was told that a 9-1-1 call was placed about Annie.
After Jesse left, Dr. Sinclair asked Aidan why he did not want Jesse to see him. Aidan stated that he was on a mission and Jesse was the enemy. He proceeded to kiss Dr. Sinclair. She was taken aback and had the orderlies restrain him.
Annie was sleeping in Emma's bed as Ryan and Greenlee entered the penthouse. Ryan told Greenlee that he wanted to make her, Emma, and Spike happy for the rest of their lives. He picked her up in his arms and yelled that he wanted everyone to know how much he loved her. Annie heard the commotion and went to see what was happening.
Ryan and Greenlee were shocked when they saw Annie in the living room. Ryan asked how she got out of the hospital. Annie insisted that she was Emma and screamed for the "bad woman" to leave her house. Greenlee looked nervous and grabbed her phone to call the police. Annie saw Greenlee with the phone and demanded that she unhand it. Ryan tried to calm Annie down by talking to her as if she were Emma. Annie asked where her mother was. Ryan said that her mother was in the hospital and he suggested that they go to the hospital to bring her a Christmas present. Just as Annie agreed to go with Ryan to the hospital, Opal brought Emma home. Emma was very excited to see Annie and gave her a big hug. Emma divulged that she prayed everyday for her mother to come home on Christmas. Annie gave Emma a strange look and said nothing. Opal, in an attempt to get Emma out of the penthouse, offered to buy the girl a hot fudge sundae. Emma was resistant, but eventually agreed to leave. Before they left, Greenlee told Opal to call the police.
Annie looked into a mirror and realized that she was Annie, not Emma. Annie grabbed a knife and lunged towards Greenlee. Annie chastised Greenlee for ruining her marriage and her life. Ryan tried to wrestle Annie for the knife, but she pushed him and he hit his head. Greenlee told Annie that she ruined her own life. Then, Greenlee noticed that Ryan gained consciousness. Greenlee taunted Annie. Just as Annie tried to stab Greenlee, Ryan seized her. The police arrived and took Annie away.
Ryan asked Greenlee how she was feeling. She was distressed because she assumed that Annie would never stop trying to kill her.
Annie was brought back to the asylum. Dr. Sinclair ordered Annie to be strapped to her bed. Annie cried as she was restrained.
Amanda, JR, and Little Adam returned to the mansion. Adam was glad to see his son and grandson, but not Amanda. He wondered why she was with his family. JR stated that Amanda brightened their holiday. Adam asked why they came home a day early, so JR claimed that they missed their home. Adam pulled Amanda aside and asked if JR was drinking. She was surprised that Adam could tell. Adam said he always knew when his son fell off the wagon. He wondered if Amanda was the reason JR started drinking again. JR overheard Adam's interrogation and told his father to give Amanda a break. JR affirmed that Amanda was a changed person, but Adam was not convinced.
Amanda met David. She showed him a video on her cell phone of JR drunk. David was pleased and handed her a check. She said that she was done helping him ruin JR because she felt guilty. He told her not to feel remorse, since she got what she wanted-a lot of money.
Amanda went to see JR. She told him that they could no longer spend time together. He assumed it was because he was drinking again. She said it was because she was no good for him. After she left, he stared at a bottle of liquor.
Colby told Adam and JR that she saw Krystal and David together. Colby said that Krystal was acting like Tad did not exist. Adam and JR were concerned.
Brot packed headphones, water, and snacks in Taylor's knapsack. Taylor was touched that Brot remembered her favorite snack food. She started to talk about their time together in Iraq, but Brot interrupted and said they should leave. Taylor asked Brot why he always pulled away every time they seemed to get close. Brot said it was important for Taylor to make her physical therapy appointment.
Joe told Jake that Tad, along with Jamie and Jeff, was now missing, too. Joe said he had recently learned of a rebel uprising near the village where Jamie and Jeff were staying. Jake said he should have gone to find Jamie and Jeff so Tad could stay at home with his wife and children.
Krystal told David she made a mistake coming to see him. But David claimed Krystal practically saved his life after Babe died. Krystal admitted that David somehow rescued her, too, while she was grieving Babe. David leaned in to kiss Krystal. This time, she did not push him away. Krystal and David made love. Afterwards, Krystal got a call from Joe. Joe asked Krystal to come to the hospital to discuss something important. Krystal thought Joe knew that she spent the night with David. David said no one needed to know what happened between them.
Amanda ran into JR at the hospital before the Babe Chandler wing dedication. JR asked Amanda why she was avoiding his phone calls. Amanda said JR was better off without her as a friend. JR thought he should get to choose who his friends were. Amanda said bad things always happened to JR when she was around. JR told Amanda not to beat herself up for letting him drink on his first holiday without Babe. Amanda said she should have looked after JR more carefully out of respect for Babe. As Amanda rushed off, Jake came out of the elevator. Jake told JR that Tad was missing. JR said Tad needed to get back so he could straighten David out.
Erica was getting on a planning frenzy with Bianca and Reese's wedding. Bianca told Reese she loved her mother, but was not sure how to handle Erica's ideas. Reese suggested they elope in Connecticut. Bianca was tempted to take Reese's offer, but did not want people to think they were ashamed of their love. Reese and Bianca agreed to have a small wedding with only close family and friends. Zach came by and offered Reese and Bianca the casino to use for the ceremony. Bianca and Reese offered to spend New Year's Eve with Zach at the casino. Zach took them up on the offer.
Ryan assured Greenlee that Annie was locked up at Oak Haven. Greenlee said Annie would always be a part of their life because she was Emma's mother. Ryan said Annie was too sick to be Emma's mother any time soon. He hoped the therapists would be able to give Annie the help she needed. Ryan and Greenlee agreed to stop dwelling on the past as their New Year's resolutions. Greenlee went to see Kendall for a bit before starting her New Year's Eve celebration with Ryan. Emma came into the room looking for Greenlee. Ryan explained that Greenlee went to visit Spike's mom, Kendall. Emma asked if Greenlee was her new mommy. Ryan said Annie would always be Emma's mother, but she was just too sick to be at home with them. Emma said she did not mind if Greenlee spent more time with them because it always made Ryan happy.
Greenlee saw Reese and Bianca at the hospital. Greenlee asked if the couple had set a wedding date. Reese said no date had been set, but she was eager to marry Bianca. Greenlee returned home to find Ryan waiting for her.
Taylor saw Jake being short-tempered with a nurse in the hospital. Jake said the disappearance of his two brothers and a nephew was driving him crazy. Jake asked how Taylor was holding up. She suspected Brot was only sticking around Pine Valley because he felt obligated to help her. She thought Brot would skip town once she could walk again.
Brot paid Zach a visit at the casino to thank him for his help. Zach said he knew what it was like to want to be someone else. He told Brot about his attempt to make people believe he died. Zach said he wanted Brot to be free and clear, like he secretly wished for so long ago. Brot found Taylor back at her home. Taylor doubted her abilities to walk without the walker. Brot asked Taylor to walk to him without the walker. A few steps later, she walked to Brot and fell in his arms. Brot put Taylor on the couch and called it a night.
David and Krystal arrived at the hospital for the wing dedication. Joe pulled Krystal aside to tell her about Tad's disappearance. Krystal began hyperventilating and Joe called for a nurse. David tried to help Krystal, but she told him to leave her alone. Krystal finally calmed down after inhaling oxygen. Joe told Krystal to go home, but she wanted to stay for the wing dedication. Joe said David was only using Babe's memory as an excuse to make himself look like a hero. After a short speech, David unveiled the new sign for the wing. Before guests could toast David's honor, Jake announced that David had blackmailed Joe in order to become chief of staff. David said it was Joe's choice to step down and focus on his family, particularly Jake's reckless habits. David said he was firing Jake, effective immediately.
Due to the New Year's Eve holiday, today's ABC Daytime lineup featured encore presentations of some recent memorable episodes.
All My Children featured an episode from its blockbuster tornado storyline. The episode, which originally aired October 22, 2008, featured a second wave of tornados, one of which struck Pine Valley Hospital while Kendall was undergoing surgery.
There will be no new programming on Thursday, January 1. Regular programming will resume on January 2, and there will be no "lost" episodes as a result of the holiday schedule.
Due to the New Year's holiday, today's episodes of your favorite ABC Daytime soaps -- All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital -- were not shown.
Regular programming will resume on January 2, 2009, and there will be no "lost" episodes as a result of the holiday pre-emption.
On behalf of everyone involved in Soap Central, I'd like to wish you a peaceful and prosperous 2009. Thank you so much for your continued loyalty to the site and we look forward to providing you with even better soap opera coverage in the year ahead.
Reese and Zach toasted in the new year and after she complained that the only thing she missed was having Bianca there to give her a kiss, Zach planted a warm and intimate smooch on her cheek. Reese was immediately nervous and asked if Zach thought that the encounter was weird, and he told her that they both knew what was going on between them. Although Reese looked uncomfortable, her nerves were eased when he told her that because the three of them shared a child, they became close very quickly. He assured her that things would even out soon, and they shook hands to seal that promise.
Bianca was shocked when Reese's ex-fiancé not only showed up at her doorstep without warning, but also knew who she was and that she had plans to marry Reese. Then realizing how inappropriate his arrival had been, he introduced himself as Simon and told her that he'd found out the news from Reese's father. He then noted his assumption that she was Bianca based on the fact that she wore an engagement ring. Bianca apologized when she realized that he was still standing in the cold, and invited him in. As she poured him a glass of brandy, he started to fill her in on who he was and the kind of life he'd envisioned after he and Reese got married.
By the light of the flames that roared in the fireplace, Ryan got down on one knee and asked Greenlee to marry him. In that moment, she flashed back to her horrifying dream of being dead in the bathtub, and felt compelled to reject his offer. He begged her to explain, so she told him about the dream and said that it was a sign that marriage would be the end of them. Ryan realized that Annie was the cause of all of her fears and promised her that he would do whatever he needed to do as long as he needed to, until she believed that they could rebuild the family they were always meant to have.
Aidan peered into Annie's room as she confessed to the doctor that she was sad she hurt her "daddy" after she broke out of the facility, but that it was more important to get rid of the "mean lady." When the doctor asked her to explain, Annie told her that Greenlee needed to be dead. After seeing the doctor exchange odd looks with her assistant, Annie got upset and tried to demand that she be released from her restraints. With another look, the assistant pulled out a syringe, which caused Annie to cry out that she didn't need another shot. Her efforts were in vain and she was soon consumed by the drug's calming effects. Aidan saw that the two medical personnel planned to take their leave of the room and quickly sat on the floor and assumed his mentally affected personality. Although they initially worried about him being out of his room, the assistant relayed the information that the psychologist had lifted the lockdown of Aidan in his room. When they walked away, he broke into Annie's room again and, after her realized that she had been drugged, he affected his patient personality again and spotted the red light of the camera as it recorded through the slats of the vent.
A short time later, Aidan met up with the psychologist and was chastised for the suspicious actions he displayed around the rest of the staff. Aidan took it in stride and then questioned the doctor about the video camera in Annie's room. The doctor was unaware of it and rightfully frustrated, but his expression of it was interrupted when an orderly came by. They went their separate ways, and Aidan saw Annie's doctor in the hallway he chose. He quickly retreated and saw her secretively access a locked door.
Simon went on to answer all of Bianca's questions about how he and Reese met, got to know each other, and fell in love. He confessed that he felt blindsided when Reese disappeared and said that he was more than surprised when her mother told him that the wedding was off. Bianca stated the obvious when she noted that his heart had to have been broken, but he told her that what hurt worse was that Reese had hidden her true feelings from him for so long. Before they could continue, the phone rang and Bianca shakily answered the call. Reese was on the other end, and she told Bianca that if she hurried, they could reenact what they should have done at midnight. Bianca told Reese somewhat harshly that she was a bit busy, since Simon had stopped by for a visit.
Aidan waited until the doctor exited the storage room before he broke in to find out what she had been up to. He searched the shelves until he found her hidden laptop. Meanwhile, Ryan ran into the doctor upstairs and said that he wanted to make sure that Annie would not be able to escape again. She assured him that permission had been granted to move Annie to their maximum-security area and told him that if he wanted to see her one final time, he could. Ryan chose to simply look at her through the window in the door, just as Aidan saw the same view, via the video camera in the vent of Annie's room.
Aidan got to the upstairs hallway just as a few of the staff were taking Annie to her new room. The doctor offered him a chance to say goodbye but Aidan continued to act as though he was not quite in touch with reality, so they continued on their way and rolled Annie to an area behind secured doors.
Greenlee stopped by Opal's place unannounced and said that she wanted to check on Emma. Opal confirmed that the little girl was doing fine, despite Annie's breakout from Oak Haven. Greenlee then revealed that Ryan had proposed to her, but that she had to turn him down because of all the bad omens she'd experienced. Opal told her that she'd been hesitant to do tarot readings ever since she was correct about the tornado, but said that she was willing to make an exception. Greenlee gave in and said that she had nothing else to lose. Opal had her pick a few cards and was pleased to tell her that it seemed her relationship with Ryan truly was her destiny and that their path was clear of roadblocks. More than pleased, Greenlee raced home and told Ryan that she wasn't afraid anymore.
Greenlee told Ryan to ask his question again, but when he did, she just laughed. He begged her not to string him along, so she decided to be nice and told him that she would love nothing more than to be his wife. Across town, Opal discovered that a few cards had fallen to the floor. She tried to dismiss it, but when she picked up the cup that Greenlee had been drinking from, the tea leaves delivered an ominous feeling, and Opal cried out softly to the young woman.
Just as Zach tried to calm Reese down from her panic attack, Bianca walked into the casino with Simon right behind her. Bianca and Zach stepped away to give Reese and Simon a moment to talk. Reese assumed that her mother had sent Simon to save her, but he corrected her and said that he'd come on his own to make sure that she was happy. She assured him that she was, and that he could go. Across the room, Zach asked Bianca why she had brought Simon with her, and she said that she had to see him with Reese to determine that what had happened to Simon would not happen to her.
Reese apologized to Simon for the way that things ended, and told him that she hadn't understood what was happening at the time, and couldn't fathom how to explain that to him or her family. For that reason only, she ran away from everyone and remained confused until she met Bianca. She confessed that when she did, everything made sense, and she no longer felt like she was trying to pretend to be someone she wasn't.
At the same time, Zach assured Bianca that what happened with Simon wouldn't happen again because Reese became who she was truly meant to be when she met Bianca. Bianca wasn't so sure, but Zach told her that he wouldn't have helped them have a child if he didn't believe that. Bianca told him that she was still worried about all of the secrets Reese probably still had, and Zach told her that if she thought that love meant complete honesty, she still had a lot to learn. He went on and said that if every thought, dream, hope, fear, or fantasy was revealed, the person you chose to share your life with would never look at you the same way again. He then said that she needed to be content with knowing that Reese loved her.
Simon confessed that he had shared parts of their past with Bianca, much to Reese's chagrin. She told him that she planned to live the rest of her life with Bianca and didn't want anyone to get in the way. He replied that he came to visit to make sure that she was happy, but she countered that he wanted to see if she was just as sad as he had been. He agreed to as much, and said that he just needed to hear from her that they were over. He told her that he hoped for Bianca's sake that she was sure of who she was and what she wanted. He walked out, and Reese approached the part of the room where Zach and Bianca had been talking.
Zach offered to vacate the premises and relieve Rachael of her babysitting duties, and said that the ladies could stay as long as they needed. Once he was gone, Bianca told Reese that despite what Simon had shared, what she really needed was to feel like she was completely part of Reese's life. This caused tears to well up in Reese's eyes as the young woman finally confessed her biggest secret - a fear that Bianca would leave her because she didn't feel she was truly the one for Reese. Bianca cried as well, and promised Reese that she trusted her and couldn't ever live without her.
The doctor returned to the secure room in the basement and retrieved a flash drive from the laptop, and then quickly left after she locked the door behind her. Aidan was not far from her shadow and watched her every move.
