Monday, December 15, 2008, Episode #5460

Rick seeks comfort from his sister, the doctor.

Rick drops by the hospital to see Bridget, who tells him how sorry she is about what happened to Phoebe. When Rick beats himself up for not being able to control the car, Bridget tells him that there's nothing he could have done. Rick tells her that Taylor doesn't see it that way. Bridget asks him if Taylor blames him, since it looks to her like this is no one's fault. Rick explains that Taylor blames herself and tells his sister about how Taylor asked him what happened in the car when he saw her earlier. He fears that Taylor feels like this all happened because she got involved with Phoebe's first love. Bridget advises him to let go of this guilt, but Rick bemoans that he took Phoebe away from the family and friends who loved her. "What kind of a person does that?" he asks. Bridget tells him that he's not a bad person. Even if that's true, Rick states, he's a person who did some bad things, and he feels like he lost himself in the process to the point where he doesn't even recognize himself anymore. Admitting how ashamed he is of his actions, he vows to change his ways to earn back the love and the respect of his family.

Bridget cries as she views Phoebe's body.

After Rick leaves, Bridget goes down the the morgue to see Phoebe's body. The attendant tells her that the body is about to be sent to the funeral home to prepare for the memorial service, but Bridget asks if she can see the body first. Since Bridget is family, the attendant lets her see the body and gives her a moment alone with Phoebe. Grabbing Phoebe's lifeless hand, Bridget starts to cry. "Rick never meant for this to happen," she sobs as she holds Phoebe's hand.

Steffy tells Taylor not to blame herself.

At her Bel Air home, Taylor remembers Phoebe walking in on her and Rick in bed. Steffy brings Taylor some tea and they talk about how much they both miss Phoebe. Taylor weeps that this is all her fault. Steffy hugs her mom and says that's not true, but Taylor regrets that she ever got involved with Phoebe's boyfriend. Steffy reminds her that Phoebe and Rick were already broken up at the time, but Taylor doesn't think that's an excuse. Trying to comfort her mother, Steffy tells her that she's only human, but Taylor points out that she's also a psychiatrist and should have known better. Steffy tells her to stop. She knows they all have things that they wish they'd done differently, but she feels that there's only one person who's to blame for this, and that's Rick.

Brooke defends Rick's actions to Stephanie.

At Brooke's, Stephanie tells Ridge to make Rick pay for killing Phoebe, but Brooke urges Ridge to accept that this was just a horrible accident. Stephanie tells Ridge that his daughter is dead because of Rick and urges him not to let his daughter's death be in vain. Brooke tells Stephanie to stop saying that, but Stephanie feels like Rick's anger at his mother has taken him down a destructive path for months where he's tried to take everything away from Ridge, including Ridge's child. Ridge asks Brooke why she didn't tell him about what Rick did. Brooke says that she was about to tell him, but Ridge points out that Rick has done some terrible things. Brooke agrees that Rick made some terrible mistakes, but she's sure that he never wanted to hurt Phoebe. She thinks Phoebe just couldn't accept Rick's involvement with Taylor. Stephanie insists that Taylor is not to blame and lays all the blame on Rick, but Brooke counters that Rick will have to live with this for the rest of his life and thinks that Rick has been punished enough, but Stephanie refuses to feel sorry for Rick after he made their lives hell. Before Ridge can say anything, he gets a call from Steffy, who tells him, "Mom needs you." Ridge says that he'll be right there.

Taylor tells Ridge that she's to blame for what happened to Phoebe.

Steffy tells her mom not to feel guilty, but Taylor insists, "I failed her" and keeps blaming herself. When Ridge arrives, Steffy runs to him and gives him a hug. Ridge asks for some time alone with Taylor, so Steffy makes herself scarce. Ridge asks Taylor how she's coping, but Taylor says she isn't. She tells Ridge that she keeps trying to make sense out of this, but she can't find a reason, even after she talked to Rick earlier about what happened in the car. Thinking that Rick tried to blame Phoebe, Ridge seethes that he won't let "that bastard" lay the blame on Phoebe for her own death, but Taylor tells him that she thinks she was the reason Phoebe was angry and got in the car with Rick. Ridge insists that Rick was to blame and asks Taylor not to go there, but Taylor doesn't think it matters, since nothing can bring Phoebe back now that she's gone.

Ridge reassures Taylor and comforts her.

Ridge agrees that nothing can fix this and again tells Taylor that he is sorry. He admits he made a mistake getting the kids' hopes up that he and Taylor would reunite. He recalls that Phoebe especially wanted to see her parents back together and then asks why he would even consider throwing such a lavish party celebrating his engagement when he knew how upset his kids would be about it. Taylor tells him not to do this, but Ridge insists that Phoebe would still be here if he hadn't thrown this huge party and showed it down everyone's throats. He wanted everyone to be excited for him and Brooke, and now the kids are dead because of it. Taylor tells Ridge again to stop, because this won't bring Phoebe back. Ridge again tells Taylor that what happened wasn't her fault. She was the one who Phoebe always depended on, like when Phoebe came running to her after losing her wallet while on tour. He recalls how Phoebe always listened to her mom and idolized her, loving Taylor with all her heart, and he knew Taylor always loved Phoebe back with the same intensity. Taylor agrees, recalling that Phoebe's last words to her were "bye, mom" and "I love you." Ridge advises Taylor to hang onto those feelings in her heart, since that's where Phoebe is, and he draws her into a comforting embrace.

Stephanie gives Brooke a warning to pass on to Rick.

Back at Brooke's, she and Stephanie continue their argument about Rick. Stephanie scoffs at Brooke's trying to blame Taylor for what happened, saying that Rick's actions by making advances on Steffy shown how like his mother Rick is. She can't believe that Brooke would stand here and defend Rick to a man who just lost his daughter. Brooke insists that Rick is innocent, but Stephanie disagrees and argues that this tragedy could have been avoided had Brooke been a better mother to her son while he was growing up. Brooke asks Stephanie how she can act like this family's "moral compass" after all the unspeakable things she did to protect her children. She vows not to let Stephanie convince everybody that Rick is guilty of a crime. She suggests that Stephanie try to help the family heal as its matriarch rather than stir up trouble, but Stephanie says that they can only heal when Phoebe gets the justice she deserves. She instructs Brooke to turn her son into the police if she wants to do right by Ridge, but Brooke fires back that it's not going to happen unless someone pushes for it. She knows Ridge won't do it and she hopes Taylor won't, either, but Stephanie points out that she can press charges as Phoebe's grandmother. She orders Brooke to tell Rick to resign from Forrester, effective immediately, and to stay away from Thomas, Steffy, Taylor or Ridge. Most importantly, she tells Brooke to make sure that Rick stays away from Phoebe's funeral. Brooke contends that Rick will want to pay his respects, but Stephanie warns that she will call the police and have Rick arrested if he shows up.