Thursday, October 23, 2008, Episode #5425

Owen reassures Donna.

At Owen's beach house, Donna nervously paces, wondering what's going on with Stephanie and Pam. Worried about Eric being at the house with Pam, Donna wants to go over there, but Owen tells her that she'll have to go through him to head for that house. If anyone can get through to Pam, he assures, it's Stephanie. Donna wonders if mental illness runs in families given what Eric told her about Stephanie and Pam's parents. Owen thinks mental illness can run in families, but he doesn't think it matters here given how dangerous Pam is. Donna admits that she'd rather feel sorry for Pam than hate her, because she always thought that Pam was sort of in love with Eric. As they wait for word from Stephanie, Owen brings Donna some hot chocolate. He suggests Stephanie might not call because she sees Pam's situation as a family matter and wants to keep it on the down low, but Donna doesn't think Eric would allow that. She just wishes that someone would call to tell her that Eric is OK and Pam is taken care of.

Pam freaks when she realizes that Stephanie lied to her.

At the mansion, Pam freaks when she realizes that Stephanie lied to her to lure her here. She refuses to believe that her mother isn't there and tries to bolt up the stairs to find Ann, but Stephanie holds her back and assures her that their mother is not there. Pam laments that Ann was never around when they needed her. Stephanie tells Pam that Ann misses her, but Pam thinks their mom just misses having someone to take care of her. Stephanie apologizes for making Pam play the role of their mother's caretaker. Pam confesses that she wanted Stephanie to have a life of her own, explaining that she wanted to make sure that Stephanie did not get sucked into that whiny, self-centered world. She asks Stephanie if she has ever forgiven her for that, but Stephanie says that there is nothing to forgive. Pam regrets not doing something to stop their father from hurting Stephanie, which is why she promised herself that she'd never stand by and do nothing when someone hurt Stephanie. She's pleased that she kept that promise. Stephanie points out that Pam nearly killed Eric, but Pam says that she just wanted to remind Eric that he's not young anymore. She wanted to scare Eric so he'd see the price of spending hours with that bimbo Donna. "And have I paid it?" Eric asks as he enters the room. Pam tells him that she just wanted to scare him, comparing her actions to what Donna did to Tiny, but Eric reminds her that Tiny's heart gave out - unlike Eric's own heart, which was fine until Pam stopped it.

Stephanie and Eric try to get through to Pam.

Eric asks Pam if he ever treated her badly. Pam sobs that she doesn't know why she's doing these terrible things and asks Stephanie if she was always like this. Stephanie says she wasn't. Pam offers that this happened because she didn't take her meds, but Stephanie thinks something more is going on here. Pam begs Eric not to blame Stephanie, stating that she feels like these sirens go off in her head when Stephanie is threatened because of the way their father treated Stephanie. Stephanie says that their father can't hurt anyone now. Pam understands, but now Stephanie was mistreated by Eric, and she couldn't have that. "How could you walk out on her like that?" Pam asks Eric, who reminds Pam that they used to be friends. Pam recalls how Ann thought Pam would make a better wife for Eric than Stephanie, but Pam always knew that Eric could never love anyone but Stephanie. Stephanie explains that Eric has loved other women, including his falling in love with Donna. Pam doesn't want to hear it, but Stephanie presses the issue and asks about the snake that bit Marcus and Beth Logan's accident. Pam admits she did those things to scare Donna, since she didn't want anyone to have Eric if Stephanie could not. But she never meant to seriously hurt or kill anyone. Stephanie sees that Pam is scared. Pam recalls how she wanted to be a nurse when she was younger, but her father said she was too pretty and her mom wouldn't let her get dirty, so she didn't become anything, and her life became about finding meaning by making Stephanie happy. "I just need you to be my little sister again," Stephanie assures. Pam begs Stephanie to put her away, but Stephanie wants to get her the help she needs. "There is no help for me," sobs Pam, who suddenly cries out in pain and falls unconscious while in her sister's arms.

Ridge frantically tells Brooke to meet him at the hospital.

After Rick falls to the ground, Ridge races down the stairs and out the door to the area outside the building where Rick lies unconscious. Ridge tells a guard to call 911 and kneels down next to Rick, begging him to hang in there. The paramedics arrive and Rick is still unconscious. After Ridge tells them what happened, the paramedics load Rick onto an ambulance. One paramedic thinks Ridge should stay here and wait for the police, but Ridge insists on going with them to the hospital. Ridge then frantically pulls out his cell phone and calls Brooke. He asks her to get Katie or her mother to take care of the kids, since he needs Brooke at the hospital right away. Brooke asks what's wrong. Ridge says that there has been an accident and Rick was involved but does not elaborate.

Bridget is stunned to see her brother wheeled into the E.R.

When Rick arrives at the hospital, Bridget is in the E.R. and is stunned to see that their latest patient is her brother. As Bridget rushes Rick to x-ray, Brooke arrives and asks Ridge what happened. He tells her that Bridget is checking Rick out now. Brooke sees the scratches on Ridge's face and asks if he fought with Rick. Ridge assures her that it was not like what happened in Australia. "Please tell me you didn't have anything to do with this," Brooke pleads. Ridge starts to explain how he arrived at the Sky Lounge to meet Rick, who was bitter over losing Taylor and blamed him for everything. Before Ridge can get the details out, Bridget interrupts with news of Rick's condition. While she's not a radiologist or an orthopedic surgeon, it looks to her like Rick could have easily sustained even worse injuries, so they are lucky that he didn't. She thinks they will know more when Rick is awake. but it seems like the worst things that could have happened didn't. Brooke wants to see Rick, so Bridget leads her to Rick's room. Brooke goes in to see him and waits for Rick's doctors while Ridge watches through the window in the door.

Brooke cries by Rick's bedside.

After Ridge joins Brooke inside the room, Bridget returns and asks why the police left word that they wanted to speak to Rick when he woke up. Brooke is surprised that the police are involved and assumes that somebody must know something. Bridget is hopeful about the fact that Rick did not need surgery, since the doctors thought he might when he was brought in. Brooke asks why Rick isn't awake yet, but Bridget isn't sure. Brooke sits by Rick's bedside and cries for her son, sobbing, "I can't lose a child. I won't."