Carrie could hear voices, but they seemed far away. Her whole body felt stiff and her head was pounding. She tried to move, but everywhere hurt. Carrie wanted to open her eyes but sleep seemed to pull at her more and more. Finally she gave in.
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Sami didn't know what to do. She hadn't expected Austin to tell her the truth about the annulment. She turned around and ran out of the room.
"I better go explain to her." Austin told Marlena. He left, going after Sami.
Marlena went to sit by Carrie.
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Carrie was walking through the park. She saw a man that looked familiar. He came up to her and asked her for directions. Carrie was scared. She had seen this man before. She had been here before and knew what was going to happen. She tried to escape, but it was to late.
"No, let go. Someone help me. Nooooo!"
Marlena got up. "Carrie, wake up sweet heart." She lightly jostled Carrie so that she would awake from her nightmare.
Carrie opened her eyes and saw Marlena. She was relieved to be out of that nightmare.
"Oh Marlena, I'm so glad you're here." she said as they hugged.
"I'm glad you're awake. Everyone's been so worried about you."
Carrie looked around, realizing she was in a hospital room.
"I was... I was attacked, in the park."
"I know."
"How? No one was around. I was alone. I screamed for help, but then he pushed me to the ground. I don't really remember anything after that."
"Mike found you. He was on his way to get his beeper, and he heard someone scream. He found you unconscious."
Austin walked into the room. He so relieved when he saw that Carrie had woken up. "Carrie, when did you wake up?"
"Just now."
"Austin, where's Sami?" Marlena asked with concern.
"I tried to talk to her, but she said that she wanted to be alone for a while. She told me to come back here and check on Carrie and that we should talk later."
"Why? What happened?" Carrie interrupted.
"Sami overheard Austin and I talking about the annulment. She got upset and ran out. I better go check on her."
Carrie felt bad for Sami. Even though she was almost positive Sami had her memory back, she could be wrong. In that case, Sami would really be hurting right now.
"Austin, maybe you should go with Marlena. I think you need to explain things to her."
"I don't want you to be alone. I can talk to Sami later."
"Austin, Carrie's right. Sami needs to hear this from you. I'll be there to help her, to support her, but you need to tell her the truth."
Austin is frustrated. He knows they are right, but he doesn't want to leave Carrie's side right now. He want to be there for her. "OK. I'll go." He turns to Carrie, "I'll be back as soon as I can, OK?" He leans over and kisses."
"OK."
Austin and Marlena leave to go see Sami.
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Sami was pacing frantically in Austin's apartment. Now what was she going to do? Austin had probably told Carrie about the annulment. He'd told her that their marriage was over, and that he didn't love her.
"I have to do something. I can't lose Austin now, not after everything that I've gone through to keep him." She thought about using Will as a reason they should stay together, but she didn't even know if that would work. "Well, I'll have to try that first, and if it doesn't work I'll have to pay dear sweet Kate a visit."
Just then someone knocks on the door. She opens it to find Lucas. He walks in past Sami.
"What do you want Lucas. This is not the time."
"What? I just came by to see my favorite nephew Will. Where is he?" Lucas says as he looks around. He looks at Sami, she looks really stressed. "What's going on Sami?"
"Well Lucas, everything is going wrong. I'm pretty sure that Austin told Carrie about the annulment last night, and this morning in the hospital room, I walked in on Marlena and Austin talking about it. Austin told me that our marriage is over and that he never loved me."
"Wait wait... slow down Sami. What were you doing in the hospital?"
"I wasn't in the hospital, Carrie was."
"WHAT? Is she OK? What happened?" Lucas was really concerned.
"I don't know the details, but I think she was attacked...mugged or something. I don't know. Mike said she was going to be OK, but when we were there she still hadn't woken up yet."
"Well, I have to go see her now!" Lucas said as he moved towards the door.
"Lucas! Didn't you hear anything I said? I'm about to lose Austin and that means you will lose Carrie, FOREVER!"
"So what do you plan to do about it, huh?"
"Well, first I'm going to try and convince Austin that we should stay together for Will's sake. And if that doesn't work, then I'm going to go to your mother and get her to help me."
"You know she would never help you Sami."
"Have you forgotten that I have dirt on Kate. I can use it against her. If she doesn't help me, then I'll let out all her secrets. She won't let that happen because if they came out, she would lose everything!"
"Sami, why can't you leave my mom out of this?"
"Lucas, do you want Carrie or not?"
"Of course I want Carrie, but..."
"But what? If you want Carrie then you'll have to go along with my plan."
Lucas is very worried by this. He does love Carrie, and wants her more than anything, but he doesn't want to see his mother hurt. Finally, he gives in. "So, what's the big plan?"
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Carrie drifted back to sleep after Austin and Marlena left. She keeps having the same dream, the man is coming after her and she had no where to run. She screams as he pushes her down. She hits the ground, and soon after everything goes blank.
Carrie wakes up. She is sweating.
"Hey, are you OK?" A familiar voice asks her. She turns her head to see Mike standing by her side.
"Mike. Yeah, I'll be fine. How long have you been here?"
"Not that long. Marlena asked me to come in and look after you. She didn't want you to be alone. When I came in, you were asleep. Do you need anything? Are you comfortable?"
"I'm fine."
"How are you feeling?"
"I have a headache, and my back is a little sore."
"We gave you some pain medicine when you came in, but you have a concussion, so it will hurt some."
"Have anything that will make the nightmares go away?" Carrie asked sadly.
"Sometimes talking about it can help."
"What were you doing in the park? I thought you were already at the hospital." Carrie asks, changing the subject.
"I was on my way to see you. I forgot that my beeper was in the pocket of that jacket."
"Yeah, I was bringing it back."
They sat in silence for a moment.
"So when can I go home?" She asked him.
"Probably by tomorrow morning."
"Carrie, Abe wanted to talk to you, to get a description of your attacker. Do you think you can do that?
"Do I have a choice?"
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Sami is about to tell Lucas her plan, but she hears keys in the door. She puts on her most miserable face.
Austin and Marlena walk through the door. They see Sami and Lucas sitting on the couch together.
"Austin," Sami says as she stands up to greet him, "how's Carrie?"
"She woke up before we left. Sami, we need to talk. Lucas, do you mind?"
"Sure. Whatever. I'll see you later." Lucas leaves. He hopes that Sami can convince Austin to stay with her and Will.
"Austin, I don't know what to say. I can't believe that our marriage is over, and that you don't love me. Why Austin, why? Whatever I did, I'll make it better, I promise I will. Austin I love you."
"Sami, you didn't do anything wrong. Sami, I never loved you. We got married because there was a situation with Will, and if we didn't get married we would have lost him. I'm in love with someone else. I never meant to hurt you in any way."
Sami is in tears. "I don't understand. If you didn't love me, then how could you be with me all this time? If you didn't love me you would've told me the truth from the beginning, but you stayed with me. I know you love me Austin."
"Sami, I didn't tell you because I thought it would be best for you. You had amnesia and you couldn't walk. I didn't want to hurt you."
"But you're hurting me now. Austin, can't you see I love you? I would do anything for you."
"Sami, I don't love you. I never loved you, I can never love you. I'm in love with somebody else."
"What about Will? What about our family? What about our house in the country? Will needs both of his parents Austin. He needs you. I need you."
"I will ALWAYS be there for Will, but I can't be with you. I have to live my own life."
"With someone else? Who is she Austin?"
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Abe has just left the room after getting a statement and a description of the suspect from Carrie. Mike is still in the room with her.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought" Carrie tells Mike.
"It'll get easier. It'll take sometime, but eventually you'll be able to put it behind you."
Carrie just nods.
Mike goes and sits near Carrie on the bed. "I know this must be hard. But you will get past it."
"What if he comes back? He has my purse, so he probably knows where I live."
"He just wanted the money. I don't think he'll be coming back."
Tears swell in Carrie's. "You don't know that for sure." She looks at him, she can no longer hold back the fear. "Mike, he could've hurt me so much worse, he could've killed me. I was so scared."
Mike takes Carrie in his arms and holds her as she cries.
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"Austin, the least you can do is tell me who."
"It doesn't matter Sami." Austin stands and goes to the door.
Sami has to try one last time. "Austin, wait. There is something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"You can't possibly know how much this hurts. Our marriage and our family meant so much to me. I just can't believe that its all over. I can't stay here in Salem."
"What do you mean?"
"How am I supposed to just stay here and watch you get married to someone else. I don't think I can handle that Austin. I've thought a lot about this and I think the best thing for me to do is to leave Salem and start a new life somewhere else. Both me and Will."
Austin can't believe what he's hearing. "Sami, Will is my son too."
"I know that Austin, and I know you love him just as much as I do. That's why I think its best for us to leave Salem. "
"Sami. your whole family is here in Salem. Where are you going to go?"
"I was going to stay with Eric in Colorado for a while, just to sort some things out and get my life back together. I need to get over the pain. I know you'll miss Will, but you can visit him anytime you like. I just think that things will be best this way for some time."
"I know you're hurt Sami, but moving away will not solve anything. And taking Will with you? Sami, I'm his father, he needs me! You can't do this."
"Don't you understand that I don't want to do this. I don't want to take Will away from his dad, but I can't stay here either."
Austin feels defeated. "How long will you be gone?"
"I don't know. But we'll be leaving in a few days I thought it would be a good idea if we spent the weekend with Will, just the three of us. We could be a family one last time, just for Will. I think he would really like that."
Austin begins to nod, but remembers that Carrie is in the hospital. She would need him when she got out. 'But I have to spend time with Will. I just hope Carrie understands.'
"I know, how about we take Will to Disneyland. That's probably every kid's dream and since we won't be together anymore, I think this would be a good chance for us to take him, together. "
"OK, when do we leave.?"
"How about tonight? I could call and book us a flight and make hotel reservations." Sami says as she heads over to the phone. She can't believe her plan is working so far.
"What about Carrie? She's still in the hospital."
"Carrie is going to be fine, and anyways she has Mike. He'll take good care of her. I know she would want us to spend this time with Will. You should probably go pack and I'll get everything else ready."
"I hope you understand that this weekend is only for Will."
"Austin, it was my idea. Accepting the fact that you don't love me will be hard, but we have to concentrate on Will right now."
"OK. I have to run an errand before we leave."
"Are you going to see Carrie?"
"Ahhh, yeah. Why?"
"I just think that Carrie needs her rest right now."
"But we should tell her about the trip."
"Tell you what, I'll go see Carrie, explain things to her and say goodbye for the both of us. In fact, I'll leave now." Sami walks out the door before Austin can protest. She's glad everything is working out. Now all she has to do is see Kate, then see Carrie.
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Carrie tries to pull herself together and stop crying. She doesn't want to let go of Mike, because she thinks she'll just fall apart. She feels so safe in his arms, she never wants to leave them, but she pulls herself away and wipes her face.
"Thanks Mike, for being here."
"I'll always be there when you need me." Just then Mike hears his name paged over the hospital intercom. "Let me go see what that is and I'll be right back, OK?"
"Yeah." Carrie watches as Mike leaves the room. She starts to wonder where Austin is. Then she remembers the incident with Sami and figures that he is still trying to explain things to her. She hopes that Mike will come back soon.
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Kate had just put Philip to sleep when Henderson told her that Sami was waiting to see her in the living room.
"What do you want Sami?" Kate asked as she walked in.
"Nice to see you too Kate."
"Sami, I have better things to do with my time than spend it talking to you."
"Well, sorry. I just came to say goodbye before I leave for my trip."
"You're going somewhere? By any chance is it in another hemisphere?"
"Oh Kate, always the funny one. No, actually Austin and I are taking will to Disneyland."
"WHAT?"
"Yep. I convinced him to spend one last weekend with me and Will, as a family. I made up this lie that I was moving away and that this would be a good opportunity for him to spend some time with Will."
"Sami, you are so despicable. It doesn't matter anyway because it'll only be for a couple of days. When Austin comes back, him and Carrie will be free to get married."
"That's why I'm here Kate. In two days, when the vacation is over, you are going to call Austin and tell him there is some important business he needs to tend to, in LA. Since we're already going to be in LA, Austin will have to stay and so will I."
"Why would you have to stay? I thought you were going away."
"Oh, I'll pretend to leave alright, but Austin will be begging me to stay because of Will."
"I will take no part in your schemes to break up Austin and Carrie, so I suggest you leave NOW!"
"Are you forgetting something Kate? Now, if you don't call Austin on Sunday night by 7:00 PM and tell him about this unexpected business, at exactly 7:01 I will make a call of my own, and it will be to the to Salem newspaper and you can be sure that when you wake up in the morning, all your secrets will be out! Now have I made myself clear?"
"Why you deceptive little..."
"Now now Kate, you know name-calling isn't nice. By the way if Carrie asks where Austin is, be sure to tell her that he's taken an extended vacation with his family. Well, I guess I'll be hearing from you soon. Bye Bye." Sami walked out of the room.
Kate is fuming. She knows she's in a tight corner. She has to do what Sami tells her. She just wishes there was a way that Sami could be stopped.
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Sami is standing outside of Kate's door. "That went well. Just one more stop and everything's set." With that, Sami heads for the hospital.
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Carrie has been picking at the food the nurse brought her. She hasn't eaten all day, but she's still not hungry. She hears a knock on the door and looks up to see Mike peeking in. He isn't in his hospital scrubs anymore.
"Are you off for the night?"
"Yeah. Actually I'm off for the whole weekend. I thought I'd come and keep you company for a while. Do you mind?"
"Of course not. Come in, sit down." Carrie feels so much better now that Mike is with her.
"I see you still don't have much of an appetite." Mike says as he points to her tray.
"I'm just not feeling too good that's all. I'll probably be starving in the morning."
They hear a knock on the door and both look up to see Sami come in.
"Hi Mike. Hi Carrie. How are you feeling?"
"Fine Sami."
"That's good, I was so worried when I heard about you. I just wanted to see you before I left."
"Where are you going Sami?"
"Well, Austin and I are taking Will to Disneyland."
"Excuse me?" Carrie couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Well, Austin told me that our marriage was not real and that he didn't love me. He said something about being in love with somebody else, but I don't believe him. I think he's just confused.
Carrie was angry now. "So what does Disneyland have to do with it?"
"We're going there on a family vacation."
"But you're not married to him anymore."
"That doesn't matter. I know Austin loves me. The whole trip was his idea. If he didn't love me, then why would he suggest it?"
"Maybe he wants to spend time with Will."
"Well, yeah, but I think that he loves me and he just doesn't realize it yet. This trip will give us a chance to spend more time together. He'll realize that his life is with his family and that's me and Will. Then we'll get remarried and he'll forget all about that other woman. I just know it."
Carrie could feel another headache coming on. 'I think he already has.' she thought to herself. "So, how long will you be gone?"
"Oh, I don't know. As long as it takes for us to get back together. I love Austin and Will more than anything in the whole world. I can't lose him, and I won't." Sami looks at her watch. "I better get going, Austin will be waiting for me." With that Sami turned and left the room.
Mike could see that Carrie was very upset. How can Austin treat her this way? She deserves to be happy. "Don't let that bring you down Carrie. I'm sure that Sami misunderstood things and that Austin will be back soon."
"I really don't care anymore. This just proves that Austin doesn't care about me anymore. I've lost him for good."
"No you haven't. Austin loves you. He just wants to spend some time with Will. He'll be back and then you'll be together."
"Even if we did get together, I would always be second in his life."
Mike doesn't know what to say to this. "I'm sure everything will be OK. Just try not to worry about things too much. You need to get your rest." Mike stood up.
"Are you leaving already?" Carrie asked. She didn't want to be alone. She'd thought that Austin would come and sit by her, but he wasn't since he would be with Sami and Will.
"Yeah. Its getting late."
"Oh." Carrie was disappointed. She wanted Mike to stay longer. She was still afraid that her attacker would return.
"But, I'll see you in the morning. If everything's fine, they'll discharge you and I'll take you home."
"OK, I'll see you then. Goodnight."
"Goodnight Carrie." Mike left. He'd wanted to stay longer, but thought it would be good for Carrie to get some rest. Even if she didn't admit it, she was real tired. She would be after everything she'd gone through that morning.
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Sami was sitting in the plane with Austin and Will. She was really excited about going on away with her family. She knew if she separated Carrie and Austin for a little longer, they would definitely break up for good. This trip would also give her a another chance to convince Austin to stay with her and Will. 'I just hope that everything works out, because if it does, Austin will be mine for good!'
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