Episode 132, originally published 26-Feb-2001

Hot Shock-a-lot

Will Carter get the shock of his life when he visits Jordan?
Will Olivia shock us by spending a day without moaning over Neil?
Will Phyllis' arrival at the christening come as a shock to anyone?

Carter and Larry are sitting at a booth in Crimson lights, sipping Nickachinos and listening to the music of the juke box when suddenly the TV goes on, just in time to offer a news announcement. "Hey," Larry says, "they've got one of those smart news thingies like you've got at your apartment that only goes on for important news announcements." "Shhh," Carter says, "I'm trying to hear what they're saying."

On the TV, we see a female newscaster holding her earpiece with one hand and shouting needlessly into the microphone held in her other: "That's right, Chet, here at Genoa city hospital, early reports had placed the number of teenagers and young adults admitted from the rave somewhere in the hundreds, but hospital medics later admitted that clever camera angles and mirrors had confused the count, and they now place the number hospitalized closer to--well,--two." The camera cuts away to a man back in the studio who asks, "Any word on the prognosis of the two?" Cut back to the on-the-scene reporter, who is apparently caught in the aforementioned flurry of camera angles and mirrors. "I'm sorry, Chet, there's just too much going on here. Why don't you check in later?"

"We've got to find out what's going on," Carter says to Larry. "Relax, dude. What we gotta do is just stay cool, know what I mean?" "I just can't do that, Larry. I have to know..." He gets up and rushes out.

At the christening, Jack and Bunny are standing around with some others waiting for it to start when Phyllis enters. Jack excuses himself and slips over to greet her. "Phyllis, I thought we talked about this. I'm here with Bunny." "Yes, of course," Phyllis says with a smile, conspicuously looking Bunny up and down. "But--" Bunny moves to Jack. "Is there a problem?" she asks. Jack nods, embarrassed. "Apparently. You see, Phyllis here apparently thought--" But now Phyllis breaks in. "There's no confusion here, Jack. I came with your brother Billy." Bunny extends her hand. "I'm Bunny Hutchinson." Phyllis sees a waiter passing with an hors d'oeuvre tray and stops him to peruse the selection. As she picks at the tray, which contains mostly vegetables. She mutters, "My, my. Jack Rabbot and Bunny Hutchinson... This event is going to be so, ... how would Malcolm put it, ... hopping! Carrot anyone?" she asks with a giggle, offering one that she has picked up from the serving tray.

At the hospital, Carter bumps into Mark, one of the two hospitalized boys from the rave, but the boy mumbles the magic password "Newman's going to pay" and is allowed to pass. Carter continues to Jordan's room, which is unattended. Jordan lies in a coma, but, feeling a great disturbance in the force, he awakens to see Carter. "You!" he mutters, "it was you." Carter's worst fears are confirmed as Jordan slips back into unconsciousness. Realizing he has to work fast, Carter finds a discarded doctor's shirt on a bed nearby, and puts it on. Then he disables the alarm on Jordan's monitor and starts to disconnect Jordan's life support. Worried then, that the nurses will see the ebbing life signs, he connects Jordan's monitor signals to himself.

At a nearby nurses station, a watchfuul nurse notes the settings on Jordan's monitor dip lower and then suddenly start to climb, Unfortunately, Carter has forgotten to take into account his own racing heartbeat. "Doctor Hastings," the nurse says to Olivia, who just happens to be conveniently passing by, and the points. "Yes, it looks like he's coming around," Olivia comments.

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Back in Jordan's room, Carter is standing patiently, waiting for Jordan to die when a bunch of nurses and doctors rush in. Olivia peels back an eyelid and shines a light in it. "He's unconscious again?" she asks, confused. "But the monitors said he was regaining consciousness." She looks at Carter, who shrugs sheepishly, trying to hide all the monitor connections to his chest under his shirt. Olivia feels his chest. "This man is not breathing," she screams. "Code blue!" Someone passes her a set of electrical zappers and she yells "Clear!" Everyone steps back, but there is nothing Carter can do about the fact that there are all kind of wires still running from Jordan to the machines and from the machines to him. He tries to stay out of sight. "Bzzzzzt!" comes the noise, and we see Carter's body contort upward and then fall limply all over the back of one of the nurses. Apparently the nurse is used to this and says simply, "Doctor, please, not now..." as she brushes Carter off and his body falls with a thud to the ground. "No response," says Olivia, oblivious to Carter's problem. "Clear!" she calls again. Everyone jerks back. "Bzzzt!" Carter's body twists in further agony as the electricity flows through him. "No, no, no, I won't let you die!" Olivia says. She twists a knob to a higher voltage and gives Jordan one more good long "Bzzzzzzzzzzt!" Carter, who had been writhing quietly, stiffens again and the last of his wire connections falls free of his body, eliminating all evidence of how he got this way. Another doctor puts his hand on Olivia' shoulder and says "You did all you could, Olivia." She reluctantly sets the zappers down and walks quietly away, presumably in the direction of the hospital chapel to pray for understanding. No one notices Carter's lifeless body against the wall as they file out.

At Crimson Lights, Nick and Sharon are sitting at a table watching over their restaurant. "Wow, that was some vacation we went on," Sharon says, the dreaminess of it all not having worn off. "Only," Nick says, "there's something I don't get." "What's that?" she asks. "Well, I guess it's just that it didn't seem that much more romantic than the rest of our existence. The way everone talks about it, these places are supposed to really enhance your sex life." Sharon thinks for a moment. "Well, maybe it would have been different if we'd gone outside." "But then we couldn't have been in bed 24 hours a day," Nick says, trying to sound thoughtful. "Wouldn't that mean it would be LESS romantic? I specifically remember the travel agent promising me we'd have twice as much sex as normal on this trip. How is leaving the bed going to bring me more sex?" "Well," Sharon observes, "we already make love 24 hours a day anyway--when we're not at the coffee house sipping Nickachinos, I mean. Maybe other people aren't like that. Maybe, somehow, going outside and looking at flowers or sun makes them want to, well, you know..." "Good point," Nick says. Then he gets a smile. "Say, all this talk of making love gives me an idea..." Sharon feigns surprise. "Why Nicholas Newman, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "I sure am! Let's get these Nickachinos wrapped up and head over to the ranch to relive our--" Just then, three policemen step up to the table. "Nick Newman?" one of them asks ominously.

"Who's asking?" Nick says defiantly. Sharon points to the uniform. "Nick, they're police, honey," she observes helpfully. "Oh, right," he says. "So what do you want?" he asks. "Would you come with us, please?" the officer asks. "Where?" he asks. "Downtown. We'd like to talk to you--about the Rave." "Really?" Nick says. "That's great because I was wondering about that myself. I'd be glad to go with you and maybe we could finally get some answers around here." Sharon looks concerned. "Nick, honey, I think they mean they want to question you. Officers, he's going to need a lawyer. I'll call my mom and we'll meet you back here." "Your mom's a lawyer?" the policeman asks. "Yes, sir. Doris Collins--of Collins & Sons?" she says in a tone that plainly suggests he should know of the reknowned law firm. "Oh, right," the policeman says, acknowledging the extensive legal career that presumably keeps Doris from ever seeing her daughter these days, or vice versa. "Ok, that's fine. Get your mom and bring her back here. But hurry. Bein' a cop isn't all donuts and coffee you know..."

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In the car on the way back to Crimson Lights, Sharon is driving Doris as traffic keep stopping them from making timely progress. "Come on, hurry up!" Sharon whines impatiently. "Now, girl, you just have to relax," Doris urges. "We're not going to be of any good to that man of yours if we're in a traffic accident," she advises her daughter. Sharon tries to relax. "Well, ok but--" At just that moment, the car radio, equipped with a special device to allow it to come to life for important news reports, sparks into life. "This is a special news report. It has just been learned that the hundreds of, oh, sorry, that the two individuals rushed to Genoa City Memorial hospital after falling ill at a rave are believed NOT, I repeat NOT, to have been victims of the dreaded drug X, or Ecstacy." The radio then goes silent again. "Wow, that's a relief," Sharon says, relaxing her grip on the wheel slightly as she presses on toward the police station.

Back at Crimson lights, Trisha stands up and dings a glass. "Everyone," she says, "You've probably all heard about the death of Jordan. What you may not know is that Carter Mills, a man who was very important to me, died today also, while visiting Jordan at Genoa City Memorial. He was such a sensitive man--I guess he just coul'n't stand the grief. Anyway, I was thinking that maybe we could all just take a moment of silence." At a table across the room, Larry Warton just buries his face in his hands. He can feel the noose tightening around him. "Aw, that's so sweet," Trisha says, moving to Larry. "Many of you may also not have known that this man," she points to Larry, "was one of Carter's closest friends and business associates. And look, he's crying, too." She stoops to rub his forehead, "Larry I never realized you had such a sensitive side either." Then she stands back up and says, "Anyway, I was thinking, maybe we could have, like, a minute of silence for Carter and Jordan... and for Larry, who they left behind." Larry just shakes his head, ...

The silence is interrupted only by Doris entering and wheeling up to the table where the police are waiting to question Nick. "I assume you won't be filing charges against my client after all," she says. "What gives you that impression?" he asks. "I heard on the radio that drugs were not implicated after all." "That's true," said the officer. "But that only improves our case." "Improves it?" "Yes, it turns out that what these people took was coffee pellets." "Coffee pellets?" "That's right. Of a kind called "Extra Special" that we can trace easily to Crimson Lights. Moreover, these were laced with all kinds of mold and bacteria." "We don't sell a lot of that," Nick says helpfully to Doris, "it had probably been sitting on the shelf for a long time."

The camera draws back to another table where Larry is sitting, overhearing all of this. "Well, well, well," he says. "So Carter botched the coffee switch. Figures. Send a boy to do a man's work. But... I wonder where the drugs went."

At the table with the police again, Doris goes on, "So you're charging my client with what again?" "Crimina--crimi--negl---Say, this is really good coffee. Do you think I could have something to drink with it? I'm very thirsty and my cup is already empty." "Uh, about those charges," Doris interjects. "Charges?" the officer says with a grin. The officers all laugh. Sharon looks to Cody. "Another round of the Extra Special for these nice officers, Cody. ... and while you're at it, why don't you pack up the rest of the bag so they can take it with them."

That's all for this episode. Hope you learned something. Don't miss Episode 133!
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