DAYS #131: Sheryl's transformation, Laura & JJ contemplate Liam's $50,000 offer (08/18/14)

EPISODE 131

Written by A. Washington-Beeby
Story Consultants: C. Nathaniel Richardson & Nick Monarco

Sheryl, standing in her motel room at the edge of town,  hears the beeping sound of Jordan refusing her call, and hangs up the motel room's landline phone, frustrated.

SHERYL: Dammit. Jordan, none of us are safe as long as you're in Salem.

Sheryl turns toward the bathroom door, where she's placed the supplies Jerome's given her. Sheryl looks on at the box of bleach, and of hair dye, makeup, among other supplies. She looks on, steely-eyed.

SHERYL: But I'm gonna make damn sure you do. And make Billie Reed pay for what she's done to us.

---


Jordan sits at her desk at University Hospital, contemplating accepting the call from an unknown number that's currently coming in on her cell phone. As the phone buzzes on her desk, she stares it down, frozen still.

Jordan remembers back to her conversation moments before with Nick:

***

FLASHBACK TO EPISODE 130


Jordan tries hard to ignore Nick, turning back to her computer work, but Nick leans in and stares almost without blinking at her. His intense gaze makes Jordan extremely nervous.

NICK: Alright, I'll get right to the point. You know your little virus? I was the one who stopped it from going through last night. And the folks at Titan know that Sheryl's the one that was trying to put it there.

Jordan turns to look at Nick, contempt in her eyes as she tries to hold her emotions in.

JORDAN: And just how do they know that?

Nick smiles evilly, never moving his gaze, making Jordan even less comfortable.

NICK: I told them. See, I've been monitoring every little thing that's been going on in that building for months now. And I have the evidence to back up everything I claim. So Sheryl's probably on her way out of town as we speak. 

Nick lets out a little chuckle to himself before continuing, standing up to sit down on Jordan's desk, leaning in even closer to her, never once breaking their gaze.

NICK: At least she better be. 

Jordan sighs, worrying about her own fate now that Nick knows their connection. Nick puts his hand up to Jordan's chin, and casually caresses it, causing Jordan to flinch.

NICK: But don't worry. If you keep your nose out of where it doesn't belong...I'll let you keep your life here with your little boyfriend, the cop. Just remember...I know who you are. So stay out of my way. 

***

Jordan snaps back to reality, realizing the gravity of the situation and how it could so easily impact her. She down at her phone, still ringing, and quickly dismisses the call, sending it to voicemail.

JORDAN: Sorry, Sheryl. From now on, you're on your own.

---

Outside Jordan's office at the hospital, Nick struggles to steady himself as he rifles through his bag to grab his bottle of pills, hoping to stop his throbbing headache.


Turning the corner after exiting Victor's hospital room, Maggie spies Nick, in visible distress. She walks quickly over to him to see if he's okay.

MAGGIE: Nick? Nick?? Are you okay?

Nick doesn't respond to Maggie's worried call, instead popping a pill and stumbling quickly over to the water fountain. After taking a sip, Nick quickly lifts his head up, before stumbling again, causing Maggie to panic, and grab Nick to catch his fall.

MAGGIE: Nick!! Somebody help!

---

---


Nick wakes up to see Maggie and Daniel standing over him as he lies in a hospital bed. Stunned, Nick looks around, barely moving.

DANIEL: Nick, it's me. Dr. Jonas. You just passed out for a minute, but you're fine.

Nick struggles to respond to Daniel, still groggy, and with a dull, lingering head pain.

NICK: I....huh?
MAGGIE: You passed out, Honey. You were holding your head in your hands. You looked like you were in a lot of pain, and you were stumbling down the hallway. I called out and got Daniel to help.
NICK: (sigh) You didn't have to do that.

Daniel keeps busy, grabbing his tablet from the counter, and focuses in on Nick's chart as he responds to Nick's statement casually.

DANIEL: Yeaaah well it's a good thing she did. You took a pretty nasty spill. And from what Maggie tells me...you had a pretty major migraine there. You under some stress lately? Work?

Nick looks away from Maggie and Daniel, almost zoning out. He sighs before answering.

NICK: It's nothing. I've got it under control now.
DANIEL: Well...I hope so, because you need to watch it, Nick. Your blood pressure was high enough to cause a heart attack. Take these headaches as a warning sign.

Nick looks back at Daniel, concerned by Daniel's diagnosis.

---


Laura and JJ walks through Horton Town Square, JJ with an ice cream cone, and Laura with a cup holding a small sundae. They laugh as they eat their treats, and talk about their days.

LAURA: (laughs) Well, it's good that Rory's keeping his job with the pizza place. I know things haven't been easy for him.
JJ: Yeah, you can say that again. I just hope this job gives him enough money that he can afford to head down to Stanford next year without student loans.

Laura nods, before looking up at JJ, a glint of concern in her eye.

LAURA: Yeah...speaking of which...have you...decided what you're going to do about Liam's offer?

JJ sighs, as they both sit down on the bench by Tom & Alice's tree. Looking off into the distance, JJ takes a moment to finish his ice cream cone, then shakes his head.

JJ: I'm not sure. I mean...I know taking it will throw Liam off my trail, and it would certainly help us get the money we need to find out what we need to know about this guy, but...
LAURA: But it's risky. I don't want you beholden to this man. Especially not if he's tied to Stefano. That man has done too many horrible things to this family. And I am not about to let him harm us anymore.

Laura looks at JJ, clearly upset, verging on tears, as JJ pulls his grandmother in for a hug as they sit on the bench.

---

Jordan sits quietly at her computer desk. She types quickly at her desk, working on patient files, before the shine from her engagement ring catches her eye, causing her took down at it.

Jordan takes a moment, soaking up the extreme highs and lows of the past 24 hours. From Rafe's marriage proposal to finding out her pregnancy test gave a false positive, to walking away from a lifelong friendship with Sheryl. She begins to play with the ring as she thinks over her situation.

JORDAN: (voiceover) Sheryl was right. If you stay in town, you're bound to be found out for as long as Nick Fallon is around. He's got your number, Jordan. You're never going to be safe, as long as Nick's alive...

Jordan stops herself momentarily, looking up, realizing the gravity of the situation. She very softly verbalizes the realization she's come to.

A song begins over the scene:

[0:06] JORDAN: As long as Nick's alive...you'll never be safe. You'll never be free.

Jordan looks on, unblinking, unmoving. She fixates on the point as she continues to fidget with her engagement ring.

JORDAN: As long as he's alive.

---

The song carries on into this scene

[0:22] Sheryl steps out of the shower, causing a burst of steam to emerge out into the rest of the motel bathroom and into the main room.

Sheryl emerges, wrapping a towel around herself and her hair before stepping out into the main room, where her toiletries are laid out carefully in front of the vanity.

[0:49] Sitting herself before the vanity, she pulls a picture of Nurse Crystal Clarke from a file in her top dresser drawer. She slides it in between the mirror and the frame of the vanity, allowing her to study Crystal's look.

[0:59] Sheryl then applies her foundation, a shade somewhat lighter than her own, in order to mask her lightly bronzed skin. Sheryl slowly blends in a contour, careful to match the hues from the picture.

[1:27] Sheryl slowly puts on her eyeliner, purposely too heavy, along with a heavy black eyeliner, punctuating the look with a strong cateye. She puts in contact lenses, changing her eye colour from green to a hazel colour.

[1:48] Sheryl moves to her lips, applying a bold, bright, almost orange-tinted red lipstick. She moves the stick across her lips, almost seductively. As she puts the stick down, she smacks her lips, giving a confident look into the mirror as her look is complete.

[2:09] The final step in her transformation: Sheryl rips the towel from her head, exposing a long, lush head of fire red hair. She smiles before looking into mirror, and holding up a large pair of scissors.

[2:21] With a deep inhale, she hacks off the last third of her hair, leaving her with a shoulder-length cut.

[2:39] Once the hair has fallen to the floor, Sheryl looks into the mirror, a transformed woman. She laughs quiety to herself before greeting the new woman in the mirror playfully.

SHERYL: Helloooo, Nurse!

Sheryl's laugh grows into a possessed cackle as she admires her work.

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