Oakdale Memorial Hospital, May, 2002, Katie's Hospital Room

Margo entered Katie's room and saw that Simon had still not moved from Katie's bedside. He had been there every minute since they brought Katie to the hospital, and he seemed determined to stay by her side until she awoke, regardless of how long it took. Margo took a moment to look at her little sister. Katie looked so small and pale lying against the stark, white hospital sheets. For the thousandth time, Margo wondered what would have happened if she and Simon had gotten to the cottage just a few minutes sooner. Margo shook her head to clear her thoughts and walked to Simon's chair.

"Hey, Simon, I'll sit with Katie for awhile. Why don't you go get something to eat and maybe catch a few hours of sleep?"

Simon turned to look at Margo. "No thanks, Margo. I'm not really hungry right now."

"Simon, you can't continue to do this. You're wearing yourself out. I promise I will come and get you if there is any change."

"Really, Margo. It's okay. I'm fine."

Margo rolled her eyes in frustration. The man was stubborn, to say the least. "Simon, I don't know how to say this, but have you taken a good look in the mirror lately? If Katie wakes up and sees you like that, you'll scare her right back into a coma."

Simon felt a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth, the first time he remembered smiling in days. "Hmm, I guess I could use a shave."

"Not to mention a shower," replied Margo.

"That bad, huh? Okay, you win, I'll go, but I'm going to be right down the hall. If anything happens, you promise..."

"I promise. Now get out of here before I have the doctors throw you out! I can do that, you know...I have connections."

"Alright, alright, I'm going. I wouldn't want you to have to call in reinforcements." Simon got up, kissed Katie on the cheek and left the room.

After Simon left, Margo took his spot by the side of the bed. She straightened the sheets and adjusted the pillows, but then was at a loss as to what to do next. She heaved a sigh and plopped down in the chair recently vacated by Simon.
"Okay, little sister, this has gone on long enough. Time to rise and shine." She paused and then continued, "Come on, Katie, just wake up and I promise I will never lecture you again." As expected, Katie made no response. Margo wasn't sure what she thought would happen, that Katie would hear her promise about no lectures and just wake up? Unfortunately things like that only happened on television, not in real life.

As she sat by Katie's side, her mind drifted back over the events of the past few days. Margo hadn't had a choice, she'd had to arrest Simon for Dahlia's murder. Her personal feelings aside, all of the evidence pointed to him. Simon gave in without a fuss, seeming almost indifferent to the events surrounding him...as if he couldn't be bothered to care anymore. He told Margo that he didn't blame her, that he knew she was just doing her job. But if Simon was indifferent to his plight, Katie was the exact opposite. She went absolutely ballistic at the thought of her sister arresting her husband. Katie stormed out of the police station vowing that she would never forgive Margo for her betrayal and clearly determined to get to the bottom of this mess herself.

After that, Katie just disappeared. No one had any idea where she had gone. Simon was frantic. He was powerless, stuck in jail, and was positive that something awful had happened to her. Simon had been right. It seemed that Dahlia, with the help of some accomplices at the hospital, had faked her death, again. It took days to get things straightened out and by then Dahlia had already gotten to Katie. By the time Simon was released, and he and Margo located Katie at the cottage, it was too late--they found Katie unconscious on the floor, and Dahlia, gone. That was three days ago, and Katie had been unconscious ever since. Margo knew Simon blamed himself, and, truth be told, she had played her own version of the blame game numerous times as well. Now all Margo cared about was that Katie would wake up...even if she never spoke to her again.

Meanwhile, down the hall...

Simon stepped out of the shower and looked in the mirror. Margo had been right. He looked like hell. If Katie had woken up and seen him like that, she would have run screaming from the room. Simon sighed, knowing that he would give anything he could beg, borrow or steal, just to have Katie open up those baby blue eyes. He would never forget how he felt when he walked into the cottage and saw Katie lying on the floor. She was so still, he was sure she was dead. Just thinking about it, even now, made his blood run cold. He had never been so afraid or so angry in his entire life.

It was funny, Simon knew he was a con, but he always figured there were some lines, even he wouldn't cross--murder being one of them. But in that instant, when he saw his wife lying on the floor, he knew that wasn't true. If Dahlia had still been in the cottage, he would have strangled her with his bare hands and not suffered one pang of regret. Lucky for Dahlia, she had been gone and luckier still for him, Katie was alive. With a final sigh, Simon finished dressing and made his way back to his wife's room.

Back in Katie's hospital room...

Simon reached Katie's room just as Dr. Hughes was leaving after having checked on Katie. They had stopped outside to talk when they heard Margo shout, and burst into the room together.

"What, Margo, what?" Simon stammered.

At the same time, Dr. Hughes said "Margo, what is going on, why did you shout?"

"She moved, Katie moved."

The men rushed to Katie's bedside. "Margo, are you sure?" Dr. Hughes asked.

"Bob, of course I'm sure. She moved her hand."

Dr. Hughes checked the monitors and then checked Katie, but he couldn't detect any difference in her condition. "I'm sorry, but I don't see any change. It was probably just an involuntary muscle spasm."

"Bob, I know what I saw. I was talking to Katie and she moved her hand."

"Margo, are you really sure? Maybe you just thought you did." Simon asked, almost afraid to hope.

"Simon, she moved her hand, she did," Margo insisted, growing frustrated at the men's disbelief.

All three turned to look at Katie's motionless hand and at that exact moment, Katie opened her eyes.

For an instant, no one moved or made a sound as Simon, Margo and Bob Hughes all tried to absorb that Katie was indeed staring up at them with her eyes wide open.

Simon was the first to react. "Katie, honey, can you hear me? If you can, sweetheart, say something," he pleaded. But Katie just stared wordlessly up at him with those big, blue eyes.

Margo tried next. "Katie, it's Margo. If you can hear me, squeeze my hand." Again, there was no response from Katie.

Dr. Hughes gently pushed Margo aside. "Here, Margo, let me check her, okay?" Dr. Hughes pulled out a small light and shined it directly into Katie's eyes, first right and then left. He was looking for a reaction--something to let him know whether Katie was finally coming out of her coma or whether this was just an involuntary muscle spasm. Dr. Hughes thought he detected some response, but it was so fleeting that he couldn't be sure. "Katie, this is Dr. Hughes. If you can hear me, I need you to blink your eyes once for yes," he said, as he continued shifting the light from eye to eye.

Katie heard the voices talking to her and she wanted to respond because it sounded very important to them that she do so. But she was so tired and the more she tried to focus on the voices, the more her head started pounding, and the strange light flickering back and forth in front of her eyes was only making the pain worse. It was more than she could stand and she slowly closed her eyes.

"No, Katie don't close your eyes, please," begged Simon. "Katie, come on, open your eyes. You can do it, baby, I know you can." But Katie's eyes remained closed.

Simon released the breath he didn't even realize he had been holding and turned to look at the doctor. "Okay, Dr. Hughes, what in the hell just happened here?" he asked, his voice rising as his frustration grew.

"Simon, don't," cautioned Margo, as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

Simon took a deep breath and tried to get his emotions back under control. "Dr. Hughes, I'm sorry, okay, I didn't mean to imply... It's just that...it's just...I want to know what going on here, that's all," he replied, trying, but not quite managing to mask his frustration at this latest disappointment.

"It's alright, Simon, I understand how difficult this must be for you," Dr. Hughes replied, moving away from Katie's bed and motioning for Simon and Margo to follow. Once away from Katie's bedside, he continued. "Look, I thought I detected some response from Katie before she closed her eyes again."

"So, what exactly does that mean?" Simon asked anxiously. ''Is Katie coming out of the coma and is so, why didn't she say anything?"

"Simon, I do think Katie may be starting to come out of the coma. but contrary to popular belief, most comatose patients don't just wake up and start talking. Of course it can happen that way, but more often than not it is a very gradual process. This is the first step, though and I am very optimistic."

"Okay, so what do we do now?" asked Simon darting a quick look over his shoulder at Katie.

"The same things we have been doing. We will continue to monitor her condition, but moreover, we wait. When she is ready, Katie will wake up." Dr. Hughes paused before continuing. "I'm going to talk to Ben Harris when he arrives for his shift. As a neurologist, he may be able to give you more details about what to expect. I'll stop by and check on Katie later this evening." With those parting words, Dr. Hughes left the room.

Simon dragged his hands through his hair and turned to Margo with a frustrated sigh. "Margo, this is killing me. What if she doesn't open her eyes again? Damn it, this is all my fault. I should never have let this situation with Dahlia get so out of control."

"Simon, stop it," Margo admonished. "This is not your fault. The only person responsible for this mess is Dahlia."

"Speaking of...I don't suppose the Oakdale Police have had any luck tracking her down, yet."

"Not yet, but don't worry, Dahlia would be crazy to come back to Oakdale." Margo's voice faltered at the look of disbelief that crossed Simon's face. "Simon, Dahlia is wanted for attempted murder and a list of other crimes. The woman may be crazy, but she isn't stupid. She won't be back." Margo paused as Simon's expression got more disbelieving, if possible. "I'll tell you what, Simon. I am going down to the station right now and check on the status of the search. I'll call you later to check on Katie."

At the door, Margo turned to look back at Simon and the dejected slump of his shoulders almost broke her heart. "Simon, she is going to wake up. You have to keep believing that."

After Margo left, Simon returned to Katie's bedside. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and slowly ran his finger across her cheek. "Okay, Katie, it's just you and me now and I am not leaving this room until you wake up for good...got it."

Several hours later

Simon was exhausted. He had been watching Katie like a hawk for hours, hoping for some sign that she would open her eyes again. He talked to her continually about anything and everything, but she had given him no response.

With a tired sigh, Simon rubbed his hand across his eyes and tried to find a more comfortable position in the chair. He leaned his head back and had just closed his eyes, when he heard her voice, barely more than a whisper.

''Hey, Simon, you awake?"