Gaaaaaabi...............Antooooniooo..................!
She awakened to the faint sound of his name, not even her own. A
muddled chorus of familliar voices would howl out her name, then his, hers, his, in a haunting
rhythm that almost lulled her back to sleep. But as she huddled under the suede blanket of his
black coat that was bathed in his familliar musk, she began to understand this with drowsy
certainty....
Someone was out there. Someone knew they were out there.....and they were coming
for them.....
As she semi-raised her bare body to the distant melody of voices in the night....a wave of
dread flickered in her as her hands careened on her lover's soft chest that had been her
pillow....they had been sleeping in a whirl of glowing skin on this rock in the jagged trees in the
middle of the hell-forest. She closed her eyes...wondering if Antonio was gone.....her heart
leapt up in her when she felt a soft thumping beneath the palm of her hand, and realized she
was levitating slowly with his steady breathing....she touched his face all over in bliss.
Gabi: You're alive.....thank God, you're alive!! Someone's coming for us, Antonio, they're
gonna help you, you're not gonna die!
She shook him tenderly.
Gaaaaaaaabi............Antoooooooniooo..........!
Gabi: Wake up......c'mon, wake up, Sweetheart.........they're gonna find us....see, they're gonna
rescue us, Antonio!
He was locked in a dream, it seemed.....she held him and shook him and nothing happened
except to further her apprehension.
Gabi: .....Nooo.....no, please, don't let him be in a coma!! Not when we're so close to
getting out of here, Antonio, please wake UP!!! (calls out, choked up) We're here!!!!!!!!
We're over here!!!!!! (her voice falters) Help me! HELP ME!!! Oh God, they're not gonna hear me,
we have to try to get to them....dammit, ANTONIO, LOOK at me!!! .....Look at
me.....
She squeezed her eyes to stop the tears and dropped to his chest in defeat. It was too late.
He was alive but lingering. He had already pushed himself far beyond the limits of a snake-
poisoned heart.....and she knew she would bear witness when the comforting thunder beneath
her inside him would get slower and slower until it was silent. She looked at his face, moving
slightly as if he was having a bad dream. He was slipping. She smoothed his hair incessantly,
illuminating it with streams of an almost-blue light from the dim glow of the moon as she
caresssed.....the cries of their names fading fast.
Gabi......You....you just rest easy now. You fought it as hard as you could, didn't you?.... I
know.....I know. I'm right here with you....I'm not gonna abandon you now, not ever...
His features crunched into a pained expression, and a small murmur fell from his lips as if to
protest.
Gabi:....I know....I know you want me to go, but I can't, don't you understand...? I
can't go with them without you. I can't go back to Sunset Beach. Do you remember.....when you
asked me if we were where we really belonged.....?.....I am now. With the man I love.....
She tugged his arms around her and cuddled deeply against him......listening to the shouts
pass her by.
Gabi: For once.....just once....I'm not letting you go.
She raised his face to hers and kissed his lips.....tears spurting at their motionlessness...and
suddenly......they trembled, responded to hers slightly.....and his eyes blinked open.....stunned by
his awakening.
Antonio:....Gabi........
He raised up slowly with discerning eyes and she flew up with him, squashing him with a hug
that knocked him to his senses....not to mention the wind right out of him.
Gabi: Antonio.....Antonio I love you so much....I knew you wouldn't give up on me that
easily, I knew it....!
Antonio: (strained) I love you too....even though you're crushing me.....
Gabi: (winces) Sorry!!...Omigod, Antonio, we, we've gotta go, come on, you can make it just a
little farther, there are people, I-I don't know how many--they're out here looking for us!!
Antonio: .....What............how?
Gabi: I don't know.....but they're gonna find us if we have to collapse in front of
them....you're gonna get the cure if I have to drag us both!
Antonio: Wait! We can't go like this!
Gasping, she whipped his coat around her shyly, fully aware of their current states.
Gabi: OH, migod, you're right........here, could you hand me my, um.....thanks........
Antonio: If you could just hand me.....yeah.....
Gabiiii!! Antooonio!!!!!!!!!
She pulled his shirt over his head and held his face for a blissful moment as he dressed her
tenderly.....they realized they were almost laughing.....it was such a different feeling as they
scrambled for their clothes this time....of modesty....but never shame.
Gabi: We're here!!!!!!!!!
Antonio: Helllo!!!?!!!! We're over here!!!!!!!
Maria Torres snapped to a halt as Jude, Annie and Tyus heard the same cry reverberate
through their minds.
Maria: Omigod, that's my brother, I can hear him....Antoniooo!!!!!!! Where are you????
Jude: Annie, the flare!
Annie: (hands it to him) Lock and load, baby.
Antonio: Gabi, that sounded like my sister! MARIAAA!!!!!!
Gabi noticed that Antonio was possessed by a surge of sudden energy he hadn't had since he
was bitten.
Gabi: Easy, easy, c'mon, hold on to me.....
But as she held his arm around her shoulders, she stumbled into the night as he nearly
carried her along with him while Jude was close by, aiming for the skies......
The various teams of search partiers across the woods were beginning to get hopelessly
uneasy as they trudged along....still no sign of anyone.
Casey: (singing under his breath) *I bought a toothbrush, some toothpaste, a flannel for my
face....*
Brad: Uh, Dude, I'm as much of a Squeeze fan as the next guy, but do you think you can
like, refrain from your little rendition of "Tempted" once we find the unholy couple???
Casey: (rolling his eyes, ignoring him) *......pajamas....a hairbrush....new shoes and a---
Michael: Case!! Look!
An incredible burst of light accosted the searchers.....flickering brightly in pink sparks
across the black sky....
Brad: Holy crap!!
Emily: Do you think....?
The walkie talkie in Casey's hand sputtered to life, Jude's voice ringing loud and clear.
*Jude: Weell, just in case you didn't happen to see that, kids, that was the signal for
a confirmation on our missing parties, so follow the bouncing flare and get the hell over here,
por frickin' favor ! *
The sound of uproarious cheering.
Antonio: Mariaa!!!!!
Maria: Antonio!!!
Antonio ran like there was no tomorrow...exhilarated, he whisked Gabi up and carried her
like she was air as she squealed in protest.
Gabi: Antonio!
All three of them made contact at once....Maria threw her arms around both of them, her eyes
full of water.
Maria: Thank God you're alright!!! Thank God......
Tyus raced over, assumming that Gabi was injured from her cradled stance in Antonio's
arms.
Tyus: Here, Antonio, I'll help her.
Gabi: No, no, I-I'm just a little banged up, help Antonio, he's got a snakebite, hurry,
there isn't much time!!!
Maria: Oh no!! Antonio, come on, come over here honey.
Tyus: Agent Cavanaugh, the medkit!
As Annie and Jude appeared, Annie suddenly found herself being squished alive by the
jubilant dark-haired woman in a spontaneous hug.
Gabi: I'm so happy, I could even hug YOU!!
Annie: Yeah, yeah, te amo yourself sister, so much for the gratitude!!
Jude: Eeeasy, Red..... (to Gabi) Jude Cavanaugh, FBI. Glad to finally make your
acquaintance.
Gabi: FBI?....What's going on? And.....how did everyone in town know we were lost out here?
Their faces sobered a bit.
Gabi: Did someone hear the shots? Did they catch whoever was shooting at us?
More silence.
Gabi: Why won't anybody answer me??
Jude: Gabi......do you know where your husband is?
She visibly shuddered.
Gabi: I........he's......at home.......why?
Jude: Well.......aactually....?
Annie: *Ahem,* Jude, will you step into my office for a moment??? (whispers aside) OK,
here's a time when you might want to show just a TAD bit of scruples, babe, cause from
the looks of it?--
Jude: (blankly) My God. She has no idea. Neither of them do. Uggh.....this is the part of the
job I despise the most, Annie.....wait'll we see the look on their faces when we tell them that
Ricardo.....someone they trusted......
Annie turned to witness Gabi, running her hand comfortingly over Antonio's shoulder as Tyus
observed the other one, their eyes locked together.
Annie: (turns around) I wouldn't worry about trust, honey....it looks like she found the
Torres that's a keeper tonight.....
Tyus took a pondering breath as he jabbed the syringe into Antonio's arm and rolled his
shirt sleeve down.
Antonio: Uhhk.....the only thing I hate more than snakes is needles......
Tyus: Do you want the bad news or the good news first?
Gabi: Oh no, Tyus, what do you mean??
Tyus: Well, the bad news is, I don't think you have much use for the serum I just gave you.
Antonio: You mean....it's too late for me??
Tyus: Well, that's where the good news comes in. It's because I can see from the wound's
lack of prominent arterial aphasia that you're in no immediate risk of metabolic shutdown.
Maria: Dr. Robinson, in English, please???
Tyus: The snake that bit you wasn't poisonous.
Antonio: What???! No, no, that can't be right.......
Gabi: How is that possible?? Tyus, you should've seen him, I was scared out of my
mind! He was burning up with fever, he was shaking.....
Tyus: You thought you were going to die?
He swallowed hard at the familiar phrase and his eyes darted to hers uncomfortably.
Antonio: Yes....I did.
Tyus: Well, the intense phobia of snakes that you described to me may have been the cause
of what you believed to be your reaction to the so-called venom, Antonio. A condition of the
mind, and nothing else. In medicine, we call it a placebo effect.
Antonio: Placebo effect?? You're saying....it was all in my head??
Tyus: In theory, yes, actually, the blah blah blah blah blah.....
Antonio's thoughts spun into wide-eyed overdrive as Tyus's comforting voice took on the
indeterminable drone of a dull high-school science teacher. His whole brooding mind was
wincing. Ohh my God....all the things I said....all those gibberish things I said in my so-called
hour of doom. She'll wish it never happened. She'll wish we never made love. We'll ritualize
burning the clothes we're wearing in a trash can on the front porch while I fantasize about
ripping my heart out and tossing it into the flames !!!!
Tyus:......and it's really quite fascinating, isn't it? And quite a relief.
Antonio:....Huh? Oh! A relief.......yeah............
Tyus: And it's a good thing you had Gabi to stabilize you.
Antonio: ...Stabilize me......right.........I-I love stability.....stability is.....great......
Maria looked at her brother with fear in her eyes....not just of the burden of telling them
about Ricardo.....but with the knowledge that the painful glances Antonio was transmitting to
Gabi were heavy with the kind of emotion that only the two of them could understand.
Maria: Thank you, Dr. Robinson. Will you please make sure everyone's accounted for so we
can head home?
Tyus: Of course.
Maria: I'll be right back, you guys....you just sit tight, alright?
Gabi: ....Antonio, something weird's going on....they're not telling us something...it's like
they're prepping for us a nuclear bombing or--
Antonio didn't answer. He was just staring out into space, his world already torn apart...his
eyes imploding like Neptune ballrooms as she turned his head to her somberly....
Maria: (aside) Jude, don't worry. I'm going to tell them...it'll be horrible but I'll do it.....it's
better they hear it from family.
Jude: I'm sorry for all of this, Maria.
Annie: Do you want us to be with you, honey?
Maria: (looks sadly to Antonio and Gabi) In a minute. I can tell that there's something they
need to talk about alone...........
Ricardo's suburban crawled onto Ocean Drive at a speed that would make most people think
the driver was a senior citizen on his way home from a canasta party. He slumped in his seat a
bit whenever the slightest inkling of someone familliar passing by washed over him. Even the
tinted windows and his dark holy outfit couldn't ease his mind....his eyes were covered with a
pair of shades.
Ricardo: Jeez........Corey Hart mighta worn his sunglasses at night, but I can't see a
goddamn thing! I must be outta my mind....but I gotta get to the loft. The guys most likely tore it
apart by now....but they'll be gone....and they'd never suspect I'd backtrack to my own house. I
need somethin' inside that damned jukebox...which, like the brilliant investigative minds they
are, Spaz and Ruins most likely didn't go near. My last lifeline.......
Inside the jukebox was another slew of evidence that Ricardo had created.....of his suicide,
in case, God forbid, anything went wrong. There was a gun with his prints on it, a
letter, and signed anullment papers. A last resort.
Ricardo: All I have to do....is get the stuff....zap whatever money Gabi thinks she's
gonna have into MY account in the good ol' Bank of Florida....and then make another little phone
call. An anonymous one to the station.....with my best foreign accent, of course. 'Ah, oui, I
know where zhe missing priest and his concubine are.' Heh. That oughta evacuate the time
share area.....and then it's time to plant the sad news that I did myself in. Over the guilt,
of course.........hmmh......
"You're gonna get what's comin' to ya', Rick."
Ricardo yanked off the sunglasses and was horrified to see himself in the rearview,
grinning in the backseat.
Ricardo: Ho-ly!!!!
He struggled to regain control as the car swerved.
Backseat Ricardo: Nooot exactly, my boy, but you wear the clothes well.
And, like any paranoid hallucination would, it got even worse...when another clone caught the
corner of his eye in the passenger side.
Passenger Ricardo: Ya' know, the thing I like about these sport utility vehicles is, there's
enough room for all of us!
Ricardo: You're not real, you're not real, you're not real..............
Backseat Ricardo: Hah! He sounds like Cole Deschanel battling the undead servants of Satan!
Passenger Ricardo: Go ahead, Rick, say it. Blahbety-blaah, "the only servant of Satan is my
brother the priest." Belt out some corny one-liner like that. It helps ya' to ignore the images
goin' through your mind of a vicious wolf maulin' your own kid brother to death, doesn't it??
Ricardo: Look, dammit!! I had to leave 'em in the woods! They'll find 'em......oh, man, gimme a
break!! They're probably roastin' marshmellows NAKED somewhere!!
Backseat Ricardo: Typical Ricko. You know T is JUST like that. He LOVES to engage in
horny, meaningless nonsense just to spite ya' while strugglin' to stay alive in Death Country.
Not any real feelings or nothin'. Him and that callous heart of his.
Ricardo: (jeers) OK, OK, maybe he loooves her. And I know...I KNOW she loves him...I ain't a
dimwit. But at least....if I pull off this one last plan, I can be baskin' in the sun somehwere
mullin' over how she loves HIM and not me rather than in C-Block, so leave me the hell alone!!!!
Passenger Ricardo: But we ARE you!
Ricardo: Ain't it about time you climbed out the window like in that Alanis Morissette
video?? Only maybe in THIS version you can fall out!!
Backseat Ricardo: *It's a black fly, in your chardonaaay....it's a death row pardon, two
minutes too late.....*
Ricardo: You oughta know I can't sing!
Passenger Ricardo: But it was a song about YOU, Rick! Ain't it ironic?? Especially the death
row part.
Ricardo: Naw......naw, there's no way!!!
Backseat Ricardo: I dunno. Doesn't attempting to frame someone for murder cross over to
attempted murder...maybe murder ONE....when the supposed suspects get killed in the crossfire?
Ricardo: They're not gonna die out there......they won't!
Passenger Ricardo: But, if they do....and you get away....you can always feel responsible for
the rest of your life! Just like what ya' put ol'Gab through.
Backseat Ricardo: Come on, Ricky Ricardo... just confess. Babaloooo!!!!
Ricardo: Shut UP.
Passenger Ricardo: Book yourself, Danno!!
Ricardo: Get outta my CAR!!!!!!!!!
He gripped the steering wheel as the dopplegangers vanished, shaking.....and brought the car
to a screeching stop in a spot out of view near the loft.
Ricardo: (panting)....I'm really losin' it. I'm 100% certifiable. OK, OK....think......focus.....do
whatcha gotta do......and book the hell out of this Gaad-forsaken town.......
As he crept out of the suburban, he didn't notice the faint smell of gasoline as it plinked in
methodic drips from the tank underneath.
Gabi: I know what you must be thinking....I know.......but listen to me. I don't care if you
were really going to die or not. It was real to us, Antonio. I've never been so scared of
losing you in my whole life....but I needed that. I needed to face it to know......
Antonio: To know what...? That I couldn't experience my placebo effect without
showing you how much I loved you? That I used my vulnerability to toy with your every
emotion??
Gabi: (with building unease) Do you think that what we shared out there means less to me
now??? That it wasn't beautiful because you're still here?? That I love you and you didn't die,
and half of me along with you??? That...you were going to love me until your last breath.....and
now we have forever...and I'm supposed to be upset about that??!?
He melted inside, wrapping his hands around her waist.
Antonio: You really mean that, don't you........that you want to be with me.........with me.
Gabi: We want to be together. You'll never make me believe that you wouldn't
have made love to me tonight if you hadn't thought you were going to die. You know
that's not true!
Antonio: ...Unless you believe that if the window wasn't shot back at the cottage....I could've
just kissed you with my whole heart and soul on fire and taken you home.
Gabi: Unless you believe that I wasn't thinking about it every minute at the cottage.
Antonio: Ricardo's cottage, Gabi. Ricardo. No matter how we feel about each
other...how strongly.....how passionately....I can't be self-righteous enough to believe your love
for me just, erases your feelings for him!
She flashed her bare left hand, cupping his face with her eyes ablaze.
Gabi: Look at my hand, Antonio. Look at it!!!
Antonio: ...Your wedding ring.......where is it?
Gabi: (bitterly) It's at the bottom of the ravine you almost sacrified your own life to pull me
out of where I threw it.
Antonio: ....Gabi....even after the horrible way he treated you I know he still would've
done the same....how could he not?
Gabi: I don't know. It seems like the ones who can't forgive...the ones who look at you and
only see betrayal don't always try as hard as they could to save people, Antonio. Why don't
you ask Maria about that? But YOU, you knew how many times I lied to you to satisfy
him. You were angry at me, you were betrayed....but you fought for me just the same. That's
what real love is.....what that ring will never stand for...never !
Antonio: .....And if I gave you a ring, Gabi......after all the vows we've broken....how
could anyone take us seriously....what would anybody ever believe we stood for?....
Gabi: Antonio.....shut UP for once and I'll show you..........
She grasped for his face and attacked him full throttle against his shocked mouth as he
gasped with the hunger of his want.....and neither of them were calculating the height of the
bushes around them.....they didn't care if everyone saw........they'd know.....sooner or later
they would know.
As she drew away, basking in the sweet taste of him.......there was Maria......knowing.
Antonio: ....Maria.......
Maria: Shh, shh........it's alright. You don't have to explain anything to me that I haven't
already felt for months now. I know how much you love each other.......and.....how much you'll
need each other even more once I tell you this.........
Jude and Annie approached cautiously and closely...wishing their adventure together didn't
have to ultimately lead to this.
Gabi: What is it, Maria......?
Maria: (looking down) We know who shot the gun at the time share cottage.
Antonio: What.........who??
Maria:(breaking down)....................it was Ricardo.........!
As she stared straight ahead into oblivion, Gabi's hand lunged for his
instinctively.....squeezing it until he could feel her frantic pulse bursting against his palm.....his
other hand sliding down the giant domes that were his eyes....his gaping mouth.
Antonio:........What?............How could that be, Maria, how could it be??? He-he can't even walk
for God sakes.......can he.....???
Maria: He was hiding it all along......because he was planning revenge......on both of you......
Antonio: Revenge??? No.....no!!.....He was going to....to kill us tonight??? My own
brother....?? My own flesh and blood???
Maria:......It was a little more elaborate than that. He was trying....to make it look like you
both killed him..........
Shards of broken memories, broken time, broken everything jangled in their heads as Jude
sadly passed it all into their shivering hands....the pictures....the documents...her soul quailed as
her signature appeared, over and over.....on things she had never seen or known of....as things
that never made sense became clear....as she saw herself chained to his side.....except for all
those sudden errands for Vicadin and pie and laundry and the way she'd find him out of breath
when she returned. He had jumped back in the goddamned bed.
Antonio saw similar horrors in his brain......all he had given up...all the love he'd mangled to
bits for what......for this.........his very own cell in L.A. County for a crime he didn't commit!
Jude: I was assigned to scan the entire S.B.P.D.....and I discovered all this...one thing lead to
another tonight and Ricardo called Michael Bourne....Michael heard gunshots.....and that was
how we came here to find you. I wish to God I didn't have to tell you these horrible things...or
that your affair had to be disclosed......but it was the only way I could protect you. I'm sorry
from the bottom of my heart.......
Gabi hadn't yet said a word....but her breathing got harsher and harsher until she dropped
everything to the ground and raked her fingers through her hair violently....trying to expel it
all.....and enraged tears began to fall.....along with a wail of tortured crying that drilled into
Antonio's heart immediately as she buried her head against his waiting embrace......and Maria
held them both.
Antonio: (tears)........Maria.....what about Mama........does she.....
Maria: No, very little, Antonio.....but that won't be for long.....the news about it is
everywhere......they're searching the whole state and they still haven't found him. But when
they do......what's gonna happen to our family, Antonio......?
Antonio: Our family is still here, Maria.....it's still here......I have you with me......and the
woman I love......and that's all I need right now.......
Tears were frozen on Gabi's cheek as she held him tighter....a silent gesture of thanks for
calling her that......out of seclusion....without an ounce of remorse in his voice.
Maria: You both have to promise me something. I know how much terrible guilt you both
carry around with you. You have to promise me...that you won't think you drove him to do
this. He made his own choices...he dug this trench in his OWN soul. And as much as I still love
him...he's going to have to EARN my forgiveness, as long as it takes. But how you handle
this.....is between the both of you.
Gabi drew a deep breath, labored with the aftermath of water in every corner of her soul,
as if she was going to speak.
Maria: Gabi, what is it....say something, Sweetie, it's alright......
Gabi: I.........I just feel like such a fool.....
Antonio: NO, no, you're not....you're not.....
Gabi: ...I knew something was wrong...and I buried the thought of it.......(acridly) I
mean hey, that's what you have to do to be a trophy wife, isn't it? Live a life of
resignation, right? Lose the person you are and live and SLAVE to pick up the pieces of
something that was never meant to be......and for what......for THIS??.......!!
Antonio: I saw what was happening to you and I didn't understand it...it was as if you
were fading away right in front of me, Gabi.......
Gabi: I know, Antonio....and that's why the worst pain of all.....is the one I feel for
you.....
Antonio: For me?? Gabi, no, I shut my eyes to him too, I had those same gut feelings...but you
had to live it everyday, you lived that pain!
Gabi: No! You looked up to him! He made you who you are. Your brother....the one you
NEVER meant to hurt....you subdued yourself.....every feeling in your heart for me for HIM.
And now....now that you know what he's done....I feel the emptiness inside you. The
disilliusionment. When I look in your eyes right now, that trust in them...that sparkle I love...the
trust of a little boy.....it's faded. He took that away from you....and that's the one thing
I'll NEVER forgive him for!!!
Antonio could feel both their hearts calling to one another's as he held her then...his tears
settling in streaks that drizzled all the way to his neck.
Jude looked to Annie, whose azure eyes were glistening slightly.
Jude: Hey.....Red? Are you crying?
Annie: NO. There's just something in my eye.
Jude: (slyly) Both of them?
Annie: OK, OK, so this is very cathartic, so sue me, dammit!!
Gabi:.....I'm sorry, Antonio......I know, deep down...you still love him. You've always been good
at the unconditional thing, right? I would never want you to hate him because of me....
Antonio: Believe me.....I'm so furious I can't even see straight....I'd give anything to come
face to face with him right now....and I won't hold anything back when I do. I don't want to
fight him, but....if it came down to that....I'd fight him like the man he taught me to be......and
then I'd really drive him crazy and hug him. Mama always made us do that, right, Maria?
Maria: I remember all too well, Antonio....
Antonio: But all I need to know right now is....what do you want, Gabi? You. Don't
think of me...don't think of anyone but Gabriella Martinez Torres of Sunset Beach, who
deserves to have a voice once and for all. What do you want to happen to Ricardo?
Her lips twisted into an adoring smile as she squeezed his hand tenderly....and it was a
moment or two before she spoke.
Gabi: Jude....I want to help you catch him.
Jude: Gabi, are you sure?
Gabi: Yes......it's time for him to face MY revenge....but, like the good girl he knows I am...I'm
gonna do it the legal way. At least, the Ricardo we used to know would want that, wouldn't he?
Annie: Is it just me, or is anyone else having flashbacks of that "Double Jeopardy" movie?
Gabi: (rolls eyes) Don't worry, Annie...I'm not gonna shoot him in the middle of Mardi Gras.
All I want is justice for the pain....the pain he's caused us all......
Maria: And your dignity.
Gabi: Will you help me, Antonio?.....
Antonio: Was that a rhetorical question?
Gabi: I'll take that as a yes.
Antonio: Then you've got me. (shyly) I mean...you've got a yes......
She knew she had both.
