EPISODE 231
Written by: Bre L. Drew
April 10, 2023
Last Time on Town and Country
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Tommy came to Samuel, who shared his suspicions about Dr. Toussaint being involved in the downfall of Jordan's condition, as he also kept in mind that Daniel might be involved too.
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Max is unable to feel anything in his legs, likely result of the injuries he sustained in the accident.
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Ernest swallowed his pride to ask Daniel to pay for Jordan's stay at Stonecrest, which he did, feeling guilty about his role in landing her there.
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Jai and Louise disagreed over potential living situations.
RADCLIFFE RECEIVING HOSPITAL
A nurse and an orderly helps Max Covington get into the bed in his hospital room. He had just come back from having another test to determine the state of his paralysis, which occurred when he swerved to avoid Jordan in the middle of the road as he and Shauna were on their way to the cabin for a weekend getaway. Now, he can't move his legs and needs assistance for menial tasks.
"Would you like anything else, Mr. Covington?" The female nurse asks him.
"The last forty-eight hours back, that would be splendid," Max answers sardonically.
The nurse gives a sympathetic stare to him before she and the orderly departs.
While passing them on their way out, Shauna Covington enters the room, heading over to her husband, to whom she places a kiss on top of his forehead.
"Has there been any news on your condition?"
"Not yet," he replies. "But you think they know with all those damn tests they've been doing by now," Max says irritatedly.
Hopefully, this is only temporary, and you'll be back on your feet in no time, baby."
Max has a look of uncertainty.
Outside of the room, in the hallway, Daniel Covington walks beside his mother, Deirdre.
"How is he?" the Covington matriarch says.
"He has no feeling in his legs; they're doing all these tests, but we're not sure until Dr. Zhang gets the results," he tells her. "And it is all my doing,"
He had been the one from the beginning to make it seem Jordan has been losing her mind by blackmailing her psychiatrist, Dr. Toussaint, into giving her a higher dosage of medication to make her begin to lose touch with reality, in addition to having the family housekeeper, Gabriella, use a voice changer to disguise her voice so Jordan thinks she's hearing voices, causing her to take Jeremy, where he wound up taking off and her getting in the road to look for him, which caused Max and Shauna to get hurt when the car went into the ditch on the side of the road,
Deirdre hushes him so no one else can overhear them. "Don't you feel guilty about this?" she rebuts. "You did what you thought was right. You protected this family, as your father and I taught you. Besides, Jordan is finally getting much-needed help. The girl did have postpartum depression and abandoned her child for months; let's not try to rewrite history because you feel a twinge of guilt."
The two were now close to his room.
"I get that you're affected by this, and so am I," Deirdre admits wholeheartedly. "But if you do not want to lose the respect of your family, and most importantly, their presence, do not give this another thought. Trust me, I know what it is like not to have your family there, and let me tell you something, Daniel, it hurts like hell."
She's referring to losing her parents in a fatal fire when she was seventeen. It is one of the events of her life that she has never gotten over.
The two proceeded to head into the room.
STONECREST
Jordan McKnight felt like she was in a trance of sorts while being accompanied by her parents and Samuel into the psychiatric hospital room where she'll be residing for the next 72 hours. Despite being out of her mind, she notices the room she's in is sterile with its beige walls. The thought of being here for the next three days haunts her.
Seeing her daughter's lack of enthusiasm, Thora McKnight goes to her, placing her arm around her. "It's going to be all right; just lean on me,"
While Ernest and Samuel stay closer to the door,
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"I hope this works," Ernest says. "My daughter and I haven't been close in years, but I never wanted this for her."
"Ernest, I will do what I can to give the best outcome for Jordan," Samuel declares to the police chief.
Samuel knows there could be more to Jordan's case than a mental breakdown; he was told earlier today by Tommy that perhaps Jordan's doctor, Dr. Toussaint, had given her an overdose of the sedatives she was taking. He promised him that he wouldn't tell anyone else until they got concrete proof of that.
"Thora," Ernest announces. "I think we should get going,"
Presently, Jordan and she are sitting on the bed.
"I will come back and see you; you can count on that," Thora says reassuringly.
"Tell Jeremy I love him, and I didn't leave him again; I promise I wouldn't do that again to him," Jordan reacts hysterically.
Thora embraces her only daughter. "I will tell him,"
After letting go, she walks over to her ex-husband.
"Promise me you will bring our little girl back to us," Thora tells the psychiatrist.
"She will get the best treatment here," Samuel assures her.
As much as Ernest wants to hug his daughter, he can't bring himself to do it knowing the pain she's in; he's contributed to it by being hard on her.
He waves to her, which makes her face the opposite direction, causing him to feel even worse for leaving her here.
The two then walk out of the room, leaving Samuel with Jordan.
Samuel walks over to her with his medical bag. "Can you hold out your arm, Jordan, for me?"
Jordan does as she is told, but she glimpses him with confusion as she sees the needle, tourniquet, and tubes.
"I'm just drawing some blood; it's pretty standard for patients here," he says while lying down and rubbing the alcohol swab in the intended area on her arm.
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In reality, he's taking it to determine whether Toussaint overmedicated her.
LOCKHART LAKE COTTAGE
The sound of the doorbell ringing gets Louise Saunders Lockhart downstairs to see who is at her door this early evening.
"Who is it?" She calls out to the other person on the other side.
"It's me," the distinctive voice answers, making her slow down since it belongs to someone she hasn't spoken to since their disagreement.
Eventually, she opens the door to find Sean Lockhart standing in the doorway.
"I know I'm the last person you want to see," he remarks casually. "But I wanted to come over to apologize for how I acted towards you the other day at the farm; you're right, it's your life, and I have no right to interfere."
Despite still having a grievance at what he said to her, she steps aside, indicating he will come in, which he does.
Louise places her hands on her hips. "After everything that has happened, Sean, let's just bury it under the sand, and I'm sorry for telling you about not confiding in me about your problems even though we're no longer together. We've been through too much to let this come between us."
Sean smiles graciously at her. "Good,"
Louise can spot something distressing on his face. "Sean, I know that look; what's wrong?"
He exhales before responding. "Once again, I've done something stupid that might end my marriage."
WHEELER BUILDING: APT #424
"Yeah, thanks for keeping me in the loop; I will probably swing by there tomorrow. I'll talk to you later, bye." Tricia Lockhart says, ending the call.
The cafe manager enters the fourth-floor apartment where she resides. She had been on the phone with Courtney, who informed her about the status of Jordan, who is currently at Stonecrest. She couldn't help but feel sorry for her young friend, knowing she's been going through a lot in the last year. If she would've known things were that bad, she would've stepped in to help, as she sees so much in her.
On top of that, and the latest issues she's facing in her marriage, mostly recently with Sean getting drunk and telling her that Louise is twice the woman she will ever be, she decided there was no point in telling him off since he probably wouldn't remember she left him asleep on the couch. Other than a few things said to each other, the silence through these walls is evident.
She places her purse and keys on the credenza.
The next thing Tricia knew, she was standing outside the door of Dylan's nursery; while reaching for the knob, she stopped herself. But somehow, she musters whatever strength she possesses and twists the door open.
She cautiously steps inside the room; she hadn't ventured here since her infant's death six months ago. Since then, she couldn't bring herself to do it until now, and she does not know why.
HOME FARM
"Put that one right there," Tommy Covington instructs his son.
At the moment, he and his son are in his bedroom in the mansion on the Home Farm estate. Tommy is spending the rest of the day with his son since Jordan is being checked into Stonecrest today. Although he believes there is something more going on regarding her mental breakdown,
He keeps his theory to himself other than Samuel, who knows since he's Jordan's doctor at the psychiatric hospital. He doesn't want to reveal anything until he obtains enough evidence. On top of having another theory that his father is behind this due to his actions,
"I did it!" the toddler says eagerly after putting the block on what is now a tower.
Tommy sees his little boy's accomplishment, which causes him to grin. "Yes, you did, buddy."
A rhythmic tap gets him to look up to see Gabriella and Tanner Lockhart in the doorway.
"I hope I didn't come at a bad time," Tanner nods.
The younger woman is wearing a blue denim jacket and black pants, and her long brown hair is in a ponytail. She also has her contacts instead of her glasses and is holding onto her purse.
"No, Jer and I were just playing with these," he gestures toward the creation in their midst.
Tanner looks at the adorable little boy enamored with his toy. "I know with everything going on with Jordan. I wanted to see how you were doing.
Tommy turns around to see Jeremy putting blocks together as he ushers his ex-girlfriend into the hall.
"Trying to keep him busy," he replies. "I think he does sense something is off but doesn't know how to express it, but he does miss Jordan."
Tanner takes a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I'm sure you're doing your best, which only you can do in this situation."
"Does the good reverend know you're here?" Tommy questions
The last time they had seen each other was in the hospital the night Jordan took off with Jeremy to Lake Hudson. The two guys clashed over Presley's sister.
"Presley is my boyfriend, but not even he tells me where I can or cannot go," she conveys. "And anyway, I consider you a friend, and I know you're going through a lot with Jordan and now with Max too."
Tommy smirks as he still is in love with Tanner, even though they've been apart for some time now.
"You know I don't deserve your friendship," he says.
"No, you don't," she chuckles. "But it seems you can use one right now."
The pair glanced longingly at one another.
"Look, Daddy!" Jeremy cries out enthusiastically.
Tommy and Tanner step into the room as the blocks have been constructed into a moderately impressive tower.
"It looks like building properties is in the blood," Tanner says mostly to Tommy.
"Let's hope that's all he's inherited," Tommy mumbles as he goes to his son.
Tanner also sits on the rug, where father and son strongly interact.
LOCKHART LAKE COTTAGE
By now, the former Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart were in the living room. He had filled her in on how not only he got drunk at
The Waterfall but also told the current Mrs. Lockhart that Louise is twice the woman she is. Since then, they have hardly muttered more than two words to each other.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't blame Tricia for being pissed at you," she confesses. "No one wants to be compared to anyone, especially their spouse's former spouse."
Sean is on the couch, shaking his head. "I know I screwed up. I don't know what came over me,"
"I think you can't solely blame it on the alcohol," Louise comments from the armchair. "I don't know if it will help at this point, but how about trying to fix things with her? Because if you don't, problems like this will keep arising until you do something about them."
"I know you're right," he acknowledges. "But it seems ever since Dylan died, things between us are even more fucked up."
Louise hears the pent-up unsureness in his voice. "Then you've got to make some difficult decisions.
Sean didn't have to ask for any clarification regarding what she meant.
The din of the bell quickly grabs the farmer's attention.
"I wasn't expecting anyone; who can that be?"
She moves to the foyer to answer it.
The person on the other side is someone she thought she wouldn't see today.
"Hey," Jai Gupta greets her. "Hope I'm not interrupting you?"
The last time they had spoken face-to-face was when they disagreed over the living situation.
"Uh," she murmurs. But the glare from him makes her aware that Sean is standing right behind her.
The businessman scoffs. "You know I came over here to apologize to you and see if we could reach some sort of compromise, but I see you're with him."
"Jai," she calls out. Sean came by to clear up a misunderstanding between us.
Jai folds his arms over his chest. "Now you know why I don't want to move in."
He knew that Sean still has too many ties to this house, even though they share children. Too much of their past still resides here.
Now Sean stands beside his ex-wife. "I think you are blowing things a bit out of proportion,"
"Am I?" Jai makes his remarks in an accurate manner. "Or you really don't want Louise to move on with anyone else?"
WHEELER BUILDING: APT #424
As Tricia's eyes lay upon the blue-painted walls of the nursery, she recalled when Sean painted them, but everything was still in the same order she remembered all those months ago. Her focus is now on the crib, the last place where he was alive before he was found unresponsive by Sean on that November day when they were celebrating their wedding anniversary with friends.
Despite the attempts by the paramedics, they couldn't revive him. Also, flashes of his birth saturate the forefront of her mind. And the time she and Sean interacted with him.
And the recent struggles of her marriage weigh down her emotions. She is touching the cloud mobile hanging over the crib, but soon the pain becomes too much, and she quickly snatches off the rail and tosses it on the ground out of anger and frustration.
She moves away from the crib and starts pulling items off the nightstand and shelves; she then leans her back against the wall and collapses onto the ground, crying uncontrollably.
ERNEST'S JEEP
Inside Ernest's Jeep, the silence is broken by the distinct chatter of hosts guessing the top five Sampson University basketball players with the most shots on the sports station.
The police chief makes a sidelong glance at her before keeping his car on the road.
"She will come out of this on the other side, Thora."
Thora sighs, wishing she believed that.
"I pray that she does; leaving her in that place is one of the hardest things I've ever done." she confesses. "You would think her psychiatrist would've caught this and done something about it before her mental state got this bad."
"I agree," he replies.
"I want to march into his office and confront him," she says vehemently.
Instinctively, Ernest can hear the determination in her voice.
"Promise me you won't do that, Thora; I'm serious, just let it go."
Thora twists her head in frustration. "What kind of doctor doesn't see the signs of their patient losing touch with reality?" she retorts. "As much as I want to strangle the man, I just want to have a rational conversation with him; that's all."
Ernest flips on his turn signal as he approaches the lane for the interstate.
"All right, he states. "But you are not going alone; I'm coming with you."
Knowing she wouldn't be able to decline, she consents with a bow of the head while one of the personalities on the radio announces they will be back after going to commercial, as they continue to get the top two spots of their countdown.
RADCLIFFE RECEIVING HOSPITAL
"Everything is going to work out," Deirdre winks to her eldest grandchild.
Max remains quiet but respectfully nods to his grandmother.
They were all in his hospital room, awaiting the doctors results.
Dr. Zhang strolls into the room, clasping onto his electronic tablet and glancing around the room as balloons and cards from friends and family circulate the space.
"I have your results from the latest set of tests we conducted, he discloses, and I'm sorry to report you more promising news, but the swelling around your spinal cord hasn't abated like we want it."
"Meaning what exactly?" Deirdre queries.
"That Max will be permanently paralyzed from the waist down," Dr. Zhang reports.
Daniel covers his mouth in remorse while Shauna remains to hold Max in support.
"So you mean I won't be able to walk again?" Max speaks abruptly. "That I will be stuck in a wheelchair until I die?"
Dr. Zhang gives him compassionate regard. "Sometimes the type of paralysis can resolve itself, but it might be unlikely."
"If you don't mind, doctor, I will be contacting a neurologist to conduct a second opinion." Daniel verbally inputs.
"I have no problem with that, but like I said, this condition is permanent, so I will let you have time to process the news."
The physician leaves the room.
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"It's going to be okay," Shauna repeats to her husband.
A tear falls down Max's cheek at the news of his fate.
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END OF EPISODE
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ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF TOWN AND COUNTRY
Jai and Louise reevaluate their relationship.
Sean makes a discovery.
Jacques and Courtney share a moment.
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