September 15, 1999
Scene 1: Casa Santos
(Ben and Peeelar are talking when Danny and Michelle come into the room. Ben puts his hands on Peeelar's arms and Peeelar's arms and she says something like "Get your hands off me" or "Don't touch me." I'm not really sure--I try not to listen when she talks.)
Danny: Hey! Hey! (Ooh...he sounds mad. Not to mention sexy!)
Ben: (To Peeelar.) I want an answer. I promise you--
Danny: Get the Hell off my sister!
Scene 2: Casa Santos
Ben: What do you think I was doing?
Danny: Please, you had your hands all over her! You were pawing her.
Peeelar: Danny, it wasn't like that.
Danny: Don't defend him. I saw...what was going on here?
Peeela: Ben wasn't doing anything. He was just...he was trying to comfort me.
Danny: Why? What the Hell's going on? Why are the cops here?
Peeelar: You guys haven't heard?
Michelle: No! (She says that rather forcefully...like she was mad or something, I don't know.)
Danny: We just walked in the door.
Ben: There's been a bad accident. Selena Davis came to see me, I don't know why. She fell down the wine cellar stairs. The paramedics are with her now.
Michelle: What? Did you...did you call Drew? Does she know?
Ben: Yeah, she's here, too.
Danny: Well, how the Hell did that happen?
Ben: We don't know. But Pilar is the one that found Selena, so you can imagine how shaken up she is.
Scene 3: Casa Santos
(Insta-cop Frank and Carmen are talking in what I think is the entryway. Danny and Michelle enter.)
Insta-cop Frank: Those stairs were intentionally rigged to collapse. (Boy, you're a quick one!)
Michelle: What? Somebody did this to Selena on purpose?
Carmen: No, of course not. Detective Cooper (I though it was Insta-cop Frank...?) is just making his usual accusations about us.
Danny: Well, what makes you think the stairs were rigged?
Insta-cop Frank: Because I went down there and looked at them. Someone intentionally weakened the structure.
Michelle: Well, come on, Frank. I mean, who even knew Selena was going to be here?
Insta-cop Frank: It's my guess, it wasn't intended for her. (Really, ya think?)
Danny: Then who?
Insta-cop Frank: I don't know. That's a good question. But what I need is a list of everybody who's been in and out of this house today. I also need to know who has access to that wine cellar. (The paramedics enter, carrying Selena on a stretcher.)
Michelle: Oh my God, Selena. (Paramedics exit.) Danny, everybody who comes in contact with this family gets hurt.
Danny: Michelle, we don't know what happened here--
Michelle: No, it doesn't matter, alright? This is not a life. We're not safe, my friends aren't safe. I can't live like this anymore. I can't.
Scene 4: Casa Santos
(Drew is crying. Jesse is trying to comfort her. She see's Michelle and runs over to her.)
Drew: Michelle! (They hug.)
Michelle: I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Drew: How could this happen to her?
Michelle: Oh, you know what? Hey, listen to me. The hospital is going to take care of her. You're going to stand byher side, you're going to be great, okay? Alright? Do you want a ride? Do you want a ride to see her?
Drew: Yes.
Michelle: Okay, I'll take you. I'll meet you outside, okay? (Drew, Jesse, and Buzz leave.)
Danny: Hey, I'll drive you over. Let me take you guys over.
Michelle: No, no, it's okay. I'm fine.
Danny: Michelle, then let Jimmy take you. I don't want you driving like this.
Michelle: I'm fine, okay? Your family needs you. I'll be fine.
Carmen: Danny, Danny, I'm sorry you had to come home to this.
Danny: What the Hell went on here?
Carmen: I don't know. I have no idea. (Hey, at least she's being honest. That's a first.)
Danny: (Sighs.) Do you think it was an accident?
Carmen: I don't know. If it wasn't, we're going to find out who did it. And who it was meant for. In the meantime, we have to get rid of these cops.
Danny: (Barely audible.) Alright.
Carmen: Okay?
Danny: (Barely audible again.)Yeah.
Carmen: I'm glad you're home. I'm going to need you to help me fix this.
Danny: Yeah. Alright. Okay. (I'm not going to make this next part a new scene for 2 reasons: 1. It's extremely short, and 2. Danny doesn't say anything, he just listens. Anyways, Danny and Carmen are now standing with Ben, Peeelar, and Insta-cop Frank.)
Insta-cop Frank: So Pilar, how did you find Selena down in the wine cellar?
Peeelar: I just...I just went down there--
Ben: I can tell you exactly what happened, Detective. It was my fault.
Insta-cop Frank: Your fault?
Ben: I am responsible for Selena falling down those stairs.
Scene 5: Casa Santos
Insta-cop Frank: Let me get this straigt. (Don't strain yourself!) You're the one responsible for Selena falling down those stairs? You're the one who rigged the stairs to collapse?
Ben: Rigged to collapse? Please. I had noticed the stairs were a little wobbly.
Insta-cop Frank: They were alot more than just wobbly.
Ben: (Annoyed.) May I finish? So I had gone to fix them. I was going to replace the old support with the new support, but I had to leave for a minute, and...
Danny: So you just left them like that?
Ben: I was going to come back and fix them, but Selena went down before I got back.
Danny: Alright, hold on. What the Hell was Selena doing in our house?
Ben: She came to see me, and we don't know why.
Insta-cop Frank: So let me get this straight. (Look, Frank, this is the second time that you're trying to think in less than 5 minutes. Take it slow...you don't want to hurt yourself or anything.) You tried to fix them and that's what weakened them? (So he's not the best handyman...oh, what am I saying? He didn't do anything to those stairs...duh, Natalie, duh...)
Ben: Yeah. Yeah, but they were a little worn. I think maybe the Santos drink too much wine. (I don't know why, but I just loved that line.)
Carmen: So you see, Detective? It was a terrible accident.
Ben: It was horrible.
Carmen: Like I said. (No, I'm pretty sure you said terrible.)
Ben: Horrible. But Olga had told her to wait in the hall.
Insta-cop Frank: You have all the answers, don't you?
Danny: What's the matter, Detective? You don't believe him?
Insta-cop Frank: You know, Mr. Warren, I didn't find any tools down there.
Ben: Well, I put the screwdriver away. Now, if you're finished interrogating us, Detective, I'd like you to leave. We've been more than cooperative.
Insta-cop Frank: I don't think you realise a woman could have been killed here today.
Ben: Of course she could have been killed, but she wasn't murdered, alright? (Okay, yeah...I just understood that line...I know, I know, I'm a bit slow.) If this was any other family, you would have written this off as the accident it was.
Insta-cop Frank: That's just the point. This isn't just another family. This is the Santos family. (Oh, very good, Frank! You're just so quick!)
Ben: Good-bye, Detective. I have to check on Selena. Here's the door. Thank you.
Insta-cop Frank: Let me tell you something. I'd like to give this family a little warning right here because this time you hurt someone that I care about. And I will not let this one go. (He leaves--finally. I was getting tired of him.)
Carmen: Ben, thank you.
Ben: Well, someone had to do it.
Danny: Hey, Ben, why don't you take off? I want to have a word with my mother.
Carmen: Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Ben.
Danny: I don't think so.
Ben: Danny, you better get used to seeing me around. I live here now.
Carmen: Danny, I was going to tell you, but just hear me out.
Danny: When? You forgot? (Ooh...he's mad, now. He's SOOOO sexy when he's mad...ah...)
Carmen: Okay, please, just...I'm happy, Danny. For the first time in my life since we lost your father, I'm really happy. And, as difficult as this may be for you, I'd like for you to be just a little happy for me. (Oh, sure...whatever. Fat chance considering you've tried to kill Michelle too many times to count!)
Danny: I'll be as happy for you and Ben as you are for me and Michelle, how's that sound? (Nice comeback! I love how he just threw that in her face.)
Scene 6: Cedars
(Paramedics are rushing Selena in, saying things that you hear on "ER." Rick's the doctor and he's telling them to take her into a room.)
Rick: Michelle, what are you doing here?
Michelle: Selena fell at Danny's house. (Danny's house? Danny's house? It's your house, too!)
Rick: How did that happen?
Michelle: I don't know. They said it was an accident.
Drew: (Crying hysterically, etc., etc. Can we say over-emoting much?) What are they doing? What are they doing? Is she going to make it?
Rick: I'm going to do the best job I can, okay? (Leaves to go "do the best job he can" on Selena.)
Scene 7: Cedars
(Drew, Buzz, Jesse, and Michelle are watching through a window as Rick and the others work on Selena.)
Drew: She's got to make it. I can't lost her now.
Jesse: (Hugging her.) Don't talk like that. Look, she's going to make it. She's way too tough to go down from one little fall. Right, Buzz? (Buzz doesn't answer, so Michelle jumps in to help Jesse out.)
Michelle: Um, you know what? You know what, Drew? Jesse's right. Selena's going to pull through. She is...Rick is going to take really good care of her. (Rick comes back out, and talks to Drew and everyone. He goes back in and Buzz starts comforting Drew.)
Jesse: It's tough, huh? How you doing?
Michelle: I'm fine. I'm fine. I mean, I just, you know...Selena's going to pull through this. She really is. She's going to do great. She's going to pull through.
Jesse: I mean with what happened. I heard what you said back at the house.
Michelle: Yeah, well, if Danny's family did do this, then that means that I had something to do with it, and I...really don't know how to live with that anymore. I really, really don't.
Scene 8: Casa Santos
Danny: Comes on, Mother. You've done nothing but make Micelle's life miserable the minute we got married. Now, you're going to get a dose of your own medicine. (Whoo-hoo! You go, boy!)
Carmen: Danny, I am trying to get past this, I'm trying to make this up to you.
Danny: I think you're just running low on idea at the moment. (I have to agree with Danny on this one.)
Ben: No, she's accepted Michelle. She have her the house in San Cristobel as a wedding present, she's throwing a welcome home party for the two of you. Would you ladies excuse us? I would like to talk to Danny.
Danny: That sounds like fun.
Carmen: Ben, you don't have to do this.
Ben: I think I do.
Danny: Oh, absolutely. In here. (Danny and Ben go into the office/living room/rec room/anything goes room.) What's up, Ben? What do you get out of living here?
Ben: I get to live with the woman I love.
Danny: Oh. Why do I find that hard to believe?
Ben: Who knows? Maybe you don't like me. You're not exactly Mr. Perfect yourself. (HAHAHA! Oh, yes he is! He most definitely is...)
Danny: That was a pretty slick story you gave the cops about fixing the stairs. What really happened?
Ben: It was a bad accident.
Danny: No, it wasn't an accident. You obviously have convinced my mother that the sun sets and rises on your miserable self, but that doesn't really carry currency with me.
Ben: Currency from the man (No, no, no. That's THE MAN. Capitalisation is the key.) who burned $2 million worth of bearer bonds? (Well, he's got you there, Danny.)
Danny: I'll pay it back.
Ben: With what? All your money's tied up in Santos, it's all in Carmen's name.
Danny: Right. And you'd love to get your hands on it, wouldn't you? But you have to go through me and that's going to be a wild ride.
Ben: There is another way to look at this. I'm helping Carmen run the show, you and your wife are free to leave the family business that you say you hate. Think about it. I might save your marriage.
Scene 9: Cedars
Michelle: I don't know how this happened. I don't know how I became this person.
Jesse: You haven't changed, Michelle.
Michelle: Jesse, a year ago, would you have thought I would be involved in a family like this?
Jesse: You're not one of them.
Michelle: With the information that I have, I could have sent them all to prison by now, but I haven't. I have lied to the police more times than I can count.
Jesse: Well, I think you were doing it to protect Danny.
Michelle: So what does that make me? Innocent? No. This is not how I thought my life would turn out.
Jesse: I think you're being way too hard on yourself, Michelle. And I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I think you're being too hard on Danny, too.
Michelle: I was watching Rick in there, saving Selena, and I was thinking about my plans, you know?
Jesse: Medicine.
Michelle: Yeah, yeah. I mean, all I wanted was to help people like my brother, like my father, and now everything that i just hurts the people that I love. Everything. I'm sorry. I don't mean to dump all of this on you. I mean, I knew what I was getting into when I married Danny, right? I mean, I knew he wasn't going to give up his family for me.
Jesse: You chose it anyway.
Michelle: I said that I would stick by him, no matter what. And I don't regret that. But I've got to tell you, it's really, really hard sometimes when I look in the mirror and I wonder what happened. (I just have to say that I actually liked Jesse in this scene. Don't start throwing cyber tomatoes at me or anything, but it's just so much easier to like him now that he got a haircut...don't ask. I can't explain.)
Scene 10: Casa Santos
Ben: I think you might just need me.
Danny: (Very deadpan.) Like a hole in the head.)
Ben: You made a promise to steer the family towards legitimate activity, didn't you?
Danny: So?
Ben: You were going to distance yourself from illicit activity, but it's a little harder than it sounds. Michelle knew that and she stuck by you anyway.
Danny: Michelle's my wife.
Ben: Well, she had to put everything she wanted on hold until you came through with your promise.
Danny: She does exactly what she wants.
Ben: Oh, please. Sticking by you is a full-time job. But it doesn't have to be. That's why I'm here. Because I can begin to start taking away some of your family responsibilities.
Danny: I bet.
Ben: Carmen and I are already running the business. You can back out with a golden parachute. Wash your hands of all the dirty business and begin to make the life you and Michelle want.
Danny: And you get...more?
Ben: Do you want the business? (Danny stares at him.) Exactly. So if Michelle is the most important thing in your life, now's the chance to prove it. (Danny stares at him some more.) Huh? (Still staring...) Do you? (Carmen and Pilar walk in.) Hi.
Danny: Hmph. (Or something to that nature.)
Carmen: So?
Ben: I think Danny and I have an understanding beneficial to both of us.
Scene 11: Casa Santos
Carmen: So you've accepted Ben in my life? You won't fight it when he moves in?
Danny: Mama, your relations are none of my business. (Nice and subtle. Uh, Carmen? *Hint, Hint*)
Carmen: Danny, try to be happy for me, please. Pilar is trying.
Danny: Yeah. So it's okay with you, sis?
Peeelar: I just want Mama to be happy, so yeah, I guess I go along with it.
Danny: Okay, well, hey! It's solved. There's nothing more to talk about. Ben, welcome to the family. (Shakes his hand.)
Ben: Okay. Thank you.
Carmen: Thank you, Danny. It means alot to me.
Peeelar: I want to call the hospital and check on Selena.
Carmen: I'll come with you.
Peeelar: Okay.
Carmen: I'm going to have those stairs checked on. Where's that Dietz?
Danny: Yes, right away. (Peeelar and Carmen leave.)
Ben: You see? Happy endings. Everyone gets what they want.
Danny: Look, I don't trust you. I don't like you. And I'm going to make sure you're out of this house. Whatever it takes.
Scene 12: Cedars
Jesse: I know you never pictured marrying into a family like the Santos. But Danny...he cares about you. I don't think he'd ever put you in danger.
Michelle: Jesse, Danny has put me in danger. Everyday he's known me, whether he wanted to or not. (Rick walks out. Starts talking. Jesse goes over to Drew.)
Rick: You okay?
Michelle: Yeah. You saved her.
Rick: Well, she's not out of the woods yet, Michelle.
Michelle: It's really good to see you.
Rick: You sure about that?
Michelle: Yeah, I'm, uh, you know, I've been thinking and I realised that when you were keeping me from Danny, you were going it because you were worried about me.
Rick: I still am, but the fact is, you're grown up. You're married. I have no right to tell you what to do with your life. But I still love you because you're my little sister.
Michelle: I love you, too. I really miss feeling like you're part of my life, you know?
Rick: Maybe we can do something about that. Alright?
Michelle: Okay. I'd love to be a family again.
Rick: Well, just, uh, come home with me.
Michelle: I can't, Rick.
Rick: Tonight, Michelle. No, no. Just tonight. Just so we can catch up. What do you say?
Michelle: Okay.
Rick: I miss you. Come here. (They hug, and Michelle's crying.)
Michelle: I miss you, too.
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