John and Sami keep vigil in a conscious Marlena’s hospital room while Kayla attempts to figure out what’s causing her condition. “We know that Stefano is the one causing this!” affirms a distressed Sami. John says he won’t get away with this. Kayla states that they are having the residue that was found in the syringe analyzed, but so far there’s nothing conclusive. She asks them to step out while she draws blood from Marlena.
Outside the room, Sami encounters E.J., who insists that they need to find out exactly what happened to Marlena. John says he’ll be back. E.J. tries to discourage John from confronting Stefano, claiming he’s wasting his time.
Anna demands to know from Stefano what he did to Marlena. “I did what I had to,” replies Stefano. Anna admits that she wishes he had never come out of his coma. She expresses how wonderful their lives have been while Stefano’s been locked away. Stefano tells her she’s always been a bit of a nuisance, then calls her a meddlesome bitch. “Excuse me, you’re talking about my wife!” interjects an agitated Tony. A disgusted Stefano asks Tony how he could keep making the same mistake over and over. Anna and Stefano exchange insults before Tony yells at them to shut up. John soon joins the family reunion to confront Stefano. He speaks in his robotic tone, imploring Stefano to tell him what he did to Marlena so the medical technicians can counter it. “Marlena is ill?” Stefano innocently questions. John walks over towards him and cautions him that he only gets one warning. “Are you comfortable? Or can I get you another pillow?” taunts John, who admits that he should’ve suffocated Stefano. Stefano asks Tony and Anna to leave them, speculating that John wouldn’t dare harm him as long as John thinks that Marlena’s fate is in his hands.
After Anna and Tony exit, John asks Stefano if he enjoyed his coma. Stefano clarifies that he was paralyzed, but his mind was active and he heard everything that went on around him. John reminds Stefano that he’s his half brother and has taken everything, including the entire empire. Stefano warns him that it’s all about to change.
Steve arrives at the hospital in Marlena’s room with baby Joe, asking what happened to Marlena. Kayla informs him that Marlena’s been injected with a paralyzing toxin. “Stefano,” whispers Marlena. Kayla reveals that Stefano’s come out of his coma. “What did the psycho shoot her up with?” questions Steve. Kayla doesn’t know, but says she’s doing her best to find out. Steve assures Marlena that Kayla will take good care of her. She exits the room briefly, then relays to Marlena how she told the nurse to have the lab put everything else aside and work on her tests. She tries to assure Marlena that she’s going to do her best to counteract whatever she was injected with.
Outside the room, Sami admits to E.J. that she hopes John kills Stefano. She rants how Stefano always manages to find a way to wreak havoc on their lives. E.J. reminds Sami that Marlena played God by putting Stefano in a paralytic state. Sami is dubious that her mother caused Stefano’s coma, but E.J. believes she did. Sami claims that if her mother did what Stefano’s accusing her of, she did it because she was desperate to protect the family. “She did it cause she wants to get revenge against my father for what he did to John,” counters E.J. Sami reminds E.J. how he helped them save John. E.J. expected Stefano to go to prison for the rest of his life, not to be trapped in his own body. Sami can’t believe that E.J. feels sorry for Stefano and hopes he chooses carefully about which side he’s on.
Back in Stefano’s room, The Phoenix warns John that he’s going to reclaim his life, and the way he’s going to do it is already in motion. John recalls how his last big plan was a failure, as he went to all that trouble of killing him, resurrecting him, and programming him to kill the one woman who destroyed Santo’s life: Colleen Brady. John taunts how he couldn’t find it in his hard wiring to kill his own mother. Stefano states that John is still his pawn. “Oh, no. I am the man who controls your empire,” retorts John, who warns Stefano that he can snap his neck like a pencil. Stefano asks where Colleen is now. John reveals that she’s dead and gloats how she died with her friends and family all around her. Stefano cryptically warns John that he and his loved ones are not safe.
Sami barges into Marlena’s room, where Kayla gravely tells her that Marlena’s getting worse. Steve proceeds to take Joe to his check-up and tells Marlena to hang in there. He runs into E.J. outside the room and asks him if he had anything to do with Marlena’s condition, but E.J. says no. Kayla still wants to do an EKG and a CAT Scan. Marlena tells her she’s wasting time. Sami then brings up Rolf. Kayla says Roman is looking for Rolf, but he’s had no luck yet. Marlena weakly recites a list of substances which were in Stefano’s toxin. She gravely reveals that before long she won’t be able to move or speak, which makes Sami cry.
Elsewhere, Anna berates Tony for allowing his father to speak to her like that. She urges Tony not to let Stefano walk all over him and insists that they need to figure out exactly what Stefano did to Marlena. Tony fears that Stefano won’t be satisfied until Marlena’s dead.
John asks Stefano why he’s doing this to Blondie. Stefano replies that it’s because of what she did to him. John brings up how Stefano was once in love with Marlena. Stefano admits that Marlena was once his Achilles’ heel and announces that he has plans for everyone who has betrayed him. John says he can’t let him do that. Stefano reminds John who’s in charge, but John slowly puts his hand on Stefano warning him to tell what he did to Blondie. Otherwise, he’ll hurt Stefano. E.J. barges in and demands for John to get his hand off Stefano, reminding John that his father doesn’t respond to threats. “Blondie could be dying,” seethes John. E.J. reiterates his demand to John, suggesting that it’s not like he’s in love with Marlena. “If you were, you wouldn’t have had that whatever it was with Ava Vitali,” adds E.J.
