Thursday, August 27, 2015

FLASHBACK: 'Another World' The Story of Steven, Rachel & Alice (Part 8)

Walter Mathews played Rachel's father, Gerald Davis,
on Another World.
ANOTHER WORLD: The Story of Steven, Rachel & Alice

The Soap Box
Vol. IV No. 6 June 1979
by Bryna Laub

(continued from Part 7)

Rachel departed for Somerset immediately, ignoring the official opening of Dan Shearer and Russ's new clinic the following day. After all, why should she wait for Russ's sake? He had gone ahead with the clinic, a labor of love in a low-income area, over Rachel's bitter objections. She had been horrified to learn the fees would be based on ability to pay and that Dan and Russ would never earn large incomes as long as they ran it. She felt cheated and didn't care who knew it.

In Somerset, Rachel's lifelong fantasy about a loving reconciliation with her father was cruelly shattered when she discovered he not only couldn't care less about seeing her again, he had another daughter; a petulant and spoiled teenager named Pammy, upon whom he poured all his love and indulgences. Rachel bitterly returned to Bay City with a handful of Riverboat advertising gimmicks he'd pressed upon her as he hustled her out of his office.

Alice, meanwhile, had been dating a fine young man, but just as the relationship turned serious on his part, something happened which made Alice realize she was in no way free of Steven or her love for him.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The "fine young man" Alice had been dating was Chris Tyler, played by Steve Harmon.

One night, just before her shift was over, Alice was summoned to the Emergency Room to assist in an automobile accident case. The patient, suffering from a critical skull fracture was, to her horror, STEVEN! Alice stayed at the hospital all night until the delicate surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain was successfully completed. His condition was still precarious, however, and Alice, without hesitation, remained at his side until he was out of danger.

She was still there when he finally regained consciousness and, to her dismay, she slowly realized that while he had no trouble recognizing her or understanding what had happened to him, he believed they were still engaged to be married! His doctor explained this kind of retrograde amnesia wasn't uncommon following serious head injuries and, learning Steven hadn't wanted the engagement broken, added that often the patient retreats to a happier time in his memory to avoid the pain of what had followed.

Understanding that Steven's recovery would be far easier if he were allowed to believe what his mind needed to hear, Alice agreed to continue the deception until Steven's memory returned on its own.

Alice (Jacqueline Courtney) stayed by
Steven's side while he had amnesia.
The next three weeks were bittersweet for Alice as Steven constantly reaffirmed his love for her, needing continual reassurance from her that she loved him in returned. And as she told him she did, she realized it was the truth, and she would probably go on loving him for the rest of her life. He begged her to describe their future life together and Alice did, painting a beautiful word picture of their dream home in the country set deep in the trees, with walls of windows to bring the outdoors inside.

Steven's physical recovery was rapid as he was young and healthy but his memory still hadn't returned. He knew, however, he was afraid of something, something to do with Alice, for every time she left the room he felt a sudden stab of terror that she would never come back.

And then, suddenly and unexpectedly, he came face-to-face with reality. Alice claimed she wasn't wearing her engagement ring for fear of damaging it with hospital disinfectants but when Steven's assistant sent over clothes for him to wear, Steven found Alice's ring in his jewelry case and remembered everything.

Steven painfully apologized for what she must have gone through these past weeks keeping up the pretense but added he knew her well enough to be sure she loved him. Knowing it was useless to deny it, Alice admitted she still loved him but held firm against his pleas that they put the past behind them. Even if Rachel's son wasn't his child, she explained, the threat that Russ would someday find out his wife was unfaithful to him with Steven was still hanging over their heads. And if that happened and Russ learned that Alice had known about it and married Steven anyway, her relationship with her brother would be destroyed. There was no future for them.

Continue reading Part 9 of a very detailed flashback series, Another World - The Story of Steven, Rachel & Alice...

RELATED:
- FLASHBACK: George Reinholt, Soap Idol 1971
- INTERVIEW: Robin Strasser Reflects On Constance Ford

1 comment:

  1. FYI: This part is incorrect: Alice was summoned to the Emergency Room to assist in an automobile accident case. The patient, suffering from a critical skull fracture was, to her horror, STEVEN! Steven was injured on the work site of one of his construction sites. I believe he was hit by a crane. He was NOT in a car accident

    ReplyDelete