"At least she's not a drug addict," surmises ONE LIFE TO LIVE's Bree Williamson about her character, Jessica. "It's funny that Tess avoids getting addicted to heroin but leaves [Jessica] with hepatitis C." That and liver cancer.

In the past year or so, Williamson has had to play Jessica's remembering her childhood abuse, her struggles with Tess, and most recently falling apart in the courtroom just moments before Jessica would have officially adopted Antonio's daughter Jamie. (Viewers will remember Jessica ran out of the court, breaking Jamie and Antonio's hearts in the process. She then had wild quarry sex with Nash on some rocks during a rain storm.) Jessica's life may be difficult, but it's not dull.

Arguably, taping the scenes that began airing the week of May 14 might have been the toughest for the Canadian-born actress. Jessica is close to dying, and her longtime leading man and good friend Kamar de los Reyes (Antonio) was temporarily recast with Robert Montano. De los Reyes needed emergency surgery on his shoulder. He is now back at work and returns to the airwaves May 30.

"Robert was great," Williamson praises, however he wasn't Kamar. "The first person I worked with on the show when I was hired was Kamar. They had this relationship planned from the beginning, and now it's over. That was sad and disappointing, but Robert was really, really good, and the scenes were good."

Among the key scenes are the long-awaited reveal: Bree finally tells Antonio she loves Nash. Yikes!

"I had to tell Antonio (as played by Montano) that it was over. It was probably one of the most exhausting days I've ever had ever working at ONE LIFE TO LIVE."

Fortunately logistics keep the intensity of the day in check for Williamson. "Since they shoot in 'sets,' I'm usually only in one set of the day. Although it's been a lot of work, I haven't been working long hours. The weather's getting better in New York, so there's lots of nice things to focus on."

Note to Bree: Keep focused on those "nice things," because Jessica's life — at least what's left of it — will be taking an even more serious turn.