XJJohnson/jpistudios.com
End Of Story? With Lani (Sal Stowers, l.) and Abe (James Reyolds) by her side, Paulina (Jackée Harry) prepares to meet her fate.
Abe and Lani gather around Paulina at her bedside, hoping she’ll be able to get a new heart and survive her dire health crisis. Paulina, in turn, tries to absorb strength from the supportive family around her; particularly Lani, who’s returned to Salem with her husband, Eli, during her mother’s hour of need.
“It adds to the emotional depth, definitely,” says Jackée Harry (Paulina), referring to the characters’ inclusion in the powerful storyline. “You know how they say, ‘She’s surrounded by love?’ Paulina is. [Her loved ones] talk her back in, because she’s feeling kind of down about her destiny. She feels it’s not her own because of this sickness. But they rally around [her]. Yet I still think it’s hanging over her.”
When Marlena stops by, Paulina asks for a moment alone with her. The two women have a heart-to-heart about mortality. “I love Deidre Hall [Marlena]. She’s one of my favorite people, and we get along really well,” enthuses Harry. “So we worked on those scenes together. It’s about accepting, first of all, aging, especially with women. And Marlena is a psychiatrist. So she’s able to assuage and put to rest some of Paulina fears, which is legacy. Because Paulina is looking at it like, ‘I’m going to die. I’m not going to see my grandchildren grow up.’ ”
Marlena encourages Paulina to stay strong and fight. “Deidre’s character inspires hope,” points out Harry. “[Marlena] talks Paulina out of [thinking she’s going to die]. She says, ‘No, no, no. You have to have faith that you’re going to be all right.’ ”
Despite Marlena’s encouraging words, Paulina later tells Lani and Abe that she wants to revise her will to prepare for the worst. “I was like, ‘Hmmm. Is she going to leave [her estate] to Abe? Is she going to leave it to Chanel? Is she going to leave it to Lani? What is she going to do with it?’ ” muses Harry. “But ultimately it’s the grandbabies, the twins — that’s who’s going to get the money. She wants them to be taken care of because they’re the future. And she wants to leave a legacy to the town of Salem. So I’m sure she donates some money to charitable institutions there as well. That’s how I see it.”
With that important step taken, Paulina tries to stay strong. However, she’s prepared for whatever fate awaits her….
