FAREWELL, ROBERT RODAN!
Julia tries to help Adam, but he knows she's doing it only to keep Barnabas alive. He takes off into the night. Julia would rather take care of Barnabas, but he tells her to look after Vicki, who apparently will be okay. We can’t have Vicki wake up here, Barnabas says urgently. Julia, get your car. Shall I make plans for the rest of the night, too? Julia asks pointedly. Shall I find Willie, tell him to bring a coffin to this room? A coffin that you may need at sunrise--because that's the risk you're taking, Barnabas. Or shall we go try and find Adam? Barnabas tells her somberly, I already made that decision when I fired that shot. Help me, Julia, he implores her.
Adam seeks the one friend he might have left--he drags himself through Professor Stokes's living-room window and grabs a letter opener (great way to greet a friend!). The phone rings, and he picks it up. It's Jeff Clark, but Adam says nothing and hangs up. A moment later, Stokes arrives. Startled at first, the professor quickly recovers his normal Zen-like calm and assesses the situation. He calls his own doctor, Carl Something, to treat Adam. Carl avoids the usual fate of male doctors in the Collins universe by staying off screen. Adam bursts into tears but turns away, mortified. You're becoming too civilized, Professor Stokes says with mild irony and a little sadness. He helps Adam lie down on the sofa. Torn and bloodstained, the handsome green sweater that Carolyn gave Adam is irretrievably ruined.
Vicki wakes up and remembers almost nothing. Julia promises to stay with her.
Adam is cleaned up and now wearing a red plaid shirt. Stokes regrets not following through on his promise to educate Adam but says Adam now has a second chance. No, says Adam morosely. No one will ever love me. I can't comment on that, Stokes says. I’ve never been much of a prophet. Perhaps love is too much to expect in your present condition, but you can change. Gazing at his reflection in the mirror over the mantelpiece, Adam says, I can’t--I’m too ugly. Stokes cheerily says, That's simple to remedy! Nowadays anyone can make himself handsomer if he wants to. I know a clinic, and if you don't like the old Adam, they'll make a new one! I need a project! Just then someone rings the doorbell. To Adam’s horror, it’s Jeff Clark--of course Adam remembers Eve and Vicki. Please don’t let him in, Adam begs Stokes. The professor thinks for a moment, then tells him to hide in the next room. Adam leaves both the room and the show forever.
Jeff tells Stokes, Someone picked up your phone before, but didn’t says anything. Stokes observes wryly, I suspect this place is haunted, but in all my reading I’ve never heard of a ghost who used the telephone! [Little does he know!] Jeff wants to find out how and why Peter Bradford came to this century. He eats Stokes's special herbal leaves and goes into a trance, describing Peter Bradford's birth and parents. I came to this century because I love her, he realizes--then in his mind's eye he sees Vicki about to be hanged. He starts to be pulled back to the past, but Vicki hears his voice and quietly leaves her room. (Julia has fallen asleep.) She bursts into the professor's house and clings to Jeff, anchoring him in the present. Jeff promises they'll be married tonight. Meh.
