Hospital - New Years Eve: Rachel and Chris are both working. He says he needed to pick up a shift because he took so much time off for the trial. She told him that there's a little party going on in the coffee room, he thinks that's a pathetic way to end a millennium (he is very cold towards her.) He's paged and calls the number - it's someone telling him that Julie's van never arrived back at Ferncliff. He phones to get someone to fill in for him and Rachel asks if he thinks there was an accident or if Julie tried to escape.

Serena and Karen talk to Scott and he utters more words of doom: he'll have a great wedding, great life, great wife. Meanwhile, Lucy is wearing a form fitting gown and munching on chips. (I hate Lynn Herring. After two kids and at her age, she could at least be decent enough to get a love handle or two!!) Aunt Charlene rushes in with the news that Christina is missing! They run out to the main room and tell everyone and ask Serena what happened. She told them about the delivery man, and says when she returned to the playpen, Christina was gone. She assumed that Charlene had taken her. Lucy guesses that Christina crawled out through a hole in the playpen and starts to panic. Charlene had noticed that the door had been left ajar and Lucy worries that she crawled outside. Scott, Joe and Kevin go out to look, while Lucy worries that she has been kidnapped. After everyone scatters, Serena starts to cry - Courtney and Neil try to comfort her. Later, Charlene joins them and blames herself. Mary and Victor (on crutches) watch. Victor laments his uselessness on crutches, but Mary asks him to pray with her. Everyone but Scott and Lucy run in - they didn't find anything. Scott comes in and worries Lucy is lost too.

Rachel and Chris are speeding down the route that the police van had taken. Rachel worries about their speed. Chris scolds Rachel about how bad she looked at trial and thinks that may have pushed Julie to try to escape. They see flashing lights and stop at the scene of the crash. The cops there tell them Julie is missing and one of the injured guards told them she supposedly went for help. The cop walks away and they hear a call over the radio about a missing child - Christina. The cops worry because a weapon is missing - Rachel assures them that Julie is not a threat. They are unconvinced and say she is considered armed and dangerous.

Outside, Julie is cuddling Christina and believes that the baby recognizes her. She talks to her about running away where no one will ever find them. Julie talks about the cold and keeping her warm, but neglects to cover her head. She talks about never letting her go, but can't think of where they could go. A panicky Lucy comes up and sees Julie holding Christina and standing in the light of a window. (The light is coming down as a shaft of light - angelic looking.) Lucy asks for her back, and Julie told her she would never heard Christina. She told Lucy she found her outside, checked her out, Christina is fine. Luc told her about her dream. Julie tearfully hands Christina to Lucy. Lucy runs in and says Christina is safe, thanks to Julie. They all turn and see Julie in the doorway. Kevin asks Julie what she's doing there, Lucy told him what happened. Julie told them to call an ambulance. Karen takes the shivering Julie over to clean her cut and get her warmed up. They pass Frank, Courtney, and Neil. Julie says hi to Courtney and Frank and told Neil that she didn't kill his father. They don't comment and Julie asks why everyone is there. Karen told her that Scott and Lucy are getting married - Julie congratulates them. Scott thanks her for saving their little girl. Julie wonders if she'll think it was all a dream when she wakes up tomorrow at Ferncliff. Lucy told her she feels the three of them (Julie, Christina, and Lucy) have a special connection. Julie says she feels it too and then Lucy gets the weird feeling they'll be repeating that moment sometime. Chris and Rachel arrive and Julie hugs Chris. Julie told them her story of finding Christina. The police arrive and take Julie outside, followed by Chris. They agree to give Julie and Chris a few minutes. Chris asks Julie why she didn't run. Julie told him it wouldn't have worked - she needs Chris and Christina to survive. Lucy told Scott maybe all their problems are a sign that they shouldn't get married that night. They agree to wait. Lee comes over and they tell him the decision. They count down - 3 - 2 - 1 - Happy New Year!! All the couples decide it's going to be their millennium, while Rachel watches alone from the doorway and mutters that they should all enjoy themselves because next year it will be her party.

At the hospital, Chris is at the front desk as Eve approaches and says Happy New Year! She comments that Julie sure brought it in with a bang. Chris says yes but Eve has to concede that Julie isn't the monster she's been made out to be. Yeah, says Eve, but she's no girl scout either. Chris says she may change her tune when she hears Cooper's testimony on the stand today. He's placing all his hope on Cooper? He is. Since Rachel blew it on the stand, he has to.

At Ferncliff, Rachel is showing Julie the headlines about Julie saving the guard and Christina. Julie says that the jury wont see it. What good is it? She regrets her decision to return Christina and not run. She is unsure why she did it. Julie asks what difference does it make anyway? Rachel says she has to remain positive but Julie told her it's getting awfully hard. Julie really seems to wish she'd done the wrong thing and run with Christina. She isn't all that confident that Cooper will come through. Rachel assures her Cooper will not let them down.

At the, ummm, wherever they keep Cooper these days, Cooper is in the visitor's room when Kevin enters. Kevin tries to play him to tell the truth on the stand by saying Rachel told Greg what to do and that he only thinks he's in control. Greg seems to see through it and says so. Kevin told him that if Greg gets on the stand and says he committed all the murders, Kevin will know that Rachel is calling the shots - not Cooper. They play verbal and mind games with Kevin saying he's disappointed; he had been so impressed thinking Greg had masterminded the whole thing that his just doing it himself was a letdown. Greg must not be the genius he thought he was. Time for Court!

At the hospital, Eve asks Chris for a ride to court. Chris says that, while he may not have total faith in Rachel, he does not side with her and Kevin. Eve says she wants to talk about Rachel. Doesn't he find her pattern of freeing murderers alarming? Chris says he's not blind to Rachel and that he'll be watching her very closely.

Rachel, at Ferncliff, picks Julie up for court. Julie is still obsessed with Christina and her decision not to run. She laments missing Christina grow and change. Julie brought up Rachel's "other" patient and how Rachel was wrong about her. Rachel says she wasn't wrong; Jane wouldn't do as she said. Jane disobeyed her; Julie won't. Julie say she is obviously scared of seeing Cooper again. She doesn't know how she'll react.

At the courthouse, Chris and Eve meet Kevin. Chris is angry with Kevin for discrediting Rachel. Kevin says he did what was right. Chris says he's on Julie's side and only Julie's and storms off. Kevin says it looks like Chris won't be helping them get the goods on Rachel. Eve says Chris does have his own suspicions about Rachel. Kevin told Eve about his meeting with Greg and she says she bets he did better than he thinks.

In the courtroom, Chris and Julie greet each other. Kevin and Eve enter with Dara. Everything hangs on Cooper. Cooper enters and gives Kevin a long, strange look. He also stops and says "Hello, Marsha" to Julie who has a series of flashbacks and then regains her composure. Rachel and Chris, after comforting Julie, worry about Cooper's meaningful glance at Kevin.

The trial starts again and Cooper is called to the stand. The ask the usual questions and he answers seemingly truthfully (to this updater's memory anyway) and in his usual cocky manner. When asked about the murders, he retorts that getting in and out of a high security institution, killing people, and then sneaking back in unnoticed is ludicrous. When the judge presses for an answer, he says, clearly, he didn't kill anyone. Julie did it. The courtroom went mad!!

Scott arrived at the courthouse just as Cooper stood by his testimony that Julie had committed the murders. An angry Chris later blamed Kevin and Eve for tampering with Julie's defense. Chris and Rachel then locked horns over the best course of action for Julie. Karen told Matt that she had decided not to tell Joe that Neil was Frank's son and not his. Meanwhile, Frank realized that Courtney was near her breaking point as they mourned the loss of their unborn daughter. Frank decided to try and protect Courtney from finding out that Karen knew the truth about Neil. Joe put on a brave front when he learned that another patient was helped by the bone marrow drive. Joe gave Karen the cold shoulder when she tried to distract him and he privately broke down over his inability to save Neil.

Darren and Chris were opposed to Rachel's idea that Julie take the stand in her own defense. Later, the chasm between Chris and Rachel deepened as Chris plotted with Darren to get Rachel removed from Julie's case. Meanwhile, Lucy began to look at Julie in a new light due to her rescue of Christina and vowed to help prove her innocence. Scott also began to feel that Julie might be innocent after an enlightening conversation with Lee. Scott confronted Rachel about the fact that she lied to him about the deal she had made with Cooper, but Rachel passionately argued that she was merely doing everything she could to free an innocent woman. Rachel then urged Scott to help her persuade Julie that taking the stand was the right thing to do. Lucy visited Julie and told her that she now believed she was innocent and attempted to convince her not to follow Rachel's advice about taking the stand.

A LUNCH RECESS DURING WHICH ALMOST NOBODY EATS ANYTHING.
Almost the entire episode takes place during the lunch recess from Julie's trial. I hope the jurors had a nice leisurely lunch at the Port Charles Grill while everybody else was busy arguing.

LUCY AND SCOTT AND JULIE AND CHRIS AND RACHEL AND DARREN
At the mental hospital (its name escapes me at the moment), Lucy is talking to Julie, having come there during yesterday's episode to thank Julie for saving Christina. Lucy is surprised when Scott and Rachel arrive. She asks Scott what brought him there; he's there to talk to Julie about her case. Lucy remarks that she and Julie were just discussing the case too, and Lucy thinks it's a bad idea for Julie to testify. Rachel disagrees, telling Julie that she and Scott both think Julie should take the stand. Lucy bristles at this remark; she asks why Scott is suddenly agreeing with Rachel. Scott explains that it's a long shot, but it's the only shot Julie has. Back at GH, Chris and Darren Leopold are talking about Rachel. Chris doesn't want Julie to testify, and he thinks the best thing is to get rid of Rachel. Darren doesn't think that's in their best interests right now. Chris is still upset over the damage Rachel did to Julie on the stand; he wants them to find a new shrink who will give Julie a favorable evaluation. Darren points out that there's no way they can do that in time - they have to be back in court in the afternoon. So get a continuance, Chris suggests; Darren says the judge won't agree.
Scott agrees with Rachel. One of the first lessons in law school is to keep the defendant off the stand - there are a lot of ways it can backfire - but in Julie's case, it's worth it. Rachel chimes in that sometimes ya gotta break the rules. Scott agrees, adding that Julie has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by testifying.
Lucy, who has been reacting to this exchange with many eye-rolls and grimaces, clears her throat pointedly and drags Scott out into the hall. She wants to know what's wrong with Scott - did Rachel put "some kind of hex" on Scott? Lucy thought Scott was just going to see Rachel to find out how she coerced Cooper into his confession; she didn't expect him to "show up arm in arm with that wicked witch." Scott objects to her characterization of his arrival, and explains that he wants to help Julie. Lucy is astonished - does this mean Scott thinks Julie is innocent? Scott bellieves that Julie is not getting good advice from Darren Leopold, so she needs to get it somewhere.
Meanwhile, Julie told Rachel that all this advice is confusing - especially with Scott added to the equation. Why is he even there? (Because the next storyline development requires it, Julie - just accept it.) Rachel continues to try to convince Julie to take the stand - inside, Julie knows the answer, and she should let her trusted friends lead her to the answer she already knows. The bottom line: while nobody can guarantee that the jury will believe her, if she sits and does nothing, there isn't much hope. Darren and Chris arrive and snipe with Scott briefly out in the hall; they are not at all pleased to see Scott there offering legal advice. They go in to see Julie and Rachel. Chris told Julie that they should fire Rachel, who is part of the problem, not the solution. Rachel, naturally, is furious. Out in the hall, Lucy is busy eavesdropping. Scott tries to drag her away, pointing out that they have better things to do than "eavesdrop at an insane asylum." Lucy can think of one thing - can he name five more? Yeah, he answers - soon they're gonna come to get her.
Finally, Scott drags her away over her loud objections. Rachel asks what the jury will think if she's fired. Chris considers that a benefit - the jury has lost respect for Rachel. Julie defends Rachel and insists that Rachel is staying. Thanks to Rachel, she is out of Cooper's control. She has decided - she's keeping Rachel as her doctor, AND she is testifying. Chris and Darren try to convince her otherwise while Rachel smirks silently. Julie asks for Chris's support, and he reluctantly gives it. Darren is upset - he's the only one in the room qualified to make a legal (not emotional) decision, and Julie should not testify. Darren believes that Cooper's earlier confession - even though it was recanted - creates reasonable doubt. He refuses to put Julie on the stand, and if she insists on testifying, Julie needs to get herself another lawyer. Julie sticks to her guns - she IS going to testify.

MEANWHILE, AT THE LIGHTHOUSE
Kevin is sitting in the den, eating a banana and flipping through some papers. He finds a photo of himself with Eve, and stares at it, deep in thought. The woman in question appears (with what looks like a new hairstyle), back from the hospital. They're planning to go to court in the afternoon - Kevin told her the defense may rest. She gives Kevin a present - a replica of the race car they got at the thrift store, the night they first made love. Kevin looks it over, remarking that now Eve has a matching set. She corrects him - 'We have a matching set." Eve is thinking a lot about starting over. She intends to make it up to Kevin for lying to him about Bordisso, so that things will be the same as they were before she lied to him. You can't do that, Kevin responds - it'll never be the same. And, he continues, what were they anyway? "People in love," Eve told him. No, he responds, they were people living an illusion, living in two different relationships. He thought they were a team, and yet she couldn't trust him enough to come to him when Bordisso threatened her. She already told him why she couldn't - and she's sorry. But he told her it's not about apologies. He's looking for a partner, not just someone he can make love to at a thrift store, sing Karaoke with, or plan trips with. But, she asks, didn't those special times mean something to him? Yes, he answers, but good times aren't enough. Eve asks Kevin if he is breaking up with her. He told her that when they first got together, they were on the rebound and jumped in without looking. But he doesn't want to break up - instead, he wants to really know her, below the things on the surface. Specifically, he wants to know the woman who couldn't come to him at her darkest time. Eve isn't sure she can do that. Besides, once he told her that what they had was enough. Kevin explains that he was wrong - or maybe kidding himself. It hurt him terribly that she shut him out when she was in trouble with Bordisso, and he can't go through that again. He wants a "deep, honest commitment," and anything else is a waste of time for both of them. Eve has spent her whole life building walls so that she could be secure and in control - and she's terrified to knock the walls down. But, retorts Kevin, it's necessary if they want a real relationship. For one thing, what if he doesn't like what he sees? Kevin points out that he has to take the same chance. But they're stuck where they are until they risk it, and Kevin loves her enough to do be willing to do it. Is she? Yes, she is - because she loves him so much.

OKAY, EVERYBODY, BACK TO THE COURTHOUSE
Evidently recess is just about over. Kevin and Eve show up at the courthouse. Dara joins them in the hall; she is chipper, basking in the hope that Cooper has sealed Julie's fate, and that Darren will rest his case during the afternoon. Kevin advises that she not to count her chickens quite yet. In the courtroom, Lucy notes that Rachel and Chris are sitting together; Scott speculates that Rachel must not have been fired, and Lucy figures that it just means that Rachel is impossible to get rid of once she gets her claws into someone. Scott and Lucy discuss whether or not Julie is guilty. Lucy doesn't think Julie is capable of killing anyone; Scott doesn't seem to be quite so sure. Court is convened. The judge has just learned that Darren has been fired; she asks why, and Julie explains that they disagreed about strategy. The judge asks if Julie intends to represent herself; Julie says, no, and thus she needs time to find a new lawyer. Dara is furious, and claims that it's an attempt to create a mistrial. Rachel insists that it's not a trick. Dara thinks Darren should be forced to finish the trial; Julie insists that she doesn't want Darren to represent her. The judge asks her if she realizes how this will affect her case; Julie retorts that she deserves an attorney who will defend her according to her wishes. Judge Martin says that she will appoint a public defender. Chris asks for time to find a new attorney; the judge refuses, pointing out that Julie she should have thought of this before she fired Darren. Julie begs for some time, but the judge is concerned about the jurors, who need to get back to their lives. The bickering is interrupted when, Scott stands up and states that he will represent Julie.