Taylor takes pills after Ridge breaks off engagement to her, Brooke reunites with Ridge
In the heart of Los Angeles, the sun began to set, casting a golden hue over the city. Ridge Forrester stood at the altar, dressed in a charcoal gray tuxedo that accentuated his chiseled features. Yet, despite the elegance of his attire, a storm brewed within him. The beachfront chapel was filled with friends and family, their faces bright with expectation, but Ridge felt a wave of panic crash over him. Every promise he had rehearsed felt hollow, and he could almost hear his own pulse echoing in his head, drowning out the soft organ music that played in the background.
Carter, the best man, stood discreetly to one side of the aisle, noticing Ridge’s stiff posture and trembling hands. He caught Ridge’s eye, reading the unspoken plea in his gaze: “Stop this.” When Ridge turned back to Brooke, who radiated hope in her ivory gown, he took a sudden, decisive step back. A gasp rippled through the crowd as Carter crossed to the center of the aisle, raising his voice to declare that the ceremony must be postponed.
In that instant, Ridge removed his bow tie, dropping it to the floor, and bolted past Carter, out of the chapel doors and into the pounding surf of rain that had begun to fall—a physical mirror of the storm inside him. Meanwhile, in the waiting room, Taylor Hayes paced in her pale silk robe, distraught. She had heard the whispers about Ridge’s wavering commitment, the rumors that he had chosen Brooke. Yet, her heart couldn’t accept it. Her hands shook as she held a small bottle of sleeping pills, medicine meant to calm her panic and silence the relentless questions in her mind. In a moment of sheer desperation, she emptied the pills into her palm and swallowed them dry, chasing them with a sip of water that splashed on the floor. She leaned against the wall, her eyes spinning, and within minutes, she collapsed.
Back in the chapel, Carter received an urgent call from the hospital: Taylor was unresponsive. He raced away, hand pressed to his phone, and moments later burst into the ER, where doctors struggled to keep her stable. Meanwhile, Brooke stood in the drenched chapel, her dress stained by rain and grass, her vision blurred by tears. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to find Nick, holding his phone, his eyes fierce. “You have to stop this tragedy,” he said. “Ridge is in pain, and Taylor might not make it. You can’t wait any longer.”
In that instant, Brooke understood she must act. She tucked stray strands of hair behind her ears, lifted her chin, and followed Nick out of the chapel, down the winding path to the hospital ER entrance. News crews were already there, lights flashing and cameras rolling. Brooke stepped forward in her wedding gown and announced to the press and the hushed medical staff that she was going to marry Ridge at his bedside. Carter, still reeling from his role in postponing the first ceremony, arranged for the hospital chaplain to officiate a private service in the ICU hallway.
The hospital corridor transformed; the antiseptic smell of the ER gave way to the scent of flowers—roses sent by Eric and Quinn, lilies from Stephy, orchids from Flo. A small crowd of nurses and doctors gathered respectfully behind a line of cameras. Ridge lay unconscious, an IV drip in his arm, his face pale under the harsh fluorescent lights. Brooke placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and read her vows in a voice trembling with hope and fear. She promised to stand by him through every storm, to be his strength when he could not find his own, to love him unconditionally. Carter held Ridge’s hand as the chaplain pronounced them married, “in sickness and in health.” Brooke slipped a simple platinum band onto Ridge’s ring finger, and reporters scribbled notes as live feeds began, social media exploding with footage of Brooke Logan becoming Ridge Forrester’s wife while he lay in a coma.
The shockwaves were immediate. Legal questions arose: Was a hospital bed ceremony with the groom incapacitated binding? Was Ridge capable of consenting? Rival attorneys previewed lawsuits on cable news. The Forrester family convened, Eric’s voice low with anger, Quinn pleading for discretion, and Stephy torn between loyalty to her father and compassion for Taylor. They debated annulment versus recognition of the marriage. Across town, Taylor fought for her life under sedation. When she awakened, she would face the news that her ex-husband was married to his other ex-wife—all before she drew her first breath of clarity.
Brooke, exhausted, sat at Ridge’s bedside after the ceremony, her wedding dress ruffled, mascara streaked. On her phone, she saw headlines calling it the “wedding of the century,” “hospital vows,” and “Forrester family in turmoil.” She leaned over Ridge and whispered, “I’m here, Ridge. I’m here.” Outside the hospital, Carter stood in the rain, coat collar up, watching Brooke through the glass doors. He knew he played a role in all of this—first in stopping the wedding at the chapel, then in hastening the hospital service. He wondered if his own heart was as muddled as Ridge’s.
In the distance, Nick appeared beside him, umbrella in hand. “You did what needed to be done,” he said. Carter nodded, but inside, he felt the weight of every life he had touched that day—the panic of a bride who swallowed her fears, the agony of a man who fled his own wedding, the fierce love of a woman who refused to give up. He hoped desperately that no one paid the ultimate price.
Ridge dreamed, but of what, no one knew—a wedding on the shore, a face in white at his bedside, or perhaps a simpler wish: peace. Tomorrow, the Forrester estate would erupt into questions. Would Eric accept Brooke as his daughter-in-law under such circumstances? Would Ridge remember this day at all? Would Taylor’s recovery include forgiveness? The answers lay beyond the sterile walls of the ER, in the halls of Forrester Creations, in the hearts of every person drawn into this whirlwind. But for now, one truth remained: in the face of chaos, Brooke Logan wore her wedding gown and said, “I do,” on behalf of a man who couldn’t speak, reshaping not only his future but hers, and setting the stage for the next explosive chapter in a saga no one would forget.
