July 28, 2006

Kayla: Let's get out of here. I don't like the effect this place has on you.

Steve: No, this is where I belong.

Kayla: No, you belong with me and your daughter.

Steve: That's what you want to believe.

Kayla: Yeah.

Steve: Being back here -- Cincinnati, in this place -- I realize this is the only life I can relate to. All right, listen, I spent a lot of time in Salem with you and Jack and Stephanie. It was like total immersion, right? I didn't remember one thing. Not one thing was remotely familiar to me.

Kayla: It wasn't a lot of time, and maybe if you had hung in there a little bit longer.

Steve: It's not fair to you. You're putting your life on hold for me. I don't want you to do that. I really think it's best if we go our separate ways now.

Kayla: You mean that.

Steve: Yeah, I do. I don't want to hurt you any more than I already have, but I think it's time for us to say goodbye.

Kayla: I can't say goodbye to you. Not again. I can't believe that's what you really want.

Steve: Look, I don't know who I am. I don't know who you are, either.

Kayla: I'm your wife.

Steve: I don't know how we can have a meaningful relationship based on a past that one of us doesn't remember.

Kayla: We'll start over. We'll get to know each other all over again. I thought that's what we were doing. And I will still hold out hope that someday, you will remember what we had.

Steve: Yeah. Like I told you before, I know this isn't a case of simple amnesia.

Kayla: No, you don't know that.

Steve: Yes, somebody did this to me purposely.

Kayla: To take us apart? To break us up?

Steve: Yeah, I think so. I don't know.

Kayla: Well, then, you know what? I have declared war on that person. They have taken away my marriage, my family, and you know what? That makes me want to fight. But that's not what you want, is it? You don't want to fight for us.

Steve: No, Kayla. I don’t.

Steve: Kayla, I don't want to hurt you. You got to be realistic.

Kayla: Just because you're willing to give up doesn't mean that I am.

Steve: I'm not giving up. I don't know how to fight for something I don't remember.

Kayla: I thought that's why we came to Cincinnati -- so you could find something to help you remember your past.

Steve: Yeah, that was the idea, but the only thing this trip accomplished was it made me realize where I belong. That's here. My life is in Cincinnati, just the way your life is in L.A.

Kayla: No, my life is with you, wherever you are. You're the only man I have ever loved.

Steve: I thought you told me once there was another man.

Kayla: No, what I said was, when I lost you, I lost everything and that our child was the only thing that kept me from giving up, and because of Stephanie, I felt that I had to create some kind of life, some sort of family. So, yes, I got involved with another man, but it didn't stand a chance because I knew in my heart I would never love anybody the way I love you. And it didn't take long for him to figure that out, too. So, that was the last time I took a chance on love, and I've been living like this ever since. I loved you then, and I love you now. And if you walk out of my life tonight, I will love you for the rest of my life, and that's just the way it is.

Steve: Listen...you deserve to have that kind of love in return...but I'm sorry. I don't think it can come from me.

Steve: I want you and Stephanie to get on with your lives and stop worrying about me.

Kayla: Can't do that.

Steve: Yes, you can. You've wasted too much of your life on me. It's time for it to end. Look, I'm sorry. It's not like I'm gonna drop out of sight. I'm not gonna lose touch, but you have got to stop banging your head against the wall, trying to make me remember the person that you remember. I'm never gonna be that guy again.

Kayla: I don't care. I don't care.

Steve: Kayla, you were doing great before I blew back into your life.

Kayla: I was not doing great.

Steve: You were doing good work. You should go to Africa like you planned, huh? And you should let Stephanie get on with her career. I know you don't like what she's doing, but you got to let her be herself.

Kayla: Would you listen to yourself? You're talking like a parent. You're talking like my husband.

Steve: Jeez. I mean, you just don't give up, do you?

Kayla: No, and neither do you.

Steve: I know you don't like my life, but you're asking me to give that up, too, you know.

Kayla: What, Della?

Steve: Not Della. Everything. You're asking me to choose between what's comfortable and familiar and a blank slate. Now, what would you choose?

Kayla: So, you want me to go?

Steve: It's what I need.

Kayla: There's nothing I can do to change your mind?

Steve: That's the way it has to be.

Kayla: So I guess this is it.

Steve: I guess so. You know, even though I don't remember any of you, it was nice to know I had some people who loved me.

Kayla: Still do.

Steve: Kayla, you know, I wish I could be the Steve Johnson you remember, but I can’t. I'm different now.

Kayla: Not to me. If you would just come back to Salem, I know it could be different.

Steve: No, stop it. Stop. You have to stop. Please, just try to understand.

Kayla: I have tried. And I will never understand. Never.

Kayla: [Sniffles] [Sobbing]