Salmonella

**Salmonella** is the sixty-ninth chapter of Push to the Limit and the four hundred forty-fourth chapter of the series overall. It is 9,711 words long and told entirely in third person.

Kitty and Gaby get sick and have to go to the hospital. Julie finds herself physically attracted to someone and Dan gives a final shot at convincing Harmony that Theo is bad for her.

## Plot

Julie wakes up and finds the bed empty so she walks to the nursery next door and finds Sam with the girls. She tells him he looks good as a father and the two kiss before being interrupted by her stomach grumbling. Sam says he'll go get breakfast started and heads downstairs. After dressing the girls, Julie goes downstairs, where Ryder is cooking her breakfast. She thanks him for making bacon and gets one off the stove, but it's hot and burns her so she drops it. Ryder picks it up and gives her a new, cooled one. After she eats it the two kiss and he asks her to bring the kids downstairs so they can have breakfast together. Julie heads upstairs and grabs the girls but is met at the top of the staircase by Jake, who apologizes for sending her off to get both girls on her own. He takes one down with him and the two set them up at the table. Jake asks if he can give Izzy a piece of his pancake and Julie says yes, after which Jake says that he can take the girls to daycare but not pick them up. They discuss their plans to have dinner with Bree and Stefan and get Riley to babysit and Julie points out when Jake says 'our girls' in reference to the twins. Jake tells her that he loves her and her daughters and that though he would never try to replace Sam in their lives, he does want to be a parental figure for them. Julie tells him she loves him, too. After Jake leaves to drop the girls off at daycare, Julie takes a shower and once she comes out Shawn is in her room on his laptop. He tells her that he is working on a new chapter for the book he is supposed to finish by the end of the year and that it is due the next morning, but assures her that it will not interfere with their dinner plans. Julie brings him into the closet with her to change and asks if he wants to procrastinate with her, dropping her towel and enticing him inside. She then goes to the studio to work on a new song and meet with her producers. The first to arrive is Sebastian whom she immediately flirts with and puts on the couch with her in an attempt to have sex. He stops her, however, as they have other producers coming in to work with her, but promises that they will get to have sex once they come back from their dinner. After her recording session, Julie goes inside to shower once again and then remembers that she was supposed to pick up the girls from daycare. She begins to panic but Nick arrives with the girls and says that when he called and she didn't answer he figured she was still busy and took the liberty of picking them up. They go on and get ready for dinner and set out to Bree's house. Once there, she and Caleb enjoy a good time with their friends. Caleb reveals that the dinner was not to celebrate his career success like she originally thought but for him to express how much she likes him. He then pulls out a ring and asks her to marry him, to which he says yes. As they leave, Julie is still wonderstruck by the engagement and they decide to celebrate in the best way possible when they get home. Julie enters her house with Alex, who immediately shuts the door and carries her up the stairs. In the bedroom, the two start passionately kissing and begin to have sex. Julie then wakes up and, realizing it was all a dream, freaks out.

While at the gym with Albany, Julie shares her concerns about the dream she had. Albany tells her that sex dreams are normal and looks up what they could mean on the internet. After reading dream interpretations, she deducts that Julie had a dream about having sex with Alex because of her subconscious working out the fact that Alex is moving out of the house and that she is unhappy with that decision. As they talk about him, Alex gives Albany a call, attempting to get in touch with Julie. Though Kitty was supposed to be with the twins, Alex is with them and they are having a meltdown, so Julie grabs her things and heads over to her house.

When Julie arrives at the house, one twin is screaming and the other is crying. She goes upstairs and hears Izzy calling out for her in a panic, calming down as soon as Julie arrives. Alex is relieved to see her and explains that Kitty began to vomit and got so sick Dean had to take her to the hospital and that since he was there packing he stayed with the girls. However, Izzy began to panic upon realizing her parents weren't home and once he started giving her attention, Gaby got jealous and began to scream for him. As he carries Gaby, she throws up on him so he puts her back in her crib and goes to his room to change his shirt. Julie goes to Gaby and after she throws up again calls Alex back. He returns shirtless and though she is momentarily distracted, she feels Gaby's head and realizes she is coming up with a fever. Concerned, Alex offers to take them to the hospital.

Marley explains to Dean that Kitty probably has food poisoning and it's likely not threatening. She says she will continue to oversee Kitty but asks him to do her a favor and give someone a call for her.

In the car, Julie calls Sam over and over again, but he is not picking up. When they get to the hospital, Alex drops her off at the entrance and tells her to hurry Gaby inside while he finds parking and watches over Izzy. Once Julie leaves, Izzy begins to freak out again and Alex assures her that they'll go be with her mom soon.

Kitty speaks to Dr. Holstein, who is sure that she has food poisoning and attempts to deduct what could've caused it. Kitty says she has been eating healthy foods but begins to make a list of everything she's had the last two days anyway.

Sam and Santana arrive at the hospital and hears Izzy crying, following her voice to the waiting room where Alex, and Dean are waiting. Alex tells them that Gaby is being attended and Julie is with her currently. Dean tells them that Kitty is also there and sick with food poisoning. When Julie returns she is happy to see Sam there and says that Brooke is in charge of helping Gaby, which brings comfort to everyone. Julie is freaking out about Gaby and wants to go do something but Alex tells her that she can't do much other than wait, so she and Sam sit down and try to be patient.

Dan is in New York and meets Harmony at a park. He once again warns her about Theo but she refuses to listen to him. Dan invites her to watch a Rhythmix show with him and Harmony accepts, telling him she will meet him there.

Amity, John and Riley have joined the others in the hospital. Kitty is getting her electrolytes replenished and seems to be getting better but when Julie and Sam return from being with the twins, they reveal that Gaby has salmonella and Izzy has to be checked for it too. Brooke tells them that the plan is to keep Gaby overnight and send Izzy home assuming she doesn't have the virus. Brooke offers to make a home visit once both girls are back home and then takes Sam off with her to be with the twins while they wait for the results. When Santana offers her help, Riley shuts her down, calling her out about the lies she told to get herself a recording contract. Julie tells them that she will deal with her later but now she doesn't care about that. Kitty joins them, feeling a lot better, and Julie tells her that she should go home. Kitty wants to stay but Julie says she will need Kitty to be home and rested so that she, along with John, can watch Izzy overnight. Dean takes Riley and Kitty home and Julie asks Santana to leave. Though the latter is reluctant, Amity convinces her to go and Julie then asks John and Alex to stay with her and wait.

Harmony arrives at the Rhythmix concert late but Dan is backstage waiting for her. Together they watch as the girls begin to sing Case Closed upon request from Dan. Harmony realizes that Dan has meant for her to listen to the song as some sort of warning about her relationship and gets emotional as well as frustrated so she leaves once the song ends.

Dan follows Harmony out to a back alley and she asks why he cares so much about her relationship. Dan says that Theo is terrible and he cares about her too much to let her be with someone who is abusive. He tells her that he can see how scared she is and say he has manipulated her into changing her whole life. When Harmony says that he helped her get back to New York, following her dreams again, Dan says that she did that for herself and all he's done is cut her off from her friends and her old life. Harmony claims that she left everyone behind on her own doing and Dan tells her that only because Theo has her convinced that they are bad people but everyone cares about her. She backs away from him, saying it is wrong for her to talk to him and Theo could get upset, which further frustrates Dan, who tells her that it's not right for Theo to control her that much. As he hugs her, she asks again why he cares when no one else does. Dan insists that he just does and proceeds to kiss her, which sends Harmony into a panic. He assures her that he won't let anyone hurt her and is there for her. Shana and Zoe come out and see them, so they decide to go back inside and give them privacy. Zoe lingers, watching them and wishing Dan the best before going back inside.

John and Julie watch Gaby rest and John prepares to leave, as Alex has already taken Gaby over to be watched by Kitty. Julie wants to talk to him before he leaves and tells him about the dream she had about Alex. She confesses that she has been thinking about it a lot and John asks if this means she's into Alex now. Julie denies it but is concerned that she is now finding herself physically attracted to Alex. John tells her that's to be expected and that as long as she doesn't act on it everything is fine. He begs her not to tell Alex and get his hopes up because he wants the old Alex back. As he leaves, he once again asks her to please not get Alex involved in her romantic life again because he really liked her and is finally getting over it. Julie stays alone with Gaby, waiting for Sam to return with food.

Kitty sits at home with John and Izzy, discussing Sarah's launch party invitation. John says Sarah isn't as bad as everyone thinks and then recalls that he used to say the same about Kitty so maybe he's a poor judge of character. Someone is at the door and Dean goes to get it, revealing that Vince along with his wife Taylor have come by to check on her. Kitty is clearly not happy about this, especially when Taylor insists that they will stay there all week until she is fully recovered.

## Songs

### Billboard 200

* "Who I've Been" - Crystal Army
	+ Number 7
	+ Last Week: 8
	+ Peak Position: 1
	+ Weeks on Chart: 40

* "Black Roses" - Juliet Vasquez
	+ Number 9
	+ Last Week: 13
	+ Peak Position: 1
	+ Weeks on Chart: 29
* "Don't Look Back" - Travis Hilton
	+ Number 11
	+ Last Week: 11
	+ Peak Position: 1
	+ Weeks on Chart: 14
* "No Pressure" - Jake P.
	+ Number 23
	+ Last Week: 15
	+ Peak Position: 6
	+ Weeks on Chart: 4
* "Amity Hills" - Amity Hills
	+ Number 88
	+ Last Week: 66
	+ Peak Position: 3
	+ Weeks on Chart: 30
* "Stand Down" - Rhythmix
	+ Number 90
	+ Last Week: 96
	+ Peak Position: 4
	+ Weeks on Chart: 27

### Billboard Hot 100

* "Airplanes" - Travis Hilton featuring Juliet Vasquez
	+ Number 4
	+ Last Week: 8
	+ Peak Position: 4 (NEW)
	+ Weeks on Chart: 3
* "Jet Black Heart" - Crystal Army
	+ Number 6
	+ Last Week: 9
	+ Peak Position: 6 (NEW)
	+ Weeks on Chart: 8
* "Here" - Amity Hills
	+ Number 10
	+ Last Week: 5
	+ Peak Position: 5
	+ Weeks on Chart: 26
* "Ride" - Travis Hilton
	+ Number 11
	+ Last Week: 11
	+ Peak Position: 5
	+ Weeks on Chart: 28

* "Chains" - Nick Jonas
	+ Number 12
	+ Last Week: 17
	+ Peak Position: 12 (NEW)
	+ Weeks on Chart: 7
* "Me and My Broken Heart" - Jake P.
	+ Number 15
	+ Last Week: 21
	+ Peak Position: 14
	+ Weeks on Chart: 10

* "He Could Be The One" - Juliet Vasquez
	+ Number 21
	+ Last Week: 22
	+ Peak Position: 10
	+ Weeks on Chart: 12
* "Hair" - Rhythmix featuring Sean Paul
	+ Number 45
	+ Last Week: --
	+ Peak Position: 45 (DEBUT)
	+ Weeks on Chart: 1
* "Heartbeat Song" - Santana Lopez
	+ Number 67
	+ Last Week: 37
	+ Peak Position: 37
	+ Weeks on Chart: 2
* "I Got The Boy" - Sarah Linley
	+ Number 77
	+ Last Week: 78
	+ Peak Position: 77 (NEW)
	+ Weeks on Chart: 5
* "Hollow" - Lyric Heron featuring Travis Hilton
	+ Number 85
	+ Last Week: 84
	+ Peak Position: 80
	+ Weeks on Chart: 8 (non-consecutive)
* "Competition" - Rhythmix
	+ Number 86
	+ Last Week: 88
	+ Peak Position: 22
	+ Weeks on Chart: 20