Days of our Lives recap for April 4, 2025: EJ fights for his life

The Salem PD forensics team was processing the crime scene in the DiMera living room when JJ arrived on site. An officer told JJ that they had been unable to reach Jada. As the officers worked, Kristen entered the room in her robe. “Oh my god. Is it true?” Kristen asked. JJ demanded that the officers put up crime scene tape, and he motioned for Kristen to back out of the room.

“Just tell me. Did somebody shoot my brother?” Kristen asked. “Chad found EJ lying on the floor here, a single bullet to the chest, blood everywhere,” JJ said. Kristen glanced at the puddle of blood on the floor. “Is he dead?” Kristen asked. JJ confirmed that EJ was still in surgery. Kristen was eager to go to the hospital, but JJ detained her so that he could question her first. JJ directed Kristen into the foyer.

“Where were you tonight?” JJ asked. “I was at Brady’s. His father is missing, and I wanted to see how he was holding up,” Kristen said. Kristen said she was not sure how long she had been out. “Did you see EJ when you came home?” JJ asked. Kristen did not tell JJ about the threat she had made to EJ when she returned home, but she did confirm that they had spoken briefly.

“[EJ] said he wanted to be left alone, so I left him alone,” Kristen said. Kristen explained that she had gone upstairs to check on Rachel, shower, and then an officer had knocked on her bedroom door while she had been drying her hair. “You didn’t hear a gunshot?” JJ asked. Kristen said no. JJ questioned Kristen about her showering, but Kristen insisted that she always showered before bed. When JJ noted that a shower could wash off blood or gunshot residue, Kristen narrowed her eyes.

“Are you accusing me of shooting my own brother?” Kristen asked. “I’m asking questions. That’s all,” JJ said. Kristen argued that although she fought with her brother, she would never attempt to kill him or anyone else. “Well, we both know that’s not true,” JJ said. JJ reminded Kristen of what she had done to Victor and Haley. Kristen sighed. “You know very well Haley Chen’s death was an accident,” Kristen said. Kristen added that there was a long list of suspects that would want to take a shot at EJ. JJ thought about when Gabi had held EJ at gunpoint. JJ advised Kristen to stay out of the living room.

“And don’t leave town,” JJ added. “Why would I leave town when all I want is for you to find whoever did this to my brother and make sure that they spend the rest of their life behind bars?” Kristen said. Kristen glanced in the living room, and she went upstairs to check on Rachel.

Gabi was rushing through the town square, digging through her purse, when she ran into Leo. “Where’s the fire?” Leo said. “There’s no fire. I just don’t like being out on my own. You never know what sort of unsavory characters you might run into,” Gabi said. Leo agreed, and he told Gabi that someone had attempted to kill EJ. “Tell me how it happened,” Gabi said. Leo explained that someone had shot EJ in the chest.

“Soon as I heard, I raced over to the mansion to try and get the scoop,” Leo said. Leo noted that he had not learned much except that EJ might not recover from his injuries. “Good. That bastard deserves a one way ticket to hell,” Gabi said. “Wow. I don’t think I realized just how much you hated EJ,” Leo said. Gabi reminded Leo that EJ had sent her to prison for a crime that he knew she had not committed, and EJ had ruined her marriage to Stefan. “And on top of all that, he kidnapped my brother and replaced him with a skeezy, lecherous lookalike,” Gabi added. Gabi noted that EJ deserved it.

“That’s debatable. Tell me, who do you think did the deed?” Leo asked. Gabi shrugged, and she called the shooter a hero. “That bitch ass clown needed to pay,” Gabi said. “Can I quote you on that?” Leo asked. Gabi gasped as she realized she was talking to a reporter. “What do you think you’re doing?” Gabi asked. Leo explained that he was quoting Gabi for his story. Gabi argued that her statements had been off the record.

“If you publish that, people are going to think that I shot him,” Gabi argued. “But you didn't, right? I mean, surely you must have some sort of alibi,” Leo said. Gabi reminded Leo that she had agreed to let him move into her house. “I gave in so you and Javi could be together. So why don’t we just forget about my little diatribe about EJ?” Gabi said. Leo agreed to forget the conversation. Leo offered to give Gabi a ride home, but she said she needed to run an errand first.

After Leo had walked away, Gabi called the hospital to check on EJ’s condition. The nurse refused to give Gabi any information. Gabi paced the square and refreshed her news feed for information. “Do us both a favor and die,” Gabi muttered. JJ spotted Gabi, and he walked over to her. “Did you hear about EJ?” JJ asked. Gabi said she had talked to Leo, and she asked if EJ had survived surgery. JJ said he had no news. “Do you have any idea who shot him?” Gabi asked. JJ thought about when Gabi had held EJ at gunpoint, and he noted that it was too early in the investigation to know much.

At the little bar, a drunken Jada asked the waiter for another drink. Shawn walked in, and Jada smiled. “I could use the company,” Jada said. Shawn declined. Jada sarcastically explained that she was celebrating that Rafe had kicked her out of the house. “I’m so sorry, Jada. I was wondering how he was going to react when he got the news, and I mean, I knew he was going to be upset, but I was just hoping that, you know, considering the circumstances, that he would be a little bit more understanding,” Shawn said. Jada groaned.

“He was angry. He was hurt. He was being held captive while his beloved fiancee was cheating on him with you,” Jada said. Shawn stressed that Jada could not have known that EJ had been holding the real Rafe captive. Jada explained that Rafe’s point was that she should have known, based on Arnold’s behavior, that it had not been Rafe. “I’m a detective. His fiancee. I should have figured it out,” Jada grumbled. Shawn argued that Jada was being too hard on herself. Jada thanked Shawn for his kindness.

“I came here to track you down. It’s work-related. There’s been a high-profile shooting,” Shawn said. Shawn informed Jada that someone had shot EJ. “How come no one called me?” Jada said. Shawn said the station had called Jada, but she had not answered her phone. Jada grabbed her phone, and she groaned. “You’re off the clock. Nobody blames you for wanting to disconnect for a little while,” Shawn said. As Jada rose from her seat, she stumbled. Shawn caught Jada.

“Where’s your gun?” Shawn asked. Jada gasped as she looked at her empty holster. “I don’t know,” Jada stammered. After a moment, Jada said she remembered she had locked it in her desk before she had left work. “And you forgot to take off your holster?” Shawn asked. With a shrug, Jada admitted that she had been rattled by her fight with Rafe. Jada asked for a ride to the DiMera mansion, but Shawn said no. Shawn noted that Jada was too drunk to go to work.

“If anybody knows that, I do,” Shawn said. Shawn ordered Jada to go home and sleep. “I don’t have a home. Remember?” Jada said. Shawn offered to take Jada back to his apartment to sleep, but Jada declined. “I don’t think [Rafe] would be too thrilled,” Jada said. “Isn’t Rafe the one that kicked you out? Jada, it’s late. So I don’t think he really has much of a say where you sleep tonight,” Shawn argued. Jada agreed.

Rafe returned home with a six-pack of beer, and he thought about Gabi’s threat to kill EJ. As Rafe sipped a beer in the dark of the kitchen, Javi danced out from the bedroom. With a grin, Javi pulled off his headphones. “I’m glad that someone is finally home. Leo had to cut short our date, and I was getting bored by myself,” Javi said. When Rafe noted that he had gone out to get beer, Javi pointed out that there was plenty in the fridge. “Guess I didn’t see that,” Rafe muttered.

Concerned, Javi asked what was wrong. Reluctantly, Rafe told Javi that Jada had slept with another man while Rafe was still being held captive. “What? No,” Javi said. Javi insisted that Jada had never slept with Arnold. “I’m not talking about Feniger,” Rafe growled. Rafe told Javi that Jada had slept with Shawn. “And I’m guessing Jada hooked up with Shawn after Arnold put her through the wringer,” Javi said. Rafe glared at Javi.

“Your doppelganger treated her like crap. It makes sense why she’d seek the comfort of another man,” Javi argued. “I know that Jada went through a lot,” Rafe admitted. Javi stressed that Arnold had shattered Jada’s heart and humiliated her. “You need to forgive her,” Javi said. “I honestly don’t know if I can,” Rafe confessed. Javi was taken aback. “Don’t you think you’re being a little unfair here?” Javi asked. Javi reminded Rafe that Jada was also a victim. “And that woman loves you so much,” Javi stressed. “Just not enough to tell the difference between me and that lowlife Feniger?” Rafe countered. Javi agreed that Arnold’s behavior had been wildly unlike Rafe's.

“It makes me think that she just never knew who I was at all,” Rafe said. “What was Jada supposed to think, that there was some other guy out there in the world that looked exactly like you?” Javi said. Javi argued that Arnold had fooled everyone in town. “But Jada is supposed to know me better than anyone,” Rafe protested. Javi cautioned Rafe not to throw away his future with Jada. “Did she say that she had feelings for Shawn?” Javi asked. “No. She said she still loves me,” Rafe whispered. Javi advised Rafe to direct his anger at EJ, not Jada. Rafe smirked.

“I already have. I’ve already made plans to make sure that bastard pays,” Rafe said. Curious, Javi asked for details, but Rafe declined. Leo returned home, and he announced that EJ had been shot. “Oh my god! When did this happen?” Javi said. Rafe listened intently as Leo explained that EJ was fighting for his life at the hospital. “They know who did it?” Rafe asked. Leo argued that it would be difficult to narrow down the list of EJ’s enemies.

“Where did this happen?” Javi asked. “Right in his own living room,” Leo said. Rafe thought about the bug he had planted in the living room of the DiMera mansion. “I just remembered I’ve got to take care of something. So I will see you guys later,” Rafe said. Rafe hurried out of the house. Suspicious, Leo wondered aloud what Rafe would need to do so late at night. Javi agreed that Rafe had been acting strangely. When Javi mentioned that Rafe had said that EJ would pay, Leo gasped. “You think he shot EJ?” Leo asked. With a shrug, Javi admitted that Rafe hated EJ. “So does Gabi. And when I ran into her earlier, she certainly wasn’t making a secret of it,” Leo said.

At the hospital, Kayla informed Chad and Cat that EJ had pulled through the surgery. “He’s stable now,” Kayla said. “Why do I get the sense that there’s bad news,” Chad said. Kayla explained that EJ had suffered a lot of damage to a lung and was in critical condition. Cat asked Chad if he needed her to do anything for him while he visited EJ. “Just say a prayer for my brother,” Chad said.

While Chad was in with EJ, Kayla encouraged Cat to go home. “I thought I would stay. [Chad] doesn’t have anyone here, and he’s really shaken up,” Cat noted. “I imagine this has brought back a lot of terrible memories for him,” Kayla said. With a nod, Cat said that Chad had mentioned Abigail. Kayla explained that she had meant EJ, who had previously been shot by a henchman of Clyde’s. “How many lives has that man destroyed?” Cat said.

Kayla explained that everyone had believed that EJ had died, but they had learned later that Stefano had revived EJ. “[EJ] had recuperated in secret for years,” Kayla said. “But, Chad thought he was dead the entire time?” Cat asked. Kayla nodded yes, and she said that despite their fights, Chad loved his brother. “[Chad] is so afraid to lose him again,” Kayla said.

In EJ’s hospital room, Chad sat next to his brother, and he told him he was not alone. “I’ll always be here for you. I know you might not want me here. I’m sure you’re still pissed off about me printing that article about you. Tough luck. You’re my brother, and I love you, but I’m not going to stop bugging you until you get better,” Chad said. Chad told EJ he had left a voicemail for Susan, and he had spoken to Sydney and Johnny about the shooting.

“[Johnny] will be here any moment. So just hang in there. I know he’ll want to see you right away,” Chad said. EJ started to convulse. Chad screamed for help, and Kayla rushed into the room. Kayla asked Chad to wait outside while she worked on EJ. Chad retreated to the waiting area, and he told Cat what had happened.

“Maybe my presence upset him,” Chad said. Chad blamed himself for printing the article and stirring up anger in the community. Cat told EJ not to blame himself. “[EJ’s] actions are responsible for what happened. Not the article,” Cat said. Chad agreed to stop blaming himself. “I’m just scared. I don’t want to lose my brother,” Chad said. Cat hugged Chad.

Kristen texted Chad asking for an update, and Cat suggested that Chad wait until Kayla had more information on EJ’s condition. Kayla exited EJ’s room, and she confirmed that they had stopped the seizures. “To prevent [the seizures] from happening, we’ve put him in a medically-induced coma,” Kayla said.

At the DiMera mansion, Kristen went downstairs after the police had left. The living room was dark, but Kristen could still see the dried pool of blood on the floor. As Kristen left to go back upstairs, Rafe slipped in through the double doors to the garden. Rafe removed the bug he had hidden on the statue on the desk, then he ran out of the house.