I arrived in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania in 1993 when I was recruited by Pine Valley Hospital to be their new neurosurgeon. I fell in love with Edmund Grey, who carried a torch for Brooke English at the time. Eventually, Edmund and I fell in love and got married.
Shortly after, my college lover, Del Henry, came to Pine Valley. The truth emerged regarding my college affair with Del, my college pregnancy and miscarriage, and my subsequent infection and infertility. Edmund and my marriage became only stronger, and after several failed "in vitro" attempts, we opted for adoption. Edmund and I agreed to adopt the baby of Anita Santos' pregnant friend, and we named him Sam. However, we had to give him back when his birth mother changed her mind.
Edmund and I separated over Sam's loss, and after Edmund stopped me from fleeing the country with the baby, and returned him to Kelsey, I had a one-night stand with my brother-in-law, Dimitri Marick, but later I reconciled with Edmund. In October 1996, Edmund and I were reunited with Sam after the baby's birth father convinced the birth mother to give Sam back to us.
Edmund's and my child tragedies were not over, however. Shortly after my one-night stand with brother-in-law Dimitri, I found out that I was pregnant. Skye Chandler seduced a lab technician and doctored my results to make it look as though Dimitri was the father (though Edmund actually was). Skye hoped that Edmund would fall for her. That never happened.
When Erica Kane learned about the baby's paternity, she confronted me in a cabin at Willow Lake during a horrible ice storm. I became overstressed and went into premature labor. Erica drove me to the hospital. But while en route, her car skidded off the road, and everyone thought that the baby was lost in Willow Lake. Erica tried to track down the baby and she found that a woman who lived near the lake had plucked the little girl from its icy waters. Erica convinced the woman that the baby was really hers and prepared to return the baby to me.
Then she overheard Dimitri and me discuss the benefits of having lost the baby. Erica took matters into her own hands. Erica decided to keep the baby herself. For months, Erica claimed that she had adopted the baby from Russia. Then Erica claimed the woman from the lake was the baby's mother and let Erica adopt her. The guilt built up, Erica decided to take the baby back to Edmund and me. The infant was reunited with me. We charged Erica with kidnapping and two other felonies.
Later, during a flight back to Pine Valley after an awards ceremony out of state, I switched seats with Brooke to let her work with Edmund during the flight. I noticed an envelope in her briefcase; when I opened it, I found the letter revealing Maddie's true paternity. As I went to give Edmund the good news, the plane started shaking. It exploded and crashed. All but four people (Brooke, Edmund, Maddie, and Jim Thomasen) died. I was stuck in my seat as the plane went down into the waters below. I was thought to be dead for five years.
In 2002, a woman by the name of Maureen Gorman came up as a match when little Lorenzo Santos, Mateo and Hayley's son, needed a liver transplant. Brooke and Tad traveled to Nevada to meet with the woman, whom Brooke believed was me, though Tad didn't.
Brooke came face to face with "Maureen," who turned out to be a dead ringer for me. Later, though, when Tad met Maureen, she looked nothing like me (feeling uncomfortable, Maureen had asked a coworker to pose as "Maureen" for Tad). "Maureen" was afraid of Brooke, and wondered why Brooke wanted to talk to her, so she called her friend, Dr. David Hayward, to ask for help. David knew "Maureen's" true identity, but urged her to stay away from Brooke and Pine Valley.
"Maureen" traveled to Pine Valley anyway. There, she skulked around Wildwind, trying to find out who she was. She was mugged in the park and befriended by Aidan Devane, who saved her. Aidan helped keep her hidden, even after "Maureen" took Maddie away with her on Brooke and Edmund's wedding day.
Aidan was shot by someone from his past, and he ran to me for help. I learned from Aidan that he was wanted for murdering Fiona, a girl he had an affair with in England, but Aidan denied committing the crime. Aidan explained to them that the person who did kill Fiona was Fiona's husband, Julian, and that Julian was the one after Aidan.
To keep me safe, Aidan tried to leave Pine Valley. I caught up with him and forced Aidan to take me with him and we fled to Atlantis, Paradise Island, in the Bahamas. After a lethal showdown with Julian, we returned to Pine Valley. Despite the strong bond between Aidan and me, Aidan was constantly worried that I would regain my memory and leave him.
Brooke told Edmund the truth after their wedding ceremony, that she believed Maria was still alive. Edmund took off to find me. When we came face to face, I told Edmund that I had no memory of him, our marriage, or of anything else.
After trying for several weeks to live the life of Dr. Maria Santos Grey, and after many tense moments with Edmund about his expectations of her (Edmund tried to be patient, but he was so thrilled that I was back that he did not succeed very much), "Maureen" finally convinced everyone in Pine Valley to accept her as "Maureen Gorman."
The only person who seemed satisfied with me as Maureen was Aidan, the one person who had never known me as Maria. We began to fall in love. While Edmund found it difficult to watch me with another man, he made it clear to everyone, including my mother, Isabella, that he understood me to be Maureen now and he expected everyone else to do the same.
In turn, "Maureen" let Aidan know that though she did not consider herself Edmund's wife, she is and will remain connected to him as Sam and Maddie's mother, which was fine with him. In spite of her growing anxiety about the return of her memories and the uncertainty of her future, "Maureen" accepted Aidan's proposal of marriage.
When a man named Flanders murdered Chris Stamp in a local park and realized that little Maddie had witnessed the entire thing, she became the murderer's next target. Aidan, Edmund and I joined forces to put the little girl into hiding to protect her.
During those tense days, while in hiding with my daughter and Aidan, flickers of memories began to drift through my mind, memories of Sam and Maddie and being their mother. When Maddie was tossed overboard, I jumped in to save her. As I did, all of my memories returned; I was back. Maureen became a former, relatively small chapter in my life.
Although I was grateful to Aidan and wanted to remain his friend, my heart belonged to Edmund. I told Edmund I accepted his poor treatment of me over the past year and apologized for my own mistakes, then we made love for the first time in over half a decade. I moved back into Wildwind and fully reunited with my children and my mother.
When Carlos Reyes was admitted to the hospital following an attack by the Calatravas (the Argentinian gang who were trying to kill Carlos and his brother Pablo), I was his consulting doctor. Edmund and I become close friends with Carlos and Pablo. When Carlos died, I blamed myself for his death, fearing that the recent renewal of my medical license led to my making a mistake. I was prepared to resign. Soon, the truth was revealed: A corrupt nurse employed by the Calatravas had killed Carlos.
Edmund was shot and left paralyzed after helping Pablo deal with the Calatravas. Edmund wanted to undergo risky surgery that could restore the use of his legs, but possibly kill him. Fearful of losing my husband, I was adamantly against surgery. Edmund went through with the procedure and I did my best to support him. The surgery was not successful, and it appeared that Edmund would be paralyzed for life.
Edmund's struggle to deal with his new condition caused strains for us, as he became cold and distant. Complicating matters was the arrival of Zach Slater in Pine Valley, my former lover. I found myself drawn to Zach, my attraction to him very much alive. Zach made it clear to me that he wanted to resume our relationship, but I vowed to be true to Edmund. After Edmund overheard me talking with Zach, I came clean that we were involved while I was an amnesiac. I swore that my contact with Zach was going to end.
As the distance between Edmund and me grew, I found myself drawn into Zach's world when I learned that he was really Alexander Cambias Junior, the presumed dead brother of Pine Valley rapist Michael Cambias. Zach had come to town to get the real story behind Michael's death, refusing to believe that the caring boy he once knew had become a monster. Sensing Zach's pain, I promised to help Zach come to terms with the truth about Michael, but kept this from Edmund. Zach asked me to keep his identity a secret, which I agreed to, yet another secret from Edmund.
Erica told Edmund that she has witnessed Zach and me in a close moment. Furious with me for my continued association with Zach, and with months of distance between us, Edmund initiated divorce proceedings. I told Edmund that I loved him and would fight the divorce. The tension between us grew when I learned that Edmund had begun to get some feeling back in his legs, a revelation he kept from me.
Despite some real and unresolved feelings for Zach, I was determined to repair my marriage to Edmund. Edmund told me he loved me and that he had stopped the divorce. Unbeknownst to me, Edmund had recovered from his paralysis and was determined to destroy Zach and then divorce me.
Soon after, Edmund was murdered. Ethan Ramsey, Zach's estranged son, told the police he witnessed Zach commit the crime. Zach told me that Edmund had been lying to her and could walk. Devastated over Edmund's death, I refused to believe Zach and blamed him for Edmund's murder. Zach was arrested and shocked Ethan and me when he confessed to the crime. I held firm to my belief that Edmund loved me and Zach was guilty.
Brooke revealed to me that Edmund had planned on divorcing me shortly before he died. I refused to believe Brooke, and received another blow when Zach was released from prison, claiming that he did not kill Edmund.
Zach was cleared of the murder and Ethan revealed as a liar when Jonathan Lavery was proven guilty. I felt terrible for believing the worst of Zach and apologized to him, but Zach was furious and hurt. Reeling off this, I was shocked to learn that Edmund made Brooke the executor of his will and left me with nothing.
Hurt, I got drunk at an awards ceremony that was posthumously honoring Edmund and lashed out at the town of Pine Valley. Zach cared for me, his feelings still evident. Sam and Maddie begin to lash out at me for my behavior and my prior association with Zach. I apologized to Zach for all I had done and told him that I never stopped loving him, but that I couldn't see him anymore. My focus needed to be on my children.
When Maddie attempted to make it appear as if Zach tried to attack her, I realized that I needed to do something drastic to bring my family back together and moved to California with Maddie to be near Mateo (my brother) and Hayley (his wife). Sam followed a few months later.
