Mike Horton is the son of Laura Spencer and Bill Horton. For the first 16 years of his life, he believed that he was Mickey Horton’s son. He has never fully accepted Bill as his father; consequently, Mike still refers to Mickey as “Dad.” He is the brother of Jennifer Horton, and half-brother of Lucas Roberts. Mike is the father of Jeremy Jacobs, the product of an affair he had with Dr. Robin Jacobs. He has only been married once in his life, to Margo Anderman. Margo’s death caused Mike to pursue a career in medicine. Mike has been a victim of a terrible aging process on the show. Although he was born in 1968, Mike was out of high school by 1976. Yet, now, he is still only 33 years old. But this flexibility has allowed Mike to be an active Salemite for over 20 years.
Born on September 28, 1968, Mike was the product of a sordid encounter between Laura and Bill Horton. However, he, and most other people, would remain in the dark about his parentage for many years. He grew up happily as the son of Mickey Horton. Yet, the clues of a relationship between Bill and Laura were always there. In 1972, young Mike began noticing these signs. Slowly but surely, he began to wonder if his mother was having an affair with his uncle. One day, he came upon them when they were in a friendly embrace. The sight of this infuriated Mike and gave him all the answers he needed regarding his questions. In tears, Mike ran out into the street without noticing an oncoming car. The subsequent collision landed Mike in the hospital with critical injuries. Fortunately, Mike recovered. However, he told Bill that he despised him and warned him to stay away from his mother.
In time, however, Mike learned that he had been wrong about Bill and Laura. In fact, the one who’d had an affair was his father Mickey. This realization created a hatred toward Mickey that Mike tried to hold in. Finally, he couldn’t tolerate it any longer and savagely berated his father for betraying his marriage. Later, he learned that Mickey had had a heart attack and Mike felt guilty. It was his fight with Mickey that had caused the heart attack. His guilt worsened when Mickey disappeared from his hospital room. Doctors, among them Laura, deduced that Mickey had developed a type of amnesia called fugue as a result of the heart attack. Mike turned to Bill and Laura during this time, and he even apologized to Bill for all of the horrible things he had said to him ever since his accident. Hopes of finding Mickey dimmed when it appeared that Mickey had been in a car accident. Mike, now a teenager, left to go to school out of Salem.
In late 1974, Mike returned to Salem to finish high school. However, conflicts with Laura caused him to drop out. In addition, he chose to move out of his house and into an apartment with his friend Trish Clayton. To make ends meet, Mike worked as a mechanic. At first, the relationship was platonic, but they did hold feelings for each other. Meanwhile, Mike’s dead “father”, Mickey, was found alive and with amnesia, living in a farm in nearby Brookville. Mike went to stay with his father for a while in hopes that his presence would bring back Mickey’s memory. Although Mike’s presence didn’t work as hoped, an event that occurred at the farm would finally expose the secret of his paternity and lead to the return of Mickey’s memory. In January of 1976, Mike was fixing the wheel of a wagon full of hay when the jack sustaining the wagon gave way, crushing Mike. Mike barely survived the accident, but desperately needed a blood transfusion to survive. After some time, Mike did receive the blood needed to stay alive. When he finally began to recover, however, he was puzzled at the absence of his father. Laura and the rest of the family evaded Mike’s questions about Mickey, but finally they were forced to tell Mike that Mickey had fallen ill and was staying in Bayview Sanitarium. After months of recovery, Mike was finally able to leave the hospital and visit Mickey at Bayview. Once there, Mickey told a heartbroken Mike to never call him “Dad” again because he wasn’t his father. Confused, Mike turned to his family. Finally, he was told the truth: he was Bill’s son. After the accident, the truth had come to light when Mickey had tried to donate blood and denied; after realizing that Bill was Mike’s father, Mickey had shot him in revenge and subsequently gone insane. Realizing the hurt that Bill and Laura had caused Mickey, not to mention himself, Mike denounced his mother as a common tramp and wished to never see her again. The same hatred was directed toward Bill.
Mike returned to his apartment with Trish and tried to get on with his life. Meanwhile, Trish was busy trying to gain her real father’s affection. Her true father, James Stanhope, refused to acknowledge that she was his daughter. One night after a heated phone call with her mother regarding her parentage, Trish broke down in tears. Mike tried to comfort her; in doing so, they both released the pent up attraction that they felt for each other and attempted to make love. However, Mike was not able to follow through. She tried to make him feel better and assured him that he was probably nervous. Yet, time after time, Mike couldn’t perform. Because of this, he drew away from Trish feeling ashamed. He also began to question his own sexuality. He began to think he was gay because he couldn’t sleep with Trish.
During this time, he turned to Linda Phillips, who had recently befriended him. He confided in Linda about his problem, and she took advantage of it. Linda had been trying to get in Mickey’s good graces, and she decided that the way to Mickey was through Mike. And so, Linda invited Mike to stay in her apartment for the time being, since he didn’t want to face Trish after their disastrous attempt at lovemaking. To cure Mike’s sexual troubles, Linda decided to prove to him that he wasn’t gay and seduced him. The two slept together (successfully). Unfortunately for Linda, Mike became obsessed with her thinking that they were now lovers. After all, she was an older woman who had taken his virginity. He would constantly hover around her, suggesting that they were a couple. After a while, Linda put a stop to it and told Mike that she had been only interested in Mickey.
While he was hurt by Linda’s betrayal, Mike returned to Trish. Though things now were better between them, Mike began to have doubts about Trish when she began receiving suggestive letters underneath the door. The letters implied that Trish was a slut. One day, Mike came back to their apartment to find Trish on the verge of being raped by her stepfather, Jack Clayton. He had been the one sending the letters. While Mike fought Jack off of her, Trish grabbed an iron and hit Jack over the head with it, killing him. To protect Trish, who was somewhat perturbed at the time, he confessed to murder. Eventually, he was cleared of the charges when it was discovered that Trish suffered from multiple-personality disorder; one of her alters had killed Jack. Mike planned on proposing marriage to Trish after her release from Bayview Sanitarium, but something was discovered: Trish was pregnant with David’s baby. After many hurtful arguments, Mike moved out of the apartment, while Trish accepted a marriage proposal from David.
Mike tried to deal with the situation. He tried to convince her that it was a mistake, but she was determined to give her child a father. Though Mike told her that he would raise the child, she wanted to ensure that the baby would be loved; Mike couldn’t ensure that. As a result, Trish married David. Though clear that they still loved each other, Mike and Trish always wound up arguing. The night she gave birth to her baby, Timothy, Mike went to see her but she rejected him once and for all. She wanted to be happy with her family, and for that to happen he needed to stay out of her life.
Receiving the message loud and clear, Mike moved on with sweet Margo Anderman. Mike became deeply in love with Margo in the following three months that they dated. But soon she began to feel faint. Mike insisted that she go to the hospital to be checked out. Soon after, Tom secretly told Mike that he believed Margo to have Leukemia. Further testing confirmed this, but the truth was kept from Margo. Having developed an uncanny love for Margo, Mike proposed marriage to her and she joyously accepted. However, Margo soon disappeared from Salem. Mike quickly retraced her steps and realized that she had unwittingly found out about her illness. Determined to be with her, Mike concluded that Margo had gone to her mother’s and went there. Once he arrived, he declared his undying love for her, shattering any of Margo’s fears that he had proposed out of pity. In tears, she ran to Mike and allowed him to take her back to Salem. Unfortunately, she decided not to marry Mike because she believed it would only cause him pain to watch her die. Unable to change her mind, Mike took a job at an Anderson Manufacturing branch in another city. But he couldn’t bear to stay away from her. Mike soon returned to Salem and vowed to stay by Margo for the rest of his life. Finally, Margo relented and decided to marry Mike. In a quaint ceremony in Tom and Alice’s back yard, Mike and Margo were married.
Building a new life, Mike began to take night classes at the college in order to become a writer, and he aalso got a better-paying job at an Anderson construction site. But soon he noticed that the project he was working on had a number of irregularities. Believing that the building had a weak foundation, Mike talked Chris, his foreman, into inspecting it. While doing so, the floor gave way and both Mike and Chris fell through it, becoming trapped underground with the floor caving in on top of them. After hours of waiting for help, Mike and Chris believed that they would die. But as Mike took his last breath of air, rescue workers found them. When he finally emerged, he was re-united with a teary Margo.
Meanwhile, Margo’s Leukemia treatment seemed to be working when she started to show signs of going into remission. Indeed, her illness had been thwarted for now. Wanting to keep her healthy, Mike felt that she should have her own house to keep her happy. Mike made a hefty down payment on a new place, despite Margo’s protests that they couldn’t afford it. To make the mortgage payments, Mike quit school and got a night job as a mechanic. When that job didn’t pan out, he went to work at Doug’s Place as a parking attendant, leaving very little time for him and Margo to be together. To further complicate matters, the money was not enough. Between new furniture and old water pipes that required fixing, the new home became far more expensive than Mike ever imagined. Desperate, Mike turned to a loan shark, Earl Carnes. Though Mike was now able to pay his home expenses, he still wasn’t earning enough to repay Earl. After amassing a large debt, Earl decided to let Mike work it off. The work was simple: receive payments from Earl’s clients at Doug’s Place and deliver them. The job was also seemingly permanent. When Chris wanted to promote him to a much more lucrative position at Anderson, Mike had to turn it down because of his obligation to Earl. Soon, Margo became suspicious of Mike’s activities. Finally, Mike broke down and told her the extent of their debts. She urged him to get help from the family but Mike refused. He also begged Margo to remain quiet about their problems, and about his association with Earl. Although he maintained that the errands he made for Earl were legitimate, Mike wanted them to remain a secret from the family. Days Mike’s talk with Margo, Earl came to him and allowed him to take the promotion at Anderson, on the condition that he run errands at Doug’s Place at least one hour every day. Mike was unaware that Margo was responsible for Earl’s change of thought. A month later, David showed up at Mike’s asking why Trish had loaned Margo $1,000. Confounded, Mike confronted Margo, who explained that she had wanted to bail him out of his debts.
Upset that now Margo was involved, Mike tried to get out of his association with Earl and threatened to go to the police. But when he tried, Carnes ordered someone to shoot at their windows. He also hired someone to push Margo down the stairwell at Anderson, landing her in the hospital. To top it all off, Earl went to the hospital to supposedly deliver Margo a get-well bouquet of flowers, but warned Mike to continue doing deliveries and to keep his mouth shut. Needing to get out of this mess, Mike finally turned to Mickey. He advised him to look inside the envelopes that he delivered in order to get some hard evidence against Earl. However, Earl found out what Mike was doing and once again threatened Margo. Cornered, Mike continued to work for him. Luckily, Earl was soon exposed by one of his associates and he left Salem. Later he was arrested.
Free from Earl’s grasp, Mike was soon promoted to head of Public Relations at Anderson. A much better job, Mike and Margo began making plans to start a family. But just as everything seemed to be falling into place, Margo’s Leukemia came out of remission. Initially, Mike denied that the illness was anything to worry about. He and Margo talked themselves into believing that it was nothing to worry about. But as Margo’s condition grew worse and the prognosis less favorable, they had to face the fact that she was going to die. Instead of keeping Margo in the hospital hooked up to machines and medications, Mike took her to Maggie’s farm in Brookville. There, they spent her last days in complete happiness. In late July 1980, Margo died in her sleep. Although Mike was literally devastated by her passing, he was able to pull himself together with the help of his supportive family.
The loss of the first woman he truly loved drove Mike to pursue a medical career. He wanted to keep what happened to Margo from happening to others. He soon became a paramedic. Also at this time, Mike decided to enter into a partnership with Chris and together they opened a health club, aptly called “The Body Connection.” After Trish divorced David, Mike began to see her once again. Along the way, he was caught up in David’s misfortunes as a fugitive from the law. Meanwhile, he and Trish became engaged but their constant quarrels over David and Scotty (David and Trish’s son) caused them to break up. For a little while, Mike dated Kayla Brady. This match led nowhere. Wanting to take his medical career to the highest level, Mike decided to apply to a medical school to become a doctor. After two years of college, Mike left Salem to go to medical school elsewhere. He briefly returned later that year to attend Mickey’s funeral but then left permanently, or so it seemed.
Mike returned unexpectedly in the late summer of 1985. His very junky van had broken down in the outskirts of Salem and had to hitch a ride to town and break into his grandparents’ home. Now graduated from medical school, and got a position in University Hospital. At work, he befriended the sweet Ivy Jannings and soon became embroiled in her marital problems. Ivy was married to Pete Jannings, who was in love with Mike’s cousin Melissa. Even though Ivy told Mike to stay out of her problems, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her situation. As Ivy constantly turned to Mike for comfort, they grew close. However, their relationship remained nothing but a meaningful friendship. Meanwhile, Mike discovered his sister Jennifer living on the streets! Now a teenager, Jennifer had been kicked out of boarding school; afraid of facing her family, she was living on the streets with her friends Matt and Nancy, surviving by pickpocketing and shoplifting. Mike agreed to let Jennifer live with him until she felt ready to come clean to the family about her situation. However, Jennifer still wanted to take care of Matt and Nancy, so she continued to steal in order to help them. Following several brushes with the law, Mike had enough of Jennifer and kicked her out of the apartment. She had no choice but to turn to their grandparents.
During this time, a serial rapist began attacking women at the hospital, beginning with Ivy. Although Ivy escaped, she’d noticed that the rapist had been wearing Mike’s shirt. Although she didn’t want to believe that Mike could be capable of such a thing, he was the prime suspect for the crimes. His aunt Maggie was attacked next, followed by Jennifer. The fact that Mike was closely acquainted with the victims made him seem more guilty. On New Year’s Eve, Mike made a date with nurse Kristie Lynn Stratton, but she didn’t show up. Later, it turned out that she’d been raped by the Hospital Rapist, as the criminal became known. Kristie was convinced that Mike had raped her and pressed charges against him. Those charges were finally dropped when the real rapist, Ian Griffith, was caught. Meanwhile, Mike began butting heads with Edward Curry, the chief of surgery at the hospital. Dr. Curry seemed to make many inept decisions, to the point where Mike finally accused him of malpractice and forced him to resign from the staff. Soon after New Year’s, Dr. Curry was replaced. Dr. Robin Jacobs arrived at the hospital as the new Chief of Surgery.
Mike began clashing with Robin almost immediately. Robin believed that Mike was too frivolous in that he didn’t always follow the rules by the book. Mike began to show her that she needed to loosen up. Before long, they realized that they were attracted to each other. But in an effort to suppress their feelings, they agreed to keep their relationship strictly professional. Together, they worked to get a nearby coal mine shut down after the health of several miners was threatened. In doing so, Mike and Robin continued to fight their feelings, often dating other people in order to get back at one another. During this time, a gala inaugurating a new hospital wing was organized. Even though Mike wanted to go with Robin, Robin’s apparent indifference angered him so much that he asked Lindsay Callahan, a friend of his, to the party. During the party, Robin left to visit a patient near the mines. When Robin didn’t return, Mike went to the mining shack and found Robin amidst a fire; an explosion had rocked the shack and trapped Robin inside. Without giving it a single thought, Mike braved the flames and pulled Robin out of the fire. The experience brought Mike and Robin together, but it also pulled them apart. Robin, a fervent Orthodox Jew, couldn’t go against her beliefs and heritage, and so pursuing a relationship with Mike, a Christian, was not an option. After leaving the hospital, Robin was egged on by her father Eli to date a Jewish pharmacist at the hospital, Mitch Kaufman.
Mike, however, couldn’t understand this and continued to do anything possible to show Robin that he was “good enough” for her. Finally, Robin broke down and confessed her love for him, but once again declared that it couldn’t be. It wasn’t a question of being good enough, or of her father imposing his beliefs on her. They were her beliefs, and it was her heritage, and no matter how much she loved him she couldn’t betray those beliefs. The confrontation opened Mike’s eyes, and he willingly stepped aside. While Robin dated Mitch, Mike turned to his friend Ivy for comfort. Ivy was also going through some rough times dealing with the remnants of her marriage to Pete (who was now married to Melissa.) One night, they weakened and kissed in the hospital lounge, only to be seen by Robin. The feelings between Robin and Mike were still there, but ultimately there was nothing that could be done about it.
Meanwhile, a new doctor came on board at the hospital, Dr. Fred Miller. Robert LeClair, Robin’s uncle, was convinced that Fred Miller was none other than Dr. Friedrich Kluger, an escaped Nazi who had orchestrated the deaths of countless Jews in a German concentration camp during World War II, including Robert and Eli’s mother. Not doubting Robert’s memory, Robin and Mike sought to find proof of Fred Miller’s true identity and researched his background. Supposedly from Illinois, Mike and Robin found nothing on the man. However, they devised another plan. Friedrich Kluger had a birthmark on his arm, so Mike asked Steve Johnson to attack Fred Miller in an alley in order to check his arm. There was no birthmark, only a scar; the birthmark had been removed. Finally, Robert confronted Fred Miller one day at the hospital, and Dr. Miller shot him. Having witnessed the incident, Mike chased after Miller and finally captured him. After Miller was arrested, Robin and Mike worked with the U.S. Justice Department to bring criminal charges against Kluger.
But despite Mike’s part in bringing Kluger to justice, Robin refused to betray her beliefs. Not long after this, Mitch proposed marriage to Robin. Before she could give him a response, Robin and Mike had to go to Brookville to help the victims of a tornado that had rocked the town. While in Brookville, they had to go to go help a man who lived in a deserted island on the river. The raging storm forced Mike and Robin to stay on the island, where they finally gave into their feelings and made love. Afterwards, Mike proposed marriage to Robin, but she maintained that they couldn’t marry. Furthermore, when they returned to Salem, Robin accepted Mitch’s proposal. Before the wedding, Mike tried to stop Robin from going ahead with it but she begged him to accept her decision. Unable to do anything else, Mike watched from the back of the synagogue as Robin and Mitch were married. Shortly after this, Mike delved into his work and became involved with controversial cancer research project.
Without Robin, Mike began dating Ivy. Even though it was obvious that Mike was still in love with Robin, he and Ivy saw each other frequency and eventually made love. And even though he never confessed to Ivy that he didn’t love her as anything more than a friend, she finally understood this. Knowing that she would never win Mike’s heart, Ivy left Salem. Meanwhile, Mitch came to a similar conclusion about Robin, who was clearly in love only with Mike, and began annulment proceedings. Mitch realized that he couldn’t stand in the way of Mike and Robin, but warned Mike that Robin would never marry someone of a different faith. Mitch’s words struck a chord in Mike, but he soon found a solution to the problem.
In early 1987, Mike announced that he was converting to Judaism. Once a Jew, there would be no obstacle between him and Robin. And with this, Mike proposed marriage to her in the operation room. Although Robin was thrilled, she warned Mike that he should only convert to Judaism because he truly wants to make the change, not as a way to marry her. Mike began going through the steps by studying the Jewish faith despite concern from family members. And even though Mike tried to convince himself that he wanted to become a Jew, the fact remained that it was hard to let go of his Christian beliefs.
Meanwhile, Mike was shocked to see that a beaten woman brought to the hospital was his old college friend Diana Colville. Diana seemed to be on the run from someone, but she didn’t disclose much information. Eventually, Mike learned that Diana’s scientist fiancée, James Dixon, had been killed because of some research that he had been involved in. There were factions determined to stop that research. James had been on his way to Salem in order to speak about that research at a conference when he disappeared. Diana had followed his trail in order to find out what had happened to him. Diana warned Mike that James’ research was similar to his own cancer research, so his life was at stake as well. At the same time, another stranger arrived at the hospital. This, one, however, didn’t survive. The man, whose name was Hans Stolow, was a European scientist who had been involved with James Dixon’s research. Among Hans’ belongings, Mike and Robin found a computer disk that would possibly contain information about the project those men had been killed for. One night, Robin was shot while in her office investigating a mysterious computer disk. Robin barely survived the attack, and Mike was left rather unsettled. After visiting with her at the hospital, Mike went to the hospital chapel and prayed for her recovery. Unknown to Mike, Robin overheard his prayers. Realizing that Mike would never be able to give up Christianity, Robin broke off the engagement. Despite Mike’s efforts, Robin left Salem.
Despite his loss, Mike continued to work on his research as well as try to find out what was so important about Hans’ disk that someone would kill for it. At this time, the hospital organized a charity benefit to recognize Mike’s continuing research and raise money to fund it. The evening of the benefit, a bomb that had been planted in the research lab exploded, destroying all of Mike’s work. Desperate to find out the truth, Mike worked with Diana to investigate the string of attacks since her arrival. Everything led to the same thing: the disk. Diana and Mike decided to find out more about James’ research. Eventually, they discovered that not only was James alive, but that he was an impostor named James Pearson! Better yet, James had been hired by Diana’s father, Phillip Colville, to retrieve the disk. The mystery of disk, which by now had been tied to the ISA, the FBI, Victor Kiriakis, and Phillip Colville, only got more complicated and dangerous. While Diana continued to investigate it, she began to work more closely with Roman Brady than with Mike.
At this time, Bill returned to Salem. Although Mike still held hostile feelings toward Bill, he tried to get along with him, especially because Bill was now his supervisor at the hospital and often his partner in surgery. Bill brought sad news regarding Laura, whom he had left in Chicago; her condition had worsened over the past couple of years and was virtually unreachable. Meanwhile, another family member returned to Salem: Janice Barnes, Mickey and Maggie’s foster daughter. Now grown up, Janice came to the hospital as a first-year intern. Mike and Janice struck up a quick friendship through playful practical jokes. Before long, Mike pursued a romantic relationship with her. However, she resisted the idea. Janice told Mike that she was secretly involved with a married man and it was hard for her to get over him. Meanwhile, Mike noticed that Janice and Bill didn’t get along very well at work and tried to help them get along better.
At around this time, Bill informed the family that he was contemplating divorcing Laura. Mike was furious at the mere suggestion of it. Only weeks later, Mike discovered why: Bill and Janice were having affair. Their rough work relationship had just been a farce to keep people from suspecting. Mike stopped by to see Janice one night when he came upon her and Bill kissing. Finally, Mike let out all the rage held against his father. Although Mike forgave Janice for her deception, he found it hard to continue any sort of relationship with her. One evening, following a date with Gabrielle Pascal, Mike found Janice lying lifeless in an alley. She had been attacked by the Riverfront Knifer, a serial killer. She was barely breathing when he found her and had her rushed to the hospital. Together, Bill and Mike desperately tried to revive Janice but she died on the operating table as a result of her massive injuries. Janice’s death left a void in Mike, as well as Bill, that was hard to fill. Bill chose to leave Salem to go back to Laura. Before leaving, he and Mike made a shaky peace and worked out their differences.
Some time later, Mike began to volunteer his services at the Riverfront Community Center. While there one day, Mike caught a young woman trying to steal drugs from the pharmaceuticals room. At first he disdained her actions; likewise, she didn’t appreciate his butting in. But after she tried to steal the drugs again, she explained to Mike that her mother had cancer. She was in constant pain and needed drugs to fight it, but they could not afford them. Mike took pity on April, so he helped her get a job at the hospital to help pay for the medications. In addition, Mike offered to treat Rosa, April’s mother, and immediately had her admitted into the hospital. Following months of treatment, Rosa’s condition improved vastly and she was released. April was deeply thankful for Mike’s help. They got to know each other as Mike treated Rosa, and soon they began dating. During this time, Mike also got April interested in aspiring to have more in life and convinced her to become a medical technician. The long hours of study together brought them even closer.
In October of 1988, as Mike and April were about to make love for the first time, they got word that Rosa had been hit by a car. Mike wanted to operate on Rosa but warned April that she would remain comatose. Not wanting her mother to be kept alive by artificial means, April refused to give permission to operate. Her mother had asked her to let her die peacefully when her time came. Even though Mike sympathized with April, he insisted on saving Rosa’s life. Finally, April allowed the operation. Meanwhile, April passed her medical technician’s exam. Soon after this, Rosa died. Mike found that her life support system had been tampered with and suspected April of having pulled the plug on her mother. He wasn’t the only one who suspected April, and soon an investigation by the Hospital Board was underway. The investigation went so far as to implicate Mike as April’s accomplice in the plug-pulling, and Mike was suspended from duty. To spare Mike’s career, April confessed to the crime. However, April’s version of what happened that night changed every time she told it. As April was about to be sentenced, her father Monty walked into the courtroom drunk talking about Rosa’s death. Mike put two and two together and realized that April was covering up for Monty! After Monty sobered up, April confessed that she had seen her drunk father disconnect Rosa’s life support. Now sober, Monty backed this up and took the fall for the crime. April was initially furious at Mike, but she soon realized that he did it to save her.
During this time, April began drinking heavily. Mike didn’t think much of it at first, but when she crashed his van he finally realized that she had a problem. He suggested that she attend a counseling group such as Al-Anon, but April was only insulted by this suggestion. She continued to drink, eventually letting alcohol interfere with her relationship with Mike and with her job at the hospital. After some harsh words, Mike decided to keep his distance from April. She sought solace in an old friend of hers, Jerry Pulaski. Mike and Jerry also exchanged insults frequently over April’s condition. The situation finally took the biggest toll on Mike and April, and they broke up. Meanwhile, Mike received an unpleasant surprise one night when Robin, of all people, arrived at his doorstep! The reunion wasn’t exactly a joyful one; Robin’s quick departure in 1987 had deeply affected Mike. But after making polite conversation it seemed like old times again for Mike and Robin. Although she was back in Salem temporarily while she attended a medical conference, it seemed as though Robin wanted more.
Naturally, April noticed Robin’s presence and found out about her prior relationship with Mike. However, Mike wanted April back. He assured her that Robin was only part of his past. Still, April was convinced that she was not competition for Robin and continued to drink, further straining relations with Mike. Meanwhile, Robin informed Mike that she would stay in town for a while and asked to stay in his place. It wasn’t long before Robin began throwing herself at Mike. Nevertheless, Mike was up-front with Robin about his love for April. Mike’s devotion to April finally convinced her to join Alcoholics Anonymous in order to curb her drinking. Now with April on her way to recovery, Mike proposed to her. Unfortunately, not long after his engagement to April, Robin finally told Mike the real reason for her return: she’d given birth to his son after leaving Salem. In fact, their son, Jeremy, was currently in the hospital suffering from high fevers. Naturally Mike was shocked by the fact that he was a father. Even more shocked was April. Believing that Mike should dedicate himself to his son, April broke the engagement and pretended to drink again. When that didn’t stop Mike from pursuing her, she married Nick Corelli.
Meanwhile, Mike and Robin took a real stab at parenting together. But the old issue of religion crept up once again. Mike believed that Jeremy should be Christian, and Robin was adamant about raising him in Judaism. A short visit from Eli, Robin’s father, didn’t help matters. In the end, Robin made the decision to move to Israel and raise Jeremy there. Mike was welcomed to come. Although he promised to visit Jeremy as often as possible, Mike made it clear that his life was in Salem, with April. By this time, it was obvious to Mike that April had only married Nick to avoid a relationship with him. Yet, they couldn’t hide their feelings. Finally, April made the decision to divorce Nick. But before she could do so, she discovered that he was dying of a brain tumor. And so, April remained married to him. After Nick recovered, April finally decided that she needed to be with Mike and divorced him. Finally, Mike and April were able to have a real relationship again and they got got engaged once again. At this time, however, Mike was called upon to help the victims of a chemical plant explosion in China. He left in March of 1990, with the promise of returning after his work in China finished. But before returning to Salem, Mike went to Israel to visit Jeremy. He wound up staying there to be with his son, and sent April a Dear Jane letter explaining his motives. Through letters, Mike and April broke up.
In 1994, Mike returned to his hometown upon learning that his mother was alive and completely recovered from her catatonic state. Mike was overjoyed to see his mother walking and speaking after all this time. However, he noticed that she and Bill were not getting along. Before Bill left Salem, he warned Mike that Laura might be losing her sanity again. Concerned, Mike agreed to watch over Laura. Sure enough, something was wrong. One day, Mike caught his mother taking a medication; when he saw what the pills were, he knocked them out her hands. He warned that they were obsolete and very dangerous anti-depressants. Later, Mike also caught his mother turning to alcohol. He put a stop that as well. Laura was having a hard time dealing with all the time she’d lost, and Mike made her realize that she’d have to face her problems without drugs or alcohol.
At this time, Mike disclosed very little about his life in Israel. He simply said that things between Robin and he did not work out. However, Mike was keeping a terrible secret. Finally, he told Mickey what had happened to him in Israel. He was coaxed by a woman he thought he loved into working for a company that supposedly sent food and supplies to needy countries. In reality, the company sent weapons to terrorist groups. Mike had found this out and had been devastated to discover that because of his part in the company, a hospital full of children had been blown up. He had tried to leave the company, but it refused him that right unless he gave the company “his soul.” Not too clear what that meant, Mike had agreed and left. Mickey was concerned over this issue, but Mike just tossed it aside since there really was nothing he could do. He’d never met the boss of the company, and he didn’t know his name. Once settled in Salem, the company contacted Mike. Someone whose voice was disguised by an electronic device called Mike. Arrangements were made for him to be at St. Luke’s Church in order to find out what he needed to do to leave the company. At the Church, he was given a piece of paper with the name Marlena Evans written on it. The voice, which was coming from the confessional, told him he needed to get closer to her. Initially, Mike told the voice that he would not drag Marlena into his problems. When he opened the confessional’s curtain to see who the voice was, there was no one. The voice continued to call him at home and on his cell phone. Finally, Mike agreed to go through with it after the voice threatened to kill someone if he did not. He began spending a lot of time with Marlena at the hospital and visiting her at home.
Meanwhile, Laura had just been reinstated into the hospital staff when she began acting strange. At Mike’s 30th birthday party, Laura went off the edge and accused Peter of wanting to kill Mike and Jennifer. Eventually, Laura was admitted into the hospital after Mike, Jennifer, Peter, and Daniel found her on the ledge of the Salem Inn. Mike made arrangements for her to be admitted into Brooktree Sanitarium. But after Laura escaped from the hospital, Jennifer spent an entire night in Laura’s office and began acting irrationally, just as Laura had. Mike deduced that something in Laura’s office had caused her to act crazy. Just as he was going to have the paint analyzed, Peter had the office repainted. Laura did not go back to an asylum, and everyone was left thinking that the paint fumes had caused her irrational actions.
Mike continued to spend a lot of time with Marlena. After a while, the voice called Mike and asked him for the alarm code to Marlena’s penthouse. Marlena gave Mike the code in confidence, and Mike gave it to the voice. Unbeknownst to Mike, the person who kept on calling him, the voice, was Celeste, who was working for Stefano; he had been the owner of the company in Israel. Fearing for Marlena’s safety, Mike began to stand guard outside of Marlena’s door at night. But it was too late. Stefano had already created his own entrance into Marlena’s penthouse. One morning, Marlena found Mike asleep outside her door and he explained to her that he worried for her. Marlena convinced him to stop standing guard. He decided to do so, but only if Marlena changed the alarm code. She did. The calls stopped, and Mike felt better. A few weeks later, he noticed something strange about Marlena though. She was very tired. After being brought to the hospital, Mike diagnosed Marlena with anemia. However, he was perplexed when the next day he took Marlena’s blood again to find that she was perfectly normal. This continued for a couple of months. During one of her hospital stays, Marlena tried to strangle John and Mike saved him. Soon after, they found out she was possessed by the devil.
Meanwhile, Billie set Mike up on a date with Gina. Thankfully, the date didn’t lead anywhere since Gina was actually Mike’s cousin, Hope. While Marlena was possessed, Mike was one of the few privileged who knew about her condition. He and Caroline took care of Marlena while John and Father Francis discussed an exorcism. Poor Mike suffered at the hands of MarDevil, as he was hit many times with flying objects while watching over her. After the actual rite of exorcism was performed, Marlena seemed to die. Mike felt no heartbeat and declared her dead. Yet, it had been one of the devil’s tricks. Marlena was finally exorcised by John and Marlena came back to life. For nearly two years, Mike did next to nothing in Salem. He resuscitated John after he nearly died during a magic show (John had been in the Chinese Water Torture tank. In Aremid, Mike and Laura desperately worked to save Tony DiMera’s life; they almost succeeded, but he reopened his wound and died.
In 1997, Mike and Carrie Brady became re-acquainted once again. They became very good friends during the time that Austin was married to Sami Brady. Carrie encouraged Mike to pursue many of his dreams, such as buying an expensive sports car. Their friendship turned very close, and soon Mike was in love with Carrie.
Meanwhile, Roman Brady resurfaced in Salem suffering from a synthetic virus that he had been infected with in the Middle East. Mike and Carrie journeyed to Los Angeles to a medical conference in order to find someone who could help them develop a cure for Roman. While in L.A., Mike and Carrie were in a car accident. While recovering in an abandoned tool shed, Mike admitted his feelings to Carrie. Unfortunately, she didn’t hear him because she’d fallen asleep. After being attacked by a rattlesnake, Mike and Carrie made it back to their hotel. They didn’t find any help at the conference; Mike only met his overbearing rival from college, Dr. Craig Wesley. Carrie, wanting to make Mike look good in front of Craig, pretended to be his girlfriend and was very passionate with him while they danced in the hotel’s ballroom. Although Mike enjoyed this, he knew that Carrie was just doing him a favor. Unsuccessful in finding a cure for Roman, Mike and Carrie returned to Salem.
Little did Mike or Carrie know that they were being manipulated by Sami and Lucas. They wanted Carrie to forget Austin and continued to set Mike and Carrie together whenever possible. Mike confided in his mother about his feelings for Carrie; Laura encouraged him to pursue her. He almost told Carrie about his feelings for her at Sami and Austin’s wedding. Unfortunately, that turned out to be Carrie and Austin’s wedding and Mike remained silent. Adding insult to injury, Mike was Austin’s best man.
Soon after, Sami begged Mike for a job. Mike, feeling no threat from Sami, hired her as his personal assistant. Through subtle tactics, Sami convinced Mike to attend a medical convention in Rome…which was the location of Carrie and Austin’s honeymoon. While in Rome, Mike not only bumped into Carrie and Austin, but also into Dr. Debra Thomas, an old friend of his from Israel. Carrie tried to set up Mike with Debra. Even though Mike and Debra kissed, she suspected that he harbored feelings for Carrie and broke it off. Mike confessed to Carrie that he was in love with a married woman. Carrie never suspected it was she he was talking about.
For months, Mike longed to tell Carrie he loved her. However, he could not bear to destroy her marriage to Austin. He tried to date other women. On New Year’s Eve, he brought along Ally McIntyre as his date to a party at the Penthouse Grill. While he had a good time, he could only think of Carrie, even when he kissed Ally. Unbeknownst to Mike, Carrie now began to feel interested in him.
Yet, Mike shoved his feelings for Carrie aside. He buried himself in his work, and with Carrie’s encouragement, he decided to apply for the Chief-of-Staff position at University Hospital. Carrie became a sort of spokesperson for him. She also taught him how to dress right for his various meetings and interviews with the hospital board. All seemed to go well until Craig Wesley came to Salem. He, too, desired the Chief-of-Staff position, and the rivalry between he and Mike began to burn once again.