Being seriously ill sucks, and doubly at Christmastime.

That's why Days of Our Lives always has a hospital party — the doctors and nurses want to give sick kids Christmas cheer.

On Days of Our Lives during the week of 12-25-23, Paulina reads the Christmas story to the children, but not until after she gets an official diagnosis from Kayla. Will she be trying to cope with terrible news?

Paulina's symptoms have suggested something serious, especially since Chanel mentioned an uncle who waited too long to find out he had lung cancer.

Let's hope it's not that -- or at least, not one that's incurable. Those kinds of stories are depressing enough when it's not the holiday season.

Besides, Days of Our Lives ruined the gravity of serious illness stories with that stupidity about the stolen orchid cure in 2022.

Hopefully, Paulina hasn't been given a lethal poison and doesn't have a terminal illness. This is Salem, where people can spontaneously recover from the incurable, but still.

Paulina will be able to read the Christmas story, so that's a good sign. Hopefully, this ordeal will also help Abe get his memory back.

I don't know how that could happen, but strange and illogical things happen regularly in Salem, so why not?

There are more Christmas celebrations to come -- the Kiriakis clan will have their Christmas dinner the day after Christmas. People in other countries often get together for Boxing Day after Christmas, so why not continue the celebration here, too?

Surprisingly, Alex is at the Kiriakis dinner even though he'd vowed not to come because Maggie was critical of his hiring Theresa to resurrect Bella Magazine.

The spoiler video also suggests Harris will give Ava a special Christmas present despite their breakup, while Tate gives Holly another chance, and they dress up for their date.

Please scroll down to check out all eight spoilers for Days of Our Lives during the week of 12-25-23.

Paulina gets a diagnosis from Kayla and later reads the Christmas story to sick kids.

Maybe Paulina will get a Christmas miracle and find out she has nothing serious.

I doubt it, though. There's been too much build-up of this story for that.

She will probably put on a good face for the kids, but later in the week, will she break down?

Nicole and Holly meet up with Eric after Nicole discovers Holly is hungover.

I don't like where this is going. Eric, Nicole, and Holly supposedly make the perfect family; this seems like a heavy-handed foreshadowing of who Nicole will eventually end up with.

Nicole needs to talk honestly with Holly about Holly's drinking and try to get to the bottom of it, but she'll likely attribute it to teenage stupidity and not impose any consequences.

Holly's attempt to straighten out after this won't last long, either, as Nicole almost catches her abusing pills later.

Leo escalates his demands against Sloan.

Leo wants to resurrect his Lady Whistleblower column, but Sloan can't do anything to help him there.

In theory, she can get Dimitri un-transferred so that Leo can visit him.

Is that all he wants, or does he have another crazy plan in mind?

Stefan takes a surprising step in his war against Clyde.

Stefan will turn to EJ for help.

I'm not sure how this is supposed to work. The last time Stefan and EJ spoke, they were ready to kill each other.

Will they put their differences aside to destroy their common enemy? And how will this affect EJ's status as the district attorney?

The Kiriakises have a late Christmas dinner.

The Kiriakises will honor Victor's memory during their Christmas dinner.

Hopefully, Konstantin won't make another appearance -- he's already interfered with one Christmas celebration and isn't needed at the other.

I'm also curious how Alex ends up going when he refused to the other day. Will Justin convince him to change his mind, or what?

Jada tries to lift Rafe's spirits.

Rafe's depressed about Gabi being in jail over the holidays.

Hopefully, lifting Rafe's spirits isn't a euphemism for sex. It feels like that's all these two ever do!

It would be far more entertaining for Jada to find a new lead on Li's murder that could potentially exonerate Gabi.

Holly asks Tate for a second chance.

The bad girl unable to stay on the right path is somewhat of a tired TV trope.

But that's what's likely to happen here.

According to spoilers, Tate will soon be blamed for Holly overdosing on drugs. Can we not have Holly almost dying near the anniversary of her father's death?

Nicole has her first therapy session.

These would be great scenes if Days of Our Lives treated mental health issues seriously.

Ari Zucker could knock them out of the park. Nicole has years' worth of baggage to unpack, and the loss of this baby is only the latest trauma.

But alas, Nicole will see Marlena -- the mother of Nicole's ex who knows that her son secretly harbors feelings for Nicole! And Nicole is currently married to Sami's ex-husband, too.

Talk about a conflict of interest.

What do you think of these spoilers, Days of Our Lives fanatics? Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know!

Check out the latest Days of Our Lives reviews and Days of Our Lives Round Table discussions if you'd like to chat about already-aired episodes.

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Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.