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It’s been a week and a half since Rafe was stabbed in the back (quite literally) on Days of Our Lives. And in that time, while he hasn’t died, he also hasn’t improved. And while Rafe’s been in a coma, Connie has been buzzing around, looking to finish cleaning up the mess she’s made — and getting in close to Gabi!

So is Rafe living on borrowed time? Connie likely won’t stop trying to take him out until she’s stopped. And judging by spoilers, that’s not going to happen any time soon — and she will be striking again! That’s got us worried because if anything happened to Rafe, Gabi would be the only Hernandez left.

Sure, for a time while she was in prison, that was Rafe, but we always knew Gabi would be released eventually. Rafe’s death would be a huge blow to a family that Days of Our Lives once seemed so invested in building into a major force in Salem.

Don’t trust Connie, Gabi!

Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI

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Longtime fans know that there were, at one point, four siblings: Rafe, Arianna, Dario and Gabi. Their dad Eduardo was in town for some time romancing Kate, and mom Adriana stopped by for a bit. They even had a half-sister in Eve and Eduardo’s daughter, Paige!

But then that all changed. Arianna died, Dario fled town, Eduardo left and Paige was murdered. These days, Salem is down to just Gabi and Rafe, with her daughter, Arianna, living with dads Will and Sonny.

For her part, Cherie Jimenez would love to see that trend reversed. When Soaps.com spoke with Gabi’s portrayer, she admitted that, “There was one point in the last seven months that I made a comment and I was like, ‘You know, I really would love to just spend time with the Hernandez family. I know that Gabi’s sister died and her mom and dad… I know that there’s a lot of family situations that just aren’t present.”

Back when Camila Banus was playing Gabi, she also had brother Dario and mom Adriana in town.

Credit: Howard Wise/JPI

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“I would absolutely love [to see the Hernandez family return] and I’m excited to see where the writers take that.”

And yeah, there’s no end to where the writers could take it. As Jimenez pointed out when we mentioned that Arianna could always return from the dead, “Anything is possible, right?” She then laughed, “Salem is definitely not your normal town, for sure!”

No, it’s not! Half the town has been brought back to life at this point. Gabi definitely knows that after her husband was brought back with his dead twin’s heart. And as far as Paige? Will was also seemingly murdered by the Necktie Killer, but he’s just fine these days. Why not her? And yeah, Dario ran off to avoid paying for stealing from the DiMeras and his counterfeiting scheme, but there are folks in town who’ve gotten off for far worse crimes.

In the end, there’s no reason the show couldn’t find a way to revitalize the Hernandez family. The good news is that, for now, it doesn’t seem like Rafe is going anywhere — at least not permanently. There’s been no word of Galen Gering’s exit, and that’s great for Jimenez.

Because even if the rest of the Hernandez family isn’t around, “Having Rafe is a beautiful thing, because at least I have him and he’s also like a father figure, as well as a brother.”

And acting with Gering has been amazing from the start. “We just worked really well off each other,” she shared. “And now we’re so close that we see each other and we call each other ‘hermana’ and ‘hermano,’ you know? Like brother and sister. So that’s great.”

Here’s hoping that just keeps on going, and instead of shrinking the Hernandez family, someday, it grows once again!