 In the meantime, Michael's new stepmother, Claudia Zacchara (Sarah Brown), begins fishing for information trying to figure out if Michael remembers her bedside confessions about her involvement in his shooting.During his recovery, Michael takes a liking to Claudia as his stepmother, according to Garrett "because she tells me what I want to hear," and though she starts out trying to manipulate him, Claudia actually comes to care for him, and Michael sees this.Michael even goes so far as to label Claudia as being "cool."