Jack and Katie's wedding begins today on "As the World Turns," but they may wind up with the shortest union on record.

"Jack and Katie rushed into this marriage," says Terri Colombino, who plays the flighty Katie. "To them, it's because they love each other and want to have a life together as soon as possible. But he has his issues, and she has her issues, hers being: 'I just want to settle down and have someone and it needs to be now.' And also, 'I want to get Carly back for stealing my first love, so I'm taking her first love.' Those are definitely the underlying factors in her rush to the altar."

The underlying threat is that Jack's ex-wife, Carly, is keeping a big secret: She's dying.

"Jack and Katie don't know that," says Colombino. "They're going through with this. Margo is her matron of honor, and Vienna is her bridesmaid. Sage is the flower girl, and Henry walks her down the aisle. Which is only fitting, seeing as Katie actually married Henry, and then he married her and Mike. He has to have a prominent part in the wedding, so he walks her down the aisle."

Jack's brother Brad is not tapped as best man ("He hasn't really deserved it up to this point," notes Colombino), which frees him up to leave the ceremony when he gets a call that Carly has collapsed.

"He comes back to catch the bouquet," says Colombino, "and to tell them that Carly is sick and dying. This marriage is not going to last for long."

Indeed, Jack postpones the honeymoon, telling Katie he can't go lie on a beach when he knows the mother of his children is dying.

"The minute they get married, he's off with her," says Colombino. "Katie's like, 'I can't handle this. I mean, I know she's sick and I understand that you need to be there for your family and everything, but you don't have to be there 24/7. We can get her a nurse.' And he's like, 'No, I can't do that. This is the end of her life.' So Katie pushes him away - and he goes."

Jack and Carly tell the kids that she's sick, but don't spell out the fact that she's dying - actually, she probably isn't since Maura West has a long-term contract and just won an Emmy.

"Then something happens that ... when I read the script, I was in tears," says Colombino. "It's really beautiful. But when Katie finds out about it, that's when she kicks him out!"