Every Memory Repeats

Chapter 11

"Yeah, yeah," John said absently. "I'd like to get that done as well."

"I could call Marcus. We might be able to get it done today, if you'd like," Marlena said

John looked at Marlena in surprise, "I thought Marcus was out of town."

"He returned a few days ago," Marlena said. "He finished his research early, and he's back at the hospital. It's nice having him back."

"I thought he would have called Isabella," he replied.

"He's probably swamped with paper work. Let me give him call," Marlena said, standing up quickly, and walking towards her desk.

Forty minutes later, Marlena, John, and Marcus stood in front of the light box that contained the x-ray of John's neck, all of them wearing expressions of disbelief. When Marcus had first heard why Marlena wanted an x-ray of John's skull, he been doubtful, but he'd heard wild stories of Stefano DiMera, and honestly, he'd been curious. The microchip was there, just as John remembered, a small square at the base of the skull, where one should not be.

Fear rose up inside Marlena, and she touched John's arm gently, "I think we need to contact Shane."

He looked at her, so grateful in that moment to have her with him, and he replied, "I think you're right, Doc. Marcus...I need someone to take that thing out of me. You willing?"

"Yeah, John...I could do it, but we don't even know what it is," Marcus told him.

"I've got my suspicions, and I need someone I trust to do the surgery."

"I can prep an OR, and be ready within the hour," Marcus said.

John looked at him with a wide grin, "That's what I'm talking about. Let me...let me check in with Isabella first. She's been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, and I want to make sure she's okay."

Marcus looked at John quizzically, almost surprised, "Isabella's pregnant?"

John smiled. With everything up in the air with his life, his son was the one solid thing he could cling to, "That's right, you've been gone for quite awhile. Yeah...yeah, she is. We're having a boy."

"She's due soon?" Marcus asked.

"She's due in a few weeks actually," John told him. "You should give her a call. I'm sure she misses you."

Marcus turned around, glancing over John's x-ray again, saying, "I'll do that."

"John," Marlena said softly, stepping so close he could feel the heat from her body, and feel her softness against him. "You can call Isabella from my office, if you want, and then we can call Shane."

Hearing John on the phone with Isabella, asking after the baby, and telling her, he loved her, shouldn't have been as hard for Marlena, as it was. When John hung up the phone, and before she could school her features, he saw the raw pain in her eyes, and it left him confused. It left him wanting something that was over, something in the past. He forced himself to smile, and said, "Isabella is coming. I asked her not to. She needs to rest, but she insisted."

The ache in Marlena's chest grew, and she felt like it was harder to breath. "It's fine. I would do the same... if it was Roman," she said looking through her rolodex. Finding the card with Shane's number on it, she pulled it out, and handed it to John.

John reached for her hand, holding it tightly in his, "Are we really doing this?"

"I support you one hundred percent, John. I'll stay with you the whole time," Marlena said. "If you want me too."

"You'd do that? Come into surgery, and just be there?"

"I'll admit, I'm curious as to what Marcus will find, but, John, I won't leave your side for one moment," she whispered. "Not if you want me there..."

John stepped closer, showing her, his vulnerability and his fear, and he whispered, "Thank you, Doc."

She couldn't resist touching him. The ache inside her was too much to hold back. Stroking over his face softly, she whispered, "Anything for you, John. Anything. Anything."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Isabella seemed exhausted when Marlena exited the operating room, and said, "The microchip is out. Marcus was able to find it, and extract it. It was somehow sewn into his nervous system."

"But it's out?" Isabella asked. "And he's safe?"

"He's safe," Marlena said, feeling her own sense of relief. "He might not wake up for a few hours. They'll move him to a room soon."

Isabella hated that she now found herself in Marlena's debt, but she said, "Thank you...for helping him through this. I wanted him to forget it all, just focus on our relationship, and the baby, but I can see...well, I've been able to see, over the last few months, that knowing his past helps him move forward."

"John wants to know who he is. He wants to know where he comes from, and without that knowledge, he will always feel like he's missing something...even if he has everything he wants," Marlena said.

Marcus came out of the operating room, and stopped short when he saw Isabella. She was beautiful, and her pregnancy seemed to add to her soft glow. He took off his surgical cap, and said, "Isabella...it's good to see you."

She stared at him for a moment, quickly glancing over at Marlena, and said, "Marcus. How have you been?"

Isabella seemed stiff, almost formal, with someone who was supposed to be one of her best friends, but Marlena shrugged it off. It was nearly three in the morning, and she was absolutely exhausted. "Marcus," Marlena said. "I'm going to head home, shower, and check on the children. I'll be back in a few hours."

"That will be fine. He may not even be awake yet," Marcus told her. "I have the microchip sealed in the evidence bag. I'll keep it on me. You said—"

"—Shane promised to be here by ten," Marlena said.

"The ISA? Why is Shane coming?" Isabella wanted to know.

Marlena thought the answer would be obvious, but she sighed softly, and said, "The microchip was planted by Stefano and a doctor that John refers to as Rolf. Shane is coming to get the chip, and have it examined by the forensics lab at the ISA."

"This is why I wanted him to forget about his past...just move on," Isabella said with her voice raising slightly.

"I can't believe that you'd be fine with John living his life with a computer chip in his head. We don't even know what it does. What if he didn't have amnesia? What if his memories were being suppressed?"

"What if he has another life, and he leaves me?" Isabella said loudly. "What then?"

"That's a chance John has to take, Isabella. He won't rest until he knows," Marlena told her. Looking at Marcus, she says, "I'll be back."

Marcus watches as Marlena walks down the brightly lit, vacant hallway. Turning to Isabella he says quietly, "When are you due?"

"In a few weeks," she whispers.

"Is is mine? Or is it Johns?" Marcus asked her, tipping her face up to his.

Isabella had tears in her eyes when she responded, "I don't know."