Every Memory Repeats

Chapter 13

John was quiet, staring at Isabella for a moment, and then allowing his eyes to fall to the child in her arms, "Yeah...I need a friend right now." His need to find Marlena, to seek out her scent, her warmth, and her comfort, was so all consuming his breath hitched. Isabella had taken his second chance and torn it away from him with her lies. He needed a friend. He needed Marlena.

Isabella continued to cry as she watched John slowly walk out of the room. Outside, John ran into a nervous looking Marcus. Their eyes met, and locked for a moment, and then John said, "You should go meet your son."

"John—" Marcus started to say, but he stopped, because what could he say? He hadn't even known of the possibility until three days prior.

John held his hand up, saying, "Don't, Marcus. Not right now." He continued walking away.

Marcus sighed, and then turned to enter Isabella's delivery room.

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

John stepped off of the last ferry to Smith Island into a raging storm. The ferry captain looked at him as if he had lost his mind, and said, "You sure about this? The rest of the ferries for today and tomorrow are cancelled because of this squall."

"I'm sure," he said, stepping off quickly. The harsh rain pelted his skin with needle sharp accuracy, slicking John's hair to his forehead. John could feel the cool drops sliding down his neck, and along his spine. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Thanks again. I know you weren't planning on coming out again today."

"It's fine. You seemed like it was pretty important. We'll start doing runs again day after tomorrow."

John stood in the pouring rain for a moment, watching the ferry pull away and he turned towards the direction of the Horton cabin and began walking. He'd gone to Marlena's house in a near fit of desperation, after leaving the hospital. Caroline had answered the door, surprised to see him.

"John! I thought you were at the hospital? I heard Isabella was having the baby," Caroline said, surprised to see him standing there.

"She was...she did," he said quietly. "Is Doc here? I really need to speak with her."

Caroline was silent for a moment, and finally said, "She's at the Horton cabin." The weather outside was turning quickly, so Caroline said, "John, come inside. I don't want you outside in that."

"I don't usually come in...Roman—"

"—Roman won't be here," Caroline interjected. "He's staying at the fish market for a few days until he can find a place."

"What?"

"John," Caroline started slowly, wondering if she should tell him. Deciding that no matter what, he was family, she continued. "Roman and Marlena are separating. I believe she's planning to file for divorce. She needed some time away to sort out her feelings, so she's been at the Horton cabin for three days."

"Caroline! This storm," John said.

"She'll be fine," Caroline said. "She has supplies, and firewood. That cabin has withstood much more than a storm." John looked like he might need Marlena in that moment, as much as Caroline thought Marlena might need him. "Roman got drunk a couple of months ago...and he cheated on Marlena. Billie Reed is pregnant."

"Billie Reed could be his daughter! She's not much older than Carrie!"

"Bo is reeling, and Marlena put Roman out of the house. They argued something fierce, and Roman...I can't make excuses for Roman, John...he hit her. Marlena said he'd been getting rougher with her recently. Growing more frustrated."

"Were the children home?"

"Eric found Marlena on the kitchen floor after Roman left," Caroline said softly, because the children were upstairs.

"Why didn't she call me?" John said in frustration. "She knows I would have been here."

"Isabella and you are planning the wedding, and the baby was due soon. I think she didn't want to saddle you with her problems."

John ran his fingers roughly through his hair and said, "The baby isn't mine."

It was Caroline's turn to react with surprise, "What?"

"Isabella had the baby, but it's not mine. The night Marlena moved into the house after she came home...well, it doesn't matter...the baby isn't mine," John said.

Caroline stepped forward, wrapping her arms around the man she would always consider her son, and she whispered, "Oh, John. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

He whispered back, "It hurts so much to know she lied to me...lied to me for months."

Caroline paused for a moment, and then went with her heart, "You and Marlena...you need each other right now."

"Caroline..."

Placing her hand softly on his arm, she said, "Whatever the two of you are, John...whatever you were, and whatever you become...you need each other right now."

John nodded his head slightly, and turned, walking out of the house.

Nearing the cabin, his clothing was saturated. The sky was periodically lit with lightening strikes, and booming with the roar of thunder. Underlying it all, John could hear Marlena's screams coming from the beach. Not screams of fear or terror, but screams timed with the rumble of thunder, and the flash of lightening across the sky. He was drawn by the sound of her towards the beach.

Marlena stood on the beach, wearing a long, satin, lace edged nightgown, and felt more free in that instance than she had felt in years. Every clap of thunder, and every streak of lightening, and she roared her anger, her pain, her sadness, and her love for John into the night sky, while rain pelted her sensitive flesh. She screamed out her rage over Kellam raping her. She cried over losing DJ. She wailed over the time that she lost because Stefano had her. Marlena stood on that beach, and screamed into the storm, until she fell to her knees, and couldn't scream anymore. Fat drops of water clung to her hair, slicking it to her neck and shoulders. The satin of her nightgown clinging to her skin, as if it existed as part of her.

That was how John found her. A ravishing beauty soaked with rain, collapsed on the beach. His reaction was more than physical, it was soul deep, pulling him closer. He fell to his knees in front of her, and when she opened her eyes and saw him there she smiled. Arms covered in mottled bruises, and a darkened area across her face, had John feeling a fire roar up inside him that he had to use all of his energy to push back down.

Marlena reached up, touching his face softly, as the sky was again lit with a flash of lightening, and she whispered, "You came..."

"I did," he said, and then he threaded his fingers into her hair, pulling it tightly, and his lips crashed into hers with the next roar of thunder.