Kintsugi

Chapter 2

"Hello, Celeste" Marlena said into the telephone.

"It's you..." Celeste responded with abject fear in her voice.

Marlena started laughing, "How was your drive, Celeste?"

"You tried to kill me!" Celeste cried, remembering her car accident the night before.

Marlena kept laughing, as if it were a joke, "That was only a warning. If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead, and by something slower, and more painful than a car accident."

"What do you want?"

"Bring me a pair of contact lenses. The same color as Marlena's eyes."

"Why?"

"I can't wear dark glasses much longer. It's causing too much suspicion."

Marlena woke with hot tears streaming down her face, and a scream ripped from her throat, causing her pain. The blankets of her bed were tangled around her legs, and she screamed again in fear, feeling trapped, as she tried kicking them off. She was in a blind panic, still quagmired in her dream, while in the process of waking. She began gasping for air, unable to get enough in her lungs to breath properly, and then she felt him next to her on the bed, his strong hands on her body, soothing her, and his words in her ear, calming her, and bringing her back to the present.

"Doc, come back to me," he whispered softly, his hands running over her back in a long, repetitive, sweep. Her breathing began to regulate slowly, occasionally coming in gasps, as she struggled to calm herself. John asked her in a quiet tone, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm broken. I feel so broken, and I don't know if I can put myself together," she cried against his bare chest, while he rocked her in his arms.

"Baby, sometimes things that are broken can be more beautiful after they're repaired," he said, running his palm over her hair. She stayed silent, absorbing his heat, and feeling comfort in resting her cheek on his chest. His spicy scent was so familiar, and the rumble of his voice as he spoke to her, provided her with an additional feeling of safety, "Have you heard of kintsugi?"

"What?" she asked, pulling her head back, and looking at him.

"Kintsugi...it's a type of Japanese pottery. It's when broken pottery is repaired with gold or silver, and when it's finished, the piece is even more beautiful...because it was broken," he told her.

"No, I've never...I've never heard of that," she said. "But, it sounds like it would be beautiful."

John ran his fingers over her face, and told her, "Doc, you are beautiful. You've been through hell, over and over again...and we'll get through this. I will be with you, and when you're healed, and put back together...it won't hurt so badly anymore."

"I dreamed about something I did..." she whispered, laying her head back down on his chest. "The demon caused Celeste to have a car accident. It threatened her...I threatened her, I guess, but I made her bring me contact lenses. Why would I do that?"

"You were hiding your eyes, because they were yellow...the demon wanted to hide your eyes," he told her.

Marlena wrapped her arms around his waist, her cool fingers making their way under the edge of his shirt, running along his lower back, causing him to shiver. She felt like if she let go of him, she would sink back into that feeling of helplessness that she woke up with. Without lifting her head, she whispered, "Can you stay with me? Please?"

He got up, and walked around to the other side of the bed, sliding in beside her. Marlena snuggled into his waiting arms, and said sleepily, "Kintsugi...I imagine that's very pretty."