Kintsugi

Chapter 5

John hung up the phone, and turned to watch Marlena on the couch, with a cup of coffee in her hand, "That was Carrie. She wants to come by. I told her that it would be fine."

Marlena suddenly had a look of apprehension on her face, as if she were frightened to face her. "I'm not sure..." she says.

"She doesn't blame you, Doc. No one does, but I think seeing her, and talking...well it might help you heal," he told her, sitting down beside her. John reaches for her coffee, placing it on the small table in front of the couch, and pulls her into his arms.

It's the most natural thing in the world to snuggle into his body, and tuck her face into his neck. She feels the shiver run through him. The sexual tension between them is near constant, and their time together is spent with gentle touches, long conversations, and long glances. Marlena finds herself in a near constant state of arousal, and being this close to him, makes it harder, but in a delicious kind of way. Forcing herself not to make the situation worse, she tries to focus on Carrie coming over. "I hurt her," she said softly. "When I was possessed, I said things that hurt her...on purpose."

"But, Doc, we both know that wasn't you," John told her, as his hand absently stroked over her bare shoulder, where her sweater had draped. Every time he touched her skin, he marveled at the softness.

"I know. I do. I do...it's just, when the demon was in me, when it was making me behave a certain way, or say hurtful things...there was always a truth to it. I mean, they were lies, but they were lies that twisted the truth," Marlena said. "It sounds crazy. I sound crazy."

"I think, Doc, that sometimes you're too hard on yourself," John replied after a pause. "You are the most caring, and empathetic person I know. You would never willingly hurt your children, or anyone else for that matter."

"Sometimes the demon took my thoughts, or my feelings, and it made them something else...but then, because I was trapped, the demon made me feel as if the actions were my own. It made me think that I really wanted those things to happen to people, but I was just too weak to carry them out alone. I was trapped in a psychological nightmare," she whispered, with silent tears falling onto his chest.

John sat up, wanting to face her when he said this, and used his fingers to tip her face up to his, "Doc, none of that is who you are. I know you better than anyone else in this world, and I know, you would never intentionally hurt the people you love."

She smiled at him softly, the glint of tears still shining in her eyes, "I love you. For everything you are, and everything you do, I love you." She reached up, running her fingers over his lips, and across his mouth.

His body ached for her, and he forced himself to hold back his moan of arousal. "I love you too," he said softly. Holding her face in his hands, he pulled her close to him, breathing her in, and running the tip of his nose alongside hers. "As long as I'm alive, you'll always have me."

"I'm so glad," she replied in a breathy voice, leaning her forehead softly against his, and looking into his eyes, "because I honestly don't know what I do without you."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

John's hand rested lightly on her back, as he guided her down the hallway of the hospital. It had been three weeks since Marlena had returned to herself, and John still had a difficult time separating from her, even for a follow-up doctor's appointment with Mike. As they rounded the corner, they were both caught off guard to see Stefano sitting outside his hospital room in a wheelchair. He was dressed in pajamas, and a bathrobe. John knew that Stefano was still unable to walk, but in John's mind, that made him no less dangerous. The man was still obsessed with Marlena.

Marlena stopped suddenly, wide eyed, staring at the man in front of her. Her mind became a chaotic nightmare of memories. Flashes of masquerade balls, and masks, nocturnal visits, and disorientation. She swayed slightly, reaching out for John, but unable to speak.

"Hello, Marlena," Stefano drawls slowly, staring at her in a way that bordered on mania. "I am glad to see you well."

She continues to stare at Stefano, overwrought with emotion as memories flash through her mind, like a kaleidoscope of horror.

"Stefano! Thank goodness you're here. Please, my darling, untie these bonds! Please untie me! Please, hurry!" Marlena cried out to him. The man was a delusional idiot, who would believe anything the demon wanted him to believe, as long as it was said in the right voice, with the right amount of helplessness attached to it.

"All right. All right," Stefano told her as he began to untie the fastenings on her legs.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" She cried out as he worked his way around the bed. "Yes! Yes!" Her sounds coming out of her like they were cries of sexual passion. Stefano was almost in a frenzy in his hurry to untie her bonds.

As soon as he finished, he gathered her body into his arms, crying, "Marlena! Marlena!" However, once she stood on her own feet, she changed.

She pushed him away, and in a voice he didn't recognize, the tone low and deep, she screamed, "You fool! You have interfered for the last time!"

Stefano was confused. She was full of rage, and this was not Marlena. Not his Marlena. He stood slowly, backing away from her, in fright, while watching in horror as she transformed into a hideous beast before him. "Dear G-d!" he says. "The devil, the demon...was not exorcised. It was all a trick!" While he continues to back a way, he manages to find a bit of bravery telling the demon, "I will not let you take Marlena away from me. My love for her is stronger than your evil!"

"Love?" the demon laughs at him. "You don't love anyone, but obsession? You are the very king of obsession!" it snarls at him, as he continues to back further, and further away.

"Love! Love will prevail!" Stefano roars. "You know that in the end you will lose, because you cannot fight the power of love! She is mine! Mine! Only I can make her happy!"

John notices that Marlena is frozen in fear. Stefano stares at her in awe and wonder, as if he can't turn his eyes away from her. Unmoving, and lost in memories, Marlena begins to gasp, and struggle to breath, while hot tears flow from her eyes. Her fingers dig into the flesh of his arm. John gently moves around her body, bending to scoop her up, and rush her to Mike. Whispering in her ear, "Doc, baby, come back to me. Doc, please! I'm here. I'm here, and I'm not leaving."

Practically running into the nearest exam room, John places her on the table, and begins to gently run his hands over her face, her neck, and her arms. He rubs hard, squeezing as he goes, while whispering words of love, and devotion. "Doc, come on baby, you're scaring me," he almost cries. "I need you. I need you. Come back!"

She hears him, somewhere in the back of her mind, where she disappears when she's the most scared, she hears his voice calling her back. "I love you. I love you so much," he says. Then she feels him, the squeezing, and the rough rubbing of her flesh, as sensation returns to her.

Marlena blinks rapidly, confused. She feels the tears on her face, as she finally looks at him, "John?"

"Oh, G-d! Doc!" he says, pulling her tightly against him. "You scared me so fucking bad!" he tells her, the relief obvious in his voice.

"I'm sorry," she whispers. "I'm sorry." Her hand moves to his face, wiping the tears from his cheeks, as they continue to flow from his eyes. "I heard you," she murmured. "I heard you call for me. I felt you..." she said softly, pulling his face to hers. Her lips brush his softly, but John is overcome with fear, love, anger, passion...all of his emotions bottled into one moment, and his mouth devours her. Their tongues sweep over each other, and Marlena moans into his mouth, "I felt you..."

He can't get enough of her. One arm wraps itself around her body pulling her to him, while the other threads into her hair, holding tightly. A knock sounds on the door, causing John to pull away from her. She's breathing hard, her eyes full of passion, and she whispers, "I love you."

"Baby, I love you too," he whispers back to her, before stepping to the door and allowing Mike to enter.