John and Marlena (Finally) Get a Q!

Chapter 22 - Confessions

When John had entered the living room and seen Marlena's ashen face, he had practically dropped the cups of coffee he had held, in his haste to get to her. When he had asked her what was wrong. She had merely replayed the message on the phone, a feeling of dread in her heart as she listened to Shawn's voice again.

Then John had called the pub to check on the children. Hope had told him that as far as she knew, Sami was all right, but no one was quite sure about Kristen. When she had ventured to question him about his whereabouts, he had neatly sidestepped the question, not willing to admit he had been with Marlena while Kristen was having a possible miscarriage. However much he loved Marlena, it did nothing to help assuage the guilt he felt.

They had both abided in silence in the car on the way to the hospital, each lost in a horror of their own making. John was in anguish that somehow, by not being there for Kristen, he had contributed to her second miscarriage in a matter of months. Marlena in a numbing fear that this latest tragedy would somehow tear John from her again, just when they had finally found each other.

Upon their arrival at the University hospital, Mike Horton had taken John to one side while Marlena continued to the room where her daughter lay injured. Now John stood in the staff room while Mike explained Kristen's condition to him.

"But I don't understand Mike. Why would it happen now?"

"I don't know John. Miscarriages can happen at any time and any place. There can be many reasons, some of which we don't even know yet." Mike tried to explain the vagaries of pregnancy and miscarriage to John, but he barely heard them in his shell-shocked state.

"But when Kristen miscarried in Paris there was a reason. She was in that explosion and ..." John shook his head in disbelief.

"John, you have to remember that Kristen hasn't miscarried the baby," Mike reminded him. "But yes, there was a reason in Paris. And I suspect there is a reason here. I just don't know what it is yet. Kristen refuses to talk to anyone. Maybe you'll have more luck," he appealed.

John rubbed his fingers across his brow, as though trying to erase the lines of worry that bore deep furrows into his forehead.

"Tell me honestly Mike. How likely is it that Kristen will lose this child?"

"Honestly John? She's more likely to lose it than not. Given the fact that it's not that long since she miscarried last time," he sighed. "I can't give you numbers John. She does have on her side the fact that the pregnancy is out of the first trimester. And the scans are indicating that the baby is relatively strong and healthy...." Mike's recitation was stopped by the confused look on John's face.

"What is it, John?"

"I'm sorry Mike, did you say that Kristen's pregnancy has passed the first trimester?" John's mind quickly backtracked, doing mental sums. Mike nodded.

"According to -"

"Would you like to explain where you *were* all of last night while my sister was lying in agony on that hospital bed?" Peter's voice interrupted the conversation between the doctor and the ex-policemen. One look at Peter DiMera Blake's face made John's heart slump and a voice inside his brain repeated two hollow words. He knows.

******

Marlena's heart lifted when she saw Sami's face. A healthy glow convinced her that her daughter had not been badly hurt and was already well on the way to recovery. She sat on the bed playing with her son, Carrie in a chair next to the bed. Austin and Grant had long since disappeared for a spot of catching up and the two siblings seemed unusually relaxed in each other's company. Will was the first one to catch sight of Marlena standing in the doorway and he gurgled his childish greeting happily.