John and Marlena (Finally) Get a Q!

Chapter 55 - Old Wounds Never Die

The next few days passed in much the same way for Marlena and Eugene. Marlena had previously cleared her schedule for the early part of the week, and they spent their time talking, laughing and making love. They had hidden themselves away from a world that sought to censure them, to pass judgment on the decisions they made and instead had just enjoyed each other's company, through the laughter and the occasional tears.

And yet, on the Tuesday afternoon, they had gone for a walk in the park, taking advantage of the warm spring sun that filled their hearts with light contentment. They had brought ice-creams which they had eaten lying on the sun-warmed grass, laughing at each other as they wiped ice-cream and chocolate from their mouths. And then they had walked back to the penthouse, hand in hand, oblivious to the world around them, refusing to acknowledge, even still, the reality that ever threatened to encroach.

It was Wednesday morning that Marlena found herself back in her office, ready to tackle a new day of treatment and traumas. The morning was filled with paperwork and assessments, just the kind of day to dull the senses. But that all ended at eleven when an acute patient of Laura's was admitted, threatening suicide.

Laura was in San Francisco for a week, attending a conference, but her patient, Elenora Bryant was deeply depressed and in need of immediate care. Marlena, being the best qualified on the psychiatric staff to treat this particular case, spent an hour talking to and calming the distressed woman.

Elenora Bryant was a middle-aged woman, not particularly well educated, who worked in an office and had worked in the same office for the last fifteen years. It had turned out that Elenora's husband had left her several weeks beforehand. He had left her a note, cleared out their apartment of all valuable goods, and taken their five-year-old daughter with him. She had been left with nothing and she had no idea where he had gone. She just knew that she couldn't go on living without her daughter and she had no way of finding the child or the means to get her back. And she had given up.

Marlena eventually sedated the patient and left the room after giving instructions to the nurses and attending doctors that Elenora wasn't to be left alone for a moment. She was fearful that somehow the woman would find a way to take her own life and she wasn't about to let that happen if it was within her power. Betrayal was devastating, but it could be surmounted. She was living proof of that, and she had to convince Elenora that she too, could get through this.

When she made it to the outer corridor, Marlena began to shake. This woman's problems had raised too many old demons for her. Memories that she couldn't banish, not just of John, but of countless episodes in her life when she had lost the people she loved most. People that had been snatched from her by the cruel and unthinking actions of others. Her sister. Her husband. Her children... She couldn't bear for that to happen again. If she lost again, could she be reduced to what Elenora Bryant had become? At what point would it be that she could lose all hope? And all will for life?

With a pale face, she made her way back to her office, where she found Eugene waiting for her.

"Marlena, are you alright?" He was immediately on his feet, concerned for her as he saw how wan she looked.

"I'm fine." She smiled blankly and walked past him to where the blinds covered the window, shutting out the dreariness of the dull grey day, one of the last vestiges of a winter that had come to haunt her with its broken dreams and promises. "What are you doing here?" Her tone was leaden, devoid of interest.

"I came to take you to lunch," Q stepped towards her unyielding back. "We arranged it this morning."

"Oh," Marlena crossed her arms in front of her chest and rubbed her arms to ward off the impending chill. "I'm sorry Gene. I'm just snowed under. I really don't have the time."