John and Marlena (Finally) Get a Q!

Chapter 68 - Face to Face

Put time in a capsule
Two minds consensual
Entwined to perfection, If we could....

Cuddle up close, lay on my chest
Listen, my heartbeat's coming down
If you get tired, you close your eyes now.
When you wake, I won't be found now

Universe

Savage Garden

It was several days later, while Marlena was at work that her agitation returned. She couldn't pinpoint the moment that it happened. It just seemed that one moment she was immersed in her paperwork, and the next her concentration was shattered.

She had no idea why or how; all she knew was that every time she looked at the notes in front of her, they seemed to swim out of focus. And when she *could* tackle the task before her, she found herself reading the same sentence over and over again.

Sighing, she slipped off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was ridiculous. She couldn't let a mere suggestion of a feeling interfere with her work. She had a stack of papers to get through and several patients to see before she could end the day. She was a grown woman after all, surely, she could control her emotions a little better than this.

Getting up from her desk, she stretched and went to pour herself a glass of water. Taking a sip, she went to the window. Outside the wind was gusting, sending a sheet of newspaper skittering across the road in front of a car. In the parking lot, a nurse struggled with the coat that whipped around her ankles.

Marlena rubbed her hand up and down her arm, warding off a sympathetic chill and she turned from the window. Surely, she was just being oversensitive, and probably a little paranoid. After all, her past gave her some cause to be over-cautious. But still, everything was fine, and she had no reason to think anything otherwise.

******

John stood by while the nurse helped Kristen out of bed. Mike looked at the man and he was struck by how much John looked as though he were approaching a death sentence. He just hoped that Kristen didn't see the same thing he did. He suspected she wouldn't however.

John's offer the other day seemed to have made the world of difference to Kristen's demeanor and she seemed perfectly content to believe whatever line John was feeding her. Mike frowned as he watched Kristen smile up at John. He knew this was the only way, but he dreaded the day that Kristen found out what was really going on. That day might be the day they all found they had a new enemy. A woman scorned could be deadly.

Especially if she was a DiMera.

John took Kristen's hand.

"Are you ready to go, baby?" he asked in a soft voice.

"I sure am," she grinned excitedly. This was more than she ever could have hoped for and she wasn't going to blow it this time.

"Well, it seems as if the nurses here have all your things packed. Peter is going to have the flowers brought over to the loft, so all you have to do is have Mike check you over and then you can get changed."

Mike stepped forward.

"The ultrasounds and the bloodwork all check out fine. I just have a couple more tests to be completed and I want to give you one last physical, okay? It shouldn't take long." He turned to John, not wanting to put him through more than was necessary. "John, can I ask you to wait in the lounge? I'll have a nurse call you when Kristen is ready to go."

John nodded, relieved to be allowed to slip away, and he leaned over to give Kristen a superficial kiss on the cheek.

"I'll be just down the hall if you need me, okay?"