Whisper My Name

Chapter 31

Charles Wright Cabin, Outside Telluride, Colorado

And it could happen any day

Everything goes astray

~ Under the Sky - Heart ~

When Marlena woke later in the next morning, John was nowhere to be found. She reached out for him, and found the bed beside her cold and empty. She started to panic almost immediately. Had Torres found them? Was John gone? Or was he fighting for his life somewhere the way Roman and Bo were? With little regard for her modesty, she wrapped herself in the quilt that had been laying over the bed, and went in search of him. After finding the cabin empty, she ran towards the door in a gripping fear, calling out, "John?" She shoved her feet clumsily into a pair of his boots near the front door, and she stepped out onto the front porch to look for him, shouting again, "John!"

She stopped short, her eyes landing several feet down the drive where she saw him standing next to a vehicle she didn't recognize. Isabella stood next to him, bundled in a coat with her scarf high on her neck. She wore a beanie, with her wild halo of curls peeking out. She cut her eyes to give Marlena a harsh stare. John turned to look at her, fear and anxiety lining his face. His voice laced with near panic, he told her harshly, "Doc, go inside, and pack everything. Now. We've got to go."

She knew immediately why. It was the same reason why John had been refusing to tell Shane or Abe about their location. In case they were found by the Torres family, and if Isabella had found them, then Torres would find them. He probably had people following Isabella even then. It was only a matter of time. Marlena turned on her heel quickly, running into the house, kicking off John's boots. Running towards the bedroom, she started pulling items from the dresser with her only functional hand feeling as if she were moving in slow motion. Once the drawers were empty, she started shoving clothes into their duffle bags with little concern about what went where or whether it was tidy.

Outside, John turned back to Isabella, telling her in a firm voice, "I need you to leave."

She stared up at him in disbelief with sad, broken hearted eyes, "No! Absolutely not! John, I came all this way to try, and figure out what's going on. You left me, with no word... no communication! I feel like you... at the very least, you owe me an explanation!"

John ran his fingers through his hair, pulling it at the roots in frustration, "You're right, Izzy-B. You're right. I do, but not right now. It's too dangerous! Fuck, you shouldn't even be here!" John stared at her in complete disbelief, unable to fathom what she was thinking. "Do you even realize what you've done? Do you care? Do you?"

She started crying, reaching out for his arm, but he shrugged her off roughly, "You left me! You left me to run off with Marlena! No explanation, not even a message from Abe or Shane to deliver to me. Am I worth so little to you? And my father! You pulled Victor into it, intentionally having him distract me! I did nothing wrong, John! Nothing! All I did was track you down! All I did was want answers!"

In a terror fueled rage, John shouted, "I don't have time for this! You need to leave!"

"Make time!" she yelled, grabbing at his arm again. "You make time for me, because you are always making time for her!"

John heard the front door, and turned to see Marlena dragging their bags out the front door with one hand. Completely forgetting Isabella, he screamed, running towards her, "Get back in the house, Doc! Please! Get back in the house!"

His fear that Isabella had been followed was taking over. All he could see was the flash of a gun, and Marlena's bloody body falling against him in Montrose. He couldn't go through something like that again. He couldn't. And the potential was real that Marlena would be shot again, because of Isabella's carelessness. Sprinting to the front porch of the cabin, he took the bags from her, tossing them into the snow. "Please, Doc," John begged her. "Go in the house. Get dressed. But stay inside until I get you...I–I can't lose you again."