I've Loved You Before

Chapter 10 - Shoot the Moon

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The summer days are gone too soon

You shoot the moon and miss completely

And now you're left to face the gloom

The empty room that once smelled sweetly

Of all the flowers you plucked if only

You knew the reason

Why you had to each be lonely

Was it just the season?

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Marlena sank into the fragrant bath with a sigh. The skin of her knees, and the palms of her hands stung as the warm soapy water hit them, but she didn't care. It felt like heaven. She closed her eyes, but she was assaulted by more memories of the night she'd encountered Roman for the first time. It was as if she'd let one memory in, and the rest of them came crashing with it. She sank even lower into the water, feeling the bubbles hit her chin. Opening her eyes she stared at the wall, feeling so confused.

There was a knock on the bathroom door, and then she heard John's voice, "I started a load of laundry to wash your clothes, although you might not want to save the sweatpants." He glanced at his watch, "I'm gonna head out. Will you be okay?"

"John?" she called softly. She needed a friend, and she wasn't ready for John to leave.

"Yeah, Doc?" He waited, but she didn't respond. He heard nothing but silence. He knocked again, and then cracked the door. "Doc?"

Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, carrying hollowly across the room. "Do you remember thinking it was the right thing to do? To scare me that way?"

She'd been asking him questions for the last half an hour. He pushed the door wider, peeking in to make sure she was covered. She sat in the tub with bubbles up to her neck. She looked so sad, and confused. Glancing at his watch, he reassured himself that Roman wouldn't be home anytime soon, and it was barely past noon, so there was still time before the twins needed to be picked up from school. He entered the bathroom, and sat on the floor with his back against the tub. He shouldn't be in there at all.

"I have Roman's memories, but you have to understand they are often fragmented, or hazy. I remember that night... I remember the look of terror on your face, and I recall Roman... being pleased that you were scared. But I think he was pleased because he truly believed that a lot of the decisions you were making opened you up to violence."

"I couldn't let it affect my whole life. I couldn't stop living," she said in her defense.

"You see? And I understand that, Doc. I understood that when I was Roman, and so many of my–my memories were so outside of what I would actually do, but I just assumed that with my amnesia... came new personality traits." He was quiet for a moment, before he said, "It was wrong, you know. What he did to you that night. The way he spoke to you... even after Don came in, and punched the shit out of him."

She sobbed, and gasped as Don held her in his arms. "It's alright. It's alright, baby. I want you outside. Wait outside the door. Go ahead."

From the floor, Mr. Patrick said, "Cool it, Don. The lady can stay."

Marlena and Don glanced over, watching as the man on the floor stood up massaging his jaw. Marlena was confused as Don said, "What the hell?"

"Where did a guy who sits behind a desk all day learn to throw a punch like that?" Mr. Patrick said.