I've Loved You Before

Chapter 18 - If You Could Read My Mind

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If you could read my mind, love

What a tale my thoughts could tell

Just like an old-time movie

'Bout a ghost from a wishing well

In a castle dark, or a fortress strong

With chains upon my feet

You know that ghost is me

And I will never be set free

As long as I'm a ghost you can't see

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When Carrie opened the door, John knew immediately that something was wrong. She was crying and holding the phone to her ear. With a pained look she cried helplessly, "They put me on hold!"

"Where's Marlena?" he asked in a panicked voice. He'd come to see her, and he'd waited a few days before coming because he knew Roman would likely be rude to him the whole time he was there.

"Upstairs," Carrie cried, still holding onto the phone as if she didn't know what to do. "I can't wake her up!"

"Hang up!" he told her, dropping the flowers he was holding, and running towards the stairs. "Where the fuck is Roman?" he yelled over his shoulder. He took the stairs two at a time, and ran down the hallway towards the bedroom he used to share with Marlena.

"I can't get a hold of him, and he called me and left a message on my answering machine telling me to come over, and check on Marlena... but he was supposed to be here!" She couldn't stop sobbing as she followed John down the hall. She'd arrived only minutes earlier to find that Marlena was unresponsive. It was too much, and she wasn't sure what to do, so she'd tried to call her father, but then the station had put her on hold and left her there. "I didn't know what to do."

"She's burning up with fever!" John knelt by the bed, checking Marlena's pulse. She was breathing, but her pulse felt weak. "Do you know when Roman left her?"

Carrie continued to cry. She didn't have an answer for him. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault, Punkin'." John threw the blankets off of Marlena's overheated body, and lifted her into his arms, saying to Carrie, "Go get in the car. We're taking her to the hospital."

She felt relief like she'd never felt before. Her daddy was going to take control of the situation. She turned on her heel, and left the room heading downstairs. She could hear John behind her talking to Marlena, "Hey, Doc. I'm gonna need you to wake up for me. Can you do that, baby? Can you wake up for me?"

He got no response. Her eyes didn't even flutter. Carrie held the door for him as he left the house and he heard her close it behind them. Kissing Marlena softly on the mouth, he whispered, "I'm going to get you all fixed up. I just need you to hang on for a few minutes. Just a few minutes." He placed her gently in the back seat, and then glanced at Carrie as he got into the driver's seat. "Let's go. Seatbelt."

"I'm scared," Carrie sobbed softly. "I didn't know what to do. I panicked... and they put me on hold! I said it was an emergency!"

John reached over, taking Carrie's hand in his, and laced his fingers through hers. "This is not your fault. Do you understand?" It was Roman's. Marlena was not supposed to be left alone. Someone was supposed to be with her at all times. What the fuck was Roman thinking?