You Are Safe

You Are Safe. Edit part

John was lost in thought as the coffee machine whirred. He stood propped against the counter, bare feet on the cool kitchen tile. It was probably around 11 am. He got up at about half past 7, unable to sleep. Then again he hadn't been able to sleep much at all since the whole Stevano ordeal. Marlena usually woke around 8, but he closed the curtains and let her sleep in. She wouldn't admit it, but she had to be exhausted. From the moment he found her at Crystal Lake, it was just one thing onto another. They still hadn't discussed what happened; it didn't appear that Marlena wanted to talk about it. The image of Stevano laying on top of her was burned into his brain. He had never felt such fury in his life as he did in the moment when Stevano winked at him tauntingly as he said, "ex-wife," and tugged Marlena's hips toward him once more. He swore he saw red as he lunged on top of him, dragging him off of Marlena and throwing him to the ground. The coffee maker dinged, pulling him out of the flashback. He shook his head as if to banish the memories, and began assembling a veritable tray. He poured her coffee, milk and 2 sugars. Well, she would always say one but he knew she liked two. A couple croissants. Strawberries. Whipped Cream. He second guessed his choice to include the berries and whipped cream as he didn't want to seem suggestive. She wasn't ready to go there yet, and he understood. He flashed back to them both cuddled up in the small hospital bed, Marlena spooned against him.

"About that...were you a willing participant...or a hostage?" she chided him playfully, tugging his arms to bring him closer to him, if that were possible. He couldn't help the raging hard on poking at her back. Being that close to her, rubbing her leg, her ass nestled into him. She always had that effect on him. "Princess, who?" He joked back, nuzzling into her ear. She turned so that she was facing him, and looked up at him. Her eyes pierced his soul. Her gaze traveled from his eyes to his lips. She took his face in her hands and began kissing him tentatively. "Oooh, doc," he moaned in spite of himself. "Honey, I don't think we should," he tried to interrupt her kisses, but she sushed him as he hand drifted down his flank before slipping inside of his jeans. "I think this will help me feel better," she breathed so close to him that he could feel her breathe in his mouth. She stroked the length of him as she deepened the kiss. He flipped her onto her back so that he was ontop of her. She threw the blanket over his back so that were both covered before reaching down to scoot his jeans and boxers beneath his ass. "Make love to me," she breathed into his ear. It was nearly his undoing. He scrunched her hospital gown around her hips, spreading her legs and nestling himself between them. The next thing he felt was a hard slap across his face. Stunned, he bolted to kneeling, nearly falling off the cot. Marlena quickly pulled the covers over her exposed lower half, tears threatening to leak out. "Doc...what is going on?" He asked, genuinely afraid. The look in her eyes was forlorn; it shook his core. "I'm not ready yet," was all she said, pulling the covers up even further.

The memory of it all gave him a lump in his throat. He picked up the tray and headed to the bedroom. She looks peaceful, he thought to himself as he set the tray on the bureau and sat for a few moments. She had been through a lot in the past 48 hours, and now he was supposed to find a way to tell her Orpheus is alive? It seemed impossible, but she had a right to know. She stirred.

"Hey," she smiled, slowly coming out of sleep. She lifted her arms to yawn. "What time is it?"

"It's not late," he soothed, picking up the tray and climbing back into bed with her. "I just wanted you to get a little more sleep."

"Honey, I've got a lot to do today."

"I know, but you need your rest. You're still recovering from your ordeal, and I was kinda hoping this might help," he said as he lifted the cloche to reveal the berries and cream.

Marlena smiled weakly, tensing up. This didn't go unnoticed by John.

"Baby, I don't want you to take this the wrong way. I'm not expecting anything. I just thought. Well, I don't know exactly what I thought. Feeding you strawberries feels so natural to me," he laughed trying to ease the tension. Marlena squeezed his hand.