A Second Chance – By Jesey 168

One

 

John Black waited impatiently for a glimpse of her coming down the stairs. He clutched the iron bars of his cell as he listened to the sound of Abe Carver, his best friend, talking softly, straining to hear the voice of his beloved. She was silent and John couldn’t help but fear the worst as he shut his eyes against imagined scenes of Stefano touching her in her efforts to save him from impending death row. His breath caught when he saw her descending the stairs, a vision in an elegant white pant suit and heels, her golden hair styled down around her face, her lips painted a glossy red and her eyes highlighted in black. He tried to forget that she was dressed this way for Stefano Dimera’s pleasure.

 

“Doc,” he breathed the familiar nickname as she rushed towards him and took his hands through the bars, her soft sounds of distress insensible. The guard stepped between them to unlock the gate and Marlena Evans grasped his hand harder, not willing to lose contact with his skin for even a second. The guard looked sternly at both Marlena and John, who didn’t seem to even notice that he was there. “One hour,” he stated. “I’ll be at the top of the stairs watching you, so don’t try anything tricky.”

 

The footsteps of Abe and the guard retreated, and John moved closer. “Are you okay? Did Stefano…?” Marlena placed her hand over John’s lips and shook her head.

“I’m fine John. Abe came in at just the right moment. Stefano tried to drug my wine and I was just formulating a plan about how to get away.” 

“God Doc, he could have… done anything…” John took Marlena’s face into his hands and looked into deep brown eyes that shone up at him with love.

“He didn’t,” Marlena spoke. “It was worth it to get hold of the book. Did the judge overturn your conviction?” John looked down, anguish filling his eyes as he braced himself to impart the devastating news. “The book disappeared from Judge Walker’s desk before he could read it.”

 

“What?” Marlena exclaimed. “How could that be? Nobody knew that I took it except the veiled woman, and she wanted to help.” She paced angrily around the room, hot tears filling her eyes. Then with resolution in her stance and her voice she continued, “maybe I can still find it.” She mumbled incoherently as she paced trying to form a plan. John came to stand in front of her, his gaze adoring, and he stopped her with his hands on her shoulders. His sudden movement made her eyes meet his. “No Marlena. It’s too late!”

“But John,” she pleaded, the tears spilling onto her cheeks.

“No. We’ve been beaten. My execution is scheduled for midnight.” He looked at his watch. “That’s 2 hours from now.” Marlena choked back a sob. “The clerk had the book. He read it and left it for the judge, but the judge won’t take the clerk’s word. He told Abe that he had no choice but to go ahead with the execution.”

 

Marlena threw her arms around John’s neck, tears spilling onto his skin. Her words muffled into his neck. “John, how can I live without you?”

John pulled back and lifted Marlena’s chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. “Doc, we only have an hour. Probably around 40 minutes now. The judge granted me an hour with you. That’s why Abe came to find you.”

“So you will spend the next hour with Kristen?” Marlena asked. “John, you will get to say goodbye properly?” Her heart broke as she asked the question but she loved John so much and his happiness meant everything to her. Even if that happiness meant that his last kiss was for Kristen Blake.

“No Doc. The judge only gave me one hour. I chose to spend it with you.” John watched Marlena for any indication of her feelings for him. He knew that now was the time to confess his love but even at this hour of death he was afraid of her rejection.

 

“You chose me? You aren’t saying goodbye to Kristen?” she whispered staring up into his eyes.

“Doc, you are the woman that I will always love. I started to recognise it when this whole fiasco with Tony started. Your unshakeable faith in me, your unconditional support. I started to look at you again and wish that I was holding you, touching you, kissing you. It was then that I finally came to realise that no other woman could ever take your place in my heart and that what I felt for Kristen paled in comparison.” John allowed one of his hands to caress Marlena’s soft cheek and come to rest at the corner of her lips. 

 

She felt her skin tingle in anticipation as his hand warmed her. She closed her eyes against the onslaught of emotion that she was feeling; that she could see reflected in his blue orbs; that she could sense would send her into a tailspin of ecstatic joy and devastating sorrow. Tears slipped down her cheeks and she told herself to breathe.

John watched the myriad of feelings play over the face of his beloved. He had told himself for months that Marlena didn’t return his love, but deep down he had hoped that she did. When she didn’t immediately speak, he was crestfallen. He dropped his hand from the corner of her mouth. “It’s okay Doc, you don’t need to say anything. I just wanted you to know. I didn’t want to die having never told you.” Tears filled his eyes now as the inevitability of his death started to sink in. He felt Marlena blindly reach for his hand and he smiled as she placed it flat against her the centre of her chest, her own hands holding it firmly in place. He could feel the thundering of her heart. “John, I can’t believe that you finally said those words to me. I love you so much, I can’t even begin to find the words to tell you. Even as I pushed Kristen into your arms I realised that I wanted to be there myself, and it wasn’t until I saw you kissing her when she told you that she believed in you that I felt the first stab of pain in my heart. I knew then that I could never love another man.” Tears poured unchecked down both of their cheeks as they stared into the other’s eyes, knowing finally that they were reunited but that it would end all too soon. Their hands reached the other’s face and they attempted to wipe the tears away. It was a futile task and soon they gave up and groped blindly for somewhere to hold so that they could bring their lips together for a kiss of passion and sorrow. As their tongues explored each other, John’s hands were in Marlena’s blonde hair and Marlena’s pulled at the back of his neck in desperation to get closer. When they separated, they were breathing heavily, and John lifted Marlena into his arms. He sat on his cot and settled her in his lap, her legs resting by his thigh and her head against his shoulder. They stayed close as he rocked her, kissing and touching as much as they could, knowing that this was their last chance.

 

After some time, John spoke with all seriousness. “Darling, I need to tell you about what happens next.” He stroked her cheek gently. “After I’m gone Mickey has my instructions. Everything I own is yours, for you and for the children. You can do whatever you want with the money. I want Brady and Belle to grow up together and with you. Please never let them forget me or how much I love them.” He sobbed, knowing that he would never get to see his children again. Marlena’s tears mixed with his as she placed tiny kisses over his face. “Oh, my love,” she whispered between kisses. “Brady and Belle will ALWAYS know that you loved them. We will talk about you every day, and miss you every day, and love you every day.” 

 

Her hands rested on his face, and suddenly John and Marlena became aware of footsteps coming down the stairs. “Your time is up,” the guard commanded, the sound an unwelcome intrusion into the private world that the lovers had shared. 

“I wish I could give you something, my beautiful Marlena,” John spoke as he stood up with her in his arms. “A symbol of my promise.” Marlena shook her head into his neck, clinging on as if her life depended on it.

“You’ve already given me everything I could ever want, John,” she cried. “In my heart you will always be my husband and the love of my life.”

“And you, my darling, are the wife of my heart.” They clung to each other and kissed passionately as the guard came to take Marlena away.

 

‘No, no, no, no…” she sobbed over and over, fighting to prevent her separation from John. Abe stepped in and placed gentle hands on her shoulders.

“Come on Marlena, there is nothing more we can do now,” Marlena calmed slightly and allowed Abe to hold her. 

“I love you John,” she sobbed as she was led out of his sight.

“I love you Marlena.”

 

At the top of the deserted stairs, Abe released Marlena into the waiting arms of Laura Horton, Marlena’s best friend and fellow psychiatrist. 

“Oh honey,” Laura soothed her distraught friend, knowing that she would have to give Marlena a sedative to get through the long night ahead.

 

Two

 

The day of the funeral arrived. Marlena was numb, having cried unrelenting tears the morning of John’s execution. When she had woken in her own hotel room, her mind dazed from Laura’s sedative she almost forgot what had taken place only a few hours before. Once she came to her senses, she had railed at Laura for not allowing Marlena to attend the execution. In the days since, Abe had informed her that nobody had been allowed to attend at John’s request. Now she sat on her bed bunched up in an old sweater of John’s that she had found in Belle’s room. She breathed in his scent, a headache pounding at her temples, and wishing that she didn’t have to face the day.

“Marlena, honey…” Laura’s voice came from behind the door, before her best friend knocked quietly.

“I’m here,” Marlena replied. The door opened, and Laura caught the sight of her friend huddled in the oversized sweater, seemingly shrunken into herself. 

“Time to get ready. You don’t want to be late.” Laura gathered the black dress that she and Marlena had selected yesterday and handed it to her friend. “Have a shower, and I’ll get Belle and Brady ready.”

At the church, a dry-eyed Marlena surveyed the mourners. Kristen was standing at the front, acting like the grieving widow, greeting all of the guests as they arrived. Marlena, Kristen and Abe had discussed how they should proceed with the arrangements and Marlena had made the decision to allow Kristen to take comfort in her role, seeing no reason to upset her by informing her of John’s true feelings. She steeled her breath as she took a place with Brady and Belle at the front of the church. Kristen came immediately to John’s children and took Brady in her arms. “Oh, my poor baby…” she cried, as Brady tried to squirm out of her arms. “Whatever shall we do without your daddy?” 

“What will any of us do without him?” Marlena whispered quietly. Suddenly Brady started crying, holding his arms out to Marlena. Marlena stood and took him in her arms. Belle, not to be outdone grasped her mother’s leg and let out a loud shriek. Marlena sat down, gathered them into her arms, and tried desperately not to join in. Kristen stared at Marlena, jealousy in her expression. She turned on her heel and stalked away.

The funeral went off without a hitch. Belle and Brady kissed the coffin and told him that they loved him. Marlena, though wanting to do justice to John’s memory, did not address the mourners for fear that her true love for John and despair at his death would shine through, instead she allowed Abe to speak of him. Marlena had to hold herself back as Kristen spoke of her belief in John’s innocence and how she had stood by him and loved him through everything. She hoped that John’s true friends recognised Kristen’s lies for what they were and knew that Kristen had believed that John had killed Toni Dimera. Marlena knew that if John had still loved Kristen when he went to his death, his devastation at her betrayal in the court and her lack of faith in him would have injured him deeply. Oh, John, she spoke to him in her subconscious, I hope you know how much I miss you. I hope you know that I will love and protect your children for the rest of my life. 

Later, Marlena wouldn’t have been able to recount the journey to the gravesite. She moved on autopilot, holding tightly to the tiny hands of Belle and Brady, exchanging words of condolence with John’s friends and loved ones. She didn’t remember the words said by the priest as John’s coffin was lowered into the ground, or the comforting touches of those closest to her who knew how much John meant to Marlena. All she remembered was knowing that John was lost to her, despair filling her with every passing moment, the red rose that she doused in her tears and lovingly placed into John’s final resting place. She heard and felt her soul rip apart and she took comfort in the tiny bodies of Belle and Brady beside her.

Exhausted, Marlena knew that she could not face the wake at the Dimera mansion, and she asked Abe to apologise to Kristen for her and the children. At home, in her penthouse, Marlena tucked the children into bed, and then fell into a sleep of oblivion, filled with dreams of John, waking with dried tears on her cheeks.