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A Grand Design
Chapter Fifteen
He sat back against the smooth leather seat and closed his
eyes, taking a deep breath to contain the rage he was feeling. It was
impossible. His best men had been watching the place. How could Black have slipped
past them, again? The man was very good, but there was no excuse Stefano would
accept for this latest foible. His experiment was a complete success and he
didn't want the international agencies to glean any of his secrets if and when
they caught up with the man. John Black was living proof that Stefano and his
team of physicians and scientists had perfected techniques those agencies had
only dreamed of trying on human subjects.
Yes, there would be hell to pay when he arrived in the
small village on the fringe of the Italian Alps. Stefano Dimera
could not be known to tolerate such blatant incompetence. Someone was going to
die in the early hours of the morning.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Range Rover had been sitting idle for at least 30
seconds, but neither the driver, nor the passenger had made a move to open a
door and get out of the vehicle. Finally, John spoke, albeit hesitantly,
"Well, we’re here, Marlena, at the train
station. It’s time for you to go home now. I know you want to see your children,
your family again."
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak without weeping,
and then slowly she reached her right hand toward the door handle. He watched
her intently, knowing that she had mixed feelings about leaving, as he did
about letting her go.
His eyes fixed on her hand, remembering how tender and
gentle her touch was when she was taking care of his wounds. And he wished they
hadn’t passed up that one moment when making love was on both their minds. Lost
in memory, he almost missed the chance to tell her what it all meant to him.
She was out of the vehicle and around the front of it, heading toward the
ticket counter when he snapped out of his reverie and hurried to catch up with
her. Touching her on the sleeve of her coat, he tried to say what was on his
mind, but found himself stammering, "Marlena…. I
uh… I just want to say that… well, what you did for me… I won’t forget it… or
you."
She turned back and a smile spread slowly across her face,
as if some kind of faith had just been restored for her. Bridging the distance
between them, she took his hand and said, "I won’t forget you, either,
John. I’m glad I was there when you needed me."
"I did. I did need you," he said with a quick
nod, realizing for the first time since fate had brought them together, that he
truly had been in a great state of need. He’d have died without her medical
expertise and compassion. "You saved my life."
"Oh, I don’t know about that, John, you seem to have
quite an instinct for survival. One way or another, you would have made out all
right. "
"Maybe so…but I’m still grateful."
"You’re welcome, John…and I want to thank you too,
for protecting me, saving me from that…monster who tried to…" She
shuddered involuntarily at the thought of it.
Fighting off the urge to take her in his arms, he ran his
right hand up and down her left arm as a comfort gesture. "You’re welcome.
I know I was kinda rough on you at first, but I’d
never let anything happen to you, not like that."
He touched her chin with the back of his fisted right hand
in a way that felt familiar to her. "Don’t ask me why, but somehow I knew
that. I sensed it."
John replied with a kind of an embarrassed yet proud
smile, the origin of which he couldn’t fathom. Something was happening inside
him that he couldn’t begin to explain, so he gave up trying to figure it out in
favor of enjoying his last moments with the woman responsible for the changes.
After she’d purchased her ticket and was ready to go,
there was another awkward moment. Should they hug, exchange a polite kiss?
Cognizant that there were no words adequate to express the
emotions swirling inside them, John leaned in and brushed his lips across Marlena’s in a way that was affectionate and friendly, yet
asking permission for more. She let out a sigh that answered his unspoken
question and parted her lips in anticipation. His tongue slipped past them and
he kissed her deeply, with the release of pent up passion that suddenly
overwhelmed him.
Marlena
responded in kind, finding herself lost in his kiss like never before in her
life. "Oh, John…" she said, nearly breathless.
John felt himself moved to say three words he never
remembered uttering, while at the same time feeling strangely like he *had*
said them and to this woman. In another place, another time, another life.
"I love you, Doc.." he said softly, while
deftly threading her silky tresses with the fingers of his right hand. For a
few seconds when time stopped, the world went away and everything was perfect.
Marlena
too felt herself transported to another place and time and responded in kind,
"Oh, Roman… I love you so…"
Before what was happening between them could register in
their minds, the sound of a train whistled pierced the air, making them both
jump. As they separated, their eyes met and in silence they exchanged an
unspoken message. What had just transpired was something that words could not
describe; it occurred at the level of the heart and soul, transcending all
normal circumstances. Instinctively, they held tight to each other, not
trusting in their intellect, but relying on emotion instead. They didn’t let go
until another sound forced them to disengage. It was a commanding voice
amplified through the use of a megaphone.
"John Black…hold it right there! You are completely
surrounded. Put your hands up and drop your weapon and you will not be harmed.
If you resist, you *will* be fired upon!"
Without hesitation, John pushed Marlena
toward the police presence and made a run for it. A burst of gunfire followed
and he could hear the bullets whizzing past his head as he sprinted toward the
nearest set of tracks. He almost made it to a place of temporary safety behind
one of the concrete pillars, when he felt a burning searing sensation he
remembered all too well. Fortunately, the shot only grazed him, slicing through
the fleshy part of his right arm, and he was able to stay on his feet. Clamping
a hand over the wound to stem the flow of blood, he kept running for daylight.
"Damn, that’s gonna leave a nasty scar," he
said to himself to lighten his own mood.
When she felt she had her wits about her, Marlena stood up and turned around to see where he’d gone,
screaming for the men not to shoot him down. "No… no, stop, please! It’s
not what you think… he’s not… " She stopped in
mid-sentence when she saw the trail of blood on the terrazzo flooring. He’d
been hit. "Oh, no.. John..
no.. please God… help him…
help him get away," she said, crying in fear of what might happen. Her
hands went to cover her mouth, as if by that characteristic gesture, she could
contain the nearly overwhelming fear for his life.
Moments later, she was hearing familiar voices in the
background and then she heard someone calling her name as he rushed towards
her. "Marlena… thank God you’re okay!"
"Bo? Oh, my God, Bo….how did you?" she said,
finding herself in total shock upon seeing him and the man standing next to
him, Shane Donovan.
"We’ve been tracking you….I’m just sorry it took so
long to catch up with you. Are you alright, Marlena…
did he hurt you?" Bo said, taking her in his arms and looking her over
thoroughly.
She shook her head, remembering, and said somewhat
absently, "No, no, he didn’t hurt me. "
There was a faraway look in her eyes that told both Bo and
Shane that something significant had happened between John Black and Marlena Evans during the ten days they’d spent together on
the run from both the police and Stefano Dimera’s
henchmen. It was something that she didn’t look to get over for quite some time.
"Marlena… did he kidnap
you? At first I mean… "
It seemed like eons ago, but she nodded and told him the
truth. "Yes… no, well… sort of… Bo, he needed medical attention and he
knew I was a doctor. You see. we had bumped into each
other along the
"Recruited.
I like that, " Bo said, noticing how carefully
she was choosing her words. The man had taken her at gunpoint. "Marlena.. he…..
oh, never mind. I’m just glad you’re alright." He
wanted to push her for details, but stopped short. This wasn’t the time or the
place. The frank discussion that had to happen would come later, after they had
the man in custody.
"Bo, he also saved my life. And there’s something
else about him, something familiar… I can’t pin it down, but I feel like I know
him, like I’ve known him for a very long time. I know that doesn’t make any
sense at all, but it’s how I feel."
Her voice was dreamy, like she was under the control of
some romantic spell. "Marlena…come on… it’s just
that… hostage thing. That’s all this is… you of all people should know that.
It’ll pass. He’s *not* one of the good guys, Marlena…
John Black was a thief and a hired gun working for Stefano Dimera.
You’re lucky you got out alive. Now, let’s get you on that train to
Shrugging of his grasp, she spoke with equal strength,
"No, I’m not leaving Bo… and you have to promise me you won’t let them
kill him. I saw a different side of him… he’s a good and caring person, Bo. If
he did all those.. terrible
things you say, it was because Stefano forced him to and I’m going to stay and
help him prove it."
Shane tried another approach, but appealed to reason
nonetheless, also placing a hand on her arm, guiding her in the general
direction of the train platform. "Marlena…
please, we understand that you might have… developed some…feelings for this
man, because of what you went through together, but you need to be realistic
here. This is a man who willingly worked for Stefano Dimera,
using a dozen different aliases. We know for a fact that he’s been Dimera’s right hand man for most of the past year and
probably…"
Suddenly it was all starting to add up in her mind and Marlena cut her friend off before he could finish his
sentence. "What was he doing before that, Shane?" she asked, hoping
he had no answer.
"Well, we haven’t figured that out yet, the history
gets a little sketchy at some points."
"I see," she said, her head spinning with
possibilities. What was it John had said about Stefano messing with his head?
Maybe things were not what they appeared to be.
"Marlena… what are you
thinking? There’s obviously something on your mind."
"Bo… Shane, I know this is going to sound completely
crazy, but what if… " She suddenly thought better
of it and added, "Oh, never mind…" Best she keep
her thoughts to herself at this point, thoughts they would interpret as the
irrational ravings of a woman who was smitten with her captor.
"No… I don’t want to never mind, I want to
know," Bo said, placing both hands on her slender shoulders, recognizing
that she had something important to say.
"How long has it been since Roman… since you saw him
on that beach?"
"About six months ago. Marlena,
are you saying what I think you’re saying?" Bo asked, wondering if his
sister-in-law had lost her mind.
"Bo, you always said it yourself… you never found the
body. All those weeks of searching the island and the waters just off the coast
and there were no traces, nothing! Bo, what if Roman was taken off that island
alive? What if he was taken somewhere else, to one of Stefano’s
other compounds?"
Realizing that someone had to be the voice of reason,
Shane Donovan spoke firmly, "Marlena, please…
this is beyond crazy. It’s ridiculous. Now, we all miss him and wish he could
come back to us, but the truth is, Roman is dead. "
Bo’s mind was starting to grasp hold of the concept and
chipped in too, shaking his head as he countered, "No, Shane, it isn’t… it
makes perfect sense. It explains why we can’t find one solid piece of
information on this John Black person until six months ago. The reason is that
he didn’t exist before that. Stefano just wanted us to think so!"
Shane was flabbergasted, his mind reviewing the
information they’d obtained about their elusive quarry, at the same time as a
part of him wanted to entertain the possibility. There were holes in the theory
about all of it pointing to one person. "Are you two trying to tell me
that you actually believe that John Black is Roman Brady returned from the
dead?"
Shane’s friends looked at each other and nodded,
exchanging an unspoken and newly acquired conclusion. Incredulous as it seemed,
that is what they both believed. "Yes," said Bo and Marlena in unison. Then, for the first time in longer than
either of them could remember, a slow grin appeared on both their faces and a
feeling they hardly recognized began to grow inside their hearts. It was hope
they felt, hope for a better future.
Shane nodded in return and turned to approach the French
Commander. Speaking in French, he respectfully requested that the man order his
men to attempt to apprehend the fugitive without further bloodshed. The man was
hesitant, but finally agreed, albeit against his better judgment. He used his
walkie-talkie to communicate the information to his men and it appeared that
they reluctantly planned to comply if possible.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
John wasn’t sure whether it was the kiss or the gunshot
wound on his arm, but he felt dizzy and his head was pounding, the pressure
becoming intense. Near panic that he'd be caught unaware and unable to defend
himself, John ducked inside the restroom at a small café outside the train
station, to rest and make sure his gun was ready to fire if the situation
required the use of it.
He leaned against the cool hard surface and tried to catch
his breath, striving to summon the discipline that had suppressed the pain
sensations in the past. Suddenly, a stream of memories started flashing inside
his mind, memories of love and family times, of happiness, laughing children, a
golden haired, hazel-eyed beauty. Then before he could make any sense of what
he was seeing and connect it to the present, the scenes changed, became angry,
violent.
The pain inside his head was worse than he ever remembered
feeling before. It felt like his head was going to explode. "Oh, God… Doc…
help me, Doc, help me."
Training, running, fighting… fighting off the encroaching
darkness, but was it inside of him, or was it another man he was fighting? Next
there was pain beyond belief and he was falling, falling into a different kind
of darkness.
Then there was nothing….