Chapter 12 - The Confrontation

Marlena's in front of the warehouse. The building is barely standing thanks to the explosion, which happened over 2 years ago. Marlena enters the front of the building. There are piles of wood and debris everywhere.

"Kristen! Kristen are you here?" Kristen comes into Marlena's view. Marlena can see that she has a gun in her hand. "Marlena, I'm glad to see you found the warehouse." "Kristen, where's Belle?" "She's right here Marlena." Belle comes out from behind Kristen. "MOMMY!" "Hi my angel!" Belle tries to run to her mother but Kristen grabs her by the arm and yanks her back. "Belle!" Tears start to flow from Marlena's eyes. Marlena slowly inches towards Kristen. "Kristen I beg of you please don't hurt her." "Not another step Marlena." Marlena stops. "Okay Kristen. What ever you want." "Do you realize the significance of this place?" "I've never been here before." "Oh yes. Right, you were in Paris with Stefano when John and I stumbled on this place. I mean John just had to find you. We just couldn't go on with our lives with out you. He had to move heaven and earth to find you." "Kristen you're not making sense." "This warehouse is where John found those damn goggles that lead us to you. Did you know I almost lost my baby in the explosion here?" "No I didn't." "Well I did. John just couldn't stay away from those goggles. I begged him to forget about them and let the ISA handle it but no he had to find his precious Doc. Stefano found out that John was using the goggles and he rigged an explosion in the warehouse. The only thing Stefano didn't count on was me following John. I was in the warehouse when it exploded. My baby almost died then." Kristen takes a firm hold of Belle's arm. She lets out a yell. "Kristen please don't hurt Belle." "Why shouldn't I hurt her? She's the reason John and I aren't together." Marlena wipes the tears from her eyes. "What are you talking about?" "I would be with John today if it weren't for Belle. I was going to be with John until I found out about your affair. If Belle didn't exist then I would have married John instead of Toni. The whole Aremid ordeal wouldn't have happened and John wouldn't have realized that he still loved you. That child you're carrying would have been mine." Marlena tries to calmly talk to Kristen. "Kristen it's not Belle's fault that you constantly doubted John's character. It is your doubts about him that forced you to give up John not the birth of Belle." "Shut up Marlena! Just shut up!"

Belle's crying. Marlena starts once again to inch closer to Kristen. "Please Kristen don't hurt Belle. You can do whatever you want to me just don't hurt my baby girl." "Your baby Marlena! What about my baby? The baby you killed! My baby died because I went down in those tunnels in Paris to look for you." Marlena stops moving. "You went down there of your own free will. You weren't down there to look for me. You went down there to make sure I didn't tell John the truth about you. I didn't kill your baby. It was your lying and scheming that killed your baby." "SHUT UP MARLENA!"

"I've had enough of this. Are you ready to watch your child die?" Kristen slowly starts to point the gun at Belle. Belle kicks Kristen in the shin and she runs to Marlena. Marlena quickly shields Belle with her body. The gun goes off. Marlena is shot. Kristen drops the gun and runs out of the warehouse. Blood is gushing everywhere. "Belle!" "Mommy!" Belle is holding on to her mother very tightly as Marlena passes out. Belle is sitting in a pool of her mother's blood. She's shaking her. "Please wake up mommy!"

John and Abe get to the warehouse first. Abe stays behind to call for an ambulance. John rushes into the building. "Marlena! Belle! Are you in here?" John can hear Belle crying. John follows the sound of her cries. Belle sees her daddy and she rushes into his arms. "Daddy!" "Sweetheart! Are you all right?" John notices that Belle is covered with blood. "Belle, let daddy take a look at you." John checks Belle out but he doesn't see anything wrong with her. "Belle I want you to stand here while I help mommy! Okay!" "Okay daddy!" "Marlena! Oh my god! Come on baby open your eyes for me. Doc you can't leave me now! You have to fight for our children and us. Just open your eyes Doc." Marlena's eyes begin to flutter. "John? Belle, is she all right?" "She's fine doc. You just hold on. Do you hear me?" Marlena's eyes close again.

Jesse, Eric, and Mike finally get to the warehouse. "John! John where are you?" "We're over here!" Belle runs to get them. Belle jumps into Jesse's arms. "Belle! Sweetie are you hurt?" "No! But mommy won't wake up!" She takes them to Marlena. Mike starts to examine Marlena. "She's lost a lot of blood. We have to get her to a hospital now!" "Abe called for an ambulance." "She doesn't have time to wait. We have to leave now." "We'll go in Abe's car. Eric you take Belle home in Mike's car." John carries Marlena to the car. Mike and John stay in the back seat with Marlena. John is keeping Marlena's feet elevated while Mike applies pressure to the wound.

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Abe, Jesse, and John are in the hospital waiting room. Eric enters the waiting room. "Is there any word on my mom yet?" Jesse speaks. "No. Not yet." John is staring out the window. Eric goes over to talk to him. "John, everyone's over at the mansion waiting for word on mom." "Is Belle all right?" "Grandma was able to get her to go to sleep. She's a little shaken but I think she's going to be fine." "I'm glad Caroline was able to calm her down.

John's cell phone rings. He just ignores it. "John, do you want me to answer that?" "Take a message Eric. I don't want to talk to anyone right now." "Hello. Dr. Banning, yes he's here but he wants me to take a message. You're sure. Positive. Thank you very much." "Eric, what is it?" "Results of Megan's DNA tests are in. The test proved that she is yours and mom's child." "That's great. Now I only wish we'd hear about Marlena."

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It's early in the morning and everyone has fallen asleep in the waiting room. Mike comes in and wakes John. "John, Marlena's out of surgery. The bullet was lodged in her shoulder. We were able to remove the bullet but the main problem was the loss of blood. We gave her a transfusion and everything looks good." "With all that blood loss is the baby all right?" "We did an ultrasound and we did find something." "What? Is it the baby?" "There's nothing wrong as a matter of fact this is good news." "What is it?" "Marlena's having twins." "Are you kidding?" "I wouldn't kid about something like that." John hugs Mike. "That's fantastic. When can I see her?" "As soon as we have her moved into her own room." "Thanks Mike."

"Hey guys wake up. Marlena's going to be fine." Jesse hugs John. "That's wonderful. What about the baby?" "Oh you mean the twins? They're fine." "Twins. No way." Abe speaks up. "John, I'll go over to the mansion and tell everyone the good news." "Thanks Partner." Abe leaves. Mike comes back into the waiting room. "John, could you come with me?" "What's wrong?" "We're having trouble bringing Marlena out of the anesthesia. The sound of a familiar voice should help pull her out of it."

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