Chapter 28

Marlena's on the floor clutching her stomach. "Doc!" John rushes to Marlena's side. "John, the babies." "Listen to me Doc, I'm not going to let anything happen to you or our babies. Do you hear me?" "Yes but…" "But nothing. You and the babies are going to be fine. Have I ever lied to you before?" "No." "Well I'm not about to start now. Now I want you to try and relax. Okay?" "I'll try." John turns to Mickey. "I want you to call for an ambulance." Marlena grabs John's arm. "No John." "Doc, you have to go to the hospital." "I know that. I'll go. Just not in an ambulance. The pain's gone. Help me up." "Are you sure?" "Yes. Please help me up." John slowly helps Marlena up from the floor. The judge speaks up. "Dr. Black are you alright?" "Yes your honor. The pain has subsided." "All right. We'll take a brief recess." The judge takes on an angry tone. "I'd like to see council in my chambers. Right now." John and Marlena start toward the door when Lucas stops them. "Marlena, I'm sorry. I had no idea that Sami would go this far." "Lucas, you have nothing to be sorry about." The pain starts again. Marlena doubles over. John catches Marlena. Sami rushes over. "Mom." Marlena looks at Sami then at John. "Get me to the hospital."

Sami follows John and Marlena. "Mom, wait." John grabs Sami. "Samantha Gene leave your mother alone. You've done enough damage for one day." "Mom, I'm sorry. Please let me talk to you." "Samantha, this is the last time I'm going to say this leave your mother alone." "No John. There's something I want to say to my daughter." The three of them move the conversation into an empty conference room. Marlena enters the room first with Sami following behind her. John enters the room and closes the door behind him. There's a moment of silence. "Mom I'm sorry. I didn't want to do what I did but you left me no choice." "Samantha you have plenty of choices but of course you chose the wrong one." "I can't loose my son. I had to do what I did." "No Samantha you didn't have to do what you did. I never thought that you could do anything that could make me turn my back on you…you've always tried so hard to push me away…well you've finally succeeded you have pushed me away forever." "Mom you don't mean that." "Yes…yes I do mean it. I can't keep banging my head against a brick wall. You want me out of your life? Well you finally have your wish. I wash my hands of you." Marlena goes toward the door. Sami cries out, "MOM!" She pauses for a second then she opens the door and leaves. John follows behind her. Sami sits there unable to move. The bailiff pokes his head into the room. "We're going to be starting in a couple of minutes Ms. Reed." Sami wipes the tears from her eyes. "I'll be there in a minute."

Carrie and Austin enter the courtroom. They go over to Lucas to find out what's going on. "Lucas, what's all the commotion about? Everyone is talking about a woman who collapsed in court?" "It was Marlena." "Marlena?" "Sami's lawyer was pretty tough on her. Marlena was so upset that she doubled over in pain." "Sami will do anything to get what she wants no matter what the consequence." Sami enters the courtroom. Carrie confronts her. "How could you? How could you hurt your own mother like that?" "I had to do what I did to make sure that I didn't loose my son. And what about me? My own mother is helping to take my son away from me." "You still don't get it. Sami, Marlena did this because she loves you." "Yeah she loves me so much she wants to see me loose my son." "No…no she doesn't want to see you loose Will but she also doesn't want anything to happen to Will." "I would never hurt Will." "No you wouldn't intentionally." "What are you getting at?" "You're obsessed with getting Austin and you will use anyone and anything to get him. Will has been caught in the middle of your schemes every time. Sami we almost lost Will for good in Paris." "But we didn't." "Yes but Sami it could have turned out very differently. Sami this is the only way that everyone can get through to you that you need help." "I don't need help. I just need my son." Sami walks away.

Carrie turns to Austin. "I'm going to the hospital." Lucas speaks. "Carrie, please let me know how Marlena's doing. I feel partly responsible for this." "Lucas the only person to blame for this is Sami." Carrie glares at Sami. "Let's go Austin." Austin and Carrie leave the courtroom. Austin closes the door. "Carrie wait a minute. Don't you think you were a little hard on Sami?" "Hard on her? Austin she let her lawyer grill Marlena to the point where she was doubled over in pain. If you ask me I wasn't hard enough on her." "I can understand why she did what she did." "You can understand?" People are looking at the two of them arguing. Austin looks around. "Let's go in here." Carrie and Austin enter one of the empty conference rooms. "How could you say that you understand what Sami did?" "Carrie you're not a parent and I don't think you could truly understand what it means when a parent loves their child." "Austin I think it's about time you start to understand that you aren't Will's father. I know you love him and I know that there is always going to be a special bond between the two of you but I think it's about time you stepped back and gave Lucas and Will the time they need to form their own bond." "I won't walk away from Will." "I'm not asking you to walk away from him. I'm just asking you to back off until all of this is settled and Will has some time to get used to the idea that Lucas is his father. Sami is still playing it up that Will still thinks of you as his father and she is going to keep using that to keep you in her life. She's obsessed with you. The fact that she would change Will's medical records proves that. Austin that could have been deadly for Will had she succeeded." "Carrie you don't understand. When Sami had her amnesia I saw a side of her that no one could see. There is good inside of her. We just have to give her a chance." "Give her a chance? After everything she's done to us. I'm sorry but there is no way I can ever forgive her. She's run out of second chances with me. I can't believe you of all people would give her another chance after she deceived you about who Will's father was." "I'm sorry but I think she can change and I don't think that taking Will away is going to get through to her." "Well that's your opinion. I really don't want to argue about this right now. I think we should head over to the hospital." Carrie walks to the door but Austin stops her. "I'm going to stay here." "What?" "I'm staying here. I want to show my support for Will. He needs me right now." "Austin what happens here doesn't matter. No matter what the outcome Will is going to be with a parent who loves him. His life isn't in danger like Marlena and her babies." Carrie looks at Austin. "You're going to stay aren't you?" "Yes, I'm staying." "I don't believe this. You do what you want. I'm going to the hospital. Marlena's always been there for me and now it's my turn to be there for her." Carrie walks to the door. She opens the door and turns towards Austin. "She's finally done it." "Done what?" "Sami's finally come between us." "What do you mean?" "Look at us. We do nothing but argue. We don't see eye to eye on anything. I think she's finally succeeded in driving a wedge between us. I think it's finally over for us." "Don't say that." "I think one of us finally has to say it. We've gone through too much…too much has happened and we can't go back. I think its high time we realized that it's over. It's probably been over since the night you slept with Sami." "Don't say that." "I'm sorry but that's how I feel. I have to go." Carrie tries to leave but Austin stops her. "When are you going to be home?" "I don't know." "You don't know if you're going to come home or you don't know when you're going to come home." "Austin I just think we need some time apart to sort out how we really feel. I'll come to you when I'm ready. Good-bye."



At University Hospital
Marlena's resting in her room. John enters the room to see Marlena sleeping. He quietly sits down next to the bed. John starts to stroke Marlena's hair. Marlena opens her eyes. "Hey pretty lady. How are you feeling?" "John I'm scared. I can't be in labor it's too soon." John embraces Marlena to try and calm her down. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you or our babies." "John you have no control over this." "I don't. Lady I'd move heaven and earth for you. Nothing is going to happen to you or our babies." Dr. Baitor enters the room. "How's the patient doing?" "The pains have slowed down and they're not as intense as they were. Doctor, what's wrong?" "Marlena, you're in labor." Tears fill Marlena's eyes. "Oh no! I can't it's too soon." "Listen to me Doc. Everything is going to be okay. I want you to calm down." John turns to Dr. Baitor. "You can stop the labor." "I've started Marlena on an IV drip with medication which I'm hoping will stop the labor. Now I want you to take it easy and I'll be back in a little while to check up on you." "Thank you doctor." Dr. Baitor leaves the room. John gets up from the bed. Marlena grabs him. "John, don't leave me." "Doc, I want to ask the doctor something. I'll only be a minute." "Hurry back." John kisses Marlena on the forehead. "You know I will." John leaves the room.

"Dr. Baitor!" "Yes John." "That medication? Is it going to be able to stop the labor?" "I hope it will." "You hope it will?! Doctor these are my children's lives we're talking about." "I know that John. The medication I'm giving Marlena should stop the labor. Whether or not it works will depend on whether you can keep her calm. The good news is that her water didn't break. Now that is a very good sign. Now you just have to keep her calm so that the medication can work. That's the best I can do." "Thank you doctor. I know you will do everything you can to save our children's lives." Dr. Baitor's beeper goes off. "Excuse me. I'm needed in delivery." John tries to calm himself down before he goes back into Marlena's room. He pours a cup of coffee.

The elevator opens and Carrie steps out running into Mike. "Mike, how is she?" "How's who?" "Marlena." "Marlena? I didn't know she was in the hospital." "She was testifying at Will's custody hearing today. Sami's lawyer was being really tough on her and when he was through she collapsed." "Let's see if I can find out what room she's in." "Thanks Mike." Mike goes over to the nurse's desk. Carrie sees John. "John…John how's Marlena?" "Hi punkin. She's in premature labor. The doctor has her on medication to try and stop it." "Do you think it's going to work?" "I don't know honey. All we can do is be patient and pray that it works." "Would it be alright if I went in to see her?" "I think she'd love it." Mike sees the two of them. "John how is she?" "She's on medication to stop the labor. The good news is that her water didn't break." Carrie turns to Mike. "Well that's good isn't it?" "Yes that's very good. If Marlena can remain calm then the medication should work to stop the labor." "I'm going in to see her." "I'm going to call home and check in on the kids. I'll be in a minute."

Carrie pokes her head into Marlena's room. "Are you ready for visitors?" "Get in here you. Of course I'm ready for visitors." Carrie goes over to Marlena's bedside. "Now you know I'm very anxious to see my little brothers or sisters but I think I can wait a few more months." Marlena smiles. "Your little brothers or sisters?" "I hope you don't mind. You know that I will always think of you and John as my parents. I think of Belle and Brady as my sister and brother so naturally I will think of these babies in the same way. You don't mind do you?" Tears begin to form in Marlena's eyes. "Mind? No of course I don't mind. I will always think of you as my daughter." Marlena puts her hand on her stomach. "I think these babies will be very lucky to have you for a big sister." "How are you feeling?" "I actually think the medication is starting to work. The contractions are slowing down." Marlena wipes the tears from her eyes. "Let's talk about something else. How are you and Austin?" Carrie turns away from Marlena. She doesn't want trouble her with her problems. "Carrie?" There's a knock at the door. "Come in." Mike enters the room "Well how is our patient feeling? Have the contractions slowed down?" "Yes, I think the medication is working." "Dr. Baitor has been called to the delivery room so I'll be checking up on you if you don't mind." "No of course I don't mind."

John enters the room. He sits on the bed with Marlena. "How are the kids?" "They're fine. Caroline and Sean are going to stay with them tonight. I'm going to spend the entire night here." "John I'll be fine. The kids are going to know that something's wrong if you don't go home." "Doc I'm not going to leave you and that's final." Mike speaks up. "John I'll have a cot brought in here for you." "Thanks Mike." Carrie interrupts. "Well I have to go. You take care." Carrie leans over and gives Marlena a hug and a kiss. "I will." Carrie hugs John. "Let me know if you need anything." "Bye punkin." Carrie and Mike leave the room. "John, I think there's something wrong with Carrie. She seems upset." "Sure she's upset Doc she loves you very much." "No it's not just me. Please go after her and see if you can help." "Doc." "John, please for me I would feel so much better if you went after her."

Mike goes over to the nurse's desk. "Please page me if Dr. Black's condition changes." "Yes doctor." "Well I'm going to head home." "Carrie, what's wrong?" "Am I that transparent?" "To me you are. Do you want to talk?" "I don't know. I don't know what I want to do." Carrie turns away and then back to Mike. "I can't keep this inside any longer. Is there some place where we can talk in private?" "How about the balcony?" Carrie nods yes. Mike opens the door for Carrie. As Carrie and Mike enter the balcony John sees them and decides to let them talk. Carrie leans on the railing. "So is this about you and Austin." Carrie takes a deep breath. "It's about Austin, Sami, and me. Mike I thought that once it was all out in the open about Austin not being Will's father was out it would be over. All of Austin's ties to Sami would be severed but that hasn't happened." "You honestly didn't think that Austin would just stop seeing Will did you?" "No but I thought he would at least put us ahead of Sami but once again her needs come first. He stayed at the courthouse. I asked him to come to the hospital with me but he wouldn't because he needs to be there for Sami." "He said that?" "No…not exactly. He said that he needed to be there for Will but I can see that he cares for Sami. I hate to say this but I think she's won. She's finally succeeded in taking Austin away from me." Mike takes Carrie into his arms. "You have to talk to Austin." Carrie pulls away from Mike. "Mike there's no talking to him. All we do is argue. I just have to face it that it's over." Mike begins to think about his last conversation with Jesse. "Mike…Mike." "I'm right here. You just hang on." "I don't know if I can. I want you to promise me something." "What is it?" "I want you to promise me that you will talk to Carrie. Tell her how you feel. Don't go through your life wondering what might have been. Please promise me you'll tell her." Mike's beeper goes off. "I have to take this." Carrie and Mike leave the balcony. Mike gets on the phone. "I'm going to leave Mike." "Could you hold for a moment? Thank you. Where are you going to go?" "I think I'll get some of my clothes and I'll stay at my old apartment or I'll see if I can stay at the Pub." "Just let me know if you need anything." Carrie smiles and hugs Mike. "Thank you for being there for me." Carrie pushes the button for the elevator. The doors open and Carrie is almost run over by Don. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me." "Don?" "Carrie, where's Marlena?" "She's in room 515." "I went over to the house to see Maddie and Sean told me that Marlena was here. What the happened?" "Marlena was testifying at the custody hearing for Will today and Sami's lawyer got a little rough with her." "A little rough? I can't believe that daughter of hers to hurt her mother like that is unforgivable. Are she and the babies okay?" "Well she's in premature labor. The doctor gave her medication to stop it." "Can I see her?" "Yes, I was just in there. The most important thing is that she remains calm." "I'll try my best. You take care kiddo." "I will."

The scene switches back to Roman's room at the Brady Pub. Roman's standing in front of the mirror in his room when suddenly the mirror starts to work it's hypnotic motions. Roman falls into a trance, a voice starts to talk to Roman. "The phoenix will rise again. Remember your training. Your blood boils at the thought of John and Marlena being together. They put you through hell and they must pay. Especially John. You will kill John Black when the time is right. The phoenix will rise again." The mirror and the voice stop. There's a knock at the door. Roman brakes his trance. "Daddy, are you in there?" "Peanut? Come in." Sami enters the room in tears. "Peanut, what's wrong? What happened?" "I lost him." "You lost who?" "I lost Will." "What do you mean?" "I lost custody of Will today." "What? Why didn't you tell me about this?" "I didn't want to worry you. I didn't think that there was any way I could loose Will. Boy was I wrong." "You listen to me I'll do everything in my power to make sure that you get your son back." "You will?" "Of course, I'll do anything for you peanut. Tell me what happened." "It was mom." "Marlena, I don't understand." "Mom testified against me. She told the judge I was an unfit mother. Daddy she helped them take my little boy away." Roman takes Sami into his arms. "Listen to me Peanut we will get Will back. I'll undo the damage your mother has done. Is she at the mansion?" Sami wipes the tears from her eyes. "No, she's at the hospital." "Hospital?" "She collapsed after testifying. I'm guessing they rushed her to University Hospital." "You stay here and I'll be back." Roman kisses his daughter on the forehead and leaves. Sami sits on the bed crying.

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Don enters Marlena's room. He throws his coat over the chair. "I come all the way from New Jersey to see my three favorite ladies in Salem and what should I find out that one of them has landed herself a stay in the hospital." Don kisses Marlena on the forehead. "Oh Don." "Don't oh Don me. What's this I hear about premature labor?" "The doctor's given me some medication and the contractions have slowed a bit. We're hoping that they'll stop soon." There's a knock at the door. "Come in." Mike enters. "Don, I'm glad you're here. I was just paged. It's about Jesse." "Is she awake?" "No the reason I'm here is that the hospital would like to release her." "But she's still in the coma." "Well technically all of her injuries from the accident are healed. Right now hospital space is needed for patients with more serious injuries. They are recommending that Jesse be moved to a facility that can take care of her 24 hours a day. There's a clinic just outside of town that Jesse's doctors are recommending. You don't have to decide this very minute but please start thinking about what you want to do." "Thank you Mike." Mike leaves the room.

Don sits down in the chair next to Marlena's bed. "What do you think Baby? Do you know anything about this clinic Mike's taking about?" "It's a home Don. I don't want Jesse there." "Well do you know of any other places." "Yes as a matter of fact I do." "I don't like that look on your face." "We have an entire wing in our mansion that's not being used." Don rolls his eyes and gets up from his chair. "Here we go." "We could bring all the equipment we needed to take care of Jesse." "Marlena." "We could have a nurse and a doctor on hand 24 hours a day. It's perfect." Don objects. "It's not perfect. Marlena you will end up spending all of your time taking care of Jesse. No I'm not going to allow you to do this." "Allow me? You act as though she's nothing to me. She's my niece." "Yes but she's my daughter and I will take care of her." John enters the room. "What's going on in here?" "The hospital wants to release Jesse." "That's great." "No it's not." "I'm confused here." "John, Don and the doctors want to send Jesse to a home." "It's not a home." "It is Don. Don't kid yourself." "Doc, what do you want to do?" "I want her to come home with us." John has misgivings. "Doc." "You don't want Jesse to come home with us?" "No Doc I want her to come home with us but I think right now it would be too much." "Too much. John I'd just have to go down the hall to see her instead of going to the out skirts of town. If she's in the house I wouldn't have to worry whether or not she's being well taken care of oh please won't you agree with me." Don interrupts. "Jesse is my daughter and I want to take care of her." "You're not going to take her back to New Jersey are you? Because if that's what you're thinking then you can get that right out of your head right now. Jesse is better off here where she will be surrounded by people who love her and can help her come out of this coma." "Marlena I'm not about to take Jesse away from Salem." "You weren't?" "No, you and John have been taking care of her since her accident. I think it's about time I take care of my own daughter. I think it's time that her old man start taking care of some of her bills." "Is this about money Don?" "Don I have the money to help and I'm more than happy to help Jesse. She's a very important member of this family." "I know but I would just feel better if it were me taking care of everything for my daughter. I hope you understand." John nods his head. "But Don how can you take care of Jesse when you're only here on weekends?" "Well if you'd let me finish I could tell you." "Fine." "I was offered a job here in Salem." "A job? Where? With who?" "Mickey has offered me a job with his firm." "Don that's wonderful now you won't have to travel back and forth from Jersey." "Well the traveling back and forth is one reason why I'm taking this job but it's not the only reason." Don sits down next to Marlena and takes her hand. "I actually miss this place. I miss the good people here…I miss Alice's famous doughnuts…I miss my friends…but most of all I miss you Baby." Tears flow from Marlena's eyes. "Oh Don. I've missed you too. I miss the friendship that we used to have." Don wipes the tears from Marlena's eyes. "Now stop being so weepy. You know I can't stand to see you cry." Marlena smiles. "So when is this move going to be permanent?" "I'll be in town for a few days. I want to find an apartment to rent before I go back to Jersey. There are a few loose ends I want to tie up before I come back but I will say that within the next month I'll be a permanent resident of Salem again." "Well I for one can't wait." "I think I'm going to get going." "Now wait a minute Don. You have one more loose end here that you have to tie up." "What would that be?" "Jesse, what are we going to do about Jesse?" "Marlena, I really think that she should go to that clinic." "How about a compromise?" "I should have known." "Known what?" "I should have known that all those tears and the oh Don I miss your friendship stuff was just buttering me up for this." "Don, what a horrible thing to say." "I know you Baby. Okay out with it. What's your compromise?" "What if we send Jesse to the clinic for now but once I've had the babies and we're all at home and safe we let Jesse move into the mansion. Do we have a deal?" "Lady you drive a hard bargain and I think I can live with this deal. You win." Marlena extends her hand out to Don. "So we have a deal." "You win. We have a deal. I hate to rush off but I still have to find a room for tonight." "Don don't be silly. You can stay at the mansion." "I couldn't do that." "Yes you could do that. I for one would feel better knowing that you were there and well I get the feeling that Sean and Caroline could use you for back up. Some times the kids can be a handful. So what do you say?" "What can I say? I'll say yes." Marlena smiles. "I'll see you again before I leave. Take care." Don leans over and kisses Marlena. "I will." "Don I'll walk you out. We could talk to Mike about getting Jesse moved to that clinic." "That sounds great." Don opens the door. John kisses Marlena. "I'll be back as soon as I can." "Take your time, I think I'm going to take a nap."

Don and John leave the room and head to Mike's office. Just as they get on the elevator Roman gets off. Neither John nor Don sees him. Roman heads to the nurse's desk. "Could you please tell me what room Dr. Marlena Evans is in?" "Yes Dr. Black is in room 515?" "Thank you." Roman enters the room with out knocking. Marlena's sleeping but she suddenly feels like she's being watched so she opens her eyes. "Roman? What are you doing here?" "How could you Doc? How could you do it?" "Do what?" "Don't play innocent with me Doc. How could you testify against your own daughter?" "Roman, I did what I felt was in the best interest of our daughter and our grandson. Judging from your reaction I can see that Sami lost custody of Will." "You're damn right she lost custody. You know what the worst part is? The worst part is that it was probably your testimony that swayed the judge. Now because of you our grandson will never be able to see his mother again." "Now wait one minute. I didn't make up anything that I said in court. Sami really did do some horrible things over the years. If you had been here over the past three years you would have known everything Sami's done but of course like today you weren't there." "Doc I left because of you." "No Roman you left because you couldn't handle what happened. I tried. I wanted to try to work things out. I begged you not to sign the divorce papers. I begged you not to leave but you left anyway." "What did you want me to do? Stay around and watch you and John raise a child that I thought was mine?" "You could have stayed for your children. You knew that Sami adored you. You knew that she would never be able to handle the fact that you were gone." "Well I'm back now and I'm going to make sure that my daughter is never hurt again by you or anybody." The pains start again. John enters the room. "What's going on in here? I could hear the two of you down the hall." "John the pain has started again." Roman comes closer to Marlena. "This is not over Doc!" John pushes Roman away. "What the hell's wrong with you man? Can't you see she's in pain." "Her pain is nothing like the pain she caused me or my daughter." John opens the door. "Get the hell out of here Roman." Roman heads to the door and pauses. "This is not over." John grabs Roman's shirt and throws him out the door. "John please don't start anything." The two men move the argument to the lobby. John lets go of Roman's shirt. Roman goes after John. "You think you're such a big man." "I think I'm a better man than you." "Oh really." "Yes really. What the hell were you thinking going after Marlena like that? Haven't you put her through enough?" "What I put her through? What about what she put me through?" Roman grabs for John. John pushes him away. "What's wrong with you? Where is all of this anger coming from?" Roman lunges for John again. Mike comes between the two men. "What's going on?" "Roman came in and verbally attacked Marlena." Mike turns to Roman. "Is this true?" "She had it coming." "Roman I want you out of this hospital right now. If you don't leave I'll have security escort you out." John lunges towards Roman. "Mike just let me take care of him." Mike restrains John. "Listen to me he's not worth it. Marlena needs you right now. She needs you to be there and not in a jail cell because you beat up Roman. Do you hear me?" John stops struggling to get away from Mike's grip. "Roman, get out." Roman leaves but he takes one last shot. "This isn't over." John moves towards Roman. Mike grabs John. "No, John. Let him go. Marlena needs you now."

John rushes to Marlena's bedside. "How are you feeling?" "John the pain's back." John takes Marlena's hand. "Okay honey. I just want you to calm down. Think about seeing the kids again. Think about being out of this place and being among your friends and family. Can you do that?" Marlena nods her head. "Um hum." "Take deep breaths." Marlena takes some deep cleansing breaths. "That's it." "John what was that just now? I thought he was over all the anger. I thought he was finally past everything." "I did too Doc. Maybe the news of the custody hearing was just too much. I don't want to talk about him right now. I just want to concentrate on you and our babies." "John, I'm scared." "There's nothing to be scared about Doc. Nothing is ever going to happen to you and our babies." "You know when you say it, I almost believe it." "Well lady you'd better believe it. As long as I'm breathing no harm will ever come to you or our children and you can bet on that." John climbs into bed with Marlena. He rocks her to sleep. "No one is ever going to hurt you Doc."

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