Intrigue & Passion-37
by: Susan
Jax wheeled around, surprise etched on his face when he heard the voice.
It had been so long since he had heard it. How long had it been, two years,
three, but she was there standing before him. Her fiery red hair flowing
down her back, in a mass of wild curls. A poets blouse half buttoned, revealed
a belly button ring, her long flowing skirt, slit on the right side allowed
him to glimpse the tatoo of an angel and he remembered when he and Jerry
had gone with her to get it They all had one. Not many people knew about
his though, well Brenda did. Brenda, his thoughts drifted to his wife again,
as this woman approached him, it wasn't her fault she couldn't remember,
wasn't her fault she didn't know their daughter, couldn't remember the last
5 years of her life.
A bell jangled and Jax smiled at the charm anklet. Jerry had bought that
for her when they had been all of what, 16 years old. He smiled and she grinned
at him and removed her sunglasses. Brilliant green eyes gazed out at him,
and he opened his arms.
"Marlee? "
She laughed then, her rich musical laugh and fell into his arms.
"Yes Jasper, it's me. "
With her Irish accent, Marlee was the only person who had ever gotten away
with calling him by his real name. He liked the sound of it on her lips.
With a deep sigh he engulfed her in his arms. This woman who he knew so well,
but hadn't seen for so long. This woman who had been the first real love
of his brother's life, and the last, after she had left Jerry had thrown
himself in the path of any dangerous case that had come his way not caring
whether he had lived or died.
He held her at arms length for a moment and smiled at her.
"God hon, it's good to see you. "
Marlee looked at Jax and frowned. Something wasn't right with him, she had
known it in her heart, had known that something was drastically wrong and
so had decided, after years of being out of his life and his brother's life,
she couldn't say his name, that she had, had to come.
"It's good to see you too luv. How's Brenda? "
She had talked to him about 2 years before, when his heart was breaking from
the loss of his soul mate. Had hated the pain and despair in his voice, but
knew it would pass. And she had smiled when she learned about their reunion,
about his daughter Callie.
"She's..."
Jax struggled for the words.
"She doesn't remember Marlee. She doesn't remember us, our daughter, all
she can remember is him..."
Marlee nodded and linked her arm through his, leading him slowly back towards
the door of the hospital. He needed to stay with his family now. Brenda's
condition was only part of the reason she had come, there was something else
here, she realized it now, realized that her sixth sense had only been partly
right about the danger Jax was facing, but there was one instinct she had,
he had to stay close to family. So she led him back through the doors and
listened to him talk as they rode the elevator up to the fifth floor and
braced herself for the meeting she had been dreading, the meeting with Jerry.
He wouldn't have understood why she went away. She had heard from Jax about
how he had taken her departure, about how their fight had affected him. She
still loved him, she would wake at night from a dream of him in a cold sweat,
worried that he was dead, and then she would learn that he had been kidnaped
again, or that he had, had an accident, and a part of her died each time,
wishing she could be with him, wishing she could be lying in bed with him,
instead of cold, frightened and alone.
"I still can't believe you came. "
Jax glanced down at Marlee. She was only about as tall as Brenda, and he
noted, a little skinnier, if that was possible, she had dark circles under
her eyes, and there wasn't the same light there that had always been. He
wondered. The elevator stopped and before the door opened her turned to her.
"Jerry is here you know. "
Marlee swallowed and nodded, 8 years since she had seen him, spoken to him,
felt his arms around her. She could do this, she could.
"I know. "
She swallowed and held onto Jax's hand as the they walked through the door.
"There's something else isn't there Marlee. Another reason you've come. "
Marlee had a gift, as his mother had always called it, for knowing when things were going to happen, both good or bad. They'd never called her a psychic for she hated that generalized term.
But she preferred to think of it as a gift from her Irish heritage. So for
her to come to them after 8 years of separation. A separation, none of his
family could understand, it had to be something serious.
He turned to her before they started to walk down the hallway.
"It's Jerry isn't it Marlee. Something is going to happen to Jerry. "
She just shook her head and smiled at him.
"No Jax, it's not Jerry. "
"Then what..."
She placed a her index finger on his lips and shook her head.
"Let's not question it now. "
"Why did you leave? "
The question hung in the air and she started walking again.
"Not yet Jax. "
They rounded another corner, passed a nurses station.
"Marelee, we've missed you, mum, dad, Jerry..."
"Later Jax. I'll try to tell you later, but not now. "
Jax nodded and walked in silence towards Brenda's room.
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"Why couldn't she remember mum? "
Jerry was holding Callie in his arms. His niece had been disturbingly quiet
since Jax had walked away. Her face was turned into his neck, her breathing
gentle, she had fallen asleep. His mother turned and took her from him.
"I'm not sure son. Tony and Bobbie are looking into it now, they seem to
think it's because the accident was so similar to the one years ago, that
it triggered something and sent her back. They just can't explain it. "
"So how long will she be like this? "
"Son they don't have any answers for us. "
"Damn it. "
Jerry looked at his father and mother, standing there so calmly/ How could
they be so calm about this. It was frustrating.
"Son..."
"Dad stop, I'm not going to let Jax go through this. She's got to remember.
"
"What are you going to do Jerry force her. We just have to wait. "
"I can't, look at what this will do to Callie dad, and Jax...I'm going to
talk to her, make her see..."
"See what Jerry? "
The voice stopped him cold as he turned towards the door of Brenda's room.
His hand froze on the knob. He didn't want to turn around, because he knew
if he did he would wake up. She wasn't standing behind him, not after all
this time.
Jane's free hand flew to John's and he took hers. Dear lord, he thought Marlee?
She had been the boys best friend growing up, but they hadn't seen her in
almost 8 years. Jerry had taken her departure quite hard. Well he thought,
as Jax took Callie from Jane, this could be interesting.
*******************************************************************
In her sleep she couldn't feel the pain. She could dream of the goodtimes,
but when she tried to focus on the face of the man she was with it was never
Sonny, but Jax.
The music played soft and sweet, a piano concerto by someone, she couldn't
remember and she and Jax danced in each other's arms, and she could feel
it, the love she had for him shining through. But what happened to Sonny?
Didn't she love him.
Another memory came to her. The little girl sitting on the edge of her bed,
laughing as Jax read her a story. Falling asleep on her shoulder. Her daughter?
She would remember her own daughter wouldn't she?
And then as suddenly as the images came there was darkness again and Brenda
fell into a fitful sleep, filled with troubled images of blood and violence,
of screams and nightmares.
******************************************************************
"Come on Jerry, turn around. "
But he stood, with his back turned to everyone, his had frozen on the doorknob.
"Jerry. "
He heard Jax's voice and tuned it out, but he couldn't tune out the hand
that touched his shoulder gently, or the one that pulled his hand away from
the door. When he looked down he was surprised to find that she still wore
half the rings he had gotten her when they were childeren, but he still didn't
want to believe that she was there. It made the pain of losing her all those
years ago too real.
"Jerry..."
Her voice was shaking as she turned him around. His body shook and her hands
took his and she smiled weakly at him. Her green eyes wet with tears, her
hands cold.
She reached up slowly and caressed his face, gently tracing the outline of
his lips, his nose, she had always loved doing that, especially after he
had broken it falling out of a tree when they were 11.
"Marlee? "
She nodded and snaked her arms around his neck pulling him towards her. His
body leaned instinctively towards hers and his arms pulled her to him, crushing
her against him. He buried his face against her shoulder and sighed.
"Oh god Jerry. "
The sobs tore out of her then, and everything she had been holding back broke
loose as she held him. This man, whom she had last seen when they were just
21, her first and only love, her life.
"Marlee..."
Jerry's voice shook as he stroked her hair gently stunned at the sobs wracking
her body, amazed that she was in his arms.
"I still love you..."
He whispered the words so softly that only she could hear him, and he watched
as his mum and dad left and how Jax and Callie walked silently around them
to go into Brenda's room. He just held onto the woman weeping in his arms.
He held her knowing as he did that he would never, ever let her walk out
of his life again.