Promises Made ch 12

Blizzard Conditions

As soon as the car pulled to a stop in the Salem Inn parking lot, Marlena became a woman on a mission. She opened the door and hurried as quickly as humanly possible, fighting her way through the several inches thick snow cover. Once inside the hotel, she didn't bother to wait for the elevator, running up the staircase to the second floor and toward John's room as fast as her legs would carry her. When she arrived she was breathless, but she didn't care and she knocked frantically, calling out to him, "John... Brady.. it's Marlena!"

The door opened to reveal a crying Brady Black, "Momma come quick, Daddy fell down in the bathroom, he's really sick!"

Since John could be seriously ill, she didn't take time to comfort Brady, she had to get to John immediately. She gasped at the sight of his prone figure on the tile floor, he was white as a ghost and lying completely still. Kneeling down next to him, she felt for a pulse and it was there, too fast, but there. Next, she attempted to roll him over, but had difficulty. "John, honey.. can you hear me? Talk to me, John... come on," she urged. There was no response at all, he was out cold. "Oh, John...what's wrong?"

Within a few more minutes, Eric and Roman arrived and they helped to move John onto the couch in the living area of the suite, where he would be more comfortable and where he could be more easily examined. When that task was completed, Marlena set about trying to determine what could be wrong with him, by first asking Brady some questions.

"Brady honey...can you tell me about Daddy, when did he start to get sick, did he tell you about it?" she asked while looking John over.

Glancing at his father with concern, the frightened little boy said, "Well, he had a tummy ache yesterday and he said it was because of eating too much junk food. Then after I woke up this morning, he started getting really sick again and he had to vomit... a whole bunch of times. He said not to worry cause it was just the flu, but he kept getting worse. Then I think his stomach really hurt bad cause he was groaning, but he still kept telling me not to worry."

"Oh.. John, you should have called me sooner and told me how sick you were," she said as she moved to examine him. Lifting up his shirt, she started to palpate the abdomen and got an audible response from him at last; it obviously hurt him as he groaned with the contact. She continued to cover the entire abdominal area, each time eliciting a low moan, and when she moved to the right side, she noticed it was significantly distended. She pressed down firmly then released it quickly and he cried out loudly and her suspicion was confirmed. "Aww! Ohh that hurts!" he cried out involuntarily. The pain had become excruciating by the time of his collapse and that spot was the worst.

Roman and Eric stood silently by, admiring the physician in Marlena, who was now quite cool and collected. They had seen the frantic woman, whom they both knew loved the sick man lying on the couch before them, but once they arrived, she was suddenly transformed into the objective doctor looking for clues to help her diagnose his condition. She felt his forehead and gasped quietly at the temperature, he was very hot. She turned to Brady and asked, "Brady, did Daddy bring that thermometer with you over here, you know the one he puts in your ear?"

"Yes, Mommy, I know where it is, I'll get it." The little boy was glad to be of some help and raced toward the bathroom to retrieve the requested item. In seconds, he was back at her side, handing it to her. "Brady, honey...you're such a big help, thank you."

Brady was very worried about his father and said so, "I just want Daddy to be okay, please take care of him Mommy."

"I will sweetheart," she said, hugging the boy, who looked so much like his father in that moment, worrying about someone else. He was very much like his father in that way as well. Next, she carefully placed the tip of the instrument in John's ear. When she heard the beep and looked at the reading, she gasped again, his temperature was 104 degrees. She took it again to be sure and the number fluctuated between 104 and 105, an alarmingly high fever for an adult.

When she backed away from John's still sleeping form, Eric asked, "Mom, what do you think is wrong with him?"

She took a deep breath to keep herself calm, "Well, I think he's having an appendicitis attack and it's pretty serious from what I can tell, he needs to have it out. We've got to get him to the hospital...soon."

"Oh, my gosh, I was hoping that it was just going to be the flu," replied Eric, who felt guilty for agreeing even briefly with Sami about the possibility of John pretending to be sick as an excuse to get Marlena to come see him. Eric knew that John would never do something like that, no matter how badly he missed her and wanted to be with her.

"Me too, mommy. Is Daddy going to be okay?" asked Brady fearfully.

"Yes.. sweety, as soon as Daddy has the operation he needs, he'll be good as new in no time," she said smiling and sounding much more confidant than she felt. "I'm going to call for an ambulance and we'll make sure Daddy is taken care of at the hospital."

Roman followed her quietly across the room, wondering how he could take advantage of the situation somehow and then felt guilty for thinking that way when he recalled that John had almost died to get the cure that saved his life. He waited patiently while she made the necessary call and then to assuage the guilt, he asked about his.. friend. "Doc...are you sure that's all it is, he looks.. pretty bad."

Glancing worriedly over toward the man she truly loved, she agreed, "Yes, he does and the fever is quite high. I'm concerned that the appendix may be getting ready to rupture and if that happens..."

"Doc.. what are you saying, are worried that John could...die?"

Tears welled up in her frightened eyes and she nodded her head and then answered softly, "Yes... that's what I'm saying, Roman." In her mind she was saying, 'Oh, John... I'm sorry I made you wait, I'm sorry we didn't tell him the truth about our love sooner.'

She was terrified of losing the man, that much was obvious and Roman knew he had a choice to make; he could be selfish and try to manipulate her somehow or he could give her what she needed. He could put his arms around her to comfort her, he could help her keep the faith. It was an easy choice, for he truly loved her, "Don't worry, Doc...he'll be allright, John's a tough son of a gun, he's too stubborn to let a little thing like an appendix take him out. Remember, he fought off that poison in the jungle, he's gonna beat this too," he said encouragingly as he took her gently in his arms.

It touched her to hear him say those things, it was as if in some way he was acknowledging her love for the other man. He was putting his own feelings aside out of concern for her and how worried she was for John. She responded tearfully, "Oh, Roman.. thank you for saying that, thank you for reminding me of how strong he is. I really needed to hear that right now!"

Their moment was interrupted by the sound of another loud groan, "Oh.. God! Doc! Doc!" John cried out in pain and his need for the woman he loved. She raced to his side immediately, saying, "I'm here, John.. I'm here for you." Roman looked on somwhat resentfully, still trying to think of a way to get her to give him another chance. However, seeing how frightened she was for John made it hard to delude himself about who she really loved.

"Doc...what's wrong with me?" John asked, looking up fearfully into her worried eyes, struggling against the feverish fog that clouded his brain.

Taking his left hand in hers, she said, "Well, sweety it looks like your appendix picked a very bad time to decide it wanted out of the house. I think it's badly inflamed and needs to come out, that's why you've been so sick. It probably started the other day when you had that little stomach ache you thought was from eating too many cookies."

He moaned to hear her mention food of any kind. "Oh.. Doc, I'm so sick!" Suddenly he rolled over and tried to sit up as if to vomit and they all scrambled for some sort of basin to contain it, but were surprised to see that all he had left were dry heaves. "Ohh.. Ohh... he groaned with exhaustion, clutching his gut. It hurt tremendously to keep doing that, there was no relief from it and Marlena's eyes began to fill with tears of empathy for his pain. She helped him to move back into a supine position on the couch and held his hand in silent support.

"Oh, John.. honey.. hang on, the ambulance should be here in a little while. It's going to be over soon," she encouraged.

Roman, who had been alternating between looking out the window and watching the local weather bulletins on the television, started to wonder about a potential problem out loud and then thought better of it. "Doc...it's really coming down out there, I wonder if... Oh, never mind, it'll get here allright."

She wanted to have Roman finish the sentence, but didn't want John to worry about anything more, so she said to him, "John, you just lie still, help is on the way, I'll be right back, okay?" Then she made a move to stand up and he was instantly aware of the change in weight on the couch and reached out his hand to keep her with him.

"Where are you going, Marlena... don't leave me, please don't leave me!" John cried, suddenly feeling anxious and afraid. He was disoriented from the high fever and needed her nearby to make him feel safe.

Leaning over him and running the fingertips of her right hand through his sweat dampened hair, she said softly, "I'll never leave you, John, never again, I promise." That seemed to satisfy him and he closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep with a contented smile gracing his handsome face. Marlena smiled back at him, realizing in that simple moment how much she loved him. John was her very heart and soul, he was her life and she didn't want to be separated from him ever again. "Sleep now, my love, sleep and when you wake up, you'll be just fine," she said quietly, for her benefit as much as his.

She rose carefully, so as not to disturb his slumber and stepped over to where Roman was standing, staring out at the snow storm that seemed to intensify since they arrived at the Salem Inn. "Roman, what were you trying to say?" she asked, looking out at the blowing snow, essentially realizing the answer before she even asked the question.

Seeing the fear in her eyes, Roman tried to cover, "Nothing really, it's just the snow, it's pretty bad, but I'm sure there won't be any problem. The salt trucks were out in full force when we came over here, I'm sure it will be fine, Doc."

"No, Roman, tell me the truth, you think the ambulance might not make it through the storm, don't you?"

He couldn't lie to her, she basically knew already. "Yes, I do, Marlena, it's a blizzard out there. I think we need to find some other way, just in case it doesn't get here."

She was worried now too, "You're right, I'm going to call the 911 dispatcher and check on the status." She dialed that number on her cell phone and asked about it, "Yes, this is Dr. Marlena Evans and I called for an ambulance to come to the Salem Inn, for someone who may be having an acute attack of appendicitis, what's the status on that vehicle?"

"I'll check on that for you, hold on one moment." Marlena waited anxiously for news and glanced worriedly back at John, who was blessedly still sleeping. Brady sat next to him, holding his father's hand. In a few seconds, she heard what she didn't want to hear, "I'm sorry, but that ambulance was involved in an accident on the way there, the most direct route has just been shut down due to a multi-vehicle accident and blowing and drifting snow. We sent another one, but it's going to be awhile, I'm sorry about that, but there are accidents and crises all over the city. If you can find some other way to get him in, it might be a good idea to try it."

"Oh no...there has to be something you can do!" she cried out, struggling valiantly to contain her fear. "I'm sorry, Doctor, we're doing the best we can in these blizzard conditions. "The ambulance will get there as soon as possible." Marlena hung up after that, there was nothing more to be said.

"What is it, Mom? asked Eric, seeing how upset she was.

Marlena answered flatly, "The ambulance they sent was in an accident enroute and the main road into this part of the city has been shut down because of a multi-vehicle crash. They re-routed another one, but it will be awhile because there are problems all over the city."

"What are we going to do then, If John doesn't have the surgery soon, he's going to..." Eric started to say anxiously while glancing worriedly over at the sleeping man, realizing for the first time since his return to Salem just how much he still cared about John.

"No...don't.... don't you even say that!" Marlena interrupted forcefully as she turned away from the others and went over to sit down on the couch next to him. She couldn't even bear to think that way now. John was going to be okay, they would get him to the hospital in time, he would have the surgery and he would recover. Marlena would have that long overdue discussion with Roman to set him straight about her true feelings, and then.. at last she and John would have a chance at the happiness they sought for so very long, the happiness she finally allowed herself to believe they both deserved. She leaned down over her lover and whispered in his ear again, "I love you so much, John. Hang on, honey.. just a little while longer and then you'll have all your dreams come true, I promise!" She said it with conviction, as she held his much too warm right hand in both of hers. She slowly brought his hand to her mouth and kissed it softly, praying she was right about all of it.