Every Minute Counts
Chapter 13
Tom walks in.
Tom: I'm home.
Margo: Hey, how was your first day back?
Tom: It was long. I am so glad to be home. How are you doing?
Margo: ok, I guess. (pauses trying to get up the nerve) Tom, we need to talk.
Tom: Okay.
Margo: This is really hard for me so you are going to have to be patient.
Tom: Just take your time. You know you can tell me anything.
Margo: Uh, you just missed Hal. He just got back from out of town and he stopped by.
Tom: Well, you must have had a deep conversation from the look on your face.
Margo: We did. Look, I'm sorry I've been so distant lately.
Tom: Honey, don't worry about that. I knew you were just sorting through things.
Margo: Maybe I was, but for the most part, I was just hiding from my feelings.
Tom: You went through a terrible ordeal. No one expects you to just jump back into everything as though nothing happened. I was hoping that if you couldn't talk to me you'd at least talk to Lynn Michaels. I don't want to rush you though.
Margo: You know, Lynn is an excellent psychiatrist and I will go talk to her but you are my husband and I think its time we had everything on the table. Otherwise, in a way, Stenbeck will still be holding me hostage.
Tom: (takes her hand) Ok, if you're ready. I'm right here.
Margo: Okay. It started with that phone call that Barbara made. Jack was going to follow me there but I got there first and I thought "its Barbara, how bad can it be" so I went on in. I heard this sound in the back and so I went back there and the next thing I remember was when I was in the warehouse. My head hurt like hell and that's when I saw James. He was acting like the psyco, typical James that we all know and he said he wanted revenge.
Tom sees the tension in her body so he takes both of her hands in his own.
Tom: Go on. I'm right here. Margo: He left and said he wasn't coming back. That's when I realized how cold it was and that I didn't have any food, water or my meds. My hands and feet were tied so I tried to get them off. That hurt like hell also because it caused a lot of wear and tear on them.
Tom rolls up her sleeve and runs his fingers over the scars on her wrists.
Tom: Oh, baby. You must have been so scared. (wiping a tear away from her eye)
Margo: I was, but you kept me alive. I knew if I could just hang on, you would never give up on me.
Tom: Well, you were right. I couldn't rest until I found you.
Margo: Anyway, James came back and that surprised me because he doesn't make empty threats but he told me that you were dead. What happened? When you found me you said something like "he tried but I'm still here."
Tom: James called me and asked me to meet him at the Docks. I was going to go alone but Jack insisted the police come along.
Margo: Well, thank heavens for Jack. There's no telling what would have happened if you had gone alone. So what happened next?
Tom: I met him and I was furious but he made it clear that we were playing by his rules so I forced myself to calm down. He actually gave me directions to a warehouse he claimed you were in. I was so relieved, I let my guard down and he shot me in the chest.
Margo: What? How did you get out of that?
Tom: Jack insisted I wear a bulletproof vest. Stenbeck probably still thinks I'm dead or in a hospital somewhere.
Margo: Well, what do you know! My husband is one of the few people in this town who can fool James Stenbeck.
Margo and Tom keep discussing the incident and when their conversation is over, they both have tears in their eyes. They lay on the couch holding each other for what seems like hours without saying anything. They finally decide to go upstairs to bed and fall asleep in each other's arms.
A few weeks later.
Margo is in the bathroom getting ready for an evening out with Tom. She is wearing a sexy, sleeveless, blue dress and Tom is in the bedroom dressed in his tuxedo.
Margo: (from the bathroom) Can you believe that we both got off of work on the same night.
Tom: Don't say that, you'll jinx it. Besides, do you think Oakdale's new DA would miss the chance to take his beautiful wife out to dinner on her birthday.
Margo: I guess not. (emerges from the bathroom)
Tom: (stunned) Wow! You are going to turn some heads tonight.
Margo: You like?
Tom: Definitely. You know what I'll like more?
Margo: (smiling) What?
Tom: Getting you out of this dress. (starts kissing her neck)
Margo: (laughing) Well, that will have to wait, Counselor. If we don't leave now, we will loose our reservations and God knows when we will be able to do this again.
Tom: Alright, let's go.
They leave and go to the Lakeview. When they walk up, they see the lights are out. They walk in and turn the light on wondering why it was off and suddenly hear: SURPRISE
Tom walks in.
Tom: I'm home.
Margo: Hey, how was your first day back?
Tom: It was long. I am so glad to be home. How are you doing?
Margo: ok, I guess. (pauses trying to get up the nerve) Tom, we need to talk.
Tom: Okay.
Margo: This is really hard for me so you are going to have to be patient.
Tom: Just take your time. You know you can tell me anything.
Margo: Uh, you just missed Hal. He just got back from out of town and he stopped by.
Tom: Well, you must have had a deep conversation from the look on your face.
Margo: We did. Look, I'm sorry I've been so distant lately.
Tom: Honey, don't worry about that. I knew you were just sorting through things.
Margo: Maybe I was, but for the most part, I was just hiding from my feelings.
Tom: You went through a terrible ordeal. No one expects you to just jump back into everything as though nothing happened. I was hoping that if you couldn't talk to me you'd at least talk to Lynn Michaels. I don't want to rush you though.
Margo: You know, Lynn is an excellent psychiatrist and I will go talk to her but you are my husband and I think its time we had everything on the table. Otherwise, in a way, Stenbeck will still be holding me hostage.
Tom: (takes her hand) Ok, if you're ready. I'm right here.
Margo: Okay. It started with that phone call that Barbara made. Jack was going to follow me there but I got there first and I thought "its Barbara, how bad can it be" so I went on in. I heard this sound in the back and so I went back there and the next thing I remember was when I was in the warehouse. My head hurt like hell and that's when I saw James. He was acting like the psyco, typical James that we all know and he said he wanted revenge.
Tom sees the tension in her body so he takes both of her hands in his own.
Tom: Go on. I'm right here. Margo: He left and said he wasn't coming back. That's when I realized how cold it was and that I didn't have any food, water or my meds. My hands and feet were tied so I tried to get them off. That hurt like hell also because it caused a lot of wear and tear on them.
Tom rolls up her sleeve and runs his fingers over the scars on her wrists.
Tom: Oh, baby. You must have been so scared. (wiping a tear away from her eye)
Margo: I was, but you kept me alive. I knew if I could just hang on, you would never give up on me.
Tom: Well, you were right. I couldn't rest until I found you.
Margo: Anyway, James came back and that surprised me because he doesn't make empty threats but he told me that you were dead. What happened? When you found me you said something like "he tried but I'm still here."
Tom: James called me and asked me to meet him at the Docks. I was going to go alone but Jack insisted the police come along.
Margo: Well, thank heavens for Jack. There's no telling what would have happened if you had gone alone. So what happened next?
Tom: I met him and I was furious but he made it clear that we were playing by his rules so I forced myself to calm down. He actually gave me directions to a warehouse he claimed you were in. I was so relieved, I let my guard down and he shot me in the chest.
Margo: What? How did you get out of that?
Tom: Jack insisted I wear a bulletproof vest. Stenbeck probably still thinks I'm dead or in a hospital somewhere.
Margo: Well, what do you know! My husband is one of the few people in this town who can fool James Stenbeck.
Margo and Tom keep discussing the incident and when their conversation is over, they both have tears in their eyes. They lay on the couch holding each other for what seems like hours without saying anything. They finally decide to go upstairs to bed and fall asleep in each other's arms.
A few weeks later.
Margo is in the bathroom getting ready for an evening out with Tom. She is wearing a sexy, sleeveless, blue dress and Tom is in the bedroom dressed in his tuxedo.
Margo: (from the bathroom) Can you believe that we both got off of work on the same night.
Tom: Don't say that, you'll jinx it. Besides, do you think Oakdale's new DA would miss the chance to take his beautiful wife out to dinner on her birthday.
Margo: I guess not. (emerges from the bathroom)
Tom: (stunned) Wow! You are going to turn some heads tonight.
Margo: You like?
Tom: Definitely. You know what I'll like more?
Margo: (smiling) What?
Tom: Getting you out of this dress. (starts kissing her neck)
Margo: (laughing) Well, that will have to wait, Counselor. If we don't leave now, we will loose our reservations and God knows when we will be able to do this again.
Tom: Alright, let's go.
They leave and go to the Lakeview. When they walk up, they see the lights are out. They walk in and turn the light on wondering why it was off and suddenly hear: SURPRISE