As they walked into the hospital, Marlena and Roman noticed the large
amount of staring they received. No one said a word, they just stared as
the two walked past. Marlena whispered to John, "Ok, I know I'm not a
serial killer, but THEY don't. I don't like this one bit."
John grasped her hand, "Don't worry, Bo is clearing all that up right now at the Salem PD. By tomorrow night, it'll be ok, you'll see."
She squeezed his hand back, as Roman stopped. "Room 312, right John?" John nodded. Roman took a deep breath and let it out.
Marlena reached out to touch his shoulder, "You want us to come in?"
Roman shook his head, "No. I'm ok. I'm just wondering about Sami. We need to call her, and I want to see her but I need to be here with Kate right now, and given their history and god knows what else has happened between them since we've been gone, I don't want a scene here."
Marlena nodded, "Look, I'll go call her now and tell her what little we know, and that we're both alive and well, and then, I'll tell her to come down here. That way you can get some time alone with Kate before Sami gets here."
Roman nodded his head, "Ok." He put his hands on his hips and closed his eyes, "God let her wake up, please. I can't lose her now." and he opened the door to Kate's room.
Phillip turned around and his jaw fell, "Oh my God!!! Roman?! You're alive! But how? I mean forget about how, god am I glad you're here." He turned back to Kate, "Mom, mom, Roman is here, he's alive, c'mon Mom you gotta wake up now!" Both men waited, but there was still no response.
Roman swallowed hard, "How long?" he whispered, his eyes transfixed on his wife, "How long has she been like this?"
Phillip walked over to him, "A little over a week. Lexie says the swelling in her brain is going down, but she has to wake up on her own. Basically it's all up to Mom now." He turned and looked at his mother, "Talk to her Roman, we've all tried. She has to wake up, and soon, and you might be the only one she'll wake up for."
Roman put a hand on Phillip's shoulder, "I know. She's gonna wake up. She's not getting off that easy. Listen do me a favor will ya? Give me a heads up when Sami's on her way here. I don't know what's been goin on between the two of them while I've been gone, but I don't want her upsetting Kate to the point that she doesn't wake up because Sami's here."
"You've got it. Good luck and welcome back," said Phillip, and he closed the door behind him.
Roman just stared at her. She was so pale, so still. She looked so fragile. 'Now that's not a word I would use to describe Kate.' he thought, "strong, stubborn, pig headed, yes, but definitely not fragile.' He moved to sit on the bed next to her, taking her hand in his and kissing it. "Katie? Hey there bracelets, it's me, it's Roman." He waited for a response, a movement, something, but there was nothing except the sound of the monitors and medicine pumps. He closed his eyes and shook his head, "This is not the way it was supposed to be, Kate. In my dreams, you were falling into my arms and I was kissing you. You were vibrant, alive and beautiful. And we had forever to look forward to again." He moved a stray hair from her face and caressed her cheek, blinking back tears, "You need to wake up Kate. I need you to wake up. God, all this time I thought I had it rough, ya know, knowing that you were in so much pain and I couldn't do a damn thing about it. I couldn't contact you and let you know that I was ok. But I had an advantage, I knew you were alive. But you, you thought you lost me forever. You didn't know I was ok." He sighed, "I knew your idea of grieving would be to work yourself to death. I never thought that would do you too much harm, I never thought it would lead to this." He stared at her, willing her to open her eyes. "Wake up Kate." No response. His voice was starting to take on the tones of the frustration he was feeling. He truly thought that just knowing he was alive would be enough to bring her back and now he was frustrated and desperate. "Dammit Kate," his voice rose, "don't do this, WAKE UP!" He couldn't hold back the tears that had been threatening to fall any longer. He lowered his chin on his chest and tried to compose himself. He didn't notice that his tears were falling on Kate's hand as he held it between his own. What he did notice, was a slight movement in her hand. He looked up at her and called her name, "Kate? Kate? C'mon honey, I felt that, don't give up, do it again." Suddenly an alarm went off, and Lexie came in, followed by John and Marlena.
"Roman!! Your...uh...oh, Kate," she checked the monitor and turned off the alarm.
"Is she alright?" asked Roman nervously.
"She's more than alright, Her heart rate is up, that's the first fluctuation we've had since she was brought in. Did you get a response from her at all?" asked Lexie.
"Yeah, I think she moved her hand." said Roman
"You're reaching her, Roman. Whatever you're doing just keep doing it, don't stop now." said Lexie.
Roman turned back to Kate, "C'mon Kate, you hear that, Lexie said that was a good thing, do it again, c'mon Kate, show me you heard me." After a while, she squeezed his hand again, this time a little harder. "That's it Katie, that's it." It seemed that his encouragement was all she needed. Soon she started to moan and turn her head, and Roman got close to her face and whispered, "C'mon Katie, look at me, open your eyes." Slowly Kate's eyes began to flutter and lazily try to open, "That's it, keep it up, you can do it, come back to me."
As she opened her eyes, she looked only at Roman, "Roman," she whispered hoarsely, tears falling down her cheeks, "you're here. You're really here?"
Roman smiled, tears falling down his cheeks as well, "I'm here, and I'm not goin anywhere. God I've missed you." he leaned in and kissed her gently.
She raised a shaky hand up to touch his face. She traced his eyes, his nose, his lips, drinking it all in as if she needed to reaffirm her memory of him, "I thought you were dead. How can you be alive after..." she closed her eyes and shook her head.
"What is it?" Roman asked.
She was crying now, "I found your body, Roman, at the reception, I found you. There was so much blood, and you wouldn't wake up..."
Roman gently pulled her close to him, "Oh god, Kate, I'm so sorry. Dammit! whoever's behind this, I'll make them pay for putting you through that."
She pulled back, resting her hands on his chest, and whispered, "Promise me."
"Anything."
"Promise me you won't leave me again. I can't go through that again. I couldn't handle it the first time. I didn't want to do anything, I couldn't go to our house. I kept trying but I couldn't run from the memories. The only thing I could do was work. I couldn't think about missing you if my mind was busy at work. So I worked constantly...I don't ever want to feel that way again." She was shaking a little and he leaned in and kissed her. Then he wiped the tears from her cheeks, "There's no way in hell that I'll ever leave you again, Kate. My future is staring back at me through those beautiful brown eyes, and I'm not about to mess with that. We've got a second chance here. We made it."
She smiled at him with a tired smile, but it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. "Hey, you need to rest," he said, "besides, I need to see if Sami has gotten here yet. Marlena called her and Phillip is giving me a heads up so she doesn't upset you."
Kate looked nervous, and a little scared, "You're coming right back though, right? No police work, you're coming back?"
"Hey, listen to me. We don't know everything about what happened or why, but we'll find out. Know this, I'm NOT leaving you again. Ever." He kissed her gently, and Phillip knocked on the window, smiling from ear to ear. Roman motioned for him to come in, "Mom, you're awake! God that is wonderful." He went over to her and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. Oh, Roman, the heads up, Sami's on her way up the elevator."
"Ok, Marlena, why don't I talk to her first, get all her questions out of the way, and then I'll come get you." said Roman.
"That's fine, that will give me some time with Kate. If she'll talk to me that is?" asked Marlena hesitantly.
Kate looked over at John, who was grinning from ear to ear, "Sure, but John stays too."
Marlena looked over at John, "Of course."
Roman kissed her again, "Marlena and John will explain everything that we know to you. And one more thing. The others, they are all alive, including Cassie."
Kate gasped, "Everyone?" Roman nodded. "So Marlena didn't kill anyone?" Roman, John and Marlena nodded. She looked back at Roman "And Cassie's still alive?" Again, Roman nodded. She closed her eyes and put her head back on the pillow, "There is an explanation for this right?" he nodded, "I am just glad that there is a way to explain this. I was having a hell of a time accepting that one of my closest friends killed all of those people, including my husband." She took a deep breath and blew it out, "Oh boy I could use a drink right now."
John looked around, "Will water do?" She nodded, "I'll get some." He poured her a glass and handed it to her, "Can you get that ok?" She nodded and took a long sip. "Better?"
Kate nodded, "Yes, thank you. Ok, well, Roman I guess you should go see Sami. I'll catch up with these two over here." He leaned over and kissed her. "I'll be back in a few."
"You'd better be," she said playfully, "I'm counting on it."
Roman smiled, "I'll be back." and he turned towards the door.
Kate looked at John and Marlena, "Ok you two, start talking." So John and Marlena filled Kate in on everything they knew about the island, the mastermind, and the serial killings themselves. When they were through, Kate just shook her head, "But everyone's all right?" she asked.
"Yup, every last one of them. And by now, they should be home." said John.
Marlena looked at Kate, "I want to apologize to you, no matter who did this or why, I put you through so much pain. I know it's a lot, but I would like us to be able to someday get our friendship back."
"Come sit," she said, motioning for Marlena to sit on the bed beside her.
Marlena approached her and cautiously sat down.
Kate looked down at her hands, "When John came to me to tell me he thought you were the killer, I had no intention of accepting that. Neither did he. There was no way either of us was about to accept that as truth. Not with the Marlena we knew and loved." Kate looked Marlena in the eyes, "But after your 'confession', I didn't really have a choice but to accept it, no matter how painful it was. And when you blamed me for driving you to it, well, I just wanted to run and never come back. Not only did I lose my husband, but I was betrayed by my friend. It was like losing two people at once. I wanted to talk to you and seek comfort in you, my friend, for the death of my husband, but you were the reason he was gone." She whispered, "I was left with nothing."
"Kate, I...."
"Hey hey," said Kate, reaching for Marlena's hand, "You are a victim here too, ok. It won't be difficult for me to throw that horrible time out the window, and welcome you back. I miss my friend, I want her back." she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
Marlena let out the breath she was holding, "Please let me say this, ok?" Kate nodded, "I will not be able to ever forget what happened in the past year. I caused so much pain to the people I loved. And whether or not I was aware of what I was doing or not, I still was responsible. So I'm sorry, so very sorry that you had to go through anything so horrible. Please, I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me." Marlena looked down at her hand, and Kate gave it a squeeze.
"Look at me, Marlena" Marlena raised her chin to look at her friend, "You're forgiven. I've got my husband back, and my friend, and I've got a wonderful new one in the process." She looked over at John, "He has been wonderful through all of this. He's let me cry, yell, whatever, he's been my rock and kept me sane. We both needed that. Someone who understood the misery the other was going through. It helped a lot. Thank you John."
John moved to stand behind his wife and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Well, you have been great too, don't forget that. You know what she did?"
"What?"asked Marlena.
"One night at the Blue Note she thought this woman was taking advantage of my 'mental state' and told her off. It was Nicole's "buddy"Crystal and I was looking for info on your "death", but Kate didn't know that."
Marlena looked at Kate and Kate smiled, "Got me so mad. I got a drink dumped on me for that."
John looked at Marlena, "The WOMAN threw the drink at Kate, I DIDN'T." he said smiling.
Marlena looked at Kate smiling, "Protecting my husband's honor were we?"
"Well, you weren't gone that long and already she had her claws in him. I just set her straight, and got doused in the process. Seriously though, I'm just glad that you found Roman and Marlena, and the others." Kate took John's hand, tears in her eyes, "Well, friend, it seems we are finally having a good day huh?"
John squeezed her hand, "Let's see, we have the loves of our lives back, everyone else is safe, and YOU, you woke up. We were pretty worried there, Kate." He looked at Marlena and then at Kate, "So, yeah, I'd say we've finally gotten a good day."
John grasped her hand, "Don't worry, Bo is clearing all that up right now at the Salem PD. By tomorrow night, it'll be ok, you'll see."
She squeezed his hand back, as Roman stopped. "Room 312, right John?" John nodded. Roman took a deep breath and let it out.
Marlena reached out to touch his shoulder, "You want us to come in?"
Roman shook his head, "No. I'm ok. I'm just wondering about Sami. We need to call her, and I want to see her but I need to be here with Kate right now, and given their history and god knows what else has happened between them since we've been gone, I don't want a scene here."
Marlena nodded, "Look, I'll go call her now and tell her what little we know, and that we're both alive and well, and then, I'll tell her to come down here. That way you can get some time alone with Kate before Sami gets here."
Roman nodded his head, "Ok." He put his hands on his hips and closed his eyes, "God let her wake up, please. I can't lose her now." and he opened the door to Kate's room.
Phillip turned around and his jaw fell, "Oh my God!!! Roman?! You're alive! But how? I mean forget about how, god am I glad you're here." He turned back to Kate, "Mom, mom, Roman is here, he's alive, c'mon Mom you gotta wake up now!" Both men waited, but there was still no response.
Roman swallowed hard, "How long?" he whispered, his eyes transfixed on his wife, "How long has she been like this?"
Phillip walked over to him, "A little over a week. Lexie says the swelling in her brain is going down, but she has to wake up on her own. Basically it's all up to Mom now." He turned and looked at his mother, "Talk to her Roman, we've all tried. She has to wake up, and soon, and you might be the only one she'll wake up for."
Roman put a hand on Phillip's shoulder, "I know. She's gonna wake up. She's not getting off that easy. Listen do me a favor will ya? Give me a heads up when Sami's on her way here. I don't know what's been goin on between the two of them while I've been gone, but I don't want her upsetting Kate to the point that she doesn't wake up because Sami's here."
"You've got it. Good luck and welcome back," said Phillip, and he closed the door behind him.
Roman just stared at her. She was so pale, so still. She looked so fragile. 'Now that's not a word I would use to describe Kate.' he thought, "strong, stubborn, pig headed, yes, but definitely not fragile.' He moved to sit on the bed next to her, taking her hand in his and kissing it. "Katie? Hey there bracelets, it's me, it's Roman." He waited for a response, a movement, something, but there was nothing except the sound of the monitors and medicine pumps. He closed his eyes and shook his head, "This is not the way it was supposed to be, Kate. In my dreams, you were falling into my arms and I was kissing you. You were vibrant, alive and beautiful. And we had forever to look forward to again." He moved a stray hair from her face and caressed her cheek, blinking back tears, "You need to wake up Kate. I need you to wake up. God, all this time I thought I had it rough, ya know, knowing that you were in so much pain and I couldn't do a damn thing about it. I couldn't contact you and let you know that I was ok. But I had an advantage, I knew you were alive. But you, you thought you lost me forever. You didn't know I was ok." He sighed, "I knew your idea of grieving would be to work yourself to death. I never thought that would do you too much harm, I never thought it would lead to this." He stared at her, willing her to open her eyes. "Wake up Kate." No response. His voice was starting to take on the tones of the frustration he was feeling. He truly thought that just knowing he was alive would be enough to bring her back and now he was frustrated and desperate. "Dammit Kate," his voice rose, "don't do this, WAKE UP!" He couldn't hold back the tears that had been threatening to fall any longer. He lowered his chin on his chest and tried to compose himself. He didn't notice that his tears were falling on Kate's hand as he held it between his own. What he did notice, was a slight movement in her hand. He looked up at her and called her name, "Kate? Kate? C'mon honey, I felt that, don't give up, do it again." Suddenly an alarm went off, and Lexie came in, followed by John and Marlena.
"Roman!! Your...uh...oh, Kate," she checked the monitor and turned off the alarm.
"Is she alright?" asked Roman nervously.
"She's more than alright, Her heart rate is up, that's the first fluctuation we've had since she was brought in. Did you get a response from her at all?" asked Lexie.
"Yeah, I think she moved her hand." said Roman
"You're reaching her, Roman. Whatever you're doing just keep doing it, don't stop now." said Lexie.
Roman turned back to Kate, "C'mon Kate, you hear that, Lexie said that was a good thing, do it again, c'mon Kate, show me you heard me." After a while, she squeezed his hand again, this time a little harder. "That's it Katie, that's it." It seemed that his encouragement was all she needed. Soon she started to moan and turn her head, and Roman got close to her face and whispered, "C'mon Katie, look at me, open your eyes." Slowly Kate's eyes began to flutter and lazily try to open, "That's it, keep it up, you can do it, come back to me."
As she opened her eyes, she looked only at Roman, "Roman," she whispered hoarsely, tears falling down her cheeks, "you're here. You're really here?"
Roman smiled, tears falling down his cheeks as well, "I'm here, and I'm not goin anywhere. God I've missed you." he leaned in and kissed her gently.
She raised a shaky hand up to touch his face. She traced his eyes, his nose, his lips, drinking it all in as if she needed to reaffirm her memory of him, "I thought you were dead. How can you be alive after..." she closed her eyes and shook her head.
"What is it?" Roman asked.
She was crying now, "I found your body, Roman, at the reception, I found you. There was so much blood, and you wouldn't wake up..."
Roman gently pulled her close to him, "Oh god, Kate, I'm so sorry. Dammit! whoever's behind this, I'll make them pay for putting you through that."
She pulled back, resting her hands on his chest, and whispered, "Promise me."
"Anything."
"Promise me you won't leave me again. I can't go through that again. I couldn't handle it the first time. I didn't want to do anything, I couldn't go to our house. I kept trying but I couldn't run from the memories. The only thing I could do was work. I couldn't think about missing you if my mind was busy at work. So I worked constantly...I don't ever want to feel that way again." She was shaking a little and he leaned in and kissed her. Then he wiped the tears from her cheeks, "There's no way in hell that I'll ever leave you again, Kate. My future is staring back at me through those beautiful brown eyes, and I'm not about to mess with that. We've got a second chance here. We made it."
She smiled at him with a tired smile, but it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. "Hey, you need to rest," he said, "besides, I need to see if Sami has gotten here yet. Marlena called her and Phillip is giving me a heads up so she doesn't upset you."
Kate looked nervous, and a little scared, "You're coming right back though, right? No police work, you're coming back?"
"Hey, listen to me. We don't know everything about what happened or why, but we'll find out. Know this, I'm NOT leaving you again. Ever." He kissed her gently, and Phillip knocked on the window, smiling from ear to ear. Roman motioned for him to come in, "Mom, you're awake! God that is wonderful." He went over to her and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. Oh, Roman, the heads up, Sami's on her way up the elevator."
"Ok, Marlena, why don't I talk to her first, get all her questions out of the way, and then I'll come get you." said Roman.
"That's fine, that will give me some time with Kate. If she'll talk to me that is?" asked Marlena hesitantly.
Kate looked over at John, who was grinning from ear to ear, "Sure, but John stays too."
Marlena looked over at John, "Of course."
Roman kissed her again, "Marlena and John will explain everything that we know to you. And one more thing. The others, they are all alive, including Cassie."
Kate gasped, "Everyone?" Roman nodded. "So Marlena didn't kill anyone?" Roman, John and Marlena nodded. She looked back at Roman "And Cassie's still alive?" Again, Roman nodded. She closed her eyes and put her head back on the pillow, "There is an explanation for this right?" he nodded, "I am just glad that there is a way to explain this. I was having a hell of a time accepting that one of my closest friends killed all of those people, including my husband." She took a deep breath and blew it out, "Oh boy I could use a drink right now."
John looked around, "Will water do?" She nodded, "I'll get some." He poured her a glass and handed it to her, "Can you get that ok?" She nodded and took a long sip. "Better?"
Kate nodded, "Yes, thank you. Ok, well, Roman I guess you should go see Sami. I'll catch up with these two over here." He leaned over and kissed her. "I'll be back in a few."
"You'd better be," she said playfully, "I'm counting on it."
Roman smiled, "I'll be back." and he turned towards the door.
Kate looked at John and Marlena, "Ok you two, start talking." So John and Marlena filled Kate in on everything they knew about the island, the mastermind, and the serial killings themselves. When they were through, Kate just shook her head, "But everyone's all right?" she asked.
"Yup, every last one of them. And by now, they should be home." said John.
Marlena looked at Kate, "I want to apologize to you, no matter who did this or why, I put you through so much pain. I know it's a lot, but I would like us to be able to someday get our friendship back."
"Come sit," she said, motioning for Marlena to sit on the bed beside her.
Marlena approached her and cautiously sat down.
Kate looked down at her hands, "When John came to me to tell me he thought you were the killer, I had no intention of accepting that. Neither did he. There was no way either of us was about to accept that as truth. Not with the Marlena we knew and loved." Kate looked Marlena in the eyes, "But after your 'confession', I didn't really have a choice but to accept it, no matter how painful it was. And when you blamed me for driving you to it, well, I just wanted to run and never come back. Not only did I lose my husband, but I was betrayed by my friend. It was like losing two people at once. I wanted to talk to you and seek comfort in you, my friend, for the death of my husband, but you were the reason he was gone." She whispered, "I was left with nothing."
"Kate, I...."
"Hey hey," said Kate, reaching for Marlena's hand, "You are a victim here too, ok. It won't be difficult for me to throw that horrible time out the window, and welcome you back. I miss my friend, I want her back." she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
Marlena let out the breath she was holding, "Please let me say this, ok?" Kate nodded, "I will not be able to ever forget what happened in the past year. I caused so much pain to the people I loved. And whether or not I was aware of what I was doing or not, I still was responsible. So I'm sorry, so very sorry that you had to go through anything so horrible. Please, I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me." Marlena looked down at her hand, and Kate gave it a squeeze.
"Look at me, Marlena" Marlena raised her chin to look at her friend, "You're forgiven. I've got my husband back, and my friend, and I've got a wonderful new one in the process." She looked over at John, "He has been wonderful through all of this. He's let me cry, yell, whatever, he's been my rock and kept me sane. We both needed that. Someone who understood the misery the other was going through. It helped a lot. Thank you John."
John moved to stand behind his wife and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Well, you have been great too, don't forget that. You know what she did?"
"What?"asked Marlena.
"One night at the Blue Note she thought this woman was taking advantage of my 'mental state' and told her off. It was Nicole's "buddy"Crystal and I was looking for info on your "death", but Kate didn't know that."
Marlena looked at Kate and Kate smiled, "Got me so mad. I got a drink dumped on me for that."
John looked at Marlena, "The WOMAN threw the drink at Kate, I DIDN'T." he said smiling.
Marlena looked at Kate smiling, "Protecting my husband's honor were we?"
"Well, you weren't gone that long and already she had her claws in him. I just set her straight, and got doused in the process. Seriously though, I'm just glad that you found Roman and Marlena, and the others." Kate took John's hand, tears in her eyes, "Well, friend, it seems we are finally having a good day huh?"
John squeezed her hand, "Let's see, we have the loves of our lives back, everyone else is safe, and YOU, you woke up. We were pretty worried there, Kate." He looked at Marlena and then at Kate, "So, yeah, I'd say we've finally gotten a good day."