Altered Reality
Chapter Six:
"What do you got there, Tek?"
"Bavarian cream, glazed, strawberry frosted, cinnamon sugar and sprinkled," Tek announced, opening the lid of the box to reveal the donuts inside. "Take your pick, boss."
"Don't even think about taking my glazed donut, Bo," Hope warned from her desk, not bothering to look up from the paperwork she was filing out.
Bo Brady smirked, debating whether or not to take the glazed just to get a rise out of his wife, but he decided against it and selected a sprinkled donut and a cinnamon sugar one instead. "Thanks, Tek."
"No problem," Tek replied, moving along to let the others pick out their donuts.
Rising from his chair, Bo crossed the room to his brother's desk, holding out the cinnamon sugar donut to him. "Here, big bro," he said, handing it to him. "You look like you could use some sugar."
"Thanks," John muttered, taking a bite. "I look that bad, huh?"
"You look tired," Bo replied honestly, pulling up a spare chair from along the wall and dropping down onto it. "Didn't get much sleep last night, I take it?"
"The kids were over until almost eleven," John answered with a weary nod. "After I told them the news, Sami and Belle cooked dinner and we spent the evening together as a family."
"How'd they take it?" Bo inquired, biting off a chunk of his donut. When John had called him the day before to tell him that the experimental drugs had worked and Marlena had been stabilized, he'd been floored. While his brother had kept him informed every step of the way, confiding his frustrations and fears which he didn't want to burden his children with, Bo had done his best to keep John realistic and not to let him get his hopes up.
"About as well as can be expected," John sighed, rubbing his chin. "Belle's just excited to have Marlena coming home, but the other three are more wary. Brady's nervous, Rex is upset and Sami... well, you know Sami. I haven't got a clue what's going on in that girl's head right now, she thinks she has to be the strong one all the time, so she's going to keep focusing on helping the rest of us get through it, rather than dealing with her own issues."
"She definitely has the family stubbornness," Bo agreed with a grim nod.
"You can say that again," John muttered under his breath and Bo grinned.
"Like father, like daughter, eh?"
John gave him an annoyed glare. "Like you're one to talk, Beauregard."
"Oh, now that's just low," Bo informed him, scowling at the use of the dreaded full name. "How would you like it if I went around calling you 'Roman', huh?"
"Try it and I'll wipe the floor with you, kid brother," John retorted, finishing off the last of his donut.
Bo rolled his eyes, used to such idle threats. "You may be older, but I'm bigger," he reminded his brother smugly. "Besides, you're getting senile in your old age."
John snorted, shaking his head, and Bo looked him over appraisingly, searching for telltale signs of how his brother was really handling Marlena's recovery. The past three years had been a long, hard road for John and he'd stumbled along the way, but Bo and their parents, along with their sisters Kim and Kayla who no longer lived in Salem, had done their best to pick him up again when he did. Family had always been important to the Brady clan, but after losing one of their own to such a terrible illness and seeing the affect it had on John and the kids, they had grown even closer.
And watching Marlena be committed had made Bo even more grateful for Hope and the boys.
He couldn't imagine what he would do if anything were to ever happen to his beautiful wife, especially not something as heart-wrenching as Marlena's schizophrenia. It was unthinkable, the very idea of somehow going on without her, of raising Shawn and little Zack on his own, watching them grow up without their mother and trying to help them through it even when he was struggling to cope himself.
In truth, Bo didn't know how John had managed it.
"What are you two talking about?"
Bo smiled up at his wife as she passed John's desk to throw out her styrofoam coffee cup. "What a gorgeous woman you are."
Hope rolled her eyes, tossing the cup in the trash can. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah, really," Bo drawled. "Isn't that right, Johnny boy?"
"Right," John agreed with a straight face. "That and what brand of hair dye Bo uses to conceal all of those gray hairs."
Bo gave him an indignant look, but Hope laughed, shaking her head. "Clairol, he likes the way it makes his hair all silky and smooth."
"Hey," Bo protested, shooting her an insulted glare. "Thanks a lot, sweetheart."
"I just call them like I see them, Bo," Hope defended, raising her hands. Before he could reply, she turned to John with a serious expression. "Are you going to see Marlena today?"
"Yeah," John confirmed with a slow nod. "Sami's going to visit Marlena this afternoon, so I'm clocking out early so that I can be there when she does."
"That's probably a good idea," Hope replied. "I have a feeling she's going to need you."
"That's a fact," John agreed. "Visiting her mother has never been an easy thing for her to do, not that I blame her. It hasn't been easy for me to keep going, either."
"I know," Hope murmured, placing a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "But you've been so strong for so long, John. You kept faith when everyone thought it was impossible for her to get better, and now that faith has paid off. Your wife is coming home."
John smiled, his dark eyes bright with bittersweet relief. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing those five little words."
"Anytime you want to hear them, just ask and we'll shout them from the rooftops, then," Bo promised.
"You two have been great, you know that?" John said seriously, clasping his hands in front of him. "I mean that, I don't think the kids and I could have gotten through this without you and Ma and Pop. That first couple of months, I don't think I once brought groceries, much less stepped into the kitchen, but you made sure that Belle and I had everything we needed and you dropped by with food at the boys' loft and over at the penthouse..."
"That's what family is for, John," Hope replied, giving him a small smile. "We take care of each other, and we support each other through whatever it is we're going through."
"She's right, bro," Bo acknowledged. "You'd do the same for us."
"Yeah, I would," John agreed with a nod. "But I still appreciate everything you've done for us."
"Don't mention it," Bo told him dissmissively. "We're brothers."
"As if we needed a reminder of that fact," a deep voice said, and they looked up as Abe Carver came out of his office. "Now that your son Shawn thinks he wants to be a cop, we might have to start a special division just for your family, Brady."
"Hey, better for him to be on this side of the bars than behind them," Bo retorted. "Besides, he's still got a few years of college left before he makes any decision, and for now the only job he needs to worry about is waiting tables at the Pub."
"Enjoy it while you can, my friend," Abe told him, clapping him on the shoulder. "They grow up fast."
"Hard to believe that Brandon has a baby boy already, huh?" Hope asked with a knowing smile.
"Oh, I imagine I'm lucky," Abe chuckled. "After all, he and Lexie waited until they were both set with their careers before they decided to have children, so now all I have to worry about is spoiling my grandson."
"That's definitely a perk of the job," John replied. "Even though Sami was barely more than a little girl herself when she had Will, I wouldn't change it for the world. Will is the most amazing kid, it's almost scary how perceptive he is, even at eight."
"Almost makes you feel bad for Lucas and Sami when he hits his teen years, doesn't it?" Bo snickered. "Maybe he'll give them as many gray hairs as Sami gave you."
"One can only hope," John muttered with a sigh.
Sensing that his older brother's thoughts had turned back to Marlena again, Bo nodded towards Abe's office, a silent request for Hope and Abe to give them a little privacy. Without a word, they both complied, leaving the two brothers alone, and Bo ran a hand through his hair, trying to decide the best approach.
"I remember the day that you and Marlena were married," he mused with a sad smile. "You were so nervous up at the altar waiting for her, but the moment she appeared at the end of the aisle, it was like everything in the world was right again. I don't think I've ever seen either of you happier, except for maybe when the kids were born, or at your second wedding."
"None of which she even remembers," John murmured desolately, lifting a fist to his mouth absently. "It kills me knowing that she doesn't even know me, not really, and I hate what it's going to do to the kids when she has to ask them for their life stories."
"No one ever said it was going to be easy," Bo reminded him. "But you raised those kids right, John, you did. They're strong, and they don't hesitate to lean on each other when they need it. They'll get through this, and so will you and Marlena. Just take it one day at a time."
"That's what everyone keeps saying," John chuckled faintly. "I just wish I could help her remember, not just for my sake or for the kids', but for her sake, too. She hates being confused, being so helpless, but Lexie says the only thing we can do is be patient."
"You know," Bo said thoughtfully. "Ma and Pop still have all of those home movies boxed up in the attic, tapes of things like the your weddings, the kids' birthday parties and school plays, both Sami and Carrie's weddings and Will's first steps... maybe showing them to Marlena might help jog her memory or something."
"You may be on to something, Bo," John acknowledged, nodding slowly. "At this point I'm willing to try anything. I'll stop by the Pub later and see if Ma and Pop know where the box with all the tapes is."
"It should be in the back right corner of the attic," Bo supplied, and off of John's curious look, he explained, "I saw it when I was up there getting out the red tablecloths for Ma to decorate the Pub for Valentine's Day."
"Got special plans for you and Hope this weekend?" John asked, a twinge of sadness in his dark eyes.
"Shawn's going out with Chloe, so we don't have a sitter for Zack," Bo replied, shaking his head. "So it looks like it'll be a quiet evening at home this year."
"Don't do that," John protested. "Drop Zack off at the house, I'll watch him."
Bo hesitated, not wanting to impose. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah." John nodded. "Belle's got something planned with Philip, and since Marlena won't be released until next week and visiting hours are over at seven, I'll be home alone anyway. Zack and I will have a great time together."
"Thanks, bro," Bo sighed. "I appreciate it, really, I do. Things have been so stressful this month, Hope and I could use a night off."
"I know what you mean," John murmured.
I know you do, Bo thought sadly. He could remember back when John's kids had been little, when he would baby-sit for them while John and Marlena took a night for themselves. It had never really felt like much of a chore to watch them, the boys were fun to play with, building forts and playing pirates, and the girls were just so precious that it was worth letting them braid his hair into painful knots that Hope had to untangle for him when he got home. By the time Belle came along, he was able to take Shawn over with him, giving his son time to play with his cousins, and allowing Hope to get some rest at home.
And more importantly, it had given his brother and sister-in-law so alone time, something hard to come by in a household with six kids.
"Got any suggestions for something original to do for Hope?" Bo inquired with a wry smirk. "After twenty-two years of marriage I'm running out of ideas."
"Valentine's Day hasn't been much of a priority for me these past few years," John responded, and Bo winced, regretting that he'd inadvertently reminded his brother of that pain. "But Brady's taking Nicole to the Penthouse Grille and Lucas always takes Sami to Tuscany, so if you're going for original those choices are out."
"Yeah," Bo agreed, sighing in frustration. "Maybe I'll ask Shawn, that kid always thinks up creative dates for him and Chloe. I think he got that from his mother."
"Along with his brains," John quipped.
"Ha ha," Bo snorted. "If Lucas and Sami are going out on Valentine's Day, who's watching Will?"
"Alice Horton is keeping both him and Abby Deveraux for the night," John replied, lifting his coffee from his desk and taking a slow sip.
"Mrs. H is one hell of a lady," Bo commented, and John nodded his agreement. "Remember how she always had fresh donuts for us whenever she saw us when we were growing up?"
"And now she feeds those same donuts to my grandson," John mused, smiling faintly.
"Lucky kid," Bo grumbled. "The stuff we get here at the station doesn't hold a candle to Alice Horton's famous donuts."
"Nothing does," John retorted.
"Brady!"
Bo glanced over at the dispatcher's desk, cocking an eyebrow. "Which one?"
"Both," Jim replied shortly. "We've got a report of a break-in across town. You two want to take it?"
"Why not?" John shrugged, rising to his feet and grabbing his coat from the back of his chair. "I'll bring the car around, tell Abe we're heading out."
"Right," Bo agreed, heading back to his own desk to get his jacket before crossing to Abe's office and knocking on the door as he opened it. Hope and Abe were going over reports, but they both looked up at his arrival. "John and I are checking out a call about a break-in on the other side of town, then we'll do some rounds. We should be back by noon, since John's leaving early today."
"Okay," Abe acknowledged. "Radio it in if you need backup."
"Will do, boss," Bo promised with a lazy salute.
He closed the office door behind them, slipping on his coat and heading for the doors to meet John in the parking lot, zipping it up before stepping out into the cold February morning.
It's been a long week already, he thought grimly, rubbing his hands together as he waited for John to bring the car up. And I have a feeling it's about to get even longer.