Steve paced nervously around the living room. It had only been a few minutes since Kayla had called Marlena and asked her to come over, and Steve was already wondering if it had been a mistake.

After he and Kayla had made love the previous night, he had drifted off to sleep, hopeful that the night would be peaceful. But it was not to be. Just as he had every night since Kayla returned from the capitol, he had awoken to find Kayla calling to him from the foot of the bed. Then, unable to stop himself, he had checked the doors and windows and had entered Stephanie's room, needing to know that she was okay.

He had been standing there, watching his daughter sleep when Kayla had come in the room. She had taken his hand and led him back to their bed and, just as she had the other night, had held him in her arms until he fell asleep.

When he had awoken in the morning, he had decided that he would look into the therapy Kayla had suggested. It had been Kayla's idea to call Marlena and ask her to come over. After a moment's hesitation, Steve had agreed. Now he was not so sure.

He had meant what he had said to Kayla the night before about not wanting to feel this way anymore. But it had been hard enough to talk to Kim - somebody he knew and trusted. He was not sure he could talk to a stranger about what had happened.

"Steve?" He stopped pacing as he heard Kayla calling to him.

"Yeah, baby."

"You're going to wear a hole in the carpet if you don't calm down." Kayla smiled tenderly. "It's going to be okay; we're just talking to Marlena."

"That's assuming she wants to talk to me," Steve said bitterly. "I'm actually surprised she agreed to come over at all."

Kayla walked over and took Steve's hand. "Marlena's a friend and she is also family. I know it might be hard to see right now, but no matter what is going on, that still means something."

Steve nodded, not sure if he believed her or not. He knew that Bo was on his side, or was at least willing to try and understand, but he doubted the rest of the Brady family felt the same way. Aside from Shawn's early morning visit the previous day, there had been no contact with the rest of the family. Steve knew it was probably easier that way, but he also knew that, as much as she tried to pretend otherwise, the distance was hurting Kayla.

Steve pulled Kayla to him. "I'm sorry, baby. I hate that I put you in the middle of this."

"I know," Kayla said simply.

A giggle from Stephanie caught their attention. Steve smiled as he saw his daughter standing in her playpen smiling at her parents. He released Kayla, walked over, picked up Stephanie, and swung her up in the air.

"You think Mama and Papa are ignoring you, Little Sweetness?" Steve said, as he held Stephanie in his right arm He walked back to where Kayla was standing and put his free arm around Kayla's shoulders. Somehow having both Kayla and Stephanie in his arms made Steve almost believe that everything might really be okay someday.

That momentary hope seemed to flee as Steve heard the knock on the door. Kayla gave him a comforting smile, walked to the door, and answered it.

"Marlena," Kayla said as she opened the door. "Thanks for coming. Please come in."

Marlena walked into the living room. "Hello, Steve," she said in a friendly tone. Smiling at Stephanie, she said, "And you get prettier every time I see you."

"Hi," Steve replied, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "Uh . . . thanks for coming over."

"Kayla said it was important," Marlena replied. "So what can I do for you two?" She hesitated, then asked, "Is this about Shane's arrest?"

"No," Steve said, shaking his head. Marlena looked at him expectantly, but Steve did not say anything more.

They all stood in awkward silence until Kayla walked over to Steve and took Stephanie from him. She put Stephanie back in her playpen and then turned to Marlena.

"Please, sit down."

Marlena complied and took a seat in the chair. Kayla took Steve's hand and pulled him over to the couch where they sat down as well. Steve could feel Kayla's eyes on him, but for the life of him he did not know how to start. Finally, Kayla broke the silence.

"I called and asked you to come over, because Steve and I wanted to get some professional advice from you."

Marlena's eyes widened in surprise. "Well . . . you know I'll help however I can. What kind of advice do you need?"

Kayla was silent and Steve felt her elbow him in the ribs. Taking a deep breath, he hesitantly started to explain. "I guess you know now that the whole Cincinnati thing was a crock." Seeing Marlena nod in agreement, Steve continued. "After Shane got me out of the hellhole Alamain put me in, I was pretty messed up. I . . . uh . . . had nightmares and . . . flashbacks and . . . some other stuff going on with my head."

Marlena again nodded. "That's understandable given what happened to you."

"I guess so." Steve ran his hand through his hair and adjusted his patch. "Kim was there in England with us and she told me that I probably had Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She is . . . or was . . . working with me on it."

"Was it helping?" Marlena asked.

Steve nodded. "It took a little while, but I started talking to her about some of the things that had happened, and the nightmares and flashbacks seemed to get better."

"But?" Marlena seemed to know there was more to it.

Steve took another deep breath. Kayla was holding his hand and gently stroking his arm. He turned and looked at her, grateful for her support. "But then something happened, and it seems to have caused things to get worse again." He paused and looked down. "And with what's happened with Shane, I'm pretty sure Kim doesn't want to have anything to do with me, let alone help me with whatever's going on in my head."

Steve noticed Marlena's silence but continued. "Anyway, Kayla said that Kim had mentioned some new eye therapy that's being used to treat PTSD. So . . . we were hoping maybe you could help us with that."

Marlena was silent for a moment, then spoke. "If you are asking me to treat you, I'm not sure I'm the right person to do that."

Steve's heart sank at Marlena's words. He looked over at Kayla and saw the disappointment in her eyes. She had been certain that, even with the conflict within the family, Marlena would still be willing to help. But he had done too much damage for even her family to forgive.

"That's okay," he finally responded, still unable to look at Marlena. "I understand. You and Kim and Shane go way back. I guess I can't blame you for not wanting to help me."

"No, that's not it at all," Marlena replied quickly. Steve raised his head and looked at Marlena in surprise.

"Then why won't you help us?" Kayla asked, her voice conveying her confusion.

Marlena sighed. "It's not about what's going on with Shane. No matter what my feelings about that issue might be, I would never refuse to help you and Steve because of it." She paused for a moment. "It's just that when I . . . left, we were just starting to get a better understanding of PTSD. There's been a lot of development in that field in the last 5 years, but I missed most of it. I've read about the new eye therapy as well, but it's not something I could do myself."

"Oh," Steve replied, unsure of what else to say. He looked at Kayla and shrugged. "It was worth a shot, but I guess we're out of luck, baby."

"Not necessarily," Marlena said with a small smile. "One of my colleagues, Dr. Friedman, has been more experience with treating PTSD. I'm sure he's familiar with the new treatment. I'd be happy to contact him for you."

Steve was silent. He knew that accepting Marlena's offer would mean committing himself to something completely unknown and committing to work with a complete stranger. He turned and looked at Kayla, a question in his eyes.

Kayla nodded softly, "It will be okay, Steve. I know you can do this." Steve could see the faith in him shining in her eyes.

Slowly, he turned back to Marlena and nodded. "I'd appreciate it if you could give Dr. Friedman a call."

"I'll do it right now," Marlena responded. She stood up and walked to the phone, pulling a small book from her purse. It only took a moment to her to find the number and she quickly dialed. Steve listened as she spoke with her colleague and gave him a brief description of Steve's case. Within minutes, Steve had an appointment scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

"Thank you, James," Marlena said, hanging up the phone. Then she turned to Steve and smiled. "You're all set. Dr. Friedman is looking forward to working with you."

"Thanks," Steve said softly.

"We really appreciate your help," Kayla added.

"I'm glad I could help," Marlena replied. "Now, I better get going. I have a couple of children who are waiting to go to the park this afternoon."

Steve and Kayla said their goodbyes and Marlena left the apartment. As Kayla headed to the kitchen to prepare Stephanie's lunch, Steve picked up his daughter and put her in his lap as he sat down on the couch. As Stephanie smiled up at him with eyes full of love and trust, Steve knew he had made the right decision. Now he just hoped he could do what was necessary to earn the love and trust that his wife and daughter had placed in him.