His face bore a pained expression for only a moment as he glanced toward the house, and then he was stern with her and his words were convincing. “Yes, Doc you *do* have great timing! Marlena, listen to me here, there aren’t any words that can describe how thrilled I am to see you alive and well, to be able to talk to you like this, to touch you and hold you again! Please don’t ever apologize for coming back.”
Roman was being so wonderful about it and she was touched, “Okay, I won’t, Roman. Thank you for welcoming me back so warmly, so quickly.”
He frowned slightly and said, “Now just what did you expect from me, Marlena?”
“I don’t know, but I realize this is all very hard on you and I appreciate that you wanted to bring me right over here to see everyone.”
“You’re welcome, Doc, but you deserve nothing less than a warm welcome into your own home with all your friends and family around you. You certainly shouldn’t have to spend another night in that shabby place you were in for a couple of days. You could have been…robbed or…hurt…any number of things, I was glad to get you out of there.”
“That’s my hero, I couldn’t possibly take care of myself now could I, Roman?” she asked with teasing challenge in her voice, as she recalled the sign in sheet incident. It was so long ago and yet it felt almost like yesterday to her.
He caught her meaning and smiled warmly at her independence, it was one of the qualities that simultaneously attracted him to her and frustrated him to no end. As he recalled the early days of their renewed relationship when it was him who returned from the dead, he said, “Well.. anyway….I want you…here…Marlena, where you belong, with all the people who love you. We’ll…deal with everything else one step at a time. First, I need to talk to Isabella. Like I said, I’ll wave you over when we’re ready for you.” As he opened the car door, he could see her concern for him in her face and said, “See you in a little bit, Doc…take it easy, I’m gonna be okay….honest,” he said, lying through his teeth. He was far from okay. His life had just been turned upside down as Isabella’s would be in a few short minutes. Still, it wasn’t her fault, so he gave her as close an approximation of a reassuring smile as he could muster and another comforting touch on the cheek.
She grasped his hand briefly, then nodded and leaned back in the seat as he shut the door, knowing it would be awhile before he was ready for her. This wasn’t something one dealt with in a five minute conversation. “Oh God, please watch over all of us, we really need your guidance right now,” she prayed quietly, as she watched the man she loved walk slowly, but deliberately toward his fiancé, fully prepared to pull the rug right out from under her.
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