Marlena drove through the streets of Salem searching for a clue to where John had disappeared to. She wished that she had been able to get home sooner so that she could've been there for him.
"If only Stephano wouldn't have had his stroke...." Marlena trailed off as she was struck with a sudden feeling that something was terribly wrong with John. She knew that he needed her at that moment more than he ever did in his life.
"Oh John, where are you?" Marlena wondered as a few tears escaped from her eyes as she thought of the hell that he must've been going through. "I need you so much."
Marlena remembered that Susan said that John was going on a trip, so she decided to drive to the airport to see if John was taking the Alamain jet out of town. She hoped that she would be able to stop him before he left her life forever.
"Oh John, we have so much to talk about still. You can't leave me now." Marlena began as the phone rang interrupting her thoughts. She quickly picked up the phone. "John?"
"No sorry dear. It's me Caroline." the voice replied.
"Oh Caroline." Marlena said slightly disappointed.
"Marlena dear is something wrong?" Caroline asked confused.
"I'm just worried about John right now." Marlena explained to her. "I really need to talk to him."
"Oh well, if you would've stopped by here about a half an hour ago, you would've been able to do just that." Caroline informed her. "In fact that was part of the reason that I called you."
"John was at the pub?" Marlena questioned pulling her car over on the side of the road.
"Yeah, and he was acting rather strangely." Caroline explained to her. "Shawn and I were wondering why he came over so late, but he said that he just needed to see the kids and then he left."
"Did he say anything about where he was going?" Marlena asked hopefully.
"No, he just went upstairs and gave each one of them a kiss and then he was on his way." Caroline informed her.
"That's it?" Marlena asked concerned.
"I'm afraid so." Caroline sighed pausing for a moment. "Come to think of it, there was something else."
"What?" Marlena asked eagerly.
"He left an envelope here for you. It looks like some kind of letter." Caroline informed her. "He told me to give it to you the next time that I saw you. I wondered why he didn't just give it to you himself, but...."
"I'll be there in five minutes Caroline." Marlena began turning her car around as she headed towards the pub.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
John drove through the darkened roads as his thoughts fluctuated between the last time he talked to Kristen and to the last time he saw Marlena. He desperately wanted to turn his car around and go back to the penthouse, but something inside him kept going as far from Salem as he could. He followed the winding dirt roads trying to will away his guilt with each acceleration he made.
He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he approached the point that he had gone to so many times before when his life was in turmoil. He knew the curves of this back road that lead up the cliff very well. With each twist and turn the road made, his heart raced as his thoughts became more in turmoil. He couldn't escape the emotions running within his as his heart cried out for the answers that he was searching for within himself.
He could see the edge of the cliff before him as he pressed down on the accelerator. He closed his eyes as images of Marlena and the kids flooded his mind. He could feel the car leaping towards the edge of the cliff as tears of anguish flooded down his face. He opened his eyes and saw the edge of the cliff only feet in front of him.
"Oh God Doc." John began fighting back his tears. "Please forgive me."
