Chapter 7
WHITE ROOM
JAN: No!
MAN: It's all right, Jan. I was just showing you your two options. But, now's time to choose one.
JAN: How can I? How can you make me choose either of those options. If I choose the first one: I'll die, Shawn will forget about me, he and Belle will get married, and they'll sail off into the sunset. If I choose the second: My baby dies, I go insane and end up a psychopath in mental institution, Shawn cheats on me with Belle, but still stays married to me out of pity and guilt. What kind of choices are those?
MAN: They're the choices you must make.
JAN (voice only, narrating): I wanted to say no. I wanted to tell this Guardian, whoever he is, that he couldn't make me choose. I wanted to...
JAN: No! No, I won't let you make me choose between death and insanity! Isn't there another choice? Something else? There's gotta be something else. There's always something.
The man thought about it for a minute.
MAN: Well, there's always the third choice.
JAN: Great! What is it?
MAN: Wake up.
JAN: What?
MAN: Wake up.
JAN: I'm not following you.
MAN: That's good, because I'm not going anywhere. Although, depending on what you choose, you might be. But, back to the main point. This is all a dream. This isn't real. Your third choice is to wake up.
JAN: So, if I choose the third option: I'll wake up, still married to Shawn, with our beautiful daughter?
MAN: No. You didn't understand me. This is all a dream. You and Shawn having a baby. You marrying Shawn. You're still in a coma, Jan. But, if you choose to wake up, you will come out of your coma.
JAN: So...none of it was real?
MAN: Oh, I didn't say that. Some of it was. In the real world: Samantha Evans is alive, as is Tony DiMera, Lucas and Sami are married, John Black is really Roman Brady, Mia and Will are dating.
JAN: Then why were those things in my dream?
MAN: That was reality trying to creep through. Some of my fellow Guardians noticed this, and we knew that the Moment in Which You Must Awake was coming. They gave me this mission so that I could help you make the right choice.
JAN: But...if this is a dream, then why did it all happen?
MAN: In dreams, anything you want can happen. You wanted to be a better person, so you spent a year in prison and became one. You wanted to be married to Shawn, he cheated on Belle and proposed to you. You wanted a part of Shawn that would always be with a part of you, you had a daughter with him. Dreams have a logic of their own, depending on who the dream weaver is.
JAN: So...if this is a dream...and I am controlling the dream...then that means...I can get him back again!
Shawn-D appeared in front of Jan.
SHAWN-D: Hello, Jan.
JAN: Shawn!
Jan ran over to Shawn-D and hugged him.
MAN: I've done all I can do now, Jan. The choice is yours. I can only hope you chose the right one.
The man went to walk away, but he turned back.
MAN: By the way, after you've made your choice, if it's the right one, you'll meet a man named Walter Bishop. Tell him “Belly” says hello.
The man walked away. Jan and Shawn-D watched until they couldn't see him anymore.
