In 1995 Felicia and John became very
close during Sharlene Hudson's frequent
absences from Bay City. Within a very
short period they had fallen in love. They
were shocked and confused by the
intensity of their feelings. At a loss for
what to do, they shared one passionate
kiss and resolved to henceforth ignore their feelings.
When Sharlene found a woman's handkerchief in John's pocket, she
ran to her friend Felicia for emotional support. Felicia in turn ran to
John to wail about her grueling session with Sharlene. They resolved
to tell Sharlene the truth when their car hit an icy patch and became
immobilized for over an hour. While they waited, John began to
relate some of his experiences in Vietnam, which culminated in the
death of a young child in his arms.
Felicia comforted John, who broke down and cried, but apparently
his remembrances served as foreplay because the experience gave
him an enormous hard-on and he proceeded to make love to Felicia.
Later, with a smug smile he told Felicia not to feel guilty.
When Sharlene discovered the affair
she kicked John out. Felicia opened her
doors to him and the two braved the
ugly stares of all those who condemned them. While John was rather
blase about it, Felicia was hurt by the reaction she was getting as well
as the hurt she was inflicting on Sharlene.
Sharlene had a hard time dealing with
their happiness and would blow up at Felicia constantly. Eventually
Sharlene came to accept them together. Yet fate would still throw the
three of them together, forcing them to into an uneasy friendship.
John and Felicia were ecstatically
happy together and relished in their
rediscovered sexuality. Felicia's life
seemed to revolve around John. She would plan her day with him as
the focus, meeting him frequently at the hospital, where they would
both run into Sharlene. John's son Gregory, while crazy about Felicia
at the outset, began to resent her for taking his father away from him.
He became extremely hostile to her, and neither John nor Sharlene would take steps to discipline
the boy. Felicia became frantic as Gregory used every opportunity, including his mother's paralysis,
to try to reunite his mother and father.
John and Felicia planned to marry in July 1997. A few weeks before the ceremony was to take place, John had a one-night stand with Sharlene. John insisted that it was a mistake and meant nothing to him, but Felicia refused to take him back. John stubbornly refused to accept defeat, but with Felicia's new flame, Alexander Nikos, in the picture, he didn't stand a chance.