He'd loved her, her whole life he'd loved her and now she was just gone. His Beth, gone forever. He would never see her smile, hear her laugh, or smell her, she was dead. In the three weeks since Coraline had snapped her neck Mick hadn't left his apartment. Josef had staked Coraline and ripped her head off immediately, but it was too late for his Beth. She lay in his arms as the light faded from her eyes and he felt the dwindling beat of her heart. After so many years as a vampire he didn't think he could die. But with the loss of Beth his life was over; he had nothing left to live for. For so long he'd lamented what he was, but with Beth he was no longer a monster. Without her, he couldn't think of moving forward. She had been his reason for living, she was going to let him turn her. She was going to be his forever and just like that, Coraline had taken his happiness. She couldn't be satisfied that she'd stolen his life all those years ago; now she'd stolen his one reason for existing. Josef kept telling him he needed to eat, but what was the point? The hole left inside him couldn't be filled, no matter how many freshies Josef brought for him to try.
Josef stalked into the morgue. "Guillermo!" The Burberry suit did not fit into his surroundings and he curled his lip as he pondered how he'd managed to find himself buying dead blood. Guillermo walked in and the shock on his face would have made Josef laugh had the situation not been so dire. "I need whatever it is that Mick drinks." The clipped thinly accented voice left no room for negotiation as Guillermo grabbed six pints of A+. Josef handed over a $10,000 check, "send whatever that will buy to Mick's apartment and let me know when the money runs out." He left the room carrying the six pints in the same brisk manner he'd swept in demanding Guillermo's presence. Guillermo looked at the check realizing it had been nearly a month since he'd seen Mick last and wondered aloud if everything was all right. He called one of the interns in that had been angling to take over his night shifts for the week and explained they would be making house deliveries to Mick's address (check the 12:01 am episode for the address). The intern started to question Guillermo but he cut him off with the promise that he could have his night shifts for two weeks if he would make sure this got done.
Mick was lying on the couch unconscious when Josef walked in. The door was unlocked and Josef rolled his eyes as he glanced at Mick's state. He was filthy. He hadn't showered in weeks and the time outside the freezer had caused his skin to begin decaying. It was important for Josef to get him into the freezer at least for a few hours or he would look like he'd escaped a bad zombie movie. He set down the blood bags in the kitchen and opened one, pouring it into a crystal tumbler in the hopes of enticing Mick with the scent. Mick's eyes flashed open burning blue, but when he noticed Josef he sighed and shut them again. "Haven't I told you I don't want any blood? I don't want to exist in this world without her, Josef." Silently Josef walked to the couch. "She wouldn't want you to suffer like this Mick. She wanted you to live. This is getting out of hand, you have to pull yourself together." His usual tough love was worn out. He was genuinely worried for his friend now. The only reason Mick was still alive was because Josef had started shoving blood into him when he was too weak to fight back. He couldn't lose Mick; he'd already lost Sarah, if he lost Mick, he would never recover. "Please Mick, just drink this. I need you to live." His voice cracked as he held out the tumbler sending a silent prayer to whoever would listen to a vampire, that Mick would take it. Mick opened his eyes, he so badly wanted to tell Josef to leave and never come back but he couldn't. The look in Josef's eyes, the absolute look of defeat the fact that Josef hadn't left his side since Beth's death except to get some freezer time, an hour or so a night, made Mick pause. Tears filled his eyes as he accepted the blood from Josef and held it with trembling hands. Josef moved onto the couch with him cradling his head helping him drink. The blue tint around Mick's lips began to fade and Josef felt relief when Mick asked for more. At last he'd broken through; Mick would live.
Mick drained three pints of blood before Josef told him he needed to slow down and try and get some freezer time. "Come on. I will help you upstairs, but I draw the line at undressing you." He glanced quickly at Mick hoping to see some sort of emotion in the stony face, but there was nothing there. Mick was gone. As far as Josef knew he would never be back to his old self again but at least he had agreed to live, for now. Josef ended up having to help Mick undress; he didn't even possess the strength to stand up. Josef picked him up and placed him in the freezer like an infant. As soon as he hit the cold surface, Mick screamed. Josef slammed the lid as Mick tried to get out. He begged and pleaded with Josef to let him out as he clawed at the lid. His voice was so weak Josef was almost tempted to open it, but he knew the freezer was the best thing for him. The first time you got into the freezer as a young vampire it was painful; apparently the same went for if you didn't get the proper amount of freezer time as a mature vampire.
Mick's skin was on fire. If Josef wanted to kill him he was certainly doing a fine job. Couldn't he have done it when he was almost comatose with lack of blood? Why did he have to torture him after he'd finally broken? Mick tried to claw his way out of his freezer. He needed to feel the warmth of the room outside. This cold was unbearable and he had to get out. "Please Josef let me out, please!" Tears were streaming down his face and then, the pain stopped. His body relaxed and he fell almost immediately to sleep. The remarkable thing about the freezer for a vampire was that it would heal all the wounds of the flesh that a vampire collected over their long years of life. Too long outside one caused severe decay of the body tissues and, when coupled with lack of blood, it could cause catastrophic results to a vampire's body. Mick knew this and had relied on it during the last month. Now though, he'd resigned himself to live and all the damage he'd allowed his body to take was going to have to be repaired before he could actually function outside his apartment.
Josef breathed a sigh of relief when Mick quieted and fell asleep. He needed to keep him in there for a least a few hours and then Mick would need to be fed again. Josef pulled out his cell phone and called Simone. He thought maybe Mick would feel better feeding from a willing freshy he already knew. "I need you to come to Mick's apartment. Do you have time?" He asked the later as an afterthought. Unlike most of his other freshies Simone had an actual job as one of his many lawyers and he needed her to be on top of his legal situation, not distracted by out of office activities. "No, I have the day off. What do you need me to meet you there for?" Her voice sounded strained and Josef realized it was fear. He'd been so engrossed in his own problems with Mick he'd forgotten that Simone had actually been close to Beth, and she was in fact more than a freshy to him. "Simone, I know I haven't been around lately and for that I am sorry, but I need you to come to Mick's so we can feed him. I don't know if he will take your blood, but I need to feed and you're the only one I trust to come over here right now." Silence on the other end of the line made Josef think she was going to refuse and then a very quiet acceptance and question of whether she should bring things to stay the night. Josef assured her he wouldn't need her to stay the night unless she wanted to then hung up his phone.
Mick felt comfortable when he woke up. The burning was gone he felt like he was wrapped in the cool waters of the ocean. Thinking of the ocean brought back the memory of his beach date with Beth during his few blessed days as a human. It had been so relaxed and easy with her. She'd laughed at his basking in the sunlight and his obsession with getting a tan and eating everything in sight. Rather than find him pathetic, she'd found his humanity endearing. A tear slipped down his cheek as he played her last seconds through his mind again. Beth had been next to him and he thought safely away from Coraline when she'd flashed next to him and taken hold of Beth. He'd begged Coraline to let her go, to take him instead. He promised anything she wanted he told her he would leave with her. She could have him back. She'd smiled at that and just when he thought she was going to let Beth go she'd snapped her neck and tossed her body to him. Josef had come in the door at that moment and his reaction was to stake and execute Coraline while Mick held Beth and felt her life fade away. Pain ripped through his chest again. He couldn't live with this pain everyday for eternity. He wanted to end it all right there but then he thought of Josef and the fact that he couldn't leave him. The guilt of thinking that it had been Josef, not Mick who killed Coraline and gave Beth justice brought a foul taste to his mouth and the tears came rolling back. Josef heard his muffled cries and opened the freezer wanting to say something, anything to relieve Mick's pain. Mick climbed out and headed to the shower.
Josef watched Mick walk away and felt nothing but relief that he could actually make it all the way to the shower without assistance. Josef closed the freezer lid and picked up Mick's discarded clothing tossing it into the trash bin in the hallway. He'd been wearing those same clothes for three weeks and Josef was tired of seeing them. He moved into Mick's closet and began looking through the rumbled shirts and jackets. He rolled his eyes "Don't you have anything pressed? You have tons of money why you choose to look like a hobo I will never understand." He said it to himself but Mick heard him in the bathroom. It drew a smile from Mick, which surprised him. He finished his shower and walked into the closet behind Josef. "If you'd get out of my way I could get dressed and then you wouldn't have to pilfer through my clothing." Josef turned his head and the smile splayed across Mick's shocked him, but he knew better than to mention it. "There's nothing in here that I would even allow a cat to have kittens on." Mick rolled his eyes, "you're exaggerating Josef." He pulled out a pair of jeans and a white long-sleeved button up shirt. "Does this satisfy you?" "Not particularly, but it's better than the lack of clothing you currently have going on." He glanced at Mick's naked form and licked his lips. Mick turned away and quickly found a pair of boxers before glaring at Josef and getting the rest of his clothes on. "Oh relax Mick. I am not going to jump your bones." A knock at the door saved Mick the trouble of responding. "Josef?" "It's just Simone calm down killer." He went down the stairs to open the door and Simone walked in just as Mick yelled at Josef for inviting people over to his house. Simone jumped at the sound of Mick's anger and looked as though she was seriously considering bolting out the door. As Mick came down the stairs she noted his state and realized that no matter how hurt she was by Josef ignoring her for nearly a month Mick needed her blood.
"Hello Mick." Simone's voice was hushed as though she was afraid talking too loudly would spook him. He pulled her into a hug, reassuring her that his anger wasn't directed at her. "I thought you might like something warm to drink, Mick." Josef practically danced with glee when he realized Mick wasn't going to order Simone out. Mick rolled his eyes, "you don't have to do this Simone. Josef doesn't understand that not all of us need to drink from the vein." Simone smiled, "I want to help you Mick. I loved her too, and she would want you to be healthy. If this will make you better, I want to do it." Mick's breathe caught in his throat at the mention of Beth but Simone noticed he was doing well in holding those feelings in check. She held her left arm out to him and smiled encouragingly. He picked her up and took her over to the couch. "If we're gonna do this we may as well be as comfortable as possible. Would you like something to drink Simone?" She laughed as he tossed her gently onto the oversized couch. "Water is fine Mick. I know you probably don't keep human drinks on hand." "Beth loved diet coke…I think there should be some in the pantry." Simone could've kicked herself for being so stupid; why would she bring up human food? Josef saved her with a quick, "I've got it no one panic!" He zipped into the pantry and brought out a diet coke, that he promptly poured into a glass over ice and handed to Simone. She smiled in thanks and took a small sip before holding out her arm to Mick again. His eyes flashed blue and his fangs appeared as he looked at Josef, "I don't think I will, but please stop me if I hurt her." "I got you buddy. Go ahead." Simone sighed as Mick's fangs sunk into her arm. His style of feeding was so different than Josef's. Mick was gentle, as though he was terrified he was going to hurt her. Josef could be gentle, but he always seemed to enjoy being a little rough with her and if she was honest with herself, she didn't exactly mind. Mick though, was a real change. He made sure she was comfortable and he was always concerned with taking too much of her blood. She loved him for it. The feeding was over too quickly in Simone's opinion, but when she stood up to go to the bathroom to clean herself up she realized he'd taken more than he probably should've. She felt faint and looked at Josef in a panic before falling back onto the couch and into Mick's arms. Her eyes fluttered shut.
"Damn it, Josef! I told you to pull me off so I didn't hurt her. How could you let me do that to Simone?" "Mick, she's fine. She just fainted because you took a little too much. She's fine." Outwardly he oozed confidence, but inwardly he screamed at himself for being dumb enough to think Mick would be able to control himself. He really did think she would be fine, but if she died, Mick would never forgive himself. Simone's heartbeat was strong and steady as was her breathing. Mick thought she would probably be all right, but he couldn't believe he'd lost control like that. He had just had three pints of blood. He should have had more control. Josef could see by the look on his face Mick was about to shut down again. He couldn't allow that to happen, he had only just gotten Mick back. "Mick, it's not your fault. She will be fine. Please don't make this into an issue. She knew the risks and you did not kill her." As if on cue Simone opened her eyes and smiled up at Mick. "You can put me down Mick." He hadn't realized he was clutching her to his chest. He let go of her slowly, making sure she didn't fall against the couch and further injure herself. "Well I must admit that hasn't happened in awhile. Sorry Mick, I don't know why I fainted." She laughed nervously, "must be those rugged good looks." Mick chuckled instantly relaxing and Josef could've kissed Simone. She had done exactly what he needed her to so that Mick could be at ease.