Mimi pulled her oversized pajama t-shirt over her head. The bathroom door was open, and Roger came in.
"Do you want me to help?" he asked. Mimi shook her head. "Are you sure?" Mimi spun Roger around and pushed him out the door. "Okay, okay, I'm leaving! Let me know if you need any help." Once Roger was gone, Mimi closed the door and continued to get undressed. She tossed her clothes in the hamper and turned on the shower. Room temperature water poured down on her. She washed her long, thick hair and her body. She didn't risk shaving. Last time she did, it took nearly ten minutes to stop the bleeding, and Roger began to watch her like a hawk.
Roger buttoned up his faded denim shirt. He hated dressing up, but Joanne had insisted, and he knew that he should listen to Joanne. Mimi came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her thin frame. Laid out on the bed was her only really nice outfit; a multicolored skirt and a black top (A/N: from Take Me or Leave Me). Mimi slid her thong on before taking off the towel. Now was the hard part, her bra. Roger watched her out of the corner of his eye. Mimi chewed on her bottom lips in extreme concentration. The strip of black fabric was twisted in several places. Mimi let out a disgruntled sigh.
"Here, let me help," Roger offered. His gentle hands glided over Mimi's caramel skin as he fixed her bra. He kissed her flawless shoulder softly. "Personally, I think that bras are a waste of fabric." Mimi turned around and smacked Roger playfully. "Hey, I'm sorry for expressing my opinion!" Rolling her eyes, Mimi continued to get dressed.
At the courthouse, all of the Bohemians were gathered around the lobby waiting for Roger and Mimi to arrive.
The second Maureen saw Mimi, she said, "I'll be right back." Before anyone could protests, Maureen rushed off to the bathroom. When Mimi saw this, she looked deeply hurt. Collins gave her a comforting hug.
"Don't you worry about her, she's just being Maureen," he assured. Mimi nodded. She felt a hand on her shoulder.
"We should probably go inside," Joanne told everyone as she squeezed Mimi's shoulder in reassurance.
"What about Maureen?" Mark asked.
"I'll wait for her," Collins offered. Everyone went inside the courtroom to wait for the trial to start.
By the time Collins and Maureen got inside the courtroom, Mimi had just been sworn in. They took a seat with the rest of the Bohemians in the middle of the gallery. Maureen couldn't help but stare at Mimi. The two friends hadn't seen each other in quite a few weeks. Now, they were being tossed together during such stressful circumstances.
The prosecutor stood up and approached Mimi. Standing next to Mimi was a court appointed official to read her responses to the questions.
"Thank you for coming down, Ms. Marquez," the prosecutor started.
"You're welcome," the official read.
"Can you tell us about when you went to the beach with your friends seven weeks ago?"
"We wanted to go for the day. My boyfriend and I spent most of the time together. He fell asleep, and I went swimming. The rest is pretty fuzzy."
"Just do your best."
"The current was so strong. I tried to stay on the surface, but I couldn't."
"Did the defendant see you?"
"She looked right at me."
"I have no more questions for this witness." The prosecutor sat back down, and the defense attorney stood up.
"Ms. Marquez, I'd like to say that you're making a wonderful recovery."
"Thank you." Mimi knew what he was doing, trying to convince the jury that he was a nice, caring kind of guy; not the sleazy guy he looked like.
"Have you even met the defendant before, personally I mean?"
"no."
"When is the first time you saw her?"
"At the beach."
"Did you two stop to talk?"
"No."
"Then why would she want to hurt you?"
"I don't know."
"How far away from the shore were you when the current grabbed you?" the questions were coming too fast. Mimi began to cry softly from all the pressure. Collins put his hand on Roger's knee to keep him in his seat.
"I don't know!"
"No more questions, Your Honor." As soon as she could, Mimi leapt to her feet and rushed into Roger's waiting arms. Roger escorted her out of the courtroom. The rest of the Bohemians silently followed them.
Outside, Roger held Mimi closed and rubbed her back. Mimi continued to cry softly. There had been too much pressure put on her too quickly. Their friends all gathered around them.
"I'm sorry, Meems," Joanne said. Mimi turned around and waved off the comment. Roger held her hand.
"We should get going," he said. "Bye you guys." Everyone said goodbye as Roger and Mimi left to go home.