Mimi sat curled up on the bed flipping through a magazine. It was the day before the pre-lim hearing, and Joanne and Officer Porter were going to stop by to tell her what's going to happen in court.
"Hey honey," Joanne said as she opened the bedroom door. Mimi looked up and smiled. Joanne had a thick file folder and a thin one tucked neatly under her arm.
"Is Mo here too?" Mimi asked. Sighing, Joanne sat down across from the dancer on the bed. Officer Porter sat down lightly on the edge of the bed.
"You didn't hear her grand entrance?" asked Joanne.
"I'm used to Maureen's grand entrances. Now, they're like a buzzing in my ear." The lawyer laughed.
"I wish it was that easy for me," she commented as she shifted in her seat. "We'd better get started, Meems." Mimi watched Joanne pulled out some papers. The lawyer was such a Mother-Hen. Between her and Mark, the Bohemians were always taken care of.
Flashback:
a
knock on the door woke Mimi up. She groaned loudly as she rolled off
the couch, and trudged across the room. When she opened the door,
she found Joanne standing in the doorway with a plastic bag.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I wake you?" the lawyer exclaimed. Mimi waved the comment off.
"Its fine, I had to get up soon anyway to get something to eat." Joanne held up the plastic bag.
"That's why I'm here. Now you go back to bed, and I'll take care of dinner." Mimi was somewhat surprised about this random act of kindness.
"What's this
all about, Jo?"
"Maureen's at home being a diva, so I let
her do that alone." Smiling, Mimi stepped aside allowing Joanne
in. "Where are the Boho boys?"
"Out getting drunk
somewhere. What'd you bring?" Mimi made a desperate attempt to
look in Joanne's bag.
"No way. You go back to sleep, and I'll make dinner." Knowing full well that she'd lose the argument with the lawyer, Mimi lay back down on the couch.
Mimi slowly opened her eyes. She figured that she must have dozed off for a while. A gray blanket was draped over her, and the boots she had been wearing were on the floor next to the couch. The dancer slowly rolled over. On the table next to the couch was a plate of pizza, still warm, and a note from Joanne.
"Mimi-Maureen called all upset about God only knows what. Sorry! Enjoy as much of the pizza as you can before the Boho boys get back, drunk as pigs. We'll have to get together for lunch one day, just the two of us. Love, Joanne." Mimi had a huge smile plastered across her face as she began to eat the pizza. Leave it to Joanne to cheer her up.
End Flashback
"What's that?" Mimi asked Joanne as she pointed at the thinner of the two folders. Joanne picked the folder up.
"This has pictures of your injuries," she told the dancer.
"I want to see them," Mimi said firmly. Officer Porter and Joanne looked at each other. "Please, I need to see them." Sighing, Joanned handed over the folder.
Mimi slowly opened the folder, and began to flip through the photos. Her face had been scratched up pretty badly. There were clear hand prints on her neck. Dark splotches swan in front of the dancer's eyes, blurring her vision.
"Mimi, Mimi?" Joanne asked in a concerned tone. Mimi's eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she fell on her side. "Mimi!" Both Joanne and Officer Porter flew to the dancer's side. Suddenly, Mimi began to shake and convulse. "Oh God," Joanne breathed. "Roger! Roger, help!" she screamed. The bedroom door flew open, and Roger came rushing in. The second he saw Mimi, he froze. Joanne was holding the dancer's head in her lap, trying to hold her still. Just as quickly as the convulsions started, they stopped. Roger rushed over to the bed, and sat by Mimi's feet. Mimi rolled over, and buried her face in Joanne's stomach. Sobs wracked her small body. Joanne gently stroked her hair.
"Its okay, it's okay," the lawyer cooed.
"Do you want me to call 911?" Mark asked form the door where he was standing with Maureen. Mimi shook her head back and forth repeatedly.
"No, no more doctors." Her reply was muffled by Joanne's clothes.
"That's Roger's decision, not mine," the lawyer said. Mimi got up feebly, and crawled on Roger's lap. The rocker wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. Mimi would shiver violently and stop, then shiver violently again, and stop. Joanned and Officer Porter both got up. In one fluent movement, Joanne swept up the photos, and followed Officer Porter out to the other room.
Mimi buried her face in Roger's neck. Her hand grabbed and released the front of his sweatshirt.
"You cold hun?" the rocker asked in a soothing voice. Mimi didn't respond, but her uncontrollable shivers explained it all. Roger yanked off his sweatshirt, and put it on Mimi. The dancer continued to cry softly until her breathing evened out ten minutes later.
Roger carefully laid Mimi down on the bed, and wrapped the comforter around her. Then, he joined everyone else in the other room. Joanned and Mark were sitting on the couch, Maureen was trying to find something to eat, and Office Porter was sitting in one of the chairs next to the couch.
"She's sleeping," Roger told them when they all looked up when he came into the room.
"I'm sorry roger, I shouldn't have shown her the pictures," Joanne said. Roger went over, and wrapped his arm around the lawyer's shoulders.
"It's okay, it's not anybody's fault. I'm a little worried aobut how she'll hold up tomorrow."
"Mimi's a strong girl; she'll be fine with you there." Maureen, Joanne, and Officer Porter stayed a little while longer before leaving.
After the trio left, Roger leaned back against the back of the couch, and sighed. He draped his arm over his eyes. Mark looked at Roger's guitar. It was collecting dust in a corner. He couldn't remember the last time Roger had picked the instrument up.
"How are you doing Rog?" the filmmaker asked. "You okay?" Roger shook his head.
"Seeing Mimi have that attack, I was so afraid. I thought back to seeing her in the hospital, so week and venerable. I was so afraid that I'd lose her, just like in the hospital." Mark realized that Roger was crying. The only other time he had seen the rocker cry was when April had died. Roger stood up abruptly. He grabbed his leather jack, and stormed out onto the fire escape. He gripped the iron railing with such strength that his knuckles were white. His gaze bore into the street below. Mark looked at Roger and sighing. This whole ordeal was tearing the rocker apart.
Late that night, the sound of someone crying woke Mark up. He had always been a light sleeper. It might as well been written in his DNA. The filmmaker grabbed his glasses, and rolled out of bed. Mimi was kneeling in front of the toilet gagging and sobbing. Mark cleared his throat.
"Roger?" Mimi mumbled. Mark crouched down next to her.
"No Mimi, it's me. Do you want me to go get Roger?" Mimi shook her head.
"No Roger, Roger needs his sleep," the dancer replied matter of factly before leaning over the toilet gagging some more. Mark carefully pulled her hair out of her face. "You don't have to stay with me, Mark." Mark gave Mimi a brotherly kiss on the head.
"I don't mind," he replied.
Roger rolled over to find himself in an empty bed. Upon hearing noises coming from the bother room, he got up to investigate. Mimi was clinging to the toilet bowl with Mark next to her.
"What's going on?" Roger asked. Mimi's head whipped around. Mark gave her shoulder a squeeze before getting up to talk to Roger.
"I woke up, and heard Mimi crying. She didn't want to wake you; she insisted that you needed your sleep," he explained in a low voice. Roger looked at Mimi's sobbing form.
"I'll take it from here. Thanks." Mark said goodnight to Mimi, and left Roger to calm her down.
As soon as Roger took Mark's seat on the floor, Mimi buried her face in his chest, and continued to sob. Roger wrapped his arms around her to try and calm her down.
After several minutes, the rocker said, "Calm down Meems, you're going to get yourself sick." Mimi tried to calm down, but struggled with it greatly.
"I, I c-can't d-do it," she sobbed. "W-what if h-he attacks me again?" roger rubbed her back gently.
"He'll be behind bars when he's not in the court room, so he can't get to you. And there will be police officers in the court room to keep him away from you. I'll be there to protect you too." Roger continued to rub Mimi's back and whisper soothing words in her ear until they both fell asleep.
When Mark got up the next morning, he found the door to Roger and Mimi's bedroom open. The filmmaker went over to see why the light was on in the bathroom. Roger was sprawled out on his back on the bathroom floor snoring softly with Mimi curled up between him and the sink he her head on his chest. Mark gently nudged Roger with his foot.
"Roger, Roger! Get your lazy ass up!" he hissed. Roger groaned and slowly opened his eyes.
"What happened?" he muttered.
"You feel asleep in the bathroom-"
"Just like college…" Mark snorted.
"When did you ever go to college? Now come on, get up. Joanne's gonna be here soon, and she'll flip if you both aren't ready!" mark heard Roger grumble under his breath. He was most likely swearing, but he didn't mind. The filmmaker left Roger to wake Mimi up.
An hour later, Roger stumbled out of his bedroom almost ready to go. Mimi was still a little hesitant about the whole thing.
Ring! Ring! Roger rushed across the room, and grabbed the phone.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Is Roger there?" a female voice asked.
"Speaking…"
"Roger, this is Officer Porter-"
"Oh hey Officer. What can I do for you? We're waiting for Joanne, and then we're leaving for the courthouse."
"Don't even bother, Eddie's dead."
A/N: Ha! How's that for a twist? Only two more chapters, and they're shorter than this one (I'm already done writing this.) Check out Off-Set, I've updated it a few times, but have only gotten one or two reviews!
Tina101