Some answers for my reviewers:
Daydreamer731: Thank you for the comments, and you're such a fun person to talk to online. :)
elodie: Yes, Mark's gonna be fine, and yes, my story is getting kind of dysfunctional. Whoa, guess I better look into fixing that lol.
DirtyFlower: ROFL, you definitely made me crack up when I read your review. "Mark, you can make it! Believe in the butterflies!"
Kelby: Josh is definitely going bye bye. Kind of had to kick him out eventually, he had no business being in my story anymore. He did have a point, being the jealous, psycho, gun brandishing fiend of Jackie's that he was (kind of makes you think twice about who you date, lol), but no more Josh. As for Roger/Harvey/April/Jackie thing, all will be revealed in the upcoming chapters. I'm evil, I suppose.
Extra thanks goes out to DragonGurl83, Eponine54, and Markys gurl (yay! Your reviews are always fun to read, hehe).
You guys all rock my effin socks, and keep the reviews rolling in because I definitely enjoy getting feedback on what you all think.
33 Mari
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Jackie had been pacing the surgical waiting room for the past hour. Maureen was curled up in a chair, sipping some hospital coffee and flipping through an old copy of Cosmopolitan as Dan and Collins were making idle conversation a few chairs down.
"Hey Mo?" Collins asked, as Jackie walked past him again. "Do you maybe think we should try to get her another shirt?"
Maureen looked up at him and nodded. "I'll ask one of the nurses for something. Maybe they'll bring out a scrub top," she replied. "Has anyone called Mark's parents? Or Lisa?"
Collins shook his head slowly. "I called Joanne in Boston. She'll be on the next flight out."
Maureen ignored his statement almost as if to say 'Joanne who?'. "I'll use the payphone by the nurses' station. Somebody better check on Roger too."
"I'll do it," Dan said, standing up and stretching. He gave Collins a quick kiss before exiting the waiting room.
"Jackie? Do you want to come with me for a second?" Maureen questioned, placing her hand gently on Jackie's elbow.
"What—yeah," she said, following Maureen down the hall.
"We'll be back in a little bit."
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"Okay, I'm leaving you with a prescription for painkillers, about 30 of them. Take one pill twice a day, but no more than two pills per day. They should last you for 15 days, or roughly two weeks. I want you to keep them wrapped most of the time—unless you're showering, but you can take the ace bandages off if you feel the need to let the area breathe. Ice and heat, on and off can help greatly, so I'd suggest doing that as well. I want to see you again in two weeks to check how they're healing, and if you have any questions you can always call me or stop in." Dr. Peterson signed the prescription and handed it to Roger.
"Thanks."
Mimi was sitting on a chair near Roger's bed and stood up to help him pull his shirt over his head again as he stood up.
"Roger—"
"Let's just go, okay? I'm really worried about Mark."
"Okay."
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after all the battles and the wars
the scars and loss
the walls are down
a little more each day
since you came, finally
…finally things are changing
"Honey, no one's blaming you," Maureen said, checking her own reflection in the bathroom mirror.
Jackie splashed some more water on her face and shrugged. "Roger is."
Maureen cracked a smile and handed Jackie a paper towel. "Roger has a stick permanentely wedged up the crack of his ass. We've all come to accept this."
Jackie tied the scrub top in the back and nodded. "Yeah, but Roger has everyone reason to hate me. He barely knows me, but Mark's his best friend."
"That's not true. I know Roger think you're really good for Mark, but sweetie this could have happened to anyone!" Maureen tossed the paper towels into the trash. "You're not going to help anyone by blaming yourself."
"But what if he doesn't make it Mo?" Jackie sniffed.
"Let's just say he's got an Angel watching over him," Maureen added, opening the bathroom door. "So do you wanna go and face the circus with me?"
"Oh, um, maybe later. I was just going to go and take a walk," she said. Maureen nodded and gave Jackie a tight hug.
"I'll see you later then?"
"Yeah."
I'm comin' around to open the blindsYou can't hide here any longer
My God you need to rinse those puffy eyesYou can't last here any longer
And yes they'll ask you where you've been
And you'll have to tell them again and again
Jackie made her way down the hall, finally sliding against the vending machines. Her head was throbbing, and she was in desperate need of a shower. Even some of the blood was still caked in her hair, although she tried to rinse most of it out in the bathroom with Maureen's help.
She must have dozed off, because the next thing she felt was someone shaking her shoulder. Her eyes shot open and she jumped.
"I'm sorry for waking you, Miss Ferrell, but I need to ask you some questions about the crime scene."
Jackie nodded and stood up, wiping her eyes once again. She took note of Roger and the two men standing in front of her." Okay."
"I'm Detective John Miller, with the NYPD, and this Detective Walker.
Walker smiled and shook her hand politely.
"It looks like no one's in this exam room, so why don't you and Roger take a seat on the bed, and if you don't mind we'd like to ask you both some questions," Miller continued, leading them towards the room and closing the door.
"Relax Davis, you're not in trouble," Walker added, noticing Roger's nervousness.
Roger cracked a smile. "Okay."
"Okay, so right now I need both of you to describe to me exactly what took place. You first, Roger." Detective Miller pulled out his notepad.
"Uh, okay. Well, Mark and I had decided to take a walk around the East Village to talk about a few things, like we do sometimes. We were heading in the direction of Tompkins Square Park when Mark noticed Jackie being hassled by her ex boyfriend, Josh. Mark insisted that we go over, because it looked like Josh was being a real dickhead to her. So we do, and Mark told him to leave her alone and back off, and then I stepped in between them to prevent a fight, or whatever. Josh lunged at me to get to Mark and broke two of my ribs, then he and Mark started going at it. I eventually tried to drag Mark away, but neither one of them would give it up. Then Josh pulled the gun out and…shot him before running away."
Miller jotted a few things down before turning his head towards Jackie. "Do you agree with everything Mr. Davis just said?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Now what exactly were you doing with Josh? We have a record of an expired restraining order against him here, and paperwork for a new one with a trial set up for the 1st of April."
Jackie nodded. "I was on my way home and decided to take the shortcut through the park, and apparently Josh and his friend Bryan were goofing around. I tried to walk the other way, but it was too late and he already had noticed me. We shared a few words and argued for about five minutes before Mark came."
"Mmhmm. Now what about the restraining orders?"
"Josh and I dated on and off for two years, before I met Mark. We broke up for good in December, and by that point a temporary restraining order I had filed against him had expired. It's just a lot of bullshit, really—he made a few threatening phone calls to my job and ended up following me home one day, but thankfully my friend Harvey spotted them and called me before anything could happen." She looked down at her hands before continuing. "I made a complaint to he police and they said they would take care of it, which they obviously didn't."
"I see. Can you give me a physical description of Josh? Full name, current residence, anything?"
"Yeah. His full name is Joshua Scott O'Connell. White male, stands about 6'0, 170 pounds. Blue eyes, short reddish blonde hair, but curly in the front."
"Slim, toned, heavyset?"
"Toned. He's a personal trainer."
"Uh huh. All right, we'll scan the description in. We already have cops scouting the East Village area."
"Thanks."
Walker cleared his throat and stood up. "Alright then, I'm going to head down to the station with Detective Miller here, but keep me posted if anything changes?"
Roger nodded, not exactly sure how he was supposed to keep him
posted if he didn't even know the number down there. "Sure thing."
They cleared out of the room after that, leaving Roger and Jackie alone.
"How are your ribs?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"They hurt like a bitch, but I'll be okay. You wanna go check on Mark?"
"Yeah."
You probably don't want to hear tomorrow's another dayWell I promise you you'll see the sun again
And you're asking me why pain's the only way to happiness
And I promise you you'll see the sun again
Come on and take my hand
We're going for a walk
I know you can
You can wear anything
As long as it's not black
Please don't mourn forever
She's not coming back.
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"Anyone have any Advil?" Maureen called out, looking to Dan, Roger, and Mimi. Each shook their head.
"I could go for that and some Midol," Jackie called out. Roger made a face and Mimi grinned.
"So glad I don't have to suffer through that anymore," she said.
"So am I," Roger added.
"Hey!"
"Sorry."
"Roger, can I have one of your Percosets?" Maureen asked nicely.
"No. Besides, I don't even have the prescription filled yet, and just no, Mo. Just no."
"Heh, that rhymed," Mimi laughed. "Just no Mo. No Mo!"
Roger looked at her strangely and placed his hand on her forehead. "You okay?"
"Sure."
"Why don't you all just ask the nurses? This is called a hospital, after all," Dan laughed from the corner.
"I think the heater's broken in the loft again," Maureen said, changing the subject.
"You've gotta be shittin' me."
"No, am I not shitting you," Maureen said sarcastically.
"Shitting you? Who says that?" Dan yawned.
"I do."
"Shut up, Roger," Mimi complained.
"God, it's almost 11. Is anyone ever going to come out and give us some news?"
"Everyone just please be quiet," Jackie complained, massaging her head.
"Roger, give me my bag. I need a tampon."
"Get it yourself," he grumped.
Roger and Dan looked thoroughly disgusted by this. Maureen got up and started digging through her purse, pulling out a tampon. Roger was watching her, amused.
"Can I see one of those?" he asked.
"What for?" Mimi asked. "Wanna play with it?"
"Hah. Funny," he said sarcastically. "I've been through about every single one of these magazines and I'm tired of watching the TV."
"You have the attention span of a 4 year old," Dan added. "I can't believe Collins left me here with all of you to go to the airport."
"Okay, grouchy pants," Maureen said. "Do you want a tampon to play with too?"
Roger threw him one and they started unwrapping it, as Mimi got up to sit next to Maureen.
"This is something I thought I'd never see," she added, amused.
"Hah. I bet I can shoot it across the room farther than you can," Roger challenged.
"You're on. Ready…set…GO!"
"Oh. My. God," Collins said, laughing as he entered the room with Joanne. Maureen sent an icy stare her way, which Joanne ignored. "What in the hell are you doing?" He took one look at the two tampons lying in the middle of the surgical waiting room and shot a look at Roger. "Are you loaded up on painkillers or something?"
"No, just bored."
"Well, magical tampon boy, I'm sorry to inform you that you were born without a vagina, so unfortunately your fun stops right about there." Joanne muttered, laughing. "And you both let him do this?"
"Yeah, why the hell not. I have no control over him anyway. Only in the bedroom," Mimi said, looking at her nails.
"That's not what you said last night. 'Oh Roger, harder!'" He laughed. Maureen bent down to pick up the tampons and threw them in the trash.
Mimi ignored him as Maureen slapped him on the side of the head.
"Ow! I'm in pain here!"
Roger and Maureen started arguing as a tall doctor walked in, still dressed in scrubs.
"Hey guys. I'm Dr. Walton, and I was the attending surgeon on Mark today."
"How is he?" Jackie asked. "Is he okay?"
"He's just fine. The bullet lodged itself between the abdomen and the liver, and we removed that and repaired some minor tissue and arterial damage. He did lose a lot of blood, but we gave him blood transfusions and he's really pinking up now."
"Can we see him?" Roger asked, standing up.
Dr. Walton nodded. "I'm afraid I can only let two of you in there, because visiting hours are over. He was just extubated, so he might have a little trouble talking, but other than that he's in recovery—awake and groggy. The anesthesia's wearing off, but he'll probably be moved to his own ICU room within the next hour."
"So when can he go home?"
"We want to keep him for a few days to make sure there's no infection or sign of a fever, but probably by next Friday we can send him on his way."
"Thanks," Roger added.
"No problem." Dr. Walton left, and Roger looked around at everyone. "Jackie, why don't you just go? Tell Mark that I'll see him in the morning."
Mimi nodded, and Jackie stood up. "Okay. I'll see you both back at the loft."
"Yeah," Roger winced, holding his hand against his ribs.
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Jackie followed Dr. Walton down the hall and to a private room across from the nurses' station. "He's right in there. Looks like they moved him to a room sooner than I would have thought. Let me know if you need anything."
"Thanks," she nodded. "Do you think it would be okay if I spent the night?"
"Don't see why not. The nurses' might come in to switch IV bags and add antibiotics to the central line, but I'll put a note in that you're staying. Have a good night."
"You too." Jackie entered Mark's room, trying to be as quiet as possible. He looked like he was asleep.
"Hey." She was wrong.
"Hey," she answered, coming over to sit next to him on the bed. "How do you feel?"
"Pretty out of it," he said groggily. "No pain though." He smiled a little and she kissed him on the forehead.
"Good." She brushed his hair back off his forehead and sighed. "I'm so sorry Mark."
"It's okay, Jac. He won't hurt you again, I promise. If you really want to we can talk about it later. You're okay right?"
Jackie laughed a little. "Yeah, I'm fine, are you?"
"I think so. I have all the right parts in the right places, including the important one."
"Looks like they're won't be any of that for awhile."
"How about for my homecoming present?" he asked, shutting his eyes a little.
"We'll see how you feel."
"Oh, I'm sure I'll be fine. Did anyone call my parents?"
"No, Maureen wanted to, but said that she didn't know if you'd want them to know."
Mark nodded. "Good, I'm glad she didn't. Don't tell them, I don't want them here right now."
"Okay, I won't."
"Are you staying for the night?"
"Yeah. I'll probably just crash on the chair over there."
"What for? There's enough room in the bed. Just don't roll over on me or anything," he said, smiling.
"I won't." Jackie stretched out on his right side, resting her head lightly on his shoulder. "Night."
"Night," he yawned. "I love you." He kissed her forehead.
"I love you too."
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Mimi rolled over, checking the digital alarm clock. 2 AM. Maureen was snoring softly from the other room, and she heard the TV from the living room, which meant Roger was wide-awake. She wished he would have come to bed, but after they got back to the loft from the pharmacy, he said he'd be able to sleep better if he was propped up. Didn't look that way now.
She pulled the sheets off of her and pulled her sweatshirt on, yawning as she walked over to the couch, where Roger was watching another music special, this time on Stevie Ray Vaughn. "Can't sleep?"
He shook his head, and Mimi knew he was miserable, and probably in a lot of pain. "Nope."
She walked over to the kitchen and grabbed some ice from the freezer, wrapping it in the dishtowel. "Here," she added, handing it to him.
"This really sucks."
"I'm sorry," she said, running her hands from his hair.
"Everything. Mark and my fucking ribs."
"Did you take your painkillers?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the couch.
"Yeah. I took one, so I could take two tomorrow."
"Okay. Helping any?"
"Yeah, they're taking the edge off, but I can't really move that well. You don't realize how much you've been taking for granted when it takes you a full five minutes to walk from the couch to the bathroom and back again."
Mimi laughed. "Are you cold?"
"Nah, it's kind of warm in here actually."
"I'll turn the heater down if you want," she said, adjusting the setting before
leaning against the couch again.
"You should go to bed, you look tired," he said.
"I'm okay."
"Seriously, I'm okay. I'll see you in the morning?" he asked, wrapping his one arm around her and giving her a kiss.
"Okay," she said, kissing him back. "Let me know if you need anything. Night baby."
"Night."
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NEXT UP: Roger's gig; Mark comes home to the hospital.