Character recap:
Lisa: Mark's younger sister
Matt: Lisa's boyfriend
Noah: Lisa and Matt's seven-month-old son
Dan: Collins boyfriend
Harvey: Jackie's best friend, Maureen's boyfriend
* * * *
SEPTEMBER 7th
"So what was up with Mark this morning? He seemed a little quiet."
Roger shrugged and stuck his foot out to hold the loft door open for Mimi. Jaylynn was sound asleep in the carrier that he was holding in his hand. "He and Jackie got into a fight last night. A pretty bad one."
Roger set the carrier down on the couch and Mimi unlatched the baby and picked her up. She stirred for a few seconds before settling back down to sleep again. "They've been fighting a lot lately."
"Yeah. I don't know what the deal is. I guess I should talk to him when I get a chance," he added. Jaylynn yawned against Mimi's shoulder. "I don't get how she sleeps that much. She's slept more than I have in a week since she was born."
Mimi laughed. "You've been sleeping until way past noon for the last two months, so don't even get me started. I haven't been able to sleep in forever."
"Sorry," he grinned. "What can I say, I'm a growing boy."
"Yeah, right. Remind me to buy you Huggies pull ups for you when I go to the store next time," she laughed, rolling her eyes.
He shook his head at her. "No baby, we've gotta go to the store together so we can buy the condoms and giggle like a pair of teenagers over them. 'Oh my god, where DOES that go?"
"Considering Mark buys your condoms, I don't think that's appropriate. And they just sit there unused, which by the way, we really have to start using them."
"Yeah, I know. I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys 'R Us kid," he sang.
"Alright. Anyway," she said, ignoring him and rubbing Jaylynn's back. "I guess I should just put her in her bassinet." She looked back at him, unsure.
He nodded and followed her into the baby's room. "Yeah. I think so."
Mimi placed Jaylynn in her bassinet and turned the baby monitor on. She handed the portable to Roger and turned the volume up.
"Penalty on the 34 yard line. Nice play by Davis. Look at him go. What a handsome guy. What was that? Over and out. Roger, Roger. Copy that," he joked. He cracked up at the look on Mimi's face.
"Please, do share whatever you're on this morning," she said seriously. She closed the baby's door a tiny bit and walked back out into the living room with him.
He plopped down onto the couch and she curled up next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. He ran his hands through her hair for the next few minutes. "I can't believe we're parents."
"Tell me about it," she said quietly. "But I'm so attached to her that it'll be weird to not be her mother. Make any sense?"
Roger laughed. "Kind of."
"I'm tired."
"So take a nap."
"Where?"
He shrugged. "On me?" He stretched out on one end of the couch and she laid out on top of him. He then reached over her and grabbed the blanket and placed it over them. "Your belly's not there."
"Damn right it isn't. Finally," she giggled.
"It just feels like it's missing. Kind of," he added.
"Yeah. But hey, at least there's no obstacle now."
He groaned. "Your stitches."
"Don't remind me."
"Does it hurt?" He wrapped his arm around her back.
She nodded. "I forget about them most of the time, but when I move around too much they hurt."
"Then I'm not letting you move around too much," he grinned.
"My hero," she smiled as she kissed him softly. "You have to work tonight?"
He shook his head. "Nope. I'm home with my two favorite girls."
"Good," she yawned. "Night then."
"I'll get dinner when we wake up."
"Mmhmm," she mumbled, falling asleep quickly.
Roger looked down and kissed the top of her head before falling asleep himself.
* * * *
Mimi bolted upright in bed around two AM. She heard Jaylynn crying—more like screaming from the other room. She looked over and noticed that Roger's side was empty and completely cold. He had to have been out of bed for over an hour at least.
She walked out of their room and into the baby's room. Roger was pacing the room, half humming, and half singing to her to try and calm her down. "Come on Jay, what's wrong?"
Mimi walked in and yawned. "What's going on?"
Roger looked up at her. "I don't know. I changed her diaper twice. I fed her a bottle twice. I sang to her, I read to her, I even tried watching TV with her. I put her mobile on, and nothing. I don't get it," he said, frustrated.
"Here, let me take her. Roger slid the baby into Mimi's arms and she sat down in the rocking chair. "Hand me her bottle?" Roger did, and Mimi took it. "Roger, the bottle is freezing. Did you heat it up in the bottle warmer?"
Roger stared at her and shook his head. "Oh fucking shit, I forgot. I'm sorry Meems."
"Nah, it's okay. Just go stick this in the bottle warmer for a minute. Her stomach's just probably upset because it wasn't heated."
"Yeah. But I still feel like an idiot," he said.
Mimi started rubbing the baby's belly. "What's wrong Jaylynn? You giving your daddy a hard time already?" Jaylynn calmed down a little as Mimi rocked her.
Roger returned and handed the warm bottle back to Mimi. "Yeah. There, I think that's better," Mimi said. Jaylynn stopped crying instantly.
"Thank god," Roger laughed. "I was ready to pull my hair out."
Mimi finished feeding the baby her bottle and when she was positive she was asleep, she placed her back in the bassinet and tucked the blankets in around her.
"Let's just move her into our room tonight."
"Yeah. Good idea," Mimi answered.
He pushed the bassinet carefully into their bedroom and onto his side of the bed before stretching out again across the bed. "When she wakes up again I'll get her. I want you to get some sleep."
Mimi nodded and yawned. "Thanks. Night baby."
He kissed the side of her cheek. "Night."
* * * *
SEPTEMBER 10th
Jackie rolled onto her back and moved her head slightly to the left. "Mark? Are you still up?"
No answer.
She sat up and tried again. "Mark?" she whispered.
When he still didn't answer, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She passed into the kitchen, and when she realized they didn't have anything that resembled juice left in their fridge, she crossed over to Roger and Mimi's side to steal some from theirs.
She sat down on the barstool and scanned the dim loft. Roger and Mimi had to have been asleep, and Mark had been passed out for hours. She tapped her fingers on the island and noticed a fairly new pack of cigarettes sitting on the edge of the counter next to a lighter. Obviously Roger's. Unless Harvey had left them there and just completely forgotten about them, which wasn't likely.
She stood up, grabbed one out of the package, and lit it. She took a drag and blew the smoke out into the room. Great, healthy habits Jackie. Wonderful.
"Better not let Mark catch you lighting up. He'll kick my ass for letting you steal them out of my pack."
She shrugged and looked over at Roger, blowing out more smoke in the process. "Yeah well, we'll be in shit together. What are you doing up?"
He sat at the barstool next to her and lit up his own cigarette. "Couldn't sleep. Plus I gave Jaylynn her bottle and she fell asleep on me again."
"Yeah. How's fatherhood treating the rocker in Roger Davis?"
He exhaled the smoke and ran a hand through his hair. "Pretty good. I wouldn't trade her for anything. Like I'll hold her and she'll look up at me with those eyes of hers and I can't even explain the feeling I get."
"Yeah," Jackie said quietly. "Soon enough you'll have two of them looking up at you."
"Uncle Roger, the babysitter," he laughed.
"Oh I can imagine," she smiled.
"Question."
Jackie crushed out her cigarette in the ashtray and looked up at him. "What?"
"Let's go someplace random and spontaneous so you can explain to me what's going on between you and Mark."
Jackie checked the clock on the wall. "It's 3 AM."
"So? I know a few places," he grinned. "Remember I used to be a night prowler."
"You win. Take me someplace good."
* * * *
Jackie looked up at the building they were standing in front of. "I can't believe you brought me to a tattoo parlor," she groaned. "A twenty-four hour tattoo parlor at that."
Roger shrugged and opened the door, a bell dinging over their heads. "It's like killing two birds with one stone, whatever that means. I get my new tattoo done, and you get to sit, watch, and tell me your relationship dilemma with Mark. In an hour, the problem will be solved." He looked over at the man sitting at the counter, talking on the phone. "Hey Al."
Al looked up and hung up the phone with a bang. "Roger Davis, long time, no fucking see! How you been man?"
"Pretty good. Travis come in here last week?" Roger asked, referring to the bass player of the Hungarians.
Al nodded and stood up. "Yeah, I did some wacky design on his shoulder. Seemed pretty happy with it."
"Yeah, he is. What kind of deal can you give me?"
Al looked at him seriously for a second. "For an even hundred, I'll give you whatever you want. What are you looking at?"
Roger dug out a piece of paper from his pants and handed it to him. "Something like that. Just the two names and the dates."
Al nodded and placed it on the counter. "Yeah, I can do that. Christ Davis, you got two ladies in your life now?"
Roger grinned at him. "Yeah, my wife and daughter."
"Get the fuck outta here! You trying to give me a heart attack or something? You haven't been in here for over a year and you come back married with a kid? Now that's cleaning up an act right there," Al laughed.
"Yeah. Been married for four months and my daughter was born five days ago. Figured I should get this done while I have a chance to."
Al looked over at Jackie. "Anything I can get for the little lady that came with you?"
Roger looked over at her. "You want anything?"
Jackie shook her head. "I already have one."
"Where?" Roger asked. "I've never seen it."
"It's on my lower back."
Roger laughed. "Yeah, I guess Mark's seen it."
"Hey honey, one ain't much these days!" Al laughed again. He stuck out his hand for her to shake. "Al DiManero. Nice to meet you."
"Jackie Ferrell."
"So you wanna get set up in the back or what, Davis? Because Tony's taking over my shift at 5."
Roger nodded and motioned for Jackie to follow him and Al. "Yeah."
* * * *
"Alright Davis, you know the drill. Leave the bandage on until tomorrow morning, then wash it and apply Bacitracin a few times a day. Any questions, you know where to find me."
Roger nodded and pulled his shirt back over his head. "Thanks Al. I owe you one."
Al shook his head and closed the cash register drawer. "Nah man, it was good to see you again. You go anywhere else from now on I'll kick your ass," he laughed.
Roger grinned. "I'll see you Al. You should come over to the loft one time and meet Mimi and everything."
"Yeah. I'll give you a call later this week. Tell that crazy fucker Wes I've got another design he'd like."
"I will. Later Al."
Roger and Jackie headed out onto the street and started walking back towards the loft. They climbed the stairs in silence and Roger opened the door. "Hey, we made it back before 6 AM," he grinned. The expression on his face changed when he noticed a mass of people crowded into his living room.
"I'm tired," Jackie smiled, but stopped when she noticed the look on his face as well. "Roger?" She squeezed in underneath his arm and paused on his other side.
"What's going on?"
Mimi was sitting on the couch, in between Maureen and Collins. He was holding Jaylynn and rocking her to sleep. Dan was perched next to him. Maureen had her head resting on Harvey's shoulder and her free hand linked through Mimi's. But what stood out to Roger the most was Mark, who was sitting on the floor numbly staring off into space. His eyes were visibly puffy, although he was trying to hide it well.
When Mimi heard Roger's voice, she automatically walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his stomach.
"Hey," he said softly, rubbing her back. "What's going on?"
Mark stood up and walked away into his side of the apartment. The loud slamming of the bedroom door that followed echoed throughout. Jackie turned to follow him but Dan stood up and softly grabbed her arm.
"Honey don't."
"Why not?" she asked.
"Lisa collapsed sometime early this morning. Matt found her a little over an hour ago, and they rushed her to the hospital. She's in renal failure," Collins added quietly. Maureen started crying and crushed her face into Harvey's shoulder.
Roger continued holding Mimi and looked over at him. "What's that mean?"
"Kidney failure. She needs a donor or she won't make it through the next 72 hours," Dan said.
"Where's Noah?" Roger asked.
"In Jaylynn's crib sound asleep. I went down to get him before Matt left for the hospital with her," Maureen said, wiping at her eyes.
"So can they do anything for her?" Jackie asked. "Can't they get a kidney or something?"
Collins shrugged. "She's in the top ten on the donor list, but they want to try family first. Cindy can't because she's seven months pregnant, Mark's dad can't because of his recent heart attack, and Mark's mother's not a good match."
"Well then what about Mark?" Roger shifted his weight and pulled Mimi closer to him.
"The doctors think it would be risky because of the surgery he had on his abdomen. They don't want to endanger his life that way," Dan answered.
"So we wait and pray, although none of us are very religious," Collins said solemnly.
"But we're losing Lisa. We can't lose her," Maureen sighed, starting to cry again. "There's too much death around here. Too many trips to the hospital."
"I know."
"I'm going to talk to him. I have to," Jackie said quickly. Before anyone could hold her back, she headed in the direction of Mark's bedroom.
* * * *
"If it's love… she said"Then we're gonna have to think about the consequences."
'Cause she can't stop shaking
And I can't stop touching her and
This time, when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away.
"Mark?"
Jackie peered into their bedroom. Mark was lying on the bed, his glasses near his feet and his back towards her and the door.
"What?"
His voice was harsh, cold, and uninviting. She didn't know when it had gotten so cold, but she couldn't stop from shaking as she approached him.
"It'll be okay," she tried, taking a seat at the edge of the bed.
"You don't know that."
"Mark I—"
He turned over and faced her. "Things haven't been right between us for awhile now, have they?"
Jackie stared at him. "I mean—we've had problems but we're okay. Right?"
"I don't know. I don't know what we are anymore."
"What?" Jackie blinked at him. "Mark—"
"I think we should spend some time apart."
"These seconds when I'm shaking leave me
shuddering for days" she
says.
And I'm not ready for this sort of thing
But I'm not gonna break
And I'm not going to worry about it anymore
I'm not gonna bend, and I'm not gonna break
and I'm not gonna worry about it anymore
"Mark you're upset because of your sister, you can't mean that—" A tear slid down Jackie's cheek and she wiped it away furiously.
"I don't know if it's right."
"What?"
"This. Us."
"So what am I supposed to be a single parent? No. This isn't the way it was supposed to work out," she said angrily. "I can't do this on my own."
"I know. I know," he said, closing his eyes. "I'm just confused."
"Were you confused when we had sex last night, too? Because I'm really fucking lost here Mark, and I don't know what to say to you right now."
But then I start to think about the consequencesBecause I don't get any sleep in a quiet room
"Jackie."
She shook her head and the tears started to fall. "No. You lied. You lied to me about everything. You promised me you would always be there for me. You lied."
He sat up and reached for his glasses. "I don't—"
"No. No," she sobbed. "You're not in love with me anymore. You don't love me."
"Jackie that's not true."
"Just stop fucking saying my name, okay? Because you're a liar. And I hate liars," she shot back at him.
She's my everythingShe's my best friend and more
Before you go
You oughta know that
I didn't mean to hurt you
I just wanted you to know
"Where are you going?"
"What does it matter?" she said softly.
"I just need to take care of my family shit first. Okay?"
"Don't explain to me. You made your decision."
Jackie left the room and bolted into the living room. She didn't particularly
care if she fell flat on her face at the current moment. She wanted to
disappear, and badly at that.
"Whoa, what happened?" Roger asked.
"Jackie?" Harvey stood up and followed her out of the loft. "Slow down." He looked over his shoulder and heard Roger charging down the stairs after them.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and pressed herself against the brick wall. Harvey caught up to her and stopped in front of her. "It's over."
"What?"
"Forget it. It's over. We broke up."
Roger had caught up to them both and shook his head. "No. What the fuck? I'm going to kick the shit out of him."
Jackie crumpled against the wall and slid to the bottom. Harvey grabbed Roger by the arm and dragged him to the side. "I don't care what you say to him, but you fix this. You fucking go up there and talk some sense into him and fix it, because I can't stand to see her hurting like this. He's a bastard for dumping his pregnant girlfriend because he has some emotional shit to deal with. Tell him to stop being fucking selfish. You talk to him."
Roger nodded. "Yeah. I'll go now." Roger ran back up the stairs and Harvey sat down next to Jackie.
"It'll be okay, Jac. I know it will." He wrapped his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder.
"But I didn't do anything wrong."
"He's just upset about everything, with his sister and all. He's not there emotionally. I bet you he doesn't know what he's doing."
"Harvey?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm gonna throw up. Move it or lose it," she moaned.
Harvey rubbed her back as she finished. "Let's go back to my place, okay? You can get some sleep and I'll tell Maureen to grab a few of your things and bring it over. You can stay with me until shit gets settled."
Jackie nodded and stood up. "Thanks."
"Can't let you be miserable by yourself, now can I? You can even eat everything in my kitchen. We'll watch horrible chick flicks all night. Deal?"
Jackie shrugged. "I guess."
Harvey kissed the top of her head and they walked towards the subway station. "You'll be okay Jac. Lisa's gonna be okay, and Mark's gonna be okay. We'll all get through this, even if we have to kick, bite and scream our way through it."
Jackie said nothing as she watched the moonlight catch the diamond in her engagement ring. Without much effort, she slid it off her finger and pocketed it as they passed through the turn style.
Black tears are falling down her face And I am wrong
Black tears are falling
And she won't say what I've done
She's sitting here beside me
Then she's gone
Black tears are falling, falling.
* * * *
Review? Please do! :)
And don't be too mad at me! I promise things will be okay between them again, you'll just have to wait and see!
Lyrics:
Counting Crows: "Anna Begins"
Ben Folds: "Losing Lisa"