"Mister Davis?"
Roger jolted awake, feeling a nurse's shoulder on his arm.
"Mister Davis, Doctor Moore would like to see you know."
Roger rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.
As his vision began to get less blurry, and his head cleared up, he suddenly remembered why he was at the hospital, and he stood to his feet, uneasily.
"This way, please," the nurse said, and once again Roger was led into the hallway, outside the room Mimi was in.
The nurse knocked on the door and opened it a crack. "Doctor Moore?" she called, quietly.
A young woman came out with short wispy blonde hair, and a pair of wire-framed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.
"Hello, Mister Davis," she smiled briefly, holding out her hand. "I'm Doctor Moore."
Roger returned the gesture and shook her hand. "How is she?" he asked, softly.
Dr. Moore folded her hands together. "We have her heavily sedated," she said. "And she's sleeping now. She was in a lot of pain."
"So…she was raped," Roger said. He was hoping that out of some miracle it was would turn out that something else had happened, which would explain the state that he had found Mimi in. Anything would be better…
"Yes," Dr. Moore said quietly, "She was. We found traces of semen and tearing…she's been given seven stitches."
Roger swallowed and nodded. "Did she say who did this to her?"
Dr. Moore shook her head. "She was very quiet throughout the whole procedure."
"That's not like her," Roger said, nervously.
"Mister Davis…"
"Call me Roger," he said quickly.
"Roger…your girlfriend has been through a very traumatic experience. It may take a while for her to return to her normal self."
Roger nodded, slowly. "Was there anything else…that you found?"
"Other than severe bruising on her inner thighs and a few cuts and scrapes…no. She did appear to have a slight concussion…she has quite a bump in her head. We'd like to bring in officers to try and find out more about what happened. Try to see if we can figure out who her attacker was. Or if she'll tell us herself."
Roger nodded again. "Can I see her?"
"Well…at the moment, she's asleep. I suppose you can just go in there and sit with her for a little while. The nurses have done all the procedures needed, so no one would be bustling in and bothering you."
"Alright," Roger said. "When would the police come?"
"We'd probably bring them in tomorrow, when she's awake so she can file a report." She paused and stepped away from the door. "You can go inside now, if you'd like."
"Okay," Roger said. "Thank you." He stepped inside, and Dr. Moore closed the door quietly after him.
Slowly, Roger eased himself into a little lumpy stool and pulled it up so that he was by Mimi's side. She was indeed, asleep, and was now wearing a mint-green hospital gown. Roger saw her clothes folded atop the nightstand near other side of the bed. She had a hospital bracelet taped to her narrow wrist, which now rested limply across her stomach. Her brunette curls were spread on he pillow around her like a halo. She seemed peaceful-almost scarily so.
Only Mimi could still look beautiful in this situation, Roger thought.
Gingerly, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it softly.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," he whispered, feeling the rims of his eyes fill with tears. "I'm I let you leave the Loft. I should never have let you go." He squeezed her hand gently. It was small and delicate compared to his.
"Big-like my fathers," he heard Mimi's voice say in his head. That was when he'd first met her. He felt himself smile, weakly. Her hands seemed small as ever, now.
***
Roger awoke the next morning with a crick in his neck. He could see through the window that it was still dark out, but the clock by the bed claimed it was five in the morning.
He groaned and stretched, placing a hand on his aching neck. He'd been at the hospital all night. He was still seated in the stool by Mimi's bed, and had folded his arms on top of the bed and rested his head there. He didn't think it was hospital policy to allow visitors to stay overnight. Maybe the doctor had let him out of sympathy, Roger thought to himself.
He glanced over at Mimi, who was still asleep.
His stomach was growling.
Quietly, Roger stood up and went down the hall to look for a vending machine.
He found one at the end of the hall, and jammed a few quarters into it and pushed a few buttons at random. He watched a Three Musketeers Bar fall to the bottom of the machine with a thud.
He took a bite of it, stuffed the rest of it in his pocket, and went into the men's room.
He stopped in front of the mirror, gazing at his tired expression. He looked like he'd been through hell. He supposed that in a way, he had.
He splashed some cold water on his face, and wandered back into Mimi's room, waiting for her to wake up.
When she finally did, she was still woozy from the painkillers that the doctors had given her.
Roger saw her left her arm slightly, and glanced up to see Mimi open her eyes, weakly. She turned her head and met his gaze, and didn't seem surprised to see him there, even though she had had no way of knowing he was in the room.
"Hi," she said, in a hoarse voice.
"Hey," he said gently. "Let me get you some water-you sound like you could use some." He stood up and walked over to the sink, filling a paper cup with cold water, then sat back down to hand it to her.
"Thanks." She took a long sip before placing it back onto the nightstand.
"How're you feeling?" he asked, quietly.
Mimi gave him an odd look as if to say How the fuck do you think I'm feeling?! "Like shit," she said, flatly.
"The doctor said she had to give you a couple of stitches," Roger said, uneasily.
Mimi nodded. "Yeah. They basically knocked me out in order to do it."
Roger nodded, and was silent for a moment. "Mimi…" he said, quietly. "Who was it?"
"I…I don't know."
"Bullshit," Roger declared. "I can tell when you're lying. Who was it, Meems?"
"Just some guy at the club," Mimi mumbled.
"From the club?!" Roger exploded. "Someone who works there?!"
"No…one of the dancer's boyfriends."
"What was his name?"
"I…don't remember."
"Mimi! How the fuck are the police supposed to help you if you can't even give me a straight answer?!" Roger shouted, unable to help himself.
"I don't know! Stop yelling at me!" Mimi moaned, beginning to cry. "I don't want to answer any questions! I just want to forget about everything and go on with my life!" She held her head in her hands and cried.
Roger felt awful. He was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to yell."
"Fuck you, Roger," Mimi sobbed, shaking uncontrollably.
"You don't think I feel horrible, Mimi?" Roger whispered. "You don't think I feel awful about not being there to protect you?"
Mimi didn't answer as tears slid down her face.
"Mimi," Roger whispered, pulling her towards him gently, embracing her in a hug. He felt her tears sock his shirt.
"I just want to die," Mimi whispered.
"Don't say that!" Roger said, angrily. "You did nothing wrong. It was that bastard who…attacked you…" he shook his head. "So God help me, if I ever come face to face with the guy who did this to you I will rip his head off." He sighed. "I told you you shouldn't have gone to work that day."
"Don't try to put the blame on me!" Mimi yelled. "What do you think, I came up to him and said 'Hey, big boy. Come over here and…rape me," she broke down again as the word rape left her mouth. "Oh God," she moaned, covering her face with her hands.
"Of course it wasn't your fault, Meems. I wasn't trying to say it was. But I knew something wasn't right at the club. That day when you came home and you were upset…had he been bothering you?"
"I…yes," Mimi whispered, not wanting to tell him what had went on that night.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you," Roger whispered. "I could have stopped him."
Mimi sniffled. "It wasn't your fault. What's done is done."
"If only I could have been there a little earlier…"
"But you weren't, Roger. You weren't and it happened. You can't change the past," Mimi said, in a small, tired voice.
"I know. I still feel like it's my fault, though," Roger said, quietly. "I'm just sorry…sorry that it had to happen."
Mimi nodded. "Me too," she whispered, tears sliding down her face.
They sat in silence, and Roger just held her tightly in his arms.
***
A/N: Okay, this chapter would've been longer…except it was literally tearing my heart just to write this. As soon as I started to write the part where Mimi started to cry, I get this disgusting awful feeling in my chest. I have such a guilty conscience, lol. That happens whenever I write something that's sort of sad, but never as much as this story…ya know the song from School of Rock, 'Heal Me, I'm Heartsick'? Yeah, that's how I felt while writing this, lol. Hopefully the next chapter will be a little longer, and my heart will have stopped spazzing by then. Tell me what you think-review, por favor!!!