Mimi opened her eyes wearily and stared at her unfamiliar surroundings.
Her blurred vision finally cleared, and as she took a glimpse of the off white walls and buzzing florescent lights, she realized where she was.
She turned her head and saw Roger sitting on a fold-out chair beside him, his head held in his hand. He was asleep.
Mimi wondered how long she'd been there.
Suddenly, the events that had taken place earlier hit her like a blow to her face.
Joel was dead.
He'd shot her.
Mimi looked at her arm and saw that her shoulder was bandaged, and winced when she saw an IV needle stuck into her arm.
She hated needles.
"Roger?" she whispered, hoarsely.
Roger immediately lifted his head, making Mimi wonder if he had even been sleeping.
"You're awake," he whispered, with relief.
His eyes were red and puffy. It looked like he had been crying.
"Thank God," he said with a sigh, moving closer to her side.
"You know I'd never leave you alone," Mimi smiled, raising her hand to caress his cheek.
Roger held onto her hand tightly, and kissed it gently before letting go.
"What the hell did they do to me?" Mimi asked, looking at her bandage.
"You lost a lot of blood, Meems. They did an MRI . . ."
"What?"
"Magnetic Resonance Imaging."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"It's so they can see your tissue on screen so they can detect where the bullet is."
Mimi wrinkled her nose. "Gross."
"Then they had to surgically remove it."
"Was I awake for it?"
"You were out the whole time."
Mimi sighed. "God. When I closed my eyes back up in the loft I'd thought it'd be for the last time."
"Don't think like that, Meems," Roger said, pushing a stray curl behind her ear.
Mimi smiled, weakly. "Where's Daisha?"
"She's out in the waiting room with everyone else."
"Everyone else?"
"Isabella, Mark, Jan, Collins, Frankie, Maureen, and Joanne."
"Jeez. How long have I been out?"
"Well . . . it's tomorrow already."
Mimi laughed. "No shit." The she paused. "What about Joel?"
Roger squirmed, uncomfortably. "He's dead. I told the paramedics what happened on the way to the hospital, and they sent some people back to the loft and they sent the police over to file a report."
"File a report . . ." Mimi repeated.
"Yeah," Roger said, his voice a bit shaky. "I told them what happened, but they're going to question me later today."
"Roger . . . it's manslaughter."
"Christ, Mimi, it was self-defense! He fucking shot you!"
Mimi bit her lip. "What's going to happen to you?"
"I don't know. It'll be fine, though," said Roger, trying to put on a brave face.
"But what if it's not?"
Before Roger could reply, a large heavyset female nurse entered the room, pushing a cart with a tray of food in with her.
"Oh!" she said, surprised when she was Mimi was awake. "I was going to give this to your friend, since he's been here all day and I didn't think you'd be up anytime soon. I guess the anesthesia wore off, though. I'll get another tray for you, hon."
"It's okay. I'm not hungry. Thanks, though."
"No problem, hon." She walked over to Mimi's bedside to take a look at the IV drip beside the bedpost.
"Hmm. Dry. I'll be back in a sec to refill it. And to change your bandage."
"Okay," said Mimi.
The nurse gave her another smile before leaving.
"Do you want me to bring in the others to see you?" Roger asked, before Mimi could say anything more about Joel.
"Alright."
"Okay. I'll be back in a moment," he said, kissing her quickly on the cheek.
A moment later he returned, followed by Daisha and Isabella.
"They said only intermediate family," he said, shrugging as the two of them rushed over to Mimi.
"Ohmygod, Chica, you're alright," breathed Isabella, with tears streaming down her face. "I was so worried! Don't give us another scare like that again, kay?"
"I'll try," Mimi said, smiling.
"Does your arm hurt?" whispered Daisha.
"A little," Mimi admitted. "It just aches a lot."
"When all of the anesthesia wears off, it'll hurt like a bitch."
"Thanks," Mimi said, rolling her eyes."
"Sorry," Isabella said, quickly. "You know, the nurses said that if Roger hadn't tied his jacket around your arm, you would have lost a lot more blood."
"Really?"
"Yup. They also said if the bullet had entered a millimeter to the right, it would have hit an artery. You're lucky, Meems."
"I know," Mimi whispered, looking at Roger.
"Well, I guess you two probably wanna be alone now," Isabella said, standing up. "I'll tell the others that you're doing okay. They slept on the floor of the waiting room last night."
Mimi laughed. "The doctors let them?"
"Well usually they wouldn't, but when they saw how many people were here for you, they just let it pass. Besides, Roger wouldn't have it any other way."
"Thanks, Babe," Mimi said, smiling at Roger.
"No problem," he said, smiling back at her.
The door opened a crack, revealing a young man in a police uniform.
"Roger Davis?" he implied, looking at Roger.
Roger gave Mimi a nervous look. "That's me," he said.
"Do you mind stepping outside for a few moments? We'd like to question you," the cop said, jerking his head back at his partner, behind him.
Roger stood up.
"I'll be back soon, okay, Baby?" he whispered to Mimi.
Mimi nodded, a pit of fear rising in her stomach.
Isabella and Daisha watched as Roger went out the door.
"Mr. Davis?" the other officer assumed, looking at Roger. He was black, and he appeared to be much older than his partner.
"Yes," Roger said, swallowing.
"Mr. Davis, a man was found dead in your apartment at nine past ten last night."
Roger nodded, nervously.
"I know that you've already told the police what happened," the cop said, taking a clipboard from his belt, "But we'd like to ask you a few questions ourselves. Is that alright with you?"
Knowing he had no other choice, Roger nodded.
"Can you tell me exactly what happened last night, in explicit detail?"
"Alright," Roger said, slowly. "My girlfriend's younger sister has been staying at our place for the past couple of days. Her stepfather beats her regularly, and made a few sexual gestures towards her, so obviously we didn't want her staying there."
The officer nodded, scrawling onto the clipboard silently.
"This didn't just start up. He used to beat Mimi, my girlfriend, the same way. Only two days ago she went over there to try to sort things out with him, and he hit her, and threw her against the wall. He wanted to know where Daisha was, but Mimi refused to tell him. He'd been drinking."
Roger cleared his throat, and the officer nodded his head again, gesturing for him to continue.
"Anyway, yesterday a friend of a friend told Joel our address by mistake, and he came to our apartment, planning to bring Daisha back home with him. Mimi tried to stop him, and he shoved her against the wall. I guess I sort of snapped, then. I hit him, out of anger, and also I was trying to protect Mimi and Daisha. He hit me back, and then it just turned into a huge brawl between the two of us. He pulled out a gun, intending to hit me, and Mimi got in the way. I managed to wrestle the gun away from him . . . and I hit him in the side of the head with it. I hadn't planned on the blow being fatal . . . I was just trying to knock him out, you know? I mean, he was armed, and he'd just shot my girlfriend. It was self defense . . . do you understand what I'm saying?"
"For someone not intending to kill anyone, you sure hit him hard," the younger cop said.
"I was SCARED, damn it! He's just shot my girlfriend, and I was scared, and angry, and confused, I was just trying to knock him out so he wouldn't try to fire again."
"And did the victim indeed intend to fire again?"
"Yes. I mean, he was stunned for a moment when Mimi jumped out in front of me, but then he started fumbling for the trigger again, and that was when I managed to get the gun away from him."
"Thank you, Mr. Davis," the older cop said, putting away the clipboard. "That will be all for now."
"What's going to happen to me?"
"Well this death COULD go under the category of homicide . . . clearly though, from what you've told us, and from what you've told the other cops, it was an accidental killing, out of self defense. That is, if you're telling the truth."
Roger nodded his head vigorously. "I AM, Goddamn it! Ask Mimi! Or ask Daisha! They'll tell you the same thing I did!"
"There's no need to over react, Mr. Davis," the cop said, quietly. "We just need to have all possibilities available for now, while we are still uncertain of what exactly happened. We plan to do a background search on Joel Vargas. His wife requested that we do an autopsy. The doctors here will be performing the autopsy here in the next 72 hours. From there we'll be able to determine how hard the victim was hit, and if he died of a blood clot, et cetera."
Roger nodded, in a daze. "Will I have to go to court?"
"Possibly. We won't be able to give you a more sufficient answer until later, after the autopsy."
"I'm not going to be taken in, am I?" Roger asked, weakly.
"You mean taken to jail?"
Roger nodded.
The cop shrugged. "Not for now, at least. We'll let you know in the next 72 hours what's going on, alright?"
Roger nodded again.
"Just lay low until then. You can go now," the cop waved him off.
"Thanks," Roger said, hoarsely, as he walked back into Mimi's room.
"Well?" Mimi asked, impatiently as he sat back down.
"They just questioned me . . . your mother requested they do an autopsy. That'll be in about three days. They said they'll let me know what's going to happen after that, and to just lay low for now."
"Okay," Mimi said, slowly. "I'm scared, Rog."
"Don't be, Babe. There's nothing to be scared about. It was self defense you know that."
Mimi nodded, still looking unconvinced.
They heard a rustling noise from outside the door, and all of a sudden, Mimi's mother burst into the room, looking frantic.
"Perfect timing," Daisha grinned, standing up to greet her mother, who she hadn't seen in weeks."
"Daisha! Novio! I was worried sick about you, Chica," Conchita exclaimed, kissing Daisha's forehead.
"I'm sorry, Mama."
"Don't be sorry. You're here and that's all that matters," Conchita said, smiling. Then she rushed over to Mimi.
"Maria Conchita," she breathed, hugging Mimi tightly.
"Hi, Mama," Mimi whispered.
"When they told me . . . I thought . . . I thought of the worst, Chica. I was so frightened."
"I'm okay now, Mama," Mimi said, smiling. She turned her head toward Roger. "Mama, this is my boyfriend, Roger. Roger, this is my mother."
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Roger said, forcing a smile as he shook her hand.
"Indeed," Conchita said, slowly, shaking his hand. "Muy guapo, Mimi," she whispered, with a girlish giggle.
Mimi rolled her eyes.
"I've heard a lot about you," Conchita told Roger.
"And I of you."
"Well. It's nice to know Mimi's not ashamed of her Madre, right Mimi?"
"I could never be ashamed of you," Mimi said, laughing.
Conchita smiled, and knelt down beside the side of Mimi's bed.
"So," she said, her voice suddenly becoming seriously, her face sullen. "He's really gone."
"I know," Mimi whispered, knowing beforehand that she would have to have this conversation with her mother. "Are you sad?"
"Sad that he's gone, know. Sad for him, si. He was a very sad, pathetic soul, Chica. He tried to harm my children, and I hate him for that. I should have tried to do something sooner," she said, sighing. "He could have killed you, Chica."
"But he didn't, Mama. I'm alright."
"Yes, but he COULD have. And I would never be able to live with myself knowing I could have done something to stop him"
"Nothing is your fault," Mimi told her.
Conchita smiled. "You're brave, Mimi. Un combatiente."
Mimi blushed.
Suddenly, they heard loud commotion from outside Mimi's room.
"You can't get in there!" shouted the female nurse who had been in Mimi's room earlier.
Mark burst through the door, followed by Jan, and everyone else.
"Jesus Christ, Mark," Roger exclaimed.
"We couldn't wait any longer," Mark said, shrugging.
Collins, Frankie, Maureen and Joanne filed into the room.
"Well, this is sort of uncomfortable," Isabella laughed, moving back towards the window so she had more room.
"Mimi, how are you?" Maureen asked, her voice full of concern.
Mimi smiled. "I'm alright now."
"We were so scared when we heard what happened," Collins said, with a sigh of relief. "But we're blessed to have you back with us."
"Thanks, Collins. Oh, and this is my mother, by the way," she said, gesturing towards Conchita.
"A pleasure," Conchita said, as the others waved and said hello.
Mimi heard a bark.
"What is that?" she asked, frowning.
"A visitor," Frankie said, putting a small bag up on the bed and slowly unzipping it. "Pepper wanted to come see you as well."
Mimi laughed as the small dog licked her face.
"You don't let me do that," Roger joked.
"Roger!" Mimi exclaimed, "My mother's in the room!"
"It's okay, Chica," Conchita said, hiding a smile.
"We had to stop like five times on the car ride here to let her out to pee," Mark complained.
"So? She's a small dog, she has a small bladder. Let her alone," Frankie said.
"We're just so relieved that you're okay," Joanne told Mimi.
"Thanks you guys," Mimi said.
"Does your arm hurt?" Jan asked her.
"I've been getting that question a lot today," Mimi laughed. "It doesn't hurt now. But it will when the anesthesia wears off," she said, before Isabella could answer for her.
"Oh. Sorry about that," Jan said, giving her a sympathetic look.
"It's alright. I'm lucky to be alive, anyway."
"The doctors said that if the bullet had hit a millimeter to the side, she could have died," Roger told the others.
They all shook their heads in disbelief.
"You guys need to leave- NOW!" the female nurse snapped, squeezing into the now filled room.
"Jeez, lady, we're coming," Frankie grumbled.
"And no animals allowed in the hospital!" she demanded, when she saw Pepper.
"That didn't stop them from letting you work here, did it?" Mark muttered, as Pepper growled at the nurse.
Jan shushed him.
"We'll see you guys later, okay?" Collins said to Roger and Mimi.
"See you," Roger said.
"We should probably go too," Isabella said, taking Daisha's hand.
Conchita rose as well. "I'll see you later, Chica."
"Okay. Adios, Mama. Adios guys."
They all left, but Mark stayed behind for a moment.
"Did the police question you?" he asked Roger, quietly.
Roger nodded, and told him what they had told him.
"Fuck. This isn't going to be easy," Mark said, shaking his head.
"It was self defense," Roger responded. "Mark, he shot Mimi. And he would have shot me or Daisha if I hadn't stopped him."
"Alright," Mark said, still seeming uneasy. "I'm just afraid for you."
"Don't be," Roger said, in a tired voice. "Everything will be fine."
"I hope you're right," Mark said, as he reached for the doorknob. "I'll see you guys later."
"Bye," Roger and Mimi said at the same time.
Mark left.
"Are you scared?" Mimi asked Roger.
Roger shrugged. "I've got a mixture of feelings going on right now, I'm scared, I'm relieved that you're okay, and I'm nervous."
Mimi nodded, understandingly.
"But the police are the least important thing on my mind right now," he whispered, kissing her gently on the lips.
Mimi kissed him back, wrapping her uninjured arm around his neck.
When they were in a mid make-out session, the nurse entered the room again.
"Jesus Christ," she said, when she saw the two of them. "If I wanted to deal with stuff like this, I would have become a Zoo Keeper," she declared, slamming the door behind her.
Roger and Mimi looked at each other and giggled as they heard her footsteps rushing back down the hall.
a/n: I did a lot of research for this chapter. Got lots of help from Mari ( Muchos gracias! Anyway, I didn't let Mimi die- TOLD YA SO! Anyway, review, tell me how you like.
Her blurred vision finally cleared, and as she took a glimpse of the off white walls and buzzing florescent lights, she realized where she was.
She turned her head and saw Roger sitting on a fold-out chair beside him, his head held in his hand. He was asleep.
Mimi wondered how long she'd been there.
Suddenly, the events that had taken place earlier hit her like a blow to her face.
Joel was dead.
He'd shot her.
Mimi looked at her arm and saw that her shoulder was bandaged, and winced when she saw an IV needle stuck into her arm.
She hated needles.
"Roger?" she whispered, hoarsely.
Roger immediately lifted his head, making Mimi wonder if he had even been sleeping.
"You're awake," he whispered, with relief.
His eyes were red and puffy. It looked like he had been crying.
"Thank God," he said with a sigh, moving closer to her side.
"You know I'd never leave you alone," Mimi smiled, raising her hand to caress his cheek.
Roger held onto her hand tightly, and kissed it gently before letting go.
"What the hell did they do to me?" Mimi asked, looking at her bandage.
"You lost a lot of blood, Meems. They did an MRI . . ."
"What?"
"Magnetic Resonance Imaging."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"It's so they can see your tissue on screen so they can detect where the bullet is."
Mimi wrinkled her nose. "Gross."
"Then they had to surgically remove it."
"Was I awake for it?"
"You were out the whole time."
Mimi sighed. "God. When I closed my eyes back up in the loft I'd thought it'd be for the last time."
"Don't think like that, Meems," Roger said, pushing a stray curl behind her ear.
Mimi smiled, weakly. "Where's Daisha?"
"She's out in the waiting room with everyone else."
"Everyone else?"
"Isabella, Mark, Jan, Collins, Frankie, Maureen, and Joanne."
"Jeez. How long have I been out?"
"Well . . . it's tomorrow already."
Mimi laughed. "No shit." The she paused. "What about Joel?"
Roger squirmed, uncomfortably. "He's dead. I told the paramedics what happened on the way to the hospital, and they sent some people back to the loft and they sent the police over to file a report."
"File a report . . ." Mimi repeated.
"Yeah," Roger said, his voice a bit shaky. "I told them what happened, but they're going to question me later today."
"Roger . . . it's manslaughter."
"Christ, Mimi, it was self-defense! He fucking shot you!"
Mimi bit her lip. "What's going to happen to you?"
"I don't know. It'll be fine, though," said Roger, trying to put on a brave face.
"But what if it's not?"
Before Roger could reply, a large heavyset female nurse entered the room, pushing a cart with a tray of food in with her.
"Oh!" she said, surprised when she was Mimi was awake. "I was going to give this to your friend, since he's been here all day and I didn't think you'd be up anytime soon. I guess the anesthesia wore off, though. I'll get another tray for you, hon."
"It's okay. I'm not hungry. Thanks, though."
"No problem, hon." She walked over to Mimi's bedside to take a look at the IV drip beside the bedpost.
"Hmm. Dry. I'll be back in a sec to refill it. And to change your bandage."
"Okay," said Mimi.
The nurse gave her another smile before leaving.
"Do you want me to bring in the others to see you?" Roger asked, before Mimi could say anything more about Joel.
"Alright."
"Okay. I'll be back in a moment," he said, kissing her quickly on the cheek.
A moment later he returned, followed by Daisha and Isabella.
"They said only intermediate family," he said, shrugging as the two of them rushed over to Mimi.
"Ohmygod, Chica, you're alright," breathed Isabella, with tears streaming down her face. "I was so worried! Don't give us another scare like that again, kay?"
"I'll try," Mimi said, smiling.
"Does your arm hurt?" whispered Daisha.
"A little," Mimi admitted. "It just aches a lot."
"When all of the anesthesia wears off, it'll hurt like a bitch."
"Thanks," Mimi said, rolling her eyes."
"Sorry," Isabella said, quickly. "You know, the nurses said that if Roger hadn't tied his jacket around your arm, you would have lost a lot more blood."
"Really?"
"Yup. They also said if the bullet had entered a millimeter to the right, it would have hit an artery. You're lucky, Meems."
"I know," Mimi whispered, looking at Roger.
"Well, I guess you two probably wanna be alone now," Isabella said, standing up. "I'll tell the others that you're doing okay. They slept on the floor of the waiting room last night."
Mimi laughed. "The doctors let them?"
"Well usually they wouldn't, but when they saw how many people were here for you, they just let it pass. Besides, Roger wouldn't have it any other way."
"Thanks, Babe," Mimi said, smiling at Roger.
"No problem," he said, smiling back at her.
The door opened a crack, revealing a young man in a police uniform.
"Roger Davis?" he implied, looking at Roger.
Roger gave Mimi a nervous look. "That's me," he said.
"Do you mind stepping outside for a few moments? We'd like to question you," the cop said, jerking his head back at his partner, behind him.
Roger stood up.
"I'll be back soon, okay, Baby?" he whispered to Mimi.
Mimi nodded, a pit of fear rising in her stomach.
Isabella and Daisha watched as Roger went out the door.
"Mr. Davis?" the other officer assumed, looking at Roger. He was black, and he appeared to be much older than his partner.
"Yes," Roger said, swallowing.
"Mr. Davis, a man was found dead in your apartment at nine past ten last night."
Roger nodded, nervously.
"I know that you've already told the police what happened," the cop said, taking a clipboard from his belt, "But we'd like to ask you a few questions ourselves. Is that alright with you?"
Knowing he had no other choice, Roger nodded.
"Can you tell me exactly what happened last night, in explicit detail?"
"Alright," Roger said, slowly. "My girlfriend's younger sister has been staying at our place for the past couple of days. Her stepfather beats her regularly, and made a few sexual gestures towards her, so obviously we didn't want her staying there."
The officer nodded, scrawling onto the clipboard silently.
"This didn't just start up. He used to beat Mimi, my girlfriend, the same way. Only two days ago she went over there to try to sort things out with him, and he hit her, and threw her against the wall. He wanted to know where Daisha was, but Mimi refused to tell him. He'd been drinking."
Roger cleared his throat, and the officer nodded his head again, gesturing for him to continue.
"Anyway, yesterday a friend of a friend told Joel our address by mistake, and he came to our apartment, planning to bring Daisha back home with him. Mimi tried to stop him, and he shoved her against the wall. I guess I sort of snapped, then. I hit him, out of anger, and also I was trying to protect Mimi and Daisha. He hit me back, and then it just turned into a huge brawl between the two of us. He pulled out a gun, intending to hit me, and Mimi got in the way. I managed to wrestle the gun away from him . . . and I hit him in the side of the head with it. I hadn't planned on the blow being fatal . . . I was just trying to knock him out, you know? I mean, he was armed, and he'd just shot my girlfriend. It was self defense . . . do you understand what I'm saying?"
"For someone not intending to kill anyone, you sure hit him hard," the younger cop said.
"I was SCARED, damn it! He's just shot my girlfriend, and I was scared, and angry, and confused, I was just trying to knock him out so he wouldn't try to fire again."
"And did the victim indeed intend to fire again?"
"Yes. I mean, he was stunned for a moment when Mimi jumped out in front of me, but then he started fumbling for the trigger again, and that was when I managed to get the gun away from him."
"Thank you, Mr. Davis," the older cop said, putting away the clipboard. "That will be all for now."
"What's going to happen to me?"
"Well this death COULD go under the category of homicide . . . clearly though, from what you've told us, and from what you've told the other cops, it was an accidental killing, out of self defense. That is, if you're telling the truth."
Roger nodded his head vigorously. "I AM, Goddamn it! Ask Mimi! Or ask Daisha! They'll tell you the same thing I did!"
"There's no need to over react, Mr. Davis," the cop said, quietly. "We just need to have all possibilities available for now, while we are still uncertain of what exactly happened. We plan to do a background search on Joel Vargas. His wife requested that we do an autopsy. The doctors here will be performing the autopsy here in the next 72 hours. From there we'll be able to determine how hard the victim was hit, and if he died of a blood clot, et cetera."
Roger nodded, in a daze. "Will I have to go to court?"
"Possibly. We won't be able to give you a more sufficient answer until later, after the autopsy."
"I'm not going to be taken in, am I?" Roger asked, weakly.
"You mean taken to jail?"
Roger nodded.
The cop shrugged. "Not for now, at least. We'll let you know in the next 72 hours what's going on, alright?"
Roger nodded again.
"Just lay low until then. You can go now," the cop waved him off.
"Thanks," Roger said, hoarsely, as he walked back into Mimi's room.
"Well?" Mimi asked, impatiently as he sat back down.
"They just questioned me . . . your mother requested they do an autopsy. That'll be in about three days. They said they'll let me know what's going to happen after that, and to just lay low for now."
"Okay," Mimi said, slowly. "I'm scared, Rog."
"Don't be, Babe. There's nothing to be scared about. It was self defense you know that."
Mimi nodded, still looking unconvinced.
They heard a rustling noise from outside the door, and all of a sudden, Mimi's mother burst into the room, looking frantic.
"Perfect timing," Daisha grinned, standing up to greet her mother, who she hadn't seen in weeks."
"Daisha! Novio! I was worried sick about you, Chica," Conchita exclaimed, kissing Daisha's forehead.
"I'm sorry, Mama."
"Don't be sorry. You're here and that's all that matters," Conchita said, smiling. Then she rushed over to Mimi.
"Maria Conchita," she breathed, hugging Mimi tightly.
"Hi, Mama," Mimi whispered.
"When they told me . . . I thought . . . I thought of the worst, Chica. I was so frightened."
"I'm okay now, Mama," Mimi said, smiling. She turned her head toward Roger. "Mama, this is my boyfriend, Roger. Roger, this is my mother."
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Roger said, forcing a smile as he shook her hand.
"Indeed," Conchita said, slowly, shaking his hand. "Muy guapo, Mimi," she whispered, with a girlish giggle.
Mimi rolled her eyes.
"I've heard a lot about you," Conchita told Roger.
"And I of you."
"Well. It's nice to know Mimi's not ashamed of her Madre, right Mimi?"
"I could never be ashamed of you," Mimi said, laughing.
Conchita smiled, and knelt down beside the side of Mimi's bed.
"So," she said, her voice suddenly becoming seriously, her face sullen. "He's really gone."
"I know," Mimi whispered, knowing beforehand that she would have to have this conversation with her mother. "Are you sad?"
"Sad that he's gone, know. Sad for him, si. He was a very sad, pathetic soul, Chica. He tried to harm my children, and I hate him for that. I should have tried to do something sooner," she said, sighing. "He could have killed you, Chica."
"But he didn't, Mama. I'm alright."
"Yes, but he COULD have. And I would never be able to live with myself knowing I could have done something to stop him"
"Nothing is your fault," Mimi told her.
Conchita smiled. "You're brave, Mimi. Un combatiente."
Mimi blushed.
Suddenly, they heard loud commotion from outside Mimi's room.
"You can't get in there!" shouted the female nurse who had been in Mimi's room earlier.
Mark burst through the door, followed by Jan, and everyone else.
"Jesus Christ, Mark," Roger exclaimed.
"We couldn't wait any longer," Mark said, shrugging.
Collins, Frankie, Maureen and Joanne filed into the room.
"Well, this is sort of uncomfortable," Isabella laughed, moving back towards the window so she had more room.
"Mimi, how are you?" Maureen asked, her voice full of concern.
Mimi smiled. "I'm alright now."
"We were so scared when we heard what happened," Collins said, with a sigh of relief. "But we're blessed to have you back with us."
"Thanks, Collins. Oh, and this is my mother, by the way," she said, gesturing towards Conchita.
"A pleasure," Conchita said, as the others waved and said hello.
Mimi heard a bark.
"What is that?" she asked, frowning.
"A visitor," Frankie said, putting a small bag up on the bed and slowly unzipping it. "Pepper wanted to come see you as well."
Mimi laughed as the small dog licked her face.
"You don't let me do that," Roger joked.
"Roger!" Mimi exclaimed, "My mother's in the room!"
"It's okay, Chica," Conchita said, hiding a smile.
"We had to stop like five times on the car ride here to let her out to pee," Mark complained.
"So? She's a small dog, she has a small bladder. Let her alone," Frankie said.
"We're just so relieved that you're okay," Joanne told Mimi.
"Thanks you guys," Mimi said.
"Does your arm hurt?" Jan asked her.
"I've been getting that question a lot today," Mimi laughed. "It doesn't hurt now. But it will when the anesthesia wears off," she said, before Isabella could answer for her.
"Oh. Sorry about that," Jan said, giving her a sympathetic look.
"It's alright. I'm lucky to be alive, anyway."
"The doctors said that if the bullet had hit a millimeter to the side, she could have died," Roger told the others.
They all shook their heads in disbelief.
"You guys need to leave- NOW!" the female nurse snapped, squeezing into the now filled room.
"Jeez, lady, we're coming," Frankie grumbled.
"And no animals allowed in the hospital!" she demanded, when she saw Pepper.
"That didn't stop them from letting you work here, did it?" Mark muttered, as Pepper growled at the nurse.
Jan shushed him.
"We'll see you guys later, okay?" Collins said to Roger and Mimi.
"See you," Roger said.
"We should probably go too," Isabella said, taking Daisha's hand.
Conchita rose as well. "I'll see you later, Chica."
"Okay. Adios, Mama. Adios guys."
They all left, but Mark stayed behind for a moment.
"Did the police question you?" he asked Roger, quietly.
Roger nodded, and told him what they had told him.
"Fuck. This isn't going to be easy," Mark said, shaking his head.
"It was self defense," Roger responded. "Mark, he shot Mimi. And he would have shot me or Daisha if I hadn't stopped him."
"Alright," Mark said, still seeming uneasy. "I'm just afraid for you."
"Don't be," Roger said, in a tired voice. "Everything will be fine."
"I hope you're right," Mark said, as he reached for the doorknob. "I'll see you guys later."
"Bye," Roger and Mimi said at the same time.
Mark left.
"Are you scared?" Mimi asked Roger.
Roger shrugged. "I've got a mixture of feelings going on right now, I'm scared, I'm relieved that you're okay, and I'm nervous."
Mimi nodded, understandingly.
"But the police are the least important thing on my mind right now," he whispered, kissing her gently on the lips.
Mimi kissed him back, wrapping her uninjured arm around his neck.
When they were in a mid make-out session, the nurse entered the room again.
"Jesus Christ," she said, when she saw the two of them. "If I wanted to deal with stuff like this, I would have become a Zoo Keeper," she declared, slamming the door behind her.
Roger and Mimi looked at each other and giggled as they heard her footsteps rushing back down the hall.
a/n: I did a lot of research for this chapter. Got lots of help from Mari ( Muchos gracias! Anyway, I didn't let Mimi die- TOLD YA SO! Anyway, review, tell me how you like.