Chapter Diez

"Its morning," Mark said sleepily with his eyes closed. Joanne curled deeper into the crook of his arm and buried her face in his chest.

"So?"

"Morning usually means to get up."

"I don't want to!" she playfully whined. Mark laughed and pulled her tightly to him. They stayed like that, melted into each other, one person, one mind, one pulse. It was the most comfortable place Joanne had ever been. She thought about the past few weeks. She remembered a lot of things, like the day Maureen saw them together for the first time. It was Marks's birthday, and Roger had uncharacteristically planned a party for him.

" So, who's all coming?" Joanne asked.

"Me, Mimi, you, Collins, and Maureen." Her stomach did a back flip.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Oh, yeah. She's always good for a laugh," Roger replied, not worried in the least. Joanne's mind, however, was in tumults all afternoon until that night. It was 7:15, the thing had started at 7. Maybe she won't come, she thought, and began to relax. She took Mark's hand and rested her head on his shoulder. Suddenly the door opened, and in walked Maureen. Joanne and Mark stood, her hand tightly clutching his.

"Happy birthday, Marky! Here's a little ---" her eyes found the entwined fingers. "something." She took a deep breath and smiled. Not how Joanne had pictured her reaction at all! She let out her breath slowly, not realizing she had been holding it. She and Mark sat down. Maureen seemed to accept how things turned out, but seemed faded, somehow, for the rest of the night.

Joanne was pulled out of her memory by a light kiss on the top of her head. She loved his kisses, she lived off them. She could remember their first kiss, vividly.

It was one of those fall afternoons, where the sun was bright, but the air was chilly. Joanne had been living with them for about a month. She was reclining on the couch, flipping through an old photo album.

"How many pictures of Maureen do you have in here?"

"Well, she was my girlfriend."

"Mine too," she laughed. "Oh, and here there's like, nothing. I mean, here's a picture of you and Maureen and then, bang! Roger and Mimi. Because wasn't it a month or so after you two broke up that Roger and Mimi met?"

"Yeah. I was depressed."

"But I would have thought you would have done something black and white or something."

"Nope. Actually, I almost broke the camera. I was mad and hurt. You know."

"Yeah, okay. And I see there aren't any of me here. Oh, wait, here's one. A group photo." Mark blushed.

"Well, I was jealous." Joanne nodded. "You know, I really should get some of you. You want to go to the park or something? The leaves would look good with your skin tone." She heaved herself off the couch and got her coat. The walked the streets to the park, hand in hand, smiling up at each other on occasion. When they arrived, Mark's camera snapped almost non-stop for an hour until Joanne made him quit.

"Mark, stop! I'm cold!"

"Come on! Just a few more!"

"No. I'm done," she said, falling into a pile of leaves.

"Oh, fine." Mark smiled and dropped down next to her. "You're beautiful, you know that?" Joanne blushed and shook her head. "You are!" He put a hand to her cheek and kissed her. "Sorry."

"No," Joanne told him, and kissed him.

Back at the loft, they could hear Mimi's hacking cough. It made Joanne wince. Roger was worried about her, almost to the point of insanity. He wouldn't let her go back to school, or work, because he was sure that was where she got it. She wasn't on her deathbed or anything, but it was still worrisome.

"We should get up," Mark told her. Joanne sighed.

"I know." She stretched and got up. "Mimi's getting worse." He groaned.

"Don't remind me. Roger's going nuts."

"And he won't even let her go to the doctor or anything?"

"I think as long as he feels like he can handle it, there's nothing to worry about." They went into the kitchen to find Mimi huddled in a blanked with a steaming cup in her hands. Roger was in the corner behind her, watching and biting his fingernails in anxiety. Joanne went over to talk to him.

"She's getting worse, Roger."

"You think I don't see that?" he snapped.

"I know, but shouldn't we take her to a doctor or something? This can't be any good for her."

"Why don't you shut up and mind your own business? Don't you think I've thought about it? I've got it under control!" he shouted.

"No, Roger! You don't! Look! Benny's turned the heat on even though we can't pay it, and you have it all the way up, and look at her! She's frozen! That ought to tell you something!" Roger shouted and hit the wall with his fist.

"Please, Joanne. She'll be fine! She has to be." She could hear his voice cracking. She sighed and shook her head and wrapped her arms around Mark.

"He'll never listen will he?" Mark sadly shook his head. "Well, can't you talk to him? Get him out of the house long enough for us to take her?" she pleaded.

"I'll try, but I don't know what good it will do." Mark walked over and put a hand on Roger's shoulder.

"You're girlfriend's nuts," Roger said with a bitter laugh.

"Um, yeah. You know, Rog, you're not looking so good. I think you should go out. Like, take a walk or something."

"I can't, Mark! I have to stay with Mimi!"

"Its okay. Joanne can take care of her. Come on, we'll get you a coffee or something." Roger rubbed his tired face.

"I guess an hour won't hurt. Lets go." Mark gave Joanne a meaningful look and followed Roger out. She watched out the window until she saw they had turned the corner.

"Okay, Mimi, get up. We're going to the hospital." She took her hand, and quickly drew it away. It was blazing hot. "Mimi! You're not hot at all?"

"N-n-no. Its so cold!" she said, teeth chattering.

"But your hands and face are so hot!" Mimi just shook her head and brought her blanket closer to her. This worried Joanne more, so she hurried Mimi faster. They burst into the hospital.

"Excuse me? Excuse me?" she said urgently. A tired-looking nurse rolled up on a rolling chair.

"Can I help you?" she recited.

"Well, Mimi here has AIDS, you see, and…" she trailed off. The nurse looked at Mimi and sat up straighter, picked up the phone and punched a number. She talked into the receiver, saying something about HIV positive.

"Okay, hon, what's your name?"

"Mimi---" Joanne began.

"Davis." Cut off Mimi. Joanne looked at her, trying to hide her surprise.

"And you are?" asked the nurse.

"Um, well, Mimi is my, um,"

"Sister," croaked Mimi.

"Yeah, I'm her sister." Which brought a memory of that Christmas Eve at the Life Café. Hey, mister. She's my sister! The nurse gave a look of disbelief and beckoned for Mimi to follow. Joanne started after, but was cut off by the nurse.

"No. we'll let you know when you can see her."

"I can't leave, she's my sister! I have to me with her!"

"I'm sorry, miss, but you need to wait here."

"But---"

"It's okay, Jo. I'll be fine. Go tell Roger I'm okay, please? He needs to know." Mimi grasped Joanne's hand and gave a weak smile, and started down the hall, Joanne staring after. For once in her life, things felt completely out of her control. It was not a feeling she liked. Not at all.

a/n: Mimi's gotten thin. Mimi's running out of time…