Mark

I was woken up by a soft, but persistent, knocking on the loft door. I figured it was nothing, but when it got faster and seemingly frantic, I grabbed my glasses off the milk crate, my makeshift bedside table, and hurried to the door, silently cursing our lack of a peep-hole. I cracked open the door and squinted through the darkness.

"Anne, is that you?"

"I'm sorry, Mark. I was walking home and I just felt so sick and your apartment is closer than mine." She was breathing heavily and I could see a faint layer of sweat on her pale face. "I hope you don't mind…"

"No, no! Not at all, come in." I opened the door wider and wrapped am arm around her waist. "What's wrong?"

"I… don't know. My stomach is cramping really bad and I'm getting lightheaded." She panted.

I started to pull off her coat but she held on to it tightly. "I'm so cold, please."

"Here, let's just get you to lie down. Come to my room." I pointed towards the open door.

"I feel bad, what about Roger?" I thought she seemed too weak to protest, but I was wrong.

"I'll tell him once I get you situated. Come on." I sturdied her with both arms and guided her into my room. After she was lying down, I felt her forehead. "Anne, you're a little warm. Let me get you some water." I went to tell Roger the little I knew about what was going on.

"Hey, Rog? Mimi?" I pushed his door open a little bit. "Anne's here and she seems pretty sick. She doesn't want you to catch anything so until I know for sure what's wrong, don't come into my room."

He stirred a bit and then looked up at me. "Is she vomiting or is she coughing and sneezing? Because if it's the flu or a cold, Mimi and I have to get out."

"I don't really know. Her forehead was hot and she says her stomach is killing her." I explained, trying to keep my voice down and not wake Mimi.

"Oh alright. Just wake us if you need anything." Roger replied, his voice still thick with sleep.

I closed the door to their bedroom tightly and hurried to get a cold glass of water and some Advil.

"Here, take these." I sat down next to her and offered the pills and cup.

Anne was on her side, clutching a pillow tightly to her stomach, to the point where her knuckles were white. Tears were streaming down her face. I set the glass down on the floor and leaned over her.

"Are you alright?" I asked, feeling a little panicked myself.

Good question, Mark. She's obviously not okay if she's keeled over on your bed in pain.

"I've never had cramps this bad before." She managed to choke out, followed quickly by a moan.

I stroked her hair off her sweaty forehead and gave it a quick kiss. Is it possible for it to feel hotter than it was no less than a minute ago?

"Do you want Tylenol?" I reached for the glass.

"I don't want… throw up in a few minutes." Her breathing was heavy and labored.

"Do you want to get to the bathroom?" I ask

She nodded and I helped her up and across the loft.

As soon as I closed the door, I heard her empty her stomach. "Better go tell Roger."

I pushed his door open and shook his shoulder. "You might want to consider leaving. She's in the bathroom getting sick."

He nodded and crawled over to Mimi, kissing her and whispering softly. "Anne's sick and she and Mark don't want us to catch anything. Do you want to go to Maureen and Joanne's for a while?"

I closed the door and got back to the bathroom. Anne was still throwing up so I put a cold washcloth across her neck with one hand and rubbed her back with the other. After the wave of nausea passed, she slumped back onto the tub with her eyes closed.

I brushed the hair that was plastered to her forehead away. "Do you think it's food poisoning? Have you eaten any seafood or sushi lately?"

Anne shook her head. "I hate fish." Her voice was a raspy croak.

"Do you think you're done… in here?" I didn't want to outright say vomit because it never makes you feel better about throwing up.

Her only answer was another moan as she grabbed her stomach once more. Before she clenched her eyes tightly closed, I saw the fear and the tears threatening to fall. I put one arm around her shoulders and the other underneath her knees. I grunted and hoisted her off of the tiled floor, carrying her back into my bedroom. I took her coat off and tossed it into the corner, making a mental note to get it washed as soon as possible.

Anne was still holding her stomach, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Mark, we're heading to Mo and Jo's." Roger said as he opened the bedroom door.

He took one look at Anne, eyes wide, and pulled me roughly by my arm out of the room.

"Mark, what the fuck is wrong with her? That's no stomach bug or flu." He shook his head. "You might want to call a doctor because that looks bad. And whatever it is, I don't think you can rely on your limited medical expertise to cure it."

"Do you think I'm stupid, Roger?" I hissed. "Obviously something's really wrong with her. And I'm not going to just let her keep puking up a lung and sobbing."

"If you need anything, anything Mark, I mean it- call us." Mimi added.

I nodded and ushered them out, trying to ignore the feeling of impending doom that was settling in my stomach. I hurried back to my room. "Anne, I think we should get you to a hospital. Do you want me to call an ambulance?"

Her eyes widened and she shook her head frantically. The tears streaming down her face fell faster and what little color was left began to drain. "No! No, please don't!"

Against my own better judgment, I crawled in next to her. "I don't want this to get worse than it is now. What if it's serious? I really don't want to risk something bad happening."

Her scared look softened. "Alright," her voice was hoarse and quiet. "Call."

I grabbed the phone off the charger and called for an ambulance. After speaking to the emergency operator and being reassured that an ambulance would be here in less than 10 minutes, I felt even more panicked than before. This could be bad.

A knock on the door alerted me to the EMS. With little difficulty, they soon had Anne up and wrapped in one of the sterile white blankets. As we had our way down the four flights of stairs, I came to the realization that Anne hadn't given me numbers to call. Not her family or her insurance. Nobody.

One of the men put his hand on my chest "Family only in the ambulance, I'm sorry."

"Mark! Please, let him come!" Anne cried, struggling against the EMS workers.

"Miss, if he's not your fiancée or a family member, he's not allowed in the ambulance." He said, holding Anne's shoulder down.

"Mark has to come!" She cried. Her breathing was quick but heavy, her chest heaving up and down. "He has to!"

"She's hyperventilating- get me a Valium!" One of the doctors called.

"Would it count if I said I was as close to family as you're going to get?"

He shook his head and slammed the heavy door.

I hesitated before lifting the black receiver. Even though they said to call them with whatever I found out, I still was skeptical.

"Hello?" A groggy female voice said.

"Hi, Maureen. It's Mark." I took my glasses off and put them down on top of the payphone.

"Roger and Meems told us what happened to Anne. How is she? Hold on a second, I'm putting you on speaker. We're all awake anyway." The phone made some funny noises before I heard the hustle and bustle of her apartment.

"So what are the newest developments?" Mimi asked. "Have the doctors figured out what was wrong?"

"It's so crazy, you're not even going to believe it. Seriously, it's that odd." I gave a slightly bitter laugh and rubbed the bridge of my nose.

"Well…?" Roger was impatient and nosy.

"From what I've been told, they think she had a severe reaction to a new prescription." I explained, fooling around with my glasses.

Please, please don't ask what type of medicine.

"Like an anti-depressant? Because I've heard that people can get really messed up when they switch prescriptions. What kind was it?" Maureen asked.

Leave it to Maureen to read my mind, the uncanny talent she was able to do even when we were dating. She's always been able to pick up on the one thing I never wanted to share.

"The doctor mentioned something about uh… birth control." I said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Oh my god!" Mimi gasped. "That sounds awful!"

Much to my surprise, Roger remained quiet. "But she's going to be okay, right? No damage?"

"The doctors say she's going to be fine, but they're not positive it's from that. I have to take her back if she feels sick at all within the next 72 hours. I'm going to take her home in a few minutes though, she's getting dressed." I answered, putting my glasses back on.

"I think Roger and I are going to stay put for the rest of the morning." Mimi said, stifling a huge yawn. "I have to work tomorrow and I'm beat."

"If you want to get some sleep, Maureen and I could come up for a couple hours and keep an eye on Anne. Even though we haven't formally met her, it's the least we could do." Joanne offered.

"Thanks for offering, Jo. I might take you up on that, depending on how the next couple hours go." I said. Anne shuffled into the hall and rested her head on my shoulder. "I'm taking Anne home now, so I'll see you guys in a couple hours or so."

After a chorus of "Bye Mark!" I hung the phone up.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Absolutely miserable. These are the worst cramps I've ever had, even with the prescription. And the Valium they gave me earlier is making me think far too clearly for my own good." She returned the hug and buried her face in my jacket.

I leaned down to kiss her forehead but she tipped her face up to me, her lips meeting mine. We had discussed intimacy a couple days previous. Both of us were comfortable enough around one another from the start to hug and kiss freely, among other things, but sex had been the topic du jour. Both of us ended up looking at the floor with red faces after admitting our virginity. But we knew where the line was and it wasn't going to be toed, at least for the time being.

"Last step." I said, helping her up the last step. We decided that it was easiest to just take a taxi back to the loft because it was cheaper and we'd only have to go up four flights of stairs, rather than eight.

I unlocked the door and unwrapped us both from my coat, taking notice that the red light on the answering machine was flashing. I pressed it and pulled Anne towards the couch. "I'll go get extra blankets and pillows so we can sleep here."

"Mark, it's mom." My mother's shrill voice echoed through the empty apartment. "I got a call from my friend Barb at the hospital. The one who's daughter is marrying the professor from Brown? She said that she saw you there with a young lady who was really sick. I was just calling to see if everything is alright and to make sure you haven't caught… anything. I'm worried about your health, Mark. You've been getting so thin! Call me back as soon as you get this- your father and I are very concerned! Love you!"

Anne laughed softly. "Is she hinting that you caught some heinous STD? Because that's what I got out of it."

"Probably." I replied sheepishly, tossing a few blankets and pillows to her. "Ever since I told her about Roger being positive, she's been paranoid that I'll catch it from him. As much as I explain that HIV isn't communicable, she still thinks that if he coughs on me that it's the kiss of death."

Anne scooted over on the couch. "At least she shows that she cares."

I covered us both with multiple blankets and propped myself up with a pillow. "Yeah, but sometimes she cares a little bit too much and gets invasive."

"Mmm hmm." Anne murmured, snuggling into my chest. Her breathing was getting slow and steady.

I flicked the table light off and closed my eyes, returning to the same sleep that had been interrupted by earlier.

Two updates in less than twenty five hours! I'm on fire!

So how was that for dramatic? And I know it seems like everything is all well and good where Anne's health is concerned, but boy- you couldn't be more wrong! Don't worry, no terminal illnesses here. That's too depressing and I feel guilty killing someone Mark is close to off. I guess it's my conscience telling me that it's bad karma to do something like that.

I'm hoping this will tide you off until this time next week, which gives me a pretty good amount of time to do AP work and write Chapter 7. I have a couple ideas but I'd really like to know what you'd like to see. Yes, you. I'm not writing this just for myself. So any input as to where you think it's going and the direction I should take it would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and if you'd like, my LiveJournal is on the 'Homepage' link so you can add me as a friend if you wish. Just leave a comment telling me who you are or what you're known by here. I'd get quite confused otherwise.

Because I'm posting this so soon after the previous chapter, I'll address all reviews after Chapter 7. Thanks to everyone who's still reading and reviewing at this point. And for the love of humanity, please review!