Mimi was surprised to find Maureen standing the doorway. First of all, she never knocked. She usually came barging it, making a huge entrance. Secondly, she never left the house looking like she did right then. Her eyes were red and puffy, her mascara was running down her face, and she was soaked to the skin. It was obvious that she had been crying.
"Maureen, what's wrong? Where's Joanne?" asked Mimi. Maureen began to cry again.
"Joanne's in the hospital," she replied quietly between sobs.
"The hospital?" That got the attention of Roger, Mark, and Collins who were all doing their own thing inside. "Here, come in. Last time I talked to you, Jo was down at the firm." Maureen sat down on the couch. Collins wrapped a blanket around her shaking form, and Roger shoved a cup of coffee in her hands. "Okay, I want you to calm down, and tell us why Jo's in the hospital, and why you're not with her."
"Joanne and I got in another fight, and she went down to the firm to get some work done. I just got a call from the hospital. She was in a car accident, and now she's in a coma. I don't have a ride there, and I can't go down there alone. I was wondering if one of you could come with me."
"I'll go with you," Mark offered. He pulled on his jacket. "Let's go."
"Really
Mark?"
"Yeah, come on. We'll take the car."
Maureen practically jumped out of the car, and pulled Mark into the hospital. She stalked down to the Nurses' Station at top speed. Mark practically had to run to keep up with her.
"I'm looking for Joanne Jefferson's room," Maureen told the nurse at the Nurses' Station firmly. The nurse looked up Joanne's information on the computer.
"I'm sorry, but only family is allowed to see Ms. Jefferson," she said. "And you would be?"
"I'm Joanne's girlfriend." The nurse seemed surprised by Maureen's answer. Mark couldn't help but smile weakly.
"Oh, umm, one minute please. Dr. Grant wants to talk to you. You can sit down if you want. He'll be right down." Mark and Maureen sat down in the chairs lined up against the wall across from the Nurses' Station. Maureen rested her head on Mark's shoulder, and closed her eyes.
Dr. Grant was a young doctor in his early thirties. He had brown hair, well defined features, and was clean shaven. Maureen and Mark stood up when the doctor stopped in front of them.
"Maureen Johnson I'm
guessing?" he asked. Dr. Grant and Maureen shook hands. Then he
turned to Mark. "And you would be?"
"Mark Cohen,"
replied Mark. He and Dr. Grant shook hands. "How's Joanne?"
"She's using a breathing tube. Ms. Johnson, you can go see her, but only family's allowed right now."
"Mark is family," Maureen said firmly. "That's why he's here. I want to see Joanne now."
As the three walked to Joanne's room, Dr. Grant said, "Now I must warn you, Ms. Jefferson is hooked up to many tubes and machines. It may look scary, but it's keeping her alive. Well, here we are."
Maureen stepped back in shock. Mark gently rubbed her back. Joanne was lying on a hospital bed in the middle of the room. She looked like she was sleeping, except she had so many tubes sticking out of her, and several cuts and bruises on her face and arms. There was one clear tube sticking out of her throat. Maureen figured that that was the breathing tube.
"Oh God, Pookie," she sighed. She quickly turned to Dr. Grant, eyes full of guilt and worry. "How long is she going to be like there?" she demanded. Dr. Grant shrugged.
"I'm afraid I
don't know. It could be hours, or it could be weeks. There's no
way for us to tell. I wish I knew though."
"Weeks? It
could be weeks?"
"I'm afraid so."
"I'm allowed to stay here right? Like sleep here and stuff…right?"
"I don't see why not. I'll leave you guys with Ms. Jefferson now." Dr. Grant said goodbye to Mark and Maureen, and left.
Maureen sat on the edge of the bed. As if in a trance, she stroked Joanne's cut up cheek. Mark kept his distance, and watched his ex for several silent minutes. Finally, he decided that he should call everyone at the loft.
"Mo, I'm going to
call the loft, okay?" he asked, but Maureen didn't even look up.
"Maureen, I'm going to go call the loft, okay?"
"I don't
care what the hell you do," Maureen replied bitterly. Mark sighed,
and went out to use the pay phone to call home.
"Hello," Collins said after the first ring. Mark could tell that he had been waiting by the phone for him to call.
"Hey, it's me."
"How's
Joanne?"
"She's beat up, but it looks like she's asleep.
I keep expecting her to just wake up. Maureen's going to sleep
here tonight. I was wondering if someone could bring her by some dry
clothes. Something of either Roger's or Mimi's should fit her."
"Yeah, I'll take the subway down. Are you planning on staying really long?"
"I want to be here for Maureen, but I'll drive you home afterwards. I'll see you in about an hour then. I better go check on Maureen, she's getting really depressed."
"Okay man, I'll see you soon."
Mark hung up the phone, and went back down to Joanne's room. Maureen was in the same position he had left her in. Her left leg was drawn to her chest, and her right leg was hanging off the bed. She gently held Joanne's limp hand in her lap.
Mark said, "Collins is going to bring you some dry clothes, and then I'm going to take him home. Unless you want me to stay." Maureen shook her head.
"No, you don't have to stay with me. This is all my fault anyway," she replied. Mark sat in the chair next to the bed, and looked at Maureen intently.
"This was an accident, Mo. It's nobody's fault. You have to stop beating yourself up about it."
"Didn't you hear what I said earlier? Joanne and I got in a fight, and she left to go down to the firm. It's my fault that she was out in the first place." Tears slid down Maureen's cheeks.
"Maureen I want you to calm down. This is nobody's fault." Maureen went back to Joanne, completely ignoring Mark. Forty-five minutes later, she curled up on the small window seat of sorts, and fell asleep.
Right as Maureen finally fell asleep, Roger, Mimi, and Collins came into the room. Mimi was carrying a beat up duffle bag with clothes for Maureen. All three were surprise to see the neat and orderly Joanne in such a state.
"Hey," Mark said quietly as he put down the copy of the newspaper her had been trying to read. "You all didn't have to come."
"We wanted to. Here's about a week's worth of clothes and stuff. How long has she been out?" Mimi asked. Mark took the duffle bag from her, and put it on one of the empty chairs.
"She's been out
for not even five minutes. She keeps blaming herself for this whole
thing. Sleep will do her some good."
"I'm going to go see
if they have a cot or something for her to sleep on," Collins said
before slipping out of the room. A few minutes later, he and a nurse
returned with a cot for Maureen. Mimi was worried about all the
noise they were making.
When she brought this up, Collins chuckled and said, "Don't worry about waking Maureen up. Mark once had to toss her in a bathtub full of ice cold water to wake her up." Mark gently picked Maureen up, and laid her down on the cot. Collins covered her with his leather jacket.
"No, that was me," Roger said. "And it was April who was thrown in the tub." Mimi whirled around to face her boyfriend.
"You threw April into a bathtub to wake her up?" she demanded.
"Lovebirds, figure it out in the car. We should get going," Collins told the couple. He, Roger, and Mark filed out of the room, but Mimi stayed behind. "You coming Mimi?"
"Yeah, I'll be right there," she replied. She gave Joanne a quick kiss on the cheek. Then, she brushed Maureen's hair out of her face, and kissed her cheek. "Don't worry, Joanne's a fighter," she whispered before rushing after the other Bohemians.
A/N: Please pray for Carolyn Gipe, and the family of Leonard Cave. Ms. Gipe will be having surgery Friday, for those of you who have been keeping tabs on her. Also check out Off-Set, and if you'd like to read about the lovely April bathtub incident, An Ice Cold…Bath? Should be up soon. Reviews are my best friend!
Tina101