"That's it, get up!" Abby announced one evening a week later. Maureen looked up from the book she was reading with a confused look on her face.
"What? Why?" she asked. Abby dragged Maureen to her feet. "What are you doing, Abby?"
"You are to go home, take a real shower, and go out to eat." Abby began to shove Maureen towards the door. Maureen broke free of her grip and spun around.
"I, I can't. I have to stay here with Joanne. What if she wakes up? Someone has to be here for her if she wakes up."
"I'll be here. You haven't left this hospital in three weeks. You've been eating our disgusting food, and showering in the patients' showers here. I want you to go out, get a beer or something, and take a real shower. I'll be here with Joanne." Maureen looked skeptical. "Come on, I know for a fact that you want a beer. Go on, I'll stay here until you get back." Maureen sighed.
"Fine, I'll go. Here's my home phone number, and my friend's phone number. Call either one if anything happens." Maureen scribbled the two numbers on a piece of scrap paper, and gave it to Abby.
"I promise I'll call if anything happens to Joanne, now get going!"
Maureen grabbed her jacket, and left the hospital. She was outside for the first time in almost a month. The cool March air felt refreshing against her skin as she walked out of the subway station forty-five minutes later. She stopped at the Food Emporium, and bought a bottle of vodka. She walked slowly towards the loft, taking long drinks of the vodka. By the time Maureen got to the apartment building, she was nearly half-way through the bottle of vodka, and almost drunk. She sat on the stoop to her friends' apartment building, and continued drinking. She was drinking away three weeks of pain, of suffering, of stress, and of denied depression. God Abby was right; she did need some alcohol in her system.
Half an hour later, Mimi and Roger walked down the street holding hands. They had gone out to the Life to have dinner just the two of them when they found a very drunk Maureen on their stoop.
"Mo?" Roger asked with a confused look on his face. "What are you doing here? Is Joanne alright?" Maureen took a long drink of vodka and nodded.
"Pookie's fine. Abby offered to stay with her so I could go buy a beer and take a real shower." Mimi pried the vodka bottle out of Maureen's grip. "Hey! That's mine!"
"Did you buy this tonight?" Mimi asked. Maureen nodded drunkenly, and kept grabbing for the bottle. Mimi helped her to her feet. "Oh honey, you can get so sick from drinking that much. Let's get you upstairs." Roger and Mimi carefully guided Maureen upstairs.
"Hey Mark, Collins, we've got a visitor!" Roger announced. Maureen was leaning almost entirely on the rocker, and she was still trying to get her vodka back from Mimi.
"Who's here?" Collins asked as he came out of his room. "Oh hey Mo. Is Joanne alright?"
"Pookie's perfectly fine," Maureen slurred. "Abby sent me out to get myself a drink."
"A drink?"
"She
bought herself this," Mimi said as she held up the bottle of vodka.
Collins took the bottle, and looked at how much alcohol was left.
"Jesus Christ, Mo," he muttered before going to the kitchen sink, and pouring out the remaining vodka. Roger grabbed Maureen's upper arm so she wouldn't try and stop Collins.
"Don't Collins!" Maureen yelled as she fought against Roger's powerful grip. "Let me go Roger! What the hell is your guys' problem?" Collins spun around, and approached the drunken diva.
"Our problem? What the hell is your problem? You're lover is lying in a coma, and you drink almost an entire bottle of vodka!" Maureen broke free of Roger's grip, and covered her ears with her hands.
"Stop yelling at me. Please stop yelling at me," she begged. Mimi put her hands on Maureen's shoulders.
"Come on honey, why don't we get you cleaned up a little?" she suggested. Maureen gave no protest as Mimi guided her down the hall.
"Mimi," Collins called after the two women. "Put her in my room for the night. I'll sleep out here tonight."
"'Kay Collins." Roger and Collins heard Mimi talk to Maureen as the dancer struggled to get the diva settled in for the night. Roger ran his hands through his hair and sighed.
Fifteen minutes later, Mimi came out of Collins' room. She wrapped her arms around Roger's waist, and rested her head on his shoulder. The loft door slid open, and Mark came bustling in.
"Hey you guys!" he said as he pulled off his jacket.
"Shh!" Mimi snapped, and she let go of Roger. "I just got Maureen to sleep, and the last thing we need is her awake right now."
"What's Maureen
doing here?"
"Mimi and I found her out on the front stoop,
wasted. That nurse chick is staying with Joanne or something
tonight. She drank most of a bottle of vodka."
"Great. Where's she right now?"
"Asleep in my room. She'll probably be out all night." Mark nodded.
He dumped his bag and camera on the couch, and said, "I'm going to crash for tonight."
"Night," Collins, Roger, and Mimi all said at the same time. Pretty soon, they all followed Mark's example, and turned in for the night.
The following morning, Maureen woke up with a pounding headache. She looked around, slightly confused. It took her a few seconds to realize that she was in Collins' room. She laid in bed for a couple of minutes, and then stumbled out to the front room. Roger was strumming his guitar, Mark was editing his film, Collins was grading papers, and Mimi was channel surfing on the cheap secondhand TV they had.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" asked Collins.
"Aspirin," Maureen moaned as she trudged across the room towards the kitchen area.
"On the counter by the AZT in the white bottle," Mimi said. Maureen popped three pills in her mouth, took a long drink of water, and plopped down next to the other girl on the couch.
"How much did I drink last night?" she asked.
"Almost an entire bottle of vodka. You were completely wasted," replied Mimi. Maureen moaned, and put her head in her hands. The phone began to ring, and Roger got up to answer it.
"It's for you," he said simply as he threw the phone at Maureen. With a confused look, she picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Maureen, it's Abby. Are you alright? I tried to call your place, but obviously you're not there. You okay?" Maureen got up, and walked by the window so she could have a semi-private conversation.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I had a little too much to drink, and I somehow ended up at the loft. Did you stay with Joanne all night?"
"No, I'm sorry. I had to get home and get some real sleep. She's exactly the same as when you left yesterday, nothing's changed. I told Cara on nights to call me if anything happened. How much did you drink last night young lady?"
"Too much. Thanks for staying with Joanne last night. I'm going to shower, and I'll be back at the hospital."
"I'm about to leave for work. Do you want me to pick you up or something?"
"No," Maureen replied firmly. "I'm good. Thanks though."
"No problem. I'll see you later then."
"Yeah, bye." Maureen hung up the phone. She showered quickly, and changed into an outfit she had left at the loft God only knows how long ago. "I've got to get back down to the hospital. Thanks you guys." The Bohemians said their goodbyes to the diva, and went back to what they were doing.
A month later, Joanne was still in a coma. Slowly, Maureen was starting to lose faith that her lover would ever wake up. She began to talk to Joanne after her night at the loft, but only when she was sure that no one was looking or listening. It became a routine to talk to Joanne. Maureen would hold the lawyer's limp hand in her hand the entire time. When she was done, she'd give her a hug, a kiss on the cheek, and tell her that she loved her. Maureen was about to give Joanne a kiss when she felt someone squeeze her hand slightly, and another hand carefully creep across the small of her back.
A/N: I just love cliffies! Keeps the reviews coming! No review, no updates! Ha! Much love. To read about the time Roger dumped April in the bathtub (mentioned in like chapter 2 I believe), check out An Ice Cold…Bath?. It should be up!
Tina101