Mimi cleaned up the mess from the water and washcloths, and did her best to fold the torn clothing. She checked to make sure Elisha was still sleeping, then went to fetch Mark and Roger.

"Rog, why don't you go make us some coffee or something?" she hinted. Unfortunately, Roger was too smart for that gimmick. He gave Mimi a curious look. Just let me talk to Mark alone, her eyes implored her boyfriend.

"Whatever you're going to tell Mark you might as well tell me too. It's my place as much as it is his, so I should know what we've gotten ourselves into with this girl." Roger reasoned. With that, he planted himself stubbornly next to Mark and looked at Mimi expectantly.

"Ooo-kay," Mimi exhaled slowly. "First off, she's running a fever and her cough does not sound good. I wouldn't be surprised if she has the virus. But there was something else." She gave Roger a sidelong glance, then addressed the next part to Mark. "There's a cut on her wrist. Pretty deep, if I'd had to guess. It was still bleeding when I changed her shirt." She looked to Roger again, but now he was staring vacantly at the lump of blankets on the couch that were almost completely burying Elisha.

"Of course, there's no way of telling if it was accidental or not," Mimi added quickly, and mostly for Roger's benefit. Then she turned back to Mark. "The cut isn't what's been bugging me though. It's the scars. Her arms are covered in these lines of scar tissue. The lines are parallel to each other and they just look so… organized. Not like marks from shooting up or anything. It's like nothing I've ever seen before."

Done with her report, Mimi waited for one of the guys to say something. Mark was frowning now, and seemed very intent on examining his cuticles. Roger finally focused back to Mimi.

"Another mystery to solve about her, on top of finding out where the hell she's from and why a girl her age was on the verge of death in an alley off Avenue A. I don't think she's a street kid, or at least she hasn't been one for long. I guess there's no chance of getting out of this now. Fine. We'll help her however we can." Roger wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was kind of curious now too. They had barely learned her name, but he found himself very upset at the thought of this girl dying. Strange, he thought to himself.

Mark, whose interest in the state of his fingernails had apparently been abetted, looked up at Mimi. "When she wakes up in the morning, I'll get her to talk to me. I'll do it alone, because she'll probably get intimidated if we're all questioning her. Especially since she doesn't even know who we are. I'll see if I can find out anything about her and get this straightened out." His voice brooked no argument. Roger gave his roommate a surprised look. Since when did Mark, the filmmaker, the one who just liked to observe people, the "detached" one, care so much about a stranger? Yet another mystery. This night was full of 'em. What a way to start off the New Year.

Roger gave his roommate and best friend a kind smile. "We'll work it out together. Like I said, it's my loft too. You don't have to save everyone Mark, at least not by yourself."

Mark did not respond to Roger's comment. "I'm going to bed." He stated instead. It was already 6:00 in the morning. "Roger- take your AZT, ok?"

Roger rolled his eyes and turned to walk Mimi down to her apartment.

Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I will try to keep updating consistently, as long as school and work (and of course watching Rent on DVD) don't get in the way!

Next chapter: Will Elisha open up to Mark? And why is he so sure that she will?