Sorry it took so long. This one's all about Mo!
Chapter 14: Roommates
"I really appreciate your hospitality, Mimi," Maureen said, stumbling into the dancer's loft.
"Don't mention it," the girl said, "you were in no shape to be out there on your own." She poured a cup of coffee for the diva, and handed it to her. "Plus," she added, "Joanne called me, and asked if I'd seen you. She sounded worried."
"Poor her," Maureen grunted. "I'm just glad that you found me."
"I'm just glad that someone else didn't!"
They laughed, but the diva gripped her forehead. She groaned, and sipped her coffee. Mimi left the room, and came back with two tablets.
"Here," she said, "take these, and go get some sleep." She shooed her friend off to her room, and drew the curtains before closing the door tightly.
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Maureen awoke in a dark room. Mimi, she thought, silently grateful.
She sat up, glad that her headache was gone. But in its place, she felt sick to her stomach. She stood up, pulling the blanket along with her, so comfort her shivering.
Mimi lay on the couch, half asleep. She's given her bed to someone who had needed it more, and was just waking up the next day. Her bedroom door opened, and a diva in disarray emerged.
"How do you feel?" she asked sleepily. Maureen moaned, and plopped down in a chair.
"Hangover wise, fine," she said, "but I think I'm sick."
"Yeah?" Mimi asked, approaching her friend. She placed and hand on her forehead, "You're burning up."
"And I feel sick," Maureen added, "and I'm freezing."
"I'll take you to the doctor," the dancer told her, "but first, let's get you cleaned up."
Mimi got a shower running for her friend, and found an extra toothbrush for her to use. While Maureen bathed, she found some warm clothes that were about the diva's size, and set them out.
By the time the diva was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a black, long-sleeved shirt, with her wet hair pulled up in a messy bun, Mimi was waiting at the door.
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Mimi and Maureen walked the few short blocks from the subway station to the Med Center. Inside, the diva began to fill out the many papers, writing her name over and over again.
"Do you mind if I put your number down?" she asked the dancer.
"Of course! You stay with me for as long as you want."
Maureen smiled, and wrote down the seven digits.
"Maureen Johnson?" A nurse said, looking at a clip board.
"I'll finish these," Mimi told her friend, taking the pen away.
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The phone rang in Mimi's apartment. The dancer leaned over the end of the couch, picking up the phone from the floor.
"Hello?" she asked, "Yes, just a moment." She held her hand over the receiver, and called out, "Mo! Phone! It's the Med Center!"
Maureen came out of the bathroom with her hair in a towel. She took the phone. "This is Maureen," she told the nurse.
"Ms. Johnson, your test results from the Medical Center are back," the woman told her.
"Yes?" the diva inquired.
"The blood test is that only one that gave us alarm," said the nurse.
"Why?"
"Because it tested positive for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus," she said.
"What?" Maureen shouted over the ringing in her ears.
The nurse repeated herself. "You have HIV."
Alright. I know that HIV takes about 6 months for the full effect, not a few days. Also, those are real symptoms, if I remember correctly from Biology.