I am SOOOO excited for this chapter! I have been putting the pieces together in my mind for the past 5 days! It has finally come together! Here's a little warning, be prepared for some drama in this chap! But, look out. The beginning is kind of slow.
Vegas Baby
Seven and a Half Bohemians Chapter 3Clunk, clunk, clunk. The sound of a knife on a cutting board echoed throughout the empty loft. Jamie was cutting some sausage for breakfast. Clunk, clunk, clunk, "Ow! Stupid knife," she muttered. The blade slipped and gave her a nasty cut across her palm. It was kind of, but she decided not to worry and just ignored it.
"Mmmm," a deep groan came from the doorway of Roger and Mimi's bedroom. It was Roger, hunched over with a hand on his stomach.
"What's up? Are you okay?"
"I'm think I'm gonna be sick," he mumbled. Mark and Mimi emerged from their individual rooms. When they did, they were met with a rather unpleasant sight. Roger threw up, spraying bloody vomit all over the floor.
Perfect… Mark thought. He and Mimi brought him to the bathroom while Jamie put down her knife and wiped her hands. "Yeah, leave me to clean it up!" she said sarcastically. She grabbed a towel and some Lysol that, surprisingly, was right in the closet. Ugh, I hate blood. And there's a lot of it! She got down on her hands and knees and laid the towel over the mess. She pushed down with her palms and red patches started showing up on the towel. It's on my hands! Ewww, it's going through. I'm gonna need some gloves. She stood up, grabbed some gloves and another towel and started scrubbing. While she was cleaning, little thoughts ran through her head like, Why did I have to clean this? This smells horrible. How come there's blood in the vomit?
A little while later, they took Roger to the hospital. Mark remembered that bloody vomit was serious. Luckily, nothing was too bad and the bills were affordable. Roger was ready to go back home.
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"How are you feeling, baby?" Mimi asked him as they walked into the apartment.
Before he had the chance to answer, Jamie shouted, "Okay! Next time someone decides to hurl all over the loft, I'm not cleaning it up!" The whole incident left Jamie in a terrible mood. "It soaked through the towel and it got all over my hands!" Mimi took Roger into their room to sleep. Jamie stormed into her's. But, not before Mark could stop her.
"You remember to put on gloves, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, of course!"
"You know Roger's blood carries A-"
"I know. Don't worry Marky, I'm fine,"
Roger slept for the rest of the day and Mark, Mimi, and Jamie went about the remainder of the day as usual.
Sadly, the next day was just as bad.
Jamie was the first awake. This was strange, she normally was the last, other than Roger. Her head woke her up. It was throbbing. She glanced at the clock. It read, 7:42 AM. It was Monday, so Mimi would be up soon. There is no way I'm going to school today. Jamie hobbled out of bed and out the door. The sun was half way up and lit up the loft beautifully. She walked over to the kitchen, with her head throbbing, to grab some coffee, her new addiction. Before she got there, the world went dark. She collapsed on the floor.
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"What was that?" Mimi asked, half asleep. "Roger?"
Hearing his name pulled him from sleep. "What?"
"I heard a noise. Like something falling. I'll be right back," Mimi got out of bed and pulled on some sweat pants to go with the large T-shirt she was already wearing. She pulled open the door and ran to Jamie's side. Now fully awake, she checked to see if she was breathing. Barely. Not enough. She called for Roger and Mark. They rushed to the hospital, again.
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Jamie's eyes cracked open as she woke up. She was lying on a bed in a room. Oh great, I'm in the hospital. Perfect. The walls were a bright shade of blue and the curtains were down. The lights were off and the room was silent. She was hooked up to machines, but not many. "Ow," she squeaked out, as she felt the pain in her head.
"Oh, you woke up! Wonderful," a nurse whispered. "You had a migraine, so we're going to keep it dark in here and talk softly," She walked out of the room. Jamie had no idea how that would help her migraine, but decided not to ask. Before she knew, sleep took over again.
"Benjamin Coffin?" a doctor called into the waiting room. They decided to give Benny's name since he was paying. A group of people stood and walked over to the doctor. He was surprised by all the odd looking people, especially the drag queen. "Excuse me, but I can only talk to Benjamin Coffin,"
"Look Doc," Collins started, "We're all one big family. Just tell us what happened," he sounded anxious.
The scrawny doctor didn't want to deny this big man so he continued. "Okay, first I have to ask some questions," They all nodded. "Is Jamie related to any of you?"
"No,"
"Has she been taking any medications?"
"No,"
"Does she have any known allergies?"
Roger burst, "We told you she wasn't related to us! How are we supposed to know!" The doctor cringed.
"Roger, calm down," Mark said.
"Okay, one more question," the doctor said. "You know that Jamie is HIV positive, right?"
Everyone stood frozen. Their mouths dropped open in disbelief.
"What?" Roger croaked out.
"I'm sorry, was this unknown?" the doctor inquired.
"Yes!" Roger yelled. "How did she get it! When did you find out?" he backed the poor guy against a wall.
"Roger, please," Angel said and grabbed his arm.
"She doesn't know then," the doctor said softly. "You can go back and tell her if you want. It would probably be easier on her,"
They all started toward the room that she was in. "Wait!" said the doctor. "Two at a time. She's weak,"
"How do you think she got it?" asked Maureen. "You don't think the little punk was doing drugs, do you?"
"She'd better not have been," Collins said angrily.
"No, I don't think so," Mimi answered. "I never saw anything that hinted to drugs. I could go in and ask?"
"I'll go too," Roger said.
"Oh, wait, Mimi?" Mark stopped her before she started for the door.
"Yeah?"
"I have something important to ask her. Could I go in first?"
"Sure, Mark,"
Mark and Roger walked towards room 113, the one with Jamie inside.
"Hey Jay, you awake?" Roger asked and creaked open the door. She was. He flicked on the lights.
"Ow, turn them off!" she shouted and pulled the blankets over her eyes.
"Oh, sorry," He apologized and turned them off again.
"How do you feel?" Mark asked and sat in one of the chairs.
"Fine, just my head hurts a little. They loaded my up with painkillers so I can barely feel anything,"
"That's good," Mark said and looked at the floor. They were acting very strange.
"I just had a migraine. They think that's what made me pass out. Are you guys okay? You're acting weird," Jamie sat up in the bed.
"We have to tell you something," Roger said and went over to her.
"Wait, Rog. Jamie, you said you wore gloves when you were cleaning up after him?" Mark gestured to Roger.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Did you have them on the whole time you were cleaning?" Mark continued with his interrogation.
"Yeah. Wait, no. I put them on after it soaked through the towel and got on my hands. Disgusting," she thought back to that time.
"Did you have any open cuts?"
"Oh yeah," she looked at her palm. The cut was still there, just it was red and kind of purple, like it was getting infected. Jamie didn't know how infected she really was.
Mark looked over to Roger. He was staring at the ground, his eyes wide. He realized that it was his blood that gave her the disease.
"Guys?" she asked. They were both staring at the floor. "Hello? What's wrong?"
"Jamie?" Roger said. "You have HIV,"
"What? You're joking," she said, laughing it off. Then, it hit her. All the meds the hospital gave her made her mind a little cloudy, but it finally hit her. Roger's blood from that one day. It soaked through the towel and went in her body through the cut on her palm.
Beeeeeeep! Beeeeeeep! At the absolute worst time, Roger's beeper went off. He silenced it, took the bottle of AZT out of his pocket, popped off the top, took a pill out, put it away, and swallowed it dry. Suddenly aware, he took them back out and handed a pill to Jamie. "Sorry, Jamie," he said as she took it from him. "You have to accept this," She swallowed it, with tears streaming down her cheeks.------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did you like it? I hope so. This one took me a while. I hope everyone is okay with Jamie contracting HIV. There will be more of the aftermath in the next chapter. Keep reading pleez! Oh, right! Tell me if you are ok with Jamie getting HIV. Thanks!
Like it? Hate it? Let me know. PLEASE REVIEW! Criticism, suggestions, I take them all!
VegasBaby