The next day, Mimi decided that Dani was in desperate need of underwear, socks and sneakers. However, she didn't want to expose Dani to even more germs and risk getting her even sicker than she already was. Luckily, Mark had the day off. Mimi got dressed and emerged from her bedroom. Dani was already up and eating breakfast with Mark.
"Mark, can you watch Dani for about two hours? I've gotta run to Dollar General," Mimi asked.
"Sure." Mimi looked around the loft.
"Where's my boyfriend?" Mark shrugged.
"I dunno. He came in, took the classified section and left." Mimi was surprised by that.
"You're joking, right?" Dani looked at Mimi.
"Why is that a bad thing?" she asked.
"It's not a bad thing; it's just a surprising thing." Dani went back to her cereal. "I'll be back in a few hours. Be good, Dani."
"I will." Mimi kissed the top of Dani's head and felt her cheek and forehead.
"Make sure she rests; she's still warm." Mark nodded.
"I will." Mimi grabbed her purse and leopard print jacket and left for the store.
Mimi walked down the children section of Dollar General. Everything was so new to her. She had written down Dani's shoe size and the size of her underwear. All the clothes were so adorable; Mimi had to resist buying everything. Mimi bought several packs of socks and underwear, some hair things, sneakers and children's cough medicine. She also bought some Pringles for Roger. Mimi paid for her items and left to go back to the loft.
When Mimi got back to the loft, Roger was sitting on the couch talking on the phone. Mark was reading Dani a book.
"Mimi just walked in, why don't you talk to her?" Roger said. Mimi sat on the arm of the couch next to Roger.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"Joanne." Mimi took the phone from Roger and held it up to her ear.
"Hey Jo, what's
up?"
"Maureen and Roger told me about Dani. This is a really
touchy topic. You need to find her sister."
"I know, but she
just left her on the streets of Alphabet City with absolutely
nothing!"
"I know that. If I can prove that Dani was in a dangerous environment, you might not need the sister's consent to adopt Dani."
"So you'll
help?"
"Of course I will! I'll stop by on Sunday afternoon
to talk to you and Roger. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine. I'll see you and Maureen then." Mimi said goodbye to Joanne and hung up the phone.
"How'd the job search go?" Mimi asked. Shrugging, Roger grabbed his guitar from on the couch next to him.
"I dunno, good, I guess," he replied.
"Did you get a job?" Mimi asked hopefully. A smile spread across Roger's face. "You did, didn't you!?" Mark looked up from his book.
"Yeah, I did." Letting out a squeal, Mimi threw her arms around Roger's neck and kissed his cheek.
"I'm so proud of you! Where do you work?"
"I teach guitar lessons down at the music shop on Avenue E." Mimi pressed her lips against Roger's. "Damn, if I had known I'd get something like that, I would have gotten a real job ages ago!"
"Hello, there's a kid in the room!" Mark exclaimed.
"Oh Dani, come here. I got you something to help you with that cough." Dani slid off Mark's lap and went over to Mimi. Mimi pulled out a bottle of cough medicine.
"My cough's better, I feel fine," Dani argued. She began to cough.
"Come on sweetie." Mimi climbed off the couch. "Please?"
"No!" Dani yelled before clamping her hands over her mouth. Mimi picked her up. Dani began to scream and cry. "No, no, no, no, no! it tastes yucky! No!" Mimi sat down on the couch.
"Come on, querida, calm down." Mimi hoped that the Spanish that Dani seemed so fascinated with would calm her down. Instead, Dani began to kick her feet. "Can someone please help me?" Roger leaned over and pulled Dani onto his lap. He wrapped his strong arms around Dani's flailing arms.
"Calm down, calm down," Roger whispered in her ear. It didn't work. Mimi carefully measured out the cough syrup. Dani clamped her mouth shut.
"Mark, can you help please?" Mark got up and gently pried open Dani's mouth. Mimi poured the liquid into Dani's screaming mouth. Dani sat there on Roger's lap, dazed. Mimi rubbed her arm. "See, there you go. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Dani slid off Roger's lap.
"Dani, are you okay?" Roger asked. Dani doubled over and threw-up. "Aww, shit," Roger mumbled. Mimi got up and scooped Dani up into her arms.
"Poor thing," she cooed. "You got so worked up that you got yourself sick. Dani began to cough.
"I don't feel well," she croaked.
"Let's get you to bed. Guys, can you clean that up please?" Mimi called over her shoulder. Roger and Mark looked at each other. "Thanks!"
Mark grabbed the mop and bucket out of the closet and filled the bucket with soapy water. He began to clean up Dani's mess.
"You want help?" Roger asked. Mark shook his head.
"Nah, I've got it." Mark finished cleaning up and dumped the dirty water down the toilet. As he came out of the bathroom, Collins came bursting into the loft.
"Hey you guys!" he
exclaimed. Collins stopped and looked around. "Where's
Mimi?"
"Putting Dani to bed," Roger replied. Collins
flopped down on one of the chairs.
"That little girl that you guys found?" Roger and Mark gave Collins a confused look. "I talked to Maureen last night; she told me. So, are we looking at a mini-Bohemian on our hands?"
"Right now, we're looking at a sick Bohemian," Mimi replied as she came out of the bedroom.
"Hey Meems," Collins said. Mimi leaned over and kissed Collins' cheek. "Is your little guest asleep?" Mimi slid onto Roger's lap.
"Yeah, she was out the second her head hit the pillow. I'm worried about that cough of hers."
"Once she can keep her cough medicine down, she'll be fine," Mark said. Mimi leaned against Roger. She hoped that Mark was right.