Secrets of a Monkee
Summary: Micky meets his best friends during his darkest hour. Years later, his past comes back to haunt him. Can his friends help pull him back again?
Author's note: none….just let me know what you think!
Chapter 7: Complications
Micky turned off the engine of the motor bike when he pulled up to a large two story house that belonged to Rose. He checked the driveway and didn't see a car in it, but that didn't mean there wasn't one in the garage. He really hoped that Rose was home. And that she was alone. He wasn't quite sure what he would do if Tony were here. Resolute, he got off the bike and took a step to walk to the door. As soon as he had put his weight on his right ankle, though, pain shot through his leg. He figured he must have sprained it a little when he jumped out of the window, and limped his way up to the door. It took Rose about a minute to answer the door after he'd knocked. She looked very pale to Micky, but that may have been because of the yellow dress she was wearing. When she saw him standing in the doorway, her face darkened a little.
"Micky, what are you doing here?" she asked, a slight hint of anger in her voice. "How did you even find me?"
"From the number you gave Mike," Micky answered her second question first. "And I came here to talk to you. Is Tony here?" Her face paled a little more.
"How did you find out about that?"
"We had a little encounter a little while ago. Is he here?"
"No." Micky didn't wait for her to say anything else; he pushed past her into the house, ignoring the pain in his ankle and shifting most of his weight to the other one. "What do you think you're doing? I didn't say you could come in!"
"I am going to ask you a question and you need to answer me truthfully," Micky said ignoring her. She just stared at him, the door still open behind her.
"What?" She finally asked.
"Has he ever hurt you?"
"What are you talking about?" But her voice lowered ever so slightly, which meant she did know what he was talking about, but was trying to lie.
"Tony. Has he ever raised a hand against you?" Micky repeated, a little more forcefully.
"Why would you ask me something like that?"
"Answer the question."
"I don't even know where you'd get an idea like that."
"Answer the question." This time Micky spoke very forcefully. She was trying to avoid the answer.
"It's none of your business."
"So he has," Micky knew what the avoidance meant. His heart sank.
"What do you want, Micky?" She was angry now. "You want to come in and be my knight in shining armor or something? I was under the impression you didn't care. Tony loves me. That's all that matters. He was there for me during one of the worst times in my life. A moment you chose to abandon me."
"I never abandoned you," Micky snapped back. "You dumped me, remember?! I fought tooth and nail for you. Tried to tell you that you were being lied to."
"That's not what I mean and you know it."
"Actually, I don't."
"Leave, Micky. Before I call the cops." She threw her arm up and pointed out the still open door for emphasis. That's when Micky saw it. Her sleeve moved up on her arm revealing one small round bruise on the inside of her arm and four smaller ones even spaced on the outside of her arm. He knew all too well how she got them.
"Go ahead," he said softly, "and while you're at it, tell them how you got those bruises." Rose looked at him with a mixture of horror and pain and quickly dropped her arm, hiding the bruises under her sleeve again. "Those weren't there yesterday." Micky said, moving closer to her. "Did he do that after you talked to me? Jealous that you saw me and grabbed you?"
"What makes you think he gave me these bruises?" But she wouldn't meet his eyes.
"Because he pulled a gun on me and my friends today, threatening me to stay away from you. That's what our little encounter was. And because I saw the same ones on Sharon. That's how I know what he's capable of. I saw him nearly strangle Sharon. That's the real reason I broke his nose."
"You're lying."
"No, I'm not. Remember her broken arm and leg? Those were a gift from Tony."
"She said she fell down a flight of stairs."
"On two separate occasions within a span of 6 months? No one is that unlucky, Rose. Tell me, have you ever used that excuse? Or the' walked-into-a-door' excuse? I don't understand why you're doing this. I thought you were stronger than this." Micky grabbed her chin in his hand and tried to get her to look into his eyes. When he saw the tears in them, his heart sank even lower.
"I told you, Micky. He was there for me. You weren't. You don't get to change your mind now. It's…" her voice trailed off as she gasped in pain. She doubled over and clutched her stomach.
"Rose!" Micky tried to help keep her from falling to the ground, frightened now and not knowing why she was in pain. "What's wrong?"
"Oh no," Rose whispered. Her voice was very weak. "This can't be happening again. It…just…can't…." Rose fell against Micky who tried to support her, but his ankle gave way with the extra weight. Pain shot through his whole leg and Micky cried out in pain as they both tumbled to the floor. Rose lay on top of his chest and Micky tried to get up, but he couldn't put any weight on his ankle anymore. He only managed to sit himself up with Rose's head in his lap and his back against the coffee table he narrowly missed hitting when they fell. Moving her hair out of her face, he realized she was even paler and her eyes were closed. She had passed out. Micky knew he had to get her to the hospital, but didn't know how as he couldn't get up and didn't know where a phone was in her house.
It was then he heard a car pull up in front of the house. Terror gripped him as he thought that perhaps Tony was coming home. He quickly tried to think of a way to defend himself and Rose, but came up short. Relief washed over him however as he saw Peter, Davy and Mike walk through the open front door. Mike looked extremely angry when he first walked in, but as soon as he realized Rose was unconscious, the anger disappeared slightly from his features. Peter and Davy both knelt down beside Micky and Rose.
"What happened?" Davy asked, feeling Rose's forehead. "She's very clammy."
"I don't know," Micky answered. "We were just talking and the next thing I know, she's crying out in pain and passes out."
"She needs a doctor," Peter said.
"Yeah, but I can't really get up. When she fell, I fell too. My ankle hurts too much to stand on it."
"Serves you right for jumping out a window," Mike said, clearly still a little angry.
"Can we not deal with that now?" Peter said before an argument could start. "She needs the hospital. Now. Look." Peter pointed to a few spots of blood on the floor where Rose had been standing. Micky suddenly felt a wave of fear induced nausea flood over him. "Davy, Mike, carry her out to the car. I'll help Micky." No one argued as they did what Peter told them.
"Davy, the bike," Peter said once they got Rose into the car. "Follow us to the hospital so that Tony won't know we were here." Davy nodded and Micky tossed him the keys. Peter helped Micky get into the car himself, but Micky's ankle accidentally bumped against the door and he cried out in pain again. All three of his friends froze and stared at him, now fearing for both Micky and Rose.
"I'm fine," Micky said cutting off an apology from Peter. "Let's just go." Mike jumped into the driver's seat and Peter jumped in back with Micky. Rose lay in the back seat, a heavy blanket under her. The color seemed to be leaving her face with each passing minute and there was a little more blood on the blanket, but Micky couldn't tell where it was coming from. "Hurry, Mike," Micky said once the car was started. Rose's words haunted him the whole drive to the hospital. Why had she thought he abandoned her? And what was wrong with her? Whatever it was had apparently happened before. Had that been the hard times that Tony had seen her through? When she thought Micky had abandoned her?
Within minutes they had pulled into the hospital parking lot. Ignoring the road signs, Mike drove into the ambulance only area and leapt out of the car without even turning it off before running through the doors and inside. Moments later he re-emerged with a doctor and two nurses behind him wheeling a stretcher and a wheelchair with them. The doctor and one of the nurses gently put Rose on the stretcher and wheeled her inside while Peter and the second nurse helped Micky into the wheelchair. Mike leapt back into the car to go park it legally and Peter followed the nurse inside with Micky. He could hear the commotion surrounding Rose and desperately wanted to be there with her.
"Is she going to be ok?" Micky asked, staring off in her direction.
"It's too early to tell, sweetie," the nurse said trying to soothe him. "But we will do everything we can. I need you to tell me exactly what happened, though."
"I don't really know. We were talking and she cried out in pain and collapsed."
"Did she say anything or do anything?"
"She grabbed her stomach and she said something about how this couldn't be happening again."
"Do you know what she meant by that?"
"No, but her fiancé is an abuser." Micky didn't know why he felt the need to say this, but he did. He wanted to make it clear in case it was Tony's fault. "His name is Tony DeWitt. He nearly choked an old girlfriend. And he broke her leg and arm. I don't know what he's done to Rose, but she has a bruise on her arm in the shape of a hand, like he grabbed her."
"Ok, we'll look into that." The nurse walked over to a doctor who was running their way and said something to him Micky couldn't hear. He nodded and ran over to where the other doctor and nurses were working on Rose. She came back over to Micky and Peter the same time Mike and Davy ran up to them as well. She looked at Davy questioningly.
"He's family, too," Mike said. "He followed us here." The nurse looked at them skeptically but didn't say anything. She grabbed the chair Micky sat in and wheeled him into a private room nearby with his friends. Micky couldn't hear the sounds of the doctors working on Rose anymore. He felt tears sting his eyes as he was gripped by worry. He didn't care about his ankle. He needed to be with her. Even if she didn't want him. The thought that she felt he abandoned her was almost too much for Micky.
"I know you want to be with your friend right now," the nurse said to him, reading his face like a book. "But if we are going to help her, I need to get as much information from you and your friends as possible. Can you do that, sweetie?" Micky could tell she was trying to use the term of endearment to ease his worry, but it wasn't working. Micky nodded. "Ok, you said her name is Rose Lily Larson?" she asked in Mike's direction, now writing on a clipboard. Mike nodded. "Does she have family in the area? Other than her fiancé?" She asked the whole room now.
"I think her father is in town for the wedding," Mike offered. "I don't know where to find or contact him, though."
"Ok. Did you notice anything unusual about her while you were talking?"
"She looked pale," Micky said.
"How old is she?"
"21."
"What's her birthday?"
"October 4th."
"Do you know her blood type in case we need a transfusion?"
"O positive." Micky saw his three friends stare down at him in amazement.
"You know her blood type?" Davy asked. "We don't even know yours!"
"I've known her a lot longer than I've known you."
"How long have you known her?" the nurse asked.
"Since kindergarten."
"Does she have any medical problems?"
"Not that I know of. I haven't talked to her in four years."
"So you don't know if she developed anything in the last four years?"
"No. She's not exactly happy with me. I only went to talk to her because I found out she was engaged to that slimy toad and was worried about her safety."
"Ok, I'll be right back," the nurse said as she left the room.
"Micky," Mike started.
"Don't start with me, Mike," Micky snapped.
"I was only going to ask what you were thinking in jumping out a window," Mike snapped back.
"Guys," Peter stood up inserting himself between Mike and Micky acting as referee. "We're worried about both of you. You clearly did something to your ankle, and Rose is in really bad shape. No one is going to start an argument. Not here. Got that Mike? Micky?" Both nodded in agreement and temporary truce. The nurse came back very quickly with a third doctor.
"Alright, this is Dr. Hartman," the nurse introduced. "He'll be taking care of you."
"What about Rose?" Micky asked.
"There are other doctors seeing to her," Dr. Hartman responded gently. "She's got two of our best doctors taking care of her. She's in excellent hands." He paused for a moment to allow this to sink in. Micky still wanted to be with her. "Now let's take care of that ankle. What is your full name?"
"George Michael Dolenz Jr." Micky responded.
"How old are you?"
"21."
"Alright, tell me what happened."
"He jumped out a window," Mike said before Micky could respond. Micky glared at him, but Peter jumped up and started whispering to Mike.
"What did you do that for?" the doctor asked, ignoring this little interaction.
"They wouldn't let me leave," Micky sneered.
"Don't blame this on us!" Mike burst. Davy jumped up and grabbed Mike by the collar to pull him out of the room. In any other situation, Micky would have laughed at seeing his shortest friend dragging the tallest by the collar.
"Brotherly love," Peter suggested when the doctor and the nurse both got worried expressions on their faces. "You know how brothers bicker sometimes." Peter tried to laugh it off.
"Ok, Mr. Dolenz, what happened when you jumped out the window?" the doctor asked, turning back to Micky.
"I think I landed on my ankle wrong," Micky answered. "I felt a small pain, but it wasn't that bad at first. I rode a motor bike over to Rose's house to talk to her. It hurt, but I could limp on it and stand with most of my weight on the other leg. But then when she passed out, I tried to catch her so she didn't fall down. I had to put more weight on my ankle and I felt more pain and then couldn't stand anymore. We both fell and I couldn't get back up."
"Let's take a look." The nurse and Peter helped load Micky into the bed so the doctor could examine him better. The doctor took Micky's boots off carefully, but Micky's ankle was swollen inside them, making the task difficult and painful. Micky screamed in pain eliciting a startled jump from Peter. Peter pulled a chair up next to the bed so he could sit in it and hold Micky's hand tightly in both of his. Micky knew Peter was trying to silently tell him that he was there for him.
Once they had gotten Micky's boot and sock off, Micky could now see exactly how bad his ankle looked. It looked like a baseball was sitting just under his skin. The doctor looked at it carefully. He pushed his fingers against Micky's shin asking him if it hurt. Micky shook his head no. The doctor carefully touched the ankle and once again, Micky screamed in pain.
"Ok, let's get a few tests here," the doctor said. "Doesn't look like its broken, but there could be some torn ligaments in there." The next few hours were excruciating for Micky. Not because of the pain in his ankle because the doctor had given him a powerful pain killer, but because he didn't know what was going on with Rose. Davy and Mike had returned shortly after the doctor left and Mike had sat in silence in a chair in the corner since. Peter was trying to keep Micky's mind off things by telling funny stories, which Davy tried to laugh at, but Micky could tell both their laughs were forced. When the doctor finally came back in, Micky pushed himself up.
"How's Rose?" He asked, hopeful the doctor would have good news.
"She's fine," the doctor answered. "It's lucky you brought her when you did. She lost a lot of blood, but she'll be fine now." Micky breathed a sigh of relief.
"What was wrong with her?" He asked. The doctor and the nurse exchanged looks as if deciding whether or not to tell him.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Dolenz, you aren't family and I'm afraid I can't go into too much detail because of that. What I can tell you is that she is looking to make a swift recovery."
"What do you mean?" Micky couldn't believe he was going to be kept in the dark about this. "I'm as good as family! I've known her since we were toddlers!"
"Didn't you say you hadn't spoken to her in 4 years?" the nurse asked. "And that she was mad at you?"
"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't care about her!"
"Be that as it may, we have laws we have to abide by," the doctor stated. "Her issue is a very sensitive one and I can't go into detail with anyone other than family."
"Is her family here?" Davy asked.
"We couldn't get a hold of the father, but the fiancé stopped by," the doctor answered. All four men exchanged worried looks. "Don't worry, boys. We did see the bruises on her and based on what you told us, the police took him for questioning, but they probably won't be able to do much without her statement or a witness."
"We understand," Mike said, standing up now. "What about Micky? What's wrong with his ankle?"
"It's not broken, but you did tear a ligament in it. It was probably sprained from the landing, and you snapped it when you tried to catch Rose. It can be treated very easily. We're going to give you what we call a 'boot' to wear for a few weeks while it heals. And some crutches. No standing at all for the first few days. Plenty of ice. And after that, if you have to stand, don't do it for very long."
"Thank you, Dr. Hartman," Mike said and the doctor and nurse both left. Micky was fuming. Where the doctors really going to let Rose go home to Tony? And it killed him not knowing what was wrong with her. And Mike had ended any and all other protests they could have over the issue. Mike really wasn't regaining any points in the not making Micky angry category.
"Mike, we don't understand," Peter started. "They're going to let her go home with that man even though he very well could have been the one to put her here!"
"We don't know that," Mike said. He raised his hand to stop any further protests. "We don't even know what's wrong with her. It could be a very normal problem. If they had any reason to suspect that he did this to her, I don't think they'd send her home."
"They would if they couldn't prove it," Micky argued. "I need to find out what happened." Micky started to sit up, but was pushed back down by Davy and Peter.
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Davy asked. "You're not leaving this bed. You can't walk."
"Yeah, the doctor said no standing," Peter added.
"I can't just sit here!" Micky exclaimed. He felt as though his frustration would overflow at any moment and no one around him would be safe.
"Just calm down, Micky," Mike said taking off his hat and running his fingers through his hair. "Look, I'm sorry for being angry before and the things I said. I got really mad when Peter saw you'd jumped out the window because I knew that all you were doing was hurting yourself. I wanted to try and save you from yourself. Then when I saw you had physically hurt yourself doing exactly what we told you would hurt you, I got mad again. But I was also worried and scared because I care about you and it kills me to see you in any kind of pain. You have to know that. When Davy and I heard you screaming in here while the doc was examining you, we both nearly had heart attacks right there. I can't protect you from pain when you go jumping out windows and running into the fire. You're my brother, Micky. And it's my job to protect you. To look out for you and make sure you're ok. And seeing you here in this hospital bed right now tells me I've failed at that. Hearing you scream in pain is like someone screaming in my head that I'm a failure. There are three of us here trying so hard to look out for you, to protect you and keep you safe, and you don't seem to care about that. That's why I'm angry. So for once, can you just sit and relax and let us deal with this?" Micky felt his anger ebb away a little bit only to be replaced by guilt.
"I do care about what you guys do for me," Micky answered. "And don't feel like you've failed me. You all have honestly done more than any of you even know to keep me safe." Micky couldn't look into their faces, but knew they were confused by this statement. Micky still refused to tell them that they had saved his life in more ways than one. Especially now. "Do you have some sort of plan, Mike?"
"Yes, but I'm not going to tell you," Mike answered. "Because you need to rest. It's late. Nearly 3 in the morning. Try and get some sleep before the doctor comes back. Peter, can you stay here with him? Davy, come with me." With that Mike and Davy exited the room. Micky had no idea what they were doing, but finally decided to listen to the voice in his head that was telling him he needed to listen to Mike and rest. There was nothing he could do with a busted foot anyway.