dchten

Mike penned a quick note to the founder of the site that they had been reading, every once-in-awhile, getting a suggestion from Faith that would make him laugh�

�Damn girl. Stop it will ya. It hurts too much to laugh.� He smiled but the tears in the corners of his eyes weren�t from laughter. His ribs hurt so bad, and she was showing no mercy.

�I�m sorry baby.� Faith wiped his eyes with her fingers. �I forgot� It was so much fun writing those responses and then writing the letter.�

Mike had broken his rule � just for the time being � about not writing on any particular board, the temptation was too great. With other members labeled as �mysterious member� or �mysterious moderator� depending on their position� he quickly dubbed himself with the user name �mysterious subject� and began to type responses to some of the topics and conversations� after years of anonymous reading, it was a bit of a thrill to actually respond. He and Faith had been enjoying it so much that he hated to disconnect when the doctor entered the room to check on his famous charge.

�How are we doing today? Hum? Looks like we�re feeling much better.� Grinning he began to pull the curtain around the bed, Faith�s clue to get lost for a while. She patted Mike�s hand and got up to leave.

�See ya in a bit� don�t go far babe.� Mike whispered as she rose to leave.

�Well dear� I was thinking maybe I could run home for a while. Shower, change� ya know, it�s been awhile. I�m surprised that you want me anywhere near you this way.� Boy, that was no lie either; she couldn�t even stand to be near herself at the moment. She hadn�t given any of it much thought over the last few days, concerned only with Mike and his condition.

�Well. If you gotta go� fine.�

Faith hesitated for a minute at first. Sure he was just playing, then suddenly realizing he wasn�t. Hell, he was made because she was leaving?

�You have to be kidding right? Mike, I�m only going for a little while. Gonna shower, change, maybe actually eat something besides cafeteria food, and sleep in a bed for a change. I�ll be back in the morning.�

�Fine.� Was the only response she got� He really was pouting.

�If you�ll leave for a minute. I could finish up here and you�ll probably be able to take him home tomorrow. Then you won�t have to worry about being apart.

The doctor had obviously bought the married story, Faith was amused suddenly about how �married� they must look at the moment.
�Fine,� she said with a sigh. �I�ll just wait outside to find out. But then, I AM going home to shower, and rest up. See you in the morning dear.�

�Great� Thanks so much �honey�, sorry I�ve been such a bother.�

Faith cringed at the drippy sarcasm.

�You haven�t been a bother� but if you hadn�t been such an air-head that night, none of this would have been necessa�.�

�Go to hell.� Mike turned away, groaning at the pain in his side from the twisting motion. Doctor Franklin just looked up at Faith and shrugged.

�I�ll be outside the door doctor, when you�re finished.� She turned and walked out, angry, mad, confused, hurt, and clenching her teeth, her anger fighting back the tears. What the hell was his problem anyway?

Faith slammed the big front door and stormed into the kitchen where Mona was washing dishes�

�Trouble?� Mona looked over her shoulder at the woman by the island counter.

�What an asshole.�

�I assume we�re talking about Mike here.� Mona fought the urge to put up her defenses, reminding herself again, that she liked this girl. �What did he do now?� She forced a smile and waited.

�He actually got mad cause I left to come home, take a shower, eat, get a good night�s sleep and put on some fresh clothes.� Faith grabbed an apple from the basket of fruit sitting atop the large island that dominated the enormous kitchen. �What�s with that? He�s okay now. He doesn�t need me holding his hand all night again.� She munched on the apple, savoring the flavor as the juices filled her mouth.

�Welcome to Mikey�s world, dear. He hate�s being left alone, and, well� let�s face facts hon� he seldom has a problem finding company.�

Faith�s jaw dropped, her mouth full of apple� she was sure it wasn�t a pretty sight, but at the same time, she wasn�t able to control the reaction.

�So I�m supposed to go trotting back there again tonight, and sleep in that hard ass chair, just so he doesn�t get lonely?� She eyed Mona, waiting, but got no response from as Mike�s faithful housekeeper went about her duties washing dishes. �The doctor said he could come home tomorrow. He�s fine now, he doesn�t need a baby-sitter.� She turned and stomped out of the room, leaving her half eaten apple on the counter top having lost her appetite.
Mona continued to wash the dishes wondering just how alone dear Michael would be that night. Faith, or no Faith� well that girl would have to learn sometime. Now was as good a time as any she supposed. No, he didn�t need a baby-sitter, but he had needs, and they seldom went unfulfilled.

Faith hurried and dressed, she had showered and gone to bed, but after a couple of hours of tossing and just laying in bed thinking of Michael all alone at that hospital feeling abandoned, hurting, she ran down the stairs and out the door without so much as a goodbye to Mona.

Mona smiled from her seat in front of the television, hearing the hurried footsteps and the slamming of the door. �You go girl�� she smiled, maybe Faith would be the one. Maybe� sure would be good for Mike to finally find someone who would keep him in line. �Don�t let that agile boy jump no fences�� hee hee, �keep him chained in his own back-yard for a change.�

Faith hummed happily as she walked down the bland, white corridor of the hospital�s third floor holding her bag of goodies� she had stopped at Baskin Robbins on the way to the hospital, Mike loved ice cream, and the two sundaes, dripping with whip cream and chocolate would surely bring her swift forgiveness� ummmm yummm, whip cream and chocolate, what she could imagine� stop that she teased herself� he�s a sick man, you had better behave yourself.

When Faith reached the door to Mike�s room the guard that stood there to protect the room�s occupant stepped aside with a puzzled look on his face. Faith thought for a moment to question the curious look on the guard�s face, he had certainly seen enough of her going in and out over the past 6 days. He didn�t try to stop her in anyway, but his look was certainly strange� She decided to ignore it, but the reason came into blinding clarity when she opened the door.

Faith dropped the bag full of gooey ice cream and stood in the doorway, in shock, as Mike moaned, his head back, his hands holding onto the sides of the woman whose white dress was pulled up to her waist as she rocked rhythmically, her uniform open down the front to reveal the warm, brown skin as her breasts brushed against his face while she rocked back and forth. Well, the man wasn�t that sick now was he? And certainly not lonely.

�Gee, I�m glad you�re not lonely. I was soooo worried.� She walked into the room ignoring the mess of ice cream on the floor. The nurse who had been �comforting� Michael stopped, mid-stride, and stared at Faith in amazement as she sat down in her chair opposite the bed and pulled out a magazine from the bed-side stand. �Oh please� don�t let lil ole me stop you� carry on.�

Mike looked over at Faith who was furiously whipping through the pages of the magazine with the force of a tornado swooping across the mid-western plains. When she looked up to meet his astonished gaze, her eyes were filled with anger. �What? Am I intruding? Oh gee, I�m sorry. I just thought I�d rest a minute before turning around, driving all the way back home, and spending the night packing!�

�Wait a minute baby.� Mike found it ridiculously difficult to beg forgiveness with a half naked woman still sitting astride him, joined to him. �Please don�t go.�

�Now Mike, you�re not being very polite to this �lady� here.� Faith didn�t even look at the nurse who she knew had simply been caught in the middle, having fallen for the warm, sweet, innocent charm that came so easily for Michael. �Now it�s your turn to go the hell.�

The chat room flashed furiously that night, as Bryan, Eve, Tate, Tony, and Tami compared notes back and forth of the curious and exciting e-mails they had gotten and about the �mysterious� messages that had popped up on Bryan�s site that evening� Oh my God� it was HIM� Oh, sure they had dreamed� but this was the dream come true, no one had ever dared to believe it would really happen.