A Rose by Any Other Name

Chapter 16

Writer's Note- Thank you all for reading the story and remember to vote (wink wink nudge nudge).

Derrick, are you set up okay?" Mike called from the kitchen.

Once a week I had to do my magix dialysis. No matter how much magic I tried to use during the week, I still ended up having that full feeling I knew would precede the vomiting.  It had been two weeks since I'd left the hospital and about a month and a half since Mike and I unofficially started dating. Is that what this was? Was this a relationship?

I didn't feel comfortable doing my dialysis while Mike was around, it made me feel an inexplicable sense of guilt. The nurses had taught me the best way to hook myself to an IV, and they'd taught Mike, too. In case I became too weak to do it myself, although I hadn't reached that point yet. Every time I stabbed myself with a needle I felt like a drug addict. When I said as much, Mike just started to look sad, so I learned to stop making jokes.

He'd been trying so hard lately, too.  Baking everyday. I mean, okay, maybe the guy was a little obsessed and this coping mechanism was getting a little out of hand, but we all handled stress differently.

I pricked myself with the needle, hooking up my arm to the IV. Fuck, I almost got a little high when all the magic content started flowing into the bag, that's how good it felt to not feel full. I only had to stay plugged for about two hours, staying still that long would be okay.

Mike came into the living room with a tray of cookies and a bowl of popcorn. He ended up buying  a tv without me, wall mounted with surround sound speakers and everything. Mike installed it for me while I was still in the hospital getting stitched back together.

Luciana and Dr. Song had performed a surgery to give me an artificial vein for magic content to flow through to facilitate my magix dialysis. It was weird suddenly having a new vein in my left arm, my tattoos seemed to be attracted to it, constant leaves materializing across my skin.

I picked up and chewed on a cookie, wondering how Mike knew all these recipes, and everything he made I loved. I watched as he cycled through netflix. We weren't sure if we wanted to watch a trashy reality tv show or an animated film.

"We need to talk." I said, interrupting Mike as he tried to make a decision.

His face fell and he pressed his fingers into his thighs for a moment. The nervousness took me aback and I realized my poor word choice.

"I mean-" I gestured with my free arm, pointing to a tray of cookies, "The baking, Mike. You've got to cut down."

He let out a relieved laugh, pushing his hands through his hair, "This is about the baking?" He leaned closer, twirling a hand in my hair for a moment, making an endearing expression.

I poked him in the arm, "Don't distract me with your fingers," I said smiling, "This is serious."

Mike smiled, lowering his gaze to my mouth, "How serious?" He teased me then, kissing me on the cheek, "I'm not allowed to like sweet things?"

I shifted for a moment, kissing him and forgetting about my IV bag. I lost a hand in Mike's hair and he cupped my face as he deepened the kiss. I'm not embarrassed to say I moaned a little bit. Mike pulled me up into his lap and I straddled his waist. "Fuck-" I said, getting tangled in my iv, "This isn't hot anymore."

Mike laughed, helping me straighten out my tubes, "But it's kind of cute, right?"

I shook my head, "I don't feel cute."

Mike kissed my neck, "I always think you're cute," he murmured against my cheek trailing kisses from my jaw to my throat.

I flinched for a moment, remembering hands wrapped around my throat, pressing harder and harder. I gasped, and Mike moved back, something like worry coursing across his face, "Is something wrong?"