"The Reunion and the Loss" Written by: Ronnie Lores (proofread by dreamt in vertigo)
Rating: T Disclaimer: I do not own anything dealing with RENT; they belong to the late, great Jonathon Larson.
Warning: character death, but nothing different from the play/movie.
1. Coming Home (Mark and Angel)
"Roger, hi… it's Mark. Look, I know you're screening my call right now. Pick up! Fine, look, just come home. I mean, we still haven't heard from Mimi, and I don't know what could be going on in Santa Fe, but I know it can't be anymore important than us. We need you here. Please come home…" My message to Roger sounded pathetic, even to me. Why couldn't he just see we needed him? I needed him?
"No luck, sweetie?" asked Angel.
"No," I said. "I thought he loved Mimi."
"I do, "choked a voice from the other side of the room- Roger's.
"Mark!" Roger cried as he spread his arms into the widest hug that he could give me.
"I thought you'd never come home," I said fighting back my tears.
"Well, I did," he said. "Hello, Thomas," Roger said taking Collins into his arms. "Angel, my dear, so good to see you. How are you doing?" Roger asked Angel.
"Fine," she replied as she jumped from the floor to the couch.
"Have you guys heard from Mimi?" he pleaded, sounding almost scared. Maybe he was more scared for her than I thought.
"No, man," Collins answered.
"My God! Where is she?" Roger said, worried. "I thought she was doing well. Didn't she stop using? I mean, she was in rehab-."
"She dropped out," I said. "She couldn't take it anymore."
"Well enough of this! Let's go people," Angel said snapping her fingers.
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As we strolled around Tompkins Square Park, my stomached lurched and I felt a ball in my throat. "Angel, what if we never find her?" I asked, confessing my true feelings.
"Oh, honey, don't worry we will find her. I promise," she consoled my feelings to a minimum.
"Angel, how are you feeling? Are you doing alright?" I asked her, slowly changing the subject for fear of breaking down.
"Oh, I'm doing ok…I've had better days but honestly, hon, this is the best I've felt in a while- I mean, a really long time," she replied, sounding so scared.
"Have you been to the doc-,"she cut me off with a wave of her hand.
"Babe, let's not talk about this now. I have other things on my mind." I could tell she was choking on every emotion she had.
"Okay, you can talk to Collins." I really was kind of hurt. "Well, what should we do now?" I asked my concern showing in every word.
"I vote you go back to the loft and wait to see what happens. I have to get Collins; we have Life Support to go to. Are you coming tonight?" Angel seemed almost ecstatic at the fact of attending Life Support.