Disclaimer: We don't own RENT!
Miranda's AN: Hello, and welcome to Fine Cuisine! I'm Miranda, whose account this is being written on, and this -points- is Katy, who is my amazingly awesome co-author
Katy's AN: Hi I'm Katy (QuixoticLover) and I'm the amazingly awesome co-author!
Miranda's AN: Anyway, so yeah, the title may not make sense YET, but it will all fall into place, and most likely change : P Oh, and it takes place in the present, not in the '90s :3 Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1: Disaster Strikes
"Speeeaaaak!"
"Mark? Roger? It's Joanne." Joanne sounded as if she were on the verge of tears. Mark rushed to the phone, Roger following right behind.
"Joanne? What's going on?"
"It's Benny. He's in the hospital. The one on 10th Street. He... we'll tell you when you get there. Call Angel and Collins, okay?"
"Okay, we're on our way."
"Is he dead yet?"
"Shut UP, Rog!"
"I meant it in a worried way!"
"Joanne, we'll be there in a few minutes."
Mark hurriedly dialed the number for the apartment where Angel and Collins lived. It rang a few times, and then a groggy voice answered.
"Hello? Who is it?"
"Collins- it's Mark. Joanne just called. Benny's in the hospital. We need to get there as soon as possible."
"Oh, that's horrible. Is he okay?"
"We don't really know yet..."
"Okay, well Ang and I'll come over to the loft in a few minutes."
"Thanks. See ya."
After he hung up, Collins hurried over to the bed, sitting down next to Angel, who was curled up in a ball, chin-deep in the bedsheets. He poked her repeatedly.
"Angel, wake up! Benny's in the hospital, we have to go!"
"Mrrr... good riddance..." Angel turned over, pulling the sheets up over her ears.
"You don't mean that, and you know it. Get up or I'll have to pull you out of bed!"
"Mrehhhhhhhhh..." Collins yanked the sheets off , tossing them to the floor. Once Angel sat up to protest, he grabbed her arms and gave a firm tug, pulling her to the side of the bed.
"Now, get up and get some clothes on." Angel shuffled blindly to her little vanity table. "And hurry, no wigs or make-up, just something easy to put on."
"First you..." she yawned "Get me up, and now..." Another yawn "You make me look like shit..."
"Just hurry!"
In a few minutes, they were both ready to go. They walked to the loft and ran up the stairs. Angel banged on the door and Mark opened it, scarf in hand. Roger was right behind him, and both were ready to leave. The group walked in silence to the hospital and found a very stressed-out Joanne waiting for them.
"Oh, thank goodness you guys are here."
"What happened to him?" Mark asked quickly.
"He got hit by a bus... Somewhere nearby. Allison is already here- she's upstairs with Maureen. I don't know if that was a really good idea... but we should get up there soon anyway. They aren't sure how much longer he's going to..." Joanne sniffled and started crying. She didn't know Benny very well, but well enough to cry over him.
"It's okay, honey. Let's go." Angel said, pulling her into a hug.
Joanne stepped back after a moment. "Room 309," she said softly. They slowly made their way up the stairs and down the hallway until they found Benny's room.
Benny looked horrible, covered in bandages and hooked up to a life-support system. He had his eyes closed at first, but when he heard Collins and Maureen greeting each other, he looked around to see his ex-friends standing around his bed. "Hi..." he whispered, twitching his hand in what he wanted to be a wave.
Mark was the first to go over to Benny, leaning down to give him as much of a hug as he could around all the wires and bandages.
"So... how's life?" Benny said weakly, then coughed out a chuckle.
"Benny... what happened?"
"I... I don't know. Just... blam." he smiled weakly, but went into another coughing fit.
"Benny, I... I'm sorry, man..." Roger whispered. "We... we could'a been a lot nicer to you."
"That's okay..." Benny answered. "I was..." he coughed and wheezed for a moment. "I wasn't very nice either."
Now it was Collins' turn to go over to the side of the bed.
"Benny... it's hard to see you like this. In college, after college... you were always the strong one, the survivor."
"Collins, I have to tell you something."
"What is it?"
"I left you guys... a lot of money. Half of the money and property went to Alison and the family... and the other half goes to my real family, to you guys. Do something with it."
"Benny, we can't take that," Collins replied. "We don't deserve it, after how bad we treated you."
"Always humble... take it, it's yours. It's in my will, been there for a long time. Even when you treated me like shit... I left you guys in there. Do something with it, like opening that restaurant you wanted."
"Benny, I..."
The lines on the monitor began to get irregular as Benny's breathing faltered.
"Bye..." he whispered, and he was gone.
