A/N: Sorry for the longer-than-usual update wait. My school had two Snow Days last week, and the other three were on delays, so things have been pretty crazy! Hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own emotion, I Rent. Which I don't own either.
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An hour later, the six of them sat on the steps outside Life Support. They were all in a dismal mood, having just discovered at the meeting that a fellow attendee, Laurie, had passed away a week ago.
"Poor Jack," Mimi whispered now. Jack was Laurie's extremely shy HIV-positive husband. "He's all alone now."
Roger put his arm around her. "Not all alone. He still has Life Support. And that includes us."
"Lot of good that does him, having us," Collins snorted, before suddenly releasing a series of coughs.
Joanne, who was sitting beside him, thumped him on the back. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm-˝ he coughed, "Just fine."
"Maybe we should head back to the Loft," Mark suggested. "The girls are probably wondering where we are."
"Don't hurry on my account," Collins protested, but they all stood up and made their way back to the cars anyway.
Collins wheezed a few times, but when asked if he was okay, he responded with such vehemence that they quit asking. The drive to the Loft was unnaturally quiet. Collins joined the others in Roger's car while Maureen and Joanne followed in the jeep. It took a while, but they finally pulled open the apartment door.
"There you are!" Anna exclaimed from where she and the two teenagers were perched on the counter. "What took you so long?"
In reply, Collins harrumphed and almost collapsed into Maureen's arms. As Roger and Joanne hurried to help, Mark explained to Anna, who ran off to find some blankets. Angie and Rachael watched in trepidation as the adult Bohemians made Collins as comfortable as possible on the couch.
"Shouldn't we go to the hospital?" Joanne mused.
Collins shook his head angrily. "I'm fine! Geez!" He tried to get up, but Mark pushed him back down.
"If you get any worse, we will take you to a hospital, but for now, just get some rest." Mimi insisted firmly. Collins knew better than to refuse Mimi when she was in her protection mode.
The group dispersed slightly over the next hour. Angie and Rachael disappeared onto the fire escape. Mark, Collins, and Roger, who hadn't slept well the night before, fell into a lazy dozelike state. It was clear Joanne was exhausted, too, but she opened her appointment book and began scribbling something down in it.
Anna, Mimi, and Maureen descended to the Davis apartment, and every once in a while, a giggle could be heard drifting through the vents.
Eventually, Roger reached for his guitar and felt for the strings. With his eyes still closed, he played a familiar melody. Everyone woke up slightly, groaning.
"Not the Musetta's Waltz!" Mark pleaded.
Roger pretended to be hurt. He instead strummed the melody to "Your Eyes", at the very moment the three women returned from downstairs. Mimi smiled, but Maureen gagged.
"Please don't tell me things have gotten so boring that you've started playing that old song!" she moaned. "Play Christmas songs instead. I'll even sing!"
"Christmas songs are cheesy," protested Roger, but he obeyed anyway, and soon Maureen was singing at the top of her lungs, over-exaggerating the end of every line. Rachael and Angie came in to find out what all the noise was.
"We thought there was a dying cow in here!" Angie exclaimed.
"Oh no! Elsie!" Maureen gasped, "You can't die!" She sunk to her knees, as if begging for mercy.
"You should use that pose in one of your protests," Joanne observed wryly.
"Great idea!" Maureen agreed, half in fun.
Anna glanced at her watch. "Anybody hungry?" she asked.
For lunch, the group enjoyed cheese sandwiches and stale bread, washed down with questionable grape juice, the only liquid currently in the fridge.
"Don't you ever go to the grocery?" Joanne asked, wincing after taking a swallow.
Rachael laughed. "Mom can't cook, so we get a lot of pizza and T.V. dinners. Lately we've been eating out, so we haven't bought anything. This is all that's left."
"Bon appetite!" Mark said brightly.
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A/N: Review! Also, as a note, I know my characters may be a little out of character at times, like they are more protective. Well, nobody writes a perfect character, and I choose to blame their different traits to the sixteen years it's been since we last saw them!
