"Good morning." Roger whispered waking Maureen up gently.
"Good morning Baby." she said smiling up at him.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked caressing her hair.
"Yeah, I always sleep well when I'm with you." she said smiling as he leaned down to kiss her. "Do you have auditions today?" she asked caressing his stubbled cheek.
"Yeah. You wanna come with?" he asked playing with her hair.
"I would love to. You know I could never resist watching you flex those sexy muscles of yours." she said smiling up at him as he pulled her into a deep passioinate kiss.
"And I could never resist this sexy body." he said caressing her body.
"Uh, I love when you do that." she said becoming weak with his touch.
"That's why I do it." he whispered as he moved his lips down her neck.
"What time are your auditions." she asked with her eyes closed.
"Not until later." he whispered in her ear.
"Mmm, good. We have time." she said wrapping her arms around his back.
"Maureen, Roger. Get up?" Joanne shouted knocking on the door.
"Not now Jo. Come back later." Roger shouted before kissing Maureen again.
"Guys, this is serious. It's Collins. He's at the ER." she yelled as Roger and Maureen jumped out of bed.
"What?" Maureen shreiked as Roger threw on his boxers and pants to open the door.
"He collapsed at school. He's at the hospital." Joanne said crying as Roger looked at her.
"What hospital?" Maureen asked buttoning her pants.
"I don't know. Mark answered the phone. He'll be down in a minute." she said as Roger wrapped his arms around her.
"It's OK Jo. It's not his time." Roger said consoling her as Mark came down.
"Did Jo tell you guys what's up?" he asked as Joanne shifted to him.
"Yeah, let me just finish getting dressed and we'll go." Roger said as Maureen put on her sneakers.
"What happened?" Maureen asked as Mark and Joanne stood in the doorway.
"He collapsed at school. That's all they would tell me on the phone. We have to get down there." he said as Roger ran out of the bedroom area dressed and ready to go.
"Are you ready, Baby?" he asked as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
"Um, yeah." she whispered as he took her in his arms.
"It's not his time yet, Mo. We just gotta believe that." he whispered as he squeezed her tight.
"I know. Let's go." she said wiping her eyes before they left. They took the subway to the hospital. Roger held Maureen in his arms and Mark held Joanne in his arms.
"He's gonna be OK. I bet it's something stupid." Roger said kissing Maureen's head.
"Yeah, he's gonna be fine." Mark agreed caressing Joannes hair.
"I hope so." Maureen said holding Roger tight as they got off of the train and went to the hospital.
"Thomas B. Collins, he collapsed at NYU." Roger said approaching the desk.
"One moment, let me check." the nurse told him looking for his chart.
"Thank you." he said holding Maureen.
"Oh yes. The doctor will be out to talk to you." she said closing the chart.
"Is he OK? I mean, is it anything serious." Roger asked as Maureen began crying.
"The doctor really should speak to you." she said as Roger looked down.
"Thank you." Roger said quietly as he held Maureen tighter.
"Family for Thomas Collins." the doctor said coming out to meet them.
"Yes, we're right here." Mark said as they approached the doctor.
"It seems Mr. Collins is suffering from exhaustion, and he stopped taking his AZT." the doctor said as Joanne and Maureen started crying harder.
"How are his T-cells?" Roger asked holding back tears to be strong for Maureen.
"They're getting low, but if we can get him back on his meds, it shouldn't be too serious." the doctor said as Mark looked away from him.
"Can we see him?" Roger asked caressing Maureens hair.
"Sure, right this way." he said leading them to the room where Collins was.
"Thanks. Collins, what are you thinking? Not taking your meds. Are you trying to kill yourself?" Roger asked as Maureen looked up at him shocked.
"Roger, calm down." she whispered wiping her eyes.
"No. Doesn't he think we lost enough of our friends to this thing? He's gonna help it kill him too?" he said beginning to cry.
"Collins, what's going on? Why would you stop taking your meds?" Mark asked as Roger collapsed in Maureen's arms.
"I miss her, man. You guys all have each other and I miss her." he said crying.
"So you're gonna kill yourself? That's genius. Oh yeah, she'd love that idea." Roger said looking up at him.
"You can't give up Collins. You have so much to give to the world. You have your kids and you have us. You could have come to us." Mark said as Joanne cried in his arms.
"I know, but I just feel like I'm alone sometimes. I'm sick of waiting for this thing to take me." he said wiping his eyes.
"It's not too late, you know? The doctor said all you have to do is get back on your meds and you should be fine." Maureen said caressing Roger's hair.
"OK. I'm sorry guys. I should have talked to you about how I was feeling. It was wrong." he answered as Roger walked over to him.
"You ever try to pull a stunt like that again, I'll kill you myself." he told him angrily.
"I know. I'm really sorry Rog." he said reaching out to hug Roger.
"I love you man." he told him breaking down in his arms.
"Sure, now you tell me. You're with Maureen now." Collins said jokingly as everyone laughed.
"Wiseass." Roger said laughing with him.
"I love you too Roger." he said clutching onto his jacket.