Chapter 11: Another Hurdle

A/N: I am soooooooooooooooooooo sorry for not updating. I graduated from high school and my first year of college was hell. While I got good grades, it was still a lot of work, I'm sure all of you college guys can understand. Since I'm done for the summer, the story should be completed by August, maybe the end of July. Again feel free to comment.

It seemed like ages that the bohemians were sitting in the waiting room, each minute seemed like a century. Maureen was gripping Joanne, her face etched with tears. Collins was gravely shaking his head and leaving the room for a smoke. Only Roger seemed in focus. He paced around the room, his boots creating a symphony of noise as he took every step.

"When the fuck will doctors come out here?" he asked madly.

Mimi tried to caress him, touching his arm in soothing motions.

"Rog sweetie, a doctor will come out when they can." She said.

He threw his arm away angrily.

"WHEN? WHEN THEY TELL US THAT THEY COULDN'T SAVE HIM?"

"Roger chill," Collins said, his deep voice ushering a fatherly tone. " Mark will be fine."

" How the fuck do you know?" Roger asked, shoving Collins. " You didn't see him struggle to breathe."

Mimi slapped him, crying as she made her move. " Roger, you didn't find him in that alley. You didn't have to lift him to the building. It's hard for all of us! Why should you fell some sort of superiority?" she said.

It was silent for a moment, only the echoing of the ticking clock made noise.

Suddenly, for what seemed like hours, a doctor in green scrubs came out and approached the bohemians.

"Excuse me, but are you here for a Mark Cohen?" he asked softly.

Roger came over to him and said in a firm voice:

"Yes, we are all here for Mark. How is he doctor? Is he alright?"

The doctor slowly brought down his head, making the girls start to cry. He shook his head solemly and said:

"Well, he is alive, for now. When you brought him in, the wounds made his previous injuries more severe, particularly his breathing. We had to insert a tracheotomy tube in his neck, because now, I'm sorry, he can't breathe on his own anymore. Also, because of his breathing problems, his other muscles look to be worn out as well. While he is not paralyzed, thank heavens, we will have to be in a wheelchair for probably the rest of his life, just to conserve any energy. He has yet to wake up, if he ever does. I'm so sorry."

It was so quiet in the waiting room at that moment, that a faint pin could be dropped and its sound could reminisce the concerts that Roger used to play with. Tears welled up in everybody's eyes at the devastating news of their fragile member. Everyone grasped onto each other, to comfort one another. Well, except for Roger. His face was expressionless, as if life was taken away from him as soon as the doctor started talking. He didn't move from his spot, nor did he turn to face any of the other bohemians. Amid her tears, Mimi started to walk over to Roger. Her petite body grasped itself onto Roger's muscular one.

"Roger, are you okay?" Mimi asked meekly, reaching to touch a lock of his sandy curls. All of a sudden, however, he pushed her away, sending her into Collins, who grasped onto her. Roger walked over towards the doctor, his right arm ready to attack. Benny and Collins tried to hold him down but they couldn't.

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE?" Roger finally yelled. "What are you saying, that Mark is pretty much too weak now to breathe on his own? Who the fuck do you think you are? He bounced out of this before, with only a fucking oxygen tank, and now you are saying that he is pretty much going to be connected to a device for the rest of his life?" Roger screamed, tears pouring from his eyes, punching a hole in the wall in the process.

" Sir, if you do not settle yourself down, I will have to call security and they will take you to the mental ward." The doctor said authoritatively.

" I don't fucking give a shit, you bastard." Roger cried. He pointed in the direction of the emergency area. "That person in there, that man who you say is going to need a trach tube in his neck for the rest of his life. Who probably won't have the energy anymore to take even a few steps, is my best friend. He is all our best friends. Now you go back in there and you give that man the best fucking treatment you can give him." Roger said, his body now crumbled against the wall, Mimi waking over to rock him slowly, her eyes still brimmed with tears.

The doctor nodded curtly and said: "If you want to see Mark, he is in Room 610. You may see him if you want. I will inform you on any new developments." And he walked away.

The bohemians stood and sat in shock over the news. Deep down, they thought to themselves How will Mark live now? What will happen to him now? What will happen to us now?"

"You guys," Maureen finally spoke. "Where will he live now? How can we get the chair and all of the stuff up there? Maybe he will…"

" No Maureen, don't you fucking say it…" Roger spat out from Mimi's grasp.

The rest of the bohos looked at her, their faces etched in sorrow, already knowing what she was going to say. She took a deep breath and continued:

"Maybe he will have to live in a place that can take care of him. I mean, how are we going to help him. Hell, half of you can barely make ends meet with getting AZTs. How can we afford to take care of a guy who can't even breathe on his own. It was different from when he just need the oxygen tank, at least he could breathe on his own a little bit. But guys, he really can't breathe on his own. What happens if he stops breathing in the middle of the night? What will happen then?" Maureen said, crying with every word that she let out.

Nobody knew what to say after that, until Mimi finally said:

"Maybe we should see Mark now. I mean even if he can't hear us right now, we can still sit beside him and maybe that will make him come back."

The bohemians silently nodded, and together, they trekked towards the room in which mark was staying at.

-Mark didn't look good at all when the bohemians were in there. His face still had faint traces of blood. Wires were attached to him all over the place, while his body was ghostly white. The girls started to cry when the saw the painful reminder of what happened to them. A clear plastic tube was connected from Mark's neck attached to a tank that made simulated breathing noises. Roger walked to mark's bedside, grasping the cold hand from the still form. Gently, he kissed it and cried:

" You better get better, Mark, we are going to make it through this. You are not going into some fucking home because of this. You are going to come home with us and it will be like it always was. You'll see, just please Mark, wake up. We need you."

Roger bent down on the blanket and cried hard into the sratchy coverings. Nobody said anything. They all ust approached mark, touching him softly. Wishing for him to wake up. Benny came to Roger and cupped his face to look at him. He took a deep breath and said:

" I'll fund whatever care mark is going to need when he finally does come home. If I need to, why he is here, I can hire guys to modify the loft and the building, making it safer for Mark. I'll even put elavators in the dump, or if that isn't possible, I'll fucking carry him to the loft and back by myself" He said, flexing his non-existent muscles, causing some vague laughter in the room. Benny took another deep breath and continued:

" But you are right Roger, Mark doesn't belong in a home away from us just because he can't do things like he used to. That's what we are here for, we are family after all, whether he likes it or not."

Roger hugged Benny hard after he finished, saying silent thank yous to Benny, who merely just nodded. Soon all was silent until Joanne jumped and laughed, causing strange looks from everyone in the room. With eyes just pouring down her face, she said:

" Guys, look down" She said pointing to the bed.

The bohemians all looked to see what was happening and soon they all breathed deep sighs of happiness. From the bed came a weak movement of the hand, touching Roger's gently. Slowly, blue eyes opened slightly. The figure didn't make any noise, save the noises that came from the device attached to him. But that wasn't needed to the bohemians. Maureen hit the nurse button on the wall, as Collins ruffled the hair of the figure slightly, crying as he said these words

"Welcome back Mark."

A/N: yesss, It's me… after two years, back from the dead (metaphorically of course. I just got back onto Fanfiction, after a whirlwind of crazy shit, you don't want to know. I want to continue this story again. I thank "Crzyrenthead" for her motivations to keep me writing and for her ideas on how to continue because, quite frankly, I was lost. I'm not done with this story though, probably, three or four more chapters to go. I'm sorry for any mark lover for what I did to him. But hell, the title is of course " Fight for Life" and what I've learned from the time I was away, was that we all, no matter what happens in our lives, we have to keep fighting. I still got more to do with this, so again, have patience. Leave reviews of course, maybe leaving a few suggestions on what can happen next. Who knows, maybe your ideas can make the story. Anyways, I'm out, but to all who have waited for me, thanks.