A/N: I don't really know where this is going, and I don't know if I like it all that much but I figured I'd keep going with it, until it's finished and then see if I want to take it down or not. Sorry about the grammar and spelling again.

Disclaimer: only Rae is mine, The rest are Jonathan Larson's.

I followed Rae down the stairs and started walking to the car again, but she stopped.

"You're not driving?"

"No….have you really been gone that long? See we have what you would call subways here in this city… I don't know about La but they go under ground and take you everywhere in the city."

"Thanks for the lesson, why aren't you driving?"

"I hate driving almost as much as I hate cabs" she said with a sly smile.

"You're so confusing" I said as I followed her down the street. We didn't have to walk far to get the subway station, and it wasn't too much longer that we were entering the sterile white hospital. Hospitals always made me nauseous I don't know what it was, if the smell or just the thought of being there. No wonder Collins wanted to leave; this wasn't the place I'd choose to die.

I followed Rae into the elevator where we went up to the 14th floor. I followed Rae through the maze of turns, that she probably could have navigated blindfolded, to Collins room. Rae went right through but I hesitated trying to mentally prepare myself, but Rae grabbed my hand and pulled me through the door way before I could protest.

I saw Collins lying on the bed, he was staring out the window and didn't notice us come in. Rae walked over and sat down on his bed.

"Rae." he whispered

"Hi how you feeling?"

"Like I could run the New York marathon" He said with a smile

Rae laughed "ok" she whispered back "I brought and old friend" she said pointing to me

Collins turned his head and looked at me. His face broke into a large smile

"Mark." I walked over closer to the bed as I dared go.

"Hi Collins" he reached out and grabbed my arm, and pulled me closer into a hug.

"It's good to see you; it's nice to see a familiar face other then Rae."

"Thanks Collins" Rae said as she stood up from the bed "I'll leave you two alone to catch up" and she left.

Collins released me and I pulled up a chair to sit by the bed, no longer nervous about being near him.

"So what's new" he asked causally as if he wasn't sitting here in a hospital bed, but at a table at some restaurant just catching up with an old friend.

"Nothing really same old same old, working on films that I actually like. What about you? How are you doing?"

"As well as to be expected, Mark"

I didn't know how to respond

"Don't look like that" he said gently "Mark I've known this has been coming for the last 17 years. I've thought about it a lot, and I'm ready for it. I've lived my life the best I could, I've loved people and I've had great friends. I've seen the world, there's nothing more I could ask for. I'm ready for this Mark…… I just wish I could convince Rae of that"

I just nodded still not knowing what to say "she's stubborn" I finally said

"Yeah too stubborn about this I can't seem to get it into her head"

"I think she understands I just don't think she's ready to let go"

"But it's time; things aren't going to cha-…." Collins didn't get to finish his sentence because he burst into a coughing fit, which lasted several minutes, and continued when he tried to say something. I felt helpless the only thing I could do was sit there and watch. And I now understood how Rae felt, how horrible it was to sit there and watch knowing there was nothing you could do. I understood a little why she didn't want him to come to her house. It would just increase that helpless feeling. When Collins was finally able to talk again, he looked worse then when I had come in. I decided to leave and let him rest and go search out Rae. I didn't have to look far; I found her talking to a doctor at the nurse's station. I walked up to her. "He's resting" I said

"Good" the doctor said quietly and then he excused himself and went on with his work.

"I was just talking to him about Collins leaving." She told me.

"What did he say?"

"That he didn't think it was a bad idea seeing that there wasn't much he could do here" she said quietly looking at a nurse pushing and old man down the hall way in a wheel chair;

"Rae I think it's a good idea too, that what he wants and I'm going to stay too so you won't do this alone." She just nodded, and kept on staring. I lead her over to chairs in the hall "Rae it's what's best"

"I know Mark, I've been thinking about it all day I know it's what's best I just don't want to do it alone he's been the only one here, the only person to actually stay around and keep in touch"

"What about Maureen and Joanne?"

"They got wrapped up in what they were doing, Maureen's show, Joanne took a big case in Boston or somewhere…I really haven't' talked to them in a couple years. Come to think about I don't really know how to find them anymore."

"Were they still together" I asked curiously

"You know them I think they were still on again off again, but I'm not sure. Maureen probably went back and forth between some other girl and Joanne. Kinda like she did with you"'

"Yeah that's Maureen we should try to find them they'd want to know"

"Yeah I think I have an old phone number or two around my house I'll try to call that and see where I get."

"Good, so what do you think about Collins leaving here?"

"Ok" she sighed "I'll tell the doctor, but we should let him sleep a little before leave"

"Yeah"

Before I knew it we were rolling Collins out of the hospital and into the car that Rae went to get to take him back to Rae's apartment.

When we got him inside he fell asleep immediately. His coughing fits were getting worse and more frequent. His breathing had gotten strained a little, and he was wheezing most of the time. It was easy to tell that he was developing pneumonia. Rae searched through her stuff to find a number where we might be able to reach Joanne or Maureen, and the best we got was the old office number where Joanne worked a few years ago. Rae called it and they gave her a number of the office where she worked now but all Rae was able to do was leave a message, and hope Joanne would call back. While we were waiting Rae and I both sat on her couch catching up on old times. I told her about the girl that I was living with now, that I had been dating for almost a year. Who really had no idea about my past. She told me about her job as a photographer, and how requested she was to take pictures for people. We talked about everything; we even talked about the old days. Our talk ended when Rae feel asleep on the couch she was exhausted, I was surprised that she didn't fall asleep earlier. I went and checked on Collins he was sleeping with a peaceful look on his face almost a smile. His breathing sounded strained, but I didn't want to go to far in the room incase it woke him up.

I wandered around the apartment looking at the pictures that Rae had taken and put on the walls. She was a great photographer most of the pictures were of buildings from all over New York. There were a few old pictures of us when we first moved into the loft. I went into her room and found a picture of all of us, Me, Rae, Roger, Mimi, Collins, Maureen, Angel, and Joanne hanging on the wall. We were laughing at something but were all looking at the camera. It was taken that week we were locked out of the apartment the week between Christmas and new years after the riot. Next to it was a picture of Roger, April, Maureen and I that Rae took in the park the day we met her. We didn't know she took it at the time so it was different then the one next to it. April and Roger were sitting on the grass. April was sitting next to Roger with her legs tangled up in his, Roger's hand was on her back and he was looking at Maureen and I, who were sitting on a bench next to them. I had my arm around Maureen's shoulder and she was resting her head on my chest. I took the picture off the wall and sat on Rae's bed to look at it. We all looked so different, so young. We were unaware of what the next years would bring and we didn't care. We didn't know that we would all drift apart, only to come together at funerals of friends. I lay back on her bed still looking at the picture, realizing how much I missed my friends, a fell into a restless sleep. I kept dreaming about the past, about how we all came together.

A/N: I think I'm going to write a something about how they all met Rae. Like I said at the top I'm not too thrilled with this, but I'm going to keep going anyway to see where it ends up. It just popped into my head yesterday so I haven't really thought it through I'm just going with whatever comes into my head.