Still Life
Chapter Ten
Disclaimer: I don't own RENT, nor any of the characters contained therein. The song "Hangin' Tough" belongs to New Kids on the Block.
Roger carefully made his way over to a seat by the bed. He sat down, slowly; content to look anywhere but at Mark. Mark, noticing this, cast his eyes downward, and began fiddling with a loose thread on his blanket."Hey" He said again, softly.
"Hey." Roger echoed. He finally glanced at Mark, and took in his drawn, pale appearance. "Mark, you look like shit." He said, bluntly. Mark stared at him, incredulously.
"I almost died and all you can say is that I look like shit?" All of a sudden, his forehead creased and he began chuckling. "Screw you, Roger!" he laughed, and flipped him off. Roger grinned back, happily.
"Oooh, Mark, your mother's out in the waiting room, I don't think she'd like to hear her little Marky use that kind of language." He teased. Mark shot a playful glare at him, and attempted to arrange his features into an intimidating expression. Roger burst out laughing at his pitiful attempt. "I'm sorry, Mark, but you're about as intimidating as Marky Mark." Mark was indignant.
"Did you just compare me to Marky Mark?" He sputtered. Roger smiled, gleefully.
"Hangin tough! Hanging tough!" At Mark's annoyed expression, Roger fought to contain a grin. "Are you tough enough?" He inquired, with a raised eyebrow. Mark was unable to retain his stern mask, and dissolved into a fit of laughter, and was quickly joined by Roger. Roger smiled to himself, as he watched Mark laugh. This is how it should be, he thought, this is how it makes sense. He watched Mark wipe tears of laughter from his eyes, and was content to forget everything, why Mark was here, why he was here, the drugs, the ride to the hospital, their fight, everything. His illusion was shattered when a nurse came in to take Mark's blood. With a brusque "hello", she yanked up the sleeve of his hospital gown, displaying the recent track marks, ugly and distinctive against his pale skin. Roger lost it. He stood up quickly, knocking over his chair, and backed away slowly, his eyes not leaving Mark's. Mark was watching him leave, silently, and Roger was desperate. Beg me to stay…make me understand…give me an excuse…He thought, trying to communicate this to Mark. Mark watched him reach the door, and just as he turned to leave, shoulders slumped in defeat, he called out:
"I'm sorry." Roger froze. "I'm sorry." He said, louder. Roger began to cry, disbelievingly. He began to walk faster down the hallway, hearing Mark's shouted apologies following him. He walked faster and faster, until he was almost running. He reached the waiting room quickly, and wiped the tears fro his eyes, furiously. He opened the door and walked into the sterile, white-walled room. He met Mimi's concerned gaze, and shrugged his shoulders, helplessly, well aware of his red-rimmed eyes. He stood there, not knowing what to do, and began worrying a frayed thread coming loose from the leg of his jeans, feeling tears building up in his eyes again. He desperately tried to stop them, feeling the lump in his throat build, until it was almost unbearable. He imagined a fire inside him, roaring up as it ate all of his emotions. It seemed to work, and he swallowed, painfully. Mimi approached him, and slipped her small hand into his larger one.
"Hey." He said gruffly. She smiled, wearily, up at him, and pulled him into a hug. He closed his eyes and inhaled her scent, content to feel warm and secure in her arms. He allowed her to lead him to a seat, and her sank into it, numbly. He stared at the one section of wall not adorned with tasteless artwork, and felt his eyes unfocus. He sat back, almost in a trance, and lost himself in memories of Mark. Mimi looked at him, worriedly, but Collins smiled at her, gently.
"It's a phase of grief." He explained, calmly. "Different people cope in different ways." Mimi nodded her understanding, too tired to speak, and rested her head against his shoulder, feeling herself fall asleep. Two people shouting jolted her awake, and She groaned, frustrated. She looked over in the direction the yelling was coming from, and saw Joanne and Maureen, locked in combat. A frazzled nurse came over, and tried to part them.
"Excuse me, ladies, but you have to keep it down, or you'll have to leave the hospital." Joanne angrily exhaled, and turned to face the timid woman.
"What do you mean 'or we'll have to leave the hospital?" She yelled. "It's a hospital, for God's sake! What if I was sick? I should sue you for negligence right now!" As Joanne went off on a rant about medical care, to the distress of the young employee, Roger felt the need to interject.
"Joanne, nobody cares!" He exclaimed, exasperated. "Would you just shut up already?" He yelled. Joanne began bickering with him, with Collins trying to mediate between them, while Maureen and Mimi looked on with interest. The door from the nurse's station slammed open, and a very irritated head nurse stormed out.
"That is enough!" She screamed, and all parties fell silent, looking guilty. "You, you, you, you, and you," She said, pointing at all of them in turn, with a special glare at Roger, "out of my hospital, now." Mimi was indignant.
"Why?" She exclaimed, upset at the injustice. The nurse heaved a great sigh, whatever patience she had left was wearing away, quickly.
"You, because you've been causing a disruption ever since you got here," She said, pointing at Roger. "You, because you caused two patrons to leave, and you were yelling, in a hospital waiting room." Was for Collins. "You, because you were having a very loud domestic squabble with your partner, and threatening to sue the hospital." Joanne looked sheepish. "You, because your antics are disturbing all the occupants of this room, and probably the one next to us, as well" Maureen looked unabashed. The nurse rested her eyes on Mimi. "You…because you're the first one's girlfriend." She said, pointing to Roger, who looked more than a little ashamed.
"Um…okay." Said Mimi, timidly, and stood up to leave. Maureen sidled over to the nurse, and placed a hand on her arm.
"You know," She began, "I've always…admired people who work in the medical profession." Joanne's eyes bugged out of her head. The nurse glared so furiously at Maureen, Mimi was surprised Maureen didn't drop dead on the spot. She yanked her hand out of Maureen's grasp, and drew out a small radio from her pocket.
"This is the head nurse from station 115, I need security to remove five people from the premises." Mimi closed her eyes, and felt her cheeks burn red. Three officers arrived to escort them from the premises, but before they left, Collins called back to the nurse,
"And your name was…Ratched, was it?" He smiled, sweetly, as the nurse let out an enraged growl.
Koishii-Kitsune-Akira—I'm glad too. I'm rather fond of old Mark…I imagine he'll be with us for a while…unless I feel particularly vindictive one day…
Prose in my Pocket—Yes, Matt Caplan has a fantastic interpretation of Mark, doesn't he? The first time I saw RENT, it was with his understudy, Jay Wilkinson. That was the night I bought my poster signed by all the cast…BC/EFA rocks!
the-fraulein—Heh, I imagine it would be quite a good insult. I'm actually living in a suburb now…a very safe, picturesque, boring suburb.
SparkilyDragnStikers—This chapter is a little longer, I think. Around 1,000 words, maybe?
Harper's Pixie—If you can find it, it'll be well-worth getting. Thanks for the Maureen comments, I try to make the characters believable, not fanfiction stereotypes.
All right, you guys were going to get a chapter of Maureen and Mimi in the hallway before this…but then I realized I had no idea how they would interact, so you got this one, instead.
Feedback welcomed, please review.