A/N- Hey guys! It's Kait and I'm here with my first of three chapters! Hope you like this one? I'll post the next two tomorrow at the latest. Happy reading! )

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

(Title- Slipping Away)

I arrived in the waiting room and saw Mark pacing back and forth. When he saw me he ran over and enveloped me in a tear-filled hug. Seeing him cry made me start to cry all over again.

We broke apart and I looked straight at him, tears streaming down my face. "What happened to him, Mark? Is he okay?"

He looked down and shook his head. "They don't…they don't think he's gonna make it." He let out a big sob, as did I. "Apparently his HIV has progressed to full blown AIDS. And on top of that, he was stabbed. A bunch of fucking idiots mugged and stabbed him, Mar. And the wound…it's infected. The doctors don't think his body's gonna be able to fight it this time." I was speechless. We both cried together and shakily walked down to Roger's room.

We opened the door to find Mimi, Maureen, and Joanne sitting with Roger. Maureen and Joanne were sitting next to each other on the far side of the room. Maureen was in hysterics and Joanne was trying to calm her down. She had tears streaming down her face, too. Mimi was sitting on a chair right next to his bed. She held his hand in hers and had her free hand wiping the tears out of her eyes.

Roger's dormant appearance was haunting. He was hooked up to all sorts of beeping and buzzing machines. He was so pale; it was like he almost blended in with the stark white sheets he was lying on. The scary thing is that this ghost-like appearance couldn't have happened all in one day. It had to progress over time. Have I been so God damn caught up in being the 'perfect mother' to Sara and Owen that I missed out on Roger becoming even sicker? I felt so guilty.

As soon as Mimi realized we were in the room, she got up off of her chair and threw her arms around my neck. We cried on each other's shoulders while Mark had gone to sit with his best friend.

"Is he doing any better, Meems?" She shook her head and let out another loud sob.

"I'm scared, Mar. I can't lose him now. It's too soon. Oh, God, it's too soon. What am I going to do without him? He means everything to me, Mar, everything," she cried.

"I know, Meems, I know," I said, stroking her head. "He means so much to me, too. Rog is like a brother to me, hun. We'll all be here for you, though. You can count on us, Meems. You won't be alone, babe."

"Thank you," she faintly whispered before joining Roger again.

We spent the rest of the day with Roger. I called Justin a few times to let him know what was going on. He completely understood and told us to take our time getting home.

Roger slept through most of the day, but when he was awake he was in good spirits. It was as if he was oblivious to the fact that his time on Earth was severely limited. Maybe that was a good thing, though. I don't think we would have been able to face him if all he talked about was how he was slipping away.

Roger's doctor, Dr. Grey, made us leave Roger's room at eight o'clock that night. We all put up a big protest but Dr. Grey forced us out sooner or later.

We made our way home in complete silence. The only things in earshot were cars whirring by on the busy streets, horns beeping, and soft crying coming from the five of us.

A/N- Love it? Hate it? Review and let us know! Questions? Comments? PM me (rentislife0619) or Mimi (Roger Davis' Song of Glory).