A/N-Here's chapter 24! It's my last chapter for now. Mimi will contribute her three chapters soon! Let us know how you liked it!

-Kaitlin

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Title- Eerie Silences

Minutes turned into hours and hours turned into days. As terrified as we were, we could feel the end coming closer and closer. The five of us walked into St. James hospital, once again, in silence. None of us knew what to say or if we should even say anything at all.

Mimi walked ahead of the rest of us and opened Roger's door. Seeing him lay there brought tears to her eyes. She quickly wiped them away in an attempt to stay strong in front of Roger. Mark, Maureen, Joanne, and I all waited outside of his room, giving the couple their privacy. The door to the room was open and I watched the two of them interact.

Roger opened his eyes and smiled at the sight of Mimi in front of him. "Hey, Meems," he said, his voice hoarse. He patted the spot next to him on the hospital bed, wanting her to sit with him. She sat down and touched his cheek.

"Hi, baby. How ya feeling?" she asked, trying her hardest not to let him see the tears ready to stream down her face.

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Ehh, not too great. I just wish I was back at the loft with you guys." He looked down, fiddling with his blanket. "Hey, Meems?"

"Yeah, Rog?"

"I love you so much, you know that, right?" he said slowly. He couldn't talk as fast as he'd used to be able to.

Mimi nodded. "I love you, too, Rog, so much," she told him, tears beginning to fall. They sat in silence, looking into each other's eyes for a bit. "Rog, I—I'm," she began.

"What, babe?"

She started crying even harder. "I'm scared. I'm scared that I can't live without you. I'm scared that I'm not gonna be able to handle this and I'm afraid of being alone. And I know that's selfish, but it's true. You mean everything to me, Rog. Everything." She smiled through her tears. "I owe my life to you, you know that? If it weren't for you, I'd have been dead a long time ago. You helped me through everything and you gave me something to fight for, to live for." She paused to wipe her eyes. Roger had started tearing up as well. "You're the reason I wake up each morning. I'm just scared that I won't have a reason to live for when…when…" Even though she couldn't finish her sentence, Roger knew the ending perfectly well.

Mimi put her head on his chest, being careful not to touch the stab wounds on the side of his abdomen, and they cried together. From where she was lying she could see his heart monitor. She had a feeling something was wrong—his blood pressure was steadily dropping—but she didn't say anything to Roger.

"Meems, listen to me," Roger said, his voice almost inaudible. "I know this might be hard for you to accept, but I'm not gonna be around for much longer. You don't know how badly I want to jump off of this bed and get the hell out of here," he smiled. "But, I can't, babe. And sitting here all week, I've learned to accept the fact that I'm not gonna be around forever. I need you to do the same , Meems. I love you so much, babe, and you don't know how hard it's going to be to die knowing that I left you alone," he said through his tears. "I want you to promise me something, okay?"

She nodded, noticing the heart monitor continue to slow down. "Anything, Rog, anything."

"Promise me that you'll try to move on. I don't want you to forget me, but please don't do what I did after April died. I want you to live life to the fullest, babe, and don't dwell on my death. I couldn't forgive myself for letting you do that. Just know that," his breathing slowed, "I'll always love you," he paused to take a deep breath, "no matter what."

Mimi nodded again, this time tears pouring out of her eyes. She stroked his chin and sang to him in a low whisper, "I should tell you, I should tell you. I have always loved you. You can see it in my eyes," before he slipped away forever.

Outside of the room, the four of us watched as Mimi clung to Roger's chest, begging for him to come back to life. His song brought her back to life; why couldn't it work on him, too?

None of us could move. An eerie silence washed over us; the only sound came from Mimi's now faint cries and the heart monitor's constant beep. As the tears poured out of our eyes, no one made a sound.

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