Author's Note: He guys, sorry about the long delay. My work schedule and a rather sudden vacation side tracked me. I'm all rested and feeling great now. I'm working less hours, meaning I'll be able to regularly update this. Hopefully that means I can do it once every two or three days, hopefully less. I have a lot planned for this story and I know where to head with it. Hopefully I haven't left anyone hanging.

By the way, over 90 reviews! I love you guys! And just to butcher a Hedwig quote: "Are you becoming a fan of me? You know why I ask, cause I find that I am certainly becoming a fan of you!"

Chapter Thirteen:

Roger sat outside of the hospital, on one of the uncomfortable benches, sipping a cup of hot coffee. He didn't feel like going back inside yet, afraid that he would feel everything cave in on him if he did. The complete and utter feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. There was nothing he could do.

"Mind if I sit?" the musician looked up to see Benny standing next to the bench. He gave a small nod before fixing his eyes on his coffee again.

"Thanks for coming," Roger said quietly, "Really."

"I would have came if the world was ending," Benny said with a small laugh.

They lapsed into silence, not knowing what to say to each other. They hadn't been very close since the day that Benny got married and it seemed that over the years the rift just got bigger and bigger.

"You're not doing well, are you?" Benny asked.

Roger gave a short, wary laugh, "How can I possibly be okay when my friend is lying in there?"

"You can be if you'd just think about what he wants."

"And what would he have wanted Benny?" Roger asked, his voice rising a little, not knowing how to react aside from anger when faced with his old friend.

"He would have wanted you to not worry about him, take your AZT, and take care of yourself," Benny answered, "You know as well as I do that that's true."

And the musician knew it was. Mark tried so hard to take care of others that it was as if that was all he knew. His own well-being came second to those around him, even his own needs for the essentials. Roger remembered the winter that Mimi was brought back in from the streets. Mark had given up all of his blankets just to keep her warm and forgot all about himself. Roger had walked into Mark's room to find the filmmaker shivering in his sleep, trying to pull his worn jacket tighter around himself.

"Why are you trying to make me feel better at a time like this?" Roger asked, facing Benny, "I haven't done anything even slightly nice to you for years."

"I'm still your friend," Benny answered, "And Mark would want me to make sure that you're not drowning yourself in your own thoughts. And before you even try to deny what you've been doing for the past hour, you should know that I know you better than you think and I know how Mark is and how he would react if it were someone else in his place."

"I still think you're an ass for trying to kick us out."

"And I still think you're a jerk for not giving Alison a chance when I married her."

"I can stop calling her Muffy if it makes you feel better."

And they laughed, really laughed. A small glimmer of hope in a long tunnel of darkness.

"Hey, baby," Collins said with a smile as he laid his fingers on Angel's tombstone. The cool surface welcoming and reassuring beneath his fingertips, "It's been a while since I've seen you and I'm sorry. I've just been so busy with work. And now, this whole thing with Mark…"

The professor took a breath before starting again, "You were always able to make him feel accepted and happy whenever he got down. You always knew hoe to lift people's spirits, but we failed at seeing what should have been right in front of our eyes. I'm sorry I didn't take better care of him, Angel.

"I know he might be with your or stuck somewhere in the ether, but if you see him and he's still deciding to head toward you or not, please let him know that we need him here too. You know it's not his time. He has so much to do still, to accomplish. Please send him back."

And for the first time in a long time, Collins realized that he was crying.

"I'm sorry, baby," Collins said with a weak smile, "This is just harder than I thought. If he survives, what are we going to do? Half of us are leaving him behind and he'll feel exactly how we feel when we're lying there and he has to say goodbye. He'll have to feel the pain he felt when you left. And how can we, I, do that to him?

"How long can I hold on for? Another year or two? Maybe less? I can't stay forever and we both know that. Neither can Roger and Mimi even with all the advances they're talking about, our time will come. I know, in my heart that I can't stay around for long.

"So, what do I do Angel?"

The late night breeze was his only answer.

Joanne stood in the doorway of Mark's hospital room, watching as Maureen whispered to the filmmaker, softly laughing and crying at her own words.

"…and remember when you started dancing on the tables at the Life? I want to see you do that again, one day. And you promised you'd make it to my next protest. You never break your promises, so don't break this one," Maureen whispered, trying so hard to sound light hearted that Joanne could feel herself on the verge of tears.

The lawyer stepped into the room and placed a hand on Maureen's shoulder, gently rubbing it, "Come on, honey bear, let's go home and get some rest."

"Can't we stay?" the diva asked, not turning away from Mark, "Roger got a room here, maybe we can too."

"Mo, Roger is a different story," Joanne said, "I know we're Mark's friends too, but we can't all stay here."

"I just don't understand why this happened," Maureen whispered, "Everything was going so well. We were happy. I thought he was happy. I thought we could make it another few years without another hospital visit."

Joanne knew that their visits to the hospital would become more and more frequent as the years wore on. With more than half of their extended family being sick, she knew that eventually, the walls that held so much death would become like a second home to them all.

"Is it really so much to ask for?" the diva asked, "A nice, long calm?"

"We can't control these things."

"I know. I know. It's just… so hard."

"Let's go home and get some rest."

Maureen nodded before leaning over Mark and placing a kiss in his forehead. It was a loving gesture one that Joanne knew took a lot of effort to do. The diva swept back the filmmaker's and trailed her hand down his face.

"We'll be back tomorrow," Maureen said, softly, "Good night, Mark."

Joanne stood by Mark's bedside as Maureen walked out of the room. She normally would have followed, but she felt that one last moment alone with the filmmaker was necessary.

"Good night, Mark," Joanne said with a weak smile before leaving.

"Mark, what are you doing?" Mimi asked with a laugh as the filmmaker crawled into his crowded closet.

"Hang on a second," Mark said as he threw a few things out of the closet. The dancer had to dodge a few items of clothing, including a worn shoe and a container for film. "Here it is!"

"What'd you find in there?" the dancer asked, leaning forward to get a better look.

Mark sat on the floor, holding a small wooden box in his lap. He opened it and pulled out a few folded up dollar bills. Mimi's eyes widened when she realized just how much money was there.

"How did you get that much cash?" the dancer asked, kneeling down beside the older man.

"I've been saving whenever I could," Mark answered, "A lot of this is from a while back. Call it a rainy day fund."

"Jesus, that's a lot of money."

"Yeah, but still not enough," the filmmaker sighed.

"Not enough for what?"

Mark looked at Mimi with a disappointed glimmer in his eyes, "Well, I know that you had been planning to get Roger that new electric guitar he had been drooling over for the past few months. It'll be the perfect birthday present for him and there still isn't enough in here."

It took Mimi a moment to process what Mark had just said, "No, no, no Mark. There is no way I can do that with your money."

"But you have to!" Mark exclaimed, "His birthday will be coming up in a few months and maybe by then we'll have enough."

"It's not fair to you."

"Just call it a joint present."

"It's your money, Mark."

"It was your idea."

"That's not fair."

"Mimi, promise me you'll get him that guitar."

The dancer shook her head, "No way, I am not taking your money."

"Mimi, please? As a favor to me?"

"No, there would be no way for me to pay you back!"

"Pay me back by making him happy!" Mark pushed the folded bills into her hands, "Please. He deserves it."

"Mark…"

"Mimi, I've been a part of Roger's life for so long that it really isn't expected of me to get him anything. I got him a guitar case a few years back when he really needed one and he paid for the repair of my camera a while ago when it wouldn't work. You really want to get him this and he's wanted it for a while. I'm just helping out."

"Mark…"

"Mimi, please. It's the only thing I'll ever ask of you. Just take the money and get him that guitar."

"I'll think about it."

And Mark smiled.

"I got the guitar," Mimi said quietly as she took hold of Mark's hand. "It's sitting in the back of my closet, just waiting for his birthday to come along. You're going to hate me, but I made sure the card said that it's from both of us. I know it's not exactly what you wanted me to do, but you know me. I never play by the rules."

The dancer took a deep breath before starting again, "I'm sorry about my behavior lately. I've just been so worked up and so ready to blame everything on you. I'm sorry."

She sat there, stroking his hand, silently sending a prayer to anyone listening to bring him back. She hoped that Angel could hear her. You gave me a second chance at life. Please do the same for him.

Author's Note: That was so short! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! The next one will be longer. The vacation really gave me no room to write, but now that I am back it'll be better. Hopefully. Thank you guys so much for being so good about this and not ripping my head off. Well, if you want to, please refrain til I finish the story at least. Please?

Please let me know what you think and until next time. Thank you!