No Day But Today

DISCLAIMER: I do not own RENT or anything affiliated with it.

Mark sat down in the chair and looked through the plate of Plexiglas separating inmates from visitors. He couldn't believe he was actually doing this. He'd told Roger he was going to help Maureen and Joanne set up, and had then gotten on a bus to Scarsdale. It's worth a shot. He waited as a guard led Cindy to a seat on the opposite side of the window. They both picked up the telephone on their respective side.

"What do you want?" Cindy asked.

"What a nice way to greet your brother," Mark replied, caustically. He sighed. "How are you?"

"What the hell do you care? You're the one who put me here," Cindy said. Mark shook his head and sighed.

"I didn't come here to fight with you, Cindy," Mark said. She rolled her eyes.

"Why the hell did you go and shave your head?" she asked.

"I didn't."

"Then what the hell happened to your hair?" she asked. He could tell she was just trying to annoy him, and it was starting to work.

"Chemo." Her face softened. "I wasn't even going to tell you, but I need your help."

"If you need money, it's Jeff you'll have to ask," Cindy replied. Mark shook his head.

"It isn't the money. I've only got one shot…a bone marrow transplant," he told her.

"And you need to know if I'm a match," Cindy finished. He nodded. She sighed. "Okay, I'll do it." She watched him through the glass for a moment. "It's the least I can do, after everything I've put you through."

"Thank you, Cindy."

Mark collapsed on the couch, exhausted. It had been a long day. He really hadn't been up to going to Scarsdale, but he knew it was something that had to be done. He closed his eyes for a moment. "Is he okay?" he heard Mimi ask. He forced his eyes open and found himself looking up at Mimi and Roger. He forced himself to sit up on the couch.

"I'm fine," he muttered. He got slowly to his feet and began slowly making his way to his bedroom. "I'm going to go to bed, I'm really tired," he told them. He started to close the door behind him, but Roger stopped it. He followed Mark into the room.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Roger asked. Mark just nodded and sat down on the side of his bed. Roger watched as he took off his glasses and began to shiver, despite the heat of the day. It was nearly June. Mark laid down and pulled the thick covers over himself. Roger let him be, for the moment.

Roger glanced over at Mark's closed bedroom door for what seemed like the millionth time that day. "Roger, if you're so worried, just go check on him," Mimi said, getting up off the couch and walking towards the room she shared with Roger.

"I just…" She rolled her eyes.

"Go check on him." Roger sighed and got up, walking quietly towards his friend's room. He opened the door slowly. He watched silently as his friend tossed and turned in the bed, sweat coating his nearly-bald head. Nevertheless, the thick layers of blankets were wrapped tightly around him and he shivered. Roger went over to the bed and gently tried to wake Mark.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked, as Mark opened his eyes.

"Yeah," Mark whispered. His voice was unusually hoarse. Roger felt his forehead, and immediately realized that he was warm.

"You're running a fever," Roger told him. Mark just nodded and tried to wipe the sweat off of his face with the already damp blankets. "You're soaked. We should get you into something dry before you catch a cold. Or pneumonia again." Mark just nodded as Roger got him some dry clothing. He stayed wrapped in the blankets until Roger came back, and then quickly threw off his wet shirt to replace it with the dry one. Roger couldn't help but flinch when he saw Mark's ribs poking through his skin. "We've got to get some meat on your bones before you start chemo again."

"Tell me about it," Mark replied. Roger began stripping the wet blankets off the bed while Mark changed. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"You can't sleep under these… it'll defeat the purpose of you changing clothes in the first place," he said, pulling the sheets off as well. Mark just nodded and went to get his coat to put on.

Maureen and Joanne laughed at the story Collins had just told about one of his students. Mark was too absorbed in catching it all on film to know why they were laughing. "Marky, I know it's great and all that you're filming again, but why don't you sit down and eat dinner with the rest of us?" Maureen asked. She started making faces at the camera. He turned it off and put it down on the table, sitting down in his seat. None of them could believe that he was actually comfortable, seeing as it was June and he was sitting there in a sweater, his coat still on.

"So what are you filming for now?" Joanne asked, looking at the camera.

"Just to have something to do," he said. Maureen takes his camera and turns it back on, turning it on him.

"Zoom in on Mark, the world's worst liar, as we celebrate the fact that his sister is a match for a bone marrow transplant," she narrated. He smiled and hid his face from the camera.

"Mo, stop it!" he said, laughing. After a few moments she finally turned the camera off, putting it back down. The four friends finished their meals and conversations, which culminated in a small potato chip fight between Maureen and Collins as Mark filmed.

A/n: Hehehe… tortilla chip fights are better… until you get home and realize that someone stuffed a whole chip down your back while you were trying to protect your drink… that was an awesome night.