Author's Notes/Disclaimer: Yowza. Don't ask me how this turned into such a long and sad piece. I got the sock puppets idea a while ago and somehow between the time I thought of it and sat down to write it, it turned into what you're about to read. I honestly thought it would be a humor thing, but I guess stories have a way of writing themselves. The angsty route is one I don't often take, so please don't shoot me if it's not up to par. Like I said, I had no intentions of it turning into this. But hey! Review and make my lifetime. I don't own any of the RENT characters, RENT itself, Vogue, Jell-O, or any of the sock puppets you're about to encounter. Don't sue me. I have no money for you anyhow.
Maureen Johnson strode down the corridor of the hospital, forcing a smile on her face as she went. Hospitals scared her for one simple reason. They made her look reality in the eye. She didn't like that. If there was anything Maureen hated, it was to realize how powerless she was in the grand scheme of things. All the performance pieces in the world weren't going to help in this place, and it crossed her mind that maybe she should just turn around and leave. Looking down at the shopping bag in her hand, she remembered she wasn't here for herself. She was here to help a friend.
"Hey Maureen."
Maureen looked up, slightly startled as she stopped in the middle of the hallway. Standing in front of her was Collins, looking more worried and fatigued than she'd ever seen him. He was carrying two styrofoam cups of coffee, and held one out to her.
"No thanks," she said softly. "I've had enough caffeine today."
Collins nodded, taking a sip out of one cup. It looked as if he'd been running on that coffee for days now, and the truth of it was that, indeed, he'd been awake for over 24 hours now. Maureen nodded towards the hospital room next to them, a silent inquiry about their friend inside.
"She's doing alright today," he said. A faint smile made its way onto his lips. "I see you brought some goodies for her. She'll appreciate that. Keeps complaining that there's nothing on the television."
The two of them laughed, but it was clearly forced. They both stood there for a moment, silent, their eyes darting from the door of the room to each other and back again. Maureen was feeling as uncomfortable as ever, but suddenly the tension was broken as she heaved a loud sigh.
"She's been talking about you," Collins said in a sleepy voice. "Says she wants to tell you all about the dress she's working on. A week ago... Before she got here, you know? A week ago, she went to the store and picked up some fabric. Says she's going to make the most beautiful dress you've ever seen."
"Yeah?" asked Maureen, cocking her head to the side slightly. "Bring it down here one of these days. I'll work on it with her."
Collins smiled and nodded appreciatively, finally opening the door and ushering Maureen in. To her surprise, Angel was fully awake and alert, flipping through a magazine. She noticed Angel's feet sticking out from underneath the sheets of the hospital bed. Her toenails were painted blue. Mimi must have visited recently.
"A visitor!" Angel exclaimed weakly, wasting no time in inviting Maureen to her side. With a small pat on the bed, she grinned. "Come over here, sit down."
Collins just shrugged, and Maureen took that as her cue to join Angel, who had now flung the magazine over to an empty chair in the corner of the room. Maureen winced as she got closer, realizing that it wasn't just the bad lighting, Angel was looking even more pale than she did during her previous visit. Although that was true, she also noticed that the light in her eyes was shining as brightly as ever. Always the fighter.
"What's in the bag?" Angel asked inquisitively, shifting to sit up a bit more.
"Socks," Maureen replied nonchalantly. Collins and Angel exchanged confused looks.
"Socks," Angel repeated, wondering if she was hearing things.
Maureen didn't respond, instead she sat on the edge of the bed and reached into the bag, pulling out an old, brown dress sock. "This one would make a good Collins, don't you think?" She slipped the sock on her hand and pressed it against Angel's cheek, making a kissing noise.
Angel laughed. "I want one!"
Maureen rummaged through the bag and pulled out a tan sock this time. "Perfect for a self-portrait," she said with a smirk. She continued to take supplies out of the bag. First a pair of scissors, then some felt, glue, markers and glitter. "You can design a whole fall collection out of this stuff."
Collins moved from his spot by the doorframe, making his way over to Angel and giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. "You two be good. I'm going to try some of the fine cuisine in the cafeteria, alright?"
Angel nodded. "Leave us girls to do our thing. When you get back we'll show you your puppet."
The two said their goodbyes to Collins, who left with a great yawn. As soon as the door was shut, the girls burst out into giggles.
"He looked like Godzilla with his mouth open like that," Angel mused. "I wasn't sure if Manhattan was safe."
The two began to work on their sock puppets, Maureen working diligently on her interpretation of Collins and Angel making one of herself. They both stayed silent for quite a while, intent on perfecting the small details on their respective puppets. While Maureen was making a felt goatee for her Collins, Angel peered up at her with a grin.
"Do you like how mine is coming along?" she asked. She held up her puppet, which was now looking somewhat familiar. A patch of black felt for a wig, a smiling face drawn on with a marker. Held up in her other hand was a pink felt dress with silver glitter and glue smeared all over it.
"It looks fabulous," Maureen commented in a deep voice, her hand wiggling the almost complete Collins puppet. She giggled and returned to her normal pitch. "I'll hand you the glue in a minute so you can finish up, I gotta add your man's goatee on here."
Angel beamed, stroking the top of her sock puppet as if it were an animal. "You know," she began softly, "I'm going to make a dress when I get out of here. It's going to look like that–" she motioned to the puppet's felt dress, "–and it's going to be just gorgeous. Pink with plenty of rhinestones. I'm going to make Collins take me out somewhere fancy when I wear it."
Maureen chuckled as she handed her friend the glue. "That sounds like fun."
Angel nodded in agreement, taking special care as she glued the dress on her sock puppet. "It will be. I'll make Collins wear a tuxedo and he'll look so handsome."
"He will."
"I know!" Angel pressed on, tears forming in her eyes. "And he'll tell me how much he loves me for the millionth time, and I'll tell him I love him so much more. To the moon and back, I'll say. Para siempre, forever." Tears began to roll down her cheeks. "And we'll be together, and nobody will be able to take that away from us. Isn't that fabulous?"
All Maureen could do was nod, eyes fixed on the sock puppet on her hand. If she looked at Angel, she knew she wouldn't be able to hold the tears back any longer. "Yeah, Angel. That sounds perfect."
Angel was sobbing now, just nodding and sobbing and clutching her sock puppet tightly against her chest. Maureen put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down but it didn't work. Angel's sobs just became more intense, to the point where she began to cough violently. She reached over to her bedside table and grabbed a cup of water, slowly sipping it, her sobs subsiding into a small whimper.
"Happy tears, I promise," she whispered, though they both knew that wasn't the case.
"We love you, Angel," Maureen said as she rubbed her shoulder. "We all do, okay?"
"I'm so lucky to have you guys," she sniffled. "You have no idea."
Just then, Collins came back in. He looked a little less tired now, but just as worried. He made his way over to the two on the bed, giving Angel another kiss on the forehead in greeting, sliding the chair from the corner over to the bed and inspecting the magazine on it as he sat down.
"Vogue, huh?" he said with a weak smile, scanning the cover. "Just what you need to be reading. You'll have all these crazy ideas in your head 'bout how you gotta go buy this and that–"
Angel blinked. "What's wrong?"
"'Eight simple steps on how to please your man'," Collins read aloud. "Maybe I'll let this one stay in the room."
"Oh, I'm not reading it for you. It's just better than the other forms of entertainment provided," Angel said sweetly.
Collins huffed. "Girl, please. I'm the best entertainment there is."
"Not anymore," Maureen piped in, holding up her Collins puppet. She went back to her Collins voice. "Hey Angel, it's me Collins. I'm gonna pretend I'm funny now!"
All three of them laughed, and this time it was genuine laughter. The Collins and Angel puppets exchanged a quick smooch, which only made the trio laugh harder. Maureen missed this, seeing smiles on her friends' faces. Especially Collins, who was now doubled over in hysterics. After a few moments the laughter died down, and the scene once again sobered up. Angel began to cough again, a smaller coughing fit than before but still enough to make Collins' frown appear once more.
"Ang, it's time for your AZT."
With a roll of her eyes, Angel took off her sock puppet and let it lay across her chest. "Joy."
The uncomfortable feeling began to creep back into Maureen, traveling up her spine. It was time to leave now. She began to gather up all the craft supplies she'd brought, earning a pout from Angel.
"Leaving so soon?" she asked.
"Yeah," Maureen replied. "I need to get home to Pookie before she shits a brick."
Angel and Collins shot each other a glance for a second time. Back to Joanne? Weren't they fighting again? They weren't even going to question it.
"Thanks for coming," Collins said. "We really appreciate it."
Angel pulled Maureen in for a small hug and after that, Collins did the same.
"A parting gift," Maureen said with a hint of amusement in her voice. She slipped the sock puppet off her hand and let it rest next to Angel's. "I don't think they'd appreciate it too much if they got separated."
Angel shook her head. "No. They wouldn't. Thank you so much for coming, you've been great company."
Goodbyes were said, and with a dramatic exit as always, Maureen left. No one knew that it would be the last time Maureen got to see Angel, but it was better that way.Itwas on a happy note. There were no tears shed at the final goodbye, just a small wave from both parties and a wink as Angel pointed to her two new friends. Just another day of playing around.
She turned to Collins as Maureen shut the door. "You look like shit."
"I feel like shit," he replied with a shrug.
"Go home, honey. You can't stay here forever."
Collins sighed, not wanting to be defeated so easily. "Angel, I shouldn't. I need to be with you right now and –"
She cut him off, tossing the Angel sock puppet to him. "Go home and cuddle with me then. Come back tomorrow. I don't plan on heading out looking like this, so you're fine."
Collins looked at the smiling face of the puppet, feeling his eyelids drooping despite his best efforts to keep wide awake. "Fine. I'll come back in a few hours–" she glared at him "–in the morning, I mean. I'll be rested and ready to devote my full attention to you, scout's honor."
"I was a Boy Scout once," Angel said matter-of-factly. "Get some sleep."
Collins leaned in and gave Angel a kiss, not on the forehead this time but on the lips, a deep kiss that was only broken when they both needed to come up for air.
"Goodnight, Angel. Remember to take your AZT before you fall asleep, and remind the next nursethat comes in that she needs to bring you some extra Jell-O in the morning. You know they'll forget." He added as an afterthought, "Behave, Ang. I love you."
"To the moon and back?" Angel asked, grinning broadly.
Collins nodded. "To the moon and back."
As soon as he left, Angel obeyed his orders and swallowed her AZT, making a mental note that soon she'd need to drink water with it. It was becoming too hard to swallow it by herself, and as scary as the fact was she put it to the back of her mind. First on her list, she was determined to buzz one of the damned nurses and tell her how she deserved an extra Jell-O in the morning. That could wait though. Angel slipped on her sock puppet and gave it a kiss, closing her eyes so she could get some beauty rest herself. It had been a long day.
"To the moon and back," she mumbled sleepily. "Goodnight, lover."