Chapter Sixteen: Goodbye

All night Collins got progressively sicker. At about 2:00 he went into his worst fit yet, coughing up blood and shaking uncontrollably. This was when the end was determined. Aaron and Roger had been at his side all night, and he turned to them first.

"Aaron...I love you..."he whispered. Aaron's eyes were flowing over with tears, and Roger patted his back as he bravely took his father's hand.

"I love you too, dad,"he replied calmly, smiling at Collins, though he was crying. Roger was also crying, as Collins looked up at him.

"Roger...you're my...best friend...you and Mark...I...I love you both,"he added, sounding worse by the minute.

"Collins, no. Please. Don't give up, not now,"Roger pleaded. Collins hushed him softly.

"Roger, it's okay. It's my time,"he insisted. "You have to let go, Roger."Roger nodded, knowing this was true. He let out a deep breath, as tears flowed from his eyes.

"We love you, Collins. We all do. We'd be nowhere without you."Collins laughed in a soft, struggling way.

"You're just saying that,"he teased. "Hey, can you call Maureen, Jason and Roxie over? And Mark and Becky, if they can?"he croaked out in an almost inaudible whisper. Roger leaned back to the others, motioning for them to join them around Collins, and Jason got Mark, who carried his sick daughter with him over to Collins. Once they were all around him, Collins smiled contentedly.

"You guys...I love you all so much. I just want you to know that. Please know that. I appreciate everything you've all done for me. You're my family, my friends, my life, my everything. I don't know what I would have done without each and every one of you. Benny and Joanne too. You helped me through MIT, NYU. You helped me through this disease. You helped me through Angel. I'll be seeing her and Mimi again soon. So don't worry about me. I'll have family no matter where I go. Don't dwell on this once I'm gone, please. Just take care of yourselves. All of you. Be healthy, be safe. Keep sharing love, keep taking risks, keep living life. Never change. Promise me you will not dwell,"he said sternly.

"We won't, dad. We promise,"Aaron assured him, being the only one able to speak at the moment. Collins smiled warmly. A real Collins smile. The old Collins's smile.

"I love you all more than you could know, and I'll miss you until I see you again."Collins closed his eyes, a smile on his face as he laid back. Aaron clutched his hand tightly, also smiling, though tears were streaming down his face. Roger was on his other side, rubbing his arm. Mark, Maureen, Jason, Becky and Roxie were all around him.

And Collins took his last breath surrounded by the friends and family he loved so dearly.

It was a bleak and bleary day the day they lost Collins. It was snowing all day, and cold, with grey clouds in the sky. The group was all overwhelmed with emotions, it was one of the most difficult times in their lives.

Aaron and Roger laid Collins' body down, covering him with a blanket that had been given to them by an old, African-American woman who was set up nearby. She was very kind to them, joining them for their mock-funeral service, and promising to offer her prayers for them. None of the group seemed to notice the strange resemblance she bore to Aaron. They were too distracted, as reality began to sink in for the first time. Their support was gone. The bridge keeping them up had fallen. No more Collins. Angel seemed even farther now that Collins was gone too. It was too much to think about for them all.

So the group all set about to do the tasks they knew they must do, and tried hard not to blow up at each other, or dwell on the horrible truth.

Maureen refused to speak, or even look at Roxie. Roxie was miserable, she felt betrayed, and no one had time to offer her comfort.

Mark spent all his time cradling his daughter, away from the others. Her conditions only worsened, as he had no way to cool her rising temperature, warm her shivering body, or supply her with the nutrients and fluids she needed. All he could do was hold her, and calm her, and try his best to keep her warm.

Roger and Aaron sat across the tent city, as Roger watched Mark and his daughter intently, a scowl plastered on his face.

"He screwed us over this time. He really did,"he muttered. Aaron sighed, understanding who Roger meant.

"It's not Benny's fault,"he insisted.

"It damn well is his fault! He promised us he'd save our home, he promised he wouldn't let this happen. And now look at us! We're homeless! Collins is gone! Becky is sick! We're screwed, and where's Benny now, huh? HUH!"Roger shouted angrily. He slammed his foot into the wall, leaning against it as he let out a slow deep breath. "I can't believe it. I just can't believe he's gone."

"It will be okay, Roger,"Aaron said calmly. Roger shook his head.

"How can it be okay without him? How can we go on without him!"he demanded.

"We have each other,"Aaron replied.

"Do we even have that?"Roger asked suddenly. "Mark is over there suffering more than he ever has in his life ALONE! He was always there for me! AND NOW HE HAS NO ONE TO DO A FUCKING THING FOR HIM!"Aaron was almost brought to tears as he looked over at Mark holding Becky in his lap, whispering to her and rubbing her back as she coughed and vomited and shivered. And Mark was alone.

"I don't have AIDS, I should be helping him,"Maureen insisted, about to get up.

"Aunt Maureen, no. Scarlet fever is contagious if you've never had it. Mark is risking a lot as it is. We can't risk anyone else getting sick right now,"Aaron warned. Maureen sighed.

"I can't stand this! Just sitting here, waiting for Becky to die! Watching Mark lose his daughter while my unfaithful daughter is over here safe and healthy!"Maureen growled. Roxie glowered at her mother.

"Would you stop acting like I sold you all into slavery or something!"she shouted furiously.

"You might as well have!"Maureen hollered. "Do you even realize all the love and trust you betrayed! Do you even realize how much you hurt people! Do you even realize how much we all care about you?"

"You don't CARE about me! A mother who CARES listens to her daughter! Mother's trust their daughters, they're actually there for them! I would never ever betray you by doing drugs! But you wouldn't know that, would you? You're never around! You never get to know me! Neither of you do! You'd think having two mothers would make things better...well it's just worse when neither of them can be there for you!"And Roxie whirled around, running as fast as she could out of the tent city, sobbing as she ran. Maureen fell to her knees, also bawling.

Aaron tried to comfort Maureen, as Roger continued to curse Benny. Jason stayed away, trying to walk around, repeating over and over again in his head Don't dwell. Don't dwell. Don't dwell. But nothing could clear his mind. All he could think about was Collins, death, sickness, Becky...he could not get away from all the pain and sadness, no matter how far he went, no matter how hard he tried. He was trapped, and he was going to lose it.

No one heard from Roxie for hours, and she didn't return. People started to get worried. She was missing. Maureen started to get very scared. She, Jason and Roger all went out looking for her. They searched all over the now freezing streets of New York City, with no sign of Roxie anywhere.

For the rest of the day, no one felt they could afford to leave again. They needed to stick together as night came closer, and the work crews were coming back to start kicking people out of the tent city too.

They had spent an entire night out in the cold tent city. Roger, Aaron, Jason and Maureen huddled together, as Mark tried his best to keep his daughter warm on his own. It snowed almost all day. Becky's condition sunk to an all time low. The group was terrified. Becky was dying. First Collins, now Becky. It was too much. Jason was struggling to hide his emotions. He had no camera to hide behind now, and he was scared. No, terrified.

A/N: I'm SO sorry for having Collins die like that! It's horrible, I know! I really didn't want to, and I tried SO HARD to rewrite this so it wouldn't happen like that, but it really ruined the rest of the story when I tried to change it. Seriously, it was awful, and it killed the ending of the story. So I'm REALLY sorry to all the Collins fans out there!(like Pools-of-Sorrow, who is SO going to kill me for this!)And just for the record, I LOVE Collins, and I wouldn't have killed him off if I could have avoided it without ruining the story. And I understand if several people refuse to read this any more. But don't worry, it will only get better from here. It doesn't seem like it, but Collins's death is going to help them out a lot over the next few chapters.

Also, I just wanted to point out that Little Women is one of my all time favorite books, and absolutely inspired that last chapter. I'm glad to see that so many people caught on to that, I didn't think anyone read that book any more!