A/N: Sorry for the long period of non-updatingness, but I'm a little sick/tired/worn out/drowning in make-up work. So, here you go. I hope you enjoy it. You reviewers make me happy. Thanks muchly!

Disclaimer: Jonathan Larson's…forever and always.

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Collins' POV

"Shhh…" I whisper sweetly into his ear as I grasp our hands together at his chest. He shakes violently in my arms, and I try my best to hold him tightly, sheltering him with my body. "Babe, I know it hurts. I know. Shhh…we're almost there I promise." I comfort him, and wipe his dripping forehead with a cloth I swiped from our bathroom. Gasps and heavy breathing come from his mouth, tearing my heart in half when I try to think about how much pain Angel must be in right now.

"I…Collins…" He mumbles, and I realize that his eyes are fluttering open and closed.

"Stay with me Angel. I'm here…shhh…I'm here." My grip becomes tense, holding Angel so securely I'm afraid I may suffocate him. The past few weeks he hasn't been himself. No more drag, no more dresses or heels. No more make-up and light spirit. He has become more subdued than usual. The Life Support meetings are now a task, a trek across town just to sit down and express feelings for a short period of time. Our last meeting was two days ago. Then Angel couldn't leave bed. His body was slumped over my pillow, shaking from the cold and dead asleep. It hurt me to watch him; I knew how much pain must have been overtaking his body.

The subway stops and immediately I try to hoist Angel up in my arms. He leans against my body, bones jutting into my chest harshly, but I don't mind. The pain is minimal, something I should definitely not complain about.

The walk to the hospital is excruciatingly long, every step becoming impossible for us to complete. Once we reach the tall, concrete building, I'm barely able to ready myself before entering. The idea of a hospital has never been able to mix well with my body. Something about it screams death. Now I'm starting to see why.

"Can I help you?" The nurse behind the counter asks, and I groan with impatience.

"Yes, uhh…he needs to go…he's very sick and, he has AIDS. I don't know…" I look frantically around, desperately trying to gather jumbled words into one sentence. I fix Angel comfortably so that his arm is slung over my shoulder, my free hands holding the rest of his disabled body up, and try again to speak. "He needs a doctor right away." I force out of my mouth, sighing in relief as the nurse nods and picks up the phone. After many numbers dialed, question asked and explanations, Angel is finally wheeled away from me.

The next thing I can think of doing is calling. Calling Mark and Roger, calling Mimi, calling Maureen and Joanne, and even Benny. Although I doubt Maureen and Joanne will want to be in the same room together, and who knows if Mimi is even strong enough to leave her home. I pick up the phone, and dial the first number that comes to mind. After a few rings, a wiry and quirky voice answers.

"Hello?" He asks, and I almost immediately wish I hadn't called. I don't know if I'm ready to put what happened into words. "Hellooo?" His voice grows impatient, and I quickly clear my throat and prepare to speak.

"Hey Mark. It's Collins." My raspy voice erupts painfully from my chest, and through the crappy phone I hear it echo back at me.

"Oh hey Collins. What's up?" I wince at the lightness of his question and the pressure of my answer. I take a deep breath, and proceed to explain.

"Well…I'm at the hospital. With Angel." My eyes shut, waiting for an answer. But all I hear is silence. A few seconds go by, and I assume I should give him time to soak in the information. Then, it continues. "Mark? You okay?" I ask, as if he's the one who is sick.

"Yea…" I hear at last, and I mentally breathe a sigh of relief. "Is he…she…is…okay?" His words make no sense, and yet I know what he means. I knew it would be the first words out of his mouth, and since I called I've been trying to figure out how to answer that one simple question.

"Yes. I guess. I mean, they took him into the emergency room. Now I guess it's just a waiting game." My fingers run over the plastic phone cord, tangling it in between them every few seconds before letting it unravel.

"Well…I'll tell Roger and we'll be down there as soon as we can. Do you want me to call anyone else for you?" I drop the cord from my hand and think. Can I really make anymore of these calls? I think saying it once out loud is enough.

"Yea…yea…if you can. Thanks man." I press my forehead against the white hospital wall and for a second consider colliding it more roughly. I don't know how that would help anything.

"No problem. Are you okay?" There's one fucking hard question. I haven't been worried about myself much in the past hour or so. I don't know if I'm okay. This is the beginning of the worst time in my life. How could I be okay?

"I'm fine. Just…get down here as soon as you can." I answer quickly, and hang up the phone without a goodbye. I'm not in the mood for a regular conversation. I just need my friends around me. I need love. I need Angel.

I slump my tired body down on a cold, leather chair and wait. Everything has to be okay. It's too fast for me to lose him. He said the doctor told him a couple months. Now is too soon. It's only been a few weeks. For some reason, I'm not that scared. I know what's coming. I'm just afraid in the slightest that I might have wasted time. There is no way I can be as scared as I was the first time Angel got sick.

Three weeks earlier

My eyes burn, fluttering open against the moonlight. I can only see a few stars in the sky through our window. You never can see many stars in New York. There are too many apartment buildings that stay up all night long. Too many clubs, too many bright places. I wish that I could take Angel to see the stars somewhere. Somewhere we could just lie on our backs, sprawled out across the floor like children looking at the clouds. We could just lie there, peaceful, looking up at the beaming array of light above us.

I turn over to see in what weird position Angel has gotten herself into tonight, and see her not there. A stroke of fear burns through my body, and I immediately sit up and look around. Where could she be? Our apartment isn't big enough for her to hide in. Then, to my dismay, I hear retching coming from the bathroom.

I jump to my feet, my jeans from the night before sticking uncomfortably to my body. I couldn't manage to change. Angel and I held each other tight until we fell asleep, and I didn't want to move just so I could get my pajamas on.

"Angel? Baby?" I whisper, and follow the noises into the bathroom. Angel is sitting on her heels, leaning over the toilet, the muscles in her stomach jerking spastically and uncontrollably. Her hands are grasping onto the white porcelain toilet so tightly that I see the veins popping out. My knees give out from beneath me, and I bend down to her level, trying not to breathe in through my nose. "Sweetie. Are you okay? Oh Jesus." I catch a glimpse of the swishing toilet water, and in my horror, see blood. My hand pries at hers for comfort, as I try my best to help her through this. When there is a break, she sits back, and leans her body against the wall.

"God. I thought that would never end." She sighs, tears starting to fill her eyes, and red stains lining her mouth. I reach over for toilet paper, and wipe the excess blood away from her lips. "Thank you honey. Did I wake you up?" She raises her eyebrow innocently, and I melt at her selflessness.

"No…Angel. Of course not. Are you okay?"My hand cups her cheek, and I feel hers cover it soon after. An audible sigh escapes her mouth, but so does a wide smile.

"I'm better now. At first I was…really scared. I thought I was dying. But I'm still here. I'm sorry if I woke you."

"Baby, you didn't wake me. I wish you would have gotten me though. How long have you been in here?" I brush a tear away from her cheek and she glances swiftly at the clock.

"Uhh…I don't know. About…a half an hour. At first I just felt nasceous. You know. Then I actually got sick about ten minutes ago. It seemed like an eternity." Her black wig sits casually on top of her head, her beauty shining through the sweat, tears and blood now occupying her face.

"Now how do you feel?"

"All right. But…I know it's starting. So, I'm a little scared. But…" Her free hand tugs at mine and I smile.

"You have me." She nods in agreement, and I pull her softly into my arms. We lean against the cold bathroom wall, her back moving in time with my breaths, until we fall asleep together.

My eyes threaten to close, but I know I have to stay awake. For Christ's sakes it's only been an hour. Before long, and many fights with my fatigue, I see a male nurse walking towards me. I can't read the look on his face, but nothing could be good right now. There's no way I'm going to get good news. Good news right now would be that he has a month left. I take a deep breath, and rise to my feet, expecting the worst possible news. Right now that's all I can expect.

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Notes: I know sad, and a cliffhanger. I'm just plain evil. But at least we all know how it's going to turn out, so you can't hate me that much. Hope you kind of liked it other than that stuff though…XD Review please! Thanks!