Disclaimer: I still don't own them. :pats Vinnie on the head and smiles innocently:
Mrs. Delpino was clutching her son's hand tightly. A single tear hadn't fallen down her cheek since she'd arrived. All she did was stare at the wall behind Vinnie's bed, not daring to look down at his face.
Mr. Delpino snored in a chair on the opposite side of the bed. And Vinnie's sister had just left moments before to pick meet her husband and daughter at McDonald's for a late dinner.
Doogie tapped on the window and Mr. Delpino jerked awake. "Can I come in?" Doogie mouthed. Mr. Delpino nodded and gestured for Doogie to come in.
Doogie sighed and walked in. He shook Mr. Delpino's hand and hugged Mrs. Delpino. "You both should go home and get some rest. Okay? Come back tomorrow." He advised.
Mr. Delpino nodded and wrapped a jacket around his wife's shoulders. She wimpered and looked down at her son, only to look away as quickly as possible.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Delpino. I'll keep watch over him for you." Doogie smiled softly.
Her lip quivered once, then she nodded and kissed Doogie's cheek. "Take care of my baby." She whispered in his ear. Then Mr. Delpino led her out of the room.
Doogie sighed and sat where Mrs. Delpino was previously sitting. "Hey Vinnerino." He greeted Vinnie with that old nickname. "Did you know that this is the same room Charmange was in after her surgery? You remember her don't you?" Doogie snorted. It was good to talk to Vinnie again in person. Even if he was in a coma. Doogie knew he would still be listening.
Janine looked in the window of the small hospital room and smiled. Doogie was talking to Vinnie and laughing. She knew he was retelling Vinnie things that happened between the two friends. A tear slid down her cheek, but she was still smiling. She knew Vinnie wouldn't make it through, but she wished and hoped and prayed that he would.
Doogie was now crying too. He was hunched over the hospital bed, holding Vinnie's hand. "I'm gonna miss you, Vin." He whispered.
Wanda walked up to find Janine on the ground with her back on the wall underneath the window. Her face was buried in her folded arms and her legs were pulled up to her chest. She was almost the twelve-year-old Wanda had met nine years earlier.
"Janine?" Wanda walked over and took a seat next to her old friend.
Janine looked up. Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was streaked with tears. "I didn't mean to leave. I really didn't. I was scared, Wanda. I was scared that Vinnie would go off to film school and he wouldn't love me anymore. So I just ran away. I ran away from my past, present, and future. I didn't mean to, but I did." She sobbed.
Wanda wrapped her arms around Janine. "I know you didn't mean to. Shhh..." She rocked back and forth, stroking Janine's hair.
Janine sniffled. "He's not going to make it, Wanda. And I'm scared of that too."
Wanda didn't know what to say. She too knew that it was near impossible that Vinnie would make it through. She had overheard the doctors telling each other that he probably wouldn't make it through the night. But she wasn't about to tell anybody else that. "I'm scared too." She whispered.
That night, Wanda took Doogie for a walk around the hospital. She knew he needed to get out of that room before he broke down completely, and she knew Janine needed to get in that hospital room alone.
Doogie stared blankly at the white walls of the corridors. He couldn't stop thinking about Vinnie and how this may be his last night. He let out a shaky breath and felt Wanda squeeze harder on his hand.
"I'm sorry, Doogie." Wanda whispered. She rested her head on his arm and bit her bottom lip. "Wanna talk about it?"
Doogie sighed. "About what?"
Wanda rolled her eyes. "All right... um... tell me how much your father hated Vinnie coming over."
Doogie smiled down at Wanda and rolled his eyes. "He hated it."
Janine was in her car, driving blindly down the road. It was raining, but in the daytime. She looked at the piece of paper Wanda had given her. Then she looked up at the large gate. This was the place. A tear rolled down her cheek as the gate opened. She drove in to see a large group of people. They were all wearing black and all of them gathered around a large black casket. She slowly got out of her car and trudged through the grass until she reached the spot. She stood next to Wanda, and Wanda grabbed her hand.
Everyone from Janine's childhood was there. Doogie, Wanda, Mr. and Mrs. Delpino, Vinnie's sister and her family, Mr. and Mrs. Howser, Mr. Plenn, his new wife, and Maggie, Wanda's little sister, Janine's senior French teacher, her husband, and their two beautiful daughters, Danielle and Bernadette. Susie Berlutti was there, so was Jack McGuire, Curly and Ben Canfield, and Raymond Alexander. Then Janine noticed two more people, her parents...
A man in a dark robe held a Bible. "We gather here today to mourn the loss of Vincent Delpino."
Janine's world spun. She couldn't breathe. She was extremely dizzy. And if she was still fourteen, she would've announced that she needed to yak. She fanned herself and held Wanda tightly. Then her legs gave way and she fell to the ground, sobbing.
Later, everyone walked past the casket to say their final goodbyes. First was his family, naturally, and then Doogie and Wanda and their families. Finally it was her turn and she looked inside. He looked so peaceful in that suit. But his face was still in that uncomfortable, painful, expression. Then he opened his eyes and his face was menacing. Janine screamed.
Then, she jerked awake. She looked blindly around the hospital room, her heart beating at five hundred million miles an hour or more. She couldn't breathe, sweat was pouring off her forehead. Her hands were clutching the arms of the chair she was sitting in.
Finally she realized that it was all a dream. She took many deep breaths and let go of the arms of the chair, collapsing into them. She looked at the body on the bed and its face still held that expression. She couldn't look any longer, so, instead, she looked away. She glanced frantically around the room at anything that wasn't Vinnie.
She spotted the door, ran a hand through her hair, wiped the sweat off her forehead and cautiously stood up. Then she made her way to the door.
"Vinnie," she said.
"Hmm?" Came the reply.
"I'm going to go get something to eat. I'll be right back." She replied. Then it hit her. She spun around. The expression of pain was wiped off the angelic face of the man on the hospital bed, in its place was an expression of discomfort. "Vinnie?"
The man's dark eyes slowly fluttered open. Then he squinted. "Janine?" He whispered.
So, how did you like this one, eh? Review and all that jazz!