CHAPTER FIVE
(chapter title - One Bites the Dust)
Joanne and Maureen pulled up to the middle school driveway in a red van. Maureen was in the front seat while Hannah and Anna rode in the back. Jules sat in the way back with John and Eileen. Eileen cried all the way to the hospital. Everyone did the best they could to cheer her up, but nothing worked - she just cried louder.
After what seemed like an eternity, Joanne pulled in the hospital parking lot. Hannah, Anna, John, Jules and Eileen followed Joanne and Maureen like a flock of ducklings. John and Jules walked with Eileen to the hospital. When they entered, Roger and Mark were there, waiting for them. Eileen went over to them and sat in a hospital chair near Roger. His eyes welled up with tears as Jules sat down next to Eileen on one side and Roger on the other. It was silent except for the sound of people sobbing. On Eileen's other side, Joanne was stroking her hair and rubbing her back.
"Is Eileen Collins here?" a nurse asked a short while later. Eileen nodded and stood up.
"Come with me, please." the nurse told her as she came closer. Looking over her shoulder longingly, she followed the nurse down a hallway. She kept her eyes cast downward as she followed the nurse. She stopped and Eileen looked up. They were standing outside a room - room 1123.
"You can go in now. He's been asking where his baby girl was all day." the nurse smiled as Eileen entered the room. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself as to what kind of condition her dad was in.
"Come in, baby girl. I won't bite." Collins croaked, making Eileen jump. She walked-ran to her dad's side and sat in the chair next to his bed.
"How are you feeling, dad?" she asked, taking one of his hands in hers.
"I've been better, trust me." he smiled, coughed and weakly squeezed Eileen's hand. After a while, he added, "pretty soon I'll be with your aunts Angel and Mimi."
"Dad! Don't talk like that! What about the people who love you - your family - especially me?" Eileen asked, trying not to cry. To try to get his mind off of things, she asked, "have Uncle Roger and Uncle Mark been in to see you?" Collins closed his eyes and smiled - which meant 'yes'. Eileen smiled and told Collins about her first day of school so far, watching his heart monitor out of the corner of her eye. Collins drew in a small breath and put his head on the pillow just as Roger walked into the room, tears in his eyes.
"How is he?" Roger asked, coming over and sitting next to Eileen. Eileen bit her lower lip and shook her head. Roger drew her close and hugged her. Eileen heard the heart monitor beeping get slower and slower. No! Oh God! Not now! Please let Papa live Eileen thought and prayed to herself. Roger clearing his throat made Eileen look up at him - his face was tear-streaked.
"Collins said that if anything bad were to happen to him, that you would live with Mark, John, Jules and I." Roger told her, blinking away new tears. Eileen nodded and hugged Roger tighter. Suddenly, the line on the heart monitor went straight. Eileen let out a gasping sob and cried into Roger's shirt just as Mark, John, Maureen and Joanne came into the room. The look on Roger's face and Eileen's sobbing told the group everything.
"I'll go get Jules, Hannah and Anna." Mark volunteered, tears streaming down his cheeks. Maureen and Joanne nodded as John went to Eileen's side and stood next to her. Eileen managed to push herself away from Roger after a few minutes of crying into his shirt.
"If it's no trouble, may I have some time alone with my dad, please?" Eileen asked. Everyone nodded and exited the room just as Jules, Hannah and Anna came to the room, followed by Mark.
"Just come out when you're ready, okay Eileen." Roger said, blowing his nose. Eileen nodded as he exited the room.
"What's going on?" Mark asked as the group exited the room and walked back to the waiting room.
"Eileen just wants some time alone with Collins." Roger explained, sitting down in a chair far away from the others. Jules sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Roger kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair. Jules sniffled and tried not to cry.
"Jules, you can cry. It's okay." Roger told her, hugging her tightly. Jules nodded and let out a sob. The waiting room was quiet - except for the sounds of people sobbing and crying.
"In truths that she learned
Or in times that he cried
In bridges he burned
Or the way that she…" Jules sang softly, her voice cracking when she reached her favorite part of the song - the part that Collins always sang. Roger rubbed her back, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Eileen exited her dad's hospital room a few minutes later and made her way to the waiting room where her family was waiting. Taking in a deep breath, she walked over and sat down next to Jules. Jules hugged her best friend as Eileen cried into her shirt.
"Is there anything we can do, Eileen?" Mark asked, walking over to her. She shook her head and continued to cry.
Twenty minutes later, the group decided that they would go home. Eileen was going to be spending the night with Jules, Mark, Roger and John, so she was happy about that. Unlocking the door to her and Collins' loft, she made her way to her room and put some clothes in a brown paper bag and carried the bag up to the loft above hers. Climbing the stairs, she wiped the tears away from her face - she couldn't believe that her dad just died right in front of her. Mark had explained on the way home that he had a really bad asthma attack and was rushed to the hospital. Eileen had wanted to believe him, but she didn't know what to think.
She knocked on the door to Jules, Roger, Mark and John's loft and waited for someone to open the door. Jules answered and let her friend inside. Walking into the loft, she saw Benny, his wife Alison and their son, Jacob, sitting on the couch, talking quietly with Roger, Mark, Joanne and Maureen.
"Party's in my room. C'mon." Jules whispered, putting a finger to her lips and walked on tiptoe to her room. Eileen followed her, looking occasionally at the Coffin family. Roger nodded a lot as Benny talked to him. Joanne and Maureen were sitting together on the floor in front of Roger. Mark was standing behind where Roger was sitting, arms folded across his chest.
"Dad ordered us a pizza and Uncle Roger brought a small TV in so that we could watch movies. Aunts Joanne and Maureen rented us some movies - Corpse Bride,Phantom of the Opera, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Dreamer: Inspired By A True Story and Sky High." John told Eileen as she walked into Jules' room. Eileen smiled - she knew that Joanne and Maureen had picked those movies because they were some of her favorites.
"Which one do you want to watch first?" Jules asked, flopping down on her beanbag chair and hugging her stuffed giraffe, Twiggy, to her chest. Eileen sat down on the floor next to her as John, Hannah and Anna sat on the bed.
"Hmm, how about Corpse Bride?" Eileen suggested. Jules smiled and put the DVD in the DVD player and pressed 'play' on the remote. She skipped the previews and went directly to the menu. Jules pressed 'play' again and this time, the movie started.
As they watched the movie, Jacob entered the room and stood in the back, arms folded across his chest. He stood there for a minute, watching the movie, when Benny came and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. Jacob looked at his dad and followed him out of the room.
"We are very sorry for the loss of Collins. Please let us know if there's anything we can do to help." Alison was telling Roger as she, Benny and Jacob left.
"I can't think of anything, but if you talk to his daughter, Eileen, I'm sure she'll tell you what you can do." Roger told them, grimly. Eileen had come out of the room at the time that Roger had said her name. She walked over to Alison and smiled slightly at her.
"Is there anything we can do for you, Eileen?" Alison asked. Eileen shook her head and went to the kitchen to get some Coke for her, Jules and John and Sprite for Hannah and Anna. Alison sighed and followed her husband and son out of the loft. Roger closed the door behind them.
"What was that about, Uncle Roger?" Eileen asked, getting the Coke and Sprite bottles out of the fridge.
"They were just wondering about when the memorial service was going to be and things like that. Nothing for you to worry about." Roger explained, going over to her and pouring the Sprite for Hannah and Anna.
"I see." Eileen looked up at her uncle - he had tears in his eyes and had tear streaks on his face.
"So, what movie are you watching?" Roger asked, brushing tears out of his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Corpse Bride. It's pretty funny so far." Eileen told him, smiling slightly. Roger smiled back and helped her carry drinks back to Jules' room. Looking around, she didn't see Mark, Joanne or Maureen anywhere.
"Uncle Roger, where are Uncle Mark, Aunt Joanne and Aunt Maureen?" Eileen asked, walking into Jules' room.
"Mark's in his room and Joanne and Maureen went for a walk." Roger answered her, handing the Sprites to Jules and John. Jules laughed and handed her Sprite to Anna while John handed his to Hannah.
"I'll be in my room if you guys need anything, okay?" Roger told them, kissing the top of Jules' head. They nodded and un-paused the movie.
Roger walked to his room, closed the door and sat upon the bed. Getting his guitar out from its case, he placed it on his lap and strummed Musetta's Waltz a bit before playing some songs he had written for Mimi and Jules. He was playing at the Life Café next month and he wanted to get a fresh start on some new songs. At that moment, he was working on a song for Mark to sing at Collins' funeral.
"How did we get here?
How the hell…
Pan left - close on the steeple of the church
How did I get here?
How the hell…
Christmas, Christmas Eve - last year
How could a night so frozen
Be so scalding hot?
How could a morning this mild
Be so raw?
Why are entire years strewn
On the cutting room floor of memory
When single frames from one magic night
Forever flicker in close-up
On the 3-D Imax of my mind
That's poetic, that's pathetic
Why did Mimi knock on
Roger's door
And Collins choose that phone booth
Back where Angel set up his drums?
Why did Maureen's equipment break down?
Why am I the witness?
And when I capture it on film
Will it mean that it's the end
And I'm alone?" Roger sang just as Mark walked in. He sat down next to Roger and listened to him play the song.
"That's really nice, Rog. Who's it for?" Mark asked.
"It's for you, Mark. I want you to sing it at Collins' funeral." Roger said, playing the tune again so that Mark could hear it.
"What's it called?" Mark inquired, listening. Roger shrugged his shoulders and sang the song again.
After Roger finished, Mark had tears in his eyes. Roger smiled at his friend.
"I was thinking of calling it Halloween, but Collins didn't die on Halloween." Roger stated. He shook his head and put the guitar down just as tears came to his eyes. Mark hugged his best friend and together, the two men cried.
A/N: I don't own the lyrics to Halloween or Seasons of Love. Both belong to Jonathon Larson (RIP).