CHAPTER FOURTEEN
(chapter title - Angel's Voice Is In My Ear)

John awoke at the hospital several hours later. He heard his dad snoring away in the hospital chair right next to John's bed. He looked straight ahead to see that his leg was in a cast and was in a hanging sling. He also saw Roger, Benny, Alison and Joanne sleeping in chairs around the room. Moaning, John went back to sleep, wanting answers as to why he was there - he couldn't remember why he was there in the first place.

John was asleep when he heard a voice calling to him. Looking around, he saw a man wearing a black shoulder-length wig, a white skirt with a pattern of flowers on it, snakeskin patterned leggings, black platform shoes and a red jacket.

"Angel?" John asked. The man nodded and smiled at him.

"Don't be frightened, sweetie. It's your aunt Angel telling you everything's going to be okay." Angel's voice was like honey - very sweet.

"Where are Aunt Mimi and Uncle Collins?" John inquired.

"They're fine - it's early and I just came down to talk to you. I want you to know that I'm always going to be here for you, your dad - everyone. There's nothing to be afraid of, John. Just live your life in love and remember the saying - no day but today." and with that, the beautiful drag queen was gone.

John suddenly sat up in bed to see pale sunlight streaming in through the window. Roger, Joanne, Benny and Alison were gone - probably left to go home and get some sleep. Mark, however, was still snoring away in the chair next to John's bed. Mark then yawned, stretched and looked over at John.

"Hey you're awake." Mark croaked. John nodded and looked around the room.

"Where did Angel go?" John asked. Mark looked at his son, confused and tired.

"What are you talking about John?" Mark inquired, sleepily.

"She was standing right over there -" John pointed to the chair where Roger had been sitting.

"Angel's dead, John. You know that." Mark told his son firmly. John slouched down in bed and muttered something just as Roger, Maureen, Benny and Alison returned - carrying plates of food for both John and Mark.

"Thanks guys." Mark thanked his friends. Roger smiled and sat back down in the chair in which he had been sitting. Taking a big bite of his muffin, he smiled at John. John smiled and poked at his scrambled eggs.

"I suppose you want to know why you're here, John." Mark started. He looked at Roger, Benny, Alison and Joanne before returning his gaze to John.

"Yeah. What the hell happened to me?" John asked, sitting up a bit.

"Well, remember Destiny was at the loft and you asked if she was going to be replacing your mom?" Mark asked. John nodded - he could remember that part, but not the rest of it. Mark cleared his throat before continuing on.

"After that, you got mad, ran out of the loft and somehow got your leg stuck between a dumpster and the wall behind it." Mark explained. John looked at his aunts and uncles - all of their expressions were unreadable.

"Jules and Eileen were the ones that found you." Roger informed John.

"Where are they now?" John asked, looking around for his friends.

"They're at school, sweetie - along with Hannah and Anna." Joanne told him. John smiled slightly and sighed. Benny walked over to John and gently squeezed his hand. John looked up at Benny for a while - he couldn't understand why Jacob was such a jerk while both of his parents seemed like such sweet and wonderful people.

"From now on, you call me 'Uncle Benny' and Alison 'Aunt Alison', okay?" Benny told him, smiling slightly.

"Of course I will, Uncle Benny." John said. Benny smiled and walked back over to where Alison was standing and put an arm around her waist.

"When can I come home?" John asked after a while.

"You probably can come home tomorrow." Mark said, rubbing his temples.

"Oh. Okay." John smiled at his dad, made himself comfortable under the blankets and fell asleep. Roger, Joanne, Benny and Alison had gone to work - Roger was now working part-time at the Life Café. Joanne was working long hours - from 4 in the morning to about 3 in the afternoon. Benny was a building developer for Mr. Grey and Alison was a stay-at-home mom.

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The next day, John had gotten the okay to come back to the loft - just as long as he stays off of his broken leg. John smiled as Roger pulled his car up to the hospital parking lot where John and Mark were standing. John was leaning on a pair of silver crutches and Mark was standing right next to him, a hand on John's back for support. Together, Mark and Roger got John into the car and drove him home.

They arrived at the loft fifteen minutes later. Roger retrieved John's bags out of the trunk while Mark carefully helped John out of the car.

"JOHN! YAY YOU'RE HOME!" Jules shouted from the balcony. Eileen laughed and said something in Spanish. Jules stuck her tongue out at her friend as she ran off the balcony and down the fire escape stairs. John smiled as Jules ran over to him.

"Hey Jules." He greeted his friend, pulling her into a one-armed hug. They talked at a mile a minute as Mark helped John up the stairs to the loft. Roger smiled and rolled his eyes - he knew that his daughter could be a chatterbox sometimes.

"Honey, why don't we let John get settled and then you can talk to him, okay?" Roger told her, smiling at his daughter. She nodded and helped John get comfortable on the couch just as Joanne brought out a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies - John's favorite.

"Thanks everyone." John said, getting comfortable on the couch. He could tell everyone was happy to have him home - he was happy to be in the loft where he was surrounded by people who loved him.