As of today (April 22) I should get up about three more chapters! Hooray! Remember, we don't own RENT. But my friend is helping me write this, and this is postRENT (sorry to all those Angel fans, but it must be done). Hope you enjoy!
That morning Roger was up before I was. He sat at the table sipping at a cup of coffee and reading The Village Voice. I grabbed a poptart and stuffed it into my mouth, ignoring the toaster sitting idly next to me.
"Wheffths Moorgah?" I asked through a mouth of poptart.
Roger pointed to the couch. I swallowed.
"Still sleeping?" I asked, pulling the little orange bottle out of my pocket.
"No. Awake." She said, looking up from her bowl of Cap'in Crunch. I gave her the bottle; she just looked at it idly and put it down next to her.
"I'm going. Roger take your AZT. You take your meds too, Morgan" She stuck her tongue out at me and popped two pills into her mouth, swallowing them without water.
"Happy?" she asked, rolling her eyes.
"Sure am!" I said cheerfully.
"How many can you swallow at once?" Roger asked, "My record is eleven."
Both Morgan and I looked at him dumbstruck. "Uh, oh." Morgan said softly.
Roger's cheeks turned bright red. "It's not what you think…" he stuttered.
"Whatever," Morgan mumbled, getting up to clean her bowl.
"Oh, that's alright!" Roger nearly shouted, "Just sit back down. I'll clear that for you!"
"Um, thanks." Morgan said.
"Well, I'm off to film," I said, "Roger, will you watch Morgan?"
"Um…" he muttered, seemingly uncomfortable with the idea, "Why don't we all go? I mean, it's such a lovely day!"
"Alright," I mumbled, shrugging and helping Morgan find her shoe.
When we finally did (how her shoe got in the freezer I will NEVER know) Morgan started tugging them on.
"Do you need help with that?" Roger asked.
Morgan looked at him curiously and me suspiciously before saying, "Nah, that's alright. I've got it."
Soon enough we were walking down the street towards the park, where I seemed to be most of the time lately. Roger had his guitar and Morgan was fiddling with my camera, which she had snatched out of my hands.
The three of us plopped down on a bench in the middle of the park. We had created a Morgan sandwich, but Roger kept scooting away from her until he was nearly falling to the ground.
"Hey Morgan," I said, "Why don't you go get some hot chocolate? You look frozen to dea- just really cold."
"Caught yourself, ay? Sure, be back in a few," she giggled, heading off.
I turned to Roger, who was inching back onto the bench. "Why are you acting so weird?" I asked.
"Weird? Me? Nah, I'm just worried about Mimi, that's all." He looked around, "I should go visit her."
And with that he was off. I grabbed my camera and started filming "October 13th 1991, Roger runs to the hospital to go see Mimi who's slow deterioration has left us all emotionally drained and worried for Roger's mental health"
I scanned the park for Morgan, who was nowhere to be found. Not wanting to leave the bench hence she come back, I filmed what was going on around me. Through the camera I soon saw a familiar face.
"And here's the lovely Anne McGee," I said loud enough for her to hear, "Looking ravishing in her jacket and sipping…why, is that coffee I smell! Amazing!"
Anne laughed and sat down next to me. Sneakily, she grabbed my camera and pointed it in my direction. "And HERE is the famous Mark Cohen, who is, once again, hiding behind his camera. He's lost his sister twice already."
"Hey!" I shouted, lunging for my camera, "I resent that! I'm a good big brother!"
She handed back the camera and said, "Then her running away twice over a three day period is perfectly fine? Speaking of which, where is Morgan anyway?"
"She…um…I…er…I have no clue." I muttered sheepishly.
"Make that THREE times over a three day period," Anne laughed, "C'mon, let's go find her."
I nodded and helped her off the bench. We soon forgot about finding Morgan and concentrated more on the scenery in the park. The leaves were, as always, amazing. I tended to dislike fall, which brought cold weather, but Anne helped me find the beauty in it. Anyway, how could I hate the fall now? It had brought both Morgan and Anne into my life.
Cars honked as we exited the park and rushed across the street to the cemetery. We were passing by, when suddenly I heard a small, familiar voice. I gently hushed Anne's giggling and lead her deeper into the cemetery.
"Angel," someone muttered, "Angel. Ah, here it is! Angel Dumott Schunard."
I silently pulled Anne behind a tree. There, next to a grave, sat Morgan. I watched, wide-eyed, as she did something I would never do.
"Hi Angel," Morgan said, "I don't know you, and you don't know me, but it feels like we've been friends forever. Seeing as we've never met, I guess I'll introduce myself. I'm Morgan, Mark's little sister."
I glanced down at Anne, who's eyes were glossy with unshed tears. I knew how she felt, if not more. A bolt of emotion passed through my body, and I bit my lip to hold back the tears.
Morgan continued, "Everyone misses you, especially Collins. I met him yesterday. Although I don't really know him that well, and he didn't say a word, I could tell he wished you were there. But don't worry, he's still living life to the fullest, I have a feeling that's what you'd like. I have a favor to ask, and it's not a selfish one. It's about the people I care about, people you cared about, and people who still care about you. Angel, could you please help Mimi. Even though they don't know it, I heard Roger and Mark talking last night. Mimi's sick. She went to the hospital. If anything happened to her, well, that just brings me to Roger. If anything happened to Mimi, Roger would just die. I couldn't bear to watch that happen. Though I've only known him for a few days, I can tell we're going to be great friends. And lastly, please look after Mark. He's got it tougher than people would realize. He's trying to pursue his dream while still being a good friend and a good brother. He'll have it tough if Mimi passes on. Roger will most likely get all depressed. Mark has a new friend, Anne. I really like her. I hope things work out between them. And lastly, he has to look after ME! And I must say, that's no easy task. Just please help Mark get along, and I'll try my best to help."
With that, Morgan bent down and placed a single red rose on Angel's grave. I felt something tickling my cheek. When I went to wipe it away, I realized it was a tear. Both Anne and I fell to the ground when Morgan walked by so she wouldn't see us.
Grabbing Anne's hand, I dragged her to the front of the cemetery. We got there seconds before Morgan did. "Morgan!" I yelled, running after her, "Where have you been? We've been looking all over for you!"
She smiled weakly and said, "Never mind. Where's Roger?"
"At the hospital," I muttered.
"Really? Why?" she asked.
As if you didn't know. "Visiting Mimi, she's sick. Why don't we go visit them?"
Morgan nodded and then said, "I see you called Anne."
"No. I saw her at the park and we started talking."
"That's what they all say…"
"Mimi…" Anne mumbled, pinning her hair up with a pencil. "Isn't she Rogers's girlfriend?"
I nodded "Everyone from last night is going to be there."
As we approached the hospital Anne stopped. She held her drawing book to her chest and looked up at the enormous building. Morgan had already gone inside and was waiting in the lobby for us.
"What's wrong?" I asked, seeing the nervous look in her eyes.
Anne blinked a few times then turned to me and smiled. "Nothing. This place just gives me heebie-jeebies, that's all."
Morgan ran out of the building, "Hurry up!" she shouted.
Running? Wait a second… "Hey Morgan!" I yelled back, walking up the stairs, "How's your ankle? You don't seem to be limping."
She blushed. "What can I say? I'm a fast healer."
"Of course you are…" I said suspiciously.
Morgan rolled her eyes and ran back inside. I smiled and turned back to Anne. "Here," I mumbled, "Give me your hand."
She extended her hand and I carefully led her into the hospital. Morgan was already out of sight, no surprise there. I went up to the front desk to find out which room Mimi was in.
About five minutes later, Anne and I burst into room 312. Everyone who had been at the café last night was there. Roger was sitting near the bed, holding Mimi's hand. He looked up and smiled. "Thanks for coming," he muttered.
I scanned the room for Morgan, but like before, she was nowhere to be seen. "Hey Collins," I said, weaving my way through the multicolored balloons to him, "Have you seen Morgan?"
"Not since last night," he responded.
I sighed and said, "Well, I guess I should go find her."
"No need to!" A voice said.
Morgan…who else? She made her way over to me and gave me a brief hug and a smile. Then she walked over to Roger and sat down next to him. As she whispered something in his ear, his small smile turned into a frown. I was about to tell her to not bother Roger with bad news, but his frown quickly turned into a grin. "Thanks Morgan," he whispered, giving her a hug.
I looked at her curiously, but she wouldn't look me in the eye. Well, that's Morgan for you- chipper one moment, secretive and solemn the next. So instead of wasting valuable staring-for-information time on Morgan, I shifted my gaze to Roger. Luckily, he wasn't as prepared, and I managed to catch his eye. Our connection was held for about thirty seconds, and then he looked away, blushing.
"Well," Joanne muttered, pulling on her jacket, "Maureen and I had better go. We have to go work on her protest."
"Another one?" I asked.
"Yeah," Maureen said sweetly.
"About what?"
"It wouldn't be a secret if I told you."
I sighed. "Alright, well, see you later!"
Maureen and Joanne waved goodbye and exited the room, which suddenly seemed smaller. Now there was only Collins, Morgan, Roger, Anne and me…and Mimi of course.
"C'mon Roger," Collins said, "You look like a wreck. You need a break. Let's go down to the food court."
"But what about Mimi?" he asked softly.
"She'll be okay for an hour or so. Anyway, Morgan, Mark and Anne are here. She's in good hands."
"If it'll make you feel any better," Morgan said, "I'll come too. Then you won't have to worry about me wrecking havoc."
I could tell Roger was about to say 'no', but Morgan gave him a weird look. After a minute or so, he finally understood what it meant, though I still had no clue. "Alright," he said reluctantly.
As the door closed behind them, I took Roger's seat and held Mimi's hand. Anne sat down across the bed. She'd occasionally glance at me, but her attention was fixated on Mimi. Anne was obviously captivated by something, but I didn't get a chance to figure out what.
"Mark, will you get me a soda?" she asked, though I could tell she was just trying to get me out of the room.
"What kind?"
"Doesn't matter."
I nodded and made my way out the door. I almost stayed by the door to eavesdrop, but that would be too Morgan-like, so I went downstairs. Instead of getting a soda, I bought a cheap packet of crackers. I munched on them slowly, making sure to save some for Anne. Of course, I lost track, and ended up eating them all, though I had a feeling she wouldn't mind.
To be continued…
