The usual. I don't own RENT. PostRENT story. Friend's helping me write. Enjoy. (Sorry this is so brief, but I have a few more to do and I'm getting antsy with these little beginning things)
When I was done, I made my way back up to Mimi's room. "Can I come in?" I asked through the door."Yeah," a voice said.
I softly walked in and saw Anne collecting her art supplies. "I have to go," she muttered, "I was waiting with Mimi until you came back. I'll talk to you later."
Before I could say a word, Anne rushed out of the room. Was she mad at me? Shrugging, I sat next to Mimi. Suddenly, I couldn't take it anymore. The whole atmosphere was wrong. The dull gray of the blankets. The humid air. Mimi's pale face. Her smile-less lips. This was not the Mimi Marquez I knew, nor the environment she'd usually be in. When were they going to come back? I thought to myself. I needed to get out of here…and fast.
But they didn't come back quickly, or at least quickly enough. The room started spinning around me. The air became heavy and hot. Everything fuzzed over, and became black and white.
I fell to the floor, my breathing shallow. "Mark?" a voice called, "Mark? Mark. Mark!" The voice became frantic and desperate. "Help!"
The heavy thud of footsteps rang through my ear. I felt a hand on my head and then felt myself being picked up. A buzzing sound, most likely a voice, called to me in a calming manner, but the breathing of the person was frenzied and didn't calm me down.
Something wet fell on my face. At first, I thought the tiny droplets were rain, but I then realized they were tears.
"Mark," someone whispered, "Oh Mark." And then I blacked out.
When I woke up, the sun was setting. The lack of natural light cast long shadows throughout the room. I was sitting in an extremely uncomfortable armchair next to Mimi's bed.
Morgan was sitting on the arm of my chair. Her head rested on my shoulder. Morgan always looks so sweet when she's asleep. Why she never stays that way I don't understand. I carefully got up and shifted Morgan onto the seat of the chair.
"Mark," she mumbled, still asleep, "Why did you go?"
I sighed before exiting the room, my stomach growling. I ignored the vending machines, seeing as I had no money, and made my way out the hospital doors. I was pretty sure there'd be food at the loft.
Sure enough, the kitchen was full of delicious edibles. Shrugging off all thoughts of healthy foods, I grabbed a chocolate snack pack.
I smiled, remembering one of the few good times I'd had at home. I'd been eleven and Morgan was only four. She'd come home crying from preschool, upset about something that had happened earlier. To make her feel better, we walked down to the corner store and bought pack after pack of pudding cups. After drudging home, we proceeded to fling pudding at each other in the backyard. The punishment that followed was awful, but I'll always remember the wide smile on Morgan's face.
After I finished my midnight snack, I sat down on the couch. No need to return to the hospital now. They wouldn't miss me for too long. I smiled, thinking about the commotion everyone would make when they awoke and I wasn't there.
Not even bothering to kick off my shoes, I sprawled out on the couch. Sure, Morgan would probably get mad at me for tracking mud in her 'bed', but I'd deal with that later. I looked up at the ceiling, not the least bit tired. I went to find my camera, only to remember I'd left it at the hospital. Fuck.
Sighing, I arose from the couch. I wanted my camera. It was like a fucking security blanket. I made my way out the door, pulling my jacket tightly around me, as I was not so friendly greeted by the piercing cold air.
The trip to the hospital seemed to grow longer and longer as sleep tried to overcome me. Soon, I was completely exhausted. I was about to turn back and sleep in the loft when the hospital came into view. Rushing towards it, I soon found myself back in the uncomfortable armchair. Pulling Morgan closer for warmth, I drifted off to sleep.
"Mark," someone whispered, gently shaking me awake, "Mark, I need your help."
I opened my eyes to find myself face-to-face with Roger. "What's wrong?" I asked, rubbing my eyes and yawning.
"Morgan's acting all weird. She's been like that since last night. I don't get it. She won't make eye contact with anyone. She wouldn't even let me give her a hug when you passed out. By the way, how are you feeling?"
"Fine," I mumbled, "Anyway, did Morgan get her second dose of meds yesterday?"
"Second dose…" Roger said unsurely.
"Oh fuck, she didn't? Where is she?"
Roger pointed to Mimi's bed. I looked over his shoulder and saw Morgan holding Mimi's hand. When she saw me, she briefly smiled and left her post to give me a hug. "Hi," she whispered.
This was not like the usual Morgan. She needed her meds. "I'll run back to the loft and get her meds," I muttered.
"I don't think so!" Roger said, putting his hand on my shoulder to prevent me from getting up, "You gave us all a nasty fright last night, and you're not going anywhere until I say so."
"Okay," I said, "Then you go get her meds."
"But what about Mimi?" he asked.
"I'll be here with her the entire time, seeing as I can't leave without your permission."
"But…what about Mimi?"
I sighed. "Roger, stop being such an ass and please go get Morgan's meds."
"Can't Morgan get her own fucking meds?" he whined.
"No, Morgan can't get her own fucking meds Roger. You're being real selfish. If Anne were in the hospital and you needed your AZT, I'd get it for you."
"Interesting name choice," he said slyly.
"Oh just shut the fuck up and go get her meds."
Reluctantly, Roger left, mumbling and groaning the whole time. He came back not too long after. His face was red and his breath was quick. He tossed the bottle to Morgan who fumbled with it before finally opening it and popping two pills in her mouth.
"What was that all about?" Mimi asked.
"She's got-" Roger started, But Morgan coughed and shot him a look that would have froze Benny to the concrete during one of Maureen's infamous protests.
"Its nothing, really," She said, keeping her eyes on the tiled floor.
"I should get her home, she looks tired." I said taking Morgan's arm and pulling her out the door.
"No I'm not." She complained.
I basically dragged her all the way back to the loft.
"Marrrrrrk!" Morgan moaned, "Can we go do something?"
"Like what?" I asked, still a little annoyed with Roger and his little slip-up.
"Its almost lunch time, you could call Anne and we could go eat together!"
I gave Morgan a weird look before shooting down the idea. "Rest first. Anyway, I'm not even supposed to be here anyway. Roger said I couldn't leave until he said so."
Morgan rolled her eyes. "I'm not ti- hey! Why's there mud all over my bed?"
I blushed. Oops…my bad. "I dunno," I slurred, trying to avoid her eyes, "Must've come from the ceiling."
She looked at me suspiciously. "Good thing you came back Mark," she mumbled, "Or you would've felt my wrath."
"Ooooh. I'm quaking in my boots."
Morgan turned to me, her eyes dull. "Mark, will you promise me something?"
"Depends. What is it?"
"Promise you'll never leave me alone. Mimi's dying, and she's taking Roger with her. Please, I don't know what I'd do without you Mark."
I opened my mouth to promise, but caught myself. I could drop dead right now. "No," I whispered, "I can't do that. I'm sorry Morgan."
I barely caught the tears in her eyes before she mumbled, "Okay," and lied down on the couch. Her breathing steadied as she fell asleep.
I watched her sleep for a few minutes. I could almost convince myself that she was normal when she was asleep. Tell myself that there was nothing wrong with her, nothing that could keep her form being herself.
The phone rang; I didn't bother going to pick it up. I turned my attention to the answering machine.
"Speeeeeeak"
"Mark, don't screen. It's me, Roger. I think I'm going to be here for a while, and the hospital food is shit, so if you could go and grab me something for lunch-"
It was Mimi's voice now. She sounded worse today, maybe because it was still early… "And bring Anne with you when you come back."
I grabbed the phone. "Ask Roger what he wants to eat… Ok… Ok! Ok! I'm going! Jesus Roger! Got it. Ok, bye!"
I wrote a little note to Morgan telling her where I was and how to call Mimi's room and stuck it to her forehead. I swung my bag over my shoulder, and walked out the door, looking back on Morgan once before descending down the steps.
I took a short cut through the park, silently hoping to find Anne there. With no luck I made my way to Burger King to buy Roger, Mimi, and me some lunch.
To be continued…
