Chapter 11

Dance practice was going well and Sara put her worries about Mimi out of her mind for a while as she danced. When practice was over, she went into the dressing rooms to shower and change into her street clothes. Suddenly she heard a crash and a scream. She rushed back out into the hallway and saw a crowd of people.

"What's going on?" she asked one of the male dancers who was in the crowd.

"Someone just collapsed over there." he responded. "I think it was that little Hispanic senior dancer."

"Oh God Mimi." Sara whispered and pushed her way through the crowd. When she got to the front, she saw Mimi lying on the floor looking very pale. The theater's director was standing beside her.

"Oh Sara, here you are." she said. "We've called the paramedics and they should be on the way. Do you know where Darren is?"

Sara shook her head. "No I don't. Is she going to be okay?"

"I can't answer that." the director said solemnly. "She's breathing, but faintly. Has she eaten anything lately?"

"I- I don't know." Sara said. Then there was a commotion by the door as the ambulance arrived and the paramedics pushed their way through the crowd.

"She's over here!" Sara called to them.

"What happened here?" one of them asked.

The director took up the story. "She was walking to the dressing rooms and she just passed out. We don't know when the last time she ate was, and we can't find her fiancé."

"Okay we'll take it from here." the paramedic said. Then he turned to Sara. "Are you family?" he wanted to know.

"No but she's my friend and wherever you're taking her I'm going." Sara said firmly.

The paramedic nodded. "Okay then, let's go." They lifted Mimi onto the stretcher and carried her out of the theater and into the ambulance.

Mark was arguing with one of his assistant camera operators about the placement of a shot when his cell phone rang. He saw that it was Sara calling and answered it.

"Sara I can't really talk right now."

"Mark, Mimi's in the hospital." she said frantically.

"What! What happened?" he wanted to know.

"She just collapsed in the middle of the theater after practice today. Can you call every body else and meet us here?"

"I'll try. Where are you?" Mark said.

"At the 35th street hospital on the fourth floor. Hurry." And with that, she hung up. Mark's heart rate sped up drastically as he snapped his phone shut.

"Mr. Davis?" the assistant said. "What about the shot?"

"Just do whatever. I've got to go." Mark called back as he raced toward his car. Once inside he took a deep breath and called Roger.

Ana was reading, and Roger was in the kitchen making lunch when the phone rang.

"I'll get it." Ana called out as she put her book down. "Hello Davis residence." she said when she picked up the phone.

"Ana, it's Mark. Where's Roger?" Mark asked trying to keep the panic out of his voice so as not to scare her.

"He's in the kitchen. What's wrong Mark?" Ana said, not fooled.

Mark quickly told her what had happened and then said, "Just tell him to call Maureen, Joanne and Collins and then to meet us at the 35th street hospital okay?"

"I got it. Is Mimi going to be okay?" Ana said quietly.

Mark sighed; "We'll just have to see." he said sadly and hung up. Roger came out of the kitchen with a tray of sandwiches just then.

"Who was that?" he wanted to know.

"That was Mark. Mimi collapsed at the Pascal Theater and she's in the hospital now. Mark wants you to call Maureen, Joanne and Collins and then to meet everyone at the 35th street hospital." Ana informed him. Then she looked at Roger. "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly. For all the color had drained from his face and he looked very afraid.

"Is Mimi alright?" Roger asked.

"No one knows, but the sooner we get there the sooner we'll find out." Ana said.

Roger nodded. "Okay, I'll call everyone. You pack up the sandwiches."

"What for?" Ana asked confused.

"Those are good sandwiches. And trust me, whenever my friends get worried they get hungry."

Ana laughed and set about packing the sandwiches up.

An hour later Roger and Ana came into the hospital. Ana looked around and saw Sara sitting on a chair in the corner. She nudged Roger and pointed this out. He went over to her.

"Sara," he said softly. "Sara you okay?" She had her head in her hands and she was crying hard.

"S-she won't w-wake up Roger." she sobbed as she looked up. "She j-just w-won't." then she broke off sobbing uncontrollably.

Roger sat down and put his arms around her. "It's going to be okay Sara. Mimi'll get through this, she will." he said as much for Sara's benefit as for his own. "Where's Mark?" he asked then.

Sara took a deep shuddering breath. "He's in there with Mimi and the doctors. They were trying to fill out the paperwork but he didn't know Mimi's full name." she told him.

Just then, Mark himself came out into the waiting room. He sighed with relief when he saw Roger sitting there.

"Oh thank goodness you're here." he said coming over to him. "Mimi won't wake up and we need to fill out her forms."

"Where's that moron of a fiancé of hers?" Roger wanted to know. "Shouldn't he be the one filling out the forms and stuff?"

"No one can reach him Roger. So could you just help us out?" Mark asked with a sigh.

"Yeah okay." Roger agreed reluctantly. "What do you need to know?"

Mark pulled out the forms. "What's her whole name, date of birth, blood type, and insurance carrier?" he asked.

"Her whole name is Maria Rosario Carrera Marquez, she was born on August 10, 1970, her blood type is A and I have no idea about the insurance thing, but if Darren doesn't show up soon you can put ours down for her." Roger said.

"Wait," Mark said. "If she was born in 1970 then she's not thirty like she's been telling everyone. She's actually-"

"Thirty-two." Roger finished for him. "She's been lying about her age for years." Just then the doctor came out.

"Hello," she said pleasantly. "My name is Dr. Bryson."

"Is Mimi going to be okay?" Roger asked her.

"Well that remains to be seen." Dr. Bryson answered. "She hasn't woken up in the two hours she's been here and that's not good. I understand that she has AIDS and I heard from the young lady that came in with her, that her white blood cell count was low. We want to run some tests, but not until she wakes up."

"Is there anything we can do?" Mark asked her.

Dr. Bryson sighed. "We need her to wake up. Maybe one of you could go in there and talk to her. It might stimulate a reaction."