Okay not much to say about this except that I couldn't get to sleep awhile ago because I was worried the last chapter was too random.

Oh well. This chapter is different. I guess it's not as spy-like. I dunno.

Um, I haven't been to a hospital in awhile so I might have gotten a few things wrong. And they cuss a lot in this chapter, sorry if it bothers you. No F bombs but I think Roger says at least one cuss word everytime he speaks.

I don't own RENT and this chapter of the story never happened to my mom, (although the guy did break his ankle) so the storyline belongs to me now. (muhahahaha!)

It was nearly 3:00 AM by the time Roger and Mark made it to the hospital, even with Roger's reckless driving. Mark hobbled inside the emergency waiting room (with a bit of help) and sat down while Roger adressed the nurse at the desk.

"We need a doctor," he said to tired-looking woman.

She looked him over - dyed-blonde hair growing dark at the roots, eyeliner, earrings and a leather jacket. She sighed. "You'll have to call your parents," she said as she handed him the phone and returned to the papers on her desk.

"No," he said, his voice rising with annoyance, "No, you ass, it's him who needs the doctor!" He turned around just as Mark groaned again at the sight of his own blood on the floor.

"Oh my God," she said as if she had never seen a real emergency in a hospital before. She rushed over to Mark and bent to see his ankle better. Roger followed. "What did you do?" she asked, slowly rolling up the leg on his pants. Mark, however, did not seem to be able to answer as he slumped back, wincing, into the plastic chair.

"The little shit jumped off a roof," Roger answered for him, kneeling to get a better look. "Damn, you hit hard, man."

"I'm sorry, this might hurt a little," the nurse said, sliding off Mark's shoe.

"Ahh!" Mark gasped.

"Holy shit!"

"You seem to have twisted it up pretty good haven't you?" the nurse asked. She got up and began to walk away. "I'm just going to get a few things to clean this up and do some tests until you can see the doctor."

"Hey, does this hurt?" Roger asked, brushing his finger across the swollen purple mass that used to be his best friend's foot.

"YES!" Mark screamed.

Roger let out a small laugh. "Cool,"

.o.o.o.

"Dad! Are you okay?" Maureen yelled, flying down the stairs. She found him on the porch, holding his back and yelling down the street. "Dad, I heard a thud. Are you okay?"

"He got away!" he hissed. "I if I'd have caught him-"

"Dad, it was Mark."

"What?"

"It was Mark, Mark Cohen. He came to talk to me."

"At two in the morning?"

She almost laughed. "That's what I thought."

"What the hell happened?" Mrs. Johnson asked, emerging from the bedroom. Erin followed behind her, looking very scared.

"That's what I want to know!" Mr. Johnson said, turning to Maureen.

"All I know is that he came to talk to me," she explained. "I hung up on him earlier."

"Well you could've told me that before I started chasing the bastard down the street!"

"I tried, Dad. You were too busy screaming death threats!"

"Well your sister said there was a man on the roof so I-"

"What?" Maureen interrupted, rounding on her sister. "There was a man on the roof creeping toward my window in the middle of the night and you didn't come tell me?"

"I panicked!" Erin said.

"Well that doesn't matter now." Mrs. Johnson said, stepping between her daughters. "What happened to him?

"He jumped off the roof and got in some car. He looked like he landed on his ankle pretty hard." Mr. Johnson explained.

"Well we obviously know who the driver was," Maureen said. "It was definately Roger. You said he hurt his leg?"

"Yeah, his ankle," her father answered.

"Do you think he was bleeding?"

"Probably. There was a very loud 'crack' when he landed."

"Okay. Well the blood would've freaked Roger out," Maureen said almost to herself, "So I bet you anything they're at the hospital by now." She ran to the kitchen and dialed the number for the hospital from the "Emergency Contacts" list.The rest of the Johnsons stood in the living room, not sure what to do with themselves. "Yes, I'm looking for a patient...Mark Cohen? He came in with a busted up ankle...uh-huh...okay...Do you know what room he's in?...yes..." She scribbled something down on a sheet of paper. "B-14? Got it...thank you." She said and hung up. "I'm taking the car!" She told her parents as she threw on her coat and shoes and grabbed the keys off the counter. "I'll be back soon!"

.o.o.o.

Mark was sitting in a hospital bed, still waiting for the doctor. His ankle wasn't throbbing nearly as bad as before, thanks to the pain relivers the nurse had given him. She had taken his blood pressure, done x-rays and given him a sticker. Roger was sitting next to the bed and talking excitedly to someone on the room's phone.

"Dude, you have to come and see this...I dunno, hold on..." He moved the mouthpeice away from his ear and adressed Mark, "Can you wiggle your toes?"

Mark focused every fiber in his being on moving his toes, but he only let out a small fart. "Oops,"

"Aw, shit, Mark!" Roger said, returning to his phone conversation, "No, just trying makes him fart...Hell, yes, it smells...No...really?...That's awesome!...What happened to that guy?...Uh-huh...I honestly don't think he died...whatever...yeah...B-14...okay...see ya." He hung up the phone and fanned the air in front of his face. "God, Mark, what did you eat?"

"Who was that?" Mark asked, deciding to ignore his friend's question.

"Collins. He says he's coming to see your foot. He thinks you might die."

"What?" Mark asked, sitting up a little straighter.

Roger laughed. "God, you're so gullible. He wants to see how nasty it is."

Mark rolled his eyes just as the doctor walked in. He put the x-rays on the light on the wall and turned around to adress Mark. "It doesn't look as bad as-" he stopped, looking around the room and then at Mark."Where're your parents?"

"I'm eighteen. I have no obligation to tell my parents about this."

"Yeah!" Roger added lamely.

The doctor looked from Roger to Mark suspiciously and shook his head, turning toward the x-ray and continuing his explanation. "Anyway, it isn't as bad as it looks, but it is broken and you will need a cast."

Mark sighed. "Okay,"

"Wait!" Roger said, standing up from his chair, "Can you wait to do it until my friend gets here? He really wants to see it."

The doctor sighed and rolled his eyes. "Teenagers," he said, and left the room.

.o.o.o.

Maureen sped into a parking space and ran through the automatic doors. She was about to ask if she could cut the man in front of her, but she thought she reconized that beanie...

"Collins?"

"Oh," he said, turning around, "hey, Maureen! What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see Mark," she answered, "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing, but are you sure he wants to see you?" he asked skeptically, "I mean, you just dumped him and everything so-"

"You mean you don't know what happend?"

"No, Roger wouldn't tell me, but it has to be something bad. He says there was a lot of blood and he couldn't wiggle his toes." He paused and appeared to be thinking, "but he can fart."

"Do you know where his room is?" She asked, looking down the hallways to her left and right.

"Yeah, it's this way," he said, walking away and guesturing for her to follow. She did follow-quickly. It was all he could do to keep up with her. When they finally got to room B-14, Maureen attacked Mark with a hug so ferocious Roger thought she might break his neck too. Collins, however, had a different take on the situation.

"Daaaaaaaaaamn!" he said when Maureen finally broke away and he could get a good look at Mark's foot. "What'd you do, man? It looks like you jumped off a roof or something!"

"Um, actually..." Mark said, straightening his blankets uncomfortably.

"He did jump off a roof," Roger said, amazed, "how did you know?"

Collins laughed. "God, Mark! You jumped off a roof? Why the hell did you do that?"

Roger was the one who ended up explaining the whole thing. Mark fumbled with his blankets unneccesarily, embarrased. Maureen just sat next to him, watching his every move with a smile on her face.

"Wow, Mark," Collins said when Roger finished. "You're terrible! You could've killed yourself."

"Yes, Markie," Maureen said, "What were you thinking?" she asked him, sitting on the edge of the bed and stroking his hair.

"I don't know...I guess I just wanted you back so bad..."

Collins nudged Roger in the ribs and they laughed, watching their friends fall for each other all over again.

.o.o.o.

Parents will do almost anything to protect their children. It's an ancient instict. If their kids are hurt, parents will go to great lengths to make them heal or feel better. If they don't know where they are, they will do everything in their power to find out. This is why sitcom parents scold their children everytime they get back after curfew.

Mrs. Cohen remembered these sitcom situations, and how she had always thought those parents were being over-protective. She promised herself right then and there that she would never be over-protective of her children. They were kids, they needed to have fun. "Carpe deim," "c'est la vie," -did these phrases mean anything to those TV parents?

It is, of corse, an entirely different matter if you wake up at three in the morning and find that your child is not in their bed.

Mrs. Cohen had been (as those televison parents put it) "out of her mind with worry". She had called Mark's friends -- Thomas and Roger -- but both of their phones rang busy. Expecting the worst, she had called the police - nothing. She drove around town, parks and neighborhoods and creeks flew by, but no sign of her son anywhere. Finally, at 3:30, she was sitting in the kitchen, her heart pounding, when the phone rang. She ran over and picked it up quickly, her hands shaking.

"Hello?" she said, breathless.

"Mrs. Cohen?" Theperson on the other end of the line sounded like they really didn't want to tell her whatever it was they had called about. Her pulse quickened.

"Yes?"

"Um, this is Roger, Mark's friend..." he said. Her heart slowed down a bit. "Mark's fine, everybody's okay, but we're at the hospital and-"

"WHAT?"

"Well, Mark broke his ankle and he told me to call you and tell you so you wouldn't worry-"

"You just tell him that I'm coming up there RIGHT NOW!"

She slammed down the phone before Roger could answer and grabbed the car keys from the hook on the wall.

OoOh SuSpEnSe!

Okay, not suspense really. This was going to be the last chapter but it got kinda long and I've been absolutely CRAVING reveiws since I posted this story and only got 3 reveiws.

-insert clever plea for reveiws here-