Mimi and Angel sat in the exam room of the hospital. The doctor ordered a series of blood tests. They'd been waiting for nearly an hour and a half.

"Honey, how about you let me call Collins?"

Angel hesitated and nodded. Mimi patted her hand and left the room.

"I'll be right back," she said at the doorway.

Mimi went to the payphone, hands shaking slightly. She'd been a little nervous when Angel told her about the unexplained bruises. Now that the doctor had ordered blood tests and the results were taking so long, Mimi was just trying to stay calm for Angel's sake. She dialed the number and waited for Collins to answer.

"Tom Collins."

"Collins, it's Mimi."

"Oh, hey girl. What's goin' on?"

"Okay, I have to tell you something but you gotta just let me get it all out before you say anything, okay?"

"Okay."

"This morning when Angel woke up there was a bruise on her leg and she doesn't know how she got it. She didn't tell you because she didn't want you to worry. And then she told me and I made her go to the doctor and he ordered some blood tests so now we're at the hospital waiting for the results and we've been here for, like, an hour and a half and we're both starting to get a little freaked out and Angel wants you to come," she said, spitting it all out as fast as she could.

"What hospital?"

"County General."

"I'm on my way."

Mimi hung up and returned to Angel's room. The doctor met her at the door and followed her in.

--LINE BREAK--LINE BREAK--

"You're not pregnant?" Mark asked, following her to the den.

"You saw the test."

Mark nodded, biting his lip. "Are you still taking your birth control?"

"What?"

"You were on birth control before. Are you still taking it?"

"Mark, we're trying to have a baby. Why the hell would I be taking birth control?"

"Maybe you don't really want a baby."

Maureen glared at him. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, if you don't want a baby right now, just say so."

"Oh my God! I'm not taking birth control! You wanna count the pills?"

Mark sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Besides, it's your sperm that's not getting there."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Maureen crossed her arms defensively. "Well maybe your sperm doesn't want to have a baby…er…be a baby."

"Maybe…maybe…"

"Yeah! Didn't think of that, did ya?"

Mark stared at her a minute and then pursed his lips, trying not to laugh.

"It's not funny!"

"Baby, we're arguing about whether or not my sperm wants to be a baby," he said with a laugh.

Maureen bit her lip and shook her head. Mark stepped towards her and held his arms out. She slid her arms around his neck, laughing with him.

"I'm sorry, baby," he said, kissing her temple.

"Me too. We're still gonna keep trying, right?"

"That box had two tests."

"So?"

"So I say we need a reason for the second test," he said, picking her up.

Maureen laughed and wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him carry her down the hallway.

--LINE BREAK--LINE BREAK--

Collins hurried into the hospital. He stopped at the nurses' station. "Excuse me. I'm looking for Angel Schunard…came in for a blood tes—"

"Collins, down here," Mimi called.

Collins crossed to Mimi, trying not to panic. She led him around the corner to a waiting room. Angel was sitting on the hospital bed staring at her bruised knee.

"Angel, baby, what's going on? What happened? They tell you anything yet?"

Angel looked up at him, tears in her brown eyes. "Leukemia," she whispered.

"What?"

"Leukemia. They said…they said the bruises are from leukemia."

Collins looked to Mimi. She nodded. He pulled Angel into his arms. "It's okay, baby. It'll be okay."

A doctor knocked at the open door. "Okay, Mr. Schunard, we've got a room ready for you."

"Room?" Collins asked.

"They want to run some more tests. See how progressed it is."

Collins nodded. "Okay, okay…that's okay. That's good. Then we'll fight this. We'll be able to fight this."

Angel nodded. She held Collins's hand and reached for Mimi with the other hand. "Thanks for being here."

"We're not going anywhere, chica," Mimi said.

Collins wanted to squeeze Angel's hand in reassurance, but stopped himself. For the first time, he realized his touch could hurt her even if that wasn't his intention.

--LINE BREAK--LINE BREAK--

"So, how're things goin' with you and that lawyer?" Benny asked as he sat down in the teachers' lounge.

Roger shook his head. "We stopped seeing each other."

Benny frowned. "Why? I mean you seemed interested and Maria…oh…the whole you havin' a kid thing freaked her out?"

Roger took a drink of the Coke in front of him and shook his head again. "No, no, it didn't freak her out. It just…Maria asked Maureen if Joanne was going to be her new mommy."

Benny winced. "Oh."

"Yeah…I mean, she's six years old. I can't go bringing other women in and out of her life when she's not old enough to understand that."

"You tell her?"

"Yeah, she agreed."

"The six year old agreed she's not old enough to understand?"

Roger laughed. "Oh, no. Sorry, I thought you meant Joanne."

"Well how'd Joanne take it?"

"Good, actually. We agreed that it would be best to just cool it and keep things platonic."

Benny raised an eyebrow. "Platonic?"

"Yeah, you know, that kind of regular interaction with a member of the opposite sex that doesn't involve sexual interactions?"

"You're just gonna be friends with her?"

Roger nodded. "We weren't serious. We weren't exclusive. We didn't date that long. Never even kissed. Should be able to handle being just friends."

Benny shrugged. "Whatever you say, Davis."

--LINE BREAK--LINE BREAK--

A week later, Roger stood in the kitchen with the phone in one hand, a phone number in the other. He took a deep breath and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hi, um, I'm looking for Mimi Marquez."

"Found her."

"Oh, hi. This, um…this is Roger Davis. I'm not sure if you remember me. I met you—"

"At the Life Café. And then again at the camera shop."

He smiled. "Yeah."

"Course I remember. How's it going?"

"Pretty good. You?"

"I'm doing okay."

"I, um, I just…the reason I was calling was, uh, I was thinking maybe we could go out sometime."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Dinner?"

"Sure. I'd like that."

Roger smiled again. "Great. When would you be free?"

"I'm free tonight."

"So I'll pick you up around seven?"

"Perfect."

Roger jotted down the address and said goodbye. Maria was spending the weekend with her grandmother so he didn't have to worry about a sitter or explaining anything to her. This woman he'd be more careful with. He'd make sure she was serious before she even met Maria. Roger glanced down at his watch. Two o' clock. He went to his bedroom and began searching the closet for something to wear.

Note: Okay, so now you know the deal with Angel. Sorry for making her sick, but the premise of the story is whether some things are just fated to happen...And I know Mimi's still seeing Benny, but Roger doesn't know that. And Benny, remember, keeps things quiet in his relationships. Roger doesn't know Mimi's the girl he's been seeing. Things are about to get tense...and don't worry, we haven't seen the last of Joanne either! ;)