Chapter 7

A few hours later, Kirsten came over to hang out with Mark, and Collins came to get Danni for tutoring. Roger was sitting in his room playing a melancholy progression of chords when there was a knock on the door. "Come in." he called. To his surprise Lizette pushed the door open and padded in, in her fluffy slippers.

"Hi Daddy." The girl said softly, which was strange for her.

"Hey Liz, are you okay?" Roger asked. "Come here." He patted the bed beside him and the little girl climbed up and laid her head on his arm."

"My head hurts Daddy." She whispered. "I don't feel good."

Roger looked at his younger daughter in alarm. Her face was hot against his arm. "Lizzie?" he began, trying to stay calm for her sake. "When did you start feeling bad?"

"My head was hurting and that made me wake up. Am I going to be okay?" Lizette wanted to know.

He wanted to lie, but instead just didn't say anything. Roger lifted the girl into his arms and carried her out into the main room of the loft. Neither Mark nor Danni was anywhere to be found so he walked over and kicked the filmmaker's door. "Mark? Mark open the door dammit!"

Mark obliged a few seconds later with a shirt half on his body. "What?" he asked crossly. "I was trying to get dressed Roger."

"Feel Liz's forehead." The musician ordered. "I think she's running a fever."

"Shit." Mark swore when he touched the girl's head. "She's burning up. We've got to do something."

"Something like what?"

"What's going on?" a female voice asked from Mark's bed. Kirsten poked her head out from under the covers and squinted at Roger.

"Lizette is running a high fever." Mark answered.

"How high?" Kirsten asked, waking up instantly. "Is she hallucinating?"

Mark looked at Roger who shook his head. "No, she just came into my room and told me that her head hurt and she didn't feel good. She rested her head on my arm and I noticed that she was really warm."

Kirsten nodded. "Okay, you need to take her temperature and then cool her off. Put her on the couch and get two washcloths. Run some cold water over them and put one on her head. Stick the other in the freezer for a few minutes and then swap them."

"Alright." Roger said and rushed to do as she had instructed with Mark not far behind. Kirsten got dressed and then joined them in the main room where they were watching the girl as she tossed fitfully.

"Her temperature is 101.6." Mark told his girlfriend.

"We just have to wait for it to come down." She replied as they all looked down at Lizette.

"Daddy!" she cried at one point. "Make them go away! There hurting Mommy! Make them go away! DADDY!"

"Shh. I'm right here Liz. I'm right here. No one can hurt Mommy anymore, I promise." Roger soothed the girl until she fell asleep. He nodded at Mark who moved in to take Lizette's temperature. The thermometer read 99.8

"Her fever's breaking." Kirsten said. "I think she'll be okay for a while."

Mark and Roger exchanged a look. 'A while' wasn't nearly long enough and they knew it. Similar things had been said about Mimi and she hadn't made it. "I'll go to the pharmacy and get some medicine and stuff." Mark offered. "I think she's going to need it."

Roger nodded and continued to stare down at his child. He was vaguely aware of Mark leaving the loft as tears ran hot down his face. Kirsten looked up at him in shock as sobs escaped his control and racked his body. She was pretty sure in the three months that she'd known him she'd never seen him cry.

"Rog? Come on, it's going to be okay." She tried to soothe him.

The musician just shook his head. "It's my fault." He sobbed. "It's always my fault." He headed toward his room but was blinded by tears, so he ended up just slumping against the wall and sliding to the floor. Kirsten followed and sat down beside him. "I'm like that Midas guy. Everything he touched turned to gold or something. Everything I touch ends up dying. I was just too damn greedy in the beginning and now I'm fucking paying for it."

Kirsten remembered the story well, King Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold, and it did. Until eventually he couldn't eat or drink anything and he ended up turning his own daughter into a golden statue. It was his greed that had been King Midas' downfall. Though he probably didn't know it, Roger had made a perfect analogy.

She wrapped her arms around him. "Roger, it's not your fault." She lied.

"Yes it fucking is!" Roger replied. "It's my fault I got AIDS. If I had've just listened to Mark and never started shooting up with April then maybe…" he trailed off and dissolved into tears. Kirsten just rubbed his back and let him cry. No one saw Danni standing in the doorway, so no one saw or heard her slide the door closed and run hard down the stairs and out into the street.