"Mom, do you need anything?" RJ asked coming into Marty's room.
"No sweetie, I'm fine. Thank you. Are you off to pick Jackie up?" she asked with tubes up her nose to help her breathe.
"Yeah, but I can stay if you need me to." he asked sitting on the bed next to her.
"No, Aunt Maureen and Aunt Joanne are coming over so Uncle Mark and Aunt Julia can have some time away." she said patting his hand.
"OK mom. I love you." he said leaning over to kiss her head.
"I love you too Roger." she said smiling at him as he left the room. When she heard the loft door close she began a coughing fit.
"Marty, are you OK?" Julia asked rushing into the room before picking up her water cup and putting the straw in her mouth.
"Thanks Jules. Yeah, I'm fine." she said laying back on the bed.
"We can stay if you need us to." she said sitting next to her.
"No, you and Mark need to get out of here. Maureen and Joanne can handle it." she said taking a deep breath through her nose.
"Are you sure?" she asked looking down at her.
"Yes. Now go finish getting ready. You have a date with your husband tonight." Marty said taking Julias hand.
"I just hate leaving you like this." she said looking down at her.
"I'm fine sweetie. Go. Maureen and Joanne will be here any minute now." she said smiling up at her.
"OK." she said getting up to leave the room.
"How is she?" Mark asked looking up at her as she re entered their bedroom.
"She's Marty. She won't let us stay home." she said sitting heavily on the bed.
"Did you expect any less?" he asked sitting next to her.
"No, but why does she have to be a damn martyr all the time? It's not gonna be long now, you know?" she asked looking up at him with tears in her eyes.
"I know Baby." he said putting his arms around her and holding her close to him.
"I don't want her to go and us not be here." she said crying into his shirt.
"She won't. We're not going too far and if it gets bad, Mo and Jo know where we are." he whispered kissing her head.
"This sucks, you know that, right?" she said looking up at him.
"I know. I've already seen way too many people die like this in my lifetime." he said looking down at the floor.
"I know Honey. I'm sorry." she said wiping her eyes.
"Come on. We have to get ready. Mo and Jo are gonna be here any minute." he said kissing her head before getting up to finish getting ready as he wiped his eyes.
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"Hey Marty, how are you today?" Maureen asked entering the bedroom.
"I'm OK." she said looking up at her.
"Do you need anything sweetie?" she asked sitting on the bed next to her.
"Can you give me that book down there?" she asked pointing under Roger's night stand.
"This one?" she asked picking up the photo album.
"Yeah, that's the one." she said she attempted to sit up more as Maureen helped her. "Come here. I wanna show you something." she said patting the bed as Maureen handed Marty the photo album.
"What's up sweetie?" she asked as Marty placed the book on her lap and began flipping through it.
"Do you remember this night?" she asked pointing to the picture of herself on Roger's lap, Maureen and Joanne at the Life Cafe.
"Of course I do sweetie. You had just returned to work and we were out celebrating." she said smiling down at how young they all looked.
"Well, that was the night Roger and I first made love. He was so scared of freaking me out or something since it was my first time after the rape and all." she said smiling at Roger.
"We all figured that. You guys got to the cafe, hung out for a minute and then went outside to talk and then cut out." Maureen said laughing.
"It was the most wonderful night of my life. We got back to the loft and barely made it in here. I wanted to make love to him so badly." she said starting to laugh, but coughing instead.
"Are you OK sweetie?" she asked reaching back for the water for her.
"Um, yeah. Thanks." she said taking a sip.
"Maybe you should rest sweetie." Maureen said looking down at her.
"No, I'll sleep when I'm dead." she said flipping through the pages.
"Now I remember that night." she said pointing to the picture with Roger and Marty on stage.
"It was the night he sung my song and proposed to me. He was the most romantic, wonderful man I've ever met in my life." she said beginning to cry.
"Oh sweetie, you'll be back with him soon." Maureen said putting her arm around Marty's shoulders kissing her head.
"I know, but that means I have to leave my son and I'm not ready for that yet." she said touching the picture with her finger tips.
"I know sweetie." she said beginning to cry too.
"Maureen, can you put his cd on for me, please? I want to hear my song." she said looking up at her as she wiped her eyes.
"Are you sure sweetie? You haven't been able to listen to it since Roger died." Maureen asked looking down at her.
"I need to hear him Maureen."she told her smiling.
"OK sweetie. Anything you want." she said going through Roger's night stand and finding the cd and putting it in the boom box on Marty's night stand.
"Thank you Maureen. Can I be alone for a little while please?" she asked looking up at her.
"Sure. Me and Jo are right outside if you need us." she said leaving the room.
"Is she OK?" Joanne asked looking up at her from the kitchen.
"It's almost time Pookie." she said crying again.
"It can't be. It's barely been 2 months." Joanne said stopping what she was doing.
"She's looking at old pictures of her and Roger and listening to his cd." Maureen said throwing her arms around Joanne.
"Oh man. Should we call Mark, Julia and Roger?" she asked holding her in her arms crying as well.
"Not yet. I don't think it's gonna happen tonight. But it's gonna be soon." Maureen said pulling back to wipe her eyes.
"I should go in and see if she needs anything." Joanne said wiping her own eyes.
"No. She wants to be alone for a little while with Roger." she said looking down at her.
"Do you want some tea? I was gonna make some tea." Joanne asked turning to the stove.
"Yeah please." Maureen said pushing her hair back as she sat on the stool.
"How long do you think we should leave her alone?" Joanne asked putting the pot of water on the stove.
"5 minutes and I'm going in there." Maureen said putting her head on the counter.
"OK." Joanne said sitting impatiently watching the water boil.