"Mr. Way is sick officer," the lawyer sighed. "I have all his hospital records here, a full report of his time at the institution he was at-"

"I think," Dr. Lee cut the lawyer off suddenly, "that I would like to speak with Gerard now Mr. King. If you don't mind."

Gerard's lawyer bristled, but kept his mouth shut, sitting back and observing Gerard.

Dr. Lee leant forwards across the table. "What really happened Gerard? You can tell me."

Gerard was sat hunched over in his chair, his hands covering his face, shaking. He shook his head fiercely, not making a sound.

"I'm trying to help Gerard," Dr. Lee said softly. "Will you let me?"

"Help me?" Gerard spat, raising his head from his hands, his face outraged. "Help? Is that what you call this?"

Dr. Lee's eyes softened. "I'm sorry Gerard. But we need to know what happened."

"What, so you can lock me back up in that fucking prison with all those crazies and never let me see Frank again?" Gerard snapped at him. "I'm not fucking stupid, I know what you're trying to do!"

"Gerard, if you can't tell us what happened, I can't help you," Dr. Lee said. "Things will be much worse if you don't tell us."

"I want to see Frank," Gerard said quietly. "Let me see him and I'll tell you."

"Gerard... You know that's not possible."

"Why?"

"Frank's mother hasn't given consent for you to see her son and considering the situation, I don't think there's anyway you could see him."

"I didn't mean to hurt him," Gerard whispered, his throat thick with tears, his eyes brimming up with salty water. "I don't... I didn't want to hurt him."

"Then what were you trying to do Gerard?" Dr. Lee asked gently. "It's ok, you can tell me anything."

"I... they were going to take him away from me. I couldn't let that happen," Gerard answered. "He's mine."

King and the officer shared a look, shuffling restlessly. The recorder was still spinning on the table slowly, every word that was said being taken in.

"What did you think it was going to do Gerard? When you cut Frank, what did you think would happen?" Dr. Lee asked.

"It would kill him."

Silence.

"Why did you want to kill him?"

"Because then they could never have him. He's mine, and that was the only way to make sure nobody else could ever have him," Gerard answered flatly. "Everything I did... was because I love him."

"Can you tell me what happened whilst Frank was with you?" Dr. Lee probed, his pen scribbling down notes.

"I... I just wanted him to be with me."

"Did you ever hurt him Gerard?"

"Yes. But only when I was angry with him. I never meant it. It wasn't me, it wasn't... I wasn't thinking when I hurt him. It's like she takes over when I get angry. I do bad things."

"Who takes over Gerard?"

"Harriet. My sister. She didn't like Frank."

"Your sister is dead Gerard. You know that, don't you? She's not real," Dr. Lee told Gerard, watching the young's mans face for any sort of reaction, but he just remained emotionless and blank.

"I know she's dead. Why else would she be a ghost? She died in an accident when we were little. The metal pole went straight through her head and killed her," Gerard replied flatly, staring at Dr. Lee with blank eyes.

The officer stared hard at Gerard.

"Did she make you try and kill Frank?"

"No. That's was me. But she was there, she... She's always there."

"Did you tell Frank about her?"

"I told him everything."

"Did Frank ever try to get away from you Gerard?"

"Yes."

"And what did you do to Frank when he tried to leave you?"

"I... I hurt him. I beat him until he was unconscious, I tried to drown him, I... He tried to kill himself. I found him in the bathroom after he'd taken all of my pills. I made him throw them up so he didn't die."

"Why do you think he tried to do that Gerard?"

"Because his head isn't as fucked up as mine to cope with the things he's seen."

"What do you mean Gerard?"

Gerard looked at the lawyer then, who did nothing but stare back.

"I killed his girlfriend, Jamia Nestor. I made him watch."

"You killed Jamia?"

Gerard nodded. "I think Neo might be dead too."

"Neo? Who's Neo?"

"I don't know. I came back to the house and he was there with Frank. Frank told me not to do anything to him, but... I was so angry at him. So I made him watch again. I cut his tongue out and blinded him. I cut his ears off too."

"Why would you do that Gerard?"

"Because that way he couldn't tell anybody anything if he survived. He couldn't see anyone, he couldn't tell anyone what had happened and he couldn't hear anyone. I wanted to kill him, but Frank begged me to let him go alive."

"Where is Neo now?"

"I buried him in the woods next to our house."

"So you killed two people Gerard? Why would you do that? Was it because of Harriet?"

"I would kill anyone who stood in the way of Frank being with me."

"Would you kill us?"

"Yes."

The doctor sighed, leaning back in his chair and staring sadly at Gerard. "I think we're done now Gerard. Thank you for talking to me."

Gerard just looked away, a single tear sliding down his face. "I can't see Frank ever again, can I?"

The doctor paused as he stood up and headed for the door, turning back round to face Gerard. "No Gerard. You can't."

Gerard just closed his eyes. Nothing mattered now. Nothing at all.

*********************
"He's your brother Gerard, I think you should see him," the nurse coaxed him gently, smiling. "It's your birthday after all."

"Fine," Gerard muttered, heaving himself off of his bed and following the nurse out of his room and down the corridors to the visiting room.

Mikey was sat at one of the tables, staring out the window, the sun casting light across his thin, pale face. He looked as if he hadn't eaten or slept in weeks.

Gerard sat down opposite him, staring at the table in front of him.

"Happy birthday Gee," Mikey murmured softly. "I brought you a present."

A brand new sketch pad and pack of pencils was slid in front of him. A framed photo of Frank was lying on top of the gifts. Gerard's hands snatched it from the table in a flash, cradling the photo to his chest.

Mikey sighed, running his hands through his hair. "Mum and dad said I shouldn't have brought you that but...I just thought you should have something of him."

"How is he?"

"He's... I don't know Gerard. He's struggling. He still has to see the doctors every week and a psychiatrist too. He's nowhere near recovering yet."

"Does he ask about me?"

"No. But he said he forgives you. He said you're sick and that you didn't know what you were doing. He's on a lot of medication Gerard. He's a mess," Mikey told his brother quietly.

"Because of me," Gerard whispered.

"Yeah," Mikey swallowed. "But he's being so brave at the moment Gerard. He's staying with us for a while. His mum's... she's in the hospital. Alcohol poisoning."

"Worthless bitch," Gerard muttered une his breath.

The two lapsed into silence.

"Can you tell him I love him? Tell him I'm sorry?" Gerard asked shakily.

"Of course Gee," Mikey lied.

Gerard asked him this every time he came to visit him and each time Mikey told his brother he'd pass the message along. He only ever told Frank once what his brother had said and the boy had collapsed into tears. Mikey stopped telling Frank Gerard's message after that.

They talked for a few minutes about how Gerard was getting on at the new hospital before Mikey's time was up. Mikey hugged his brother tightly, told him he loved him and then left.

Gerard returned to his room and cried for the rest of the day, refusing to come out for meals or his therapy sessions.

The photo of Frank just lay on Gerard's pillow, the boy's smiling face gazing up at the broken man above him.