Make a wish when a Blackbird flies

A few days had passed and I was finally allowed to leave the hospital, not before everyone in the carnival came to visit. Everyone was shocked to hear about Nate, what he was capable of; though everyone was even more shocked to hear that I would be leaving. After the initial surprise everyone seemed to accept it so calmly, which I found shocking.

“Wait a minute, you all knew who he was. Why didn't you tell me?” I asked once I saw their guilty expressions.
“We did, Frank.” Said Nancy. “He even told you himself.”
“No, I would remember...” I trailed off, not completely sure; that's exactly what I would say before I remembered everything.

“Well that's the thing, all that medication they forced you to take in...that place, sort of left some damage; when Gerard saw you for the first time at the carnival, he tried talking to you about the past, saying you knew each other. You freaked out, had some kind of panic attack and ran off. Not two minutes later you came back as if nothing happened.” She explained.

“I'm sorry.” I softly said to Gerard who smiled a little sadly and squeezed my hand.
“We thought it would be best to not bring it up and just wait until you remembered, [i]if[/i] you remembered. You had enough problems as it was.” She went on.

“What problems?” I asked. She sighed, not wanting to explain it in this situation.
“You remember when you woke up and had that seizure; well, that wasn't the first time. They happened more often when you first joined, though you never remembered having them, you just slept through them.

“Then when you told me what they used to do to you I suspected you may have some nerve damage. Though I never knew for sure, I didn't have the right equipment.” She explained; I wish I could say this answered some questions, but I had none, I had absolutely no memory of these things happening. Was this a long-lasting thing?

“Is this going to happen again? The memory lapses and the seizures, are they going to keep happening?” I asked.
“I can't tell you that, you'll have to ask an actual doctor.” Nancy said shrugging.

I never did get to ask my doctor about it before I left, we thought it would be best to leave for now and if the problems persisted we would come back. Gerard helped me walk out of the hospital doing everything for me, opening doors and pushing the elevator button; he never went too far though, always keeping some physical as if I would disappear again.

We made it to the car and like before Gerard opened the door for me and helped me inside; I was slightly doped up on painkillers for my broken rib so once I fell into the seat – though a little uncomfortable – I felt a little drowsy. Gerard slipped into the seat beside me and noticed my sleepy mood.

“You might as well sleep, it's going to be a long drive home.” He told me.
“Won't you be bored?” I asked him in a mumble, fighting off a yawn right after.
“That's okay, you need to rest.” He answered rubbing my leg. I slowly nodded and closed my eyes, I was asleep before the engine started.

After what must have been several hours of strange dreams involving stars and playgrounds, the medication wore off as I awoke with a painful groan.
“Hey, we're almost there.” Said Gerard from beside me; he looked tired and worn out after such a long drive.

It was dark outside and probably had been for a while, but he wasn't going to stop until we got home. We finally did about an hour and a half later, to be greeted by a fuzzy brown ball.
“Cameo!” I gasped as soon as we walked through the red front door. She ran at me barking in a high pitch, I got on my knees to greet her so I wouldn't hurt my rib. I noticed she had a large bandage covering her side.

I looked around at the inside of the house for the first time.
“Have I been here before?” I asked. Everything seemed familiar here.
“I don't think so, I bought this house not long after I got promoted.” Came Gerard's voice from the kitchen. I stood up and followed him in there.

He was at the sink filling a glass up with water, but my main focus was at the round table, I was sure something happened there.
“I could have sworn I've been here before...” I mumbled. Gerard came over and handed me the water glass and some pills.
“Well, it's late, and we're both very tired.” He said; I took my medicine and not long after that we went to sleep, Cameo curled up by our feet.

The next few weeks consisted of Gerard running around the place: first to the police station, to declare his early retirement and sign some documents; then to the carnival to collect my belongings; then back to the station to sign more papers and collect his last paycheck; then back at the carnival after I told him he forgot some things; a visit to the vet to get Cameo's stitches out,a trip to the grocery store and one last stop at the station to collect what little pension he was owed.

All while I sat at home in bed propped up on some enormous pillows to catch up on all the TV I missed in the last 10 years. On one of those days Gee was still out and I was home alone, watching cheesy soap operas and cuddling the dog when the phone rang. I let out a brief sigh of annoyance, muted the TV and grabbed the wireless from the bedside table.

“Hello?” I answered. There was a brief silence.
“Hello?” Said the person on the other side; it was a man that was all I could tell.
“Hello?” I said again stupidly. “Um, who is this?” I said right after. There was another short pause.
“Is Gerard there?” They asked. Cue queasy feeling in my stomach.

“No, he's um, he's out. Who is this?” I asked again. I tried sitting up a little straighter but stopped when I felt a pinch of pain.
“It's...it's Mikey.” They finally said. Mikey! I didn't recognise his voice at first, but now that I had a face to match it up with it couldn't be anyone else's; he sounded older, of course, but still the same.

I didn't know what to say, did he even know it was me?
“I's good to hear you're doing well Frank.” So he did know who I was.
“How...”
“Gerard sent me a message saying you were back, and when he didn't answer the phone I just guessed...” He trailed off.

We both stayed silent after that.
“Gee told me that you were the one to find my...” He cleared his throat, not wanting to say the last word, but I understood what he meant.
“Yeah, I was.” I stated simply. There was another short silence, this time I was the one who broke it.

“When bad things happen to good people, it seems unfair. But I think they happen so that good people stay good. Because when things go bad, they can only get better. And if everything went good they would just take it for granted and do bad things themselves, if that makes any sense.” I said. I don't know why I said all that, I was hoping it would make him feel better. “Mikey I'm so sorry this happened to you.”

“Thank you.” He said and I could hear that he was crying. “Thank you, for bringing her back home in the end.”
“It's not me you should thank, it's your brother.” I told him.
“I know, I know. It's just bee so hard. And Alicia, she won't speak, she barely eats and most knights she just cries instead of sleeping. I don't know what to do.” he said.

“She'll be okay; just be there for her. Make sure she knows that you're hurting too, and that you're going through this together, that you [i]will[/i] get through this together. It'll get better, trust me.” I told him; nobody likes being alone in a moment of tragedy, I wish I had someone to be there for me in my worst moments.

“I'm so glad you're back now Frank, Gee missed you a lot.” He said, probably wanting to change the subject.
“I know; and even though I didn't remember him for a while I think I missed him too, in some way.” These weren't really the conversations we'd like to have over the phone, but I wasn't about to hang up and continue another day, he was my best friend, I had missed Mikey almost as much as I missed Gerard.

“He saved my life you know; and I don't mean recently; I mean ever since we first met and even before that.” I said.
“I don't understand.” He said.
“When I was very little, I was at the park one day, I fell or something and hit my head. I saw stars, like in cartoons, but these were real.

“I saw them again a few weeks ago when I died in that place; I think I died back then too, but it was Gerard who woke me up that day. Some time later my grandmother died and that's when it all started. I think we were always meant to be together.” I explained my memories.
“You mean like fate?” Mikey asked.

“No, not fate, or destiny. More like the natural order of the universe. Like everything is perfectly well timed, like the workings of a clock, so that everything is as it should be in the right moment. And unfortunately it applies to bad things too, like what happened to you, and what happened to me.”
“I understand, I do; it just doesn't make it any easier.” He said.

“You and Alicia should come over for dinner some time. So we can catch up properly and you and Gee an reconcile or whatever.” I proposed. He breathed out a laugh.
“Yeah, that would be great.” He said.

About an hour later we hung up, after promising to keep in touch and seeing each other when I got better. Not long after that Gerard came home looking tired and like he wanted to just collapse.
“Well everything should be done now, I won't need to go anywhere for a while; I hope.” He said and, like I had predicted, collapsed on the bed.

“Things are going to get much better.” I said. He turned to and kissed me softly.
“I love you, I love you.” Somewhere in the house a radio turned on, just loud enough for us to hear the delicate tune of our song.

And so this is how our story ends. Everything did get better from then on. Mikey and Gee reunited before long and became brothers again. Though Gee never forgave himself for those ten years we spent apart, I preferred to forget everything and just think of our future. From that day we lived happily and for some strange twist of things, I never saw the ghosts again.

THE END

Notes

So here it is, the last one. I feel sad now, I miss it.
I want to thank everyone who ever read this story, anyone who ever commented. Without you I wouldn't have gotten this far. You made these last few months worth it.
Thanks again and I hope to see you all again if I ever write another story!!