You're The Only Hope For Me

“FRANK!” Hazel screamed, and Gerard turned to look at her.
The shock was clear on his face and he took in her distress, the rain and Frank’s limp body over the road, and despite his drunken stupor, he obviously saw what he had done and regretted it tremendously. He turned away and stood at the side of the road, looking both ways. A car came round the corner and Gerard made to run in front of it but Hazel grabbed his arm. He tried to pull away but he was weak from shock and she proved too strong for him. She yanked him around to face her and slapped his face. Hard.
“No!” She shouted, “No! Don’t you fucking dare! Don’t even think about it!”
He blinked at her, then just stared forlornly into her eyes. He seemed to have snapped out of his drunken state, how he had Hazel had no idea, but he suddenly seemed so scared and vulnerable. In the dark his skin seemed even paler, contrasting with his hair, and the rain was making his eyeliner run down his face. His eyes were huge and the whites of them stood out against the black tear tracks down his cheeks, made by the rain.
“It was an accident.” Hazel said shakily, putting her hands on his shoulders and staring right back at him, “You didn’t do it, you didn’t mean it.” She started taking big breaths between words, “Doing that, or anything like that, will not bring him back. You understand me?”
He nodded and blinked as the water got in his eyes. There was already a mark forming where she had hit him and she found herself feeling slightly bad.
Together they ran across the road and knelt next to Frank. Gerard felt around for a pulse and Hazel held Frank’s hand tightly.
Gerard looked up at her with a grim face and shook his head. Nothing.
“We need to do something.” Hazel glanced about, wildly, “anything.”
Gerard pulled out his phone and handed her it, “Call for an ambulance.” He said hoarsely, “Get him help, get him to hospital. Quickly!”
Hazel nodded and dialled the number, taking deep breaths to calm herself.
‘Hello, this is the emergency services.’ The cool voice on the other end spoke, ‘which service do you require?’
Hazel gulped, willing herself to remain calm, “Ambulance.” She said, “Someone has been hit by a car and they’re not moving. We can’t feel a pulse. Can we please get help immediately?”
“Yes, of course, what is your current location?”
Hazel answered all the questions whilst Gerard confirmed the answers for her, nodding and shaking his head whilst he continued to look for a pulse, or any sign of life. Eventually he gave up and grabbed Frank’s other hand tightly, Hazel could tell because the knuckles on Gerard’s already pale skin turned even whiter.
“What have I fucking done?” She heard him whisper repeatedly under his breath.
They stayed there for what seemed like forever, the two of them kneeling next to Frank’s motionless body, holding his hands and waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Neither of them spoke, but there wasn’t anything to speak about. When the blue flashing lights of the ambulance could be seen they exchanged a glance and stood up.
“Hazel.” Gerard spoke softly, “You speak to them, otherwise they’ll know I’ve been drinking.”
Hazel nodded numbly as the ambulance pulled up and a woman climbed out the front.
“Is this the person?” She asked, pointing down at Frank, then without waiting for an answer, “How old is he?”
“Twenty-one” Hazel answered.
The woman knelt down beside him and did some examining, then stood up and gestured to the others in the vehicle, within a few seconds’ two men and a stretcher had joined them. They put Frank onto the stretcher as Hazel and Gerard watched, and carried him into the back of the van. The woman walked back briskly and made to get into the front again, Hazel ran and caught hold of her arm.
“Wait,” She said breathlessly, “Can we not come too?”
“Not unless you’re over eighteen, which I don’t think you are, and your friend can’t either because he is clearly under the influence of alcohol.” The woman replied shortly, then her expression softened, “I’m sorry.”
Then she got into the ambulance and drove off, leaving Hazel and Gerard standing in silence.
“I’m sorry.” Gerard said, turning to face Hazel, tears running down his cheeks “I really am.”
Hazel looked at him, and burst into tears. She felt him put his arms around her and pull her into a close embrace.
It wasn’t like hugging Frank, of course it wasn’t – nothing could compare to Frank, Gerard was taller and her face was pressed against his chest while his chin rested on top of her head. He was also shaking badly, though she presumed she probably was too.
Still, it was something and Hazel let herself become weak against him, feeling comforted by the strong if shaky arms which held her whilst they both cried.
They stayed like that for ages until they were completely soaked by the rain. Their faced streaked from their make-up which was running, due to the rain, and mixed with the tears. It was hard to believe that less than an hour ago they were sitting in the warm with Frank and laughing about life, just having a great time. Eventually Hazel couldn’t cry anymore and resorted to sobbing into Gerard’s chest. He just held her tightly whilst staring into space, his eyes empty and slightly haunting.
“You should have gone with him.” Gerard finally whispered.
“What?” Hazel sniffed and pulled away from him slightly.
“You should have gone in the ambulance with him” Gerard repeated, “Stayed with him, made sure he was alright, held his hand, been there when he wakes up.”
“If he wakes up.” Hazel replied bitterly.
“Hey, hey! Hazel!” He lowered himself slightly and held her face, staring into her eyes. Hazel had thought earlier that they were bright and lively, but now the light had gone. Although they did flash a little when he was speaking to her, as if he really meant what he was saying. “Don’t think like that. He will be fine. He WILL wake up. I know it! Frankie’s a fighter, Hazel, if anyone would wake up it’d be him. I wouldn’t allow him to give up on us, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he wakes up. I promise.”
Hazel felt her skin prickle, Gerard really seemed to mean every word he said. His eyes flashed with emotion and she could hear it in his voice. It seemed to put hope into her, if a drunk guy could think like that, then she could at least try to be positive.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Hazel said averting his gaze, “And I wanted to go with him, but I couldn’t have.”
“How not?”
“Because I’m not old enough, and also I wanted to stay with you, make sure you were safe. I wouldn’t want Frank to wake up to the news that his best friend had thrown himself in front of a car out of guilt. Personally, I wouldn’t allow that.” Hazel still felt bitter inside, but she tried to speak positively for the sake of both of them.
“Hazel,” Gerard seemed slightly overcome by her, “I don’t deserve to even associate myself with you. You’re so considerate and you deserve Frank, he’s a lovely person and you two will make a great couple, I’m serious.”
Hazel just smiled a small smile, unsure of what to say.
Gerard suddenly smiled at her, “Wait, did you say you weren’t old enough? But the nurse said you’ve got to be eighteen didn’t she?”
“Yeah,” Hazel replied, “I’m going to be eighteen in just over a week.”
“So you’re seventeen?” Gerard stated, still smiling.
“Almost eighteen,” Hazel was painfully reminded of her conversation with Frank in the woods, “It makes me seem older.”
“But you drunk with us in the bar?! Don’t tell me I bought an underage girl alcohol, holy shit I’m so fucking done over all this crap!” Gerard exclaimed, Hazel laughed despite herself.
“Well, yeah, you did.”
“It’s going to be okay, Hazel,” Gerard was suddenly serious again, “I promise, it’ll be okay.”
Hazel choked up again at the thought of Frank and Gerard pulled her close, the rain still pouring down.
“Hazel?” Gerard suddenly said after a bit, “We could still go to Frank.”
“How?!” Hazel asked, hope beginning to bloom inside her.
“We can go to the hospital ourselves,” Gerard replied, “Can you drive?”
“No.” Hazel looked down, shaking her head. She had been given the opportunity to learn but had decided against it, this was the day it came back to haunt her. “You can though?”
“No,” Gerard said grimly, “Not in my current state, I wouldn’t care if it was just myself, but I don’t want to risk it with you.”
Hazel opened her mouth but couldn’t think of anything to say and shut it again. The wind was beginning to pick up and the rain was lashing down upon them, harder than ever.
“We could run.” Gerard said, his voice loud over the wind and rain.
“What?” Hazel replied, equally as loud.
“We could run to the hospital.” Gerard shouted over the weather, “If we go now we could still make it!”
Hazel nodded and took a deep breath, Gerard held out his hand to her and she took it, her heart beating fast. Hazel’s breathing was uneven, although she still allowed Gerard to lead her, picking up speed until they were running together along the side verge.
The rain was stinging their skin and the wind deafening them, though they kept going. Running as fast as they possibly could into the night ahead of them.

Notes

Stuff gets intense and all
I don't know what else to say tbh, you're all beautiful and I love you xxxxx