I stood outside Gerard's room, my body trembling. Gerard had been in here for the past two days, and no one was allowed in, except for Lindsey. Why her, though? She was just a psychiatrist. Anyways, no one in his room, and no one knows of his condition. Gerard's family have been refusing to look me in the eye, as if they were guilty about something. I looked up at the fake oak door and sighed. They were finally letting me in. I pulled down the sleeves of my shirt before slowly turning the handle.

Gerard was lying on the hospital bed, the monitor clipped onto his finger registering a slow heartbeat. I felt my breath catch in my throat. He didn't look at all damaged, but seeing him like this scared me. I softly shut the door before hearing a throat clear. I looked over to my right, to a small sink, finding Lindsey. "They're letting people in now?" she asked simply. I slowly nodded. She turned to Gerard's limp body on the bed and sighed. "Such a shame."
"W-What happened?" I asked, my voice cracking. "They wouldn't tell anyone."
"Well, you see, the tumor in his temporal lobe caused a seizure. We thought he would be fine, until at least month 4, without meds, but now it seems we severely underestimated it."
"... what?" Tumor? Month four? What was she talking about? I could feel tears stinging my eyes as she gasped and covered her mouth slightly with her hand.
"Frank, did he not tell you?" The look in her eyes told me that this was bad. Before I knew it, the tears became a quiet sobbing. She walked over to me and hugged me close before looking into my eyes. "Frank, Gerard is dying."
"... what...?"
"I told him to tell you, Frank."
"What?"
"I'm so sorry."
"WHAT?"
I pushed Lindsey away, a mix of heartbreak and anger welling up inside of me.
"Frank, Gerard has cancer. He was diagnosed just a short while ago."
"WHAT?!"
"He's been told he has 6 months to live."
As soon as those words rolled off her tongue, I felt something shatter inside my chest. This is not happening, I told myself. The boy I've only known for a while, yet I've fallen madly in love with, is dying. The anger building up inside of me was not at Gerard, but my own stupidity. You really were born to be alone, huh? a voice inside of my head nagged. You think you find someone who loves you, that cares for you, and he's dying. I cursed at myself under my breath and let my gaze fall onto the unmoving body of Gerard. "He, uh, he's in a coma," Lindsey said, barely above a whisper. "It's normal. He'll wake up soon. More than likely within the next few days." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see she looked up at my now tear-stained face with apologetic eyes, before nodding and turning on her heel to leave. Even after she left, I didn't look away from Gerard. That is, until the anger quickly bubbling up inside of me needed a release. I grabbed a vase near the door and threw it to the floor, it shattering with a loud crash. Breathing heavily, I grabbed the one next to it, and did the same. The potting soil and lucernes were scattered around the brown-orange linoleum floor. The heart monitor suddenly speeded up and I dashed over to his bedside. He hadn't woken yet, but he had shuffled around a bit. Tears still staining my face, I grabbed his hand, running my fingers over his knuckles. "Gerard," I whispered, "wake up."

---

"Frank... ear-o?" a doctor called. My head shot up.
"It's Iero. Yes?" I had been waiting in here for at least 5 hours since my outburst of breaking vases. The man looked around, noticing I was the only person in the waiting room. Makes sense, it was nearly 3 am. Even most of the nurses had left.
"A-Are you the only person waiting for Gerard?" I nodded. "Oh. Well, I think you'll be happy to hear he's awake." A smile spread across my face and butterflies had been set free in my stomach as I heard him say that. At the same time, tears began to stung my eyes. But I focused on the former. I bolted up and followed the young doctor to Gerard's room. He stopped in front of the door made of fake oak. I smiled weakly at him before slowly opening the door.
He was sitting upright in bed, munching on chips that looked to be from the hospital food court. His bright red hair was a matted mess, and his face paler than usual. I softly shut the door while keeping my eyes on him. "... Gerard?" I whispered. The tears lining my eyes began to spill, slowly running down my face, but not as a waterfall like before. He slowly lifted his head to my direction, his eyes widening when he realized who I was.
"Frank--"
"Lindsey told me."
He covered his mouth as tears leaked from his eyes as well. I slowly stumbled over to his bed before pulling him into a hug. "Don't cry, Gee," I told him. "Please."
"I-I-I wa-was going... going-g to-to-to tell you, F-Frankie." He sniffled. "I s-swear."
"It's okay, Gee."
"I-I'm sorry!"
"It's okay."
"C-Can you s-s-say someth-thing other... other than that?"
I stopped rubbing circles into his back and pulled away from the hug, staring into his hazel eyes. "Gerard, I-- I love you."
"A-Are you jus-ust sayin' that c-c-c-cause I'm dying?"
"No, Gerard." I smiled weakly and wiped the tears from my eyes. "I love you so fucking much I can't even properly express it with words." I leaned down and lightly kissed his lips.
"I l-l..." He started crying again. I was about to pull him in for another embrace when he pulled my face to his, crashing our lips together. I was surprised at first by the sudden action, but quickly melted into the kiss. I cupped his cheeks with my hands and pulled him closer. We broke the kiss after a minute, a string of saliva connecting our lips. I chuckled and swatted it away. "I love you, Frankie. And I may be a deteriorating corpse but I love you with every beat of my decaying heart."
"Gerard, I will make the most of your six months, I promise." I smiled and squeezed his hand, which oddly felt like ice. "Your hands are really cold, Gee Bear."
"Not cold so much as deoxygenated."
"I love it when you talk medical to me." I chuckled and pulled him in for another kiss.

Notes

(the last three lines are from tfios oops)
good news: gerard isn't dead!
i'm not one to kill off characters
(at least not this early into the story OuO)
this is such a terrible chapter i'm sorry.