Contagious

Mikey was a wuss, he couldn't pull the needle out of my arm. So the worst nurse had to pull it out, a large smile plastered on her face. "You've gotten enough of the blood we needed taken out, so you're good to go, Gerard."

You know your hospital's a bad one when they hire someone who doesn't know the difference from taking out blood and putting blood in. Not only that, but they let just about anybody in every room. Once a priest visited me, then an engineer. Oddly, everybody really liked seeing sick people. Don't even get me started on the food. If you complain about your coffee being cold, imagine it being nine days old. That, everyone, is a real tragedy.

"Fuck!" I yelled. Instead of pulling it out, she yanked it in deeper. Mikey watched from a distance. "Mikey, get this thing off of me!" At this point, I wasn't talking about the needle.

My brother rushed to my aid, gently dragging the thing (again, not the needle) away from me and solving my problem. Once the needle was out, I stuck a Flash Band-Aid on the pricked mark. "Mikey," I bawled playfully. "I got a scar! Oh no!"

"Shut up, you've done this a billion times!" he replied, messing up my hair. I looked up. It had occurred to me that Mikey was taller than me. I never paid attention, most of the time whenever I saw him, I'd be in a wheelchair. He'd be wheeling me to the doctors, and I just assumed I was taller. Damn.

"Mikey, can I take off the mask?" I asked with puppy eyes.

"But it's contagious," he sighed. "I'm sorry. I really am."

"Fuck," I bit my lip. But of course, Mikey couldn't see that. "Now people are going to stay away from me and push me off cliffs."

"Shut up and drink some coffee," he handed me a cup of Starbucks coffee.

"Gimme that!" I yelped playfully and brought the cup to my face and under my mask. It was nice to have decent coffee that didn't taste like dirt. Very, very nice.

"So, Gerard," he began, glaring at my sipping of the sacred cup. "I'm planning to go out of California. Back to New Jersey where we grew up. I have an apartment in Belleville, and I'll be living there for a while..."

I stopped drinking the coffee and placed it aside. Staring at my feet, I started to think. If Mikey left me, I would have no one, really. My parents are afraid of my disease so they don't come. My friends...HA! As if I had friends. Tears poured down my cheeks, and I realized I should be happy. Mikey has his life, and I have mine.

"....with you."

Notes

new chapter!! c: