The death of Frank Iero.

Frank had called Gerard a liar, was hurt that Gerard would joke about such a thing, but Gerard eventually got Frank to calm down enough to explain what he found out at the hospital. Frank was in a bit of a frenzied shock, pacing about the bedroom, when he really digested the information.

“I thought I was dead,” Frank mumbled to himself before repeating it louder to Gerard. “I thought I was dead. How am I here, but alive somewhere else?”

“I don’t know, but I-”

“What the hell am I?” Frank fidgeted his fingers, a look of pure distress on his face. “Am I even real?”

“Calm down,” Gerard eased Frank down to sit on the bed, taking a seat with him. “You’re you, and you’re very real, okay? The way that lady was talking ..about how your brain seemed to be functioning normal at times, it’s like.. I don’t know.. You’re your mind. Like you’re your feelings and your thoughts physically visible and even fucking tangle living outside your body. But you’re still connected to yourself. I mean, you heard what I said to you at the hospital. I don’t know why it’s happening or how your brain is doing this ‘cause of the coma or something or why it’s like I’m the only one that can see you, but all that really doesn’t matter in the end. What matters is that you’re alive, and you have to wake up.”

“But I’m awake right here. I.. I don’t know how to wake up myself when I’m somewhere else. God,” Frank sighed dejectedly and confused. “I’m still stuck, Gerard, even though I do finally know what’s going on now.”

“I’m going to take you to the hospital, and we’re going to figure it out together, okay?”

“But I can’t leave.”

“Just try. Come on,” Gerard urged Frank on, opening his door and taking a step backward out into the small hallway landing.

Frank looked very anxious and pessimistic as he walked to the doorway, and he stopped about an inch from it, the frown on his face deepening.

“Come on, Frank. Just one more step.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.”

“I can’t!”

“Jesus, Frank!” Gerard didn’t want to yell, but he had to try to encourage Frank everyway possible. “Do you wanna stay in the goddamn coma?”

“I can’t leave!” Frank yelled back in frustration. “It.. Something won’t let me.”

“Gerard! What the hell are you screaming about up there?!” Gerard’s father’s voice suddenly boomed from the first floor.

Gerard started to hear his father’s footsteps ascend the stairs, but that didn’t daunt Gerard from trying to get Frank to leave the bedroom anyway he could. “There isn’t something out there that’s stopping you. It’s your own mind.” Gerard was convinced. “You’re trapping yourself for some reason, Frank, and you need to believe that and get passed it. Come on. Come out here with me.”

“Gerard, your dad’s hearing you,” Frank warned harshly.

“I don’t give a shit. Now get out here.”

John made his presence at the top of the stairs then, confused and slightly angry eyes glaring at his son. “What is going on up here, and who are you talking to? I’m trying to watch golf.”

“I’m talking to my friend standing in the doorway,” Gerard calmly explained to his father. “He’s really in a coma, but his spirit’s been trapped in my bedroom for years and I’m the only one that can see him.”

“Gerard!” Frank bit his lip. “What are you doing? You’re dad’s gonna think you’re crazy.”

“Not if you come with me and wake up.”

“But I.. I’m scared. I told you before I can’t leave. I have to stay here or I’ll.. It’s always felt like if I leave I’ll be lost and.. and I’ll disappear. I won’t exist anymore, Gerard. I know it.”

“Were you too afraid to really try to leave all this time?”

Frank nodded weakly, and John took this time to clear his throat to get Gerard’s attention. He had been angry at first, thinking Gerard had some damn nerve to make up some ridiculous story, but as he watched his son stare at the empty space of the doorway and engage in a one sided conversation with nothing, John’s brows knitted together in worry. “Gerard, quit joking around,” John said, hopeful now that Gerard was just pulling a prank.

“I’m not joking. He’s standing right there, and I’m trying to get him to come out.” Gerard really didn’t give a shit now if his parents or anyone thought he was crazy. And with Frank appearing to be wracked with worry over him revealing the truth, Gerard hoped that it would motivate Frank to leave the room. Gerard kind of felt like Frank needed to be the one to make the courageous step out of his prison, and with Frank admitting he was so scared, Gerard really didn’t want to just heist Frank up in his arms and tear him out of the room if it could be helped. He didn’t want to freak Frank out or scare him more than he already was, but if it came to having to physically force Frank through the doorway, then so be it.

“God Gerard, this is the drugs again, isn’t it?” John rationalized. “You’re a grown man and still you don’t know enough to not do that shit. Did nothing your mother and I told you-”

“There never were any drugs in the first place. I lied to keep Frank a secret.”

John was beyond worried again, his son had obviously lost his sanity from his point of view, and he was at a loss at what to do. “You.. you just go stay in your room with your.. um, friend, and I’m just going to go call your mother at work, okay?”
“Yeah, sure dad,” Gerard lied.

John hurried down the stairs, rushing to make the phone call like he was terrified about leaving Gerard alone for too long.

“Gerard, what the hell are you thinking!” Frank yelled. “He thinks your crazy now! Your parents are gonna put you away!”

“Not if we’re both gone from here before my dad gets back. I’m not leaving without you.”

“I.. I can’t..”

“I know you’re scared but trust me, okay? You’re not going to be lost and disappear while you’re with me. I’m here to show you the way.” And maybe that’s what he was really meant to do for Frank, Gerard thought. The string of choices that led Gerard’s family to move into this house, Gerard ending up in Frank’s old bedroom and being the only one able to see Frank. Gerard was meant to help him, and he would. He’d get Frank back to the hospital, and Gerard hoped above everything else that it would get Frank to wake up. “Come on, Frankie..” Gerard extended his hand out for Frank to take. “Let me save you.”

Frank still looked very wary and scared, but he reached his hand out slowly and gripped on tightly to Gerard’s waiting hand. “I trust you,” he said quietly.

Gerard gave an encouraging smile and Frank’s hand a gentle tug towards himself. Frank squeezed his eyes shut as he took a small step forward through the door. He hesitantly peeked his eyes open and patted his body down with his free hand like he was making sure he indeed really was there and that leaving the confines of the bedroom hadn’t made him evaporate into nothing like he feared.

“See?” Gerard smiled, “You’re safe with me. Now come on before my dad gets back.” Gerard moved as quickly and quietly as possible down the stairs and out of the house, keeping his hand securely around Frank’s as he led the way. Frank crawled into the car from the driver’s side door, being unwilling to let go of Gerard’s hand for even a second. Gerard peeled out of the driveway, speeding as much as was permitted with how traffic was and considering he was driving one handed with Frank clinging on to his right hand. “We’ll be there soon, Frank. Everything’s going to be okay somehow.”

“I can’t believe I’m out of there..” Frank squeezed onto Gerard’s hand tighter as he stared out the window, his eyes darting around everywhere like he was trying to drink the sights in he hadn’t seen in years. “Is this really happening? I really am alive?” It was like the truth was finally truly sinking in for Frank.

“It’s all real, Frankie,” Gerard squeezed his hand back. “We’re almost there, and I swear to fucking god somehow, someway I’m going to help you wake up.”

It only took a few more minutes before Gerard was pulling into the hospital’s visitor parking area. He hurried into the hospital, bypassing the help desk and heading for the elevators right away. Gerard didn’t even try to make holding Frank’s hand inconspicuous as he rode the elevator up with other passengers inside. Gerard knew he had to look like he was oddly holding onto nothing to the other people inside, but he didn’t care. It didn’t matter that he looked strange, but that he kept Frank comforted and feeling safe by keeping that grip on his hand. He could feel how nervous Frank was when they got off the elevator and made their way to room 413. Gerard gave the boy an encouraging smile when they reached the open doorway before he gently guided him inside. The privacy curtain was still hanging in place, blocking the view of the head of the bed from where they first walked in. Gerard led Frank around it to the foot of the bed, and Frank just stared with his jaw slightly dropped when his eyes landed on his own body.

Gerard just stared too, his eyes sad as he soaked in Frank’s prone form. It looked like his face was freshly shaven, no doubt one of the tasks Vickie did in taking care of her ‘sunshine’. Gerard already felt a bit disappointed that something wasn’t happening with Frank’s spirit now in the same room. He wanted to try something. Anything. But Gerard remained silent and patient for the time being, letting Frank take his time in soaking in the sight in front of him. It had been a shock to Gerard when he first laid eyes on Frank’s body, but he couldn’t even imagine what must be going through Frank’s mind at seeing his own body older and stuck with tubes and connected to machines in a hospital bed.

“It’s.. it’s me..” Frank barely whispered. “I know you said I was here, but for so long I thought I was dead, and I.. I don’t even know. This is so.. weird.”

“I kinda know what you’re talking about,” Gerard spoke, his eyes constantly shifting from the Frank lying in the bed to the one attached to his hand. “I couldn’t breathe when I first saw you.”

“How am I supposed to wake up, Gerard?” Frank looked up to him with a lost expression splayed over his face.

“I don’t know,” Gerard bit his lip. “Maybe if you touch yourself.”

“That sounds kinda dirty,” Frank scrunched up his nose with his joke.

“Frank,” Gerard shook his head, but chuckled a bit all the same at least happy that Frank was still able to be his quirky self and find humor in such a stressful and bizarre situation. “Nice to know that you can joke at a time like this,” Gerard rolled his eyes. “Come on..”

Frank giggled a little as Gerard led him around to the side of the bed, but his expression immediately turned serious when he stood beside his body. “Well, this is it then,” Frank swallowed down the nervous lump in this throat. “If this works or if it doesn’t and I just disappear and don’t wake up, I just.. I want you to know that I really appreciate you helping me and spending a lot of your time with me more than you could ever really know. I’m happy we became friends, Gerard. We are friends, right?”

“Of course, Frankie,” Gerard smiled warmly, gently ruffling Frank’s hair with his free hand. “I love you, kid.”

“I.. I love you too,” Frank said softly, smiling wide and hugging himself to Gerard tightly.

Notes

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