Hospital Bed

Gerard sat at Frank's bedside once again. He'd just gotten out of his double shift and he wanted to see his fiancé’s face before heading home to sleep. He had work early in the morning and it was already passed midnight, and he knew he couldn't stay too long without risking falling asleep at work.

"Hey, Frankie. I can only stay for a little bit. I'm sorry, but I only have one shift tomorrow so I'll be here tomorrow at six in the afternoon, okay?" He told his sleeping figure. He cupped Frank's face in his hands and kissed him deeply, allowing a tear to slip from his eye and land on Frank's cheek just as he pulled away. Gerard would never tell him, but he was certainly exhausted and was about ready to die. For two years, he'd been working two jobs and drawing comics nonstop, and there were even a bunch of drawing materials in Frank's hospital room so he could still work when he was visiting. When he finally got a break, he spent his time paying bills and Frankie's stay at the hospital. He saw as all the money he worked for in a long month, disappeared right in front of his eyes. His co-workers were concerned and voiced them, stating that he was getting way too skinny and looked paler and paler every time they saw him. Even though he was both physically and emotionally being teared apart, he would never let it show because he knew he had to be strong for whenever his fiancée woke up.

"Okay, I'll be leaving now, sweetheart," he said as he wiped his tear off of Frankie's cheek and straightening back up. "I love you, Frankie Baby." Then he walked out the door, looking at Frank until he fully closed the door and walked away. As Gerard was making his way home, his eyes grew heavier and heavier. He shook his head trying to keep himself awake, and he was eternally grateful when he finally managed to pull into the parking lot of the apartment he was renting with Frankie in the past. He shut off his car and walked up into his home, and quickly started undressing. He couldn't wait to take a shower after a long day of sweating constantly and running around everywhere. He groaned as he stepped under the hot water of the shower. It was then that his eyes started burning and his vision blurred.
“Oh, Frankie…” he gritted through his teeth. He hated him at the moment and wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face, but he wouldn’t because this was all his fault. Gerard blamed himself more and more with each passing month. He got out of the shower and quickly dried off so he could hop into bed and get ready to wake up in about four and a half hours. He really hoped Frank would wake up or he would go mad. He wanted to hear Frank’s laugh again. He wanted him to tell him that he loved him again, but God knows when that would be.

He sighed as he relaxed into his bed, and quickly drifted off to sleep. He awoke abruptly to his alarm blasting in his ears, and he wanted to scream as he slammed his hand down on the off button. He sat up, went to go take a piss, and got ready for work. He needed to prep at the restaurant he worked at and then go take care of a couple of movies with Mikey at the theater. He was already a manager, and apparently a damn good one at that. Everyone was comfortable with him and he did a bunch of work to help out with his employees. Mikey was still close with him and this seemed to anger the female population as they all began to have a type of thing for him. It was awkward, because he was gay like there was no fucking tomorrow, but he guessed that it didn’t seem obvious. It may have been wrong, but he really couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces when he brought Frankie to work with him when he woke up.

He walked into the restaurant and was greeted by the manager. He was loved in this workplace too and it made him happy. He didn’t hate his job here, it was just too slow for him compared to the theater where he was constantly moving. Gerard prep the cooks’ food and restocked everything in the front. He did the open duties which mainly consisted of cleaning the windows and doors and he occasionally took order from the counter or drive. He was fast and his manager loved that, but he had the theater to thank for that. It was noon by the time he was released and made his way over to the theater. The sun was extra hot today as it beamed down on his back on his way to work. His head felt fuzzy and he ignored it as he walked into the theater, cold air hitting him the face. He shivered even though he felt good. His looked over and saw Mikey waiting for him. I soon as he saw him, he ran towards Gerard with a smile on his face, but then his smile fell.

“What’s wrong?” Mikey asked. He was concerned of his older brother. Mikey still felt happy to call him his brother, but he set that thought aside as Gerard gave him a tired confused look.

“What are you talking about? I feel fi-“ then he suddenly collapsed. He fell onto his knees and Mikey caught the rest of him before he could hit his head. Shit! He thought.

“Brian!!” He yelled. Brian came running out and saw what happened. He scolded Gerard in his mind, knowing that this was bound to happen. Working every day for two weeks straight before finally having a day off. He didn’t want to give him so many shifts, but Gerard insisted, saying that he needed to make sure Frank was able to stay under hospital care.

He ran over and picked up Gerard, running him into the office. Many people stood by and watched as he was hauled away. Everyone looked concerned. Brian and Mikey seemed to be really scared. They felt Gerard’s body and he felt like nothing but skin and bones. His eyes looked sunk it with dark circles around them. Even when he wasn’t awake, he still looked stressed out.

“Mikey, call an ambulance,” he told him softly. Mikey did as he was told and within 10 minutes, Gerard was taken into the same hospital as Frank. Ray met with Brian and Mikey since they came in the ambulance.

“I don’t know, Ray. He came in and he looked so pale and exhausted. He didn’t look like my brother, but it seemed like he didn’t even realize. He just fell. Is he going to be okay?” Mikey asked the doctor. He knew what Gerard was experiencing what just exhaustion, stress, and maybe even a broken heart.

“With a lot of rest, he should be fine. Brian, how long can he stay off from work? I’ve already alerted his other job, and they understood.”

“As long as it takes. Mikey, you’ll have to serve with another server,” Brian told him. Even though Mikey didn’t like that, he wasn’t going to complain. There was no way around it.

“What about his comic book? Those have deadlines,” Mikey said.

“He’s doing comics too?”

“That would explain the drawing equipment in Frank’s room,” Ray realized.

“He’s doing too much. How is Frankie doing?”

“Same as usual,” he said.

“Maybe if one of us talks to him to explain the situation, he’ll wake up so Gee won’t have to worry anymore,” Mikey suggested. They all knew it sounded childish, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. Mikey volunteered to do it since he was going to be Frank’s brother-in-law and he hadn’t even introduced himself. He went up to his hospital room and sat down in the chair next to bed. He felt awkward and fidgeted in his seat.

“U-um, hi, Frank. I’m Mikey. I’m Gerard’s brother. We found out about a year ago when Ray got curious,” Mikey laughed. “Listen, um, Gerard has really been working his ass off for you.” Mikey knew he was sounding bitter, but he didn’t care in that moment. This was his brother.

“He’s working a lot. You have absolutely no idea. He wants to make sure he can keep you in a place where you’ll be taken care of properly. This morning he came in, and he looked so horrible. He was really pale, he felt like nothing but bones, his eyes looked sunk in, and it was scary. He didn’t even seem to notice. He collapsed in the middle of his sentence and they’re checking up on him right now. Ray said it’s more than likely exhaustion and probably a broken heart. You’ve got to wake up, Frankie, before Gerard runs himself into the ground.” He sighed and stood, because he knew he wasn’t going to wake up. Mikey hated Frank for what he was doing for him, but he knew that he shouldn’t be. None of this was his fault so why did he want to punch Frank in the face right now? He walked out the door and was greeted with Ray and Brian. He really is Gerard’s little brother, they thought.

“Gerard is fine. He’s sleeping. He’ll probably sleep for a few days, but let’s hope he won’t go into a very deep sleep.” Mikey cringed at the thought of Gerard becoming like Frank, but dismissed the thought. Gerard would never leave him alone by himself. Especially since Mikey had moved in with him half a year ago. Gerard got full custody of Mikey after his parents disowned him. Mikey’s father was Gerard’s father, too, and they’d gotten into an argument that almost turned physical. A lot of confessions came out that day and, in the end, they’d told Mikey to get his shit and get out. He was more than happy to get out of their house thought, because they never paid him any attention. He and Gerard have done nothing but work together and whenever Gerard had to go to his other job, he would wait for him patiently. If he had to work on his comics, Gerard would still sit in the living room with him while he watched a movie or did whatever because he knew Mikey didn’t want to be alone. In the beginning, Mikey felt a little uncomfortable living with him, because day after day he was given reasons as to why Frankie fell in love with Gerard. After a while, he understood his feelings. It was just a sibling yearning misdiagnosed as love or a crush, and he soon came to grow comfortable with undressing in front of him to change and walking around shirtless or in his boxers and all that.

“Mikey?” Ray asked. Mikey’s eyes came back into focus as he looked at the doctor.

“What’s wrong? Gee will be fine, you know him. He’d never stop working for so long,” Brian reassured him.

“I’m going to go punch Frank in the face,” was all Mikey said before turning on his heel and marching back to Frank’s room. Ray and Brian pulled him back with much trouble and couldn’t believe that such a small boy could have that much strength, but it came from pure
anger.

“I hate him so much! How could he do this to Gerard?!” He yelled out, causing a few passerby’s to stare, but they averted their eyes and continued on their way.

“You know it’s not his fault, Mikey,” Ray explained. “His body is healing itself. His mind is healing itself.” Mikey stopped struggling against them and settled on just ripping his arms out of their grip.

“I know. It’s been two years though! How could it take so long?!”

“His head received a lot of damage during the crash. It’s normal. If he wakes up in the next three years, I’d be surprised,” Ray responded.

“Gerard wouldn’t survive that long, and you guys know that…” Mikey muttered loud enough for them to hear. “He would die for Frank, and that scares me because he literally might die doing all of this for him.” No one responded because they knew he was right.

Brian thought back to the time Gerard first came in for an interview, and he looked so confident about getting the job. Brian had come up to him and introduced himself and asked him how he could help him and he responded with “I’m here to help you,” and shook his hand firmly. Brian knew he’d gotten the job right then and there but he still decided to ask him random questions and asked him why he wanted this job. He responded with “My fiancé and I got into a horrible accident a couple of months back and he is currently in a coma, so I wanted to find a job near the hospital. But I am also a big movie enthusiast.”

“He?” Brian asked him. After that came out of his mouth, he realized that he sounded very homophobic in the way he said it. Gerard’s eyes turned into little slits and Brian realized even more that he fucked up.

“Yes. Is there a problem with that?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“Oh, no no,” Brian laughed, “it’s perfectly fine. I have a boyfriend at the moment, myself.” This seemed to make Gerard lighten up.

“That’s awesome! So when do I start?” He asked him.

“How are you so sure that you got the job?” Brian asked.

“I got the job the moment I shook your hand,” Gerard answered. Brian smirked. He liked this kid.

“How soon can you start?” He asked.

“Today.”

“Tomorrow would be better. Nice to have you on. We’ll send you your schedule later today via e-mail. You’ll start as a runner which consists of making the drink and running them or waiting for the food to come out and running that out. You’ll learn more tomorrow.”

“I also have another job, will you be able to work around that?”

“Yes, of course. A lot of employees have another job or go to school as well, so we’re very flexible. We have a lot of employees. You can be working here a month and still be meeting new people.” After talking for a little more, they shook hands as Gerard got a phone call from the hospital and look panicked.

“Thanks, man. I’ll be looking out for an e-mail. I gotta get going! Yeah, Ray, I’m on my way. I’m only down the road!” Brian watched in horror as he ran faster than he’d ever seen anyone run out the door. He worried the rest of the day and even thought about calling his cell number but decided not to seeing as it wasn’t his business.

Mikey let out a deep breath and looked at Ray. “I want to go see Gerard. I promise I won’t make a single noise to disturb him,” he pleaded.

“Like I’m going to keep you away from him. Follow me,” he said as he led Brian and Mikey into another wing away from Frank’s room. As they approached his room, Mikey felt a rush of anxiety sneaking up on him. He felt the middle of his face going numb and he started to panic.

“R-Ray, I feel funny,” his voice quivered out. They all stopped walking and faced him. His breathing came out heavy and his head felt fuzzy. This caused him to panic more and his eyes started tearing up. He was scared and Ray was talking to him calmly.

“Count to three repeatedly, slowly, in your head and take slow and deep breaths. Think of nothing but the numbers 1, 2, and 3.” His voiced calmed Mikey down, and he managed to calm down.

1…

Breathe

2…

Breathe

3…

Breathe
He still felt lightheaded so he had to hold onto Brian.

“Are you okay now, Mikey?” Ray asked him. He nodded, still not trusting his voice. Brian held onto him on the rest of their trip to Gerard’s room despite Mikey saying he was fine.

“Here we are. I have to make my rounds so feel free to stay as long as you’d both like,” Ray said as he waved and then walked away. Brian then turned to Mikey and gave him a bit of a sad smile.

“I’ve got to head off as well. The employees are probably wondering if he’s doing well. Go ahead and take the rest of the day, I’ll find a couple of more servers. But only today, kiddo! You know Gee would feel horrible if you missed because of him,” he chuckled as he patted Mikey on the shoulder and then took his leave. Mikey took a deep breath as he opened the door to Gerard’s room. He kept his eyes away from him as he closed the door behind him and walked over to his bedside staring at his feet. The only thing he could hear was the steady breathing of his older brother. He finally moved his eyes up to look at his sleeping body. He heart dropped at the sight of how weak he looked, and it wasted no time in grabbing his hand and holding it tightly. Frank looked healthier than him and he was trying to figure out how that could be. Frank at least had some color to his cheeks and sincerely looked like he was sleeping while Gerard looked pale and lifeless as if he were already dead.

“I’ll take care of you, Gerard.” Gerard stirred in his sleep and it gave Mikey reassurance that he wasn’t like Frank.

“Frankie…” Mikey watched as Gerard’s eyebrows knitted together in concern, causing him to scoff. Even in his dreams, he was still worried about him. He continued to hold Gerard’s hand as he laid his head down on the bed and stared at him before finally drifting off to sleep himself.

Sleep was a scary thing, he concluded. You never know if you’re going to wake up.

Notes

I'm very proud of this chapter, you guys. You have no idea <3
Anyways enjoy! Feedback would be sexy! :3

-OAIF <3