Come eat some chemicals with me
Come eat some chemicals
Come eat some chemicals with me
Come eat some chemicals

The bell rings, and I walk out of class, still laughing at what Frank had done in class earlier. The way he just swallowed down that experiment like it was orange juice. How he reacted to the teacher...this kid is fearless! Well, aside from spiders and tight spaces.

I had let Frank go and find Amber while I waited by the end of the hall, people watching. Eventually, I see Amber, Frank and Mikey walking towards me. Frank is laughing unconrtollably. I shake my head, quickly walking over to him and the others, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him outside to the steps. Frank continutes to laugh the entire time. I sit him down between Amber and Mikey so they can support his still giggling frame.

"Frank! What is wrong with you?!" I ask him. He just keeps on laughing. “Frank!” Now I’m actually concerned for him. That solution in class had about seven different ingredients and the only one I could pronounce was water. Who knows what that shit did to him.

"Nothing!" he replies. "Nothing's wrong!"

I glare at him until he stops laughing.

"Okay, okay..." Frank starts, finally calm. "I walked out of class and was immediately stuffed into a locker, all right?”

I widen my eyes, “Those fuckers!”

I notice Amber’s thin fingers ball up into a fist, her features going from those of a pretty girl to a wild beast. She hates when people pick on Frank.


"No, no, no, it's okay!" Frank says, taking Amber’s fist and uncurling her fingers. " That’s not the funny part. This preppy girl comes to open her locker and I just jumped out at her. I swear to God she shit her pants. Then I saw Bob and guess what!"

"What?"

"I asked him if we could use the recording stuido he set up. You know, for the band.”

I nod, "What did he say?"

"He said he'd think about it," Frank says, grabbing my arm. "Just think about it! We are a full band and we could possibly have somewhere to record music.” The tattooed boy in front of me starts to laugh again.

The experiment must have done something to him, because he is acting funny. He’s also very pale, something that Amber has obviously picked up on because she’s now eyeing Frank very closely, her fingers wrapping around his wrist.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” Mikey says before getting up and walking away. I nod at him before turning back to Frank.

"Frank, are you feeling okay?” Amber questions, hand going over his forehead. She frowns.

Frank bats her hand away, “I’m perfect babe. Everything’s fine.”

Amber turns her gaze to me, “What in the world is wrong with him?”

I shrug, “He drank some shit in chemistry. There was water in it though.”

Amber looks like she’s about to have an anurism. As the redhead goes to backhand me, Frank coughs. Not the good kind of cough either. I place both hands on his shoulders, holding him an arms length away, looking at his face. It is flushed, pale, not his normal Italian tinted brown. Frank's eyes are drooping slightly and his mouth is open. I shake my head, letting him lean on Amber who begins stroking his hair

"Frank, you're not okay, man."

With the help of Amber I stand him up. Frank coughs again, multiple times, and stumbles. I grab him under the arm, Amber taking the other one, holding him up. She looks beyond worried as Frank starts coughing again. His coughing is so hard this time that puke comes up with it, bright yellow, just like the experiment from earlier.

Amber looks horrified, "Fuck, Frank, you need a doctor!"

Amber and I begin dragging Frank to the parking lot as fast as we can. He stumbles along, trying his best to walk with us. Frank is coughing the entire time, puking every once in a while. Amber loads him into the backseat of my car as I get in and start it up. Once Frank is laying across the backseat, head resting in Amber’s lap as we speed toward the nearest hospital. I thank God Amber knows the way. I watch in the rear view mirror as Amber dumps the contents of her lunch onto my car floor, handing Frank the paper bag it was in seconds before he hurls again.

We finally make it to the hospital, and I rush Frank into the emergency room. Amber is at my heels, holding Frank’s hand.

"We need a doctor!" I yell. "We don't know what's wrong with him!"

A bunch of nurses rush forward and take Frank from my arms. Amber reaches out as his hand slids out of hers. I watch as she stands there, her hand held out, silent tears streaming down her face. She really does worry about all of us.

Both Amber and I stand there, confused, holding each other until we are escorted into a waiting room by a fairly nice nurse. It’s only then that I realize that Amber flinches away from everything in here; the nurses, the over bright lights, the chairs…everything. The only way she’ll sit is curled up on my lap, her head resting on my shoulder. I want to ask her what her deal is with hospitals but I decide not to…it’s her business.

I sit on the couch, Amber in my lap, my fingers running through her hair. I watch the little kid in front of me playing with the tinker toys on the carpet that covers the floor. If only life was that simple....

We sit there for what seems like hours, playing tic – tac – toe in my sketchpad until a doctor comes up to us.

"Are you Gerard and Amber?" he asks, and I nod.

Amber literally jumps out of her seat, “Is he okay?"

The doctor nods and I breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t know what I would have done if Frank wasn’t okay. Amber probably would have lost it.

“Can I go see him?" Amber questions.

"Follow me..."

I follow behind Amber, keeping my hand on her shoulder just so she knows I’m here and that everything is going to be alright. We turn a corner and I can see Frank, hooked up to a machine, breathing tubes in his nose. Amber looks like she’s about to cry as she rushes over to him, hugging Frank best she can. I walk over to him, almost in tears myself and grab his hand.

"Hey, buddy...." I whisper, not letting go of his hand.

The doctor comes in after us and Amber shrinks into the corner, "We ran some tests..." he says and I look up at him.

"And?"

"Frank drank some serious chemicals. We flushed his system and he should be set to leave by tomorrow.”

Amber breaths a sigh of relief as she comes to peak at the doctor over my shoulder; she really has a thing against doctors and hospitals.

"Can we stay here with him?" Amber questions, still hiding most of herself behind me.

“Are you blood related to the patient in anyway?” the doctor questions and Amber nods vigorously, obviously knowing the drill.

“I’m his adopted sister and Gee is his brother."

The doctor nods, smiling a little, "We all know that’s a lie Miss Bryar, but just this time I’ll let you stay if you two would like.”

Amber’s face lights up, “Thank you Don, this means a lot.”

I nod in agreement before looking back at Frank who is sleeping soundly, his breathing even. I rest my head on his chest, enjoying the sound of his heart beating behind his rib cage. Once I’m positive my friend is alive, I move over to a chair in the corner, allowing Amber to crawl into the bed with Frank. She rests her hand on his chest, tracing a few of his tattoos. I pray that Frank will really be alright.

Notes

Song: Chemicals by Scars on Broadway