So sick of nothing going right
Sail on along into the night
Not even death could stand in the way
You never even tried in the first place


I suffer through classes, waiting what seems like days for that final bell to ring. I’d tried texting Gerard a few times but haven’t gotten a reply. I’ve not seen any of my friends since they randomly disappeared during lunch and am really looking forward to get to hang out with them after school today. As I reach the spot Gee parked in this morning I realize his car isn’t there. Sighing, I place my hands on my hips, thinking silently to myself for a minute.

"He left without me again," I grumble to the almost empty parking lot. Spinning around I realize that Amber’s car is still here. That’s odd. Maybe she has cheer practise?

I take out my phone and call Gerard, but get no answer. I try multiple times, and still no response. I try Frank and then Amber, getting no answer from them either. I frown, calling my brother one more time. He picks up, finally.

"Mikey, shit." he says, sounding sincere. I scoff.

"Forgetting something?" I ask, looking around, watching a crow fly across the sky above.

"Bro, this is serious," he says, and I stop bird watching to pay attention.

"Whoa, what happened?" I question, worried. What if something happened to Amber or Frank?

"Frank's in the hospital, man."

My eyes widen, “Dude, how?”

"I don't know man; he just got sick after class...." He trails off, and I can hear how scared he is just by the tone of his voice.

"Amber’s on her way okay, just hold on. She’s gonna bring you here. That’s okay, right?” Gerard says.

“Yeah, it won’t be awkward at all,” I answer before looking up and seeing Gerard’s beaten up car being driven by Amber who looks completely worn down. "Be there, soon, bro."
Amber pulls up in front of me, and I get in, immediately starting to ask questions, “Amber, what happened? How is he? Is he okay? Is he sick?”

Amber turns to me, grasping my hand in hers. She’s got tears clingling to her cheeks, “The doctor says he’s going to be fine. He drank some chemical shit in Chemistry today and they had to flush his system. The moral behind this story is….”

She trails off looking at me with a small smile.

I laugh, “Don’t drink your Chemistry projects.”

“Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner,” Amber laughs as we pull into the hospital parking lot. She drives even faster than Gerard.

As we get out of the car Amber pauses, her eyes focuses on the roof of Gerard’s car, “Mikey….”

“Look Amber, I’m not upset. I get it. If Frank makes you happy then be with Frank. I still want to be your friend.”

The redhead smiles before pulling me into a hug, “Thank you, Mikey.”

I nod before we head inside. I follow Amber down the creepy, overly bright hallways. She doesn’t look any more comfortable here than I feel. I hate hospital’s, they bring back bad memories. The time Gerard tried to kill himself three years ago, he ended up here. I turn my head to the right, remembering the room that he was put in for recovery, and faintly see the memory lay out in front of me through the window. I stop, looking in the room. I swear I see the ghost of my twelve year old self, holding onto ghost Gerard's bandaged wrists that are lying on the bed next to his sleeping body. Young me is crying, trying to wake him up, shaking his motionless body, screaming to him to wake up.I shake my head and close my eyes, and when I open them again, the memory is gone from sight and Amber’s arms are around me. I start tearing up, trying to get that out of my head, but it is almost impossible.

We continue down the hallway until we turn a corner, into Frank's room. We walk through the door, and see Gerard sitting in a chair next to Frank’s bed, their hands clasp. Gerard looks like he is still crying slightly; his eyes are swollen and shiny, and his hair is all over the place. There are wet marks on Frank's blanket where Gerard's tears have fallen. I walk over to the bed and sit in another chair that has been pulled up. I glance at my friend. He is still asleep, breathing evenly, eyes fluttering every so often.

"What happened...?" I ask even though Amber already told me. I just can’t believe this is happening.

Gerard sniffles, turning his body to face mine, "Frank got a little too rebellious today in class, and ended up drinking our chemistry lab experiment.”
"What was he thinking?" The news still hits me hard.

Gerard shrugs, "He probably wasn’t. Only Frank..."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Yeah, in a day or so..." Gerard trails off.

I nod, thinking about how Gerard must feel at this moment. There is nothing he can do to help his best friend at this point...the only thing he can do is stay with him until he wakes up again.

"You staying here overnight?" I ask. Gerard and Amber nod.
"I will too."

"Mikey, you don't have to, that's crazy...." Amber says, finally walking across the room and sitting down on the edge of Frank’s bed.

“You go home and one of us will call you every hour to update you,” Gerard adds, looking at me over Frank’s sleeping body.

"No, Gerard…Amber, he's my friend too. I want to help in any way I can. I don’t care about any of the other stuff going on."

They both smile at me. Gerard let’s go of Frank’s hand to lean over and hug me. As Gerard pulls away I see Frank’s head move, his eye fluttering.
"Gee, look."

He does, quickly turning his gaze on Frank. We all watch as Frank slowly wakes up from his short – lived coma, blinking quickly, and then rubbing his face with his hands, groaning. He looks around, confused, trying to figure out where he is. Eventually, Frank’s eyes settle on Amber. She beams at him, pressing her lips to his forehead.

Frank takes her hand in his, bringing it close to his face, “Please don’t kill yourself.”

Amber starts to cry again, gently nodding her head.

"Frank, you’re alive!” Gerard says, pulling Frank’s attention to him.
"Um, was I dead...?" Frank questions. "Because I would love to say that I cheated death."

He smirks at me, and Gerard laughs, hugging Frank to him. Amber wraps her arms around my brother and I join in the hug as well, thanking whoever it is up there that kept my best friend with us on this day.

Notes

Song: Kill the Lights but Set It Off
Thank you to Olive for giving me this song :)