So I guess that was how I ended up in the hospital ward again, sat in a white plastic chair in front of a nurse who sat behind a desk and who peered at the burn mark on my arm. The room was fairly small, the posters of the human body making it seem even smaller, as if the walls were closing in around us until we'd slowly run out of oxygen with nowhere to go. God! I hate those kind of dreams.

These visits were regular I suppose, the blonde haired nurse sighing when I appeared at the door yet again, with the burn treatment cream already set up on the table before I sat down uncomfortably.
I was just about to stand up and leave after our normal chats about how to treat the burn, before her voice said something that stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Hey Gerard," the nurse began as she scrolled through pages of documents on her computer screen, "You know that you have a visitor coming to see you today, right?"
"A visitor?" I asked quizzically, nobody ever came to visit me, god I hadn't had a visitor in forever. In fact now I think about it no one had come to see me since I got locked in this mental house.
"Yeah..." She replied smiling, unaware of the surprise in my voice and she continued typing away on her computer.
"Who?" I asked, curious as to who would take time out of their day to come and see me.
"You're brother....Mikey." She explained.

Mikey! Wait...what?! My brother was here?! My little baby brother had come to visit me?! B-b-but he's not allowed. He's not allowed to see me. Does dad know? Does dad know that he's here?! He'll be mad if he doesn't. Sorry, I just cant believe I have an actual visitor, my dad banned everyone from seeing me when I arrived here: saying that he didn't want himself or my family to be associated with a fucking nut job like me unless I was released from this place."M-m-mikey?" I asked trembling.
"Yep." She said firmly, "in fact...." She trailed off as she looked towards her watch, "yeah...in fact...he should already be here."
"Really?!" I almost yelled with excitement, Frank laughed at my side as I did so, "w-w-where is he?"
"I'll take you there now, okay? I'll drop your treatment for your burn off at your room, number H271?"
"Yes and yes" I replied still excited.

The nurse stood up, being about the same height as Frank so actually rather small. She walked slowly out of the room with me dancing excitedly behind her. She led me through mazes of white corridors that seemed to continue forever passing rooms where at a glance you could see figures clawing against the doors or crying on the floor and ravaging at their own flesh or simply sat staring doing nothing. I pulled my glance away from them as we turned down yet another white corridor, looking at Frank who still trotted down at the side of me. Then I realised: Mikey can meet Frankie! I wonder if they'll be best friends.
We turned down yet then clinical corridor and another, until we reached a part of the building that was quieter, a lot quieter with only mere hums of chatter travelling through the walls. The lights seemed a little softer and more natural light flooded into the corridor with trees spindling over the roof of the building. So this is what it felt like? This must be close to what it feels like to be outside in the breeze, then?
The nurse stopped suddenly and pointed to a door a few feet away.

"Mikey's waiting for you in there" she said, "I'll have to stay out here though to make sure nothing happens, for your own safety."
I nodded my head as I shuffled towards the door, my chest feeling as if it was about to explode with my guts laying all over the floor. But even if that had happened then I wouldn't have cared for I could see him. Through the tiny square window of the door I could see my little brother waiting patiently to talk to me.

I pushed open the door gently to see him sat there, his brown hair with a little blonde striping through a quiff that fell slightly to the right hand side. I couldn't tell wether the darkness around his eyes was due to sleep deprivation or his smudged guyliner, to be honest it was probably the latter. It was so long since I'd set eyes on my little brother that I'd almost forgotten his hazel-green coloured eyes which glittered as I stepped into the room and he wore a simple grey speckled hoodie that was thrown over his shoulders and tight black skinny jeans. The only strange thing about him being how nervous he looked, I had never remembered Mikey as being such an on edge person who looked like if you were to touch them then they would speed across 'till you were no longer in their sight, but Mikey sat in front of me with his foot tapping rhythmically against the floor and his hands weren't quite steady.

"Hey mikes..." I smiled as I sat down opposite him, Frank stood in the corner. I guess that he didn't want to seem rude by interrupting our conversations, I looked away from Frank for a second looking back to find that he had simply walked away. Oh, well, Frank's probably left me for a bit and that's okay, just as long as he is back when Mikey has gone.
"L-listen..." Mikey stuttered, he'd always had a little baby stutter though you'd have had to have known him from being very young to even notice it. He looked up to me and my smiling face still looking nervous. "L-listen Gee..." He continued, "I-I'm not s-supposed to be h-here..."
I looked to him, I guess looking a little confused as he stopped his hands from shaking and did his best to explain in simple sentences.
"M-mum and dad, t-they don't know I-I'm h-here. And if they f-find out then Imma be in t-trouble. Please d-don't tell them..."
"I won't tell them Mikes, but...why are you here? Why have you come to see me?"
"I-I miss you Gee!" Mikey spoke as he got up from his chair and walked shakily towards me, his arms outstretched. I stood up and he immediately enveloped me in a hug, squeezing me tightly as if he'd never let go. I felt him shake softly as he buried his head into my chest and I stroked my hands through his now messy but soft hair. I looked down to him to see tears streaming down his face as they left a slightly damp puddle on my t shirt.

"S-sorry..." He muttered again into my chest, "s-sorry, I've just m-missed you so much!" He hugged me even tighter now, it was like one of those hugs that you never want to leave, that you just want to melt away into.
"I've missed you too Mikes..." I smiled as a single tear slid down my face, blinking away the rest of them almost successfully.
"H-How are you?" Mikey asked now, his arms still wrapped tightly around my back.
"Sick of this place..." I sighed miserably, "you?"
"L-lonely without my big b-brother and I j-just want you back home..."
"I will be soon. I promise..." I whispered back, "but they are telling me that Frank isn't real when I know that he is."
"Y-You think Frank is real?" Mikey questioned, his voice sounding plain and non-judgmental and anyway I'd trust Mikey with my life if it came to it.
I nodded to Mikey's question almost feeling embarrassed. "Do you believe me?" I almost regretted asking the question as soon as it slipped from my mouth.
"Do y-you...do you see F-Frank and talk to him?"
I nodded yet again.
"T-then I believe you..."
"Really?" I asked surprised.
"Y-yes. If you think he's real t-then I know that he is..."
"Thank you Mikes..." I whispered back again, tears really fell from my face this time.
"I-It's okay." He whispered back, "I just want you back home and I w-will help you get out of h-here. I-I promise."

The silence was cut like a knife which slid through the air by a phone ringing. It had been such a long time since I'd heard a phone, never mind Mikey's ringtone with Lithium by Nirvana blasting through its tiny speakers. I smiled as I heard music. Music. Voices and guitars and drums and melodies and riffs. It had been such a long time to feel a proper beat in my heart. Mikey pulled away from the hug looking sad and apologising repeatedly before taking out his phone and placing it to his ear. There was a short silence before a voice spoke down the phone.

"Mikey...why aren't you home?" I heard the voice ask down the phone, though it sounded a little distorted through the speaker I recognised the voice slightly. The low undertone and sharpness to the voice signifying that it belonged to my dad.
"S-sorry dad..." Mikey apologised.
"Where are you?"
Mikey took a sharp intake of breath, "um...I-I am just at Ray's house..." He lied through his teeth.
"Well. We want you here. Come home now...bye."
Mikey didn't even have time to reply before the line went dead. He apologized again, me telling him that it wasn't his fault that he had to go.

"S-see you soon Gee..." He whispered as he hugged me one last time before hurrying out of the room, popping his head back around the door frame one last time, "I'll b-bring you home soon Gee...I-I promise..."
"Thank you..." I said, my voice so quiet that I don't think any sound even escaped my lips. The click of the door signified that Mikes had left and I stood in the middle of the room. Lost but happy, simply waiting for Frank to return and talk to me.

Notes

Hello again. I have returned with a slightly happy chapter. I hope it was okay and thank you for reading and subscribing and voting and thanks! I can't believe how many views this has. Thank you. Next update will be tomorrow guys. Thanks! :)
-Lou