We Met in the Emergency Room

The room I entered was roughly the same size as mine, but much more open. There wasn’t a lounging chair for guests, like in my room. There was a large, open window that let the afternoon sunlight spill in and puddle on the tile.

Near the window sat a narrow hospital bed with cream sheets similar to mine. In the bed lay the small boy I had seen a few days ago. He was lying on his back, his muted green eyes staring blankly at the tiled ceiling. His wavy hair sprawled out on his pillow, and his breathing was slow but even beneath the thin cotton material.

My presence didn’t seem to faze him much, he didn’t even blink. I, on the other hand, was left completely entranced by the boy before me.

The light that was spilling through the window reflected gently off of his skin, and pooled vividly in his mute green eyes.

When I was a kid, my mother would tell me how beautiful she thought the air was after the rain. She loved how clean and clear it was against her face, and how cool it was in her lungs. On top of that, she loved how it seemed to make the grass even greener, and the undeniable smell of wet asphalt always made her smile. She said nothing was as beautiful.

Mikey found true beauty in a good book. He once told me that a well written book could outshine the smile on any girl’s face. He thought that a well placed metaphor allowed your mind to wander to the most tranquil of places.

My Dad though, he thought that a bottle of whiskey was beautiful, and that its comforting heat could solve his worst problems. He thought that by drinking away his stress, everything would fall into place. But instead he lost his wife and both of his kids. Maybe he thought that was a beautiful blessing in itself.

But I had never found pure beauty in any of these things. Sure, I loved the rain, and curling up in bed with a good book, and God knows I loved to drink, but all of these things seemed so lonely, and so bare. I never found beauty in things that could be experienced alone. But I always found the connection between two people nothing short of amazing. It takes a whole hell of a lot for two souls to intertwine.

But being that I had never experienced love, I could only admire it from afar.

But standing there, in that hollow shell of a room, I saw beauty. It was broken and defeated, with a slow breath and pale skin, but it was beauty none the less.

And it knocked me off of my fucking feet.

Taking a deep breath, I anchored myself from my wandering thoughts, and wheeled over to his bedside. He didn’t look over at me, or even seem to notice me for that matter, but I just couldn’t stop staring.

Clearing my throat, I croaked out a raspy ‘hello’.

The boy’s head rolled lazily to the side, and he stared at me blankly, as if I were interrupting something vital.

“Um,” I continued awkwardly. “I’m Gerard.”

The only response I got was a few frantic blinks and another empty stare.

“Uh yeah,” I continued slowly, reaching up to scratch my head, only to tangle my IV around my wrist.

As I awkwardly tried to untangle myself, he reached out and grabbed my right wrist rather roughly, and I froze.

Looking up at him slowly, I finally realized that this probably wasn’t one of my brightest ideas. As he stared me down, gripping tighter onto my narrow wrist, his eyes seemed so dead. They were dull and broken, but for some reason, I still believed that there was something more to him.

But right now, I just didn’t want to be killed.

But just as I thought this Frank kid was going to bite off my finger and use it to slit my throat, he flipped over my wrists, so my palm was facing the stained ceiling. His next movement caught me completely off guard. He simply trailed a finger along my medical wrist band, which said me name.

Convinced that I was telling him the truth, he released me, causing my arm to drop back into my lap.

“I uh, I’m in the room next door,” I rambled, still a little shocked. “And I just, thought, I’d come by and say hi,” I continued, my voice trailing off at the end. His brow lowered, as if he didn’t believe me.

We sat there in silence for a while, and I noticed that his room was so much quieter then mine. All you could hear was our breath passing through our lungs. Then it hit me, there wasn’t the ticking of a clock, like the one that hung above the door in my room.

Looking up to wear the old school house face should be hanging, I saw that it was there, but it didn’t work. Either the batteries had died and someone forgot to replace them, or they had been taken out all together.

This poor kid was stuck in here with no sense of time, and probably no clue what day of the week it was, or when the holidays were. He was stuck in his own private hell.

Suddenly I regained my confidence.

This kid just needs a friend, I told myself before picking up another one-sided conversation.

“So yeah, I’m in here because I drank like a maniac when I was younger.” This seemed to regain his attention. “Yeah, I managed to sober up, but I fucking trashed my liver.”

Smart Gerard, cuss around the mentally unstable kid.

“Sorry, does cussing bother you?” I asked, looking over at him apologetically. Again, his blank look indicated that he had no intentions of answering.

Annoyed, I answered shortly, “Blink once if it doesn’t.”

And he did. At least his not deaf, or stupid.

“Alright cool,” I responded, calming down a bit. “Anyhow,” I continued, “as I was saying, I did a lot of damage on my liver, so now I’m stuck in this dump, waiting for a new one.” He nodded his head sharply at me, which slapped a shit eating grin across my face. He seemed to be loosening up, slowly but surely.

“So do you mind if I kind of just, loiter, in here for a while. My room’s empty, and in all due honesty I don’t like being alone. So is it cool?”

Again, he nodded curtly at me.

“Aright, cool,” I exclaimed. “I’m just going to go and grab a couple of things from my room, ‘cuz I have the attention span of a two-year old.” He just nodded at me, again, as I wheeled back to my room to grab a couple things.

“Gerard how’s he? “ Katie asked.

“Great,” I said, wheeling back into his room, my things resting gently in my lap.

Frank was still lying on his back when I re-entered. Settling back into my spot, I held up my black cd player and a cd folder.

“You like music Frank?” I asked, earning a more excited nod. Passing his the items, he pulled up his wrists so I could hear the sharp clang of the chains hitting his metal side rails.

“Oh shit,” I muttered. “Well, just pick something out, and I’ll put it on for you yeah?”

I knew asking him for human contact, even as minor as me slipping headphones over his ears, was a bit much to ask. But to my surprise, he nodded anyways, and proceeded to flip through my folder.

After a few minutes, he pulled out a cd and held it up.

“Bouncing Souls,” I stated, “good choice.” He simply nodded at me again as I slipped the cd into its player, and leaned over to put the speakers on his head.

“Ready?” I asked, not wanting to catch him off guard. He nodded, keeping eye contact with me as I lowered my hands by his face, securing the headphones in place. The backs of my fingers brushed gently against his soft hair, and briefly against his cheek. It sent sparks flying through me.

Content with my work, I pushed ‘play’ and slipped the player into his hand, leaning back in my chair.

Pulling out a book I had brought over with me to read, I looked at him, to see his eyes shut, and the slightest smile playing across his lips.

I was in there for nearly four hours, before Katie came in to get me. She gasped loudly at how content Frank was.

As she wheeled me back to my room, she said in a shocked tone,

“He hasn’t been that calm since he was brought in.”

I just smiled tiredly as we got back into my room.