Think of the Angels
Please Shine Brighter
(Narrator’s POV)
“You mean…”
“Yes Gerard,” his mother sighed. "He’s your brother.”
Gerard Way transferred his questing gaze to the amazingly thin, bespectacled youth before him.That dude’s my brother? He thought, staring at the boy’s light brown hair – a sharp contrast to his own, which was a dark brown shade.
“Why didn’t you tell me I had a brother?” Gerard persisted in arguing with his exasperated mother, disbelief showing clearly on the features etched in his face. “Are you and Dad actually divorced or something?”
“No, son,” Dad spoke up from his bodyguard position beside Gerard’s “brother”. “Mikey just grew up with your aunt and raised away from home, that’s all.”
“Well, that explains everything,” Gerard said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Mikey? That was his brother’s name?Mikey?
The boy just stared intently at the tiled floor, avoiding all eye contact. Shy? Gerard felt himself wondering. Yeah, that must be it.
“Go over and greet your brother, Gerard sweetie,” His mother coaxed, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. “You two are going to live together from now onwards anyway, remember darling?”
Dad nudged the thinner boy, causing him to tear his transfixed eyes off the floor, though reluctantly so.
Mikey mumbled something under his breath that was barely audible.
“What?” Gerard took a cautious step forward as he felt Mikey’s eyes avert their gaze.
“Nothing,” The younger male whispered, so soft that Gerard was yet again forced to take another step forward.
Gerard extended a slightly trembling hand towards the boy before him, speaking in a hushed, deliberate voice loaded with uncertainty.
“Mikey?”
The boy tore his gaze from the white-washed walls of the Way residence to face his older brother. Someone he would be living with for the next few years of his life.
Mikey smiled.
------
“Gerard?”
The older male looked up in surprise at his kid brother.
“You should rest,” Gerard felt his voice crack with grief as he was once again reminded of Mikey’s current situation.
“What were you thinking about?”
Gerard couldn’t resist a smirk at his little brother’s question. “The day we met.”
Mikey smiled weakly. “I remember that. I almost wet myself when you said my name.” Mikey giggled. But the sound, delightful as it was to his older brother’s ears, soon turned into a rasping cough.
“Mikey!” Gee was by his brother’s side in an instant, tone of voice harsh with worry. “Are you okay?”
Mikey coughed harder, racking his thin frame with what seemed like convulsions. Then with effort, he steadied his panicked breathing.
“Yeah,” Mikey replied, voice trembling slightly. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
It pained Gerard to see his brother like this – broken and defeated, lying upon a hospital bed. It reminded him of a modern day Sleeping Beauty - minus the knight in shining amour.
This was the worst ever prison. Confined within asylum-white walls, Mikey reminded him of all the brain-dead people Gerard had ever seen – kept alive only by the array of plastic tubes connecting the patient’s body to a machine.
Life support.
But for his little brother, it was different. His little brother still lived, clinging on to life. The tubes of plastic fed his body mashed up food particles and glucose. The tubes took his still beating pulse, clocked his blood.
But he would end up just like the rest – dead.
It was only a matter of time.
Was there still a chance?
“You mean…”
“Yes Gerard,” his mother sighed. "He’s your brother.”
Gerard Way transferred his questing gaze to the amazingly thin, bespectacled youth before him.That dude’s my brother? He thought, staring at the boy’s light brown hair – a sharp contrast to his own, which was a dark brown shade.
“Why didn’t you tell me I had a brother?” Gerard persisted in arguing with his exasperated mother, disbelief showing clearly on the features etched in his face. “Are you and Dad actually divorced or something?”
“No, son,” Dad spoke up from his bodyguard position beside Gerard’s “brother”. “Mikey just grew up with your aunt and raised away from home, that’s all.”
“Well, that explains everything,” Gerard said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Mikey? That was his brother’s name?Mikey?
The boy just stared intently at the tiled floor, avoiding all eye contact. Shy? Gerard felt himself wondering. Yeah, that must be it.
“Go over and greet your brother, Gerard sweetie,” His mother coaxed, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. “You two are going to live together from now onwards anyway, remember darling?”
Dad nudged the thinner boy, causing him to tear his transfixed eyes off the floor, though reluctantly so.
Mikey mumbled something under his breath that was barely audible.
“What?” Gerard took a cautious step forward as he felt Mikey’s eyes avert their gaze.
“Nothing,” The younger male whispered, so soft that Gerard was yet again forced to take another step forward.
Gerard extended a slightly trembling hand towards the boy before him, speaking in a hushed, deliberate voice loaded with uncertainty.
“Mikey?”
The boy tore his gaze from the white-washed walls of the Way residence to face his older brother. Someone he would be living with for the next few years of his life.
Mikey smiled.
------
“Gerard?”
The older male looked up in surprise at his kid brother.
“You should rest,” Gerard felt his voice crack with grief as he was once again reminded of Mikey’s current situation.
“What were you thinking about?”
Gerard couldn’t resist a smirk at his little brother’s question. “The day we met.”
Mikey smiled weakly. “I remember that. I almost wet myself when you said my name.” Mikey giggled. But the sound, delightful as it was to his older brother’s ears, soon turned into a rasping cough.
“Mikey!” Gee was by his brother’s side in an instant, tone of voice harsh with worry. “Are you okay?”
Mikey coughed harder, racking his thin frame with what seemed like convulsions. Then with effort, he steadied his panicked breathing.
“Yeah,” Mikey replied, voice trembling slightly. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
It pained Gerard to see his brother like this – broken and defeated, lying upon a hospital bed. It reminded him of a modern day Sleeping Beauty - minus the knight in shining amour.
This was the worst ever prison. Confined within asylum-white walls, Mikey reminded him of all the brain-dead people Gerard had ever seen – kept alive only by the array of plastic tubes connecting the patient’s body to a machine.
Life support.
But for his little brother, it was different. His little brother still lived, clinging on to life. The tubes of plastic fed his body mashed up food particles and glucose. The tubes took his still beating pulse, clocked his blood.
But he would end up just like the rest – dead.
It was only a matter of time.
Was there still a chance?