Another Hospital Stay

Chapter 36

"So, what's the plan for today?" Gerard asks, sitting on his bed. He grabs a pillow and throws it as hard as he could at Mikey.

"Umm…well, I'm finally going to go see my mom today," I reply, sitting on the floor with Ray beside me, our fingers entwined.

"Aww…you two look so cute together," Gerard said, smiling.

"Shut up. And that's a weird word coming out of your mouth, you know that?" Ray says, shaking his head but gently squeezing my hand.

"Your face," Gerard retorts, sticking his tongue out at him.

"Your mama," Ray replies, flipping him off.

"Your children's mama," Gerard says, glancing over at me apologetically. "No offense."

"None taken, we haven't gotten that far yet. So, are you two going to behave or are we going to have to separate you guys? You know, have to put each of you in a different corner?" I ask, leaning against Ray, my head on his shoulder.

"No, we're fine. This is just how we are all the time," Gerard says, leaning down to give Ray a high five.

"Exactly. Besides, after being with each other for so long, you kind of get used to ragging on each other and coming up with new ways to bug each other," Ray added, putting his arm around my waist.

"Yeah, kind of like the time I threatened to castrate you guys when you wouldn't let someone sleep in peace," I hear Mikey mumble from where he was burrowed under the covers.

"Really? I don't remember that one, Mikey," Gerard said, scratching his head.

"That's cause he just threatened you two," I explain, grinning.

"At least someone got it," Mikey mumbled.

"You're so stupid, Mikey," Gerard says, grinning.

"Stupid is as stupid does," his brother replied, quoting the line from 'Forrest Gump.' I glance over at Ana and notice that she's looking back and forth between the lump on the bed known as Mikey and then towards Gerard, grinning. She catches my gaze for a moment and winks. 'This is to entertaining,' she mouths. 'I know,' I reply, smiling.

"I'm so smart, I don’t even know what that means," Gerard retorted, causing everyone to laugh.

"Gerard, you're so retarded. Damn, it's getting late. Alexia, we better get going if you want to get there today," Ray says, standing up and pulling me with him.

"Yeah, let's go," I agree, heading towards the door. "We'll see you guys there," I add, suddenly getting an idea. Looking up at Ray, I send him a wink and pull away from him. Suddenly, I run towards Mikey's bed and jump on him, causing him to jump up and shriek like a girl.

"What the fuck? Who the hell jumped me," he yells, trying to untangle himself from under the covers. I quickly get off of him and rush over to Ray's side, trying to keep from laughing. I wrap my arms around Ray, keeping my back to Mikey and bury my face against his chest.

"Well, we're going to be going now," Ray announces, pulling open the door, where we find Frank, Bob and a guy I didn't recognize standing outside.

"You guys sure do know how to wake everyone up before they're supposed to," Frank mumbles, still half-asleep.

"Hey, Ray, who's that chick you have your arm around," the guy I didn't know asks.

"Oh, yeah, you haven't met him, have you? Alexia, this is Brian Schechter, our manager. Brian, this is Alexia Rodriguez, my girlfriend," Ray says, introducing us.

"Whoa, froman's got a girlfriend? That's shocker," Brian jokes, reaching out to shake my hand. "Nice to meet you," he adds, smiling.

"You too," I reply, letting go his hand.

"Well, we've got to get going. We'll see you guys tonight up in Belleville, all right," Ray says, putting his hand on my waist and leading me out the door.

"Dude, I didn't know any girl would actually go for Ray," I hear Brian say to the guys in the room. "He never seems to get along with anyone, always holed up in the tour bus, slaving away on that laptop of his."

"They sure do love talking about you when you're out of the room," I comment, starting to get a bit protective of him.

"Yeah, well, that's them. I don't pay much attention to them anymore. I've gotten immune to what they say. It's like, after four years of just seeing their faces every single day, you just start to ignore them," he replies, taking my hand. "I have to get my suitcase from the room first," he adds, stopping in the room that he and Frank had shared.

"I'll wait for you out here," I reply, leaning up to kiss his chin before letting go of his hand. He quickly goes in and comes out a few minutes later, grabbing my hand and heading towards the elevator. He presses the down arrow and we wait a few minutes before the elevator.

"So, how nervous are you," he asks suddenly, looking down at me.

"Very nervous," I admitted, frowning. He gently squeezes my hand, reassuring me. "What am I going to say to her?"

"Don’t worry, you'll be fine. I'm sure you'll think of something as soon as you see her," he replies as we neared my car.