I'm Not Okay Without You
Is This Real Or Not
Chapter 39
Frank’s POV
“Mr. Iero,” someone said, sounding far off. “Mr. Iero, get up.” I opened my eyes and peeled my head out of my hands, blinking blearily up at a nurse. She smiled slightly. “You need to go home and get some rest. We need this room and Mr. Way will be in surgery for a while, then he’ll need to go into recovery, so we won’t be able to let you see him. Why don’t you go home and when we have news on Mr. Way we’ll give you a call. Is that alright?” She said all this in a small whisper, smiling politely. For a moment, I just stared at her.
“Sure,” I mumbled, surprised at how hoarse my voice was. I guess I’d fallen asleep waiting for Gerard to get out of surgery. Standing unsteadily, I stifled a yawn and walked out of the hospital room, pulling up my hood as I did so. In a daze, I found my way out of the hospital after giving the nurse behind the desk my home phone number so they’d be able to contact me and drove home. When I got inside I immediately walked over to the couch, collapsing on it and shutting my eyes. Honestly, I was physically and mentally exhausted after having spent the entire day pacing, worrying, pacing some more, stressing out, and making myself sick thinking of everything that could happen to Gerard. As soon as my head hit the uncomfortable pillow, I fell asleep, letting a blanket of uneasy darkness consume me.
I snapped awake at the sound of someone pounding on my door.
“Frank!” came Mikey’s worried and stressed voice from the other side of the door. “Frank, open up!” Standing as quickly as I could after being in a deep sleep, I walked over to the door and opened it. Immediately, the guys piled into the room. Mikey said something rushed about the hospital calling about Gerard and telling him he was in surgery and why didn’t I tell him that his brother had an infection and blah, blah, blah. It’s probably not good that what everyone was saying was turning into a dull roar and I wasn’t really paying attention. After everyone calmed down and I answered a gazillion questions we got settled in for a long wait. Mikey sat in the arm chair to the right of the couch, Bob plopped in a chair he’d dragged in from the kitchen, and Ray sat down on the floor, leaving me to sit in the middle of the couch and stare a hole through the coffee table. We sat in silence like that for an immeasurable amount of time, barely shifting at all. The guys moved a little and tried to strike up conversation, but I kept my eyes on the same place on the coffee table, letting all scenarios run through my head. Just then the phone rang. I jumped up to get it, running to the base and pressing the talk button.
“Hello?” I asked hurriedly, not bothering with caller ID. The world seemed to slow for a moment.
“Mr. Iero? This is the hospital calling about Mr. Gerard Way. We are sorry to inform you that Mr. Way did not make it through the surgery.”
“No, he can’t be,” I whispered, more to myself than to the nurse on the other end of the line.
“The infected area was much larger than we expected and we were not able to save him.
“He—” I choked on the sentence.
“I give you my and the hospital staff’s condolences,” the nurse continued deftly.
“Oh, god, no,” I whispered, feeling my hand slump away from my ear, though the annoying nurse kept chattering on. Without quite realizing what I was doing, I pressed the “end” button and letting my grip on the device be dangerously loose.
“Frank, what’s happened with Gerard?” Mikey’s voice cut through my thoughts, fear and worry apparent in his tone.
“He—” I began, but my voice broke. I cleared my throat and tried again. “He didn’t make it,” I whispered hoarsely.
“Frank. Frank. Yoo-hoo,” Mikey said, waving a hand in front of my face.
“Wha…?” I began, looking around. Everyone was sitting in the same position and I was on the couch, looking at the same spot on the coffee table.
“You going to get that?” Mikey asked, gesturing to where the phone was on its base. Just then I noticed the high pitched ringing filling the air.
“Oh. Oh yeah,” I said, standing and crossing over to the phone, feeling fear grip my body. I got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach as I reached for it. Gathering my courage, I pressed the talk button.
“Hello?” I asked cautiously.
“Hello, Mr. Iero? I’m calling on behalf of Mr. Gerard Way. We’re happy to inform you the surgery was a success and Mr. Way is doing well. You can come see him this afternoon if you’d like.” I felt a smile forming on my lips.
“He’s okay,” I whispered. “That’s great.”
“And the visitor restraint is relaxed when someone had to go through a surgery. Gerard should wake in a few hours. Please, bring all of his closest friends.”
“We’ll be there soon,” I assured the nurse. I slammed the phone on the counter harder than I meant to after pressing “end”.
“Gerard’s fine. He should be up in a few hours and the doctor said we could come by now,” I said, smiling wider.
“Thank God,” Mikey breathed. The three of them got up and headed toward the door. “We’ll meet you at the hospital, Frankie.” I nodded in acknowledgement, waving to them. As soon as they left I ran upstairs to catch a shower and get myself cleaned up a bit.
“Gerard’s going to be fine,” I practically sang, dancing up the steps and all the way into my room. “Everything’s perfect.”
Frank’s POV
“Mr. Iero,” someone said, sounding far off. “Mr. Iero, get up.” I opened my eyes and peeled my head out of my hands, blinking blearily up at a nurse. She smiled slightly. “You need to go home and get some rest. We need this room and Mr. Way will be in surgery for a while, then he’ll need to go into recovery, so we won’t be able to let you see him. Why don’t you go home and when we have news on Mr. Way we’ll give you a call. Is that alright?” She said all this in a small whisper, smiling politely. For a moment, I just stared at her.
“Sure,” I mumbled, surprised at how hoarse my voice was. I guess I’d fallen asleep waiting for Gerard to get out of surgery. Standing unsteadily, I stifled a yawn and walked out of the hospital room, pulling up my hood as I did so. In a daze, I found my way out of the hospital after giving the nurse behind the desk my home phone number so they’d be able to contact me and drove home. When I got inside I immediately walked over to the couch, collapsing on it and shutting my eyes. Honestly, I was physically and mentally exhausted after having spent the entire day pacing, worrying, pacing some more, stressing out, and making myself sick thinking of everything that could happen to Gerard. As soon as my head hit the uncomfortable pillow, I fell asleep, letting a blanket of uneasy darkness consume me.
I snapped awake at the sound of someone pounding on my door.
“Frank!” came Mikey’s worried and stressed voice from the other side of the door. “Frank, open up!” Standing as quickly as I could after being in a deep sleep, I walked over to the door and opened it. Immediately, the guys piled into the room. Mikey said something rushed about the hospital calling about Gerard and telling him he was in surgery and why didn’t I tell him that his brother had an infection and blah, blah, blah. It’s probably not good that what everyone was saying was turning into a dull roar and I wasn’t really paying attention. After everyone calmed down and I answered a gazillion questions we got settled in for a long wait. Mikey sat in the arm chair to the right of the couch, Bob plopped in a chair he’d dragged in from the kitchen, and Ray sat down on the floor, leaving me to sit in the middle of the couch and stare a hole through the coffee table. We sat in silence like that for an immeasurable amount of time, barely shifting at all. The guys moved a little and tried to strike up conversation, but I kept my eyes on the same place on the coffee table, letting all scenarios run through my head. Just then the phone rang. I jumped up to get it, running to the base and pressing the talk button.
“Hello?” I asked hurriedly, not bothering with caller ID. The world seemed to slow for a moment.
“Mr. Iero? This is the hospital calling about Mr. Gerard Way. We are sorry to inform you that Mr. Way did not make it through the surgery.”
“No, he can’t be,” I whispered, more to myself than to the nurse on the other end of the line.
“The infected area was much larger than we expected and we were not able to save him.
“He—” I choked on the sentence.
“I give you my and the hospital staff’s condolences,” the nurse continued deftly.
“Oh, god, no,” I whispered, feeling my hand slump away from my ear, though the annoying nurse kept chattering on. Without quite realizing what I was doing, I pressed the “end” button and letting my grip on the device be dangerously loose.
“Frank, what’s happened with Gerard?” Mikey’s voice cut through my thoughts, fear and worry apparent in his tone.
“He—” I began, but my voice broke. I cleared my throat and tried again. “He didn’t make it,” I whispered hoarsely.
“Frank. Frank. Yoo-hoo,” Mikey said, waving a hand in front of my face.
“Wha…?” I began, looking around. Everyone was sitting in the same position and I was on the couch, looking at the same spot on the coffee table.
“You going to get that?” Mikey asked, gesturing to where the phone was on its base. Just then I noticed the high pitched ringing filling the air.
“Oh. Oh yeah,” I said, standing and crossing over to the phone, feeling fear grip my body. I got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach as I reached for it. Gathering my courage, I pressed the talk button.
“Hello?” I asked cautiously.
“Hello, Mr. Iero? I’m calling on behalf of Mr. Gerard Way. We’re happy to inform you the surgery was a success and Mr. Way is doing well. You can come see him this afternoon if you’d like.” I felt a smile forming on my lips.
“He’s okay,” I whispered. “That’s great.”
“And the visitor restraint is relaxed when someone had to go through a surgery. Gerard should wake in a few hours. Please, bring all of his closest friends.”
“We’ll be there soon,” I assured the nurse. I slammed the phone on the counter harder than I meant to after pressing “end”.
“Gerard’s fine. He should be up in a few hours and the doctor said we could come by now,” I said, smiling wider.
“Thank God,” Mikey breathed. The three of them got up and headed toward the door. “We’ll meet you at the hospital, Frankie.” I nodded in acknowledgement, waving to them. As soon as they left I ran upstairs to catch a shower and get myself cleaned up a bit.
“Gerard’s going to be fine,” I practically sang, dancing up the steps and all the way into my room. “Everything’s perfect.”