If your heart stops beating

~*Gerard’s Point of view*~

I heard a distant rumble of thunder and opened my eyes. I was lying in a hospital bed, machines beeping all around me. There was something on the floor beyond the foot of my bed. I sat up, and the mangled wreckage of a car appeared, lying on its roof. A thin trail of blood was trickling from the smashed driver’s window, a pale hand visible through the crushed glass. A pair of black and white glasses were lying some feet away, twisted and broken. I heard more thunder, and I looked up to see a flash of lightning heading for me...

I sat up, gasping for breath as lightning flashed outside the window. I glanced around; three pairs of eyes were staring at me.
“What the fuck, man?” mumbled Frank sleepily.
“Mikey, Mikey, where’s Mikey?” I looked around frantically.
Then we all jumped as we heard a loud thump.
“Okay, I warned you, you’re gonna pay now fucker- Ah, holy shit!”
Mikey sat up from where he had landed on the floor. Frank turned and stuffed his face into his pillow to muffle his laughter.
Mikey was rubbing his hand.
“What’d I do?”
Ray laughed.
“You fell out of bed, and then you punched the bedpost.”
Mikey groaned.
“Not again.”
Lightning flashed again, and Frank gave it the finger.
Bob rolled over to face the wall.
“Just sleep, people. Talking time in the morning. Sleeping time now.”
I laid back down and closed my eyes, trying to block out the flashes of lightning.

~*Mikey’s point of view*~

As I finished making my coffee and sat down at the table, Ray walked in and turned the TV on.
“I just want to see the news.”
“Up now on Channel 7 News, the brutal murder of a local woman. Susannah has more- Susannah?”
The reporter cleared her throat.
“I am standing here in front of the house in which Julianne Dietrich was brutally murdered by her fiancé, Alan Blake. At around 9 o’clock last night, neighbours heard a loud and violent argument between Ms Dietrich and Mr Blake, and about ten minutes later, a few saw Mr Blake getting into his car and driving away. Concerned, they entered the house and found Ms Dietrich dead. They alerted the police, and when Mr Blake was pulled over by police on suspicion of drink driving, he was instantly recognised and arrested.
Mr Blake confesses to Ms. Dietrich’s murder, saying ‘The bitch had it coming.’
Ms Dietrich dies leaving a ten-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter.”
“Thank you, Susannah. And now-”
Ray turned the TV off.
“I don’t think I want to see any more. The important stuff is always first anyway.”
“That’s pretty nasty.”
I looked around. Frank had been watching from the doorway.
“Well, see ya guys. I’m off to visit Alec.”
“You sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“Nah, I’m fine.”
He pulled his shoes on and walked out.

~*Frank’s Point of view*~

“Um, yeah, hi, I’m here to see Alec Marshall.”
“Are you related to him?”
“No. I'm just a friend. I was a patient here not long ago, that’s how I know him.”
She pursed her lips.
“Well, just this once. God knows he needs a friend right now.”
I nodded and walked through the door, turning right towards the ward Alec had been recently moved to.
I knocked on his door and poked my head in.
“Hey, Alec.”
He looked up.
“You did come!” His eyes were red and blotchy, and his voice was stuffy, like he’d been crying. I walked over and sat down beside his bed.
“What’s up, buddy?”
He sniffed.
“Did you see the news this morning?”
I nodded. “This woman was murdered.”
“Tha- that was my mum.”
“Oh no...”
“THAT BASTARD KILLED HER! HE WAS NEVER ANY GOOD, I DON’T KNOW WHY SHE LOVED HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE!”
He picked up his pillow and buried his face in it. I reached out and placed my hand on his arm.
“Oh my god… You poor guy.”
He dropped the pillow and sobbed instead onto my shoulder.
“Why? First my brother, now her. Why can’t I be next? Why can’t I die so he can’t hurt me any more?”
“No, don’t say that, Alec...”
He mumbled something indistinct, clinging to me as though he wanted to strangle me.
“Frank?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want to go to Oregon.”
“I know.”
“I just want to stay here.”
“I know.”
“Frank?”
“Yes?”
“Do you care about me?”
“Of course I do, Alec.”
He hugged me tighter.
“Good.”