Did We All Fall Down?

*Ray's POV*

I was pulling into checkout aisle 9 with my stuffed Stop & Shop cart. I put a plastic divider between my things and the elderly woman's in front of me. I began to pile my items (mostly junk food) onto the belt.

I glanced at the magazine rack, when one caught my eye. On the cover of People magazine was us! Gee, Mikey, Bob, Me, and featured most prominently, Frank. The headline read:

"GUITARIST FRANK IERO IN HOSPITAL AFTER CAR CRASH! Is My Chemical Romance headed for trouble?!"

"Shit," I murmured. The old woman in front of me turned and gave me a dirty look. "Sorry," I apologized.

I grabbed the magazine and put it on the belt.

*Gerard's POV*

I knocked on the door of 419. Frank's eyes sparkled and he smiled at me. It was amazing to see those hazel eyes so happy to see me. I smiled back, my hazel eyes shining brightly.

"Guess what?" Frankie asked.

"What?"

"Dr. Wilkins came in about an hour ago to tell me that the damage to my liver wasn't as bad as he thought. I can get the hell out of here in a day or so." he said excitedly.

"That's wonderful!" I exclaimed. "You're going to need crutches or something for your legs though, right?"

He nodded, "Probably a wheelchair for a couple of weeks. I wanna spray paint it and zoom around like a maniac!" he grinned. I laughed, he was so full of life. My cell rang, the caller ID said it was Ray.

"Hey Ray," I said.

"Say hi for me," Frank mouthed. I nodded.

"Gee, People magazine put us on the front cover, they know about Frank's accident and now everybody else will too. They made up a bunch of shit, this is really not good." Ray said.

"Crap... I wanna see this. Can you bring it to the hospital? I'm here now. Get the rest of the guys here, too."

"Yeah, sure. I'll gather the troops. I just need to drop my groceries home real quick, We should be there in twenty minutes or so."

"Okay, Bye." I hung up.

"What's going on?" Frank asked.

"Your crash got leaked, and apparently, things aren't being put in a good light for us." I explained. He lowered his head a little.

"Frank, it's not your fault, what happened. We'll deal with this. Our fans will be worried but everything's gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine. We'll undo whatever damage the magazine does." I assured him. He looked into my eyes questioningly.

"Really," I said reassuringly. He slowly nodded.

*Mikey's POV*

Ray drove, as Bob and I sat in the back seat, huddled over the magazine. Our scowls became more pronounced with each line we read. Ray glanced in the rear view mirror at us.

"Yeah, I know. It's messed up. They just lied there asses off about us." he said in response to our disgusted faces.

We entered the hospital and waved at Ana at the desk. She'd seen us come through here to visit Frankie a bunch of times by now. She smiled and nodded at us.

I threw the magazine into Gee's hands when we reached Frank's room. He scooted his chair closer to Frank's bed so they could read together. They studied the cover, then Gee quickly flipped to the article.

" 'Band Member In A Car Crash? What Else Is In Store For MCR? By Isabella Fiori. Frank Iero, rhythm guitarist for the popular emo band My Chemical Romance' --" Frank read.

"We're not emo," Gerard interrupted, annoyed.

" -- 'was in a car accident. Apparently, after an argument with lead singer and friend Gerard Way, Iero got in his car and sped away in a rage. Not more than twenty minutes later a crash could be heard on the back roads of Brightfield, New Jersey, where the young guitarist collided with a tree. Thankfully he was quickly found and rushed to the hospital.
After his work in the emergency room on Iero, Dr. Wilkins confided that he was incredibly worried. Frank is suffering from severe liver damage. (likely related to alcohol abuse, even though the band publicly announced that their partying days were over.) The other band members refused to comment but were obviously very upset with Iero. However, they were dutifully visiting him when I saw them. A source that overheard Way and Iero arguing the day of the crash said they were feuding about Iero's recent reckless behavior and' --"

"I've heard enough of this bullshit," Gee cut Frank off again.
"A bunch of lies to sell their magazine. I'm surprised we made the front cover, People doesn't tend to care about 'emo' bands. Whatever, I'll go on our site later and tell the fans what really happened." he announced.

"That's a good idea." I said. Gee seemed unusually aggravated by this. Bad press usually didn't bother him this much. Frank changed the subject by telling us about how he would be able to leave soon.

"So what kind of wheelchair are you gonna get?" Bob asked.

"Something simple, no electronics, I'm not gonna be in it that long. Plus I want to exercise my arms if I can't use my legs." Frank said.

"Nice logic," Ray said.

"Well it is! Sort of..." Frank muttered the last bit. We all laughed. We would deal with bad publicity later. Right now we had to buy spray paint for Frankie. He was gonna go crazy with it once he got his chair.

I couldn't wait to see this.