Frank's Last Words

Gerard and Frank had decided to stay at the hospital. Poor Lily had looked dreadful, Gerard having stayed with her until the ambulance came. He’d actually carried her out to the ambulance as she’d started crying again, not wanting anyone else to touch her.

So Gerard carried her to the ambulance and laid her out in the back then they’d stayed with her and watched her as she’d drifted in and out of consciousness on the journey.

“You OK?” Gerard said turning to Frank as they waited for the nurses and doctor to tend to Lily. Lily had been operated on and the doctor had come out earlier and said that everything would be OK, that the bone was now set but it would be almost two months before she would be back to normal.

“Will she be able to dance again?” Frank had asked, knowing how important this was to Lily.

“Yes, if she does as she’s told and has physiotherapy and does her exercises. Are you good friends of Lily’s?” The doctor asked.

“Um…yeah, yeah we are,” answered Frank quickly.

“Something has come to my attention,” the doctor said but he got interrupted by a nurse.

“Lily is waking doctor, I think we need to speak to her about the situation now.” The nurse said in a calm voice.

“Yes, yes, I shall be in shortly.” He said but turned back to the two men. “How well do you know Lily’s husband?” He said to them.

“He used to be a good friend but…no, we don’t know him that well anymore,” said Frank wondering what all this was about but the doctor just nodded and disappeared behind the curtain again to see Lily.

**

After another ten minutes of Gerard and Frank waiting patiently and hardly talking the doctor appeared again.

“Which one of you is Gerard?” He said glancing between the two.

“That’s me,” said Gerard.

“Would you like to come with me Gerard, Lily would like to speak to you.” He said.

“Um…yeah…sure,” said Gerard slightly confused and wondering why she wasn’t speaking to Frank. He glanced at Frank who just shrugged.

The doctor and Gerard disappeared behind the curtains and Frank wondered what the fuck this was all about.

Gerard was shocked when he saw Lily. Her ankle was resting up on a pillow, it looked huge in the cast and then he took a look at her face, it was streaked with tears and her face was pale. She’d been crying again, her eyes were red and her nose puffy.

”Its OK Lily. Gerard is here now.” Said the doctor.

Lily just looked at Gerard and burst into tears again.

“What’s wrong Lily?” Gerard said going to her and taking her hand.

“I’m ashamed.” She said, turning away from him.

“We…we’ve found some unexplained bruising on Lily,” said the doctor as Lily began sobbing again.

”I don’t understand,” said Gerard.

“We think…we think she’s being abused. Her stomach and some parts of her legs are covered in bruises that had nothing to do with the fall and when we asked her what they were she didn’t want to tell us at first but,”

“Its Zach isn’t it?” Said Gerard looking at Lily. She sniffed loudly then nodded, not able to look at him.

Gerard squeezed her hand. “Lily, its OK, he’s not here. You need to do something about this, how long has it been going on?”

“Not that long, a couple of weeks.”

“But why?” Asked Gerard.

“Its all because of…you guys. Well, Frank really.” Said Lily. “He’s got it into his head that I still love Frank and would rather be with him.”

“That’s fucking stupid,” said Gerard. “You and Frank haven’t been together for ages, you married Zach for god sake. What’s wrong with the guy?”

But Lily kept quiet.

“I’m going to go and get Frank and tell him about this,” he said standing up off the bed but still holding her hand.

“Please, no Gerard, don’t get Frank involved.”

“He has a right to know what this prick is saying and what he’s doing to you.” He said.

“Please Gerard.” She said with pleading eyes. “Its true. What Zach thinks is true. I still love Frank and I should never have married Zach, I married him because…I don’t know, he was there for me after we broke up.”

“Oh fuck,” said Gerard. “Does Frank know anything of this? I sensed you and Frank aren’t speaking properly at the moment. Is it about Zach, the reason you’re not talking?”

“No, he doesn’t know anything about this. Please don’t tell him. I’m ashamed.”

“Why Lily?” Said Gerard sitting down again.

“Because Frank doesn’t want me, he ended it. It’s been a year now and he’s moved on and I haven’t. He doesn’t need my shit. Please, promise me you won’t tell him. I don’t know what to do, I can’t go home, I don’t want to go home."

“You can’t go back to Zach, I’m not going to let you. We’ll sort something out, don’t worry Lily but I think Frank needs to know about this, OK?”

Lily just nodded again, grateful that Gerard was here. She watched him stand up and open the curtains, then glanced back at her.

“Shit,” he said. “Frank’s not here.”

“That’s right,” said the nurse coming in with some water for Lily. “He said he had to visit someone.”

“Oh my god, how much do you think he heard?” Said Lily. “Please, go after him Gerard. He may have gone to Zach. I don’t want Frank to get hurt. Zach’s evil.”