My Favorite Part Was Dying

A week had passed and Gerard hadn't seen Dr. Robinson since he showed him that room. And to make matters worse, he hadn't seen Mikey in just as long. Every day he wished for Mikey to appear but he didn't. A sense of dread kept building within him and Gerard started to wonder if he really was crazy. Maybe his brother really had been nothing more than a comforting hallucination. His thoughts festered, trapped inside his skull, trapped inside the small room that felt like a cell. Suddenly, the door opened and Jacob's large frame stood in the doorway.

"You have some visitors," he said as stepped back to allow Gerard's parents entry.

"Baby, how've you been?" Donna asked as she took a seat next to Gerard's bed. Donald ruffled Gerard's hair and sat down next to his wife. Gerard shrugged and flattened his hair back down.

"You look so pale, so thin," His mother remarked, brushing a hand over his cheek. Gerard pulled away, getting up off the bed and standing by the window, his back to his parents.

"Please, son, talk to us!" Donald begged in frustration.

"What the hell do you want me to say?!" Gerard yelled, spinning around to face them. His parents recoiled, stricken by their son's words.

"Just go."

"But, Gera--"

"GO!" he yelled, interrupting his mother. The door opened again and in walked Dr. Robinson, faux concern plastered to his face.

"What's all this shouting?" he asked. Donna looked on the verge of tears as her husband wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Gerard, your parents miss you, they love you. They want what's best for you. This is no way to treat them." Dr. Robinson's voice was dripping with condescending insincerity. Gerard fumed silently, he wanted to ring the man's neck.

"Gerard, come on now. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Something in him snapped at that moment, and he began shouting again, not caring about the consequences. "What do I have to say for myself?! Well let's start with how much fun it is here: being locked in this room for the past week -- that's my idea of a party! And being shown old shock therapy equipment -- I never thought I'd be so lucky! What the fuck do you want me to say? I don't belong here, not that any of you are going to listen to me, so what does it matter?!" His anger began to ebb, replaced now by despair. He could hear his mother's muffled sobs and his father's shocked silence.

He watched as Dr. Robinson moved towards him in slow motion. He withdrew a syringe from his lab coat pocket. As he uncapped it he spoke but Gerard didn't hear the words. He began to back away from the doctor. Robinson called out into the hall and Jacob entered the room. He walked over to Gerard and a flicker of hope ran through him. Jacob was a good man, he would protect him. But as Jacob's strong arms wrapped around Gerard, holding him still, all hope was extinguished. He felt the prick of the needle shoot liquid into his arm and within a few moments his body went limp. Gerard tried with all his might to move but it was useless. Jacob carried him back to his bed and strapped him into it.

No, this can't be happening, Gerard thought. It can't -- But before he could even finish his thought blackness enveloped him and trapped him in a deep sleep.