Suffering Alone In Silence

Gerard’s POV

The phone is ringing. The shrill sound register’s in my mind. I should get up and get it. I open my eyes and am met with darkness. I glance at the clock on my bedside table and take note that it is just gone 2 am. I groan and pick up my phone.

“Hello?” I mumble tiredly into the receiver.

“Gerard, its Dr Masters.”

“What’s wrong?” I ask, fearing something was wrong.

“It’s Frank, Gerard. He stopped breathing in his sleep. We were able to revive him but he is severely unstable. Can you come in?” He asked.

I took note of the slightly panicked tone in his voice.

“Sure, just lemme get some clothes on.” I mumbled once more.

“Thanks Gerard. I’ll see you soon.” The doctor replies, before hanging up.

I grab some random clothes and pick up my phone, wallet and keys before writing a quick note to mom and Mikey, before leaving for the hospital. I am not sure what I am walking into right now. I know that if something happens to him at all, that I have to be there to oversee things.

As if by magic, I arrive at the hospital in next to no time and find myself racing up to Frank’s ward. I am met at the elevators by his Doctor.

“We’ve run some tests. We’re not sure what he’s got.” Is his greeting to me.

“Can I see him?” I ask.

“Sure, he’s in his room.”

I walk down the hallway and into Frank’s room. He’s sitting up in his bed watching TV and as I get closer to him I take note of the blue tinge of his skin.

“What happened Frankie?” I asked quietly, being careful not to scare him.

He turns and looks straight past me. His eyes are unfocused and empty of emotion.

“I was looking at myself sleeping. I’ve never been so scared in all my life.” His voice is quiet, but strangely it is calm.

This is a side to Frank that has only just come out to say hello. I take another look at his eyes and the strange unfocused empty gaze has been replaced by intense fear. His body starts to shake slightly as if he were sobbing. His eyes which were looking past me are now focused on mine.

“Help me,” He gasps, before the shaking of his body becomes more intense until his entire being is convulsing in fits.

I push the panic button by his bed and moments later Dr Masters and a nurse are holding him down and injecting him with adrenaline.

“He’s an epileptic. Because he’s no longer numbed the sensations with drugs, his body’s chemical balance is off. He’s seizing because his body is thinking its being starved of what it thinks it needs.” The doctor says once Frank is clamed and sedated.

“That means?” I reply, indirectly telling him to make it simple.

“Basically because he was self medicating for so long his body thinks that the drugs, which were essentially killing him, were a part of his genetic makeup. Take the drugs away and his brain is thinking its being deprived of something it needs to function thus causing the seizures.” He explains further.

“Will they pass?” I ask.

“Hopefully. But in the mean time we have to keep injecting him with adrenaline. He might look like a junkie for a while.” The doctor replies.

I let this information sink in, while I look at Frank’s small body slowly rise and fall with each breath he takes.

“I dear say he’s had this medical condition for a while and just been too strung out to notice. That and his parents’ abuse and neglect of him. He’s lucky to still be breathing.” The doctor continues, before leaving the room with the nurse.

I sit with Frank until the sun is rising, then sit there and wait for him to wake back up.