Frank Iero, You Are My Hero

**Frank’s POV**

He paced in the middle of the waiting room, his brow furrowed and his hands clasped behind his back. Mercy had been in Intensive Care for the past three hours, and they still weren’t able to see her. The vision of her falling to the ground back at the stadium kept flitting through his mind. As soon as the knife impaled the man’s arm, she had fallen. Blood had drenched the front of her shirt in an instant. Gerard and Ray had gone to the man to hold him down to the ground, where he was screaming in pain, blood gushing out of his arm. Mikey had pulled out his cell phone and called an ambulance, while Frank and Bob went to Mercy.

They hadn’t been sure if she was going to make it. There was so much blood. Her face had gone deathly pale, and her pulse wasn’t as strong as it was supposed to be. Mercy’s chest was barely moving with her breathing. The sound of Mikey yelling into his phone was the only thing that reached Frank’s ears. It was like slow motion. He sat on the ground next to Bob, who was holding Mercy to his chest, screaming at her to wake up, to not let go.

The ride to the hospital was also in slow motion. Frank sat in the front of the ambulance, his forehead plastered to the cold glass. What if she didn’t pull out of this? What if they couldn’t fix her? Would he be able to handle losing her forever? He knew he had intense feelings for her. He might even love her. In this short time, he had grown attached to her. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to make it through life without seeing her smiling face. She had to make it. She had to.

They had instantly taken her to the Emergency Room, making the five guys stay in the waiting room. But that was three hours ago. You would think that someone would’ve come out and told them what was going on, but no one had. The five men had been completely restless. Frank was pacing nonstop. Bob kept moving chairs, not able to sit still for too long. Gerard was running back and forth from the cafeteria with large cups of steaming coffee. Mikey and Ray kept trying to console the other two.

“Robert Bryar?”

The five guys instantly turned and practically ran to the tall man who was wearing the white jacket, a clipboard clutched tightly to his chest. Frank didn’t like the way he looked. His eyes had deep shadows beneath them. He looked tired and…sad. Frank choked on a sob, a fist going to his mouth to quench it. No, he wouldn’t allow it to end like this. She had to be okay. She had to.

“Is she okay? Is she going to make it through?” Bob asked, taking another step towards the doctor, his brow furrowed as he fought back the tears.

The doctor cleared his throat. “Well, we’ve managed to stem the flow of blood. But she’s still unconscious. We need to keep her overnight. You guys can come back in the morning during visiting hours. I assure you that Mercy will be in the best care,” he said, giving them some sort of grim smile.

“No, wait! Can we not see her tonight?! Just for a few minutes?” Gerard asked once he saw the crest fallen expression on Bob’s face.

The doctor paused, biting at his bottom lip for a few seconds before nodding. “I’m not supposed to allow this, but fifteen minutes. That’s it,” he said before turning and heading down the hallway towards Mercy’s room.

The guys followed him and he opened the door for them, allowing them to rush in. They circled her bed, hands clasped on the railing. She looked horrible. There were more bandages wrapped around her head and chest. There was a new one around her neck that was soaked with blood. It needed to be changed again. Needles and tubes ran out from her, attached to multiple machines that were following her heartbeat and brainwaves. Bruises covered her face and thin arms.

“Why would someone want to do this to her?” Mikey murmured, reaching forward to brush a bit of blonde hair from her face.

“I think we should cancel the rest of the tour,” Frank blurted out quietly, bringing his hazel eyes up to meet the other members of the band.

It was something that he had been thinking about as he paced. They could continue doing their music, but perhaps it was best if the tour was put on a hiatus. For Mercy. It would give her a chance to get better. Because in all honesty, he didn’t want to do the tour without her. He wasn’t sure if the others would either. And it just wasn’t safe for Mercy to be on the road with them. Not now, it wasn’t.

“I think you’re right. It just doesn’t seem right, finishing it without her. And we can’t very well take her out there. I don’t want to put her in anymore danger,” Bob muttered, looking over to Gerard.

The other three members of the band nodded their agreement, then they said goodbye to Mercy for the night. Frank lingered after the others left and bent down to place a kiss on her forehead gingerly.

“I have faith in you, Mercy. I know you will pull through this. If not for me, then for your brother,” he whispered, giving her a reassuring smile even though she couldn’t see it before leaving the hospital room.

**Mercy’s POV**

For what felt like the thousandth time that week, bright light erupted Mercy’s vision. She let out a small groan, but it was cut off by the intense pain in her throat. Slowly, she lifted a hand up and felt the blood soaked bandages. The events that had led up to the most recent hospital stay flooded her mind. She should be dead. She should be watching over everything from above. What happened after her throat was cut? Were the guys okay? Mercy shifted her eyes to the right a bit to look at the clock. It was four in the morning. Fuck. Her throat hurt like all hell, as did the rest of her body.

A nurse came in a few minutes later with a syringe. She set it down on the bedside table and began checking Mercy’s pulse and heartbeat. “How are you feeling, Ms. Bryar?” she asked, giving her a small smile.

“Like shit,” she whispered, since that was the only level her voice could get too without making tears of pain well up in her eyes.

The nurse chuckled and picked the syringe back up. “Well, this will make you feel better. It’ll also put you to sleep for the rest of the night,” she said kindly as she inserted it into one of the tubes, slowly pushing in the end so that the liquid dripped into the tube that ran into her arm. “Your friends have been worried sick. At least one of them has called every hour on the hour to see if you’ve woken up yet.”

A small smile lifted the corners of Mercy’s dry lips, but she said nothing. She knew that they were probably worried sick about her, but she really wished they wouldn’t be. It wasn’t long before she felt extremely drowsy. Whatever that nurse gave her was the shit. Her eyelids began to droop, getting a small chuckle from the nurse.

“Sleep well, dearie,” she muttered before leaving Mercy to her sleep.

Several hours later, Mercy awoke once again. The pain in her body was somewhat dulled from the painkillers and she still felt a little drowsy. Her surroundings were hazy, but she saw five familiar faces peering down at her.

“You’re awake!” Bob exclaimed happily.

“How long have you guys been here?” she whispered, looking to each of them as her vision began to clear.

“Erm…two hours?” Mikey responded, looking over at the clock.

“How are you feeling?” Gerard asked in concern.

“For one, I wish people would stop asking me that. And for two, I feel like shit. Like maybe I’ve been run over by a big ass fucking truck,” she whispered.

Ray grinned broadly. “Well, at least her mouth wasn’t damaged.”

“Eat shit, Ray,” Mercy responded, attempting to scowl at him.

“Um, Merc? We…uhh…we decided to cancel the tour,” Frank muttered, running a hand nervously on the back of his neck.

She turned her blue eyes on him in shock. Cancel the tour?! Were they off their fucking rocker? That’s what The Faithless wanted! He wanted them to quit, wanting them to stop playing their music. They were giving in to him and that was the last thing that she wanted.

“You fucking quit this tour, and I’m going to fucking kill you. As soon as I get all these tubes out of me,” Mercy growled, attempting to sit up.

Bob placed hands on her shoulders and forced her back down. “Mercy, it’s for the best. We don’t want to do the tour without you, and it’s not safe for you on the road with us.”

“You’re giving in to him!” Mercy yelled, hurting her throat. She whimpered and clenched her eyes shut, a hand going to her throat.

“Fuck Mercy, shush! You’ll get the nurse in here again if you don’t calm down,” Mikey whispered, his dark eyes shifting over to the door for a second before going back to Mercy.

“Sorry,” she murmured. “Look, I’ve already decided what’s going to happen. I’m going to go home to New York, and you guys are going to finish your tour. Then, you can come see me. I’ll call one of my friends from school and you’ll have a makeup artist. I won’t have you giving into him. You need to continue your tour.”

The guys exchanged looks. She was right. It was the best thing to do. But they didn’t want it anymore than she did. But her safety was more important.

“Mercy, I do-”

Frank was cut off by the girl holding a hand up wearily. “Save it Frank. I’m going back, whether you like it or not. Now, could you all shut the fuck up so I can go back to sleep?”

The guys gave her a sad smile and nodded, each going to the chairs that were scattered around the room. Frank, however, stayed right next to her, a hand gripping hers. He sighed heavily, his brow. Mercy reached up and brought his face to hers, giving him a small kiss.

“Frank, it’s not the end of the world. We’ll see each other soon. I promise. Continue saving lives. I’ll be waiting,” she whispered, kissing him one last time before letting go and allowing sleep to come over her body.

*****

It was a whole week before she was allowed out of the hospital. They ran every test imaginable on her, took blood samples, head scans, everything. Mercy was sick and tired of the hospital after the second day, and her bitching and complaining was well known throughout the place. A lot of the nurses refused to come in her room unless they had too, because Mercy would scowl at them and tell them to let her the fuck out of the there. The guys constantly tried to tell her to calm down, that she’d be let out as soon as possible, but she just told them to fuck off too. She was irritable. So sue her.

“It’s about fucking time,” Mercy muttered as she stepped out into the cold Chicago air. Her flight left that evening, and she was going to spend the afternoon with the guys before she left. She was attempting to get out of her crabby mood, but it wasn’t working.

“We’re glad to be out of there too,” Gerard said, grinning as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Mercy stuck her tongue out at him and shoved his arm off of her. “Personal bubble, Gee. You’re invading it, dipshit,” she said, moving over to Frank to cuddle against his shoulder.

“Hey! He’s invading your personal bubble! I’m jealous now,” Gee said, putting a playful pout on his face.

She shook her head. “Nuh-uh. I’m invading his. There’s a difference, retard.”

“Aw, you’re such a nice girl,” Ray said, ruffling her blonde hair gently, careful to not touch the bandage that covered the large head wound.

Mercy grinned broadly and puffed her chest out a little. “I know. I’m fucking awesome like that.”

The guys rolled their eyes. That sarcasm went right over her head. They entered the bus and Mercy instantly went to her favorite spot on the couch, taking the blanket off of the back and wrapping it around her legs. The guys hadn’t wanted to go through her things, so she was wearing the things that were on top of her bag, which was a pair of board shorts and a tank top in hideous mismatching colors. She’d change before she got on the plane, but for now, she could give two shits.

“How are you feeling?” Mikey asked, sitting across from her.

Mercy let out a low growl. “Would you stop asking that?! I’m fine, I swear. I’m out of the hospital, aren’t I?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re worried about you. Just accept it, Merc,” Bob retorted.

“Fine. While you guys are worried about me, who wants to get me some fucking ice cream?”

The guys groaned loudly, getting a large grin out of Mercy.

*****

They stood in the massive Chicago airport, surrounded by people going to their gates, lugging heavy suitcases. Each of the guys were wearing hats and sunglasses, trying to be inconspicuous, but it wasn’t working all that well. It was night, for crying out loud. However, Mercy couldn’t blame them. They just didn’t want to be noticed. They wanted a quiet goodbye with her, without fans finding out they were there.

“Flight 143 to New York City is now arriving at Terminal 4A. Flight 143 to New York City is now arriving at Terminal 4A.”

Mercy turned to the guys, clutching the strap of her overhead bag. Most of her suitcases were being overnighted to her, since she couldn’t take all of them on the plane with her. “That’s me,” she muttered, giving them a small smile.

Ray was the first to come up and envelop her in a hug. She instantly felt a little nervous, since she hated hugs, but she figured that she could at least suck it up for now. They had been nothing but good to her over the past couple of weeks. They could get just a fucking hug goodbye.

“I’m going to miss you, shithead. Be good, and we’ll see you in three months,” Ray said, placing a swift kiss on her forehead.

Mikey approached next, wrapping his long arms around her tightly, careful not to squeeze too hard, since her ribs still hurt like all hell. “Stay safe, Merc. Call us as often as possible. You have my number, don’t you?”

Mercy nodded, kissing his cheek softly before moving over to Gerard. He buried his face into her hair, rubbing her back. Out of all of them, he was like her best friend. She felt undeniably close to him, mainly because he accepted her, foul mouth and all.

“Please, please, call me as soon as you get there. Otherwise, I’m getting on a plane and coming to you so I can beat your ass for making me worried,” Gerard murmured in her ear.

She chuckled and kissed his cheek. “I love you, asshole. And I promise to call. You continue doing the good work of My Chemical Romance,” she whispered before turning to Bob.

He looked as though he was about to cry, the poor guy. He had gotten not even two weeks with his sister, and they were the scariest couple of days in his life. He felt like shit for making her go through this. She deserved so much better. He had wanted the tour to be something good for her, and it had ended up being nothing but a nightmare.

“Cheer up, Bobert. It’s just three months. You’ll see me soon,” she said, giving him a grin as she wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her head in his chest. He rubbed a hand over her hair and placed his chin gently on her head.

“I know, Merc. I’m so sorry that this tour wasn’t what it was supposed to be. You are so wonderful, and you deserve so much more than the nightmare we’ve given you,” he said, his voice quiet.

She scoffed. “Bob, it’s not your fault. Don’t you ever think that,” she said, her lips grazing his cheek gently. “I love you, fucker. Be good. Don’t hurt Frankie too much, okay? I’d like him in one piece when you get back.”

He chuckled. “I’ll try. I love you too, ass face.”

Mercy poked him one more time in the side before going over to Frank. His hands were thrust deep in his pockets, his beautiful hazel eyes on the floor. She placed a finger underneath his chin and brought his eyes up to meet hers. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she searched his face. He looked so damn sad, and it was killing her inside. But this was for the best. They both knew that.

“Three months, Frankie. We can do it. I’ll call you every day, okay?” she whispered, kissing him a few times.

He pulled her close, closing his eyes. “I know. It’s just…I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too. Be good, Frankie. I’ll see you after the tour.”

She kissed him one last time before turning away. He tried to keep her close to him, to not allow her to get onto the plane, but his fingers clutched at nothing but air. She was already gone, moving through the security gates, not looking back.