In the Collision of a Kiss

“Oh my god! Frank! Where?! Where were you shot?!” Gerard panics. He begins to reach for him, but then changes his mind and frantically eyes for the wound instead.

“Frank was shot!?!” Mikey screams in shock looking back at them, almost losing control of the wheel.

Gerard turns to his brother, “We need to go to the hospital NOW!” Mikey automatically takes an extremely sharp left turn, putting Gerard against the door and Frank in his lap.

“Geez, Mikey!” says Gerard, after hearing Frank whimper.
“Sorry, but I would’ve missed the turn.”

“My side..” Frank says, adverting Gerard’s attention off Mikey. “It’s on,” he winces, “It’s on my side.” Frank cries quietly.

“The left side!?” Gerard quickly begins to sit Frank up. His left side was the one in his lap.

“No, on the right.” Frank tells him, as he begins to lie back down into Gerard.

“Wait..” Gerard takes his jacket off, “Ok, you can lie down.” He gently puts pressure to Franks wound, making him wince and let out a small yelp. “Sorry.” He apologizes, wiping a tear from Frank’s cheek. “It’s gonna be okay. Everything’s gonna be okay.” He cries, swallowing the lump forming in his throat.

“You promise?”

“I promise.” Gerard smiles, running his thumb across Frank’s cheek. He begins closing his eyes, “No, no, no, stay with me Frank!” Gerard gently pats him on the face, and he slowly opens them again.

As they bob and sway through the cars on the highway, at an illegal speed, all Gerard could think about was how this is all his fault. He should’ve just grabbed Frank and left when he saw those guys around the counter. He shouldn’t have taken so long to choose that same stupid slurpee flavor, and should’ve just listened to Mikey... But it’s too late for all that now, and it doesn’t even really matter. Frank could die, and that matters. That would kill Gerard, and Frank doesn’t even know how he really feels. He can’t lose him now. No, not now…and not ever.

In the crowded waiting room, outside of the ER, Gerard has been pacing back and forth for the past hour.

“You okay?” Mikey asks. Gerard jumps to the sound of Mikey’s voice. He’d gone to call their parents and Frank’s parents, and Gerard didn’t hear him come back in. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Mikey says, as Gerard lets out a deep breath. “Come sit down. You’ve been up since we got here.” His brother listens to him, and sits in the chair beside him. “So are you okay?” Mikey asks again, with deep concern. He’d never seen him like this before.

“I’m not doin’ too good, Mikey.” He answers, burying his face in his hands.

“I’m sure he’ll be oka-“

“And what if he’s not!” Gerard yells at Mikey, bolting out of his seat. The whole room goes quiet, and everyone is staring at them. Mikey sinks in his chair, partially embarrassed, but mostly hurt.

“Well, sorry for trying to be a little optimistic.” Mikey mumbles, after everyone’s attention has gone back to their conversations and old magazines.

“What if he dies?! What am I supposed to do?” Gerard cries out, still standing, and everyone watching again.

“Do you want to go outside?”

“No,” Gerard says plopping back down in his seat, and sinks down into it.

“Then stop yelling. You’re scaring the shit outta me,” Mikey says. “And don’t think I don’t care because I do. He’s my friend too, you know.”

Gerard lets out a long sigh and finally relaxes a little bit. “I’m sorry, Mikes. I shouldn’t take this out on you, you didn’t do anything wrong, you actually saved our lives back there.” Gerard realizes, "Thank you. I mean, I know a 'thank you' isn't enough for something like that, but I wouldn't even be here right now if you hadn't of came, so thank you.” Thank you.” Gerard gets up and gives his little brother a hug. “I owe you. Big time.”

“It was nothing really, it was a piece of cake.” Mikey jokes, making them both laugh. Gerard sits back down and lets out another deep breath. “It’s not your fault, you know.”
Gerard stared at him for a moment, that one caught him off guard. Mikey has always been really good at reading Gerard’s emotions.

“You do know that right?” Mikey raises his eyebrows, after Gerard dropped his head. “How could it be your fault?” Mikey cocks his head in disbelief. He knew he was probably right, he usually was, but he didn’t want to be. Not a time like this.

“How could it not be?” Gerard shakes his head. “It’s all my fault.” he murmurs, resting his head in his hand.

“No, it’s not,” Mikey protests. “You did everything you could. We didn’t know this was going to happen today.”

“I just wanna see him, I wanna know he’s okay…” Gerard’s mind trails off, and he doesn’t even notice Mikey change the subject, an attempt to get his mind off Frank. He couldn’t hear anything, not Mikey, not the room full of people, or their conversations, just his guilt and his worry.