Secret Agent Man

Gerard’s phone buzzed in his pocket, snapping him out of the sleeplike trance he had fallen into. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and glanced at his surroundings, remembering where he was, then drew the phone out of his pocket and answered the call, noting that the number was blocked.

“Why are you calling me, Frank?” he asked.

“How did y-”

“You’re the only one with a restricted number. What do you want?”

“I heard about what happened,” said Frank. Gerard’s face fell. “Congratulations.”

“…What?”

“You killed Matt Bellamy, the biggest traitor the Agency’s ever had, along with three others. That’s got to be some kind of record.”

“Yeah, that…”

“The Russians want to give you some award or something.”

“Hey, Frank, I have to go,” Gerard said abruptly. “I’ll call you back later.”

“You can’t call me b-”

He hung up the phone before Frank could finish protesting. Nurses were glaring at him for using it inside, and he quickly pocketed the object, setting it to silent in the process.

“Mr. Way?” one of them asked, standing in the doorway of the room to his left. He stood and walked inside. “It might take a few minutes for the anesthesia to wear off, but you can stay here and wait if you want.”

He thanked the nurse and sat in a chair next to the bed as she walked out.

“…I know you can’t hear me yet…but I’m sorry for getting you into this mess,” he said to the person lying in the bed. “We’ll go back to Jersey once you get out of here.”

One of the doctors walked in and said a few words to him. He was a little surprised at the news, but it made him smile. After the man left, Gerard took a small box out of his pocket and fiddled with it for a few seconds, holding his friend’s hand tightly. Although he had been hoping not to wake up the person prematurely, he decided it didn’t matter.

“…Gerard?”

“Hey, Lyn.”

He watched her as she took a slow, full breath of air. She reached a hand toward the injury, finding it covered with gauze and tape. She shuddered a little, and he took her hand.

“I had the worst dream…about you,” she said weakly. “…Remember? When I was crying?”

“Yes, Lyn, I remember,” he muttered.

“I thought…Matt killed you…in front of me… There was nothing I could do…”

“It’s okay. I’m fine,” Gerard said quietly. “You should get some rest.”

She mumbled an agreement and closed her eyes, taking another deep breath. His smile wilted slightly, but he was optimistic. He stood and began walking to the door.

“Oh, Gerard?” she whispered. He turned back for a second. “Thanks for the ring.”

He laughed quietly and left the room. Mikey was waiting outside, leaning against the wall and pretending to study a pastel-swirled painting on the other side of the hallway.

“So, are you okay now?” Gerard asked his brother. Mikey hugged him tightly, and he returned it.

“You never really told me what’s going on.”

Gerard sighed and reluctantly pulled away from the hug. “I know, Mikey. I couldn’t. It wasn’t allowed.”

“I meant about what happened yesterday, actually, but that works too.” He started laughing a little. “So my big brother’s a spy.”

Gerard motioned for him to keep his voice down, though he smirked at the same time. “It was always too dangerous for me to say anything. I kept wanting to tell you, really…”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Mikey said with a light laugh. “You do know this means I’m going to worry about you more, right?”

“Don’t,” Gerard said simply. “I can take care of myself.” He glanced through the window and watched Lyn sleeping. “I can take care of her, too.”

“What did that doctor say earlier?” Mikey asked. Gerard smiled warmly, almost laughing a little.

“Nothing big,” he said, looking back at Lyn. “Just that the baby’s going to be fine.”