Hit and Run

About 5 hours later

"Nadine... Deeny, wake up." a voice whispered gently.

She felt cold fingertips caress her cheek, while another hand rested on her shoulder. She opened eyes blurred from crying and sleep. She blinked a few times and gained composure, before staring into her best friend's eyes, "Delia?" she asked, yawning widely.

"Morning hun." Delia muttered.

She looked drained, heavy grey bags were hanging from her eyes, her cheeks slick from sweat and tears. Nadine sat upright and yawned again, sighing as she took in her surroundings. She and Delia had sprawled themselves across a lonely row of chairs in the crowded ER hallway. Gerard was a few paces down, leaning against the wall, looking torn. Nadine stood up and walked slowly towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him tenderly. He glanced down at her, biting his lip to control the tears, "M-my best fr-friend is dying..." he cried, burying his head in Nadine's neck.

"Shhh, I know." she cooed, rubbing his back gently.

She also felt hot tears prick the insides of her eyelid, but she kept them in. She had to the be the strong one for once. And she had shed her tears for her brother, and until he was actually dead, she refused to cry anymore. She Gerard slowly, tracing her fingers along his bony spine, whispering softly in his ear. Slowly, she led him back to Delia, who watched the two with a kind of depressing fascination, like when a hunter kills it's prey. Gerard plopped down in the chair, slamming his head back into the wall. "FUCK!" he screamed, crying even harder and doubling over.

Nadine sighed and massaged the back of his head, giving Delia a desperate look. Gerard lifted his head and pulled Nadine closer to him, kissing her neck and crying into her shoulder. "Baby, you need to breathe." Nadine choked out, feeling the rapid inhale-exhale on her arm.

Gerard whimpered and drew in a sharp breath, letting it out slowly. He picked his head up again and locked eyes with Nadine, "Why does this keep happening to us?"

Nadine shrugged and shook slightly, "I... I dunno Gee."

A door beside opened, and a frantic, mousy looking man poked his head out, "Erm, Iero?" he asked nervously.

Nadine's eyes lifted slightly, "Yeah?"

"Would you come with me?" he asked softly, focusing his attention to the floor.

"J-Just me?" Nadine stuttered.

"Family only, I'm afraid." the man sighed.

Nadine smiled softly, "We're all family... adopted..." she explained shyly.

The man nodded, convinced and held the door open as the three broken friends stepped through. The man smiled gently and sat down on one of those swivel stools. "Frank's is going to be alright."

Nadine let out a long breath of air and felt Gerard's hand grip hers lovingly. The man continued, "He's being kept on the respirator until the anesthetic wears off, and then we can determine if he needs it or not. We got the bullet out, and repaired most of the damage, so he should recover fairly quickly." he explained, moving his hands around and flipped through a shuffled stack of papers.

"Can we see him?" Nadine asked desperately.

The man nodded, "Once he's out of recovery... which should be soon..." he trailed off and looked up at them.

Gerard licked his lips and shifted, "When will he be able to come home?"

"Depends, he's being kept at least 72 hours for observation, the rest is really whether he's ready to go or not."

Gerard sighed and tightened his grip on Nadine's hand. The man looked down at his pager as it began to chirp. "Would you like to see Frank now?"

The all nodded feverishly and trotted behind the strange man, following a few feet down the hall, "He's just in here, he should be waking up soon."

Delia thanked him and opened the door, feeling Nadine and Gerard gently push her inside. Frank was laying flat on his back, a thick blue tube running down his throat. Nadine's knees locked for a moment, but Gerard urged her forward, keeping his hand firmly on her shoulder. "Thanks, Gee."

She settled down next to the bed, stroking her brother's hand, "Frank... Frankie, wake up."

He squirmed slightly and struggled to open his eyes. Nadine smiled and kissed his knuckles, "Come on, Frankie, you can do it."

He opened his eyes, and stared around, before panicking and choking on the tube. Delia shot up and restrained his shoulders, "Frank! Frank, calm down, you're okay. You're in the hospital, it's okay..."

He blinked and did his best looking around, before smiing softly and gripping onto Nadine's hand, "You feel okay?"

Frank nodded slowly and brought his hand up to his chest, pointing to a white bandage. Nadine studied his body language for a moment, then sighed, "It hurts doesn't it?"

He nodded and again and his brow creased into a wince. A young nurse bustled in and smiled warmly, "Oh, Mister, umm... how do you pronouce your last name?"

"I-Ear-oh." Nadine said blandly, used to having to spell it out for people.

"Thanks, well anyways, it's nice to see your awake, Mr. Iero. Can you breathe on your own?"

Frank shrugged his shoulders and blinked at the nurse. She held her chin and placed a hand on his chest, "Try and breathe out your nose."

he grunted softly, but nothing came out. The nurse sighed sympathectically, "Try again, and go out your nose."

Frank screwed up his face, and let out a tiny stream of air. The nurse smiled and slowly pulled the tubing from his throat, "You're going to be alright."

He smiled gently and opened up his arms, allowing his sister to curl in his embrace, letting a wave of tears flood from her eyes, "Don't leave, please don't leave." she cried, burying her head in his shoulder.

"Shhhh, Nadine, I'm here. It's alrught now, I'm here." he whispered.

She sobbed loudly, out of relief and out of pain, keeping a death grip on her brother, "Please stay alive Frankie... you're alive..."

He smiled gently and stroked her curly hair, petting her head and rocking her, "It's okay Nadine, it's okay."

She reached up and kissed her brother's cheek, before crawling out of the bed and wrapping herself around Gerard.

Please stay alive, Frankie...

***********************
Gerard was shaken awake by a powerful blast of thunder, forcing him from his garish nightmare. He sighed softly and wiped the sweat off his face, before sitting upright and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He glanced behind his shoulder at Nadine, who was curled up beside him, her back facing him. He bent down and kissed her bare shoulder affectionately, before getting out of the bed. His knees cracked and buckled slightly, sending him toppling to the ground. He caught himself on his palms and eased himself to the floor, trying not to wake Nadine. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, replaying his dream in his head. All the fire, and the screaming, feeling Mikey's cold hand slowly being jerked away. He shook his head and stood up slowly, rubbing his aching muscles. He stumbled through the dark room, groping his way along the wall, trying to find the door. Nadine stirred on the bed, opening her eyes, "Gerard?" she mumbled tiredly.

He turned, a slight panic rising in his chest, "Go back to sleep, Babe." he cooed.

"Where are you going?" she asked curiously, stifling a yawn with the back of her hand.

"I dunno, I can't sleep." he sighed.

Nadine blinked, her eyes illuminated from the startling moonlight, "You can't sleep? Why not? Is there anything I can do?"

"Yes, Mikey and I don't think so. I just need some fresh air... please." he half begged.

Nadine sighed softly and sat upright, "Don't get hurt, okay?"

He smiled and strolled over to the bed, kissing her forehead slightly, "I'm not gonna do anything bad, okay babe?"

Nadine smiled and laid back down, drawing the thick sheets closer to her body.

Gerard pulled on a pair of dirty jeans laying at his feet, and then pulled his sleep shirt over his bare torso. "Bye babe." he whispered, before shutting the door quietly behind him. He crept down the stairs, grabbing his coat and shuffled out the door.
******************

He found himself wandering aimlessly through a cemetery, eyes clouded by the heavy influence of marijuana and dark rum. He brushed his hands along the worn head stones, feeling the faded words beneath his fingers. He reached down into a small plastic bag, first pulling out his liquor, then pulling out a pad of drawing paper. He set it against the rough stone, rubbing a piece of charcoal along the surface. He pulled the paper back, and set it up to the moonlight, examining the etching. He then grabbed his rum, taking in a large mouthful and swallowing forcefully. "This is for you, Mikey." he slurred, standing up and stumbling through the rows of graves.

Finally, he fell across the fresher burials, kicking at the clods of left over dirt, cursing the dead around him. He kicked back more rum, sighing at the burning sensation on the back of his tongue. He kept walking, making random etchings of the various graves and holding them up to the moon, studying the thin lines. Then he found Mikey's. They dirt was still piled on top, with a pile of wilted roses on top. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and he swallowed the last of his rum, flinging the bottle into the darkness, listening as it shattered on the frozen ground a few hundred feet away. He leaned against the head stone, squinting to read what had been written, "Micheal Way... the cause of all my fucking problems." Gerard muttered bitterly, pulling his cigarette box from his back pocket.

He fished out a joint, lighting it with cold, shaking fingers. He pushed the blue smoke from the corner of his mouth, glancing up at the vast night sky. He took in several more hits, before feeling too dizzy and flicking the last bits away. He picked himself back up, taking a few more steps before toppling to the ground and sinking into darkness.

It wasn't too long before the cemetery guard found the source of all the noise. Though, he was rather shocked to see a grown man sprawled across the ground with a sketch book in his grasp. He tried to wake him, but after a few feeble minutes, he gave up and called the cops. Probably some homeless loser. he thought to himself. The police manged to rouse Gerard, keeping propped up on some graves as they questioned him. But all they got was his incoherent drunken babble, "Come on kid, we're taking you downtown." one officer threatened.

"I'm good." Gerard smiled, giggling slightly.

"Oh fuck this, he's too wasted to do anything, let's just bag him for possession and public intoxication." a female officer sighed.

The other shrugged his shoulders and hoisted Gerard to his feet, while the female officer clasped cuffs around his thin wrists, "You have the right to remain silent."

Gerard nodded, "I know, and I get a lawyer and shit. I've done this before..."

She narrowed her eyes and dragged him to the cruiser, tossing him in the backseat. "Just don't puke on anything." the male officer warned, flipping the sirens on.

Gerard giggled from the back, "Whee-woo whee-woo."

The female officer arched her brow, "How much did you drink tonight, kid?"

Gerard hunched his shoulders, "I dunno... a lot of rum... my baby brother died in a fire."

She felt a small wave of compassion, before scowling and turning around, "Have you been in jail before?"

"A couple times... I don't feel so good." Gerard whimpered.

"Try and hold it, we're almost there." she coaxed.

Gerard nodded weakly and huddled up on the seat, laying his clammy head on the cold window, breathing softly. The car rumbled to a stop and they carefully pulled him out. They sat him down, still cuffed, and brought over a large purple bucket, "Throw up if you have to." the male officer sighed.

Gerard thanked them and promptly vomited, bending his body over the side of the bucket. Once he had finished, they picked him up and took him to the back room, getting his fingerprints and getting a mug shot. He groaned gently, thinking about Nadine, cold and alone in their bed. They sat him down in a crowded cell, handing him a small slip of paper, "This is your one phone call, use it wisely."

Then they left, left him alone with hard looking people who stared coals into his skin. He scampered to the corner, cradling his stomach. He glanced down at the paper, twirling it between his fingers, trying desperately to remember Nadine's cell phone number. Finally, he stood up slowly and pressed himself against the bars, "Can I use the phone?" he asked timidly.

"You gotta ticket?" the officer spat.

Gerard held it up nervously and he opened the cell door, "You got 5 minutes, one phone number, no exceptions." he barked.

Gerard nodded and hurried over to the phone, punching in Nadine's number. "H-Hello?" she yawned.

"Baby?" Gerard muttered.

"Gerard? Where are you, are you okay?" she sounded worried.

"I'm, uhh, in jail... I don't remember how I got here."

"Fuck, Gerard... what did you do?"

"I got drunk and fell down." he mumbled, "Please come get me, the bail is only $500."

Nadine let out a sharp sigh, "I'll get there when I can."

"Thank you... I'm sorry..." he felt close to crying again.

But Nadine hung up, leaving Gerard standing there still clutching the phone. She came about 20 minutes later, her hair frizzled with sleep. Gerard hugged her through the bars, "Thank you... oh thank you." he cried softly.

Nadine glared however, pulling away from him. "You never keep your promises, you're such a fucking loser! All you ever do is fuck shit up. You're hopeless Gerard, fucking hopeless... I dont know why the fuck I haven't given up on you already you fucking pathetic failure!" she roared, banging her palms on the bars.

Gerard hung his head, "I-I know..."

Nadine swung her arms back, punching him square in the jaw, "How dare you break your promise Gerard! What about me, the band... Mikey for fucks sake!"

She struck him again, feeling no guilt or remorse. He fell back a few steps, holding his mouth. He didn't feel angry or defensive, he felt like this is what he deserved. Nadine hit him on last time, "Good night Gerard... i'm going back home and sleeping now."

"B-But! I have to go home! I can't stay here!" he cried.

Nadine scoffed, "Shoulda thought of that before you got wasted, good night."

And with that, she walked away, her hands balled up at her sides. Gerard slid down the bars, keeping the tears in his eyes back. "Nadine... come back... come back... come back..."