You Had Me At Hello

“No drinking,” Gerard promised as we loaded into Frankie’s car. I climbed into the front seat. “I will not leave your side.” We were heading to a New Year’s Eve party, the first party since Halloween, and Gerard was wary of going. He was afraid something would happen again.

“I believe in you.” Frankie started the car and drove off down the block. “Besides, we also have Mikey and Frankie. They’ll keep you in check.”

“Damn straight. No drama for this mama,” Frankie piped up. Not much was said during the drive, aside from the casual conversation between the guys. As we pulled up to a rather large house, I was relieved to see that it wasn’t the same house as before. Gerard got out of the car and walked around to open the door for me. I stepped out and almost tripped over the curb. He caught me and held me as I steadied myself.

“No falling. Bad for you, bad for baby,” he said with a smile. I nodded and wrapped my arm through his. We followed Frankie and Mikey up to the front door. “We don’t have to be here, you know. We could just go back home.” I shook my head.

“Who knows when I’ll get to go do something fun again? It’ll be okay,” I assured him. He nodded, although he didn’t seem to fully believe what I was saying to him. We entered the house and the familiar scent of cigarettes, weed, and perfume filled the air. We pushed through the crowd of people. Mikey and Frankie went to talk to some people, but they made sure to stay within sight. Gerard hovered around me, keeping a constant check on me. As the night went on, I convinced him to go and talk with the people that Mikey was with. I went to the bathroom, and when I came back out, I couldn’t see any of them. The feeling of panic was instant. I moved through the room, looking for any of the three that I came with.

“Well, look who we have here.” I heard a familiar voice from behind me. I turned around to see him. His dark brown eyes looked me up and down as he smirked at me. “Been a real long time, Tay.” I cringed at the pet name.

“I don’t have time for this, Zack,” I spat as I turned away. He grabbed my arm forcefully. “Don’t you fucking touch me.”

“Aw, come on. Are you really going to pretend like we don’t have history?”

“Yes, I am. There is no history, other than you being a piece of shit. Now, let me go,” I demanded. He laughed bitterly.

“Oh, come on now. I wasn’t that bad. You just had to be a bad girl,” he teased. I gritted my teeth, and before I could think better of it, I spat in his face. He jerked me towards him and wrapped his hand around my throat. “You are still just a stupid bitch.”

“Get your fucking hands off of her.” Frankie stood behind him. The air became palpable as he seethed. Zack laughed in his face.

“Or what, short stack? What the fuck are you going to do about it?” Frankie lurched forward, knocking his off his feet. I backed up quickly, struggling to catch my breath. Mikey saw what was happening and ran over to assist me. Gerard soon followed.

“What happened?” He asked Frankie.

“This asshole had his hands on her,” Frankie spat as he swung at Zack. In a split second, Gerard had him on the ground. Mikey pulled me away towards the door, and we stepped outside.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly. I shook my head and started to cry, and he held me as I shook. Gerard came out with Frankie in tow.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Frankie growled. “If I stay, I’m going to kill him.” We all followed him back to the car in silence. Mikey continued to comfort me as Gerard and Frankie walked off their anger. I got in the backseat with Mikey and laid my head against his shoulder.

“Who was that?” Gerard asked, trying to remain calm. I just started crying again. Mikey put his arm around me.

“Her ex, Zack. He was a real piece of shit…” Mikey answered for me.

“Seems like he still is,” Gerard said bitterly. He looked back at me. “Are you okay?” I just shook my head and wiped the tears from my face. I looked out the window, noting how fast the lights were passing.

“Frankie, slow down… It’s fine… I’ll be okay…” He didn’t reply, but the car slowed to the speed limit. I sat up and leaned against the door. “I’m sorry… For the second time, I’ve messed up what could have been a good night.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Frankie reassured me. I looked into the rearview mirror and saw him staring back at me. “We have your back, no matter what.” I nodded, and we rode in silence for a good ways. He stopped at a red light and glanced back at me. I watched for the light to turn, and when it did, he rolled forward. As we entered the intersection, I saw bright lights coming towards us.

“Frankie!”

***Gerard’s POV***

I paced the floors of the waiting room anxiously. Mikey sat on the floor, hugging his knees. Frank sat in a chair, leaning forward with his head in his hands. We didn’t see it coming. I closed my eyes, but all I could see was the broken glass and bent metal. I saw her limp body on the sidewalk after we pulled her from the car. The blood on my hands as I touched her face. The sound of the sirens pounded in my ears. The crunching glass as the paramedics made their way to her.

“Gee, you need to sit down,” Mikey said quietly. “Pacing isn’t going to help any faster than being still.”

“I can’t just sit and do nothing, Mikes. This isn’t fair. I told her we shouldn’t have gone. This whole night has been a nightmare,” I vented. I heard him sigh as he resumed staring at the floor. Frank shifted in his seat and rubbed his temple.

“I don’t get it. It’s been like five hours… We should have heard something by now.” Mikey just shook his head.

“I don’t know… Maybe no news is good news,” he reasoned, more for himself than for us. Frank just sighed as he stood up.

“I’m going to get some coffee… You guys want anything? Mikey?”

“Yeah, I guess just get me whatever. Caffeine sounds good right now.”

“Gee?” I shook my head. The thought of any food or drink turned my stomach. He turned and headed down the hallway. After a few minutes, he returned with three cups. He handed one to Mikey and brought another to me. I tried to push it away, but he insisted. “You need something.” I took it, even though I didn’t want it.

“Thanks, man.” He nodded and went back to his chair. We waited anxiously for another two hours before a man came out.

“Are you here for Taylor Greene?” I rushed over to him.

“Yes, what is going on? We’ve been waiting for hours… Is she okay?” I saw the sympathy in his eyes.

“Well, let me first say, she is in a recovery room. There was some pretty significant damage done that required some surgery. It took some time, but we got her fixed up. It will be a while before she can return to any regular physical activity.”

“What about the baby?” I saw his eyes soften, and I knew I wasn’t going to want to hear what he was about to say.

“We did the best we could, but unfortunately, we could not save the baby. There was just too much damage, and she wasn’t far enough along. I’m sorry.” I felt my heart sink as the urge to puke rose. “That being said, you can see her. She won’t be awake for a while, but I’m sure she’d like to have someone there when she does wake up. Generally, we only allow two back at a time, but if you don’t make a disturbance, I’ll let all three of you go back.” We nodded in understanding and followed him back to a dimly lit room. He stepped aside and let us in. “I’ll be back through after a while to check on her, make sure the vitals are still good. If you need anything, let us know.” Mikey nodded.

“Oh, angel…” I stepped towards her frail body. Bruises and cuts littered her skin. I sat next to her as Mikey and Frank went towards the couch. I ran my fingers gingerly across her arm. She looked so brittle under the harsh white of the light. I rested my head on the bed beside her, praying she would wake up soon.

***Taylor’s POV***

My eyes fluttered open as I felt a shooting pain through my body. My head was pounding, and my throat felt as though I had swallowed razor blades. I moved my fingers slightly, and Gerard’s head appeared abruptly.

“Thank God, you’re awake…” I blinked a few times.

“Awake? What happened? Where am I?” Everything was a blur. The last thing I remembered was getting ready to leave their house for the party.

“You’re in the hospital, sugar… When we left the party, we got in a car accident… You got hurt pretty badly…” His voice was careful, as though he didn’t want to upset me.

“Is everyone okay? Where’s Mikey and Frankie? Were any of you hurt?”

“No, we’re all fine… A few cuts and bruises, but otherwise, we’re fine… The way the car hit, your side took the majority of the damage.” I struggled to sit up, but he gently pushed me down. “Just stay still. Don’t move too much…” I saw something in his eyes that I couldn’t place.

“What’s going on, Gee? If everyone’s okay, what aren’t you telling me?” He sighed and shook his head.

“We can talk about it later… When you feel a little bit better…”

“No, I need to know now… What’s going on?” He took a deep breath.
“Well, you took a lot of damage, and they had to do some surgery to fix you…” I looked at him, tears forming in my eyes.

“The baby…” I saw his eyes water as he shook his head.

“There was too much damage done, and you weren’t far enough along…” I felt like my heart had been ripped out. “I’m so sorry…”