Frank stared at the iv bag that was hanging on the pole next to his hospital bed. His eyes trailed from the bag of clear fluid to the needle taped to his arm. He sighed and slouched back into the bed. The door creaked softly as it opened. Frank looked up to see who entered. It was Gerard. They were silent for a while. Neither of them knew what to say. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Gerard spoke.
"Hey." Gerard smiled at Frank as he greeted him. "Hey." Frank replied with an equally large smile. It was hard for him to look happy, because he wasn't. He felt horrible. He felt like he was going to die. That simple thought upset him. He didn't want to die. But he forced the biggest smile he could, just so his friend wouldn't see him hurt.
Gerard walked over to Frank and stood next to his bed. He stared intensely at him, then his smile faded. Seeing his friend's sudden change in mood, Frank's smile also faded. Gerard's bottom lip trembled and his eyes watered. He tried as hard as he could to keep a straight face, but failed. Gerard stood there and grasped Frank's hand as tears rolled down his face. Frank too was starting to cry.
The two of them cried silently together for a while. Neither of them wanted to tell the other what they were thinking, but they didn't have to. Their tears spoke for them. "Frank." Gerard spoke in a soft whisper. He doubted Frank would even hear him. "Don't." Frank said. "Don't do this." He was crying even harder now. "You said you wouldn't cry." Gerard looked down, ashamed to have broken his promise. "I know. But I can't help it." He looked back up at Frank. "You know I'm going to die." Frank said. "You know."
Gerard grew angry. "Don't say that!" He cried. "You just have pneumonia. You're going to be fine and you're going to come home with us soon. You're going to be fine." Now Frank was starting to get angry. "Don't lie to me Gerard! I know I'm going to die. I hear what the nurses whisper to each other when they think I'm asleep. I hear what the doctors tell you guys when you come to visit me. And I hear what the other patients whisper to each other when they pass by each other in the hallway! I'm not stupid Gerard!" Frank was shouting now. Tears still had yet to stop falling from their eyes.
It grew silent again as they stared at each other. Gerard knew Frank was dying. He just didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to admit he was going to lose his best friend forever. The thought of never seeing Frank again made him want to scream and cry at the same time. But he knew it was going to happen.
"How long do I have ?" Frank asked quietly. Gerard wouldn't answer him. "Gerard. Please tell me. I need to know how much time I have left." Frank said desperately. Gerard sighed and pulled out his phone to check the time. He looked back up at Frank. "About ten minutes." Gerard didn't want Frank to die unhappy. He wanted his last memory to be a nice one. He had an idea. He was gonna make Frank laugh. He wiped a few tears from Frank's face, then grabbed his hand again.
"Hey Frank, remember when we did that photo shoot for Spin magazine, with that giant panda ?" Frank looked up at Gerard with a confused look on his face. "Yeah, why ?" "Remember how much fun that was ?" "Frank smiled. "Yeah, it was." "And remember when you kicked me in the crotch on stage, and I was so mad ?" Frank laughed and nodded. He coughed loudly. It was a deep and whooping cough. It sounded like he was about to cough up a lung. Gerard winced as he heard him.
It went on like that for a few minutes. Frank was laughing so hard, his coughing was getting worse. He was slowly starting to lose consciousness, his vision was getting blurry. But Gerard still continued. "Remember when we kissed on stage for the first time, just to make all the fangirls go crazy ?" He whispered. Frank looked up into Gerard's eyes and smiled. "Yeah, how could I forget ?" By this time Frank had stopped laughing, it looked like he was struggling to breathe.
They were both crying, but smiling. "Gerard." Frank barely got the word out. "Yes ?" he asked. "I love you." Frank whispered breathlessly. Gerard was speechless. He had never heard Frank say that before. Frank's eyes closed and his breathing slowed. Gerard stood next to him, still crying. He was crying harder than he had ever cried before. Frank's hand was still in his. He never wanted to let go. Ever. "I love you too." he whispered.
Loud noises started coming from the heart monitor on the other side of the bed. Nurses came rushing in. Gerard still sat there, holding Frank's hand. Doctors and nurses tried to pry him away. Gerard refused to let go of Frank. He clutched his hand as tight as he could. "No!" he cried. They kept prying at him, trying to detach him from Frank. They finally got him off, and a nurse pushed him towards the door. He struggled against her as he tried to reach Frank's lifeless body. "No! Frank!" he cried. At this point, two nurses were trying to hold him back.
Mikey and Ray came bursting in and grabbed Gerard. "Come on man, he's gone. Let go already." Ray said. They managed to get him out of the room. A nurse locked the door so Gerard couldn't get back in. Gerard pounded on the door, screaming and crying like a two year old. "Gerard, calm down. You're causing a scene." Mikey said.
Gerard tried to calm himself. He pressed himself up against the door and looked into the small window. He could still see Frank's body on the hospital bed. They wouldn't take him out until Gerard was gone. His vision was blurry from all of his crying. Mikey put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay Gerard."He said. Gerard looked at his brother. "I miss him already." Gerard said.
"We all miss him." Said Ray. "But you can't beat yourself up over this. It wasn't your fault. He was sick." Gerard sighed. "Your right. But I cant live without him. I love him." Ray and Mikey nodded, as if to say they understood. But they couldn't understand. They didn't love him the way he did. "Come Gerard, lets go home so they can take Frank's body. You'll get to see him again at the wake." Mikey said.
Gerard was unbelievably still crying. He took one last glance at his friend through the window. "Good bye" he whispered. Then he let Mikey and Ray lead him out of the hospital. Even though Frank was dead, he would still be with him. Everywhere he went Frank would be there, waiting for the day Gerard would join him and they could be together once again. "We'll be together again some day Frank. And next time, it will be forever."