1982
It was the first day of kindergarten for young Aliyah, she was five years old, and entering the school world with her best friend, Frank Iero.
"Okay, be a good girl Aliyah, mommy will pick you up at 3:30, love you baby." Her mother, Christina, said, as she kissed her on the top of her head.
"'Kay mommy." Aliyah said, as she noticed her friend, Frank rolled in with his mother.
"Oh, hello Linda." Christina said, to Frank's mother.
"Hello Christina, here to drop off Aliyah?"
"Oh yes, I see Frank is going to be going to the same school?"
"Yeah, I figured it would be good for Frank, as well as Aliyah."
"You're right...anyway, I'd better get going, I have classes today...see you around!" Aliyah's mother said, as Frank's did.
"Hi Frankie." Aliyah said, as she walked beside Frank.
"Hi Aliyah!"
"So wait, who's our teacher?"
"Um, the lady in the dress?" Frank said.
"Oh, I guess you're right." They both entered the kindergarten class, as were the other children.
"Okay class, my name is Mrs. McCarthy, and I am your teacher for Kindergarten. Do any of you have any questions?" The teacher asked, with a pleasant smile on her face.
"ME!" A little boy in the corner said.
"Oh, yes, what is it?"
"What do we do?" He asked.
"I see your question, well to answer it, we're just going to prepare you for 1st grade." She said. The whole class awed in amazement that they would be 1st graders in a year to come.
"So, first of all. We will have a little lesson on art, you will all get to play with play dough!"
"YAY!" The class screamed in excitement. They were all rushed to a table, most of them with their friends.
"Ohh this is so fun!" Frank said, as he picked up a big piece of blue play dough.
"I know!" Aliyah said, as she started to roll a piece of pink dough, into a long snake.
"Hey why is that kid alone?" Aliyah said, as she motioned over to a boy, all by himself, on a table. He had thick-rimmed glasses, and light brown hair. His nose was a tad bit pointier than Frank's and Aliyah's, his face graced by a frown on his tiny mouth.
"I don't know, but he seems kinda weird...maybe there's a reason he's alone." Frank said.
"That doesn't seem very fun...maybe we should invite him to play with us!" Aliyah said, at her idea.
"Whatever..." Frank said, as he started to attach two pieces of dough together.
Aliyah dropped her play dough snake, and started to walk over to the little boy.
"Hi, my name is Aliyah, what's yours?" She asked him.
"Mikey..." He said quietly as he stared at the big glob of green dough in front of him.
"Oh, well I was wondering if you'd like to come and play with me and my friend Frankie." She said, as she motioned to Frankie, sitting on the table behind her.
"Okay..." Aliyah smiled, as she took his hand, and led him to their table. Mikey gave a shy smile to Frank, as Frank deliberately ignored his presence.
"Frankie! This is my new friend Mikey...wait you are my friend aren't you?" Aliyah said, as she turned to Mikey.
"Yeah..." He said quietly, as he sat down next to Aliyah. Aliyah kicked Frank's knee, signaling him to say something.
"Hi...I'm Frank." Frank said, not looking up from his play dough project.
Mikey smiled timidly, and started to fiddle with a small piece of dough. "You wanna help me make a snow man?" Aliyah asked Mikey.
"Sure..." Mikey rolled up his piece, and stuck it with Aliyah's.
"There, now he's all pretty!" Aliyah said, as she set it on the table. "You can have it if you want you know..." She said to Mikey.
"Oh, okay. Thank you."
"HI MOMMY!" Aliyah said, as she ran to her mother waiting for her after school.
"Hi honey." Her mom said, as she hugged her daughter.
"I see you've made a new friend hmm?"
"Yeah, his name is Mikey, he's really nice mama!" Aliyah said as she and her mother walked to the car.
"Oh well that's nice...although I can't seem to shake the feeling that I've seen him somewhere."
"You know him?"
"I don't know...maybe."
Three Years Later...
Aliyah, Mikey, and Frank, were all walking to their first day of 3rd grade. Frank, who has gotten over his theory that Mikey was weird, asked "What so, do we all have the same teacher?"
"I don't think so...my big brother said there's more than one."
"Oh...that kind of sucks." Frank said, as he dug his shoe into the sidewalk.
"I guess so...but we have recess." Aliyah added, trying to make the mood a little lighter.
"Yeah...but still, we can't make fun of the teachers big butt anymore." Mikey said with a slight laugh.
"Yeah I guess so." Frank said.
The three of them walked to school, and exited to their morning class, before recess.
At Recess...
"Mikey, pass the ball!" Aliyah said, as she ran around the recess area.
"Okay!" Mikey threw the ball, as Aliyah caught it, and threw it to Frank.
"Well this is getting kinda boring." Frank said, as he set the ball down on the ground.
"You're right, wanna—" Mikey said, but was cut off at his sudden breathing problems. His small frame fell to the ground, as he struggled to keep calm. He held onto his chest, grasping at the soft fabric of his shirt, wheezing and coughing, trying desperately to take oxygen into his lungs. Aliyah and Frank rushed to his side. His face was turning red, as he tried desperately to breathe. A couple of students had rushed inside to get the teacher, she ran outside with her eyes wide. She quickly dialed 911 on her phone.
"Hello, operator, I need an ambulance I now /I ...No I cannot wait, listen, I think one of my students are having a heart attack or something." The teacher said frantically, as she stared down at the shaking boy that was her student. "Okay...okay, that's good, thank you..." She shut her phone off, "Okay, now listen children, please get inside of the building, and wait for me there, please do not come out of the play grounds, don't ask questions just move!" The teacher said in a hurry, as the children filed into the school.
Aliyah and Frank looked at their friend, who was now on the ground, as they walked into their classroom with their fellow classmates. Aliyah's eyes filled with tears, as Frank's face was laced over with horror.
Mrs. Henderson shooed the children into the building, as she sat by Mikey's side, until the ambulance came. Mrs. Henderson held his head up, "Please Mikey, breathe don't pass out on me!" She said feverishly, as she stroked the boy's forehead.
The ambulances came, their loud sirens, and their blinking lights, Mikey was rushed onto a gurney.
"Ma'am we'll have to contact the parents of this child...would you please give the phone number?"
"Yes sir, I will. But will the child be okay?" The teacher asked quietly. The nurse gave a quick look at the small boy on the gurney. He shook his head a few times, and jotted some notes on his clipboard.
"It's too soon to tell, though we will contact the school, just in case he does have to sit out for a few weeks, months even..." The ambulance nurse said, trailing off at the end.
"All right." The teacher said, looking off as the ambulance sped off to the hospital.
"MOM!" Aliyah screamed as she ran to her mother. The frantic yells of children filled the Elementary School front yard, as the parents had to pick up their children early.
"Aliyah sweetie, are you okay?" Her mother asked her, as she hugged her tightly.
"Yes mom." Aliyah mumbled into her mother's shoulder. She couldn't help but wonder if her friend was going to be okay, considering that he was, not hours before, struggling and suffering on a hospital gurney.
"Mom, could we go and see Mikey, me and Frankie are worried." Aliyahs said, looking at Frank who was now hugging his own mother.
"Yes, that would actually be a good idea...I'm sure Mikey would like that too." Aliyah and Christina approached Frank and his mother, Linda.
"Linda, would you care to see Mikey in the hospital, I'm sure Aliyah and Frank would love that as well."
"Yes I'm sure they would... though I couldn't help but wonder, what was the cause of it... it couldn't have been Asthma...then again it could be. Gosh I'm confused." Linda mumbled to herself.
"Well, we'll definitely find out. C'mon kids, let's get a move on." Christina said to the two kids.
"Okay, listen, would you mind taking Frank down with you?"
"No problem."
The whole lot of them jumped in the car, and went to the local hospital.
There, the scene was still hectic, as nurses and doctors were still rushing around the hospital. Aliyah and Frank had both entered the hospital.
"Why hello, I'm looking for a Michael Way." She said politely to the front desk.
"Ah yes, that'll be room 122."
"Thank you." She took the two kids hands, and briskly walked down the hall. There, they stopped at a door, that was open, a woman, and a boy, a few years older than Aliyah and Frank, she guessed, was sitting in the corner.
"Hello there, you must be Michael's mother." Christina said, as she extended her hand.
"Indeed I am, I'm Donna, and this is Gerard." She said. She let Frank and Aliyah go off to aid their friend, "I see, well I'm Christina, Aliyah's mother, and that's Frank, he's Linda's boy."
"I see...are you here to see Mikey?"
"Yes...I know this is hard to ask, especially considering I only know your name, but how is he?" She asked.
She shook her head, "Not so well, I mean, they always knew he was sickly, but never like this before."