Frank, Mikey, and Ray stood with their backs against the wall facing Gerard's bunk. He was still asleep. Ray held the phone in his hand, his shaking hand, Mikey bit his nails, and Frank scratched the back of his neck. All were unsure of what to do. All were fighting back the tears.

"What should we do?" Frank asked.

"Well, the best thing would be to tell him, but -" Ray was interrupted.

"He'd be devastated." Mikey finished, in a low voice.

"Well, we can't just not tell him. I mean, they were very close. And, if he finds out and realizes we didn't tell him, he'll hate us." Ray pointed out.

Mikey and Frank nodded their heads slightly in agreement.

Mikey stepped forward and lightly shook Gerard. "Bro, wake up."

Gerard moaned and turned over, facing away from the guys. "Whaaat?" He muttered.

Mikey took in a deep breath. "It's Rachel."

Gerard's eyes shut open. He turned over and propped himself up on his right elbow. "W-what?"

Mikey opened his mouth to speak, but Ray cut in. "Gee, she's in the hospital. She's in special confinement. There's been an incident."

*30 minutes later*

Gerard was shaky as he tied his converse. He managed to get his clothes on straight, but his red hair was a mess. He didn't even grab coffee. Once he finished tying his shoe, he went to find the keys, but they were no where in sight.

"Where the fuck are the keys?" He snapped, twisting around and staring at the guys.

Frank showed Gerard the shiny silver keys that rested in his palm. Gerard went to snatch them, but Frank put his hand behind his back.

"You're not going alone, Gee. You're too stressed, and you don't know where she is." Frank said.

Gerard glared at him. "Just give me the -"

"No." Ray cut in. "Frank is driving. Mikey, Pedicone, and I will stay here and tell every that the concert for tonight is canceled."

"It's for the best, bro." Mikey said.

Gerard knew they were right, but all he cared about was getting to Rachel and fast. He sighed. "Fine. You're right. Can we…can we just go now? Please?"

Frank nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

The two walked out the door and headed towards the parking area. Gerard walked quickly, getting ahead of Frank. He got to the black car first and gripped onto the passenger side door's handle. Frank unlocked the car and Gerard jumped in, buckling his belt and slamming the door shut. Frank followed and did the same. He started the engine and backed the car out of its space, driving forward.

"Frank." Gerard said.

"Yeah?"

"Where is she? What's happened?" Gerard asked. He looked over at Frank who bit his lip.

Frank looked both ways and pulled out onto the highway, speeding up to 55 mph.

"Frank. Tell. Me. Now."

Frank sighed. "She's in a hospital in Baltimore."

Gerard closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Why did she have to be so far away? They were in New York and she was in Maryland. Sure, it was only three hours away, but that was like Hell for him.

"Well, Bree found her. She was heading over to Rachel's and when she got there, she saw all the lights were out. She didn't want to just burst in, so she called Rachel on her phone. She called her five times and no one answered. So she went to knock on the door and it was unlocked, so she went in. She saw something on the kitchen floor so she went back there. Rachel's mom was dead, covered in blood, with two stab wounds in her chest. Bree went upstairs. Right in front of her bed room door was Bob, also dead with the same wounds. She noticed Rachel's bedroom door was open, so she went in and…." Frank's mouth hung open and twitched. He wanted to finish, but couldn't.

Gerard noticed Frank's eyes were shiny, like he was ready to cry. "Frank…..what did she see?"

Frank looked over at Gerard and back at the road. "She…..she saw Rachel and Bob's father, on the floor in front of her bed. He too was dead and stabbed to death. Only he was stabbed repeatedly, and his pants were missing. Rachel was on the bed, completely naked. Blood covered her stomach and arms. She has a cut on her cheek and a stab wound on her right thigh. She was holding the knife and crying."

Gerard felt like he was having a heart attack. He could barely breathe and he was shaking like crazy. He tried so hard to hold the tears back. Hearing this made his heart break….it made him want to die. He felt guilty. Guilty that he'd left Rachel. Rachel; the girl he'd loved since fifth grade, the girl he told he hated when she told him she liked her at 21, the girl he didn't even say good bye to when he left five months later for their world tour, and now…..five years later, this happened to the girl he wasn't there for.

"Frank…..fuck! I feel so guilty. This is all my fault…" He muttered.

Frank looked over at Gerard and rested his hand on his shoulder. "Dude, no it isn't. You weren't there -"

"Exactly!" Gerard cut in. "I wasn't there. I broke her fucking heart and didn't even say good bye to her, and then I wasn't there for her when this happened! I could've stopped it!"

A red light ahead came on and Frank stopped the car. He looked over at Gerard. "Gerard, listen to me. I know you loved her, and I know you still do. You told her you hated her as a lie because you knew you had to leave and you didn't want her to have to worry about you or have a long distance relationship. You didn't say good bye to her so it would be easier for you and her. And look at you now, you're rushing back to her. Gerard, she wants you with her. She still believes in you. And, I guarantee she still loves you. No. I know she still loves you."

"How the hell would you know what she feels for me?" Gerard snapped.

"Because that's what she fucking told Bree!" Frank snapped back.

Gerard's anger drained out of him and he stared at Frank blankly. "What?"

The red light went to green and Frank drove off. "You heard me." Frank said. "Ever since you left, she's been telling Bree she still loves you and that she believes in you. You know what else she's told her? That she understands. She knows why you said what you said, she knows why you didn't say good bye. And she fucking knows that you're on your way to see her."

Frank looked over at Gerard. "Dude, Mikey, Ray, and I have been keeping in touch with her. Both of them. They're our friends, we can't just disappear off the face of the earth! And do you know who Rachel talks to us the most about? You."

Gerard wiped the tears from his eyes. "So….I still have a chance?"

"Yes." Frank said. "Right now is the best time. I mean, it may not seem like it. But, if you help her through all this, be there by her side at all times, hold her tight and let her know everything is ok, I'm sure she'll go back to her old self and give you that second chance."

Gerard sort of smiled to himself. Frank noticed and smiled a bit too.

*Time Lapse Forward*

By the time they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, it was 7:34 p.m. The sun was setting. Gerard got out of the car and stared at the giant building in front of him. Frank closed his door, looked at Gerard, the building, and back at Gerard.

"Gerard?" Frank asked. Gerard looked over at him. "You ready?"

Gerard sighed and looked down at the ground. He nodded and closed the door. Frank locked the car and started heading across the crosswalk, Gerard followed behind him.

They walked inside and both shivered. It was chilly in there even though it was winter. Gerard was too busy looking at the waiting room and lobby to notice that Frank had left him behind and was up at the receptionist's desk. When Gerard finally realized, he rushed over.

"Alright, well, I'm going to need you two to put on these bracelets. Once you do, take the elevator up to the fifth floor, make a right, go down three doors, and her room is the third on the left." Said a chubby dark woman behind the desk.

She handed the two their bracelets. They quickly put them on and got into the elevator. Gerard chewed on his lip as the elevator moved up. Once it got to the fifth floor and the doors opened, his heart began to race. They stepped out and began walking down the right hall. A scream came from one of the rooms and suddenly three nurses bolted out. Their hair was a mess and one's shirt was torn. They walked past Gerard and Frank who stared at them oddly. That's when Gerard counted the doors and realized something - they came from Rachel's room.

They walked down and knocked on the door. The door opened and there stood Bree. She smiled and hugged them both. "Thank God you're here! Those damn nurses have been bothering Rachel."

Bree pulled them inside and around the wall. The bed was visible now. Rachel was visible. And never in his entire life had Gerard felt so sad to see a loved one lying in a hospital bed with bandages and with a look of fear in their eyes. "Rachel…." Gerard said in a quiet voice.