A/N: I just want to assure everyone that I have no hatred towards Lyn-z or Jamia. I love them to death, so please don't think I dislike them. I had to give them dramatized personalities for the story.

"What's wrong?" Lindsey noticed the way her husband's face blanched as he received a phone call. He looked like he was going to be sick, and grew increasingly ashen as whoever was on the other line continued to speak. He hung up the phone, and held on to the counter to hide the fact that his hands were shaking. But she noticed. "Who was it?"

"Ray." Gerard said. "Frank was in an accident. He's in the hospital."

"What happened?" She asked this cautiously. She wasn't stupid enough to not have figured out the history between Gerard and Frank.

Of course, that was a long time ago, but she still hated the thought of losing her husband over his former best friend. They were close still, in a way. But not close like they were before. No, they still spent time together, and their kids were like cousins, but now they simply acted like brothers with a bit of tension.

Yet still, Lindsey was well aware that at one point or another, the two had really been in love. And that was a fact that she had to live with even though she hated it. Frank's wife, Jamia, liked to pretend it never happened. That whatever feelings they had were never even there. But Lindsey knew better than to act ignorant. No, she liked to do everything in her power to prevent those feelings from resurfacing and ruining not only hers and Jamia's lives, but the children's as well.

"Ray said that Frank was unloading something from his van when a bus collided with it. He wound up under the bumper or something, but he was holding a duffle bag and it hooked on underneath the bumper and lodged him between the curb and the bus. I guess the thing is what prevented him from being killed right then and there. Ray said he was dragged about ten feet along the curb by the bus."

She had to take a moment to regain herself after hearing that. No matter what Gerard and Frank had in the past, she would always care about Frank, and his safety being compromised was a lot to handle.

"What are you doing?" Lindsey asked, when she noticed Gerard grabbing his jacket and fishing around for his keys.

"Going over to the hospital, of course." He replied.

"Gerard, no." Lindsey said. "He'll be fine without you. Don't go."

"Lynz, he could die, and I might never see him again." Gerard said. "I have to see him."

Her heart skipped a beat when he said that. It wasn't what he was doing, but the way he said it that scared her. No, him going would only mean trouble.

"You're not going." She blurted out, and once she said it, she said the rest with more conviction. "If you go, you won't come back here. You won't see Bandit again."

He looked taken aback, unsure of what to say.

Before it could get worse, she calmly walked away.

He believed her when she said that. She was asking him to choose between Frank and his daughter. But that wasn't going to happen.

He knew she was keeping an eye on him, but he also knew that she wouldn't watch too carefully. The threat hanging over him was enough to keep him in place. That is, if he weren't more clever than that.

He walked upstairs, under the guise of going to get some alone time. Lindsey would leave him alone for a while if she thought he was drawing.

He cracked open Bandit's bedroom door, and snuck inside, where the seven year old was busy with a mixture of dolls and comic action figures.

"Hi Daddy." She said happily. "Would you like to join Batman and Barbie for tea?"

"I would be glad to do that later." He said, his tone hushed. "But right now we have to go on a little trip, okay?"

"Where are we going?" She asked as he handed her her coat and shoes.

"We're going to visit Uncle Frank. He got hurt, and we have to make sure he's okay."

"Okay." Bandit said, nodding as if she understood the urgency. "We can't tell Mommy, can we? Because she'll get mad."

"I..."

He didn't know how to respond to that. She was so smart. He couldn't hide anything from her, no matter how much he protected her.

"It's okay." She said, gathering a few of the toys and stuffing them in her pockets. "I'll be quiet."

He couldn't believe he was actually doing this, but he picked Bandit up, and made his way downstairs. When Lindsey went down into the basement to do some laundry, he sneakily rushed out, leaving a hastily scribbled note on the counter.

He knew she would hear the car start, but before she could stop him, he would be gone.

"Did Ray call you?"

He had the bluetooth connected to his car so he could talk to his brother on the phone while driving to the hospital.

"Yeah, what's going on? Are you driving?" Mikey asked, sounding concerned.

"I'm on my way to the hospital. Can you meet me? I've got Bandit with me." Gerard said. "I'm going to try to see Frank, and I don't know what condition he's in. I don't want her going back there with me and getting upset."

"Yeah, I can watch her." Mikey said. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Gerard paced the waiting room until Mikey got there. He had already talked to the lady at the front desk to find out where Frank was, and after arguing a little bit about visitation rights and some minor lying, he was granted permission to see him.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Mikey walk in at a quickened pace.

"Okay, sweetie, you're going to hang out with Uncle Mikey for a while, okay?"

"Alright." Bandit said from her seat.

Mikey gave him a quick nod that translated as a signal to go, and Gerard took off down the hall. It was as if he couldn't reach the room fast enough, and when he did, he couldn't prevent the tears that came falling down his face.

"Gerard?" Frank looked alarmed and surprised, but his voice was tinged with amused joy at seeing him. He wasn't looking good, with bruises and scrapes all over his body, and his leg was wrapped and propped up. But he was awake, and he was alive. "What are you doing here?"

Gerard didn't think he had been holding his breath, but it came out in a rush as he exhaled, falling to his knees at the bedside. He couldn't even answer Frank's question due to the waves of emotion rolling over him.

"Hey, everything's okay." Frank said, shifting his weight as much as he could in his current situation in an attempt to sit up.

"You could've died." Gerard murmured, hanging his head.

"It's okay." Frank said in a soothing tone, taking Gerard's face in his hands. He lifted his head so they were looking each other in the eyes, and he wiped Gerard's tears away with his thumbs.

"No, no it's not. You could have died and I never would have seen you again, and I never would have been able to tell you anything I've always needed to tell you and..."

He stopped himself, realizing he was starting to ramble.

Frank's line of vision flicked up to the door for less than a second, as if he were checking for something, and then locked with Gerard's, reassurance radiating from his hazel eyes.

"You don't have to say anything." Frank said softly. "I know."

Then he moved his hands from Gerard's face to his back, pulling him closer and closing the space between their lips. Gerard tilted his head, and brought his own hands up to weave them into Frank's hair. The kiss was warm and familiar, despite the years apart.

And time just stopped.

Bandit had her head rested on Mikey's shoulder, using her puffy coat as a blanket as she drifted off. He was messing with his phone when to his alarm, he heard his name.

"Mikey?"

Reacting quickly, he jumped up, already grabbing his coat to try to sneak out, but it was too late. She had seen him.

"What are you doing here?" Jamia asked.

"Ahm..." He started nervously. "I was nearby. Ray told me what happened and I thought I'd pop in and make sure everything was okay."

"You had Bandit with you?" Jamia asked suspiciously.

"I can't spend time with my niece?" He asked weakly. It wasn't a good excuse, that was for sure. Jamia could surely see through it.

"Right." She said dubiously. "Well, I don't think they let anyone who isn't family go back there, so I'll keep you updated, but you should really get Bandit home. She looks exhausted."

"No!" Mikey exclaimed, rushing to stand in her way. "I mean, it's fine. We can stick around. Bandit's already asleep and- and waking her up to go home is unnecessary."

"Okay, thanks Mikey." Jamia said, nonplussed.

She tried to step around him, but he moved with her to stay in her way.

"Mikey, really." Jamia said, sounding like an exasperated mother. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Um..." He said, biting his lip.

She sighed.

"Gerard's here, isn't he?"

Mikey didn't answer, fidgeting anxiously.

"Okay. Listen, I appreciate you coming here, and I know you just want to help your brother, but I have to ask you to leave." Jamia said. "I'm going to go see my husband now."

"Oh no." Mikey whispered as she left.

If only he knew the extent of how badly this was going to end.

Jamia walked down the halls, thinking to herself. She wondered how Gerard had gotten past the hospital's strict family only policy, and wondered why he would even do that in the first place. And why had Mikey stayed behind?

Whatever, she was just going to go in there and simply, yet sternly, ask him to leave.

She came upon the open doorway to Frank's room. The scene before her made her heart drop. But somewhere, deep within her, she wasn't really surprised. Of course she had expected something like this. She had only wished she was wrong.

Frank and Gerard didn't take notice of her presence. They were too wrapped up in each other. Kneeling on the floor, Gerard had melted into Frank's touch, his eyes closed, soft salty tears mixing into their kiss. What hurt the most for Jamia was the commanding, hungry way her husband kissed Gerard. Needing and wanting and never letting go.

She considered walking away. Letting him think she never saw. Maybe that would have been easier. But it was too late for that when he opened his eyes and spotted her.

He broke the kiss, but didn't pull away from Gerard, or make any signs that he was nervous or distressed like Mikey had when he had been confronted with her. He just watched her with a sad expression, his bright eyes drooped with an unspoken apology, but no regret.

At the break in contact, Gerard cocked his head slightly, confused at to why Frank looked so solemn. He turned around slightly, spotting Jamia in the doorway. His eyes widened and his lips parted slightly, but Frank rested a hand on his shoulder to tell him not to say anything.

Jamia couldn't imagine how she looked in that moment. Heartbroken? Grief stricken? Angry? Or maybe her body language didn't reveal anything at all.

Silently, she walked away.

And surprisingly, no tears came.