Chapter 5

It was now 6AM and Frankie had been sitting for hours doing nothing, but she decided it was best to try and pre-occupy herself, so she couldn't get too upset again. She quickly grabbed a make-up wipe and took away the mascara that had streaked down her face. It was only when Frankie was ill when she didn't wear any make-up at all, but today wasn't a day she wanted to impress anyone, herself included.

She trudged down the stairs, and she could hear someone awake in the office, and she looked round to see Mike, who was on the phone.

"Yes, well, thank you Officer." He said then put the phone down. Obviously the police managed to track Connor's whereabouts.

Frankie slumped into the kitchen and grabbed some toast and slumped on the breakfast bar. She had to force herself to eat, with her stomach constantly churning. Food was not currently a priority for her. She looked round to see Mike standing in the doorway.

"Mike, look, I'm sorry." Frankie said, sighing to control any emotions. "I couldn't leave him, not like that…"

"It's okay." Mike said "We were worried about you, that's all. And the Police didn't say anything about you finding Connor."

"Yeah well, I panicked, I asked for an ambulance and that's it. I can just remember seeing him, almost dead." Frankie said grimacing at the thought. "I was so scared; the doctor said it was too soon to tell if he was going to make it."

"Well, the police were just on the phone, and they said he's alive, but on life support." Mike replied.

"He left a note with my name on it." Frankie sounded quite distracted. "But I don't think I should read it. I assume he wanted me to read it if he died, and he's not dead, so it's only right if I just keep it a mystery." Mike just smiled at her, obviously knowing it was Frankie who had to do the right thing, not him or anyone else.

Frankie went into the lounge and started watching 'Kerrang!' on the TV and they had a Green Day special on, showing all of their music videos. It was something to at least to slightly cheer her up, but it did go on for 4 hours, but Frankie was taking priority over anyone else today. She didn't really care. She lay down on the sofa and settled herself to be quite comfortable.

The hour and a half she was alone seemed to fly by, quietly humming along to every song, and knowing all the words to every song just made her smile. Green Day was definitely a band she loved a lot.

"What the hell is that on the TV?" Moaned Carmen, as she came down the stairs with Tee and Mackenzie, closely following behind. They wandered into the sitting room and sat on the other sofa.

"Frankie can you put something on people actually want to watch." Carmen snapped.

"Nope. I was up first."

"You shouldn't have TV rights at all with the stunt you pulled last night." Tee sneered. "I hope Connor got arrested for assault for what he did. It's both of your faults he's in hospital." Frankie jumped to her feet; nobody ever talked about Connor like that. But instead of slapping Tee, like she thought she would've done, she fled the room.

She ran upstairs and went into her bedroom. She opened her pencil case full of stationary and she quickly dismantled the pencil sharpener. She sneaked across the hallway, and locked herself in the bathroom, sliding to the floor and resting her back against the door. Frankie pulled the blade across her skin, wincing in pain each time. 'It was all my fault Connor's dead. If I hadv'e got there sooner, none of this would've happened. If I had've stopped him from not taking his pills. There's so much I should've done. '

Frankie sobbed feeling as if all she'd ever been to Connor was a negative impact. She jumped hearing a light knock at the door.

"Go away." Frankie mumbled, wincing at the stinging in her arms.

"Frankie, open the door, please." A familiar voice said.

"Blake, don't bother." Frankie sighed. Blake frowned and sat down by the other side of the door, very similarly to how Frankie was.

"Frankie, I heard you coming in last night. Tell me what's up. I won't tell anyone." Blake pleaded; Frankie sighed, shoved her hoodie on and opened the door.

"I don't have to tell you anything." Frankie sneered. She walked to her bedroom and grabbed her purse, which had money and a fake ID. She sneaked out of the house and headed to, the hospital, taking the much quicker bus journey. She wandered to the reception where a young woman sat, looking extremely bored.

"Hello, I'm here to enquire about visiting times on the critical care ward."

"They're 3-7pm, depends on who you want to see though."

"I'm here to see Connor Adams."

"Oh, I'm sorry, no visitors are allowed for Connor, his condition is stable, but they don't want to risk any infections."

"I was allowed in yesterday." Frankie replied, slightly annoyed.

"Yes well, not today." The nurse replied in a condescending tone. Frankie scowled at her and walked out, and quickly caught the bus to go home. She made her way the local off licence, where she grabbed a small bottle of vodka and headed back before anyone could know she was missing. She'd only been gone an hour at most.

She stormed back up into her room, bumping into Elektra on her way.

"Watch it!" Elektra snapped. "Where are you off in such a hurry?"

"The hospital isn't accepting visitors. What a fucking joke!" Frankie scowled and stormed off, leaving Elektra confused. She thought Frankie hated Johnny, she needed to investigate further.

Frankie sat on the bed and quickly unscrewed the bottle cap. She took her first mouthful of vodka and the liquid burned in the back of her throat, warming it. The more Frankie drank, the more her inhibitions slipped away from her and she began giggling to herself.

Elektra heard the commotion and and knocked on the door.

"Come in." a slurred voice yelled from the other side of the door.

"You've only been in an hour! How much have you had?" Elektra said, shocked.

"Not much." Frankie giggled. Then, the empty bottle fell from her bed.

"Shit, you've had a full bottle of vodka to yourself!" Elektra whispered. "Look, we can't let Mike and Gina see you like this, okay?"

"Whatever." Frankie slurred.

"Now I'll get you some water, you stay here, and try not to vomit." Elektra said running out then bumping into Gus.

"I was looking for you; Mike wants to talk to everyone in the lounge."

"Okay." Elektra shrugged, walking past Gus, and then realizing which way he was walking. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm going to tell Frankie, everyone else is already down there."

"Oh, well, I'll do it. I think Frankie's asleep."

"But Mike asked me to get everyone."

"And you have. I've just been with her. I've left my phone in her room. Tell Mike we'll be 2 minutes."

"Okay." Gus nodded heading back downstairs to join the others. Elektra sighed with relief and she darted to the bedroom and she realized Frankie wasn't there. She winced when she heard someone vomiting in the bathroom. Elektra made her way downstairs.

"Frankie's asleep; I didn't think I should wake her up." Elektra lied, though Mike believed it, much to Elektra's surprise.

"Right, well I have some good news. The hospital called, and Johnny is allowed to come home, Gina's gone to get him." The room lit up, with Tee and Mackenzie grinning with glee, the same, surprisingly with Acid. Blake had obviously shrugged her off again.

"Should I warn Frankie? Just so she can stay out of his way." Elektra asked Faith.

"If she's awake, but I doubt she'd want to stay out of his way. She hated his guts the last time I checked."

Frankie lay on her bedroom floor. Her head spun, her stomach churned and her throat burned. She regretted drinking so much, realizing it didn't really numb any feeling of pain inside her, but neither did the cannabis or the self-harm. She felt as if her emotions weren't going away, no matter what destructive way she tried. Fighting with the fatigue, Frankie's eyes closed shut, finally regaining some energy that she so very much needed. It was going to be a rough ride.