FicWad

I couldn’t believe Mikey was worse than before. He seemed fine yesterday. I just hoped he’d be okay.

“So where’s that punk Derek?” Gerard asked as he drove away, breaking the brief silence.
“He left a few minutes a few minutes before you arrive,” Frank replied.
“Because he knows I’d kick his ass if he stuck around.” Gee shook his head. “Don’t forget that’s he’s the one who always used to pick on Mikey. Even now I’m sure he’s been giving him some problems.”

I bit my lip. “What did he do exactly?” I asked curiously.
“He broke two pairs of Mikey’s glasses, constantly calls him names, and he and his friends ganged up on him in the bathroom and-,”
I was shocked. “And what?” I asked, not even sure I wanted to know the answer.
“Gave him a swirly?” Frank suggested.
“No,” Gee responded. “That was fifth grade, this was eighth.”
“Then what?!” I burst out, frustrated.
Gee hesitated. “It’s not very appropriate to discuss.”
“Just spit it out, Gerard!” I yelled.
“They kind of said that his…” Gee trailed off, giving us an uneasy glance downward as he stopped at a light.
“Pogo stick?” Frank suggested.
“Ew!” I said, playfully hitting Frank on the arm. He smiled at me.
Gee gave Frank a weird look before saying, “Yeah, that” before continuing. “Anyway, they said it was very small-,”
“Gross! They were looking?!” Frank exclaimed.
I slapped Frank and made Gee continue.
“And said that my brother shouldn’t even be considered of the male species,” Gee finished.

I was angry at Derek. How could he say that? And apparently my emotions got the better of my control.

“He’s one to talk!” I fumed. “His isn’t even that big!”

Gerard slammed on his breaks when those last five words slipped from my mouth.

“And how would you know?” Gee questioned, seemingly intrigued to hear my answer.
“Um-uh…umm, w-well…” I started nervously then snapped myself out of it so I could sound convincing. “Okay, look, I think Derek only said because he’s insecure about his own pride which is why he’d wound someone else’s. So maybe he did it to make himself feel better.” I shrugged. “He’s a bully,” I concluded rationally, calmly.

Hopefully my explanation would suffice because I managed to regain and keep my composure.

“That…makes sense,” Gee allowed as he eased off the break and got us in motion again. Thankfully the street he stopped on had no traffic.
“Yeah,” Frank agreed easily, nowhere near as freaked as Gee- not even close.

I took a nice breath of relief as the tension from both guys faded and we continued our drive to the hospital.

Once we arrived, I didn’t know what to expect. I just wanted Mikey to be okay.

Gerard got us there within a matter of minutes and ushered us to the fifth floor.
“How bad is he, Gee?” Frank asked once we were in the elevator.
“The doctor hasn’t given us an exact diagnosis, but it’s pretty serious.”

My heart stopped in my chest.

“He’ll live, right?” I asked gently.
Gerard replied with, “I hope so.”

Tears threatened to fall but I held them back, only allowing myself to feel the stinging pain in my heart and throat.

The elevator doors opened up to the fifth floor and we encountered Gee and Mikey’s mom, Donna, as we got off.

“Mom!” Gee exclaimed. “Did they tell you yet?”
She cried and said, “Gee, he’s not doing too well.”

A few tears fell from Gee’s eyes as he began to hold his mom in his arms.

“He’s going to make it, right?” I inquired, my voice breaking.
Donna nodded. “Yes, he will, thank God.”
“What does he have?” I asked curiously.
“He had a small case of hypothermia, but what he still has is pneumonia,” Mrs. Way retorted.
“How is that?” I questioned softly, confused.
“Well, he wasn’t wearing a jacket. He was exposed for too long in the cold air. Even for the brief time he wore his hoodie it didn’t make a difference. And this wasn’t the first time either. Of all the times I told him to wear a jacket, it never stuck.” Donna shook her head. “I guess this time around it was just too cold. But thankfully, the doctor said it’s wearing off. They were able to get rid of all the chills and shivers.”
“What about the pneumonia?” I inquired.
“He’s had it for a while without us knowing it. And since he nearly froze and because he has asthma, the pneumonia was intensified. It should be gone within a few days or so, I’m not too sure.”

All of this was getting to me, I felt more than guilty at this point.

“I’m so sorry,” I cried.

Donna put her hands on my shoulders. Thankfully, I didn’t shudder. I hardly did with adults.

“It isn’t your fault, Skyler. I don’t blame you.” Donna smiled softly. “You’re the only one he keeps asking to see. So I advise you to go and see him.”
“Thank you,” I replied and headed in the direction of the rooms, forgetting the fact that I didn’t know where Mikey’s room was.

“Skeye,” Gee said, stopping me.
“Yeah?” I asked, turning to face him.
“I’m sorry I blamed you.” He gave me a gentle smile and I could see that he meant what he said which made my body warm instantly.
“Don’t mention it,” I retorted with a smile.
“And Skyler?” he said, stopping me once more.
“Yes?”
His smile grew and he replied, “He’s in room 512.”
“Thanks,” I responded gratefully and headed in the direction of Mikey’s room.

dArDeViL™