Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > Faring Well
“Excuse me!” Gerard had run into the emergency room from the parking lot, out of breath, sweaty, his friends following in a gaggle behind him. He slammed his hand on the receptionist’s desk to get her attention, wishing she could look just a little more concerned, given the fact that she was working in the fucking emergency room. “Excuse me! Excuse me, please!”
“Sir,” the woman said sourly. “I can’t take you until you’ve taken a seat and filled out the proper paperwork.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me!” He exploded. “It’s not me! My--my--they just brought in a little boy. He’s about this high, with brown hair, and glasses, and he’s really tiny for his age, but he’s getting bigger, and he’s really thin, and--”
“Sir,” the woman repeated, her bitchy voice grating on Gerard’s nerves. He just wanted to see his brother, for God’s sake. “What is the boy’s name?”
“Mikey--Michael! Michael James Way, seven years old, he--”
“I’ll check if he’s in the system. Are you related?”
“Yes, I’m his brother!” Gerard tapped his foot and strummed his fingers on the desk impatiently while the nurse took her own sweet time looking Mikey up on her computer.
“And them?” She indicated the group of teenagers behind him.
“Uhh…Cousins.” Gerard glanced back, nodding at them all.
“Hmm…I’m sure,” she mumbled, turning back to the screen. “Way, Michael. Room 1650.”
“Thank you!” Gerard ran over to the elevators, beginning to press all the call buttons at once, jumping into a vestibule the moment the doors opened, not waiting for his friends to get in with him. He danced from foot to foot impatiently while the elevator took forever to reach the sixth floor. When it finally did, he darted out and ran in the direction of Mikey’s room, reaching it in less than a minute.
Once outside the door, Gerard took a deep breath and smoothed down his hair. He tried to slow his heart rate by evening out his breathing, but it wasn’t working. He took one more deep breath and pushed open the door.
There was Mikey. Pale, perfect, innocent little Mikey. His glasses were on the table beside his bed, and he was in a room all by himself. Gerard’s heart felt like breaking. Mikey shouldn’t have been there all alone; where was Bob’s mother? They probably hadn’t let her in because she wasn’t family. Gerard advanced to the bed, smoothing the little boy’s hair away from his face. He looked like he was sleeping, but his chest wasn’t even rising and falling noticeably, his breaths too shallow. It wasn’t natural; there was something wrong.
“Are you Gerard Way?” A woman with blonde hair and a lab coat walked into the room, clipboard in hand. Her voice was soft, as if she were talking to someone on his deathbed. Gerard gulped at the thought. He didn’t trust himself to speak without his voice breaking, so instead he nodded. He cleared his throat. “Well…as you can see, Michael is in a coma.”
Gerard’s insides were plunged into ice-water. His bones chilled, his heart froze, and he couldn’t draw a breath. He began to quiver, to shake, his mind not processing such an onslaught. His jaw hung open and tears welled into his eyes, the boy not even caring to wipe them away as they fell down his cheeks.
“He--he…a coma?” he whispered. No. Not Mikey. Not sweet, little Mikey. Gerard looked again at the relaxed face, so strange to not be embellished with his signature grin, the grin of a little boy who knew his charm, and knew his effect on others. His eyes sparkled, when they were open, and his laugh made those older than himself swoon with how cute it was. “I don’t…I don’t know how…” Gerard felt as though he needed to sit, but didn’t want to let go of Mikey. The doctor got the idea and dragged over a chair from the corner, setting it just beside where Gerard stood by the bed. He collapsed, his hand still resting on his brother’s forehead. “How?”
The doctor looked around, fingers curling over the back of her clipboard. “I--I thought someone had told you already, Mr. Way.”
“Please,” Gerard said, turning his face to wipe his cheek roughly against his shoulder. He sniffed. “Just tell me what I did.”
“Mr. Way,” she began, shaking her head. “There’s nothing that suggests you did anything. The minute Kathy Bryar got in touch with you, we examined his body and are pretty certain that he hit his head, got a concussion without anyone realizing, then fell asleep. That’s all we have to go on, since Mrs. Bryar couldn’t provide us with any other information.”
“His his head?” Gerard’s mind immediately flashed back to just before they’d left the theatre, when he’d thrown Mikey over his shoulder and carried him out. Had he hit Mikey’s head on something without noticing? Mikey would have said something, wouldn’t he? He was always quick to reprimand Gerard for bad behavior, but…what if he just hadn’t? He’d just ignored it, because that was the type of thing Mikey would do to keep his big brother happy. Gerard buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with the effort of holding in his sobs. “It’s…it’s all my fault!” he wailed, not lifting his head. His palms were soaked with tears, but he couldn’t stop them. First his father, then his mother, and now his baby brother was slowly slipping away from him, too.
“Gerard, you need to tell me everything that Michael’s done tonight. I know it’ll be tough, but it could help us get him to wake up.” The doctor’s voice, though still quiet, was more firm now, and she placed a hand on the teenager’s shoulder to show him that she meant business.
He gulped and lowered his hands, but couldn’t bring himself to draw his red, puffy eyes away from the floor beneath him. He drew a shaky breath. “Well…He came to see a play I was in, then we went outside to talk for a while, then he came backstage, some girls were taking care of him while I changed, and then…then I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder and carried him out to my car.”
“Gerard, do you know if anything happened while those girls were watching Michael?” The doctor was scribbling things down on her clipboard, taking care not to make eye contact with Gerard, which he appreciated, since he probably would not have been able to handle it.
“I--I don’t know. He didn’t say anything, but…”
“Well, then, in the morning, we’ll have one or all of those girls in and ask them about it. Can we do that? Do you have some way of contacting them?” The pen was poised on the tip of the paper, waiting to write more down about how terrible of a guardian Gerard was to his little brother.
“Yes,” Gerard murmured, rubbing his temples with his middle finger and thumb. His head was pounding, and tears still leaked from the corners of his eyes.
“Alright. For now, I propose you go home and get some sleep.”
“No!” Gerard stood, a good four or so inches taller than the doctor. “I’m not leaving his side.”
“Mr. Way, there’s nothing--”
“Until you can get the S.W.A.T. team in here to drag me out, I’m not going anywhere.” The tears stopped, but his face was still red, eyes still swollen, heart still heavy, and the doctor didn’t dare argue with any of that. She just nodded her head, told Gerard she was sorry for the situation, and left, telling him that the cafeteria was open all night if he needed anything, and there was always a nurse down the hall. He nodded, sitting back down and slipping Mikey’s tiny hand into his own, bringing it to his lips and kissing the little boy’s fingers gently.
Oh, my God, you guys...I think...I think I've finally got my groove back on this story. I've been totally at a loss with it forever, but now...I just got it back. I know where I'm going, and it's kind of awesome. I don't usually update on a weekend, since weekend updates are when I get the least amount of comments (I guess other people have lives away from the computer? Weird, I know). But I felt it would be cool to just get this chapter up, since I know you're all just DYING to know about Mikey. And now you do. What do you think is going to happen with him? Will he be alright? I can't tell you that. What I can tell you, however, is that we are probably going to have a very...unexpected, and possibly unwelcome, character introduced. That's all I'll say for now. In the meantime, go comment, rate, and subscribe, por favor. OverAndOutxx
“Sir,” the woman said sourly. “I can’t take you until you’ve taken a seat and filled out the proper paperwork.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me!” He exploded. “It’s not me! My--my--they just brought in a little boy. He’s about this high, with brown hair, and glasses, and he’s really tiny for his age, but he’s getting bigger, and he’s really thin, and--”
“Sir,” the woman repeated, her bitchy voice grating on Gerard’s nerves. He just wanted to see his brother, for God’s sake. “What is the boy’s name?”
“Mikey--Michael! Michael James Way, seven years old, he--”
“I’ll check if he’s in the system. Are you related?”
“Yes, I’m his brother!” Gerard tapped his foot and strummed his fingers on the desk impatiently while the nurse took her own sweet time looking Mikey up on her computer.
“And them?” She indicated the group of teenagers behind him.
“Uhh…Cousins.” Gerard glanced back, nodding at them all.
“Hmm…I’m sure,” she mumbled, turning back to the screen. “Way, Michael. Room 1650.”
“Thank you!” Gerard ran over to the elevators, beginning to press all the call buttons at once, jumping into a vestibule the moment the doors opened, not waiting for his friends to get in with him. He danced from foot to foot impatiently while the elevator took forever to reach the sixth floor. When it finally did, he darted out and ran in the direction of Mikey’s room, reaching it in less than a minute.
Once outside the door, Gerard took a deep breath and smoothed down his hair. He tried to slow his heart rate by evening out his breathing, but it wasn’t working. He took one more deep breath and pushed open the door.
There was Mikey. Pale, perfect, innocent little Mikey. His glasses were on the table beside his bed, and he was in a room all by himself. Gerard’s heart felt like breaking. Mikey shouldn’t have been there all alone; where was Bob’s mother? They probably hadn’t let her in because she wasn’t family. Gerard advanced to the bed, smoothing the little boy’s hair away from his face. He looked like he was sleeping, but his chest wasn’t even rising and falling noticeably, his breaths too shallow. It wasn’t natural; there was something wrong.
“Are you Gerard Way?” A woman with blonde hair and a lab coat walked into the room, clipboard in hand. Her voice was soft, as if she were talking to someone on his deathbed. Gerard gulped at the thought. He didn’t trust himself to speak without his voice breaking, so instead he nodded. He cleared his throat. “Well…as you can see, Michael is in a coma.”
Gerard’s insides were plunged into ice-water. His bones chilled, his heart froze, and he couldn’t draw a breath. He began to quiver, to shake, his mind not processing such an onslaught. His jaw hung open and tears welled into his eyes, the boy not even caring to wipe them away as they fell down his cheeks.
“He--he…a coma?” he whispered. No. Not Mikey. Not sweet, little Mikey. Gerard looked again at the relaxed face, so strange to not be embellished with his signature grin, the grin of a little boy who knew his charm, and knew his effect on others. His eyes sparkled, when they were open, and his laugh made those older than himself swoon with how cute it was. “I don’t…I don’t know how…” Gerard felt as though he needed to sit, but didn’t want to let go of Mikey. The doctor got the idea and dragged over a chair from the corner, setting it just beside where Gerard stood by the bed. He collapsed, his hand still resting on his brother’s forehead. “How?”
The doctor looked around, fingers curling over the back of her clipboard. “I--I thought someone had told you already, Mr. Way.”
“Please,” Gerard said, turning his face to wipe his cheek roughly against his shoulder. He sniffed. “Just tell me what I did.”
“Mr. Way,” she began, shaking her head. “There’s nothing that suggests you did anything. The minute Kathy Bryar got in touch with you, we examined his body and are pretty certain that he hit his head, got a concussion without anyone realizing, then fell asleep. That’s all we have to go on, since Mrs. Bryar couldn’t provide us with any other information.”
“His his head?” Gerard’s mind immediately flashed back to just before they’d left the theatre, when he’d thrown Mikey over his shoulder and carried him out. Had he hit Mikey’s head on something without noticing? Mikey would have said something, wouldn’t he? He was always quick to reprimand Gerard for bad behavior, but…what if he just hadn’t? He’d just ignored it, because that was the type of thing Mikey would do to keep his big brother happy. Gerard buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with the effort of holding in his sobs. “It’s…it’s all my fault!” he wailed, not lifting his head. His palms were soaked with tears, but he couldn’t stop them. First his father, then his mother, and now his baby brother was slowly slipping away from him, too.
“Gerard, you need to tell me everything that Michael’s done tonight. I know it’ll be tough, but it could help us get him to wake up.” The doctor’s voice, though still quiet, was more firm now, and she placed a hand on the teenager’s shoulder to show him that she meant business.
He gulped and lowered his hands, but couldn’t bring himself to draw his red, puffy eyes away from the floor beneath him. He drew a shaky breath. “Well…He came to see a play I was in, then we went outside to talk for a while, then he came backstage, some girls were taking care of him while I changed, and then…then I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder and carried him out to my car.”
“Gerard, do you know if anything happened while those girls were watching Michael?” The doctor was scribbling things down on her clipboard, taking care not to make eye contact with Gerard, which he appreciated, since he probably would not have been able to handle it.
“I--I don’t know. He didn’t say anything, but…”
“Well, then, in the morning, we’ll have one or all of those girls in and ask them about it. Can we do that? Do you have some way of contacting them?” The pen was poised on the tip of the paper, waiting to write more down about how terrible of a guardian Gerard was to his little brother.
“Yes,” Gerard murmured, rubbing his temples with his middle finger and thumb. His head was pounding, and tears still leaked from the corners of his eyes.
“Alright. For now, I propose you go home and get some sleep.”
“No!” Gerard stood, a good four or so inches taller than the doctor. “I’m not leaving his side.”
“Mr. Way, there’s nothing--”
“Until you can get the S.W.A.T. team in here to drag me out, I’m not going anywhere.” The tears stopped, but his face was still red, eyes still swollen, heart still heavy, and the doctor didn’t dare argue with any of that. She just nodded her head, told Gerard she was sorry for the situation, and left, telling him that the cafeteria was open all night if he needed anything, and there was always a nurse down the hall. He nodded, sitting back down and slipping Mikey’s tiny hand into his own, bringing it to his lips and kissing the little boy’s fingers gently.
Oh, my God, you guys...I think...I think I've finally got my groove back on this story. I've been totally at a loss with it forever, but now...I just got it back. I know where I'm going, and it's kind of awesome. I don't usually update on a weekend, since weekend updates are when I get the least amount of comments (I guess other people have lives away from the computer? Weird, I know). But I felt it would be cool to just get this chapter up, since I know you're all just DYING to know about Mikey. And now you do. What do you think is going to happen with him? Will he be alright? I can't tell you that. What I can tell you, however, is that we are probably going to have a very...unexpected, and possibly unwelcome, character introduced. That's all I'll say for now. In the meantime, go comment, rate, and subscribe, por favor. OverAndOutxx
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