FicWad

Mikey paced up and down the hospital waiting room like a caged animal. Rage seethed from him like infra red waves as he strode from one vile pale peach painted wall to the other and back again. Ray sat beside me on the row of hard plastic chairs. He was quite the opposite to Mikey; pale and shaking. He kept raking his hands through his hair and glancing at his wristwatch. And I... well, I couldn't really feel anything. The shock that had came with the frantic phone call from Mikey had left me numb and speechless. I couldn't think straight. I couldn't speak. I could barely even breathe right. My best friend was in hospital - possibly dying that very minute - and I felt nothing.

A young dark-haired doctor walked through the door suddenly. Mikey grabbed her by her upper arms. "How is he? Is he alright? Will he be okay?" He babbled frantically. By the look on the nurses face, I could tell Mikey's fingers were digging into her arms.

"Your brother is stable, Mr Way," She told him. "Unconcious, but stable. We've managed to stitch him up and fortunately there wasn't too much bodily damage done. I wish I could say the same for his face though. I'm sorry Mr Way, but he will have facial scarring for the rest of his life, I'm afraid. And his right eye socket was damaged. Which means he'll also be partially sighted in one eye."

"But you've fixed him? He's all better? He'll be able to go home?" Mikey asked. When the doctor nodded, he went limp with relief.

"Not tonight though - he should come round in a couple of hours, but we've decided it's probably best for him if we keep him in overnight," The girl quickly added. Mikey nodded.

"Can we see him?" It was the first thing I'd said since Mikey had called me in tears. The doctor nodded again and led us down a corridor to Gee's private room.

*

Seeing him there in the hospital bed was a real shock. I know the doctor said there'd be facial scarring, but I only expected a few cuts and scratches. But I was wrong. His whole face - his beautiful face - was a mess of ugly, stitched up gashes. Some were long. Some were short. They overlapped and criss-crossed each other. Both of his lips were split and He had a bad shiner on his right eye. His eyes were closed, his bright red hair and pale skin a shocking contrast with the off-white hospital bed pillow. Apart from the damage on his poor face, he looked totally still and peaceful.

"Oh, Gee!" Mikey flew to his bedside and grabbed his brother's hand. "When I track down the sick fuck that did this to him..." He hissed.

"Don't do something you'll regret, Mikes," Ray warned.

"I wouldn't regret it," Mikey snapped. "Look what they did to him! This is my brother Ray. No scratch that - he's not just my brother - he's my best fucking friend too, okay? Imagine if someone did that to your best friend."

"Um... news flash, buddy. They did," Ray retorted, his voice raising slightly in volume.

"Guys!" I said. They both looked at me as if they'd forgotten I was there. "Is now really the time to be fighting?"

"I guess not," Mikey suddenly looked sheepish, like a little kid who'd been caught stealing cookies. "Sorry, man." He punched Ray's arm lightly.

"Naw - I'm sorry," Ray shook his head. "You're right - he's your brother. You just wanna protect him."

Mikey didn't seem to be listening anymore. He'd sunk into the chair beside Gee's bed with weak legs and was rubbing one of Gerard's hands between both of his own, as if he was trying to warm him up or something. "C'mon, GeeGee, come back to me," He begged. Ray took hold of my arm gently.

"Come on, Frankie. Let's get out of here - give them some privacy," He said. I followed him out of the room without another word.