FicWad

I sat there next to the hospital bed feeling out of place and uneeded. I'd kicked Mikey out of here as soon as we arrived. I think he got the message when I slapped him across the face and the nearest nurse had to remove him from the room before I started shouting even louder. Gerard sat there like he was going to cry. The nurse had just shaved a square out of the back of his hair in order to stitch up the cut that he'd gotten from hitting the sink. A plaster was stuck lopsided over his chin over another cut from Mikey's jacket zip during their argument in the bathroom. A black eye bloomed over his right, as he stared down at his hands. I sat there in the chemical silence, watching the nurse bandage up his hand from where he'd broken his little finger. He was really young looking, and seemed to be quite new. He'd apologised to Gerard a lot for shaving that square in his head. After he'd finished, he checked Gerard's notes.



"You'll have to stay in overnight because it was a head injury, but I'll come and check on you first thing tomorrow morning, so then you, and your girlfriend, can go home."

I wasn't really listening, just staring at the stagnant water in the vase of dying flowers on the bedside table. Gerard added hastily,



"Uh, she's not my girlfriend..." before having a little fit of nervous laughter. I broke away from my day dream as the nurse stared at him, drawing out an





"Okay..." before replacing the clipboard back in the notes tray at the foot of Gerard's bed. Ray knocked on the door, and came in quietly, a cup of coffee in his hand.



"Hey guys... Oh, hey Ryan." he smiled, waving a hand slightly at the nurse. "This is for you." he passed me the coffee, and I drank it gratefully. I still had a splitting head ache from my hangover. Ryan looked up from checking the time on his watch, and said brightly,



"Hi Ray, good to see you."



"Yeah, how are you? You and Tiff okay? I haven't seen either of you since you left school." Ray asked, siting in the chair next to me.



"Uh, yeah, great. Not been here long, we just moved, I had to because of work, and it's nearer her friends, so, yano."

They talked about work and life and the boring stuff, and Frank's party, apparently Ryan was there. Ha, not that any of us had noticed. Gerard sat there staring at his hands, before saying quietly,



"Guys, can you all get out of here for a minute? I want to talk to Robyn..."

His eyes glanced up and made contact with mine, before he looked away sheepishly and continued staring at his hands.

They both cleared out, leaving me and Gerard alone.



"I'm sorry." he croaked, his voice quiet and cracked. It hurt him to talk, the stitches and plasters pulling when he moved his face, turned his head. "I was just... I don't even know."



"Look, you went and got some chick's name tattooed on your ass when you were drunk. It's not the first time in the world it's happened, and it won't be the last." I smiled at him, patting his bandaged hand gently. "And hey, I thought it was pretty funny once the shock had cleared." He laughed, and stopped soon as the stitches were making it uncomfortable. He picked his phone up from the bedside table and looked at the reflection of the back of his head in the black screen. He looked like he'd cry again.



"Hey, look, when you're allowed home tomorrow, I'll cut your hair so you won't notice a thing. Okay?"



He smiled as best he could.

"Thanks."