Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > Makeup
"What happened?" she asked in shock.
"We're not sure, but we think he had a heart attack. Frank called 911, but it might be too late." Ashley suppressed her oncoming tears and immediately ran out to her car. She grabbed the first aid kit and ran back inside, rummaging through the bag to find a small bottle of aspirin. She leapt up the stairs and sprinted into Gerard's room, where Mikey was crying. Frank was on the phone with the 911 operator. Gerard wasn't breathing.
Ashley felt Gerard's wrist for a pulse, feeling the faintest of beats against her fingertips. She wasted no time and force-fed him two of the round white tablets. Not a minute later, two EMT's rushed in with enough medical equipment to sustain three people. They placed Gerard on a stretcher and quickly carried him out of the room. A third entered to ask what happened.
"He got beat up pretty bad earlier," said Frank. "I could tell he was having some bad chest pains, but he said it was from that. We never thought it could be a heart attack until he stopped breathing."
"I gave him some aspirin," Ashley spoke up, hoping against hope that she had done the right thing.
"When? Within the first five minutes of the attack?" Frank nodded. The man placed a comforting hand on Ashley's shoulder.
"You may have saved his life." Mikey wiped the tears from his eyes and asked to join Gerard in the ambulance. He followed the EMT out of the room. Ray and Bob followed them to the hospital in Gerard's Corvette. Frank gave a shuddering sigh and sat on the edge of the bed. The tears were beginning to fall. Ashley sat next to him and stared at the floor, silently listening to him cry for several minutes. He finally calmed down and glanced at her with red, swollen eyes.
"I must be cursed," she finally muttered.
"Why?" Frank asked hoarsely.
"Everyone I care about is dying." Her thoughts trailed back to her meeting with Liz and Kyle. Did they have something to do with this?
"Ashley?" Frank asked quietly.
"What?"
"I asked if you wanted something to eat." She nodded silently and followed him into the kitchen. She hadn't eaten in quite some time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Something Ashley had noticed in her short time at the mansion was that it was extremely cold. No matter where she went, cold air seemed to come from nowhere. Sometimes she thought she saw people walking just around a corner ahead of her, but she would blink and they would vanish. The hallways were a dark maze, and she was afraid to go anywhere alone. Occasionally she would venture back to the mirror in hopes of seeing Liz or Kyle, but she had no luck.
"What?" said Frank's incredulous voice, echoing from his room and down the empty hallway. She followed the sound and stood in the doorway of his room, seeing him anxiously pace the floor. It sounded like he had been crying again, something that didn't surprise her. She had been on edge herself.
"No...oh God no..." Frank clutched the small cell phone with both hands and sank to the floor, curling up and sitting against the wall. A look of wide-eyed terror and disbelief froze on his face.
"What is it?" asked Ashley. Frank couldn't respond.
"Yeah...I'll be there in a few minutes...see ya." He snapped the phone shut and glanced up at Ashley as if he hadn't even noticed her entrance.
"What's wrong?" He swallowed nervously.
"G's in a coma. He's on life support. I'm going to go see him if you want to come."
"As long as you let me drive. I don't think you could make it out the door like this." She offered a hand to help him up, and tried to keep her balance as he stood. He was a lot stronger than she thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The band, Gerard's parents, and Ashley all sat in the waiting room in fear. The doctors had no idea if or when he might come out of the coma, and they were worried that his heart might not fully recover. They had determined that the attack had occured because of how much he smoked, but that was it. The fact didn't offer any consolation to the other band members, because they all smoked as well, though not as much as Gerard. They were also concerned about his liver; it had been threatening to fail from filtering alcohol and medication from his blood nonstop.
"We've got him pretty much stabilized right now, but nothing is certain just yet. We should know within the next twenty four hours if his heart is going to be able to maintain a rhythm or not. However, if he doesn't come out of the coma within a month, we're going to have to think about considering some other options," said the doctor solemnly to his parents.
"Options? Like what?" asked his father.
"Well...it's really too early to say anything right now...but you may want to think about donating his organs if worst comes to worst," he said grimly. Gerard's mother started crying into her husband's shoulder. Mikey's hands became fists, and he tried as hard as possible not to cry.
"He's going to live. He hasn't poured his heart and soul into this band for nothing," he said with a shaking voice. The other group members nodded in agreement.
Several hours passed as day turned into night. The room was mostly dark, and everyone took turns sleeping. They all wanted to see what would become of Gerard by the next day. At one point Ashley and Frank took a trip to the vending machine to get a load of food for everyone, and passed his room on the way. Frank paused outside the room, listening intently. Ashley halted her breathing.
"Can you hear that?" he whispered breathlessly. She listened as well, and sure enough, there was the faintest sound of a voice. They both entered the room cautiously.
Gerard was singing.
Frank rushed to his side in excitement, closely followed by Ashley, but his happiness evaporated quickly. His friend was still unconscious.
"That doesn't make any sense. How could he be singing if he's still unconscious?" she asked quietly.
"Some people do that while in a coma. They'll talk, open their eyes, or in his case, sing. But it doesn't mean anything," he said sadly, leaving the room. Ashley sat on a chair next to the bed, unwilling to leave just yet. She started talking softly as though Gerard could hear and understand her. It made her feel better, as though she finally had someone to talk to.
"...And then Liz appeared in front of me. She said they're part of the Black Parade, and that ideas like that don't come without inspiration. I know they're different people now, but I still wish they were here. I wish all of this hadn't happened. I wish...it was all different..." She paused to wipe a single tear from her eye. "Maybe it's possible that if we hadn't gone to the concert, they would still be alive. And maybe if you had never given me those tickets, none of this would have happened," she said, voice taking on a glimmer of hope.
"But you've shown me just how much your music changes people. If this had happened and I hadn't known about you guys, I wouldn't have gotten through it. You helped me show my emotions with music instead of hiding them with makeup. Now I know that Liz and Kyle are part of the Black Parade. And they will be there forever, waiting for me. I can't thank you enough for everything. I wish there was some way to repay you..."
"You can start by taking this Godforsaken needle out of my arm."
"We're not sure, but we think he had a heart attack. Frank called 911, but it might be too late." Ashley suppressed her oncoming tears and immediately ran out to her car. She grabbed the first aid kit and ran back inside, rummaging through the bag to find a small bottle of aspirin. She leapt up the stairs and sprinted into Gerard's room, where Mikey was crying. Frank was on the phone with the 911 operator. Gerard wasn't breathing.
Ashley felt Gerard's wrist for a pulse, feeling the faintest of beats against her fingertips. She wasted no time and force-fed him two of the round white tablets. Not a minute later, two EMT's rushed in with enough medical equipment to sustain three people. They placed Gerard on a stretcher and quickly carried him out of the room. A third entered to ask what happened.
"He got beat up pretty bad earlier," said Frank. "I could tell he was having some bad chest pains, but he said it was from that. We never thought it could be a heart attack until he stopped breathing."
"I gave him some aspirin," Ashley spoke up, hoping against hope that she had done the right thing.
"When? Within the first five minutes of the attack?" Frank nodded. The man placed a comforting hand on Ashley's shoulder.
"You may have saved his life." Mikey wiped the tears from his eyes and asked to join Gerard in the ambulance. He followed the EMT out of the room. Ray and Bob followed them to the hospital in Gerard's Corvette. Frank gave a shuddering sigh and sat on the edge of the bed. The tears were beginning to fall. Ashley sat next to him and stared at the floor, silently listening to him cry for several minutes. He finally calmed down and glanced at her with red, swollen eyes.
"I must be cursed," she finally muttered.
"Why?" Frank asked hoarsely.
"Everyone I care about is dying." Her thoughts trailed back to her meeting with Liz and Kyle. Did they have something to do with this?
"Ashley?" Frank asked quietly.
"What?"
"I asked if you wanted something to eat." She nodded silently and followed him into the kitchen. She hadn't eaten in quite some time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Something Ashley had noticed in her short time at the mansion was that it was extremely cold. No matter where she went, cold air seemed to come from nowhere. Sometimes she thought she saw people walking just around a corner ahead of her, but she would blink and they would vanish. The hallways were a dark maze, and she was afraid to go anywhere alone. Occasionally she would venture back to the mirror in hopes of seeing Liz or Kyle, but she had no luck.
"What?" said Frank's incredulous voice, echoing from his room and down the empty hallway. She followed the sound and stood in the doorway of his room, seeing him anxiously pace the floor. It sounded like he had been crying again, something that didn't surprise her. She had been on edge herself.
"No...oh God no..." Frank clutched the small cell phone with both hands and sank to the floor, curling up and sitting against the wall. A look of wide-eyed terror and disbelief froze on his face.
"What is it?" asked Ashley. Frank couldn't respond.
"Yeah...I'll be there in a few minutes...see ya." He snapped the phone shut and glanced up at Ashley as if he hadn't even noticed her entrance.
"What's wrong?" He swallowed nervously.
"G's in a coma. He's on life support. I'm going to go see him if you want to come."
"As long as you let me drive. I don't think you could make it out the door like this." She offered a hand to help him up, and tried to keep her balance as he stood. He was a lot stronger than she thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The band, Gerard's parents, and Ashley all sat in the waiting room in fear. The doctors had no idea if or when he might come out of the coma, and they were worried that his heart might not fully recover. They had determined that the attack had occured because of how much he smoked, but that was it. The fact didn't offer any consolation to the other band members, because they all smoked as well, though not as much as Gerard. They were also concerned about his liver; it had been threatening to fail from filtering alcohol and medication from his blood nonstop.
"We've got him pretty much stabilized right now, but nothing is certain just yet. We should know within the next twenty four hours if his heart is going to be able to maintain a rhythm or not. However, if he doesn't come out of the coma within a month, we're going to have to think about considering some other options," said the doctor solemnly to his parents.
"Options? Like what?" asked his father.
"Well...it's really too early to say anything right now...but you may want to think about donating his organs if worst comes to worst," he said grimly. Gerard's mother started crying into her husband's shoulder. Mikey's hands became fists, and he tried as hard as possible not to cry.
"He's going to live. He hasn't poured his heart and soul into this band for nothing," he said with a shaking voice. The other group members nodded in agreement.
Several hours passed as day turned into night. The room was mostly dark, and everyone took turns sleeping. They all wanted to see what would become of Gerard by the next day. At one point Ashley and Frank took a trip to the vending machine to get a load of food for everyone, and passed his room on the way. Frank paused outside the room, listening intently. Ashley halted her breathing.
"Can you hear that?" he whispered breathlessly. She listened as well, and sure enough, there was the faintest sound of a voice. They both entered the room cautiously.
Gerard was singing.
Frank rushed to his side in excitement, closely followed by Ashley, but his happiness evaporated quickly. His friend was still unconscious.
"That doesn't make any sense. How could he be singing if he's still unconscious?" she asked quietly.
"Some people do that while in a coma. They'll talk, open their eyes, or in his case, sing. But it doesn't mean anything," he said sadly, leaving the room. Ashley sat on a chair next to the bed, unwilling to leave just yet. She started talking softly as though Gerard could hear and understand her. It made her feel better, as though she finally had someone to talk to.
"...And then Liz appeared in front of me. She said they're part of the Black Parade, and that ideas like that don't come without inspiration. I know they're different people now, but I still wish they were here. I wish all of this hadn't happened. I wish...it was all different..." She paused to wipe a single tear from her eye. "Maybe it's possible that if we hadn't gone to the concert, they would still be alive. And maybe if you had never given me those tickets, none of this would have happened," she said, voice taking on a glimmer of hope.
"But you've shown me just how much your music changes people. If this had happened and I hadn't known about you guys, I wouldn't have gotten through it. You helped me show my emotions with music instead of hiding them with makeup. Now I know that Liz and Kyle are part of the Black Parade. And they will be there forever, waiting for me. I can't thank you enough for everything. I wish there was some way to repay you..."
"You can start by taking this Godforsaken needle out of my arm."
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