I Mean This, I'm Okay. Trust Me

9. That's A Bit Of A Problem...

I laid in bed with Frank curled up next to me. He was sleeping, he was in such deep sleep he barely moved. It was kind of nice, lately he would twitch around and cough out a lung each night.

I laid there thinking about the tub, how we both fell in, how scared he got. Most of all, I thought about how he kissed me. How passionate and scared he was, how needy it felt, how perfect.

Frank stirred in his sleep, made a questioning tone. I closed my eyes ams relaxed my face to looked like I was sleeping. Frank sat up in his spot and quietly coughed into his arm. I could tell there was blood in his cough, the way it sounded thick.

"No." Frank said, I couldn't decide if he was talking to the canines or himself. I opened one eye very slightly and I realized all the dogs were sleeping on the floor. Even vendetta was sleeping perched on a shelf holding up CDs. "No, I can't." Frank mumbled shaking his head. I didn't know who he was talking to.

"Please stop. I won't do it." Frank whimpered. I could hear him wiped his eyes and hold back a cough. "I will not do it." He said sternly. He coughed heavily, I could hear droplets of blood dripping onto his palm. I rolled onto my side and stretched out my legs. "I don't care if I did it to them! I'm not doing this to him.." Frank said, he sounded upset. "I care about him okay? I won't hurt him, I don't care what you want me to do." Frank snapped. "Fucking listen to me damnnit. I won't do it." Frank said, he coughed harder. "Even if you try and do this to me." He said in between coughs. He went silent for a moment and laid down sniffling, I wanted to do something.

"Frankie?" I asked rolling over, I made sure that my tone was sleepy and slow. He flinched and sniffled hard. "You okay?" I asked. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Y-yea." Frank said quietly, he coughed lightly. "Just a nightmare." He lied. He lied, fucking lied. But he had no idea I knew hr did.

"Oh." I said quietly. "Well, let's get back to sleep." I told him. He nodded and rolled over to face me, his eyes were bloodshot.

"Can I uh, cuddle with you?" Frank asked nervously. I nodded and held my arms open for him. He shifted closer to me and I wrapped my arms around him. He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. I let him drift to sleep on my chest and I closed my eyes.

Who was he talking to? I was positive that he didn't let anyone inside. that was impossible, no one came in. The windows were always locked. Was he talking to himself? But...what did he do before that he refused to now? This was a bit of a problem, and I didn't understand.

______________________________________

"No, you tell me why he is still here!" Mikey said in annoyance. Donna and I were drinking coffee together. Mikey was angry. "Its been weeks!" Mikey stated.

"He's still ill, Michael." Donna said. I sipped my coffee. Ill? Yeah, ill. Pneumonia, for a long time. But now a habit of talking to someone every night when he's alone. "Pneumonia can be very bad. If it gets super worse, then he could get very, very bad." Donna told him.

"Then why don't you take him to the hospital? Why does he have to fucking stay here?" Mikey asked.

"Because he doesn't have money, insurance. Or a family." I said. "I owe him, he saved my ass from the jerks at school. I feel as if I have to help him." I stated.

"And, this way he doesn't have to do anything at the hospital. I can bring him home medicines. The head doctor knows about this and is helping me." Donna explained. "He should get better soon enough."

"I don't even know why you have a problem with him." I said angrily. Mikey's expression darkened.

"I hear him.. at night. When everyone's asleep, sometimes he walks around the house talking to someone." Mikey said. My eyes widened.