In The Dark (Frerard) ✔

Chapter 15

Gerard's POV

I walked around in front of the mess hall, seeing the clock and noticing that it was pretty early for me to even be awake. Though, as I looked around, it felt peaceful and calm. The sun was still rising, the light reflecting off of the water. It was nice, walking towards the little "beach" and spotting someone rather familiar. Frank. I smiled, looking around and spotting a trail not far from where I stood. It seemed like a nice day to take a hike.

Walking down to the beach slowly, trying to silence my steps as I stepped on the sand, standing right behind Frank and then leaning down just slightly. "Boo," I whispered, watching Frank jump out of his skin as he looked behind him and started laughing. "Geez, you scared the hell out of me," Frank wheezed out, composing himself after a while, though the occasional laughter could be heard as he stood before me. "Anywho, I wanted to know if you wanted to join me on a hike," I proposed the idea to him, smiling a little as he nodded.

"Great, we just have to tell a counselor," I told him, climbing back up the bank, into the grass, and to the mess hall where a counselor was leaning against a post. "Hey, are we allowed to go hiking?" I asked, the counselor looking at the clock and seeing that it was a while before lunch and then turned back to us. "Yeah, but follow the trail, alright?" He told us, Frank nodding as I just hummed, signaling that I understood. He tipped his hat and went back to watching over the camp, or whatever he was doing.

I smiled and looked at Frank, walking towards the trail that I was looking at beforehand. "The trees look better in the morning," Frank whispered, though I agreed, I was looking at the trees and keeping us on the trail. "It smells deeply of pine and aspen," I told him, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly as I looked to where the sun was rising above the tall trees. "Smells woodsy," Frank commented, laughing at his own pun as I gave a little chuckle. "Well yeah, we're in the woods," I mumbled, getting a playful punch to my arm, laughing at the little hit.

"Well, either way, the woods do look beautiful," Frank whispered as he kicked a pile of leaves that had gathered around the trail. "You never know, you could've just kicked a stump and I would have had to carry you back to camp," I playfully warned Frank, though he laughed it off and looked ahead. We walked in silence for a good 5 minutes before he pointed at something in front of us. "Hey, look. There's a bunch of light flooding in up ahead," Frank announced, and sure enough, as I looked to where he was pointing, I could see it too.

"You wanna go check it out?" I asked, looking over to Frank as he looked as if he was weighing his options. "Fuck yeah," He eventually answered, walking straight for the opening in the trees. As we came upon it though, I heard him take a quick intake of breath as we both stared out to this wide expanse of trees that went on until they hit the mountain across from where we stood.

The light illuminated Frank's face, his expression looked shocked and in awe as he looked below. "Shit, this isn't what I was expecting," I heard him barely breathe out as he took a step closer to peek out even more. Though, as much as I wanted to enjoy the moment, I heard a crack below my feet. "Frank, look out-" I screamed, grabbing his waist quickly and jumping back as the cliff gave way.

I heard panting, but I didn't know if it was my own or it was Frank's, my ears ringing from adrenaline. I held on tight to Frank, calming down and hearing the ringing fade. I realized that his panting matched mine, taking a deep breath as I brought him closer. "I-I hurt my ankle," Frank whispered slowly, trying to regulate his breathing as he tried to move his leg, wincing a little bit. "You better promise me to stay away from cliff edges or so help me I'll amputate your foot," I whispered, my voice so calm but I was absolutely terrified on the inside. "I'll hold you to that, Gee," He whispered, holding on tighter as if he would die without me.

"Do you think you can walk?" I asked, moving to attempt to look at how bad his ankle was, but he immediately moved it and hid his face in my chest. "Y-yeah, I got it," Frank whispered, letting go of me slowly and using my shoulder as I stood to balance himself. I kept my hands near him as he tried to talk a step, wincing and falling against me. "Shit- no," He whispered, his hair moving as he shook his head, looking up at me. There was only one choice left.

"Get on my back, we'll just take the way we came," I offered, seeing Frank become hesitant, though he quickly agreed as he winced again after trying to step on his ankle. "It's just bruised and scraped, you don't have to carry me," He mumbled, looking away in slight embarrassment. I sighed and gradually turned around for him to hop on my back. "Get on, it's faster and less painful," I told him, feeling his weight on my back as he got on my back. I was careful with his ankle as I moved him up a little more.

"Comfortable?" I asked, hearing Frank wince when I propped him up on my back. "As it will ever be," Frank answered after a while. I nodded, walking back down the slightly raised ground. I was very aware of the bleeding ankle, getting some of it on my wrist but it was worse for Frank so I wasn't going to complain about it. Getting to the main camp, we got a few looks here and there, but no one said anything. I got Frank to the infirmary, sighing as I felt the air conditioning on my hot skin.

"Hello, what can I- oh dear," The nurse whispered the last part, though I knew it was bad. I hadn't even gotten that good of a look, but from the blood trickling down my hand as I set Frank down on the bed, I could tell it wasn't just a scratch. "Dear, are you hurt too?" She asked, facing me as I stood there at the side of the bed. "Oh, no ma'am, just need to wash my hands," I told her, smiling as I went to the sink and washed the blood off. I could see the dirt and blood wash away in a swirl, using soap so my hand wouldn't be blood-stained.

"Nononono- please, don't touch it with that," I heard Frank whispering behind me, turning off the sink and drying my hands on my shirt as I walked over to Frank. "Hey, hey, Frank. Look at me," I whispered soothingly, getting his attention and seeing his fear. Sure, rubbing alcohol burned. Thing is, the cliff isn't that sanitary, so he needs to have it cleaned up before it got infected. "Here, hold my hand, squeeze as much as you want, but you need to get it cleaned one way or another. Can you do that?" I asked, offering my hand to him slowly. I saw him slowly nod, though I could still tell he wasn't very excited.

I felt Frank's hand wrap and mine, squeezing it twice for confirmation. I gave the nurse a thumbs up, silently telling her to clean it quickly. She understood, but as soon as she started, my hand was squeezed as Frank winced. He tried to breathe quietly, but of course, was failing as he repeatedly sucked air through his teeth. "Hey, hey, it's almost clean," I told him, moving some of his hair out of his face. The nurse gave me a thumbs-up as she grabbed bandages and did a quick but fairly skilled job of wrapping his ankle.

"Ow," Frank whispered as he looked down at his ankle. "I thought it was a scratch," He whispered, flopping his head down on the small bed. "Hey, it's okay, it's wrapped up and taken care of," I whispered, getting a nod as the nurse pinned the bandage. "It should be okay, no roughhousing or anything," The nurse told us both, to which both of us nodded and looked at each other. It was just a vein that got hit, which would take patience, but it would be okay.