The Kids Of War And Peace

13. Running Some Tests

I laid in bed, Gerard and I were both naked. Both of us cuddled up against each other. He was still asleep, snoring lightly into my shoulder. I liked the sound of his breathing, it was calm and slow, it was relaxed and not forced to be paced to keep his concentration. Gerard didn’t need concentration for sleep, he just needed to be free while he slept, to let his mind wander and be unchained from a troubled head.

“Frank?” Mikey asked from the closed door. His voice was quiet, it was early. Probably around seven, Gerard would need sleep, he had a busy night. I carefully rolled out of bed and picked up my boxers from the floor, and put on some jeans, I was sore in every way possible. I couldn’t let myself do all the work last night, I figured it’d be weird since Gerard had had a bad thing happen in his past, so I told him what he needed to do. In the simple wording of that, Gerard topped. I pulled on some shorts that I fished out of the closest drawer and left my room. Mikey stood out in the hallway, he looked nervous, I closed the door.

“What’s going on, Mikes’?” I asked with a yawn, I stretched my arms tiredly. Mikey looked at my chest, I totally forgot about all the marks that Gerard had left on me, I was too tired to get embarrassed.

“Uh.” Mikey started, he looked up at me. “I was wondering if you wanted to go to the hospital with us later?” Mikey asked. I tilted my head, my eyes widening.

“Hospital?” I asked. Mikey bit his lower lip and nodded.

“Yea, the hospital. Nothing bad.” Mikey said, he crossed his arms. “We have to take Gerard to the hospital every six months. And now the time has come.” Mikey told me.

“How come?” I asked.

“It’s to get tests done on his head. To see how everything is going.” Mikey answered. I rubbed my face.

“Yea, sure, I’ll go.” I said. Mikey gave me a light smile. He then just pulled me into a tight hug, hugging me tightly. “W-what I’d do?” I asked, Mikey just hugged me tighter and I have him a weak hug since he was pinning my arms.

“Just thankyou, Frank. For just being you.” Mikey said, he looked at me after letting go. “I honestly thought there’d be no one for him, but there has always been you. From the moment that you came downstairs the first day we were here, I should have known.” Mikey said. I gave him a confused look and he poked my chest, where a mark from Gerard was. “You changed him into the better.” Mikey said, he smiled. I smiled back, a little unsure. Not really understanding why he told me this, but I guess I wouldn’t have understood at all.

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A few hours later we were all piled in the car. Linda was driving, I was in the front this time. Gerard was in the back with Mikey, his head on his younger brother’s shoulder, Mikey had an arm around him. I glanced back at them and Gerard gave me a smile, he looked happy, happier than ever.

When we got to the hospital, Gerard had to go get a simple checkup first, that left Mikey, Linda, and I in the waiting room together. It was an awkward situation since a group of old people were also in the room, and they could see the hickies on my neck. Linda and Mikey were looking at me, Mikey already knew what had happened between Gerard and me the night before, but Linda didn’t and she was looking at the lovely damage Gerard had done.

“You know, I never even got to have the talk with you.” Linda said with a fake pout. I turned bright red and Mikey snickered. I looked away. “But I’m assuming you didn’t hurt each other and nothing bad happened?” Linda asked. I nodded and she smiled. “I’m just picking on you, Frankie.” Linda teased, she nudged me in the ribs and I smirked.

“Mrs. Iero?” A doctor asked he came out of a hallway where they had taken Gerard. All of us looked at him, it was Gerard’s doctor.

“Yes?” Linda asked. The doctor gave her a hesitant smile.

“We finished with Gerard’s checkup, everything seems to be alright. We’re going to be taking the tests for his head right now, it may take a while and he might be a little off after. He’ll be on some medications that’ll calm him down, since he doesn’t like needles, but other than that, he’ll be alright.” The doctor answered. Linda nodded and the doctor walked off.

“What do they have to test for?” I asked looking at Mikey. Mikey sighed and chewed on the knuckle of his thumb.

“They check for anything like swelling of his brain, hemorrhaging, tumors, stuff like that.” Mikey answered.

“But why would he have anything like that?” I asked.

“Anyone can have stuff like that, Frank.” Mikey said, he locked eyes with me. “But since…what happened with Gerard, when he was younger, he’s like prone to any of that. He’s vulnerable.” Mikey said. “His immune system and stuff like that can’t fight shit off.” Mikey added. I nodded, I had this feeling in my stomach that Mikey wasn’t telling me everything, he had a pained look in his eyes, but I couldn’t read what it meant.

It took a few hours for these tests to go. And after a while, the doctor came into the room, he called Mikey over. I figured he had been Gerard’s doctor for a while, because the doctor called Mikey over by his first name. Mikey got up, gave me a quick glance and walked over to the doctor. They spoke in hushed tones, the doctor had an expression I didn’t understand, Mikey had his pokerface on, he just nodded every few seconds. The doctor put a hand on Mikey’s shoulder and nodded his head slowly, Mikey bit his lower lip, obviously trying to hold back tears. He nodded slowly and wiped his eyes, he mumbled something and gave the doctor a light painful smile.