The Kids Of War And Peace

14. Mikey Speaks A Bit Of Joy

When Mikey came and sat down, he had a smile on his face, he was wiping his eyes now. I had never seen Mikey cry, nor had I ever wanted to. Linda looked at him, slightly concerned, but not fully concerned about the smile on his face. I was leaning forward, my elbows on my knees to see Mikey past Linda. He looked at us.

“What’d the Doc want?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“He’s doing okay, he’s got nothing wrong with him.” Mikey said, he wiped his eyes happily once more. “They said that with a few more months of therapy and some speech therapy and such, he’ll be almost one-hundred percent better. He’s got nothing wrong with his head at all, the doctor said it’s a miracle. We have to go easy on him though, because he’ll need time to get better, there’s still stuff wrong, but it’s super minor stuff that’ll just take a while to heal, y’know? But he’ll be better!” Mikey said, he looked super excited. Linda grinned and smiled at me. I smiled too.

“That’s incredible!” Linda said, she clapped her hands together excitedly. I smiled harder, Mikey sprang out of his chair and came to hug me. I hugged him tightly.

“I know you had something to do with this, Frankie. You’ve made him so much better, you’ve changed both him and I.” Mikey said, he was hugging me tighter and tighter.

“I’m glad, Mikey, I am.” I said, Mikey giggled, his giggle was similar to Gerard’s but it was deeper, Gerard had a more higher tone of voice.

“You’re the coolest guy ever, Frank.” Mikey said.

“You’re pretty cool yourself.” I stated. “I’m sure without you, Gerard would be a wreck. You kept him sane, since the accident.” I said. Mikey hugged me tightly.

“Thanks, Frank.” Mikey whispered. “No one ever really acknowledges that kind of thing.” Mikey said.

“What accident?” Linda asked. Mikey turned around to tell Linda the story, and that she couldn’t tell Gerard. I looked over and Gerard was being wheeled into the waiting room in a wheelchair, he had an amused smirk on his face, he had a giggle come out of his mouth when he saw me. The nurse who was pushing his chair leaned over his shoulder and whispered something in his ear, he grinned and nodded, she looked up at me and smiled.

When Gerard got over to us, he got up and thanked the nurse and went to me, he grinned at me. I got up and wrapped my arms around him.

“He might be a little drowsy, but that’s just the medication we put him on. He might fall asleep, but that’s okay, make sure he drinks water too.” The nurse said, Linda nodded and thanked her, Mikey was still super excited.

“They say I’m okay.” Gerard said, his voice tickled my ear. I took his hand and linked our fingers together, we began leaving the hospital all of us, together. A few of the other patients or the people waiting were watching Gerard and I, I guess being gay in a hospital isn’t normal.

Once we got in the car, Gerard and I got in the back seat together. Mikey was speaking in a hushed tone to Linda as she drove. Gerard had his head on my shoulder, his eyes fluttering closed, I had my arm around him so he fit better against my body.

“Don’t fall asleep yet, Gee. Wait until we get home, okay?” I asked. Gerard shook his head and reached up to take my hand.

“But I’m tired, Frankie.” Gerard mumbled, his voice husky. I smiled at him and he drifted on and off of sleep the whole way home. He even slept through Mikey turning up the radio and singing with Linda to a Black Sabbath song. I was slightly amused, both of them couldn’t really sing quite well. Mom sang like a gypsy. When we reached the house, Mikey and I had to attempt to carry Gerard into the house, he woke up halfway and walked inside, he curled up on the couch and fell asleep almost with a snap of a finger.

“He must be tired.” Linda said. “They said they put him on some kind of medication.” Linda stated.

“He’s terrified of hospitals, needles are his worst enemy. They have to give him strong pills to calm him down or he’ll have panic attacks.” Mikey answered. Mikey sat beside Gerard’s sleeping form on the couch. “He’ll be fine later, he’ll sleep it off.” Mikey said, he reached over and ran his fingers through Gerard’s hair.

“I’m glad he’s okay, Mikey. I’m glad you’re okay too.” Linda said, she went and kissed his forehead and went to go do some dishes. I sat down on the other side of the sleeping Gerard and Mikey glanced at me.

“Wanna watch some television?” I suggested, Mikey smirked and nodded. We’d do that all the time, sit there silently for a moment and then I’d ask for some television. I reached over and grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned the television on. We watched some How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory for the rest of the morning and throughout the afternoon. Mikey looked different, different because he knew his brother was okay after all those years. He looked happier, almost glowing. He looked…amazing and happy. I was happy too.