Asleep or Dead (Frerard)

Chapter 13 (Frank's POV)

     Brendon was nearly indecipherable as he spoke to me through my shattered phone, but he got his point across. So here I am, driving 20 miles over the speed limit with Jamia pressed against the passenger seat and hanging onto the sides for dear life. Gerard's waking up. And I'm keeping my fucking promise.

 When we finally made it to the hospital, we were joined by Donna and Mikey in a sprint through the hospital to get to Gerard's room. We checked in as fast as we could, signatures blurring into scribbles and formality being tossed out the window by urgency. We were tripping over each other's feet and, admittedly, fell on our faces a few times, but we eventually made it.

 The room was packed so tight that every breath I took was forced immediately down someone else's throat. Donna was wringing droplets of sweat off her hands, and I feared that she would flood the room if she kept her actions up. I sat with baited breath and squeezed Jamia's hand so tightly she had to tell me to stop or ‘you'll break my fingers’.

 My eyes bounced erratically as they followed the lines on one of Gerard's machines, which I assume is what provoked Brendon to call. Brendon was currently standing beside Gerard's bed and chewing on his gloved fingernails, which had become visible some time ago. The other nurses and doctors busied themselves by toying with their stethoscopes, pens, clothes, hair, or ID tags.

 Jamia was the only calm one in the room, her face set in stone and her hands cold and dry. She didn't seem all too worried about Gerard's impending awakening. I didn't find it unusual for her, considering how little care she exhibited to Gerard, but I was a bit pissed at her indifference regardless.

 Mikey was acting like his bloodstream was made of coffee and adrenaline, trying a multitude of times  to clamber over the doctors to get to his brother. I thought it was adorable, but Jamia disagreed when I pointed him out.

 I was on the verge of tears, having to cover my mouth to muffle the sound of me choking on my tears. I wished I was able to pull Gerard into a hug so he could wake up in someone's embrace, but at the same time, I knew that such an action would be greatly frowned upon.

 The line on Gerard's machine was calming down a little, to the dismay of the doctors. Brendon genuinely looked upset, Mikey looked like he was going to scream in frustration, and Donna looked like she was preparing to pull Gerard out of the coma with brute force.

 I let a squeaky “No” fall from my lips, earning a glare composed of daggers from Jamia. I shut my mouth shut after that, staring at the floor.

 “I'm sorry.” Brendon said, at a loss for words. He had expected Gerard to be waking up, but it turned out that it was just another anxiety attack. The other doctors wordlessly shared Brendon's words as their own, glancing between themselves and then collectively to Mikey, Donna, Jamia, and me.

 “Oh well.” Jamia muttered monotonously, shrugging her shoulders and slipping past the doctors and leaving the room.

 “What happened?” Ray asked from behind the curtain, his shadow shifting.

 “False alarm.” Brendon answered for all of us, “you were going to have a responsive roommate, Ray, you really were. I guess he changed his mind.”

 “Damn.” Ray murmured partially to himself, his shadow shifting back to its previous position. I removed my gaze from the sickly green curtain. I refocused on Gerard, who was now peaceful and dry again. I walked over to him after the doctors filed out, crouching down to his level and taking his limp hand.

 “What happened, Gee? Did you change your mind? Were you thinking again? Promise me you'll talk about it when you wake up… I mean… that is if you want to, of course.” I said quietly, taking the advantage of not having Jamia in the room to hug Gerard.

Donna stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. “At least we know he has the ability to wake up.” She said, glancing at Mikey when he took his place on the other side of Gerard and grasping his other hand.

 “Hang in there, bro, you'll wake up eventually.” He whispered, giving Gerard's hand an assuring squeeze.

----

 “So we drove all the way out here for nothing?!” Jamia exclaimed once we had returned to the car.

 “We didn't know it was a false alarm, Jams, it's oka-”

 “No, no it's not! I was going ask you if you wanted to have a nice night in before Brendon called, but now it's ruined!” Jami kicked the glove compartment with her heel and punctured it, not caring at all.

 “Hey! Look, this wasn't planned! I can't be put to fault for this!” I said, gripping the steering wheel and shaking my head.

 “You didn't h-”

 “Don't tell me I didn't have to go, Jams! I promised that I would be there to see him wake up!” I cut her off mid sentence, not wanting to hear what I knew she was going to say. She didn't reply, resorting to staring defiantly out the window and frowning. Jesus Christ, girls were a handful.