The Wrong Body [Frerard AU]

Chapter Fourteen

Lindsey let out a shuddering cough. "Frankie..."

The latter dropped to her side. "Shhh. You need to concentrate on breathing."

Lindsey ignored her. "I have... something... for you." She coughed again. "Book bag."

"Yeah, okay, that's cool," Frankie said quickly. "Now you need to focus–"

"Get her to the ICU!" One of the doctors shouted. "Collapsed lung!" They began to wheel her bed down the hall, everybody following.

"And..." Lindsey's eyes closed. "You will not wear a dress to my funeral." Her voice, though very weak, was stronger that it had ever been since she was hit. "Do you hear me, Frank Iero?"

Frank squeezed her hand. "I hear."

Lindsey turned her head slightly, eyes still closed. "Gerard?"

The boy ran up to her side at the sound of his name. "Yeah?"

Lindsey smiled the best she could. "You still owe me twenty bucks."

Gerard laughed, the laugh quickly turning into a sob. "You–"

"Yeah," Lindsey said hoarsely. "I'm fucking dying and I still want that money."

Mr. and Mrs. Ballato pushed past the two to talk to their daughter. Gerard and Frankie fell behind, watching until Lindsey's bed turned a corner and was out of sight.

Gerard let out a sound between a whimper and a sob. He stumbled to one of the hospital chairs and sat down, eyes glassy and unfocused.

Frankie turned to Brendon and Ryan. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't know this was going to happen."

"It's fine," Brendon assured her. "Go talk to Gerard. It looks like he needs some comfort."

Frankie nodded. She walked over to where Gerard was and lowered herself next to him. After a moments hesitation, she put a hand on his shoulder, her thumb rubbing small circles into his shirt. He looked up at her with sad eyes.

"She's going to be okay," Frankie told him.

"But what if she's not?" Gerard whispered, turning his body to face her. "She said it herself. She said she was–" he broke off.

Frankie was crying now. "L-look, Gee." She blinked to hold the tears, but it was no use. "I-I don't want to lie. She m-might be okay, and she might n-never b-be okay. I don't know. I just–" she paused. "I don't k-know. All we can really do is wait."

---

The doctors came back out around three in the morning, about eighteen hours since they started working in Lindsey. Gerard lifted his head off Frankie's shoulder. Brendon gave Ryan a nudge, nodding towards the doctors. Mr. and Mrs. Ballato stood up. All hoped for good news.

The first doctor, the shorter of the two, took a deep breath. "I'm terribly sorry," he started.

Frankie felt her heart drop.

"No," Gerard whispered, so quiet Frankie could barely hear him.

Mrs. Ballato faced the doctors. "Lindsey?" She asked softly.

There was a dead silence in the room. It may have lasted three seconds, it may have lasted three years. All attention was focused on the doctors.

The second doctor sighed. "She has passed."

Mrs. Ballato let out a wail. She turned to her husband as she started to sob.

Mr. Ballato pressed his lips together to contain his cries. "Can we see her?"

The doctors nodded. They led the two into the room.

Gerard blinked. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. Lindsey wasn't dead. She was just... unconscious or something. Yeah, that was it. She was unconscious.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and tensed up. He looked over his shoulder to see Frankie. She was smiling sadly, tears cascading down her face.

Gerard was confused. Why was she crying? Lindsey hadn't died.

"Are you okay?" Frankie whispered.

"Yeah," Gerard said back. He was so badly in denial it hurt.

Frankie could see through the lie. She wrapped her arms around the boy and squeezed him into a hug.

That was when he broke. That was when realization flooded his body and as good as killed him. His best friend was gone, dead, and there was no denying it. He felt angry, so angry, at... everything. At the world. At the doctors, at the person who hit her, at the hospital, everyone.

It was no use to hold in his anger, so he let go. He cried gut-wrenching sobs, wanting to yell and scream and destroy something. But he couldn't. He was too weak and depressed to even move.

So he just cried. He cried in anger and grief and pain for a long, long time.