Gerard followed Mikey through the fence gate. Mikey hoped that he knew what he was doing.
He ran up to the door of the house where Ray had been when he'd thrown the brick. He knocked quickly on the door while Gerard carried Lindsey around to the side of the house to hide with her.
Mikey tapped his foot until a woman with curly brown hair came to the door.
"Can I help you?" She looked around nervously. Mikey realized he probably looked pretty scary, showing up at her doorstep like that.
"Hi," he said, as politely as he could. "Is Ray home? I'm from RDH and need some help with some school stuff."
The woman nodded. She stepped aside, allowing Mikey in. "Ray is in his room," she said. "Upstairs, first door on the right."
Mikey quickly thanked her before racing up the steps. He flung open Ray's door and shut it sloppily.
"Mikey?! Did you break in?!"
"No, your mom let me in. Nice lady. Look, I need your help."
Ray stood up from his bed. "What's the matter?"
"Lindsey. The girl from earlier? Cinderella? She's hurt," Mikey explained. "Real bad. A rival gang got her when she was alone, and she needs a doctor."
"Don't you have a doctor over there?"
"Yeah, but the enema bag charges all we got for a fuckin' Band-Aid. She needs an actual doctor. Can you help me?"
Ray sighed. "I don't know, Mikes..."
"Please? Ray, if you don't help her, she'll die. And it'll be slow and painful and we'll get to watch her fade away. And I've done that too many times to see it happen ever again."
Another sigh. "Okay, fine. Why'd you tell my mom you were here?"
"School."
"Okay. Come on."
Mikey followed Ray downstairs. "Mikey left something at his house, so we're going over there!" Ray called. "I'll be home soon!"
He didn't wait for a response before leaving the house. "Where is she?"
Mikey found Gerard and an extremely pale-looking Lindsey sitting with their backs against Ray's house. "Come on," Mikey instructed.
"He's coming with us?" Gerard asked, scooping Lindsey up again.
"He's our only way in."
Gerard nodded, and they took off towards the hospital. Sure enough, there was a guard at the door. He took one look at Ray and stepped aside.
Lindsey was snatched away from Gerard, who protested before Mikey shut him up. "They have to take her from you in here," he hissed. "It isn't like it is back home."
"That's more like a clinic," Ray said quietly. "This is an ER."
Gerard shot Ray a look. "Who told you-"
"Shut up, Gee," Mikey said. "He's helping Lindsey out. Clearly he isn't a total plughole."
Gerard glared at them both before staring Ray down. "Are we supposed to wait here or somethin'?"
Ray nodded. "They'll come out and tell us what needs to happen."
"Are we gonna get to see her?"
"If she's stable."
"How long's it gonna take for them to tell us?"
"I recommend we sit down."
Mikey took a seat in between Ray and his brother. "Hey, where's the bathroom?" Gee asked. Ray pointed down a hallway, and the older Way brother wandered away.
"God, I really wanna fuckin' kiss you right now," Mikey whispered.
"Go for it."
"See, now that's another reason I like you. You're funny."
"I'm serious. No one in here's gonna get upset about it. Maybe give us condescending looks, which is arguably worse than getting knifed, but nothing more."
Mikey laughed softly, then leaned over to give Ray a quick kiss.
"Thank you," he whispered.
"For what?"
"For helping her. She would've died if you didn't have a heart."
"But I don't."
"What? Is this some new technology or some shit?"
"No, Mikey. You stole it."
Mikey sat for a minute, comprehending what Ray had just said.
"You cheesy bastard," Mikey giggled. He playfully shoved Ray, but he was obviously blushing.
Ray laughed. "Hey, Mikey?"
"Huh?"
"What's a plughole?"
Mikey laughed. "Don't worry about it, baby."
There was a pause.
"Mikey?"
"Yeah?"
"This should make your brother realize I'm not a bad person, right?"
"Yeah, I guess a little bit..."
"So can we tell him?"
Mikey sighed, taking Ray's hand. "I want to," he said, "I really want to. But you being the sweetest guy on the planet doesn't mean I get to suddenly date outside of the gang."
"But-"
"Stop talking for a second. I'm going to tell you some stuff and it's gonna sound like really incestuous shit, okay? I want to explain this to you: My boys aren't just my gang, they're family. Blood brothers."
Mikey held out his hand, exposing an 'X' shaped scar on his palm.
"I can't just leave them," he continued. "And even if I did... Look, no matter what I do, it's a lose-lose situation. I stay with them, don't have you. I leave them, have you, but have nowhere to go."
"Your mom would kick you out?"
"My mom is a legacy. She used to be in the gang Lindsey's in now. She'd side with Gee in an instant."
Ray sighed. "I could always join the gang."
Mikey shook his head. "Not gonna happen. They'd never let someone from Inland Pike in."
"I was joking."
Mikey shrugged. He leaned over to kiss Ray again, but saw his brother at the last second and had to pretend it wasn't what it looked like.
"Did they say anything yet?" Gee asked.
Mikey shook his head. "We're gonna be here for a while."
~
"Is she okay?!"
"Sir, please relax. Miss Ballato is going to be fine."
Gerard leaned back slightly, but he was still ready to jump up if he needed to. "Can we see her?" he asked. The nurse nodded.
The three followed her down the hallway, stopping at a door on their left. Lindsey was inside, laying in her bed with her eyes closed.
Gerard kissed her forehead. "You awake, Cindy?" he whispered.
Lindsey grunted weakly. "I'm up, Gee. Where's the guy who helped you get me here? I wanna meet him."
Mikey gently nudged Ray forward. He walked over and stood across from Gee.
"Where you from?" Lindsey asked, reaching up and cupping Ray's cheek.
"Here," Ray said. "Inland Pike."
"Really? And you decided to help some torn up girl from Desolation Row?"
"Yeah. They said you'd die otherwise, and I didn't want that to happen."
"Well aren't you sweet."
Ray smiled at her. "How are you feeling, Lindsey?" he asked.
"Alright. But they put me on more pain medicines than I could count, so."
"So, seven," Gerard said. Lindsey flipped him off.
"Whatever," she said. "It'd be more than seven, anyway. My stomach almost got stabbed right through!"
She lifted up her hospital gown, exposing the faint word 'whore.'
"They're right, you know," she said quietly.
"No they ain't Cindy, you know that."
"Shut up, Gee. My mama always told me that whores get hurt. And she was right."
"Well, you ain't no whore," Mikey said. "I can tell you that. We all know how that works."
Lindsey shook her head. "Gave it to Alicia."
"Really?" Gee asked. "Huh. I thought it'd be Kitty. I guess I owe Mikey five bucks."
They all laughed, just as the nurse walked in. "Alright, everything looks okay," she said. "We should have Miss Ballato back home in about two or three days. And we'll give her some stuff for those scars so they'll fade faster, too. Oh, and visiting hours have ended. Thank you."
Mikey walked in front of Ray and Gerard as they were leaving.
"Look, whatever-your-name-is," Gerard said, "I may hate you and your town and everything you stand for, but... You saved one of my closest sisters tonight. So... Thanks."
"You're welcome," Ray said, smiling.
Gerard pushed ahead of Mikey, who fell behind with Ray.
"Thank you so much," he whispered. "Lindsey and Gee are really close. Brother and sister. You saw."
Ray nodded. "You're welcome, too."
Mikey gave Ray a quick kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."