Gerard's POV

I woke up in a slight panic, trying to remember how the hell I ended up sleeping on a foreign couch with three other people passed out in the nearby vicinity before it all came rushing back to me.

Somehow Mikey had convinced me to attend his New Year's Eve party, even though they weren't really my thing, mostly because I didn't drink anymore. He had bullied me into it, saying I was becoming a hermit lately, but it wasn't my fault if watching him and Ray get wasted didn't rate high on my list of exciting things to do.

With a tired grunt, I pulled out my phone to check the time; it was only seven in the morning, what the hell was I doing up so early?

Electing to leave instead of awkwardly hanging around a bunch of soon to be hung-over people that I honestly didn't know that well, I gathered up my keys and left Mikey a note - explaining that I had headed home.

I felt marginally bad for abandoning Mikey so early, but he knew I wasn't the most social of people, so he probably wouldn't be too surprised.

Wincing as the bright sunlight assaulted my eyes, I began the short walk to where I had parked my Trans Am.

I never really understood why everyone made such a big deal about New Year's, to me it was just another day. Sure it was one more year that I had made it clean and sober, but besides that, there was nothing special about it.

I found my thoughts wandering to Frank; I wondered how his day was going, and if he had made a New Year's resolutions. I had actually let myself make one this year; I was going to find him, I didn't know how, but he was the only missing piece that was required to make my life perfect.

I realized that so much had probably changed between us now, and I doubted he still loved me; he would have to be as crazy as I was for him to feel the same. Still - I needed to know where he was, and how life had been treating him since I last talked to him.

I had been lax in my search of him lately, instead focusing on getting my life together so he wouldn't come back to the wreck he had left behind. Now that I had accomplished that, the burning desire to be reunited with him had begun to take over my mind.

By this time, I had reached my car, which had been a Christmas present to myself. I began driving back to my apartment, enjoying the traffic free streets; everyone else was still trying to sleep off last night's festivities.

My stomach grumbled with hunger, and I began racking my brain, trying to remember if I had any food in the fridge, or if I would need to stop at the grocery store on the way home.

Apparently my musings about food had distracted me from the road, so by the time I glanced up, it was too late to avoid the Toyota that had drifted into my lane.

Bracing myself for impact, I swerved as best as I could, but my poor car still got clipped by the clueless driver who didn't seem to notice me until the collision snapped him to his senses. Honking his horn, he pulled off sharply to the side of the road, and I quickly parked too, ready to chew out the asshole who had damaged my brand new car.

A hasty glance showed that the damage actually wasn't that bad, my headlight was busted, but the scrape could easily be buffed out. That did nothing to diminish my fury toward the probably drunk idiot that still hadn't gotten out his car, I guess I was lucky that he hadn't driven off though.

"Hey!" I waved my arms in front of the rolled down window, trying to get the guy's attention. When he didn't respond at all, I began to get worried, and I bent down so I could see inside the dirty interior.

"Oh fuck," I cursed when I realized the driver was passed out in the front seat, his dark shaggy hair obscuring his face.

I tried the door handle, and luckily it was unlocked, not that I couldn't have opened it through the window. I didn't see any blood or broken bones, so I wasn't one hundred percent sure what had caused the man to faint in the first place.

Most likely this guy was still wasted from last night, and if I called the cops, he would get arrested for drunk driving; even though I was pissed at him, I didn't really want that on his record.

"You okay?" I gently shook the stranger's shoulder, causing his head to loll back, and I swear to god - my heart stopped beating, because I would recognize that face anywhere.

It was Frank...my Frankie.

The man I had been searching for had just hit my car, and I didn't know if I should cry, or laugh, or both.

He looked different, besides the obvious fact that he had aged: his face was unnaturally thin, causing his cheekbones to jut out strongly, actually his entire appearance was underfed and unkempt, which was such a change from the boy I had known.

"Frank! Frank wake up - it's me!"

Still I received no response, and I began to panic. The crash hadn't been that big, he couldn't have passed out from that...could he? Not sure what else to do, I fished my phone out of my pocket and dialed 911.

"911 operator what is your emergency?" a friendly voice chimed out.

"Um - I just got in a car accident and my...the other driver is unconscious, and I don't know why. He didn't hit me that hard, but he won't wake up." I stammered out, tripping over my words when I had almost called Frank my boyfriend, because as much as I wanted him to be, he wasn't - not anymore.

"What is your location sir?" she asked in her annoyingly calm voice.

"We are at the intersection of Spring Peaks and Sable Valley," I rattled off the street names as quickly as I could.

"We are dispatching an officer and an ambulance to your location. Would you like me to stay on the line with you until they get there?"

"No - thank you." I hung up the phone and returned my full attention to Frank.

He still hadn't moved a muscle, and I was beginning to freak out. I felt for the pulse in his neck, and it was there; I mean - I obviously knew he was still alive, I could see the rise and fall of his chest, but the reassurance that I was holding the real, living, breathing Frank in my arms was a lot to take in. I had so many things I wanted to tell him, but those would have to wait until he woke up.

I just didn't understand how this had happened; if Frank had been in Belleville this whole time, why hadn't he tried to get in contact with me? Last I knew, he had been in California, but that was eight years ago.

I shifted myself into the car, pulling Frank's still body into my lap in the process. As I stroked his filthy hair back from his face, I wished with all my heart that he would wake up and explain everything to me.

He looked so frail and malnourished...the dark bags under his eyes spoke of little sleep, and it was obvious that he hadn't been taking care of himself. What could have reduced the happy boy I knew to such a state of disrepair?

The sound of sirens broke through my thoughts, and I disentangled myself from Frank so I could exit the car and flag down the ambulance - not that we would be hard to find, ours were the only two cars on the road at the moment.

Within a minute, the flashing red and blue lights became visible, and two cop cars and an ambulance came into view. Peeking back into the car to see if the noise had awoken Frank - which it hadn't, I shifted back and forth, just wanting to know what the hell was wrong with him.

"Sir - you called an ambulance?" One of the officers approached me, and I nodded so fast I thought my head might fall off my shoulders.

"He won't wake up...I don't know what's wrong - he barely hit me."

I gestured inside at Frank's unconscious body, and two EMT's went to work, placing his tiny form on a stretcher before wheeling him toward the open doors of the ambulance.

"Can I go with him?" I asked when my attempts to follow Frank were blocked by the burly officer.

"Do you know him sir?"

"Yeah...a long time ago I did."

"That's fine, but you will need to get someone to move your car. An officer can meet you at the hospital to take your statement," he rattled off in a bored voice.

"Okay - I'll phone my brother on the way," I called back over my shoulder as I chased after the retreating stretcher.

As soon as I was inside, the swing doors were pulled closed, and the ambulance was speeding down the deserted streets. I couldn't tear my gaze away from Frank's pale face, and I tried to block out the needle a dark haired EMT was currently shoving into his arm without losing my line of sight.

"What is your relation to the patient sir?" A man with reddish blonde hair asked me as he jotted down notes on a small clipboard.

"I used to be his boyfriend a long time ago," I settled for the truth, because I didn't know what else to say.

"Pupils unresponsive," the dark haired lady called out, and the man scribbled that down as well.

"Is he going to be okay?" I queried nervously, because I hadn't even let myself entertain the notion that Frank wouldn't be, he had to wake up so we could pick up where we left off all those years ago.

The EMT's ignored me, and I settled down onto the hard seat dejectedly.

"He's seizing!" the lady called out, and I shot forward so fast I had to contend with a serious case of vertigo.

Frank's limbs had begun flailing around like a squid's, and terror gripped my lungs as I watched helplessly.

"Does he have any history of seizures sir, or any prior conditions that you know about?" the man with the clipboard demanded of me.

"No...I mean - I don't know. What's happening?"

But once again, I was shoved to the background as they struggled with Frank's convulsing body. I wondered if this was how Frank felt when he rode with me to the hospital after I had tried to kill myself.

Now that I was in his position, I felt the need to apologize all over again. I couldn't believe that I had voluntarily put him through this kind of pain. I felt like my entire world was slipping through my fingers, and no matter how hard I tried to hold on to it, I ended up empty handed.

"We're here!" the driver called out, and the EMT's hurried Frank out the doors and into the gaping entrance to the hospital, leaving me behind, paralyzed with fear.

"Head up to the waiting room son, they will tell you when they know anything." The portly driver twisted around in his seat to reassure me, and I nodded numbly.

Somehow I managed to make it into the hospital without breaking down completely, even though my stomach felt like I had downed a shot of acid, and I was surprised I hadn't thrown up all over the nice waiting room.

I couldn't fathom what was happening...Frank could be dying for all I knew, and I couldn't do anything about it. In a daze, I wandered over to the front desk, needing to know what was going on.

"Name of the patient?" the lady behind the desk - whose name tag said Liz - asked while chewing on a piece of gum.

"Frank Iero...he was in a car wreck. They just brought him in a few minutes ago."

She scrolled through her computer screen for what seemed like ages, but was probably only thirty seconds.

"Nope - nothing yet, just sit over there and the doctor will let you know when anything changes."

She gestured in the direction of a row of uncomfortable looking chairs, only a few were occupied, and I stumbled over to the one as far away from the front desk as possible. Liz's nonchalant attitude had made me want to punch her in the face, I mean - I knew she dealt with situations like this every day, but this wasn't just any patient - this was Frank Iero.

Deciding to call Mikey to move my car before the police towed it, I unlocked my phone and dialed his number with shaking hands.

"What the fuck do you want Gerard?" the irritated voice of my recently awoken brother crackled through my speakers.

"I need to ask for a favor."

"It's eight in the morning, if you aren't dying, then I am going to kill you," Mikey hissed.

"It's Frank," I rushed out before he could hang up on me.

"Dear god - not this again Gerard...when are you going to move on?" Mikey grumbled peevishly.

"No - that's just it, I found him. Well he kind of found me...I mean - he hit my car, and now he is in the hospital, which is where I am right now." I tried to explain the whole fucked up situation the best as I could since I still didn't really understand it.

"You're shitting me! Is he okay?" Mikey sounded wide awake now, much to my relief.

"I don't know actually...I am waiting to hear back from the doctor. I don't know what happened Mikey, he didn't even hit my car that hard, but he was unconscious when I found him, and then he started seizing up in the ambulance, and I have no clue if he's okay - or dying - or..."

"Shh Gerard - just breathe." Mikey tried to pull me out of the spiral I was rapidly descending down, and I choked in a lungful of air, when really I would rather be inhaling smoke, but I didn't want to leave for a cigarette in case something changed with Frank's condition.

"Do you need me to come get you?" Mikey asked kindly.

"No - that wasn't the favor, I need you to move my car actually. I left it a little ways down from your apartment on Sable Valley. I rode with Frank in the ambulance, and I'm scared the cops are going to tow it."

"Okay - I can do that, I think I have your spare keys around here somewhere." For once I was gratefully for my forgetful nature, which had inspired me to make Mikey a copy of my keys, since I had lost mine more than once.

"Thanks bro," I exhaled heavily.

"No problem. Call me when you find anything out. Ray and I will drop by later to bring you some food okay?"

"That would be nice. I'll keep in touch."

I ended the call reluctantly, talking to Mikey had distracted me from driving myself crazy worrying about Frank. Luckily, a second distraction walked in the door in the form of the bulky police officer from earlier.

"You are the guy from the car wreck right?" he asked gruffly, and I nodded in response.

"Yeah that's me, Gerard Way," I offered helpfully.

"I just need your statement, then I will leave you be for now."

"Um okay...well I was driving home and Frank - the other driver - hit me, he kinda just swerved into my lane a little, and I wasn't paying enough attention, so I didn't notice. We both pulled over, and I found him unconscious, and that's about it."

"Have you had any alcohol today?" the officer asked.

"No - I don't drink," I responded truthfully.

"And how do you know the other driver?" he continued with his relentless questions, and I had to stifle a sigh of irritation.

"He was my boyfriend back in high school, I haven't seen him for years though."

"Do you know his last name?"

"Iero." I made sure to emphasize the pronunciation, since so many people seemed to fuck it up.

"Is he involved in dealing in any way?"

"What do you mean...like drugs?" I gaped like an idiot, because the idea of Frank and drugs had never crossed my mind.

"Yes...so I assume you don't know." This man was seriously pissing me off, and if he wasn't a cop, I might have punched him in the face.

"No - Frank would never do that." At least...I hoped he wouldn't.

"Well - we found a large amount of illegal substances in his backpack. We will be taking his possessions into custody at this time. He did not have insurance, so it looks like you will have to make the claim through yours if you have it."

"Yeah...yeah I do," I stumbled over my words awkwardly, unable to get over the idea that Frank was involved in something to do with drugs.

"Well here is my card, call me if you need anything."

I took the slim piece of paper mechanically, simply nodding to the officer in response. I didn't think he realized how much he had shaken the fragile foundations of my world, but I assumed it wasn't in his job to care.

This had to be a mistake...Frank wouldn't do drugs. Maybe it was someone else's backpack in the car, and he didn't know they were in there, but the more I thought about it, I began to realize that I didn't know anything about Frank anymore.

Maybe this Frank does do drugs, and as much as I despised that fact, it didn't lessen my love for him in any way whatsoever. Deep inside, he was still the boy who had found something to love in the worthless shell I used to be, and nothing could change the bond I had with him.

Whatever hell he had gotten himself into, I promised that I would help pull him out, no matter how long it took. I had waited eight years for him to be a part of my life again, and I wasn't letting him go - now he just needed to hang on for me.

Hey guys I'm back :) Hopefully you like this chapter, because it took me forever to write.

So what do you think is wrong with Frank? I put a pretty big hint in one of the earlier chapters, but I want to see if anyone has caught on yet.

Well I stayed up all night writing this, so I am going to head to bed.

Enjoy :)

<3 starr