"Hello Mrs. Way," Frank said into his iPhone. "I think we need to get your son to the hospital. No, Gerard not Mikey. Some guys beat him up and I think his leg is broken. Yeah. Okay." Frank hung up and sat next to Gerard. "Your mom said I should drive you to the hospital," Frank said.

Gerard stared forward. "Okay."

"It hurts more than you're telling me, doesn't it?"

Gerard stays silent.

"Gee..." Frank scoots closer to his friend.

"Fine. Yes. Yes it hurts. It hurts a lot. Like hell," Gerard spat. He tried to move a little bit to get more comfortable, but bumped his leg on Frank's. To prevent himself from screaming, Gerard bit his lower lip. Blood gushed out because he bit it too hard.

"Wow you're a trainwreck. We should go now before it gets any worse. Here." Frank grabbed some tylenol and his water bottle off the short side table next to the two boys and handed them to Gerard. Gerard downed the painkillers so fast Frank thought he would choke. "Hey, hey, slow down friend."

"Sorry," Gerard muttered.

"I'll help you up," Frank said. He stood up and extended his arm out to his long black haired friend. Gerard took Frank's hand and slowly stood up. He avoided putting any pressure on his left leg, as it hurt intensely when he did. Once Gee was upright, Frank helped him hobble out of Frank's house and into his black car. Gerard went to the backseat so he'd have lots of room. He stretched his leg across the other seat. Frank turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the driveway.

Once the two boys arrived at the hospital, Frank parked the car near the front of the building. He got out of the car, leaving Gerard behind and walked in. He approached the middle aged woman working the front desk.

"Hello," she said warmly.

"Hey. I uh need some assistance," Frank said.

"With what?"

"My friend is badly hurt and is in the car. I can't get him in here by myself."

"Oh certainly." The woman got up and walked with Frank out the door. She assisted him getting Gerard out of the car. She pulled up a wheelchair so that Gerard wouldn't have to walk all the way inside on his leg.

"You certainly look beat up," the woman commented.

"Yes," Gerard said quietly. The woman weeled him into room 7A and told him and Frank to wait until the doctor got there. They nodded and the kind woman walked out the door and back to the front desk.

The two teenaged boys waited.

"Um. Would you like me to help you up onto the table?" Frank asked.

"Yeah," Gerard answered. Frank picked him up out of the wheelchair and set him on the doctor's table. "Thanks, Frankie," Gerard said. He smiled at the other boy. There was a hint of sadness in his smile. Sadness mixed with pain.

"Of course, Gee," Frank replied, worried.

Just then, the doctor walked in. His shiny name tag read Doctor Smith. He took one look at Gee and winced. "Ouch. That had to hurt."

Gerard grunted.

"Well what's hurting?" Doctor Smith asked, walking closer to Gerard.

Gerard answered with, "Well my face, my leg, my arm, my stomach, my feet, my p-"

"Woah there buddy. That's quite a lot. What happened?"

"Some guys at school decided they'd like to beat me up. Nothing special."

"Gerard right?"

Gerard nodded.

The doctor exahled. "I know this all annoying to hear me say, but as a doctor I'm required to. If someone's bullying you at school you gotta tell someone."

"Well it was the first day of school and I don't know who it was," Gerard said.

"Then why'd they beat you up?"

"Um..." Gerard looked over at Frank.

The doctor looked at Frank too.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Frank asked.

"Do you know what happened?" Dr. Smith asked.

"Um well I wasn't there or anything, but apparently they said something that made Gee mad and he punched the guy and then he sent his friends after Gee," Frank answered. "Gee is Gerard."

"I see," Doctor Smith said. "Well what did they say?"

"Just some stuff. But I'd appreciate it if you fixed whatever's wrong with me instead of just talking the whole time," Gerard snapped.

"Oh right. Sorry. Okay we're gonna do an X-Ray because your leg does not look good, then we'll see what we have to do from there. Sound good?"

Gerard nodded.

"Oh hm... You're seventeen... I need permission from your parents before I do this," the doctor said.

"She's at work right now but you can call her." Gerard shifted position so he was more comfortable.

Frank called Gerard's mother so she could talk to the doctor.

"Alright. She says it's fine so let's go," the doctor said.

•••

Gerard and the doctor come back into the room. "Hm the X-ray shows that Gerard's leg is broken, but not badly enough it needs surgery. I'll put a cast on it and give you some crutches." He turns to Gerard. "Then come back in two weeks so we can see how you're doing. Sound good?"

Gerard nodded and swept his hair out of his face.

A few minutes later, Gerard's cast was on and he's given crutches. He and Frank leave the hospital and get back in the car.