Way Down chapter 1

***Gerard's POV***
"I miss you! I miss you so far! And the collision of your kiss, that made it so hard!" I screamed into the microphone while strutting my stuff across stage. It had been a while since we played Cemetery Drive live and it felt good playing it again. I think we all liked it. Frank was going crazy on the floor, Ray was rocking out his guitar solo, Bob was beating the heck out of the drums and Mikey was getting way more into it than I had ever seen. Normally he just walks around on stage bopping his head to the beat, but he looked as if he was in competition with Frank. "Way down, way down, way down..." I sang, but suddenly the background sounds became bare. Frank had stopped playing and shortly after so did Bob. I turned to look behind me and saw both Frank and Mikey on the floor. Frank was leaning over Mikey who lay motionless. I'd seen him fall before but he continued to play, and this time he wasn't. I dropped my microphone as Bob got out from behind the drumset. Finally Ray realized I was no longer singing and stopped playing. In seconds the entire band was huddled around Mikey.

He was unconcious and barely breathing it seemed like. I pulled his bass off of him and lay it beside him. I tried to shake him awake but he made no response. I would have thought he was dead if it weren't for the faint breathing. The crowd was still screaming but this time more from anger. I was about to get up and talk to them, but Frank beat me to it so I could remain by my brother's side.

"Hey everybody listen up!" Frank shouted into the mic. "Yo! Everyone quiet! Shut the fuck up!" Slowly the crowd's screaming and shouting dulled to a low murmer. "Look, we've got a little situation here, so bare with us!" People started screaming, wanting to know what was going on. "Hey, hey everyone! It's Mikey, okay? Just... don't go crazy!" He put the microphone back down and joined us around Mikey again as medics rushed over.

"What happened?" I asked to no one in particular.

"He fell," Frank said. "He just fell. His feet flew out from under him and his head smacked the drum and then the floor and..." he started shaking his head in disbelief. I looked at my baby brother. His glasses had fallen from his face and lay beside him. I picked them up, folded them and put them in my pocket as the medics placed him on a stretcher.

"Is he that bad?" I asked.

"His head is bleeding," one of the medics responded. I didn't know what to think. It didn't appear life threatening, but I still couldn't breath. It felt as though someone had gripped my heart and was squeezing it so that it couldn't beat anymore.

They carried Mikey away and I remained seated on the floor as the rest of the guys followed my brother. The show was over. There was no way we could go on. I picked up the microphone. "Okay, first I'd like to thank all of you for coming out tonight! It is fucking amazing to see so many fucking fans. I love you all, which is why I feel so bad. We've got something going on right now." The crowd was dead silent. "My little brother, you all know him as Mikey, he has fallen and hurt himself and well..." my throat was tight. "He hit his head and he's not awake and so we can't go on. I'm really fucking sorry that we have to do this." At least we only had a few more songs left. "I don't know what I can do, and I'm so sorry everyone, but right now I can only think about my brother." I turned and left the stage. I couldn't really hear the crowd after that, but no one sounded mad. I could have sworn I hear about a million people shouting things like "tell Mikey we love him," or "tell Mikey to get well soon!" I love our fans.

*********

We sat in the waiting room of the hospital. The medics decided it was best he get treated in an emergency room seeing as head trauma is so unpredictable. All of us were everything nervous. My knee was bouncing up and down a million times a minute. Ray was playing with his hair. Frank was biting his nails. And Bob was nervously drumming on his legs. All I could think about was what I said before... then finally...

"Mr. Way?" a doctor asked approaching the group.

"Yes?" I responed standing up. "How's my brother? Is he okay?"

"He sustained a cut to the back of his head, but that will quickly heal. The main concern is the concussion. But we won't know his final condition until he wakes up," the doctor explained.

"He hasn't woken up yet?"

"Head injuries are, well... mysterious, I guess you could say. If he doesn't slip into a coma first, he could have amnesia. He could also be perfectly fine. Right now, it's up to him."

"Could I see him?" I asked.

"Right this way." I followed the doctor through the emergency room doors. It was a pretty open area with rooms that lacked a wall. Each room was three walls and a curtain that was either open or closed. He led me to a room where the curtain was closed and let me slip in.

I stopped thinking. I just saw my baby brother lying helplessly in a hospital bed. His hat had been removed and his clothes were replaced with a gown which was most likely missing a back. His breathing had returned to normal, but I was sure he looked pale. I pulled up a chair and sat down next to Mikey.

"What did you do this time?" I asked him, hoping maybe he'd respond. No such luck. "Come on Mikey, wake up. You know how much you mean to me. I freak out every time something happens to you." Still nothing.

About an hour later, I was starting to doze off when I hear a rustling coming from the bed. I looked up and saw Mikey's eyes flutter beneath his eyelids. I remembered his glasses in my pocket and pulled them out, just in case. Mikey opened his eyes and I let out a breath I felt like I'd been holding for months. He gazed at me trying to focus but clearly failed, so I handed him his glasses. "Mikey, what the hell did you do? You had me so worried!"

"Mikey?" he asked.

"Yeah, Mikey..." I got confused.

"Who's Mikey?" he asked. I felt like I had been sucked into darkness and then suddenly thrust back into reality.

"You're Mikey."

"I am?"

"Yes! Do... Don't you remember?"

"Who are you?"


***Frank's POV***
Gerard came stumbling out of the ER in a daze. His gaze remained focused on his feet as he came ambling over to us. "What's wrong Gerard?" I asked. "Is he okay?"

"He has amnesia," Gerard replied. "He doesn't know my name, who I am... he didn't even know what his name was."

"Are you serious?" Bob asked.

Gerard nodded. "He looked at me as if he were looking at a stranger for the first time. He didn't know his name. He knew his last name for some reason, but not his first. I... it's like he's not my brother anymore."

"This is insane..." I mumbled.

"How is he otherwise?" Ray asked a distressed Gerard, most likey unsure of what to say.

"Fine I guess. But what does it matter?" Gerard left and through the automatic doors we saw him light a cigarette and have a smoke. I decided to join him. We didn't need to talk, but I needed a cigarette too. I didn't even stand near him. I knew he'd talk to me if he needed to. We stood in silence for a few moments before he spoke. "How did this happen Frank?" he asked in a somber tone.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you see it happen?"

"Yeah, I did," I said remembering it clearly. "I don't really know how he slipped, maybe on water or sweat or something, but he did. His feet flew out from under him and he flew backwards. His head collided with the drum, which I guess is where he cut it, and then he smacked his head on the floor." I realized my vivid choice of words probably wasn't the wisest choice as he winced at them. "His hands fell from his bass and so that's how I knew he wasn't okay." No pun intended.

Gerard almost laughed as if I did make a pun. "He wouldn't get that now."

"He really didn't recognize you?"

"When he woke up I asked him how he was and he was like 'who's mikey?' I told him he was, asked if he remembered what happened he asked who I was. He was amazed that he had a brother. Twenty-seven years, wiped away in an instant."

I put my hand on Gerard's shoulder to reassure him. "Mikey'll be fine." Gerard didn't respond. "He'll remember again and he'll kick himself for ever forgetting."

"You won't feel that way when you see him, Frank. His eyes... eyes that have looked at you for so long with care, when they look at you trying to figure out who you are and why you're there... it hurts so much, Frank. It hurts."