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Extreme Camper/Musician
11/2/2009

A/N: The following content contains a description of someone dying from the Bubonic Plague, or Black Death. The material contains blood, and the death of a person. If you do not wish to read such content, PLEASE turn away now. If not, please enjoy the following short story. Thank you for your time, enjoy. :)

Frank Iero had always been the sickly one. He went through a lot of sicknesses and problems as a child; like ear infections and the whooping cough. But who knew someone could get so sick?

He was my best friend; we had formed the band together all those years ago. When I was a drug addict, he helped me pull out of it. When I needed encouragement, he gave it. There were so many other things Frank had done for me. Far too many to list here.

And now... I couldn’t even help him. After all he had done for me, all I could do was just let him know I was there. Who knows; it could have been sufficient for him. He had eventually accepted what his fate would be.

The Bubonic Plague.

I thought it was horrible just reading about it in my History Books. Recently, cases had been popping up here and there in secluded; not so sanitary areas.

And now Frank Iero, my best friend, was going to die.

No matter how horrible it got, I sat by his bedside, holding his hand even as he threw up spews of blood. Even as his skin darkened and became as lifeless as the dead. I was surprised I hadn’t caught the Bubonic Plague myself. But maybe, just maybe, I would catch it. I would die with him, and we could meet up in that place wherever you go after you die.

“Gerard...” he hissed, out of breath.

No, no, not yet...

“Frank..?” I questioned, my voice trailing off, but desparation still crystal clear. He looked at me with those brown eyes. They still had light in them. They still had that childish sparkle they always seemed to possess. But it was dulled.

Blood trailed out of the corner of his mouth as he struggled to form words. His legs spazzed for a second, and he opened his mouth in a silent scream of pain. “Ger-ger-ge...”

I gripped his hand tighter. “I’m here,” was all I could manage to say. “I’m here...”

He coughed, and then trembled violently.

I thought it was the end, so I held his hand so tight that my knuckles began turning white. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. This knot had somehow formed in the bottom of my throat and I swallowed, trying to get it to go away. My chest shivered involuntarily.

I was so afraid, so afraid to lose him.

“Gerard, h-help... M-m-me...” He was pleading. Begging to me as if I could do something. It made the tears flow faster, knowing all I could do was sit there. If I told him, he would lose all hope; all sanity. He would go out the easy way.

“I’m here.” Again, that poison.... That poison was coming out of my mouth. It was all my lips could form, it was all my vocal chords could sound out. It made me so frustrated with myself. Couldn’t I say something more to save him? Anything... Anything to help the pain go away, anything to make the cursed plague leave my best friend. There had to be a cure. Why hadn’t those doctors tried to find a cure? Why did they sit around and worry about the flu when even worse sicknesses were out there? Why, why, why?

I drew in a deep shaky breath as Frank threw up bile and blood once again. Oh God, he was in so much pain. I could see from the way he writhed, the way he tried to scream, how swollen he was.

Little Frank....

...Was dying.

I had known it before. But for some reason, it only just now registered in my brain what that really meant.

The band; My Chemical Romance. Gone. Frank’s antics on stage. Gone. Frank himself.

Gone.

I lost myself in that moment, sitting there with Frank as his final minutes ticked by. He begged. His grip weakened. His spasms started closing off.

It was all ending, right there.

Right in front of me, Frank Iero was dying. And all I could do was sit.

This world was so cruel.

Looking back, I would be ashamed of myself for being so angry at the world instead of making Frank’s last moments worthwhile. Instead, I cursed the sickness, I cursed the world, I cursed death. It got to the point where I actually let go of him and cursed in the most horrid tongue at everything I could think of blaming. I was so sick of all of it. So tired of just sitting there on the sidelines, watching everything pass.

And then, Frank grabbed me.

I was so dazed, I couldn’t register what was going on. But Frank had grabbed the collar of my shirt and had pulled my face so close to his that I could smell the sickness in his breath.

Oh God.

His skin was so dark and dead, like rotting flesh. His lips were chapped and his whole face was caked with blood. The only thing I recognized were those familiar brown eyes. I tried so hard to focus on them as he said his Famous Last Words. But all I could see below me was a man so close to dead it was unreal.

He opened his mouth and drew in a long, shaky breath. “Ger-ge-gerard... T-tell, Mikey, B-bo-bob, Ray... L-l-l-lindsey, Jamia, A-ali-alicia..... T-tell them that I... That I l-love the-them... All, so much...” He swallowed and shuddered. “I-I lo-love you, too. Don’t ever for-for-forget that.... P-promise me....”

“I won’t,” I breathed. “And I promise.”

He tried to smile, but all he did was groan. “Goodbye....Goodbye... G-goodbye... Good-”

I felt his grip release on my collar.

And his arm dropped.

And that light in his eyes....Faded forever.

Frank Iero died September 22, 2012, 4:23 p.m.

"Now I know that I can’t make you stay
But where’s your heart?
But where’s.. Your..
And I know there’s nothing I could say
To change that part
To change that part
To change that part
To change;
So many bright lights that cast a shadow
But can I speak?
Well is it hard understanding?
Why I’m incomplete
I life that’s so demanding
Again,
So weak
A love that’s so demanding
I cannot speak.

I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay you’ll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home.

Can you see my eyes are shining bright?
Cuz I’m out here on the other side
Of a jet-black hotel mirror
And I’m so weak
Well is it hard understaning?
Again so weak
A love that’s so demanding
Again weak.

I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay you’ll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home.

I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I’d never speak
Awake
and unafraid
Asleep
or dead
I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I’d never speak
Awake
and unafraid
Asleep
or dead.

I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay you’ll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home.
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay you’ll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home."
-Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance

Disclaimer: My Chemical Romance nor the people or lyrics of the song belong to me.

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