Chapter Text
Gerard hates hospitals. The smell of death and bleach is over-powering and makes him wrinkle his nose.
He creeps passed the nurse's station unseen, ignoring the strong scent and liquid noise of their healthy hearts. Gerard checks the signs on the wall and heads up to the ICU.
As much as he hates hospitals, they're necessary for him. He is morally opposed to feeding off humans that have their whole lives ahead of them; it just seems like such a waste to kill them so he can feed. And while Mikey might not have any moral qualms, feeding off whoever is stupid enough to flirt with him at whatever bar he ends up at, Gerard goes out of his way to have a clear conscious.
Strolling silently down the ICU, he pauses at each door to peer in. He steps into a few rooms to read the patient's chart, but none of them are on death's door. He continues on down the hallway.
It isn't until almost the very end that he hears a soft, fluttering heartbeat. The sound of a heart clearly struggling to stay alive. Gerard leans gently against the door and listens for a moment. The sound makes him sad, but because of his nature, it also makes him salivate. Mikey says feeding off dying humans is what makes him so melancholy all the time.
The door is silent when Gerard eases it open, just the sound of the lock clicking into place echos through the dark room. The human is sleeping, a small lamp next to his bed throwing shadows of his body against the opposite wall. Gerard checks over the chart hanging off the end of the hospital bed.
Male, aged 19.
Gerard purses his lips at the tragedy of a life ending so short, but if the boy is going to die anyway, he may as well help Gerard survive.
The soft golden glow of the boy's bedside lamp shows his face, something that Gerard normally tries to avoid seeing. He doesn't want the faces of his meals peering at him from behind his eyelids. This time he can't help but to look.
The boy is soft looking, weak and pale. Gerard can practically see his blood pumping erratically behind his skin. His hair is brown and unwashed, hanging around his ears and over his forehead in little curls. He's gorgeous.
Gerard reaches forward to move a lock of hair away from the boy's throat, but the movement wakes him.
His eyes flutter open quickly and Gerard doesn't have time to pull away.
"Are you an angel?" the boy whispers, searching Gerard's face with big, brown eyes.
"I'm afraid not," Gerard answers gently, his thumb caressing the boy's pale neck.
"A devil then? Are you here to take me to hell?"
"No."
They stare at each other for a long minute.
"Why are you here?" the boy asks, his voice still a soft whisper.
"To end your suffering," Gerard answers sadly.
"Oh."
Another few moments pass in silence. Gerard listens to the buzzing sound of the bedside lamp and the thumping of the boy's heart.
"Will it hurt?" he finally asks, turning away from Gerard's face to focus on the white ceiling.
"I suppose so, yes."
He takes a deep breath, the air rattling around in his chest painfully.
"Make it quick, please."
"You're so eager to die," Gerard comments as he climbs onto the hospital bed. He straddles the boy's frail hips and gazes down at him. The boy turns his head away to stare at their shadows on the wall.
"I'm in pain," he answers. "As long as the pain ends I... I don't really care."
"You haven't even asked who I am or why I'm here to kill you."
The boy looks back up at that. There's a pale flush in his cheeks now and Gerard licks his lips.
"Do you want to tell me?" the boy asks, scrunching his thin eyebrows together.
"Do you care to know?" Gerard counters, placing his hand back on the side of the boy's neck. He can feel the thready pulse under his fingertips.
"I suppose I should know," he allows.
"My name is Gerard, I'm a vampire."
The boy just breathes for a while, then smiles painfully.
"My blood might not taste very good, I've been sick for a long time."
"I'm used to the blood of dying humans," Gerard mutters. He turns the boy's head to the side with his thumb then leans forward to inhale the scent of his neck.
"I'm sure the morphine doesn't hurt the taste," the boy whispers, barely audible.
Gerard chuckles because he's right, and because he's never meet a human that can make jokes with a vampire's mouth so close to their throat.
"I'm going to bite now," Gerard warns him softly. "Don't scream."
"I won't," he sighs.
Gerard can feel the boy's body relax as he lets out a long, low breath. At the last second he reaches up to grab Gerard's hand, threading their fingers together and gripping as tight as he can.
"It's alright," Gerard whispers in his ear, holding the boy's hand tightly. "I'll try to make it as painless as possible."
When he sinks his fangs into the boy's throat, his skin making a wet popping noise as it breaks, the boy whimpers gently and redoubles his grip on Gerard's hand. He squirms a little while Gerard drinks, but doesn't make any other sounds.
While Gerard drinks, he mourns the loss of another life. A life that should have been full and happy. He's only a few mouthfuls away from the boy's death when he realizes he didn't ask his name.
Pulling back, Gerard peers down at the motionless boy. His eyes are shut now and his skin is cold and sallow, but his lips retain their pink tinge. Suddenly Gerard is overwhelmed with heartache and chokes back a sob.
"Oh, God," he mutters, letting the boy's limp hand fall from his own.
Without pausing to think about his actions, Gerard bites into his own wrist, smearing his teeth with more blood.
"Drink," Gerard mutters, holding his wrist to the boy's lips. "Drink, please."
He has to pour the first few mouthfuls into the boy, but after a moment his eyelids jump apart as his hands shoot up to grip Gerard's wrist. He drinks feverishly, staring Gerard down the entire time.
When he starts to feel light-headed, Gerard pries himself away from the boy's hungry mouth.
He whines, but Gerard shushes him.
"It's alright, I know you're hungry. I'll feed you, don't worry."
"Please," the boy gasps. "I can smell it."
"Come on."
Gerard helps pull the boy from his bed. He sets his bare feet on the cold hospital floor and whips his head around.
"Where?"
"This way," Gerard says, taking the boy's hand and leading him from the room.
The boy is still pale and thin, wearing nothing but a hospital gown and a bloodstained mouth. Gerard heads back to one of the rooms he visited earlier, to one of the patients that had enough of a chance of recovery that Gerard didn't bother.
The boy whines again when the door is opened, but Gerard holds him back and makes him walk slowly up to the bed. The best time to begin learning control is the first time.
"You need to be quiet," Gerard whispers to him as they both look down on the middle aged woman sleeping in the hospital bed. "Cover her mouth with your hand, and drink from here," he says, brushing his thumb across the boy's neck in the correct spot.
"Yes," he whispers, leaning forward.
Gerard keeps a hand on the boy's back as he covers the woman's mouth and sinks his new fangs into her throat. She wakes almost immediately, but he just holds her face more securely and continues to drink. Gerard watches her die with a stoic expression, knowing her death is on his hands.
The boy sighs when he pulls away, a lazy grin on his blood soaked mouth.
"Come here," Gerard instructs, pulling him into the small bathroom.
Gerard washes his own face first, then backs away to let the boy do the same. When he resurfaces from the sink his skin is no longer pale, but flushed and hot. His eyes are wide and practically glowing. He grins in the mirror, pulling his top lip back to expose tiny little fangs descending from his jaw.
"They'll grow over time," Gerard mutters. "And you won't feel so hungry after you feed."
"I want more," the boy whines, staring at Gerard in the mirror.
"I know, you'll get more tomorrow."
He turns and leans against the sink, looking up at Gerard quizzically.
"Why did you do it?" he asks calmly.
"I couldn't watch you die," Gerard answers, touching the spot on the boy's neck where he had bitten. It's healed over now, all the blood washed away.
"I'm Frank," the boy smiles.
"Welcome to your new life, Frank," Gerard smiles back.