without you | gallavich

Ch. 5

Things are getting better. I mean, you're still not awake and I really need you to wake up, but things are starting to lighten up. Lip keeps telling me stories about you - Ian, please explain why the fuck you think that jumping out of a bedroom window onto a shitty mattress in the front yard was a good idea. I thought you were the logical one! Anyway, Svetlana and Yevgeny came by. Apparently while I was here, getting better and what-not, she was out fucking a dude that wasn't for money. It really does not bother me, though. Yev and I never connected, Lana and I never got along.

Your family is fucking psycho. Lip came in here once, way past visiting hours while slightly drunk. Fiona hasn't been by much but I don't care. Carl and Debbie, as annoying as they are, are iconic. Damn, I know why you turned out the way you did.

Mandy is fucking a new guy. She thinks I don't know but it's clear on her face. Wonder who it is. She'll tell me soon.

Miss you. Twenty days.
- ♡

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"The house isn't the same without your asshole self there," Mandy whined, her voice droning on as it raised a pitch. Mickey rolled his eyes, slightly grinning as she leaned forward and pressed her chin against the mattress as he shoved a spoon filled with pudding into his mouth. He quickly licked off the spoon before shoveling another scoop into his mouth. Cups of pudding were clattered around the table because fucking finally they had officially told him he was able to slowly begin eating soft foods.

"Oh! The others wanted to call. Ig and Tony wanted to visit but Dad's been riding their asses about getting business done and you know how he gets." Mickey clenched his jaw shut at the mention of their father before nodding, watching his younger sister pull out her phone almost excitedly. The sound of the phone ringing on speaker phone made Mickey's chest tighten slightly because he knew it was going to be his brothers on the end. Now, they weren't bad people, but they were too close to their father for Mickey's liking. Not to mention that in the twenty days he had been confined in this hospital, they visited once and he was asleep.

"Ayyyyeeee, Mickey!" Joey's voice cut through the room's silence, followed by the unintelligible shouts from his other brothers in the background. "I know you can't talk so just tap or something so I know you can hear me!" Mickey dropped the spoon onto the table, letting it clatter around before he rose an eyebrow at Mandy and she just shrugged with a grin on her face.

"How ya' doing?" Mickey shrugged and watched Mandy groan loudly before talking into the phone. He was grateful for her helping him so much during this difficult time, but he just didn't like the fact she had to do even the simplest things for him. Like talking on a fucking phone.

"He's doing better. Physical therapy is improving and he can walk from the door to his bed with the help of a crutch. He's getting more annoying, so we know he's coming back." Mickey reached out to grab her nipple through her shirt, twisting it roughly and grinning widely when she started to scream and smack his head roughly. "You fucking asshole!"

"Next time, Mick, don't be a fag and wait to blow your boyfriend," Iggy's voice shouted from the phone, causing Mickey to throw up his middle finger and Mandy to begin laughing. Despite Mickey's constant internal battle with him sexuality, he knew that his siblings meant no harm with the banter. It was their way of communicating their love for one another.

"He flipped you guys off," Mandy said, still smiling from the comment and she could see the playful scowl growing in her brother's face. If she didn't know him like the back of her hand, she'd actually be slightly scared of him just solely because of the way his facial expressions were conducted. The sound of rapid footsteps and clattering echoed from the phone, making Mickey slightly tilt his head at the sound before Joey's explanation came through.

"Sorry, aah, Dad woke up. He's not in a good mood. Anyway, we're going to visit soob, Mick. Don't get yourself killed in the process, eh?" Joey ended the call, leaving Mickey and Mandy to just stare at each other with slum expressions. For a few moments here and there,  they could pretend that they weren't Milkovich's and were actually apart of a normal family.

The children all got along, despite the way it looked from the outside in.  The insults, the physical 'abuse', and even the constant fights were the expressions of affection in the Milkovich household. They had learned from a young age that emotions were going to get your ass kicked but violence was going to get you praise so they adapted to that life. Having a father like Terry Milkovich was never easy, especially when they all learned that family isn't supposed to be like that.

"Whatever," Mandy said, cutting into the silence as she gave her brother a sad smile. "Dad's a dick. You want some more pudding cups?" Mickey looked down at the fourteen empty cups on the table from the past hour before he scrunched up his nose and held his stomach. The truth was that he'd love some more pudding cups but something in his stomach twisted and churned painfully, making it feel like he was about to vomit everywhere. Mandy reached forward and ruffled his hair before sauntering out of the door. Raising his middle finger, the boy was narrowing his eyes but he knew that he wasn't going to actually tell her to stop. He liked the little displays of gentle affection that Mandy or Lip or Carl gave him because it was something he had only ever received from Ian, yet it made him feel whole. Like Ian was there with them.

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Hey, man. Same day but I just need to let this out. I know I said things are getting better but something hurts. I physically feel like something is going to go wrong and the only thing that could possibly go wrong is you, so don't fucking die on me. Okay?
- Mikhailo