You're Electrifying (frerard)

Chapter 8

TW for mentions of suicide

Sorry for those who have already read it who didn't want to, I thought that conversation was in the next chapter and I don't proofread sorry

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Frank didn't come to school today and that worried me but Jamia said that he had just called in sick. Which I knew was a load of bull because Frank cant get sick. I went to his house after school and saw him curled up in bed. When I touched his shoulder I found what looked to be actual frost on his shoulder because of how cold he was. But he was asleep and I didn't want to bother him as I went downstairs.

"He's literally freezing," I said to Ms. Iero. "Ice is forming on his skin."

She nodded, looking down sadly.

"Does he usually get like this?" I asked.

"Not often," she mumbled. "And it isn't good when he does."

"Why?" I asked.

She sniffled, wiping her eyes.

"He's depressed, really depressed," she whispered. "He hates that he was born with this curse and I understand. H-he's tried to take his own life before just to get out of his life. He one time swallowed a bunch of pills but because his body can heal itself it just immediately digested and had no effect. And then he tried again by...by slitting his wrists but they just magically healed again after a second."

"F-Frank tried to kill himself?" I whimpered.

"He's unhappy," she said sadly. "I wish I could make it better for him but I just don't know what to do. I let him stop being homeschooled so he could go to school like a normal kid when he was old enough so he could have more of a normal life but he has a really hard time making friends because of his anxiety and so he just sort of isolates himself and it only made him worse and I offered to homeschool him again but he wanted to go outside at least sometimes."

"When did he last try it?" I asked.

"Just a little bit before coming here," she said. "An...incident happened and I was packing things up to move and went to his room when I heard screaming. I found him on his bedroom floor with a razor, his wrists covered in blood but they were already healed up. He was screaming because it didn't work and I had to take the razor away from him, even though it wouldn't work, he wouldn't stop trying. But I held him until he passed out and got him into the car along with our stuff and we spent a couple weeks living in our car driving across the country before we came here."

"What type of incident?" I asked.

"Oh, it's a long story and Frank doesn't like to talk about it," she said and I could tell she didn't want to either. "But it's good that you're here. Frank is really happy with you and you really are making a big difference in his life."

I smiled softly, playing with the hem of my shirt.

"How will he die?" I asked.

"That's a good question, we don't know how or when he would die," she said. "Organs will never begin shutting down when he gets old, can't be shot or stabbed. We don't know what will happen."

I sniffled, looking towards the stairs.

"I should go upstairs," I said. "I'll stay and wait for Frankie to wake up."

She smiled and I went back to cuddle up in Frank's bed. Although I layered to blankets between us, I tried to stay as close as possible to him. A cloud of mist gently blew out of his mouth from how cold he was. He even made the room a little colder, like an ice pack kept inside a foil-lined thermal bag.