She, chapter 3
Hospitals always smelt the same, sterile and cold disinfectant. One of those smells that Gianna had not ever wanted to experience again. If smells could bring back memories and make them live again, this had to be one of the worst. It took her back, to the time she stood beside a hospital bed. Her small ten year old hands playing with the stiff white sheet between her fingers. There were machines beeping and everyone rushing around her, not noticing she was watching and trying to reach her mother's arm which lay just out of reach on the bed. Waiting, waiting for her to wake up. So they could go home....
The bright light shining in her eyes made her awaken with a start. It only took a second to realise the flashback was over. She reached up to pull the oxygen mask from her face.
"Where am I ?" She whispered, her mind muddled.
" You're back with us at last!"
Gianna opened her eyes fully to see the grey haired guy that was leaning over her, way too close for her liking.
"My name's Dr. Franklin. You've been in an accident, you were lucky though. Only a minor head injury but we're going to keep an eye on you." He added, scribbling notes while he spoke. Gianna eyed him warily, she didn't trust doctors, especially ones as patronising as this, and she was still trying to piece together what had happened. She realised she was in a private room, the beeping was coming from the drip that was attached to her arm. There were plenty of dumb questions that she needed to ask but there was no way she was going to put any trust in Dr Franklin. God, how she hated hospitals, at least there was a window beside the bed. Turning to gaze out, for no other reason that it took her attention from the stark white walls that surrounded her.
"Mrs Tate!"
Gianna shuddered inside, if there was something she hated more than hospitals and smarmy doctors it was being called 'Mrs Tate'
"What." She snapped, turning back to see him waiting in the doorway.
"You're a lucky girl, that your friend came in with you."
"My friend..."
"Yes," he continued, " He's stayed the whole time, waiting for you to wake up. I'll let him know that you're back in the land of the living."
Gianna watched him leave, what the hell was all that about? How could anyone have known she had crashed the car, unless it was one of Colm's friends, and they were all total ass wipes that would have been gone telling tales to him by now anyway.
She must have been deep in thought as she hardly noticed that Dr Franklin had returned.
"I'll check on you in twenty minutes, try and get some rest . Your friend can come in but not for too long."
For fucks sake,she thought, just because your a doctor you think you can dictate what happens to me, as if you give a shit anyway. Gianna could feel her anger rising again, until she took a moment to glance over to the door and her heart almost skipped a beat. Next to doctor know it all stood someone she knew so well, in her head anyway.
Billie Joe leaned against the door frame, he felt so tired it was difficult to stay awake. In fact he had been falling asleep out in the corridor, the heat of the hospital, and the fact that he was so hungry that dozing off had been an option to take his mind off it.
Staying with Gianna had taken his mind off the turmoil that what going on in his head. The last few weeks had been hell, the one thing he should have learnt by now was that he should have at least given Adrienne the chance to explain before he had left in a bad mood. There was always that chance of mistaken assumptions or maybe it was just all true and he was the one in the wrong. The only thing he did know was that he needed some time on his own to think, even if it ended up to be a hospital . The girl from the hospital bed was staring at him open mouthed, she had obviously realised who he was.
"So, you finally woke up." He said, running his hand through his hair and trying to stay awake.
Gianna was totally and utterly lost for words, how could this be happening. If that really was Billie Joe, then what the hell was he doing here. Pinching herself to check she wasn't dreaming she kept telling herself ' Oh my god this is not real.'
"Oh my god, is this for real. Are you..."
"Billie Joe, except you probably already knew that."
"But, I don't understand, how..."
"Well, some crazy chick tried to run me down so I thought I'd wait around and find out why."
Gianna paused for a moment, as if she would ever try to run anyone down, let alone Billie Joe Armstrong. It felt strange seeing the person she had only seen from a poster or video standing right in front of her.
"I wasn't, I don't remember, I lost control. " She tried desperately to remember what had happened. The pieces weren't exactly fitting together at the moment.
"I was on my way to see Rachel, shit she must be wondering where I am. Where's my bag, I need my phone."
"It's here," he removed the bag from the hook on the back of the door and put it on the edge of the bed. Sitting down in the chair by the window he watched as Gianna searched franticly through her belongings.
"I think you'll find it's in the side pocket. That's where Tre found it earlier..."
"Tre, has been through my stuff.." She looked up suddenly.
"Yeah, only to find out who you were. I think he might have borrowed your cigarettes but that's all." He explained, in case she was going to go off on one.
"It's ok, I don't mind. It's just, well this is all a bit much to take in at the moment." Gianna was beginning to feel a little embarrassed. If she had ever envisioned meeting Green Day, it had never been in this sort of situation. If only she hadn't taken that corner so fast, of all the totally obvious stupid things to do. I must have looked like such an idiot, she thought to herself, they must all think I'm so dumb. She took out her phone, it was switched off for some reason. It only took a second to realise the battery was flat.
"Useless piece of shit!" She launched it across the room, where it hit the wall and smashed into several pieces.
Billie Joe watched the pieces scatter across the floor," Remind me never to get on the wrong side of you!" he commented at a very sulky looking Gianna. She was sat with her knees drawn up and resting her chin on her fists. Moving her hand to sweep the hair away from her eyes she flinched as her fingers brushed against the dressing on her forehead.
"Ow ", she muttered , and then managed a small smile as she glanced back up at Billie Joe. He grinned back at her.
"Are you ok?, I'll keep my distance just in case you find anything else in that bag to throw around."
"Sorry about that, I lost it for a moment. It's this place, I really have to get out of here, I hate hospitals . I guess it's like phobia thing, they make me feel sick and I start getting real panicky. Like I am now, and I really don't want to start freaking out." Gianna gabbled, her breathing quickening as she tried to explain. He moved closer and sat next to her on the bed, sliding his arm around her shoulders to try and calm her down.
" You'll be ok, don't start freaking out on me Gianna. Do you want me to get someone?"
"No, I don't want that moron of a doctor any where near me." She answered at once. That was one thing she was definitely sure of.
"I think they must be still trying to call your husband. He wasn't answering the phone when they tried earlier. I bet he'll be here to take you home as soon as he finds out what happened." He added, trying to change the subject slightly and hoping that it was the right thing to say. Gianna pulled away from him, and started nervously biting her finger nail.
"They are doing what?"
"Trying to call your husband..."
"No, they can't. Who told them they could do that. I don't want him to know I'm here. What time is it?"
Billie Joe just looked at her, completely confused. "It's almost midnight, why do you..."
Gianna broke him off mid sentence.
"Midnight, fucking hell I've got to get out of here. " There was no way that she wanted Colm to find her here. It was still difficult to think straight, this was going to ruin everything, or at least make things a hell of a lot more difficult.
"What are you doing?, you can't leave. " Billie Joe grabbed her waist as she tried to jump down from the bed.
"I can, let me go. I need to find my trainers and get the hell outta here before anyone realises I'm gone."
"And you're gonna take this with you?" He held the tube from the drip that was still attached to her arm. "And you still haven't told me what all this is about, why don't you want your husband to find out?"
Gianna grabbed hold of the tube. "This, is a minor problem. My husband finding me here is one major big fucking problem." She yanked at it and managed to pull it out of her arm. It hurt like hell but she wasn't going to let him know.
"I can't believe you just did that" Billie Joe backed away, this girl wasn't making sense, he watched her get down from the bed, trying not to wince in pain. She shoved her feet into her trainers, not even bothering to tie the laces and grabbed her bag from the bed.
"I'm going, I have to. Are you just gonna stand there or are you coming with me?" She asked, swaying slightly as she stood still. He only had a moment to think, he could just let her leave right now but his curiosity was getting the better of him, and he really didn't think that she would get far on her own. She could hardly stand, let alone walk too far.
"I don't have much choice do I. I'm coming with you, but you have got to tell me what's going on."
"Not now, as soon as we get out of here, I promise." Gianna told him, she hadn't expected him to say yes, or even be interested in her complicated life. It hadn't sunk in yet, the fact that this was the real Billie Joe Armstrong and he was at this moment putting his arm around her to help her stand. She just wished that she wasn't so unsteady on her feet.
Out in the corridor it was dark, the lights were dimmed down and the place was deserted. A few hospital porters and night staff passed them by without questioning where they were going. Gianna was trying to plan out in her head what to do next. If she went home then Colm would be waiting for her, and she really couldn't deal with that at the moment.
Ten minutes later they sat together on the steps to the park, opposite the hospital sharing a cigarette. Gianna seemed distracted, glancing around her every now and then as if paranoid that someone was watching her.
"I told a lie.." She said quietly, scraping the heel of her shoe along the step nervously.
"What? Is that all, everyone tells a lie sometimes. It's not like the end of the world."
Gianna looked up at him, biting her lip.
"This isn't just a little white lie, I come out with enough of those. This is a big lie. Too big because now I can't go back on it, it's all gonna catch up on me and there is not a thing I can do about it." She was going to say more, but a group of teenagers had moved nearer, watching what was going on and listening in.
"You know your way around here, I need to get something to eat." Billie Joe asked, realising there was no way she was going to say any more until they had a bit more privacy.
"Um, there's a place not far from here. I think they stay open late. Me and Rach go there quite often, we could go there. " She was thinking of the cafe that was the usual place that she ended up after an argument with Colm and needed somewhere to go. Billie Joe flicked the cigarette end into the fountain and helped her get up from the step.
"Sounds good, can you manage to walk on your own now or do need a hand?"
Although she was tempted to say she still felt a bit wobbly, she didn't. "I'm ok now, I think." She replied, standing up. "I just wish Tre hadn't borrowed my cigarettes, I think I'm gonna need a few more after tonight. Where is he anyway?"
"Back at the crappy hotel we're staying at. When we found you, you know in that field, we were waiting for Jason to pick us up, our car broke down so we ended up walking."
"Oh I see, well that explains a lot."
"Yeah, and then you came along and tried to run us down. So, Tre and Mike waited for Jason to come back and I ended up with you, in the ambulance."
"Why did you stay with me, I mean you don't even know me."
"We felt a bit bad about them taking you away and you were on your own so I decided to go with you. Wouldn't have bothered if I knew you'd take so long to wake up. Four hours I was stuck in that hospital!"
"Well thanks, I'll try and bring myself out of unconsciousness a lot quicker next time!" Gianna replied huffily, crossing her arms.
"You know I don't mean it miss huffy pants, oh hang on.." He felt his phone buzzing again from his pocket. There were about fifteen missed calls from Adrienne and one from Mike, pressing ringback he waited for Mike to answer.
"Billie, where the fuck are you?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but I just left the hospital. Gonna get some food, I can't cope with that room service shit."
"Yeah, know what you mean, did Adrienne call you back?, she's been trying to get hold of you all night."
"Er, yeah got the messages on my voicemail. I called her back."
"Yeah, course you did, just don't blame me for not passing on messages." The phone cut off at that point.
"They wondering where you are?" Gianna asked, pushing the door as they entered the cafe.
"Yeah, phone cut out though." They sat in the corner by the window, there was only one other person in the place and that was a gypsy type old woman who sat in the opposite corner, fast asleep and snoring very loudly.
"Here we are, the quietest place in town, but the fastest service at this time of night." Gianna said, brushing her hair back from her face. "I need to go to the toilets and sort my hair out, I won't be long."
"Do you want anything, I'll pay, I don't mind."
"Yeah, just tell Red, that's the guy behind the counter, that I'll have my usual." she called back as she walked away. Billie Joe watched her walk away and as she reached the door called back to her.
"Sure, but when you get back you are gonna tell me everything. "
Gianna smiled back at him and rushed into the ladies toilets, how the hell was she going to explain all this without sounding like a total freak.
The bright light shining in her eyes made her awaken with a start. It only took a second to realise the flashback was over. She reached up to pull the oxygen mask from her face.
"Where am I ?" She whispered, her mind muddled.
" You're back with us at last!"
Gianna opened her eyes fully to see the grey haired guy that was leaning over her, way too close for her liking.
"My name's Dr. Franklin. You've been in an accident, you were lucky though. Only a minor head injury but we're going to keep an eye on you." He added, scribbling notes while he spoke. Gianna eyed him warily, she didn't trust doctors, especially ones as patronising as this, and she was still trying to piece together what had happened. She realised she was in a private room, the beeping was coming from the drip that was attached to her arm. There were plenty of dumb questions that she needed to ask but there was no way she was going to put any trust in Dr Franklin. God, how she hated hospitals, at least there was a window beside the bed. Turning to gaze out, for no other reason that it took her attention from the stark white walls that surrounded her.
"Mrs Tate!"
Gianna shuddered inside, if there was something she hated more than hospitals and smarmy doctors it was being called 'Mrs Tate'
"What." She snapped, turning back to see him waiting in the doorway.
"You're a lucky girl, that your friend came in with you."
"My friend..."
"Yes," he continued, " He's stayed the whole time, waiting for you to wake up. I'll let him know that you're back in the land of the living."
Gianna watched him leave, what the hell was all that about? How could anyone have known she had crashed the car, unless it was one of Colm's friends, and they were all total ass wipes that would have been gone telling tales to him by now anyway.
She must have been deep in thought as she hardly noticed that Dr Franklin had returned.
"I'll check on you in twenty minutes, try and get some rest . Your friend can come in but not for too long."
For fucks sake,she thought, just because your a doctor you think you can dictate what happens to me, as if you give a shit anyway. Gianna could feel her anger rising again, until she took a moment to glance over to the door and her heart almost skipped a beat. Next to doctor know it all stood someone she knew so well, in her head anyway.
Billie Joe leaned against the door frame, he felt so tired it was difficult to stay awake. In fact he had been falling asleep out in the corridor, the heat of the hospital, and the fact that he was so hungry that dozing off had been an option to take his mind off it.
Staying with Gianna had taken his mind off the turmoil that what going on in his head. The last few weeks had been hell, the one thing he should have learnt by now was that he should have at least given Adrienne the chance to explain before he had left in a bad mood. There was always that chance of mistaken assumptions or maybe it was just all true and he was the one in the wrong. The only thing he did know was that he needed some time on his own to think, even if it ended up to be a hospital . The girl from the hospital bed was staring at him open mouthed, she had obviously realised who he was.
"So, you finally woke up." He said, running his hand through his hair and trying to stay awake.
Gianna was totally and utterly lost for words, how could this be happening. If that really was Billie Joe, then what the hell was he doing here. Pinching herself to check she wasn't dreaming she kept telling herself ' Oh my god this is not real.'
"Oh my god, is this for real. Are you..."
"Billie Joe, except you probably already knew that."
"But, I don't understand, how..."
"Well, some crazy chick tried to run me down so I thought I'd wait around and find out why."
Gianna paused for a moment, as if she would ever try to run anyone down, let alone Billie Joe Armstrong. It felt strange seeing the person she had only seen from a poster or video standing right in front of her.
"I wasn't, I don't remember, I lost control. " She tried desperately to remember what had happened. The pieces weren't exactly fitting together at the moment.
"I was on my way to see Rachel, shit she must be wondering where I am. Where's my bag, I need my phone."
"It's here," he removed the bag from the hook on the back of the door and put it on the edge of the bed. Sitting down in the chair by the window he watched as Gianna searched franticly through her belongings.
"I think you'll find it's in the side pocket. That's where Tre found it earlier..."
"Tre, has been through my stuff.." She looked up suddenly.
"Yeah, only to find out who you were. I think he might have borrowed your cigarettes but that's all." He explained, in case she was going to go off on one.
"It's ok, I don't mind. It's just, well this is all a bit much to take in at the moment." Gianna was beginning to feel a little embarrassed. If she had ever envisioned meeting Green Day, it had never been in this sort of situation. If only she hadn't taken that corner so fast, of all the totally obvious stupid things to do. I must have looked like such an idiot, she thought to herself, they must all think I'm so dumb. She took out her phone, it was switched off for some reason. It only took a second to realise the battery was flat.
"Useless piece of shit!" She launched it across the room, where it hit the wall and smashed into several pieces.
Billie Joe watched the pieces scatter across the floor," Remind me never to get on the wrong side of you!" he commented at a very sulky looking Gianna. She was sat with her knees drawn up and resting her chin on her fists. Moving her hand to sweep the hair away from her eyes she flinched as her fingers brushed against the dressing on her forehead.
"Ow ", she muttered , and then managed a small smile as she glanced back up at Billie Joe. He grinned back at her.
"Are you ok?, I'll keep my distance just in case you find anything else in that bag to throw around."
"Sorry about that, I lost it for a moment. It's this place, I really have to get out of here, I hate hospitals . I guess it's like phobia thing, they make me feel sick and I start getting real panicky. Like I am now, and I really don't want to start freaking out." Gianna gabbled, her breathing quickening as she tried to explain. He moved closer and sat next to her on the bed, sliding his arm around her shoulders to try and calm her down.
" You'll be ok, don't start freaking out on me Gianna. Do you want me to get someone?"
"No, I don't want that moron of a doctor any where near me." She answered at once. That was one thing she was definitely sure of.
"I think they must be still trying to call your husband. He wasn't answering the phone when they tried earlier. I bet he'll be here to take you home as soon as he finds out what happened." He added, trying to change the subject slightly and hoping that it was the right thing to say. Gianna pulled away from him, and started nervously biting her finger nail.
"They are doing what?"
"Trying to call your husband..."
"No, they can't. Who told them they could do that. I don't want him to know I'm here. What time is it?"
Billie Joe just looked at her, completely confused. "It's almost midnight, why do you..."
Gianna broke him off mid sentence.
"Midnight, fucking hell I've got to get out of here. " There was no way that she wanted Colm to find her here. It was still difficult to think straight, this was going to ruin everything, or at least make things a hell of a lot more difficult.
"What are you doing?, you can't leave. " Billie Joe grabbed her waist as she tried to jump down from the bed.
"I can, let me go. I need to find my trainers and get the hell outta here before anyone realises I'm gone."
"And you're gonna take this with you?" He held the tube from the drip that was still attached to her arm. "And you still haven't told me what all this is about, why don't you want your husband to find out?"
Gianna grabbed hold of the tube. "This, is a minor problem. My husband finding me here is one major big fucking problem." She yanked at it and managed to pull it out of her arm. It hurt like hell but she wasn't going to let him know.
"I can't believe you just did that" Billie Joe backed away, this girl wasn't making sense, he watched her get down from the bed, trying not to wince in pain. She shoved her feet into her trainers, not even bothering to tie the laces and grabbed her bag from the bed.
"I'm going, I have to. Are you just gonna stand there or are you coming with me?" She asked, swaying slightly as she stood still. He only had a moment to think, he could just let her leave right now but his curiosity was getting the better of him, and he really didn't think that she would get far on her own. She could hardly stand, let alone walk too far.
"I don't have much choice do I. I'm coming with you, but you have got to tell me what's going on."
"Not now, as soon as we get out of here, I promise." Gianna told him, she hadn't expected him to say yes, or even be interested in her complicated life. It hadn't sunk in yet, the fact that this was the real Billie Joe Armstrong and he was at this moment putting his arm around her to help her stand. She just wished that she wasn't so unsteady on her feet.
Out in the corridor it was dark, the lights were dimmed down and the place was deserted. A few hospital porters and night staff passed them by without questioning where they were going. Gianna was trying to plan out in her head what to do next. If she went home then Colm would be waiting for her, and she really couldn't deal with that at the moment.
Ten minutes later they sat together on the steps to the park, opposite the hospital sharing a cigarette. Gianna seemed distracted, glancing around her every now and then as if paranoid that someone was watching her.
"I told a lie.." She said quietly, scraping the heel of her shoe along the step nervously.
"What? Is that all, everyone tells a lie sometimes. It's not like the end of the world."
Gianna looked up at him, biting her lip.
"This isn't just a little white lie, I come out with enough of those. This is a big lie. Too big because now I can't go back on it, it's all gonna catch up on me and there is not a thing I can do about it." She was going to say more, but a group of teenagers had moved nearer, watching what was going on and listening in.
"You know your way around here, I need to get something to eat." Billie Joe asked, realising there was no way she was going to say any more until they had a bit more privacy.
"Um, there's a place not far from here. I think they stay open late. Me and Rach go there quite often, we could go there. " She was thinking of the cafe that was the usual place that she ended up after an argument with Colm and needed somewhere to go. Billie Joe flicked the cigarette end into the fountain and helped her get up from the step.
"Sounds good, can you manage to walk on your own now or do need a hand?"
Although she was tempted to say she still felt a bit wobbly, she didn't. "I'm ok now, I think." She replied, standing up. "I just wish Tre hadn't borrowed my cigarettes, I think I'm gonna need a few more after tonight. Where is he anyway?"
"Back at the crappy hotel we're staying at. When we found you, you know in that field, we were waiting for Jason to pick us up, our car broke down so we ended up walking."
"Oh I see, well that explains a lot."
"Yeah, and then you came along and tried to run us down. So, Tre and Mike waited for Jason to come back and I ended up with you, in the ambulance."
"Why did you stay with me, I mean you don't even know me."
"We felt a bit bad about them taking you away and you were on your own so I decided to go with you. Wouldn't have bothered if I knew you'd take so long to wake up. Four hours I was stuck in that hospital!"
"Well thanks, I'll try and bring myself out of unconsciousness a lot quicker next time!" Gianna replied huffily, crossing her arms.
"You know I don't mean it miss huffy pants, oh hang on.." He felt his phone buzzing again from his pocket. There were about fifteen missed calls from Adrienne and one from Mike, pressing ringback he waited for Mike to answer.
"Billie, where the fuck are you?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but I just left the hospital. Gonna get some food, I can't cope with that room service shit."
"Yeah, know what you mean, did Adrienne call you back?, she's been trying to get hold of you all night."
"Er, yeah got the messages on my voicemail. I called her back."
"Yeah, course you did, just don't blame me for not passing on messages." The phone cut off at that point.
"They wondering where you are?" Gianna asked, pushing the door as they entered the cafe.
"Yeah, phone cut out though." They sat in the corner by the window, there was only one other person in the place and that was a gypsy type old woman who sat in the opposite corner, fast asleep and snoring very loudly.
"Here we are, the quietest place in town, but the fastest service at this time of night." Gianna said, brushing her hair back from her face. "I need to go to the toilets and sort my hair out, I won't be long."
"Do you want anything, I'll pay, I don't mind."
"Yeah, just tell Red, that's the guy behind the counter, that I'll have my usual." she called back as she walked away. Billie Joe watched her walk away and as she reached the door called back to her.
"Sure, but when you get back you are gonna tell me everything. "
Gianna smiled back at him and rushed into the ladies toilets, how the hell was she going to explain all this without sounding like a total freak.
