You Got Me On My Knees, chapter 23
"Don't stand there like fucking idiots!! Help me!" I didn't want to shout because for some reason I felt that it was best not to make a scene out of it but I sure as hell was quite bossy.
"Who... who is she?" Billie was white as a ghost while Mike was a little calmer but also terrified.
"I don't fucking know who she is but from the looks of it she ain't having fun sitting there unconscious in the toilet of a restaurant, drawing in her own blood."
"We have to call the police." Billie continued.
"No kidding Einstein! But I don't want to scare all those people away and cause a public scene! I hate public scenes."
"El babe you go home right now and we'll take care of that girl whoever she is. You're pregnant and last thing you need is getting stressed over this." Mike could barely speak and yet all he cared about was me and his child.
"Honey I can't let her here! We have to do something quickly this girl may be dying."
"Alright. Stay put and I'll call the manager and he will call the cops ok?" Mike rushed out of the room, leaving me and Billie staring at the figure of the unknown girl.
Let me explain myself: As you already know I was about to explode before I went to the bathroom. It's one of the bonuses of carrying a baby around who clearly thinks your bladder is some kind of squeezed toy.
Anyway I walked in and I found this girl lying on the floor, bleeding from her nose and her feet, where some impressive and new scars were showing probably from a knife or something.
I'm not gonna lie: I screamed and almost fell down from the shock. But I went to pee anyway. (Hey, no baby inside of you, no opinion!).
Once that was over and I came out, having to see her again and think of what I should do, I passed out. I was panicked and I'm not exactly a fan of unpredictability (or blood) so there were two unconscious women on the floor.
I know what you're thinking: How the fuck could someone attack a woman inside of a coffee house without getting noticed?
And how come nobody came once she, the girl, or even I had fainted and call for help?
Yeah, I have no answer to either question.
I came around pretty quickly I guess but I had lost it a bit so when Mike and
Billie came in and saw the scene of me on the ground next to Bleeding Girl I looked at them as if they were aliens.
We couldn't avoid the public scene once the police and some nurses came to take her. The place got emptied and they started questioning me despite Mike's efforts to get me out of it.
There wasn't much to tell really: I walked in, saw her, went to pee, passed out, Billie and Mike found me and the police took her. So we were done pretty quickly and went to see her at the hospital where we were told that she had woken up and there wasn't something serious going on with her and we even could visit.
Something that felt weird.
We didn't know anything about that girl apart from the fact that we had found her in a toilet and not on her best day...
Now that they had cleaned her up, she looked ok. Pretty even. She had blond hair, shoulder length, and nice green eyes and she smiled gratefully once I entered her room.
"Hello." I said, feeling a light kick in my stomach. Mr. or Mrs. Unknown probably wanted his or hers presence to be acknowledged too.
"Hi. Thanks so much for taking care of me."
"Don't worry it was something anyone would do. But I almost pissed myself when I saw you there!" Well that was literal. "I mean who... who would do this to you? And on a coffee shop?"
The Not Bleeding Anymore girl shrugged.
"My ex boyfriend who said that he would like to remain my friend, but flipped out when someone told him I was dating again." And note that she said it like it was a given.
Something completely normal and I was the only one who couldn't get it.
"That's sick. And he hit you and left you there unconscious just because you were seeing somebody?"
She shrugged again. "It's typical of Rob doing impulsive things without thinking."
"Well you gotta do something. I mean you're not safe. If this Rob guy is not afraid of behaving like this in a public space imagine what he'll do to you if he finds you somewhere a little more isolated."
"He's not that kind of bloke Rob." Yes the Not Bleeding Anymore sounded like
she was English.
"That was just a desperate act. He'll be so sorry by now that he probably wants to kill himself and he'll come on his knees to apologise. I'm not really afraid of him. He's a good lad. He just won't let go."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes there's absolutely no danger." I felt really close to that girl and I didn't know why. Maybe pregnancy hormones or way too much endorphins, even though the only exercise I got was stretching in my sleep so that wasn't logically possible.
"Listen... " I started, getting my 'Things Are Serious' look. "If you feel that this man is going to harm you again I want you to tell somebody. Anyone who's close to you alright? Even me, I'd be glad to help you."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Alright. Then you have to give me your number so I can call you... "
I smiled and nodded and took out a paper, writing the numbers down. I handed it to her and once she saw it, she started giggling.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"Perhaps you should also give me your name."
"Oh right! My name is... "
"Nah-ah!" she interrupted. "Write it down next to your number." This girl was strange and I liked her more and more. I jotted down my name:
Layla Stoan. But you can call me El.
"Hello El. Very nice to meet you."
"You too whoever you are."
"Amy."
"Amy what?"
"Just Amy." I wasn't going to push her. Just Amy was way better than Bleeding Girl or Not Bleeding Anymore Girl.
Billie and Mike came in.
"You alright girl?" Billie asked me, like I was the one in the hospital bed. Mike also gave me a kiss and when I assured both of them that I was not stressed and that the baby was fine they both turned their attention to Amy.
"Shit you're Green Day!" she cried, looking intensely at them. "Wow this may prove to be my luckiest day after all." She turned her head to look at me.
"You're dating Mike Dirnt and from what I've heard you're also pregnant right?"
"Yep." I answered with pride gazing at my boyfriend who was shyly smiling.
"Wait a minute... you're an author aren't you? Didn't you write a knock out book when you were eighteen or whatever?"
Again I nodded, feeling my cheeks burning.
"Wow." Amy sighed and rested her head on her pillow. "See? This turned out good." She said to me before speaking to Billie.
"You're fantastic. Your lyrics are genius; and you have a magnificent voice. I love your band." You should have seen Billie at this very moment; he was changing into a tomato little by little. He managed to let out a 'thank you'. (Not 'thanks', 'thank you' like gentlemen say) and looked away. He was so cute.
We all got back really late at night, exhausted. Billie didn't even make it to his bed; he fell asleep on the couch, murmuring that it was one hell of a birthday that year.
Mike had to carry me to the bed because my feet hurt and once he put me down I groaned quite loudly.
"So that girl Amy seemed really cool." He said, crashing in next to me.
"Yeah I liked her. I told her to call me if she needed help."
"Sweet little Gotta Help Everyone you." He laughed and kissed my nose before putting his arms around me and closing his eyes.
"Mike needs to sleep now... " he whispered in a baby voice.
"Yeah so Mike better do what he has to do." I whispered back and gave him a final kiss before drifting out myself.
Sometimes I really hate that my best friends and my boyfriend are in the same band. It means that I don't have anyone to hang out with and then I get bored and when I get bored I eat and when I eat I gain wait which I really don't need right now. I could work on my novel but I was done with that and now my publisher was checking it.
I called Mike up a couple of times, got some sweet words from him but once I started feeling guilty for not letting him do his job there was simply nothing else to keep me busy...
So I grabbed a book and started reading.
You've probably heard of 'Animal Farm' right? Not the jolliest thing. (One day I caught Mike reading it to Estelle, thinking it was a fairy tale. I screamed and put it away to the highest self explaining that the first time I read it I was fourteen and felt suicidal. Yeah I am a drama queen now that I think about it)
Anyway I hadn't read it in a while so I figured, why not? But my phone started ringing before I even got to the third page. It was that girl, Amy.
"Hey is everything ok?" I asked, confused and a little panicked having that Rob person in mind.
"Oh yeah I'm ok. You know whatever. A little bored though."
"Are you out of the hospital?"
"Yeah of course they only kept me one night."
"And what about Rob?"
I heard Amy laughing. "Rob left for England this morning. He said it would be better for him to get back. He said he was sorry."
"Well uh, that's good isn't it?"
"Yeah it's pretty good. I'll miss him though."
She would miss the guy who hit her and left her bleeding in a cafeteria's toilet.
"Sorry to hear that... I guess."
"It's okay."
"Right then. Uumm... anything else?"
"Yeah are you busy right now? It's probably a little late but as I said I'm a little bored so I thought that maybe we could meet or whatever."
I took a moment to think about it. What the hell it wasn't like I had so many offers I simply couldn't find the time.
"Sure that sounds nice."
"Fab! Let's go to Starbucks I love it in there! I'm a coffee addict."
"No kidding." I laughed, being reminded of a certain someone else on the same condition. "Okay Amy, Starbucks it is. I'll see you in an hour or so."
"Wait!"
"What?"
"You're going to have a boy aren't you?" That's it; they all had a secret pact. The whole world, the universe!
"I don't know I want to be surprised."
"That's cool. I love surprises."
Amy was great looking when she wasn't covered in blood or wearing a hospital gown.
A little too thin maybe but her hair had an amazing colour, not the usual blonde you see and she did her make up wonderfully (even though she did get some strange looks from one or two middle aged women but a) what were they doing at Starbucks? b) They give strange looks to everybody)
She had already drunk her first cup of frapucino when I arrived and once she saw me she got up and gave me a hug.
"You don't look like a pregnant woman on her fourth month." She said.
"Thanks. But I feel like one. I'm getting a little frustrated actually."
"At least you have your husband and his friends to get cranky to right?"
"Mike is not my husband yet."
"Oh. You engaged though right?"
"Well not exactly. You see Mike needs to get his divorce finalised first and then we're searching for a place to live because his wife... "
"Wait you're searching for a house?"
"Yeah why?"
"Man that's fucking kismet! My parents are rich as hell and they're selling their house here for one in New York. It's really beautiful you should come and look at it."
"Wow that's great! I want to be in a new house before I give birth because it would be too difficult to move once the baby is here."
"Well then I'll come and take you to it one of these days ok?"
"Sure it sounds cool."
We had a nice time talking about random things like books (She liked Jane Austen which was a major plus for her) and movies (really into thrillers. That kind of bumped me out.)
I stayed with her for three hours and she even offered to drive me home as I had come by bus.
And as soon as I opened the door a very um... vivid Mike grabbed me by the waist and crashed his lips on mine.
"Hey honey I wasn't gone to war."
I told him giggling but quickly got rid of my jacket, throwing it away, not really caring where it landed. Mike kept kissing me and even though I was like a tone heavier he could still lift me up and guide me to the bedroom, blindly. That man is good.
"Billie?" I asked out of breath.
"He's out." He answered. "Want to take advantage of that?"
I laughed again. "Sure. You have to say sorry to this little guy over here though." I told him patting my belly. "You know for molesting his mom."
"You sure it's a boy?"
"You've all convinced me so baby."
And that were the last words exchanged before Mike released both of us from our clothes and our bodies connected. I still couldn't get used to him and me being together in that way.
I was ecstatic to even be able to kiss him whenever I felt like it let alone... you know... have him in me.
"Thank God you can't get pregnant when you're pregnant." I sighed after a while, kissing his neck and making him chuckle. "I just found out today that in the fourth month of pregnancy you get extremely horny so beware Mr." I informed.
"That is definitely good news." He said placing soft kisses across my jaw line. "It overshadows mine by far."
I looked at him in question and he couldn't control a smile. "What?" I asked curiously.
"I'm free."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm divorced. That's it. Single again."
"Who... who is she?" Billie was white as a ghost while Mike was a little calmer but also terrified.
"I don't fucking know who she is but from the looks of it she ain't having fun sitting there unconscious in the toilet of a restaurant, drawing in her own blood."
"We have to call the police." Billie continued.
"No kidding Einstein! But I don't want to scare all those people away and cause a public scene! I hate public scenes."
"El babe you go home right now and we'll take care of that girl whoever she is. You're pregnant and last thing you need is getting stressed over this." Mike could barely speak and yet all he cared about was me and his child.
"Honey I can't let her here! We have to do something quickly this girl may be dying."
"Alright. Stay put and I'll call the manager and he will call the cops ok?" Mike rushed out of the room, leaving me and Billie staring at the figure of the unknown girl.
Let me explain myself: As you already know I was about to explode before I went to the bathroom. It's one of the bonuses of carrying a baby around who clearly thinks your bladder is some kind of squeezed toy.
Anyway I walked in and I found this girl lying on the floor, bleeding from her nose and her feet, where some impressive and new scars were showing probably from a knife or something.
I'm not gonna lie: I screamed and almost fell down from the shock. But I went to pee anyway. (Hey, no baby inside of you, no opinion!).
Once that was over and I came out, having to see her again and think of what I should do, I passed out. I was panicked and I'm not exactly a fan of unpredictability (or blood) so there were two unconscious women on the floor.
I know what you're thinking: How the fuck could someone attack a woman inside of a coffee house without getting noticed?
And how come nobody came once she, the girl, or even I had fainted and call for help?
Yeah, I have no answer to either question.
I came around pretty quickly I guess but I had lost it a bit so when Mike and
Billie came in and saw the scene of me on the ground next to Bleeding Girl I looked at them as if they were aliens.
We couldn't avoid the public scene once the police and some nurses came to take her. The place got emptied and they started questioning me despite Mike's efforts to get me out of it.
There wasn't much to tell really: I walked in, saw her, went to pee, passed out, Billie and Mike found me and the police took her. So we were done pretty quickly and went to see her at the hospital where we were told that she had woken up and there wasn't something serious going on with her and we even could visit.
Something that felt weird.
We didn't know anything about that girl apart from the fact that we had found her in a toilet and not on her best day...
Now that they had cleaned her up, she looked ok. Pretty even. She had blond hair, shoulder length, and nice green eyes and she smiled gratefully once I entered her room.
"Hello." I said, feeling a light kick in my stomach. Mr. or Mrs. Unknown probably wanted his or hers presence to be acknowledged too.
"Hi. Thanks so much for taking care of me."
"Don't worry it was something anyone would do. But I almost pissed myself when I saw you there!" Well that was literal. "I mean who... who would do this to you? And on a coffee shop?"
The Not Bleeding Anymore girl shrugged.
"My ex boyfriend who said that he would like to remain my friend, but flipped out when someone told him I was dating again." And note that she said it like it was a given.
Something completely normal and I was the only one who couldn't get it.
"That's sick. And he hit you and left you there unconscious just because you were seeing somebody?"
She shrugged again. "It's typical of Rob doing impulsive things without thinking."
"Well you gotta do something. I mean you're not safe. If this Rob guy is not afraid of behaving like this in a public space imagine what he'll do to you if he finds you somewhere a little more isolated."
"He's not that kind of bloke Rob." Yes the Not Bleeding Anymore sounded like
she was English.
"That was just a desperate act. He'll be so sorry by now that he probably wants to kill himself and he'll come on his knees to apologise. I'm not really afraid of him. He's a good lad. He just won't let go."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes there's absolutely no danger." I felt really close to that girl and I didn't know why. Maybe pregnancy hormones or way too much endorphins, even though the only exercise I got was stretching in my sleep so that wasn't logically possible.
"Listen... " I started, getting my 'Things Are Serious' look. "If you feel that this man is going to harm you again I want you to tell somebody. Anyone who's close to you alright? Even me, I'd be glad to help you."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Alright. Then you have to give me your number so I can call you... "
I smiled and nodded and took out a paper, writing the numbers down. I handed it to her and once she saw it, she started giggling.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"Perhaps you should also give me your name."
"Oh right! My name is... "
"Nah-ah!" she interrupted. "Write it down next to your number." This girl was strange and I liked her more and more. I jotted down my name:
Layla Stoan. But you can call me El.
"Hello El. Very nice to meet you."
"You too whoever you are."
"Amy."
"Amy what?"
"Just Amy." I wasn't going to push her. Just Amy was way better than Bleeding Girl or Not Bleeding Anymore Girl.
Billie and Mike came in.
"You alright girl?" Billie asked me, like I was the one in the hospital bed. Mike also gave me a kiss and when I assured both of them that I was not stressed and that the baby was fine they both turned their attention to Amy.
"Shit you're Green Day!" she cried, looking intensely at them. "Wow this may prove to be my luckiest day after all." She turned her head to look at me.
"You're dating Mike Dirnt and from what I've heard you're also pregnant right?"
"Yep." I answered with pride gazing at my boyfriend who was shyly smiling.
"Wait a minute... you're an author aren't you? Didn't you write a knock out book when you were eighteen or whatever?"
Again I nodded, feeling my cheeks burning.
"Wow." Amy sighed and rested her head on her pillow. "See? This turned out good." She said to me before speaking to Billie.
"You're fantastic. Your lyrics are genius; and you have a magnificent voice. I love your band." You should have seen Billie at this very moment; he was changing into a tomato little by little. He managed to let out a 'thank you'. (Not 'thanks', 'thank you' like gentlemen say) and looked away. He was so cute.
We all got back really late at night, exhausted. Billie didn't even make it to his bed; he fell asleep on the couch, murmuring that it was one hell of a birthday that year.
Mike had to carry me to the bed because my feet hurt and once he put me down I groaned quite loudly.
"So that girl Amy seemed really cool." He said, crashing in next to me.
"Yeah I liked her. I told her to call me if she needed help."
"Sweet little Gotta Help Everyone you." He laughed and kissed my nose before putting his arms around me and closing his eyes.
"Mike needs to sleep now... " he whispered in a baby voice.
"Yeah so Mike better do what he has to do." I whispered back and gave him a final kiss before drifting out myself.
Sometimes I really hate that my best friends and my boyfriend are in the same band. It means that I don't have anyone to hang out with and then I get bored and when I get bored I eat and when I eat I gain wait which I really don't need right now. I could work on my novel but I was done with that and now my publisher was checking it.
I called Mike up a couple of times, got some sweet words from him but once I started feeling guilty for not letting him do his job there was simply nothing else to keep me busy...
So I grabbed a book and started reading.
You've probably heard of 'Animal Farm' right? Not the jolliest thing. (One day I caught Mike reading it to Estelle, thinking it was a fairy tale. I screamed and put it away to the highest self explaining that the first time I read it I was fourteen and felt suicidal. Yeah I am a drama queen now that I think about it)
Anyway I hadn't read it in a while so I figured, why not? But my phone started ringing before I even got to the third page. It was that girl, Amy.
"Hey is everything ok?" I asked, confused and a little panicked having that Rob person in mind.
"Oh yeah I'm ok. You know whatever. A little bored though."
"Are you out of the hospital?"
"Yeah of course they only kept me one night."
"And what about Rob?"
I heard Amy laughing. "Rob left for England this morning. He said it would be better for him to get back. He said he was sorry."
"Well uh, that's good isn't it?"
"Yeah it's pretty good. I'll miss him though."
She would miss the guy who hit her and left her bleeding in a cafeteria's toilet.
"Sorry to hear that... I guess."
"It's okay."
"Right then. Uumm... anything else?"
"Yeah are you busy right now? It's probably a little late but as I said I'm a little bored so I thought that maybe we could meet or whatever."
I took a moment to think about it. What the hell it wasn't like I had so many offers I simply couldn't find the time.
"Sure that sounds nice."
"Fab! Let's go to Starbucks I love it in there! I'm a coffee addict."
"No kidding." I laughed, being reminded of a certain someone else on the same condition. "Okay Amy, Starbucks it is. I'll see you in an hour or so."
"Wait!"
"What?"
"You're going to have a boy aren't you?" That's it; they all had a secret pact. The whole world, the universe!
"I don't know I want to be surprised."
"That's cool. I love surprises."
Amy was great looking when she wasn't covered in blood or wearing a hospital gown.
A little too thin maybe but her hair had an amazing colour, not the usual blonde you see and she did her make up wonderfully (even though she did get some strange looks from one or two middle aged women but a) what were they doing at Starbucks? b) They give strange looks to everybody)
She had already drunk her first cup of frapucino when I arrived and once she saw me she got up and gave me a hug.
"You don't look like a pregnant woman on her fourth month." She said.
"Thanks. But I feel like one. I'm getting a little frustrated actually."
"At least you have your husband and his friends to get cranky to right?"
"Mike is not my husband yet."
"Oh. You engaged though right?"
"Well not exactly. You see Mike needs to get his divorce finalised first and then we're searching for a place to live because his wife... "
"Wait you're searching for a house?"
"Yeah why?"
"Man that's fucking kismet! My parents are rich as hell and they're selling their house here for one in New York. It's really beautiful you should come and look at it."
"Wow that's great! I want to be in a new house before I give birth because it would be too difficult to move once the baby is here."
"Well then I'll come and take you to it one of these days ok?"
"Sure it sounds cool."
We had a nice time talking about random things like books (She liked Jane Austen which was a major plus for her) and movies (really into thrillers. That kind of bumped me out.)
I stayed with her for three hours and she even offered to drive me home as I had come by bus.
And as soon as I opened the door a very um... vivid Mike grabbed me by the waist and crashed his lips on mine.
"Hey honey I wasn't gone to war."
I told him giggling but quickly got rid of my jacket, throwing it away, not really caring where it landed. Mike kept kissing me and even though I was like a tone heavier he could still lift me up and guide me to the bedroom, blindly. That man is good.
"Billie?" I asked out of breath.
"He's out." He answered. "Want to take advantage of that?"
I laughed again. "Sure. You have to say sorry to this little guy over here though." I told him patting my belly. "You know for molesting his mom."
"You sure it's a boy?"
"You've all convinced me so baby."
And that were the last words exchanged before Mike released both of us from our clothes and our bodies connected. I still couldn't get used to him and me being together in that way.
I was ecstatic to even be able to kiss him whenever I felt like it let alone... you know... have him in me.
"Thank God you can't get pregnant when you're pregnant." I sighed after a while, kissing his neck and making him chuckle. "I just found out today that in the fourth month of pregnancy you get extremely horny so beware Mr." I informed.
"That is definitely good news." He said placing soft kisses across my jaw line. "It overshadows mine by far."
I looked at him in question and he couldn't control a smile. "What?" I asked curiously.
"I'm free."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm divorced. That's it. Single again."
