Takin' Back What's Mine (A Billie Joe Story...), chapter 5
Get dressed, and go get some coffee.
Xox, Seb
I shrugged and got dressed and then went downstairs to the coffeemaker in the kitchen. Beside it was a note.
Have some coffee. Look, your car keys!
I made myself a cup of coffee and then grabbed my keys off the note and left the house. Where the fuck was I supposed to go? There was a note taped to the steering wheel.
Can't wait to see you!
Her house? Fuck it, even if that's not where I was supposed to go, I was going there anyway. It was my birthday, I wanted to be with my girlfriend, not wander around the city looking for more notes. I got to her apartment and stopped outside her door, where a note was shoved between the door and its jamb.
Door's locked. Check under the fire extinguisher.
I looked around and went to the fire extinguisher. I picked it up and grabbed the key beneath it. When it jangled, I looked at the other keys on the ring. They were mine; my keys to Mike's house. There was a new key on it, and taped to it was another note.
Hope you like your present. Should I help you pack?
I grinned and unlocked the door with the new key. "Honey, I'm home!" I called. Sebi stepped out of the kitchen with a huge grin on her face and I went over to her and pulled her close to me roughly.
"Mmm, hello," she replied, tucking her fingers into my belt. I backed her into a wall and kissed her hard. She responded by unbuttoning my shirt quickly and then pushing it over my shoulders with her nails raking my skin. She slid her hands down to my belt and slid a hand down the front of my pants. I moaned and she pulled away to look at me. "Should I come over and help you pack?"
"Not right now," I moaned, "I wanna stay here right now." She winked and pulled me by my belt towards her room. Or, our room, I guess.
Later on Sebi disentangled herself from my arms so she could go and get a glass of water. I sat back and watched as she came back in and sat down on the bed beside me.
"Hey Seb," I mumbled.
"Yea babe."
"D'you guys need an opening act for tour?" That's right, they were about to release their first album, To You, (hehe, like, Hopelessly Addicted To You) and they were going on tour after.
"Um...yea."
"Sweet," I grinned.
"Why?"
"Cuz Green Day'll come. And then we can be together and I don't have to stay here and wait for you."
She smiled and rested her head against my chest. We both sat up when my phone rang and I stood up to fish it out of my pants pocket. "Hello?"
"Bill, your kids are here," Mike muttered, "So get your ass over here so they'll stop climbing on me. Joey, let go of my leg."
I laughed. "On my way." I closed my phone and pulled on my pants.
"Where're you going?" Sebi whined.
"My boys are at Mike's. Come on, we gotta go pick them up."
By the time we got to Mike's place, Mike was sitting on the porch watching the boys run around in the yard. We got out of the car and Sebi stood right next to it looking nervous.
"Don't worry, they'll love you," I assured her.
"How do you know?"
"Cuz I do," I replied. She smiled at me and I led her over to the boys. "Hey guys. Boys. Joey, Jake. Guys." They weren't answering, just running around chasing after a little blue ball.
I watched in horror and (it seemed) slow motion as the ball rolled into the street and Jake ran after it. There was a car coming, but before I could manage to get to him, Sebi darted out and shoved Jake out of the way of the car, throwing herself in its path. With a dull thud, it caught her in mid-dive and she went all the way over the car and fell to the ground. The car screeched to a halt and I watched Jake crawl slowly towards her.
***Jakob Armstrong's POV***
My knee was stinging as I crawled towards the woman Dad had brought with him. "Are you okay?" I asked, my eyes wide as I noticed blood on her lips.
"Are you?" she replied, looking as though it was very difficult to talk. I nodded. "Good. Get out of the street."
"But..."
"Now," she snapped. I ran to the side of the road as Dad ran past me.
***Billie Joe's POV***
I knelt down beside Sebi and she looked up at me. "Does it hurt?" I asked.
"Yea," she mumbled quietly, and I saw the blood on her lips.
I flipped my head to look at Mike. "Mike! Call an ambulance!" I yelled, and then sat down cross-legged beside Sebi.
I went to pull her torso onto my lap, but as I did so, she whimpered. "No. Ow. Stop," she whispered.
I nodded and saw a large piece of glass sticking out of her arm. "This is gonna sting," I warned, and pulled the glass out. She moaned in pain and I could hear sirens in the distance. "Shh, it's alright, the ambulance's coming." I watched her grow paler by the second, and then I watched her eyes flutter closed and she passed out. I let the ambulance take her to the hospital and then rushed the boys into the car and drove there myself. On the way I called Emma and Matt and told them what happened, and they told me they'd meet us there.
When we got to the hospital, the boys followed me in and up to the nurse. "Hi, I'm looking for Sabrina Waldron," I said.
The woman tapped on her keyboard. "Alright, Room 143," she said, "That way." She pointed up a hallway and I nodded, taking Joey's and Jake's hands and pulling them off.
"Dad, who's the lady?" Jake asked.
"She's a good friend of mine."
"She's hot," Joey grinned.
"Joey, please don't say that," I muttered, "She's eighteen years older than you."
"Not to mention your girlfriend," Joey snickered.
"Yes, alright, I admit, she's my girlfriend. Be nice to her, she just saved your brother's life."
We got to her room and I opened the door and looked inside. A doctor looked up from where she was writing on a clipboard. "You're the first to come and see her," she commented.
"How is she?" I replied, stepping into the room and gesturing the boys to sit in the chairs.
The woman opened the door and waited for me to exit before following me and closing the door behind her. "There's good news and bad news," she murmured.
"Good news first." I crossed my arms and tucked my hands under my armpits.
"She came off with only one broken bone. Her left shoulder was dislocated, but was easily reset, and otherwise only had some minor lacerations."
"Bad news?"
"The broken bone was her rib."
"...And?"
"It seems that when Sabrina..."
"Sebi," I interrupted.
"It seems that when Sebi got hit was when the bone broke. When she hit the ground, however, the broken bone was dislodged and punctured her lung." I stopped shifting on my feet and looked her right in the eye. "If we operate soon, she has a fifty percent chance of living."
"And if you wait?"
"About fifteen percent."
I took a deep breath and looked around when I heard my name called. "Emma! Matt!"
"What's going on? How is she?"
I looked over at the doctor, who repeated her diagnosis. Emma, Matt and I all looked at each other and nodded. "Let's do the surgery."
February 18, 2007
Emma, Matt and I all sat in the waiting room, waiting for the doctor to come out from where she was examining Sebi after her surgery. Mike had come and picked up the boys, so we were simply waiting. We were getting antsy, I could see Emma and Matt starting to twitch in their seats and talk quietly to each other. I just sat and waited until the doctor finally came out of the room and stepped up to us.
"We've decided to keep her sedated until the rib heals," she said, "That should be about a week."
"And then she can come home?"
"We may have to keep her for a few days for observation, but she should be better soon." She stopped. "You may want to call her parents. I doubt they're gonna be happy when they find they've been outta the loop for so long." We nodded and she said, "You can go and see her now."
We all stood up and went into the room where Sebi was lying on the bed, looking small and frail and...bleached against the white-washed walls of the hospital room. Her black hair was spread across her pillow and it seemed to be the only thing of real substance in the room. She had an IV in her hand and a tube in her nose. Her chest rose and fell gently and rhythmically as we all took seats around her bed.
February 26, 2007
***Sebi's POV***
I woke up in an all-white room with a head of black hair resting against my arm. I smiled and ran a hand through Billie Joe's hair. My hand was falling asleep, so I shifted it a little and jumped when his head shot up and he fell out of his chair. He stood up and rubbed his eyes and then blinked around at the room. It seemed like he was afraid to look at me.
"Bill?" I finally mumbled. His eyes finally rested on my face and he went pale. He had no smile on his face, and his eyes widened and he stepped back a little. "What?"
Finally he seemed to come to himself, and he cracked that charming smile that set my heart beating faster and faster. I grinned weakly back. "How're you feeling?" he asked, sitting on the edge of my bed.
***Billie Joe's POV***
A slight grimace crossed her features and she raised a hand to her ribs. I nodded. "Broken rib. And a punctured lung," I told her.
"It kinda hurts to breathe," she muttered, still with a hand pressed to her chest.
"Your dad's here too," I commented.
She blinked. "And how've you two been getting along?"
I shrugged. "We've been getting by." She smiled and reached out and took my hand. I turned my head when the door opened and Sebi's dad came in. A small smile flitted onto his face. "I'll leave you two alone." As I passed Mr. Waldron, he nodded to me in a small thanks. I replied with a small smile and then left the room.
***Sebi's POV***
Dad sat down in the same place Billie'd been in and smiled at me. I smiled back and he sighed. "I was so worried about you," he mumbled.
"Why?"
"Hun, you've been under for a week," he explained.
"Really?"
He nodded. "That boy took good care of you before I got here," he acknowledged. I smiled and nodded. "You really do love him, don't you?" It wasn't a question. It was a statement.
"Yes."
"I still don't think he's good enough for you."
"I know."
He didn't answer, and left the room again without a word. I sighed and looked down at the IV stuck into the back of my hand. Then I looked out the window and that's how I stayed for I don't know how long, until finally sleep overtook me and I fell into the dark abyss of unknown dreams.
***Billie Joe's POV***
February 28, 2007
Finally they let Sebi out of the hospital that day, and I drove us home. Her dad sat in the backseat and when we got back to the apartment, I helped her inside as it was still difficult for her to walk for very long and there wasn't an elevator in the apartment. By the time we reached the door to our apartment, she was shaking from the effort of suppressing the rage I knew was building inside her at not being able to do anything for herself. The release of the album, To You, had been postponed until she got better, and I knew that was bugging her too.
***Sebi's POV***
We got inside and I plopped down on the sofa, pissed at myself. I didn't like not being able to do anything for myself and I was even more pissed because Billie had to do everything for me. I sighed and turned on the TV and shifted down into the seat more as Dad sat down beside me.
"Honey, I gotta go to the studio," Billie said, stepping in and kissing the top of my head. "I'll be back in about an hour, 'k?"
"Sure," I mumbled, "See you later."
He set a hand on top of my head before leaving. I heard the door close behind him and sighed again. "Dad?"
"Mmm."
"Can you move to that chair over there so I can lay down?"
"Alright," he said, and moved. I lay down and turned onto my side and continued to blink at the television, seeing, but not really watching. After a bit, I guess I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew, I was woken up by a yell.
"You're neglecting her!" Dad was yelling.
"I had to go to the studio and meet with my band!" Billie Joe replied.
"She deserves more than that!"
"She knows what she wants!"
I sat up and the two men looked at me and then back at each other. "She deserves more than you," Dad finally whispered.
I glanced at Billie Joe, whose face was contorted in rage. "What the Hell?" he shouted, and I bounced up and blocked him from lunging at my dad.
"Billie. Dad. Please. Calm down," I said, putting a hand on both their chests, as they both stepped forward a little.
"She deserves someone like a lawyer, someone with a real job," Dad spat.
"Dad!" I said, and then turned to Billie and started pushing him gently towards the front door. "Bill, go hang with Mike and Tré for a bit, 'k?"
"Seb, I'm in the middle of something..."
"And I don't need you to get in the middle of this," I responded, "I'll call you, alright?"
"But..."
I shook my head and then closed the door. Then I turned back to Dad, my hand still on the doorknob. "What the fuck, Dad?"
"He doesn't deserve you."
"DAD! I should be able to choose who I want to be with."
"He doesn't have a real job!"
"I don't care!" I shouted finally, "Christ, Dad, I love him. And he loves me. Why can't you just accept that and accept him?"
"Because I don't want to see you wasting your life with some...singer who's probably cheating on you when he's on tour!"
"Dad, I'm a singer too! What the Hell is your problem! It's not even your business. If he cheats on me, I can deal with it. I can figure out what to do about it. I don't need you to help me. I'm not four anymore, Dad."
"But you're still my daughter, and I don't want to see you get hurt."
"Come on, Dad, I can deal with it. Once again, I'm not four. If I get hurt, it won't be your fault. And I don't need you to sit around and wait for me to get hurt and then come and console me. God knows you never did that for me when I really needed it."
"When was that? I've always been there for you."
"NO YOU WEREN'T!" I screamed, "You were always away on trips! You left me with Gramma, who, by the way, is clinically insane! You never told me why you and Mom got divorced, and you were never there for me even before that!" He looked at me blankly and I opened the door again. "Get outta my house."
"But Sabrina, I'm your father."
"No. I never had a father."
Xox, Seb
I shrugged and got dressed and then went downstairs to the coffeemaker in the kitchen. Beside it was a note.
Have some coffee. Look, your car keys!
I made myself a cup of coffee and then grabbed my keys off the note and left the house. Where the fuck was I supposed to go? There was a note taped to the steering wheel.
Can't wait to see you!
Her house? Fuck it, even if that's not where I was supposed to go, I was going there anyway. It was my birthday, I wanted to be with my girlfriend, not wander around the city looking for more notes. I got to her apartment and stopped outside her door, where a note was shoved between the door and its jamb.
Door's locked. Check under the fire extinguisher.
I looked around and went to the fire extinguisher. I picked it up and grabbed the key beneath it. When it jangled, I looked at the other keys on the ring. They were mine; my keys to Mike's house. There was a new key on it, and taped to it was another note.
Hope you like your present. Should I help you pack?
I grinned and unlocked the door with the new key. "Honey, I'm home!" I called. Sebi stepped out of the kitchen with a huge grin on her face and I went over to her and pulled her close to me roughly.
"Mmm, hello," she replied, tucking her fingers into my belt. I backed her into a wall and kissed her hard. She responded by unbuttoning my shirt quickly and then pushing it over my shoulders with her nails raking my skin. She slid her hands down to my belt and slid a hand down the front of my pants. I moaned and she pulled away to look at me. "Should I come over and help you pack?"
"Not right now," I moaned, "I wanna stay here right now." She winked and pulled me by my belt towards her room. Or, our room, I guess.
Later on Sebi disentangled herself from my arms so she could go and get a glass of water. I sat back and watched as she came back in and sat down on the bed beside me.
"Hey Seb," I mumbled.
"Yea babe."
"D'you guys need an opening act for tour?" That's right, they were about to release their first album, To You, (hehe, like, Hopelessly Addicted To You) and they were going on tour after.
"Um...yea."
"Sweet," I grinned.
"Why?"
"Cuz Green Day'll come. And then we can be together and I don't have to stay here and wait for you."
She smiled and rested her head against my chest. We both sat up when my phone rang and I stood up to fish it out of my pants pocket. "Hello?"
"Bill, your kids are here," Mike muttered, "So get your ass over here so they'll stop climbing on me. Joey, let go of my leg."
I laughed. "On my way." I closed my phone and pulled on my pants.
"Where're you going?" Sebi whined.
"My boys are at Mike's. Come on, we gotta go pick them up."
By the time we got to Mike's place, Mike was sitting on the porch watching the boys run around in the yard. We got out of the car and Sebi stood right next to it looking nervous.
"Don't worry, they'll love you," I assured her.
"How do you know?"
"Cuz I do," I replied. She smiled at me and I led her over to the boys. "Hey guys. Boys. Joey, Jake. Guys." They weren't answering, just running around chasing after a little blue ball.
I watched in horror and (it seemed) slow motion as the ball rolled into the street and Jake ran after it. There was a car coming, but before I could manage to get to him, Sebi darted out and shoved Jake out of the way of the car, throwing herself in its path. With a dull thud, it caught her in mid-dive and she went all the way over the car and fell to the ground. The car screeched to a halt and I watched Jake crawl slowly towards her.
***Jakob Armstrong's POV***
My knee was stinging as I crawled towards the woman Dad had brought with him. "Are you okay?" I asked, my eyes wide as I noticed blood on her lips.
"Are you?" she replied, looking as though it was very difficult to talk. I nodded. "Good. Get out of the street."
"But..."
"Now," she snapped. I ran to the side of the road as Dad ran past me.
***Billie Joe's POV***
I knelt down beside Sebi and she looked up at me. "Does it hurt?" I asked.
"Yea," she mumbled quietly, and I saw the blood on her lips.
I flipped my head to look at Mike. "Mike! Call an ambulance!" I yelled, and then sat down cross-legged beside Sebi.
I went to pull her torso onto my lap, but as I did so, she whimpered. "No. Ow. Stop," she whispered.
I nodded and saw a large piece of glass sticking out of her arm. "This is gonna sting," I warned, and pulled the glass out. She moaned in pain and I could hear sirens in the distance. "Shh, it's alright, the ambulance's coming." I watched her grow paler by the second, and then I watched her eyes flutter closed and she passed out. I let the ambulance take her to the hospital and then rushed the boys into the car and drove there myself. On the way I called Emma and Matt and told them what happened, and they told me they'd meet us there.
When we got to the hospital, the boys followed me in and up to the nurse. "Hi, I'm looking for Sabrina Waldron," I said.
The woman tapped on her keyboard. "Alright, Room 143," she said, "That way." She pointed up a hallway and I nodded, taking Joey's and Jake's hands and pulling them off.
"Dad, who's the lady?" Jake asked.
"She's a good friend of mine."
"She's hot," Joey grinned.
"Joey, please don't say that," I muttered, "She's eighteen years older than you."
"Not to mention your girlfriend," Joey snickered.
"Yes, alright, I admit, she's my girlfriend. Be nice to her, she just saved your brother's life."
We got to her room and I opened the door and looked inside. A doctor looked up from where she was writing on a clipboard. "You're the first to come and see her," she commented.
"How is she?" I replied, stepping into the room and gesturing the boys to sit in the chairs.
The woman opened the door and waited for me to exit before following me and closing the door behind her. "There's good news and bad news," she murmured.
"Good news first." I crossed my arms and tucked my hands under my armpits.
"She came off with only one broken bone. Her left shoulder was dislocated, but was easily reset, and otherwise only had some minor lacerations."
"Bad news?"
"The broken bone was her rib."
"...And?"
"It seems that when Sabrina..."
"Sebi," I interrupted.
"It seems that when Sebi got hit was when the bone broke. When she hit the ground, however, the broken bone was dislodged and punctured her lung." I stopped shifting on my feet and looked her right in the eye. "If we operate soon, she has a fifty percent chance of living."
"And if you wait?"
"About fifteen percent."
I took a deep breath and looked around when I heard my name called. "Emma! Matt!"
"What's going on? How is she?"
I looked over at the doctor, who repeated her diagnosis. Emma, Matt and I all looked at each other and nodded. "Let's do the surgery."
February 18, 2007
Emma, Matt and I all sat in the waiting room, waiting for the doctor to come out from where she was examining Sebi after her surgery. Mike had come and picked up the boys, so we were simply waiting. We were getting antsy, I could see Emma and Matt starting to twitch in their seats and talk quietly to each other. I just sat and waited until the doctor finally came out of the room and stepped up to us.
"We've decided to keep her sedated until the rib heals," she said, "That should be about a week."
"And then she can come home?"
"We may have to keep her for a few days for observation, but she should be better soon." She stopped. "You may want to call her parents. I doubt they're gonna be happy when they find they've been outta the loop for so long." We nodded and she said, "You can go and see her now."
We all stood up and went into the room where Sebi was lying on the bed, looking small and frail and...bleached against the white-washed walls of the hospital room. Her black hair was spread across her pillow and it seemed to be the only thing of real substance in the room. She had an IV in her hand and a tube in her nose. Her chest rose and fell gently and rhythmically as we all took seats around her bed.
February 26, 2007
***Sebi's POV***
I woke up in an all-white room with a head of black hair resting against my arm. I smiled and ran a hand through Billie Joe's hair. My hand was falling asleep, so I shifted it a little and jumped when his head shot up and he fell out of his chair. He stood up and rubbed his eyes and then blinked around at the room. It seemed like he was afraid to look at me.
"Bill?" I finally mumbled. His eyes finally rested on my face and he went pale. He had no smile on his face, and his eyes widened and he stepped back a little. "What?"
Finally he seemed to come to himself, and he cracked that charming smile that set my heart beating faster and faster. I grinned weakly back. "How're you feeling?" he asked, sitting on the edge of my bed.
***Billie Joe's POV***
A slight grimace crossed her features and she raised a hand to her ribs. I nodded. "Broken rib. And a punctured lung," I told her.
"It kinda hurts to breathe," she muttered, still with a hand pressed to her chest.
"Your dad's here too," I commented.
She blinked. "And how've you two been getting along?"
I shrugged. "We've been getting by." She smiled and reached out and took my hand. I turned my head when the door opened and Sebi's dad came in. A small smile flitted onto his face. "I'll leave you two alone." As I passed Mr. Waldron, he nodded to me in a small thanks. I replied with a small smile and then left the room.
***Sebi's POV***
Dad sat down in the same place Billie'd been in and smiled at me. I smiled back and he sighed. "I was so worried about you," he mumbled.
"Why?"
"Hun, you've been under for a week," he explained.
"Really?"
He nodded. "That boy took good care of you before I got here," he acknowledged. I smiled and nodded. "You really do love him, don't you?" It wasn't a question. It was a statement.
"Yes."
"I still don't think he's good enough for you."
"I know."
He didn't answer, and left the room again without a word. I sighed and looked down at the IV stuck into the back of my hand. Then I looked out the window and that's how I stayed for I don't know how long, until finally sleep overtook me and I fell into the dark abyss of unknown dreams.
***Billie Joe's POV***
February 28, 2007
Finally they let Sebi out of the hospital that day, and I drove us home. Her dad sat in the backseat and when we got back to the apartment, I helped her inside as it was still difficult for her to walk for very long and there wasn't an elevator in the apartment. By the time we reached the door to our apartment, she was shaking from the effort of suppressing the rage I knew was building inside her at not being able to do anything for herself. The release of the album, To You, had been postponed until she got better, and I knew that was bugging her too.
***Sebi's POV***
We got inside and I plopped down on the sofa, pissed at myself. I didn't like not being able to do anything for myself and I was even more pissed because Billie had to do everything for me. I sighed and turned on the TV and shifted down into the seat more as Dad sat down beside me.
"Honey, I gotta go to the studio," Billie said, stepping in and kissing the top of my head. "I'll be back in about an hour, 'k?"
"Sure," I mumbled, "See you later."
He set a hand on top of my head before leaving. I heard the door close behind him and sighed again. "Dad?"
"Mmm."
"Can you move to that chair over there so I can lay down?"
"Alright," he said, and moved. I lay down and turned onto my side and continued to blink at the television, seeing, but not really watching. After a bit, I guess I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew, I was woken up by a yell.
"You're neglecting her!" Dad was yelling.
"I had to go to the studio and meet with my band!" Billie Joe replied.
"She deserves more than that!"
"She knows what she wants!"
I sat up and the two men looked at me and then back at each other. "She deserves more than you," Dad finally whispered.
I glanced at Billie Joe, whose face was contorted in rage. "What the Hell?" he shouted, and I bounced up and blocked him from lunging at my dad.
"Billie. Dad. Please. Calm down," I said, putting a hand on both their chests, as they both stepped forward a little.
"She deserves someone like a lawyer, someone with a real job," Dad spat.
"Dad!" I said, and then turned to Billie and started pushing him gently towards the front door. "Bill, go hang with Mike and Tré for a bit, 'k?"
"Seb, I'm in the middle of something..."
"And I don't need you to get in the middle of this," I responded, "I'll call you, alright?"
"But..."
I shook my head and then closed the door. Then I turned back to Dad, my hand still on the doorknob. "What the fuck, Dad?"
"He doesn't deserve you."
"DAD! I should be able to choose who I want to be with."
"He doesn't have a real job!"
"I don't care!" I shouted finally, "Christ, Dad, I love him. And he loves me. Why can't you just accept that and accept him?"
"Because I don't want to see you wasting your life with some...singer who's probably cheating on you when he's on tour!"
"Dad, I'm a singer too! What the Hell is your problem! It's not even your business. If he cheats on me, I can deal with it. I can figure out what to do about it. I don't need you to help me. I'm not four anymore, Dad."
"But you're still my daughter, and I don't want to see you get hurt."
"Come on, Dad, I can deal with it. Once again, I'm not four. If I get hurt, it won't be your fault. And I don't need you to sit around and wait for me to get hurt and then come and console me. God knows you never did that for me when I really needed it."
"When was that? I've always been there for you."
"NO YOU WEREN'T!" I screamed, "You were always away on trips! You left me with Gramma, who, by the way, is clinically insane! You never told me why you and Mom got divorced, and you were never there for me even before that!" He looked at me blankly and I opened the door again. "Get outta my house."
"But Sabrina, I'm your father."
"No. I never had a father."
