Ring the Alarm

"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Billie shouted to no one but himself as he drove quickly to the hospital. "Billie Joe, you are a fucking asshole!!"

He flew through the city and haphazardly parked his car out front of the building. His head told him that the faster he got to Adrienne, the quicker he would be able to diminish whatever Abigail had told her. His heart however, told him that the damage had already been done and that he should take his punishment like a man.

But to be a man he knew that the risk of losing Adrienne was greater than if he took the cowards way out and insisted that nothing had happened. And he wasn't ready to let her go.

He sprinted through the hospital and earned some dirty looks from the nurses he slammed into when they didn't move quickly enough out of his way. He stopped only when he was outside Adrienne's room. As he peered through the door, his heart leapt into his throat when he saw how she tenderly cradled their new born son. "What have I done?" he muttered to himself and slapped his forehead with the heels of his hands repeatedly.

"Billie Joe?"

Adrienne and the baby appeared at the door and startled him out of his fit.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing. My eyes were streaming from running so fast."

She ignored him and went back into her room; the door was left open as a signal for him to follow her. And no sooner had Billie entered and shut it behind him, then Adrienne was in his face again. Only this time, she had put their soon back into the incubator.

"Talk to me," she demanded, arms folded sternly across her chest.

"What about?" Billie tried to let his eyes sneakily roam past her in search of his cell phone.

Adrienne was wise to him and grabbed his jaw in the exact manner she had done the day before and guided his face back in front of hers.

"Talk to me Billie Joe," she repeated, tightening her grip.

"Mmfkay," Billie struggled to talk through her grip. He gently placed his hand on her wrist so she relaxed the hold. "Ok," he repeated once his jaw was free. "What do you want to know?"

"You know EXACTLY what I want to know. I want the truth."

"Then there's nothing more I can say, you already have the truth. I have not, and never will be, unfaithful to you Adrienne."

Billie expected more anger from her, but what he didn't expect was the almost disappointed sigh that escaped from her chest.

"I thought that's what you'd say." She reached into the pocket of the white, fluffy dressing gown she was wearing and, to Billie's dismay, pulled out his cell phone. "That's why I took it upon myself to call this Abigail and get her side of things---"

Billie said nothing as his brain quickly calculated different scenarios that would correlate with whatever Adrienne would go on to tell him.

"She says you've slept together?"

Silence.

"Billie Joe---is she lying?"

Silence.

"So you have nothing to say to the fact that some slut is accusing you of adultery?"

Billie coughed. "She's lying." He didn't have the guts to meet Adrienne's gaze as he knew she would be able to see the guilt swimming in them.

"She's lying? Why would she do that?" Adrienne was surprised at how well she was managing to keep calm, but she knew that losing her temper would get her nowhere. She felt she could pressure Billie more by reigning in her anger.

"I don't know," he finally mumbled. "Maybe because she wants to hurt you? Because she thinks that I'll leave you for her?"

Adrienne laughed. Loudly. "Jesus Christ Billie, you're full of yourself! Or full of shit! But either way, you're still a liar."

"I---haven't---slept---with--- Abigail---" Billie put infinite stress on each word, the more he said it, the more he believed that he actually hadn't.

"Ok then---call her---"

This threw Billie off guard. "What? Why?!"

"To see why she's lying."

"No, there's no point. I've told you why she's lying."

"There's no use in you making up excuses for her when I want to hear it for myself. Call her---"

"Adie---it won't achieve anything---"

"If our god damn marriage means ANYTHING to you then you'd fucking take the phone and do as I ask!"

Knowing that nothing good would come from the phone call, Billie took the cell phone from Adrienne with a heavy heart.

It only rang twice before she answered. "Hello?" Billie could hear the trepidation in Abigail's voice. He laughed inwardly as he imagined the going over Adrienne would have given her.

"It's me---"

"Put it on speaker so I can hear you both---" Adrienne interrupted.

"Hang on Abigail," Billie looked pleadingly at his wife. "Let's just stop this and talk together Adie---"

"Speaker phone," she ignored him. "Go on---ask her."

Billie sighed. "So---I hear you've told Adrienne that we've slept together---?"

Silence. Again.

"I'm really not happy about this Billie Joe," finally came Abigail's reply.

"Neither am I," he murmured.

"Oh---and I suppose you expect that I'm fucking ECSTATIC over it all!" Adrienne was finding it harder and harder to keep composed as the lie continued. "Give the phone to me."

Billie slowly placed the phone in Adrienne's outstretched palm.

"Ok---here's how this is going to go---" she was making it sound like a business meeting so she was distanced from the pain. "Either you're going to tell me the truth---that you have slept with my husband---or you're going to tell me that you lied earlier on and explain why you did."

"Is that what you want to hear Adrienne? That I've lied to you?"

"No---all I want is the truth. And seeing as I'm the one who has been made to look like a fool these last few weeks, than I think the pair of you owe me that much."

"The truth is that Billie Joe loves you. And he would never do anything to hurt you."

"That's not what I asked though, is it?"

"But that's all I've got to say. I really don't want to come in between the two of you---you've both been through so much already. This is up to you to sort out amongst yourselves."

"How DARE you speak like this has nothing to do with you?! You opened your legs to my husband! You've already come between us, why can't you see that?! And you know SHIT about what Billie and I have been through, so don't try and act like you know me, because you haven't even scratched the surface sweetheart."

"But---"

Adrienne didn't even want to give Abigail the satisfaction of counteracting her speech so she cut her off and threw the phone on the floor.

"In a way, she's right," Adrienne spoke first before Billie could bullshit her some more. "We have been through a lot---and like we've already argued about---I'VE been the one making the sacrifices through all the shit. So now I'm going to ask you to do a sacrifice for me---"

"I'd do anything for you, you know that---"

"I want you to sacrifice your stupid pride and admit that you've cheated. If you can't do that, then this marriage is over---"

Billie had become the master silence. Then, "I haven't cheated---" He watched as Adrienne's eyes brimmed with tears and could do nothing as tears of his own rolled down his cheeks as she handed him his jacket and cell phone.

"You need to leave---" she whispered before she turned and went to lie on her cot.

"But---what about us? What about the baby?"

"Joseph---his name is Joseph. I named him before you got here." She reluctantly rolled on to her side to look at Billie. "Even though it goes against everything that I said earlier---you can still see him. You only grew up with one parent and I don't want that for my son. But it'll be on my terms and when I feel ready to let you see him."

"Seriously Adrienne---this is it? We're over?" his voice broke twice.

"You heard my terms, and you didn't meet them. So yes---" she rolled back away from him, not daring to meet his eyes.

"We're over," they both whispered at the same time.