Just Another Crummy Teenage Fantasy

No one spoke. No one dared to walk away. I stayed on the ground, watching the man slowly collapsing to a heap on the floor, the other man beside me engrossed in the site too. Billie's breathing started to weaken. The sound of him gasping for air was all I could hear. He lifted his head up and showed the face of panic through his jaded eyes. His breathing got worse and worse...

"Bill, Billie, are you alright man?" asked Mike as he moved closer to the man on the kitchen floor. The man shook his head, still trying to fill his lungs with oxygen. Mike knelt beside his friend and lifted his limp body on his own lap. "Breath with me man. In. Out. In. Out.".

He gasped. Struggling for air. I had no idea what was happening. I felt numb. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. It took all of my power to keep functioning like a normal, living, breathing person. But this wasn't about me. It was about him. Billie. Trying to hold on for dear life. And I heard one last attempt to take in the oxygen before the man lying on Mike's lap lay still. Eyes closed.

Now it was my turn. I gasped and started to panic. "What's wrong? What happened?! Is he dead?!". I ran forward to the two men on the floor.
"Don't worry. He's not dead. He's just unconscious.".
I sighed with relief. "But why? What was wrong with him before?" I asked, still not knowing why Billie was struggling to breath. While Mike carefully lifted the man's body over to the sofa he explained the anxiety attacks Billie occasionally suffered when dealt with highly emotional experiences.

"You see it all started when his father died. It was when he was just 10 years old..." Mike said while I nodded along. We sat in front of the couch, talking along as we watched the unconscious Billie Joe. "Anyway so our teacher called the ambulance but they took their fucking time. Ended up with Billie passing out as they brought him into the vehicle..." he said, his voice bitter as he talked about the paramedics.

"Since then he'd get anxiety attacks whenever he'd be overwhelmed with emotions. He had one when you crashed into that tree y'know? I mean he was so scared for you..." and as Mike finished his explanation he decided to grab a cup of coffee. Wow. I didn't know Billie suffered from anxiety attacks. You'd think super famous rock star would be invincible...

There was a hoarse grunt coming from the couch. Followed by a couple of coughs.
"Billie?" I questioned the man lying down. He took a deep breath and swallowed.
"What happened Maddie?". I sighed and as I was about to tell Billie what happened Mike took charge.
"You had an anxiety attack buddy, welcome back.". He looked at Mike in a bitter way.
"Your name's not Maddie is it?". Mike just shrugged and left the room.

Billie tried to sit up but quickly lay back down. "Ugh would you mind getting some aspirin please?". I nodded and went upstairs to his bedroom. Why was Billie acting so...normal all of a sudden. Does he even remember what happened before?

As I walked down the stairs Mike was waiting for me at the bottom.
"Hey I'm gonna go, I'll see you later.".I brought him to the front door we exchanged our goodbyes.
"Finally! I thought he'd never leave!" cried Billie who I remembered was still needing his aspirin. I hurried into the lounge and quickly passed him the aspirin. He smiled, "Thanks.".

"So, how long was I out for?" he asked.
"Oh just an hour or two..." I replied. Billie nodded and kept on inquiring the previous moments. But I was still confused. He must've forgotten what happened before...right?
I nervously gulped down and asked, "Do you remember having the attack?". He thought for a while. Scratched his head for a bit.
"No, not really. All I remember was...punching Mike in the face. After that nothing.".

I was relieved. The less he knew about this attack the better. "Hey I'm sorry for saying all those things to you before. I'm what you'd call an abusive drunk. Let's just put this all behind us alright?" Billie explained.

I smiled. "I'd love that," I replied. He showed an eager grin. He sat up straight and patting the empty space beside him. I gladly took his offer and we both sat still in an enjoyable silence.