Speechless and Redundant

He slowly opened his eyes to the blinding light that surrounded him. Nothing looked familiar, and his eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. Suddenly, everything came back to him and he panicked. He knew where he was, and why he was there.

"Fuck, I've got to get out of here!" he said as he wrenched himself from the hospital bed that he was lying on top of. He frantically tried to unhook all of the tubes that were attached to him, but he didn't make it before a nurse came rushing in.

"Sir! You need to lay back down! You're in no condition to do that!"

+ Ten Hours Earlier +

Anna Turner and Billie Joe Armstrong were on a flight from New Haven, Connecticut to their hometown of Oakland, California. It was Anna's first time on a plane -- they had driven from Oakland to New Haven in Billie's tour bus -- so she was really nervous. She looked over at Billie, who gave her a reassuring smile. He could always make her feel better. That's what best friends are for, right?

But to Anna, Billie wasn't just any friend. He was definitely more. She'd never told him, though. She couldn't. She was afraid it would tear their friendship apart.

Suddenly, the plane lurched and Anna let out a small whimper. Billie squeezed her hand.

"Hey, it's okay. It's probably just turbulence or something. We're fine," he assured her.

She nodded uneasily. Just then, the PA system came on.

"Ladies and gentleman, please remain calm. We're having a few technical difficulties at the moment."

Technical difficulties? Well, that certainly sounded promising to Anna. Not.

"Billie, I don't think it's turbulence."

Billie laughed slightly. "We're fine, okay? It's nothing to worry about."

Of course, as soon as he said that, the plane lurched again, more violently this time. Anna looked out of the window and noticed that they were quickly losing altitude.

BEEP.

"Ladies and gentleman, we're going to have to make an emergency landing. Please use the oxygen masks above you and be sure that your seat belt is securely fastened..."

As soon as the announcement was over, the flight attendants made their way to their own emergency positions. Anna grabbed Billie's hand tighter. The lights flickered for a moment, and then they went out completely. Screams filled the airplane.

"Fuck," Anna said.

"Anna, it's..."

"Don't tell me it's okay, Billie Joe! We're going to crash!"

"Anna..."

She took a deep breath and said, "Billie, I have to tell you something. I - I should have told you before. But it's now or never, I guess."

Billie looked into her eyes. "What is it?"

"I love you."

Anna closed her eyes tightly and gripped the arm rest as if it were the thing she would depend on to save her. Then she remembered something. Billie. She opened her eyes and looked over to him.

Then and there, Anna and Billie shared their very first kiss. And possibly their last.

Forty-five minutes later, Mike Dirnt was at his house, flipping through the channels on his television. He dropped the remote. As it happened, the television had stopped on CNN. He had just picked the remote back up when he saw a plane demolished in the middle of a field. He decided to see what was going on, so he turned the volume up.

"As we reported earlier, a plane crashed in Connecticut about thirty minutes ago. So far, only one survivor has been found. The man, who is believed to be approximately thirty years old, was wearing a black shirt, dark jeans, and a pair of black Converse shoes. He was flown by emergency helicopter to a nearby hospital and is currently in critical condition. His name has not been released."

"Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck."

Mike reached into his pocket and dug out his cell phone. He hurriedly typed in his best friend's number. Billie and Anna were on their way home today from Connecticut, and Mike couldn't deny that the description the reporter gave sounded a hell of a lot like him. On the other end, Billie's phone rang four times before...

"Hey, it's Billie. I'm not here right now. You know what to do."

"Shit."

Mike hung up and dialed his other best friend's number. He answered.

"Hello?"

"Tre, turn on the news."

Tre Cool sat on his couch with his cell phone to his ear and his television tuned into a news channel that was giving constant reports about the plane crash. Still, only one survivor had been found. Luckily, he and Mike thought it could definitely be Billie. There was no denying that it was the plane that he and Anna had been on now. If only they could find her, too.

"Mike, what if she's..."

"Shut up, Tre. They'll find her."

The two men sat in silence for another thirty minutes as they watched the scene before them. The plane was almost unrecognizable. The rescue team had found the pilot and eight other passengers dead. They were still searching for everyone else among the twisted remains.

"I think I'm going to call Ollie," Mike said suddenly, referring to Billie's mother.

"What if she hasn't heard yet, man?"

"She has to have heard. If that was Billie that they found, they would have notified her. Besides, the story is on every single channel. It's pretty hard to miss."

"Okay. Call me if you hear anything, will you?"

"I will," Mike promised as he ended the call to Tre.

He decided that before he called Ollie, he would try Billie's number again. Yet, there was still no answer, so he dialed Ollie Jackson to see what she had heard.

"Hello?" A worried voice said.

"Ollie? It's Mike Dirnt."

"Oh, Mike! Hello, dear. I - I..." She couldn't continue. Mike could hear her crying softly.

"I guess you heard, then? Did someone call you? I called Billie's cell phone twice, and there's no answer."

"The police called me right after it happened, Mike. It was Billie they found. They won't tell me how he is. I'm trying to get a flight up there right now. The airline he was flying with is closed down, and everything else seems to be booked," she said.

"Don't worry. I'll get you there. I think Tre and I are going to go, too. Have you heard anything about Anna? She was with Billie."

"No, I haven't. Have you?"

Ollie knew Anna as well, of course. She and her son had been friends for a very long time.

"Nothing," Mike said solemnly.

"I don't know what to do."

"Billie's going to be fine. He's tough, you know that; he'll pull through."

"Thank you, Micheal."

"Anytime. I'll call you back when I can get us all a flight out to Connecticut, all right?"

"I'll be waiting."

"Of course Billie's tough. He's been through so much. There's no way he won't make it through this," Mike thought. There was still the shadow of a doubt in the corner of his mind, though. He didn't know what condition his friend was in, physically or emotionally. Mike had certainly never experienced a plane crash in his life before, so he didn't know what Billie was feeling, or if he was feeling anything at all.

+ Present time, at the hospital +

After his outburst and near-escape earlier, the nurse had dispensed a heavy dose of Novocaine, Morphine, and another medicine that knocked Billie out cold. He was numb and he felt as though he was floating on thin air. That didn't stop the nightmares, however. He was having a vivid flashback of the plane crash. He tossed and turned and nearly pulled the Morphine drip from his arm. After the medicine wore off, he awoke with a start. Anxiously, he hit the call button on the side of his bed that signaled the nurse. She arrived in less than five minutes.

Upon seeing that Billie was in no immediate distress, the nurse walked to his bedside calmly and asked him what he needed.

"I was on the plane with my friend. Her name's Anna, Anna Turner. Do you know where she is? Is she okay?"

"Mr. Armstrong," the nurse began, "You're the only one they've found alive so far. They're still searching for other survivors."

"What?" Billie didn't quite comprehend what she was saying. He had expected to hear that they'd found Anna, too, and that she was okay. "I don't understand."

"I'll notify the police about your friend, sir. They'll let you know if they find anything."

And with that, the nurse walked out of the room and Billie Joe was left alone again.