I Left My Heart in San Diego

Zie, Mary Jane, and I burst through the hospital doors, running up to the reception counter. "Excuse me," I panted. "We're looking for Billie Joe Armstrong."

The receptionist tapped some keys on her keyboard and then looked up at her computer screen. "He came through trauma about eight hours ago. He's in the ICU now, room 154," she said.

"Thank you," I said before dashing down the hallway marked "ICU" in bright red letters. "154, 154," I kept muttering to myself as I scanned the hallways for the number.

"Ari!" Zie called. I turned around to see her pointing at the number 154 on a door a few feet back. I don't think I've ever moved so fast in my life.

I stopped at the door, not wanting to burst in and make an entrance. Peering inside, I saw Mike, Tre, Ollie, David, Holly, and two other people, whom I assumed were Billie's other older siblings. Ollie, Holly, and the two other girls' faces were red from crying. I lightly knocked on the door and everyone looked over to see Zie, Mary Jane, and I all standing in the doorway. AWKWARD.

"Hi," I whispered as I walked in, waving and smiling slightly. I waved Zie and Mary Jane inside, telling them to close the door behind them.

"You seem to be quite popular, Billie," one of the older girls said.

"Izzie?"

I looked over to the bed. It was Billie who called out my name. When I saw him lying there, all wrapped up in bandages and covered in cuts and bruises, I clamped a hand to my mouth and started crying. I took my hand down from my mouth and slowly walked up to Billie's face, the people on the side parting like a side of the Red Sea. I knelt down, eye level with Billie. "Hi," I whispered, smiling slightly as fresh tears came.

"You're here," Billie said, smiling. I just nodded. "I kept asking when you would get here."

"It's true," Ollie supplemented, smiling slightly. "Every five minutes he kept asking, 'Where's Arizona? Where's Arizona?'"

I chuckled and looked back down at Billie, extending a hand to hold his. "What happened?"

Billie sighed, wincing in pain as he did so. "It was Mike, Tre, and I in the truck. I was driving. We were on our way to our next show in Long Beach the next afternoon. We were all tired because we had just played a show in Los Angeles, but we needed to get going to Long Beach that night if we wanted time to practice our set list before the show. We were on the highway out of Los Angeles and Mike and Tre had fallen asleep pretty quickly. I didn't realize it, but I had started to fall asleep at the wheel. I started drifting into the other lane, but the horns didn't wake me up. They woke Mike up, but he couldn't wake me up in time for me to be able to swerve out of the way. There was a car coming onto the highway that didn't see us, and then the car that I crashed into that hit both the front of the truck and the side. The truck's totaled. I wouldn't stop apologizing to both Tre and Mike when we came to a stop."

"He's right," Mike said. "He wouldn't shut up."

I chuckled. "So are you okay?" I asked Billie.

Billie nodded. "For the most part. It's nothing major. I just broke a few ribs and my arm."

"That's nothing major?" I asked incredulously. "You're crazy."

Billie laughed, wincing in pain again after. "Ow, fuck. I hate that it hurts to laugh. Hell, it hurts to fucking breathe..."

I squeezed the hand of his broken arm, taking care not to squeeze too hard. "I'm sorry. I wish I could've gotten here sooner, but Oakland is six hours away," I said, kissing his hand.

"I know, babe," Billie said, smiling at me. "But you know what the good thing is?"

"What?"

"I broke my left arm, so I can still hold my guitar," he said.

I laughed. "Well, we'll see about that," a doctor said, entering the room. "You seem to be quite popular, Mr. Armstrong."

Billie smiled. "The downside of having a big family. They let everyone know when something happens."

The doctor smiled, flipping a page on his chart. "Well, it says here, Mr. Armstrong, that you have three broken ribs and your left arm is broken as well. There's not much we can do about the broken ribs, since they're inside, but we are going to put a cast on your arm."

"How long will that have to be there?" Billie asked.

The doctor flipped another page. "About six weeks." Billie groaned. "I know, I know, it's not the most fun thing, but it doesn't get much better. Since your ribs are around your lungs, which you use to breathe, your ribs probably won't completely heal for about two months."

"WHAT??" Billie yelled, wincing again.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Armstrong," the doctor said. "That's just how it is." He turned to Mike. "Mr. Pritchard."

Mike sighed at the mention of his real last name. "Yeah?"

"You actually got out relatively unscathed. No broken bones or anything. The only thing we saw upon a physical examination is a couple of big bruises, one your chest and one on your right thigh. Those should heal pretty quickly, nothing like Mr. Armstrong here," the doctor said.

Mike sighed. "Well, that's good to hear," he said, smiling.

The doctor turned to Tre. "And Mr. Wright."

Tre looked even more peeved than Mike at the mention of his real name. "Yes?"

"You didn't really suffer any major injuries, except for that laceration across your right forearm. That's about half an inch deep, Mr. Wright, I wouldn't suggest picking up those drumsticks for about a week or two," the doctor said, eying Tre's bandaged arm.

Tre looked down at his bandaged arm with a disapproving look and a huge, dramatic sigh. "Alright," he muttered.

The doctor chuckled. "Don't worry. Two weeks will fly by quickly."

Tre looked up at the doctor. "Will I be able to be with my girlfriend?"

"If you're trying to ask me if you can still have sex with your girlfriend, then yes, Mr. Wright," the doctor said. Tre blushed, making everyone in the room laugh. "As for you, Mr. Pritchard, you are not really affected sexually." Mike whispered a 'yes' under his breath, reaching his hand out for Mary Jane, who came to sit on his lap.

"Give me my verdict, Doctor," Billie said, bracing himself for the worst.

"Well, Mr. Armstrong, your broken arm isn't the problem, it's your ribs. Now, I won't condone you having sex with your girlfriend, and I think that advising you against it is futile, so I'm just going to say I would stick to the lighter things."

"The lighter things?" Billie asked.

"Yes. I'm sure I don't have to name any for you, do I, Mr. Armstrong?" the doctor asked, giving Billie a reproachful look. Billie shook his head, smiling mischievously. "Very good."

"So when is Billie going to be allowed to go back home?" I asked the doctor.

"And who are you?" the doctor asked, turning to me.

"I'm his girlfriend," I answered.

The doctor noted my slightly pregnant belly with a look of disdain. "Mhm. Well, it will certainly be closer to a week. We need to give Mr. Armstrong time to get his cast and make sure it sets. Also, we're going to see if we can find something to help his ribs, too."

"Okay," I said, trying to hide my disappointment.

"I know you're disappointed, but we must keep Mr. Armstrong's health in mind," the doctor said. He flipped the pages on his chart back to the beginning and hung them on the edge of Billie's bed. "I'll be back in to check on you later on tonight."

He walked out the door, leaving everyone to look around at each other in anticipation. Billie squeezed my hand, making me look at him. "Arizona?" he asked.

I always hated when he used my full name. It always made me think something bad was going to happen. "Yes, Billie?" I asked back.

I saw his right hand shift around over something covered by his hand. He looked up at Mike, who was able to take the thing Billie was covering with his hand without letting me see it. He turned around, blocking the area around Billie's hand with his body. When he turned back around, Mike was grinning. I looked over at Tre, who was also grinning. I looked over at Zie, who was also grinning. "Why the hell is everyone grinning?" I asked.

Billie took a deep breath, making a big effort not to wince from the pain. "Arizona Willows, I love you, so much," he said.

I smiled. "I love you, too, Billie Joe," I said, leaning over his bed-rail to kiss him.

He was grinning widely when I pulled away from him. He brought up to my face what was in his right hand. I gasped, my jaw dropping down and my hands clamping over my mouth. "Billie!" I whispered, hardly audibly.

"Arizona Willows, I love you. Will you marry me?"