Family Reunion

Mike left the hospital that night just after midnight. He had promised he would return in the morning when Billie and Adi did. Tré fell asleep on a chair and his head collapsed on the bed next to Rose's side.

In the early morning Tré opened his heavy eyes and slowly lifted his head from the mattress. He looked around himself at the hospital room and then at Rose. It was becoming apparent that all had not just been a bad dream.

Rose was still asleep and Tré decided he would sneak out of the room and get a coffee from the vending machine. He returned and sat back down on his seat. He looked at her with every bit of compassion and sorrow. He took a sip of his latte and placed it down on the night table beside her hospital bed.

He lightly stroked his hand over her head lovingly. "You're so beautiful...a rose...the name doesn't do you justice. You're more beautiful than any rose I've ever set eyes on," Tré whispered to her and mistakenly broke into tears once again.

He held her hand up in his own and kissed it. Rose always liked to pretend she was tough; but she had the most delicate of feminine hands. Tré looked down as he brushed her palm against his lips.

"Hey," a voice whispered from behind Tré as he quickly lifted his head from the floor to look around him.

"Oh, hey you guys," Tré said seeing Billie standing directly behind him accompanied by Adrienne and Mike.

"How are you holding up?" Mike asked with concern.

"I could be better. Well actually no that's an understatement. I could be A LOT fucking better," Tré sighed as he wiped his almost fresh tears.

"Yeah..." Mike answered, nodding his head to show he understood.

"God, I'm so nervous right now. She's going to wake up and then what?" Tré asked, looking for some guidance from his friends.

"You're going to tell her. Or someone is going to tell her," Billie Joe said.

"No...no. I have to be the one to tell her. She'll think I'm more of a coward if I have someone else do it," Tré said but then looked at Rose again and could tell she was waking up.

"Hmm..." Rose groaned incoherently quiet. She was saying something muttered like from a dream, but no one was quite sure what it was.

"Rose..." Tré whispered to her bravely.

Her body was very weak and she was still exhausted from the mental and physical trauma she had suffered. "Frank..." Rose said softly as she opened her heavy eyes.

"I'm here..." Tré smiled at her lovingly.

Rose returned the smile and looked past Tré to see Mike, Adie and her cousin Billie. "I feel so tired..." Rose complained.

"I know you do..." Tré said sympathetically.

"Oh, Mike..." Rose said lazily.

"Ah yeah, Rose?" Mike asked.

"Thanks for yesterday. I don't know what I would of done if you hadn't shown up. You saved my life," Rose said sincerely.

"It was nothing..." Mike smiled.

"Oh god no...it was everything," Rose said. She may have been exhausted but she was also very excited about the thought of being a new mother. She turned to Tré again and smiled, "Frank, I want to call our baby Michael."

Mike looked down and sighed. God what an honor this all was to him but at the same time what sadness. He felt like he would start crying. Billie Joe and Adrienne also shared a sorrowful expression.

"You don't like the name?" Rose laughed.

"Rose..." Tré said shaking his head as he tried to sort his thoughts and find the right words to speak.

"What?" Rose asked as the smile on her face dimmed.

"Rose... uh... oh god, I can't... ." Tré blurted.

"Oh my god...Frank... " Rose said as she placed her hand over her mouth. "Tell me what's wrong... " she said as she became on the verge of crying.

"Our baby, he died..." Tré some how managed to get out and then broke into all too familiar tears once again.

Rose couldn't speak she just closed her eyes and tears escaped her eyelids and ran down her pale cheeks. The way she shook her head so insistently, she looked as though she would freak out or implode.

Billie Joe and Adrienne were quiet as they stood together holding each other. Tears escaped both of their eyes as well as the eyes of a very serious and masculine Mike Dirnt.

"I'm sorry..." Tré said to Rose before being cut off by the sound barrier breaking.

Rose screamed.

Tré tried to grab her into an embrace but she fought him even with her little strength. "Rose calm down..." Tré ordered tearfully.

Rose started kicking the shit out of the bed where she lay. She even kicked and hit Tré just for someone to vent her anger on. "God no!" she cried. Her heart rate monitor was beeping out of control and very irregularly. She yanked the intervention tube from her arm in anger and threw it away. She quickly wore herself down. All though she was still upset enough to kill a dog she just couldn't do it anymore and collapsed back down on her mattress. She was panting and crying aimlessly.

Tré provoked her into an embrace and she did not struggle this time. He didn't mind at all that she had taken her frustrations out on him. After all it was deserved. The baby would have probably lived on had he been at home and not out with Sarah and dealing with police bullshit.

A nurse had rushed into the room before Rose's out of control tantrum had stopped. She seemed insistent on telling Tré over and over again that he shouldn't have told her until she built up some of her stamina.

Rose started whispering to herself distraughtly, "Baby...I want you so bad...I just I need you."

***

Hours passed since Rose had found out. And for all those hours Tré just held her in his arms while the rest of her family and friends sat idle and quiet.

Rose kept whispering to herself as though she was talking to their son. Tré found it disturbing and hushed her, "Stop doing this to yourself... "

"Doing what!?" Rose had snapped.

"Stop talking to him," Tré said.

"He's my son! Do you have a problem with me talking with my son?!"

"No...not at all," Tré answered her, his eyes twitching in confusion.

"Than be quiet!" Rose demanded.

"Rose, I just really think you are making this harder on yourself," Tré said with concern.

"This can't get harder...I'm going to fucking kill myself. I should have just killed myself when I woke up from my coma and was put in this fucking fantasy land," Rose said, melodramatically smacking herself across the forehead.

"Rose please! Don't say that," Tré said.

"I'm sorry, I won't say that. 'This life is far from a fucking fantasy'," she corrected herself.

"Rose...please don't give up on me..." Tré begged.

Rose was reminded of a Green Day song she could relate to a lot last year. 'This city's burning. It's not my burden'. What she would give now to not care. That's one thing that had changed for Rose over the course of the last year. She did care, and it was her burden.