It Can Only Get Better

*Billie's pov*

I walked slowly down the stairs, my breath caught a little in my chest. What is wrong with that kid? I just don't want him to make the same mistakes that I did, how can he not see that? I stumbled a little on the stairs as I tried to breathe.

"Adie," I tried to shout, but it only came out as a whisper, I sat down on the stairs, and closed my eyes. She came running out of the living room and sat down beside me.
"Billie, what is it?" she asked, a little frightened, I lifted my head a little, my breath still short, I looked her in the eyes. She gasped a little.
"Billie, watch me," she said, crouching down to my level.
"Billie Joe, breathe with me, in... and out," she said, holding my hands, I breathed in, and out, along with her. I smiled a little, this reminds me of both times she was in labour, the way I told her to breathe with me.
"Billie baby, are you okay?" I nodded, my breath was slowly returning to normal.
"Mom, what's wrong with dad?" Jakob was at the top of the stairs, she looked up at him,
"It's okay baby, daddy's okay, go back into your room sweetie." She smiled up to him, as I gripped her hand a little tighter. I don't like the kids seeing me like this, I hate being like this. Jakob turned and walked into his room.
"Thank you Adie." I smiled a little, she nodded and kissed my cheek. She understood, the panic attacks scare her, who knows how the boys would feel.

*Joey's pov*

I watched as dad had yet another panic attack, it scares the shit out of me. Each time he could die, and this one is my fault. A tear fell down my cheek as I watched mom help dad into the living room.

I walked slowly down the stairs and into the living room, and sat down beside dad. He smiled a little, but didn't say anything. Mom looked at me and smiled a little, she knew I knew about dad's attacks, but he didn't. I reached over and hugged him tightly, but not too tight.
"I'm sorry dad, I love you." He hugged me back and I could tell he was sobbing slightly from the way his chest was moving.
"I love you too Joey," he said quietly, I took my head off his shoulder and looked at him.

"Mom!" I yelled, she ran through from the kitchen. She gasped as she saw dad, his lips were turning blue, he wasn't getting enough oxygen.
"What is it?" he whispered, we looked at him, mom just looked at him and smiled a little.
"Come on Billie, we have to get you to the car." He looked up at her, I was frozen at his side.
"Billie, I don't want to worry you, but we have to get you to the hospital, okay?" he just looked at her worriedly, and nodded, then she turned to me.

"Joey, go get a paper bag," she said, I ran into the kitchen and grabbed one, then ran back to the living room. Mom blew into the bag and handed it to Billie, "breathe into that, and try to get your breath back," she said to him, now I know why she did that first aid course. Mom helped dad out to the car, and they left.

*three hours later*

Mom and dad walked through the door, I stood up and flicked the TV off as they walked into the room.
"Joey, what are you still doing up? You should have been in bed already, you have school in the morning." Mom said as she helped dad sit down. Dad looked over at me, and smiled,
"So, you know about the panic attacks then?" he said, I nodded,
"And you're not freaked out?" he asked, I looked down,
"No, just a little scared every time you have one," I said, I heard him laugh and then cough a little.
"Same as me then," he smiled and coughed a little again.
"And now, it turns out I have asthma too, ooh fun," he said sarcastically. I smiled at him.
"Well now I'm not the fucked up one," I smiled at him. He pulled me into a hug, and smiled back at me.
"I was always fucked up, kid." He smiled,
"Joey, bed, now. You aren't taking tomorrow off school and it's half pass eleven, and I do not appreciate language like that in this house, either of you," Mom said as she walked in with two glasses of wine.

*Sophie's pov*

"Sophie, when are you going to learn not to drink anything that Tré buys you?" Mike smiled as I walked into the kitchen.
"Shuddup," I said groggily,
"He said they didn't have as much sugar as a frap," I replied, Mike laughed.
"Soph, you've known him nearly two years, and you still don't know he's a compulsive liar," he smiled.

I ran from the kitchen and got to the toilet just in time, and began puking my guts up. Mike came in worriedly, after a few minutes, to see if I was okay.
"Soph, you alright?" he asked as he began to rub my back. I sat back a little,
"Yeah, I don't know what that was," I said as I stood up, Mike stopped me from leaving the bathroom, he put his hand on my forehead,
"Soph, you're burning up, are you sure you're okay? You can take the day off if you want," he said.
"Dad, I'm fine, now can I go clean my teeth, my mouth tastes rotten," I said, he nodded a little and moved out of my way.

"Soph, I don't think you should go to school today," Mike said as I walked into the kitchen again. I looked up at him.
"Dad, I probably just had too much at Starbucks yesterday, I'm fine. Are you dropping me off or am I getting the bus?" I asked, he nodded.
"I'll take you, but if you feel ill at all call me and I'll be straight over for you okay?" he said. I love Mike dearly, but he is really protective of me. I nodded and we left for school.

***

"Soph, you don't look well. Are you okay?" Joey asked, sitting down beside me in homeroom. I nodded.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I think it's just a bug. I've got cramps and was throwing up this morning," I replied as I lay my head on the table, he put his hand to my forehead,
"Babe, you're burning up, come on. I'll take you to see the nurse," he said worriedly. I shook my head, but that didn't help. I jumped up and ran out of the room, almost bumping into Mr. Kelser on the way out.
"What the..?" he asked,
"She's not feeling well," Joey said, jumping up and running after me.

Joey found me in the girls' toilets, I was sitting up against one of the cubicles, clutching my stomach, drenched in sweat. He looked really worried.
"Okay Soph, no arguing, I am taking you to see the nurse. Can you walk?" he asked me. I looked up at him, and shrugged a little. He helped me stand up, but the pain was too bad. He put his arm around my waist, but when I tried to take a step, I couldn't. Still clutching my stomach, Joey carefully lifted me up, and carried me down the hall to the nurses office, when we got there he carefully sat me down on one of the seats and went to find the nurse, she came running over to me, and knelt down in front of me.

"What's wrong with you Sophie?" she asked, I looked up at her.
"My tummy hurts really bad," I said quietly,
"Well, lets get you into the room," she said and motioned for Joey to help me in. He lifted me up again and took me into the room, where he lay me down on the bed.

The nurse began to push in my tummy in different parts, which caused excruciating pain through my body.
"Sophie, I think you have appendicitis. We need to get you to the hospital okay?" she asked, I nodded and looked over at Joey.
"Can you call Mike?" I asked him, he nodded and left to tell the nurse. Why is all this stuff happening to me? I must have been really evil in a past life. I thought to myself as Joey walked back into the room,
"Will you come with me?" I asked him, he nodded, and smiled weakly.

A few minutes later two ambulance men came into the room, and helped me onto a stretcher, then they pushed me outside carefully, and put me in the back of the ambulance, where Joey climbed in beside me. They gave me something for the pain, and within a few minutes it was dulled a little, but not much. I looked over at Joey, he was biting his nails, I smiled at him,
"This isn't helping your willpower for quitting is it?" I smiled holding his hand, he laughed a little,
"I don't care Soph, I'm quitting and you're getting better." He smiled, and kissed me.

We arrived at the hospital and I was takin into a cubical and Joey couldn't come in, so he went outside to wait on Mike. Lisa walked into the cubical a few minutes later, since she is my doctor at this hospital.

"What's wrong with you today then Sophie?" she asked, closing the door, I looked over at her,
"I don't know, I have a really sore stomach and I've been throwing up. The nurse at school thinks its appendicitis," I said, she did the same checks that the nurse did, and came to the same conclusion.
"Sophie is Mike on his way over?" she asked, I nodded,
"Good, because you're going to have to go into surgery soon, to remove your appendix," she said to me, "and we need Mike here to sign consent forms." Right on cue, Mike ran into the room.

"What's wrong with Sophie?" he said, really worried. He turned to Lisa.
"She has appendicitis Mike, we have to send her into surgery as soon as, can you sign these?" she said handing Mike the clipboard. He nodded and signed the sheet.

Lisa left the room and returned with two porters, who took me out of the room, towards the O.R. Joey was waiting outside the room, he leant down and kissed me.
"I'll be here when you come round, okay?" he smiled, tears still in his eyes. I nodded and smiled at him,
"It's okay Joey, I'll be fine." I smiled, the drugs beginning to kick in. He nodded a little, and kissed me again. Then the porters began to push the bed again. I waved at Joey as I was pushed through the double doors.

*Mike's pov*

I sat down on the chair, my head in my hands. Lisa came over and bent down in front of me.
"I don't know what to do," I said, tears starting to form in my eyes.
"I should've made her stay off today," I said. Lisa wrapped her arms around me,
"It's okay Mike, it's a routine operation, she's been through much worse. Keeping her from going to school wouldn't have prevented this happening," Lisa said reassuringly to me. I hugged her tightly.
"Thank you Lisa, it's just, she's been through so much since she moved in with me," I sobbed.
"It's not your fault Mike, all this would most probably have happened to her, even if she hadn't moved in with you," she said, she has a really calming voice. I smiled a little to her, and leaned in, kissing her.

"Now that's what I call good bedside manner," Billie Joe said from the door. I pulled away from Lisa and looked over at him.
"I don't remember the doctors being that friendly when I came in last night." He smirked.
"Shut up Billie, you're married," I said smiling a little, as Lisa left the room. Billie and Joey walked into the room and sat down.

"We came back from the coffee run, and you weren't there, and Joey called saying Sophie was in hospital, why didn't you leave a note dude?" Billie asked, looking up at me, I shrugged.
"Don't know, didn't think. Why were you in hospital last night?" I asked him.
"Panic attack gone wrong, turns out I have asthma," he said, smiling a little. I shook my head.

"So what's wrong with Sophie?" Billie asked, I looked at him, then Joey.
"Appendicitis," I said. "Apparently it's just a routine operation, so she's gonna be absolutely fine." I smiled, but the tears that had been filling my eyes began to fall.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay dude," Billie said, pulling me into a hug.
"Sophie's a fighter, she'll beat this, just like everything else." He said, calmingly.

"It's not that Billie. It's just..." I started, he looked at me,
"It's just, I wonder if she'd have had a better, easier, life if she hadn't met me," I said quietly.
"Bullshit," Billie replied.
"Dude, if you hadn't moved her here, she'd have still gone through the same health problems, only she'd have been in custody of that rapist bastard, who was supposedly her dad's friend. You're one of the best things that happened to her, don't put yourself down like that." He paused. "You've given her a great life, a new life. Don't ever think she'd be better off without you." He added. I smiled a little.
"Thanks dude, you're a real friend," I smiled and hugged him again.