The pain was gigantic.
No, no wait, that wasn't the right word. What was the right word?
Around him people were shouting, shells were exploding, shots were being fired. But he was oblivious to that.
All he could do was lie there and try to find the word.
Someone was saying something close by. "You just hold on in there Billy, you just hold on, y'hear?"
Billy? For a moment the name didn't mean anything to him. Then he remembered that it was his own.
"It'll all be okay, you'll be okay." Another voice was talking to him.
Of course it was going to be okay, Billy thought, of course it was. As soon as he could remember the word.
It wasn't gigantic. It wasn't tall. Or grand. What was the word?
"Billy? Billy!" The voices returned and they didn't sound happy.
They clearly still didn't get it, it would all be okay if he could remember the word.
But then it didn't matter.
The pain was gone.

Just like him.