Broken String

XXIX

"Eddy?"
He looks up from his misery and he hollers before he can think of where he finds himself. Naked. In tears.
"Todd? In here!"
Todd bursts into the bathroom approximately three seconds later and eyes him in shock.
"Jesus, what happened?"
"I can't get up." he gestures helplessly, hoping against hope that Todd somehow doesn't notice he's been crying. Or, you know, that he hasn't been able to even put weight back on his foot to put his sweats back on.
"Shit. Mate. How long have you been here?"
"A while."
"Jesus, Eddy. Why didn't you call?"
Todd moves forward and puts his arms under Eddy's shoulders, hauling him up so he can do his trousers up with some sort of dignity and proceeding to put Eddy's arm over his shoulder as if this is the sort of thing he does every day.
"Phone's on the couch." Eddy admits.
"Idiot." Todd mutters affectionately as he opens the bathroom door again and leads him slowly through the hallway. Eddy is leaning heavily on his great friend's shoulders, but he's staying upright, at least. They carefully make their way back into the living room and to the couch together. "Okay. So Brett said you picked up a wheelchair?"
"Yeah." he pants as he falls down at last, back into the soft cushions. The pain is bad, now, real bad. Walking back here has only made it worse. "It's in the boot of the car, I think." He leans back and scrunches his eyes shut, tries not to moan or make even more of a spectacle of himself.
"I think it's time I grab it, no?" Todd says gently. Almost like he's talking to child. "We'll make a schedule so someone can sit with you all times. Your friend Lily, does she know?"
Even the mention of her name sends daggers through him.
"No. And erm... neither does my mum. Yet"
"Oh fuck." Todd says and he plops down next to him. "You haven't told your mum yet? You know you can't keep that up, right?"
"That's become very apparent to me in approximately the last hour, Todd. I... I just didn't want her to worry."
Todd nods thoughtfully.
"Yeah, I get that. Well, you can call her whenever you're ready, I guess."
"I'll call them tonight."
When Brett is here. The thought that seeps in is insistent, filling up his entire mind in a second, but yet he doesn't say it out loud. Todd doesn't need to know just how low he's sunk, here.
God, how he wishes Brett were here. He's always been his bro, but he's never realised just how important Brett is to him, until now.
"Alright. How about some take out and D&D then?" Todd asks.
"Later, sure. But I can't keep stopping you from practising, Todd. You got shit to do."
Todd laughs.
"Okay, so you can stop worrying about us for a second, and let us worry about you for a little while, yeah? We're your friends, Eddy."
Eddy swallows the next wave of emotion. What can he even reply to that? But Todd's already grinning and he skips to the kitchen, opens the door, takes out a beer and hands it to him.
"You look like you need it. Anyway, so how about a barbie, tomorrow?" Todd says. "It's Friday, right? It'll give you something to look forward to?"
Eddy smiles. "Sure. Um. Can I have a glass of water too?"
Look, he's really not sure if he's feeling like a barbecue now. But what's he gonna do? Turn a gesture that lovely down?
"Cool. Imma invite some people." Todd opens the cupboard, takes a tall glass which he fills fit water.
Eddy grins.
"Some? I know how these parties of yours turn out, Todd." He takes the glass with his right hand and drinks in large gulps. God, he was thirsty. 
"Good, in that case you can be prepared." Todd states. "Right. If you're good with it I'll practise here. I don't want you to do something stupid like that, again. Cool? You'll tell me if you need anything?"
Eddy nods dully.
"Yeah. Thanks, Todd."