Girl Crush

Chapter 42

*** A little surprise. I had a lot of people asking for Eddie's POV of the last few chapters. So, here's a little bonus weekend update for you. This is not the big surprise. That is still coming on Monday! Have a great weekend everyone!

Eddie's eyes slowly opened, a pair of green ones staring back at him the first thing he saw. Dani, his Dani. His eyes moved around the room, taking in the sight of all of his friends. Why was he in the hospital? What was going on? He attempted to sit up and it felt like someone had sent a dagger straight into his ribs. What the hell?

"Fuck," he muttered, letting himself fall back against the bed. What had happened? He felt like someone had used him as a punching bag. Oh wait...they did. As the events of the day began to play through his brain, he quickly looked away.

"Man, is it good to see you," Dustin said next to him.

Mike added, "Yeah, when we saw you laying on the ground...you looked bad."

"Thanks," Eddie grumbled. If he looked as bad as he felt, he didn't even want to know. His eyes landed on Steve in confusion. What was he doing here? "Harrington?"

"Yeah, it's me," he smirked, leaning against the wall. "Don't cream your pants."

"Steve brought us to the hospital," Dani explained, and he cringed at the sound of her voice. "They...they rescued us. They stopped them from..."

Eddie glanced over at her and then away just as fast. She trailed off, clearly unable to say the words, but Eddie knew what they'd stopped them from doing. They'd stopped those assholes from doing what he couldn't stop. Eddie's stomach churned as he fought against the images flashing through his brain, images that would haunt him forever. He couldn't look at Dani right now. He didn't know if he'd ever be able to look in those eyes again.

"Hopper came and talked to Dani," Dustin said. "Those assholes aren't going to get away with it this time. He's going to arrest them and make them pay for what they did to you guys."

"Good," Eddie muttered, not capable of much more than that. Those bastards deserved more than a jail cell but he was in no condition to do anything about it at that moment.

"Hey," Robin said in a voice that was far cheerier than the moment called for. "How about we give these two a minute? Come on kiddos. I'll buy you all a soft serve frozen yogurt in the cafeteria."

"Awesome!" Dustin exclaimed with a grin. "I love frozen yogurt! Do they have sprinkles?"

They all followed Robin out, leaving just him and Dani in the room. Eddie took in a deep breath, instantly regretting it as a sharp pain caused his vision to blur for a moment. Dani was silent for a moment, and he found himself hoping she would just leave.

"Eddie, I..." she began.

His raised his hand gingerly to stop her. He couldn't do this. He just couldn't, not right now, and maybe not ever. He needed her out of there.

"Dani, I feel like shit right now. Everything hurts," he said quietly. "I'm just tired and I don't want to talk. I can't do this right now. I can't have you here right now. Can you...can you please just go?"

He heard the sharp breath she pulled in at his words as she said, "Yeah, of course. I'm sorry." Then she ran from the room and he knew she was crying and he felt even more like shit.

Laying his head back on the pillow, he closed his eyes, swallowing down the lump of tears that were strangling him. It was better this way. He had to tell himself that so he didn't scream her name, begging her to come back.