love feels like loneliness- REDDIE

Chapter 18- Loss

"Richie...." The nurse smiled sweetly but Richie could hear something off in her voice... "Im Abigail. I- i need to talk to you about your boyfriend, Eddie Kaspbrak...."

Richies hands started to shake and he gripped the side of the hospital chair tightly. He squeezed his eyes shut, letting some tears fall and hoping it was good news. He felt a cold but soft hand land gently on his own. He looked up into the nurses deep blue eyes.

"He is going to live..." The nurse flashed a small smile as Richie heaved a sigh of relief. "However," Richie felt his heart stop once again in fear. "We discovered something that we think the crash may have provoked..." Richie stared intently. " As it seems, Eddie has developed a severe case of pneumonia from the asthma that he had.." Richie felt tears start to run down his burning cheeks. "We have him on pain meds but they are very strong." Richie felt scared and confused. "Whats that supposed to mean?!" He half yelled in confusion. "It means that Eddies meds will dumb him emotionally..." The nurse said sympathetically. " He cant love?" Richie muttered sadly. "He can but what i mean is that he will be sort of.... lifeless until we can figure out some other meds to put him onto." Richie nodded slowly and smiled a quick smile at the nurse who then gave his hand a quick squeeze before leaving him to wrap his head around this new information.

An hour and a half later, Richie was told he could go in to see Eddie. He nodded and stood shakily, making his way over to the door. He stood there for a moment with his hand resting on the handle. He breathed deeply and pushed the door open.

He walked slowly up to the bed side and placed his hand on Eddies. "Hey Eds..." he mumbled as Eddie looked up into his eyes. "Hi Richie." Eddie smiled half-heartedly. "So they uh, they told me that your meds were kind of... numbing." Richie said slowly. Eddie just nodded, keeping a straight face and staring up at the ceiling. Richie tried not to let it get to him but it hurt deep down to see his Eddie so.... lifeless.

"So Eds i was thinking when i can get you outta here we could go on a date?" Richie asked smiling. "I wont ruin it this time!" He said jokingly but it earned nothing but another simple nod from his boyfriend. "Oh Eds..." Richie knelt down on his knees to sit next to Eddie.

The next day, Richie left Eddie with a kiss on the forehead and walked to school with Bill.
"A-are y-you kidding m-me?!" Bill exclaimed when Richie told him about Eddie. "Yeah, he uh, he might be in there for a while..." Richie sighed. "Im s-so sorry R-rich.." Bill wrapped an arm around Richies shoulders as they walked. "Thanks Bill. I just, I feel like i've already lost him..." The two stayed silent for the rest of the walk.