A/N; Okay look I can explain...
TW; hospitals, mentions of blood, trauma
Beep... Beep... Beep...
I open my eyes, the room is very bright and I am disoriented. Where the fuck... am I? My head is aching, my body hurts. The familiar feeling of broken ribs burns. "Sir... Sir can you hear me?" I hear a unfamiliar voice. "Where.. where am I?"
"Hawkins General." I get my eyes to focus, it's a nurse. "Shit... I must have blacked out..."
"You did, Mister Harrington. You're lucky the police showed up when they did. You could have gotten killed."
"Where's Eddie?"
"Mister Harrington I'm going to need you to-"
"I said, where is Eddie Munson?!"
"He's in the next room over. Can I take your vitals now please?"
"I need to see him."
"Sir I need you to calm down you're in very bad shape we need to keep you laying-"I stand up ripping the monitor wires off of my arms and chest. I wince at the pain that burns from my broken ribs and try to catch my breath. "Mister Harrington please don't we just need-"
"I'm going to see him. You can do what ever you need to do to me after I see him."
"You have an IV, can I please at least get that disconnected before you leave?"
"Fine. But hurry." She quickly gets me disconnected. "What room number?"
"It's right next door. Room 212. You're in 211."
"Thanks." I limp my way into the hall, and go as quickly as I can into the room next to mine. I find Eddie laying in bed. Hooked up to the same machines I was, but he's not awake. There's just the sound of beep... beep... beep... coming from the monitor. "Eddie oh my god..." I quickly fall at his bed side, tears running down my face. "Please be okay..." His breathing is shallow. A doctor comes into the room, with a clipboard in hand. "Oh, uhm. Hello."
"Please tell me what's going on? Is he okay? What happened? All I remember is a gun shot.. then..."
"Are you a family member?"
"He's my... fiancé... please just tell me what's going on..."
"Oh. I shouldn't disclose medical information unless you're a related member of family..."
"His uncle is out of fucking town! I'm the only family he has! JUST FUCKING TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!"
"I... Okay... Okay fine... Please don't swear at me sir, I'm just the doctor. He's been shot in the abdomen and he's lucky to be alive, honestly. It's missed any vital organs, but we need to keep him here. It was a clean in, clean out shot so there's no shrapnel left inside of him. But he hasn't woken up yet. We think his body is in shock."
"How long has he been here?"
"2 days."
"Fuck..." The tears won't stop falling and I grab onto Eddie's hand tightly. "I'll leave you two for a bit. I'll come back to check on him in about 10 minutes. I'm so sorry to give you the news. If it's any comfort to you, he is very much alive. We haven't needed to keep him on a ventilator."
"Thanks..." The doctor leaves the room quietly. 2 days? I've been out for 2 days too? What the fuck happened in between me getting punched in the head and the gun shot? "Eddie baby, please wake up... It's me... Please... Wake up... I can't be here without you..."
I see his forehead scrunch slightly. And his breathing picks up. "E-Eddie?" He mumbles something incoherently. "Baby I'm right here... it's okay..."
"Steve? Ow... fuck. Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital... We... We got into a fight... They... They shot you." His eyes open lowly, and he looks up at me. "Shot me? What?" He looks so confused.
I push the hair on his head back and kiss his forehead softly. "It's okay... We're okay..."
"I didn't... Wait... Are you okay?!" He sits up suddenly, then falls back just as quickly. "FUCK!"
"Shh. No please don't try to move. I'll go get the-"
"You didn't.. answer my question.." In between breaths he manages to get out. He's in a lot of pain. I wish I could take it all away. He shouldn't have punched Tommy. He shouldn't have gotten into any of this. Goddamnit.
"I'm fine. Broken ribs. Concussion. But I'm fine."
"I'm going to kill them."
"Don't. Just, don't please. Relax. I'll get the doctor.. they can help you not hurt. Please let me help..."
"Fine, just... Don't leave me for too long, okay?"
"I'll be right back, I promise." I go to get the doctor quickly from the hallway. Luckily he didn't make it too far. "He woke up... He's in a lot of pain. Please, go help him." The doctor follows me back to the room and adjusts the medication in the IV bag next to him. "How are you feeling, Mister Munson."
"Well like I got shot doc. How am I supposed to feel?"
"Pain scale of 1 to 10?"
"Fuck. 11. Everything hurts."
"You're in pretty bad shape, sir."
"Tell me something I don't know." Eddie sighs, trying to joke through everything as usual. I'm glad to know his sense of humor is still alive and kicking.
"We're going to have to keep you here for a couple of days, so we can make sure you're healing properly. Should we try to contact your uncle again? We've tried calling your home number and no one is answering."
"Yeah, no he's not home. He's out of town for work until Friday... what day is it?"
"Wednesday."
"I'll call him. I have the number of his hotel in my wallet."
"Alright. Well is there anything else I can do for you right now to make you more comfortable."
"Just the drugs doc. That helps. Thanks."
"Of course. Let me know if there's anything else, or you can just call the nurse in with the button on the side of your bed." He nods, the doctor writes something down on his chart and leaves the room again. I come back to his bedside, sitting in a chair and grabbing his hand again. "I unfortunately have a very pushy nurse in the next room waiting for me to come back so she can check my vitals. Will you be okay if I'm gone?"
"I don't like that you're going to go, but you need to make sure you're okay too." He pulls my hand up and kisses it softly. "I love you, darlin" My heart melts into a puddle. Even here, after nearly dying, just a soft gesture from him fills me up to the brim with love. "I love you too Eds. More than anything. I'm glad you're here with me still... I was so scared."
"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Harrington." He chuckles. I get up and go back into my room and the nurse checks my vital signs quickly.
"It looks like I can release you today, if you would like. We would like you to come back in tomorrow so we can check on your concussion."
"Well can you check on me while I'm in the next room? I'm going to be staying right here until Eddie is released."
"I recommend that you do go home and get some clothes gathered then. Yours are... They're pretty bloody."
"I can't leave Eddie, m'am." She walks out of the room for a few minutes, and comes back with some scrubs. "This is all I can offer, I'm sorry there's not anything better... I... Don't mind me being unprofessional but... you're really brave. You know that?"
"I'm brave? How's that?"
"Just... You really love him don't you?"
"I do." I smile down at my feet. She caught on really quickly, I guess I'm not hiding anything, anymore. No reason to keep any of it behind closed doors. I'll keep fighting for him. I'll fight for him until I can't fight anymore. "Don't let that spark out. It's special. I'll go get your release paperwork." She disappears from the room leaving me to get changed into the scrubs.
Soon I get released and I hurry my way back to Eddie's room. He's just laying there again, staring at the ceiling. "I'm back." I try to be quiet, and sit next to him again. "What in the hell are you wearing?"
"Look this is all they had and my clothes are ruined and I refused to leave the hospital unti-"
"Hot." Is all he muttered before drifting back off to sleep. This is the man I love? Really? Jesus Christ.