Steve paced his jail cell nervously. After spending the night there, they'd finally given him his phone call and he'd called Nancy. That had been several hours ago. He was getting angrier by the minute. Where the hell was she? He needed to get out of here and get back to Eddie. He had no idea how Eddie was doing, no idea if they'd found out anything with all their tests, no idea about anything. When he got to the point where his anger was bubbling over and he was ready to explode, one of the deputies came and unlocked his cell.
"Come on, Harrington," he said. "You're out of here." He stopped pacing, confused. Why were they letting him go? "Your girlfriend is here. Says she was with you when Munson showed up and you took him directly to the hospital."
"My girlfriend?"
"Wheeler," he answered. "Nancy, I think she said." Steve stepped out of the cell and the deputy closed it behind him. "I guess we can't charge you with harboring a fugitive if you turned him over right away."
As they rounded a corner, Steve saw Nancy standing near the intake desk, looking nervous and upset. She rushed to him when she saw him and took one of his hands in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Neither said anything as the deputy processed him out of custody and gave him his personal belongings back. Once they were outside, in Nancy's car, and driving away, Steve finally sighed in relief.
"Thank you, Nance."
"I'm sorry it took so long," she told him. "I sat there all morning waiting for someone to talk to me."
"Have you heard anything about Eddie?" She shook her head. "Shit."
"I called the hospital while I was waiting, but they wouldn't tell me anything."
"Take me back to the police station," he said suddenly. "I need to tell them Eddie was with me when Chrissy died." Nancy gave him a sideways look. "Nancy, turn around."
"Will that work?"
"How could he have killed Chrissy, or Patrick, or Jason," Steve asked. "He was with me. There's no way he could have."
"Do you think they'll believe that when I just claimed you turned him in when he showed up at your house?" Steve shook his head. No, they wouldn't believe it. He had to come up with something else. He had to get Eddie back. "Robin and the boys are at your house waiting. Let's go back there and figure something out. Okay?"
Steve nodded once. "I need to call Wayne," he said. "He gave me the number to his motel." He started digging through his pockets and found the motel business card with Wayne's room number on the back. "I wonder if they've given him any news about Eddie."
When they got to Steve's house, Steve waded through the group as they surrounded him, wanting to know what had happened. Nancy had only given them brief details, because that was all she really had. He waved away the flurry of excited questions, from Robin and Dustin mostly, and went straight for the phone. Wayne answered on the first ring, sounding anxious.
"Wayne, have you heard anything?"
"I just got a call asking me to come down," he told Steve. "The doctor wants to talk to me."
"Would you mind if I went with you?" Steve prayed that Wayne would let him. He was afraid that if he said no, Steve would lose what little cool he had left right now.
"I was hoping you would," he said. "I didn't know if you were still in jail."
"I just got out." Steve explained why they let him go. "I'll meet you at the hospital in fifteen minutes." Wayne agreed and they hung up. "Nancy, can you drive me to the hospital? My car is still there from when they arrested me." She nodded and he turned to the group of expectant faces looking up at him. "Let me check on Eddie and make sure he's alright. Then I'll tell you everything, okay?" Robin, Dustin, Mike, and Lucas all nodded.
Nancy dropped Steve at the hospital entrance where Wayne was waiting for him, and they went inside. At the front desk they were given visitor passes and directed to a back elevator that only had one button, the sixth floor. As they stepped off the elevator upstairs, armed guards separated them, and they were both frisked and then made to step through a metal detector before being directed to a desk outside of a locked, metal mesh door, where two sheriff deputies sat looking bored. One of the deputies made a quiet phone call then a buzzer sounded and the other opened the door to let them into the secure ward of the hospital. They were met by a doctor, a short, Hispanic man, holding a clipboard and looking dire.
"Mr. Munson," he said as he gave Steve a suspicious look. "Can we talk in private?"
"Anything you need to tell me can be said in front of him." He nodded towards Steve. "He's family." Steve felt that right in the gut and if it hadn't been for the current circumstances, he might have hugged Wayne. "How's Eddie?"
"He's severely anemic," the doctor said. "There is no iron in his body at all. It's a good thing you brought him in when you did." He glanced down at his clipboard. "He wouldn't have lived much longer in that condition."
"Is he going to be okay," Wayne asked.
"We can help him," he answered. "I noted the scars and freshly healed wounds all over his torso. Has he suffered any significant blood loss recently?"
Wayne looked at Steve and Steve nodded. "Yeah," he said. The doctor waited for more of an explanation. "Over the last three months, he lost a lot of blood." He thought back to what Eddie had told him about his time in The Upside Down. "Repeatedly." Wayne's eyes closed and he grimaced.
"The red blood cells in his body are damaged because of the lack of iron," he explained. "Without iron, his body can't produce hemoglobin. And hemoglobin is what allows the red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout his body." He paused and Wayne shook his head. "He's not getting enough oxygen. Without oxygen, everything starts to shut down." He looked down at the clipboard again, flipped a page, then went on. "We've started him on an iron supplement regimen. But he needs a blood transfusion. Have either of you been typed for a blood match?" Wayne and Steve both shook their heads. "I'll send an order down to the blood lab to type you both. If one of you is a match, do you give consent for a transfusion?"
"Yes," Steve said quickly. "Whatever he needs."
"Agreed," Wayne put in. "Can we see him first?"
"He's in police custody..."
"You mean, he's not here?" Steve's voice rose, his anger evident. If they had taken him out of the hospital and put him in jail, Steve would be ready to hurt someone.
"No, he's here," the doctor said. "But this is a secure ward."
"They've already searched us," Wayne said. "What harm can it do to let us see him for five God damned minutes? He's sick and alone and I'm sure no one here is showing him any kindness."
The doctor looked back and forth between them then finally nodded. 'Follow me."
There was an armed guard outside of Eddie's room. After reassurances from the doctor, he finally unlocked the door and went in, motioned Wayne and Steve to follow him. He stood at the door, his arms crossed over his chest and Wayne and Steve went to stand on opposite sides of Eddie's bed. Steve reached for him and brushed his hair back off his face. Eddie's eyes fluttered open, and he smiled when he saw them standing over him.
"Are you okay, baby?" Eddie nodded in response to Steve's question. Steve leaned in and caught Eddie's mouth, kissing him softly. "I love you so much, Eddie."
"I love you," Eddie said quietly.
"Have they explained what's going on," Wayne asked.
"I'm dying," Eddie said with a soft chuckle.
"They're going to fix you up, son." He stole a glance at Steve as Steve stroked Eddie's cheek. "When we leave here, we're going to get tested to see if we're a blood match so they can start a blood transfusion."
"If neither of us are a match," Steve began. "We'll find someone who is."
"You don't have to, Steve."
"Yes, I do," he replied. "I'm not losing you again." He took Eddie's hand and squeezed it tightly. "And I'm going to clear your name. I'll find some way to prove you didn't kill Chrissy and the others."
"That's enough," the deputy barked out. "You need to leave now."
"Get some rest, son," Wayne told him. "We'll be back tomorrow."
Steve leaned in and kissed him again, longer and deeper this time, lingering for as long as he could until the deputy cleared his throat. "Love you, sweet baby." He started to back away, still holding Eddie's hand.
"Love you, too." Steve raised his hand to kiss it, then finally let go and left the room, throwing one last look over his shoulder before he was ushered out and the door closed and locked behind them.
**********
Back at Steve's house, Wayne and Steve gathered everyone in the living room and explained Eddie's condition to them. After seeing him, they had both been blood typed and it turned out that Steve was a match, though Wayne was not. He had blood drawn before they left, as much as they could take at one time, and he would go back to the hospital in the morning to have more blood drawn so they could start the transfusion. He'd go back Sunday for more if he needed to.
Nancy expressed concern about Steve donating so much blood in such a short period of time. But Steve stopped her. He was going to do whatever he had to do to help Eddie. He wasn't going to let him die. Not again. That got an odd look from Wayne, but he said nothing. He knew that Steve had believed Eddie was dead before. But he wasn't sure why Steve would feel like he'd let Eddie die.
Robin and the boys also agreed with Nancy. No one wanted Eddie to die, but no one wanted Steve to risk himself either. But, like Steve told them, he didn't have any other choice. After the 'earthquake' the town's blood bank supplies had been depleted. And there was no one else in town that would be willing to donate blood to save Eddie. They'd all rather see him die.
"Everyone just stop," Steve shouted. "I'm doing this no matter what any of you say."
"We're just worried about you, Steve," Dustin said.
"I know, Henderson, and I appreciate that," Steve answered. "I love him too much not to do everything I can to save him." The minute the words were out of his mouth, Steve regretted them. He didn't regret the sentiment, he only regretted saying it in front of the boys. He looked at each boy in turn and it was obvious they'd not only heard him, but they'd understood his meaning. "Yes, I love him, okay? We love each other. Do any of you have a problem with that?" The three boys all shook their heads slowly. "Good. So you understand why I have to do this?"
"What can we do?" Steve turned to Robin. He silently thanked her.
"We need to prove that Eddie didn't kill Chrissy. Or Patrick and Jason."
"He's getting the medical help he needs," Wayne said, speaking for the first time. "But they're going to put him on trial for a triple homicide unless we can prove he didn't do it."
"How are we supposed to do that?" They all turned to face Mike. "We know he didn't do it, but he was the last person with Chrissy when she died. Patrick, too."
"Max," Dustin said suddenly.
"Max," Wayne asked.
"My girlfriend," Lucas answered. "She lived in the trailer across from you."
"The little redhead girl?" All three boys nodded. "What about her?"
"She saw Chrissy go in your trailer with Eddie," Dustin said.
"And she heard Eddie screaming," Lucas added. "She saw him run away."
"Only proving his guilt," Robin said and Nancy gave her a dirty look.
"Not necessarily," Dustin chimed in. "Max can, you know, stretch the truth a bit." He shrugged. "Maybe she saw something or someone else."
"Would she do that for Eddie," Wayne asked.
"She would," Lucas answered. "Vecna almost killed..." Dustin and Mike both reached over and smacked him on the arm at the same time. He looked up at Wayne and swallowed hard. "She was hurt in the earthquake, too. But she knows Eddie is innocent."
"Boys, go talk to Max," Steve said and they all nodded. "Nance, can you drive them?"
"Yeah, of course, Steve."
"What about me," Robin asked.
"Go with Nancy and the boys," Steve said. "Keep me in the loop."
After a little more discussion, Nancy, Robin, and the boys left. Wayne turned to Steve. "Do you think we can prove his innocence?"
"We have to," Steve answered. "Or I'll die trying."