If I Could Tell You- Reddie

20: It Was An Accident!

Richie had stayed in the hospital with Hailey and the twins for 3 days at this point. His clothes reeked of sweat and his hair was saturated with grease. Hailey lies in bed cradling Charlotte in her arms while Richie was sitting in the chair next to her holding Luca. Luca lied their baby blue eyes close, holding onto Richie's finger. His tiny mouth opened slightly revealing the pink gums inside.

Richie had anticipated the moment Luca would wake up crying for his mother, when that happened it was Richies turn to hold Charlotte. She already had a little swirl of light blond hair growing from her scalp. She looked just like her mother. She was perfect, the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Well, next to Eddie. Her eyes matched the color of Hailey's ocean blue eyes that had a tiny hint of sparkles in them. Richie held her close, promising that he would always protect her and her brother.

That promise would come in handy... later

Finally, the hospital discharged Hailey and the twins, sending them back to school. Hailey and the twins had a separate car to take than Richie. A driver appeared taking Hailey and the twins away while Richie waited for a car to take him.

It only took 10 minutes for Abulences to be discharged going in the same direction that Hailey and the twins went. Richie's heart dropped, were they okay, what happened, are they in trouble. A nurse caught sight of Richie, walking up to him. "Sir are you okay."

"Do you." He paused no knowing if he wanted the answer "Do you know what happened?" His lip was quivering, anticipating the answer.

"A car accident." She had a dull face, her expression softened when she saw Richie trying to utter a word.

"Who was in the accident." His anxiety was pulsing through his veins.

"Im sorry sir that's classified information." 

"WHO WAS IN THE DAMN ACCIDENT!" He screeched at the woman. She was visibly shaken, then her phone began to buzz. Grabbing it I could see the blood drain from her face. 

"Uh yes hm yes, I'll go the room ready." She hung up the phone, apologizing to Richie. The ambulance then pulled up again, revealing Hailey... unconscious. The twins, however, seemed fine. He tried to run in after her but they stopped him once they took her to the OR. A doctor was then sent out to explain the situation. 

"Sir," Richie felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned around to reveal a red-haired lady with a doctor's coat and her hair up in a tight bun, probably to keep her head out of the way while she worked. "Come with me." She ushered him out of the hall and into an office. 

"Do you mind if I make a call?" Richie asked, wanting Eddie to be there. The doctor nodded, Richie bolted to a payphone, crossing his fingers Eddie would pick up.

"Eddie Kaspbrak speaking, who is this?" 

"It's Richie, please come down to the hospital." He had desperation in his voice. Eddie could sense the urgency in his voice. Within seconds he was down in the office begging for them to let him go. Reluctantly they complied and with that Eddie was off like a mad man, if you saw him you could swear he was the flash. His hair blew every which way.  

He arrived at the hospital in record timing, meeting Richie at the front, he was led into the doctor's office to get the news. The doctor, whose badge read Mia, sat across from them. She took out a good-sized file and began to flip through the pages, stopping a few pages in. 

From under the table, Richie squeezed Eddie's hand awaiting the news to hear that they have died. "There's no easy way to say this but Hailey, your girlfriend, is in the OR right now, we don't know if she's made it as she is still very weak from labor. If she does, most likely she will be in a coma, if that happens we don't know how long it will last or if she'll ever come out of it." A wave of sadness crashed over Richie and Eddie. It felt as if someone was sitting on his chest, not letting him breathe. "The twins however are fine, they are in good health and you will be able to take them home." Mia smiled at them reassuring them that it would be okay. Neither Richie nor Eddie had the energy to correct her about saying Hailey was his girlfriend.

"What do you mean we'll be taking them home." Eddie peered up at her, Richie still had his head in his hands, trying to his the tears falling out of his eyes. 

"When Hailey came to the hospital a form needs to be signed telling us if anything were to happen to her who we should give custody to, at the top of the list she put Richard Tozier and I presume that's you." Richie pulled his head up, bloodshot eyes staring at her, nodding. "The twins are in room 404." 

Eddie helped Richie out of the room, he didn't want him to fall from blurry vision. In all his years Eddie doesn't think he had ever seen Richie cry. It broke his heart seeing Richie like this, his face stained with tears, eyes bright red like had gotten high. 

When Richie's vision cleared up, they sprinted hand in hand to room 404 on the fourth floor, not bothering to take the elevator. They swung the door open, making quite an entrance only to find two sweet babies being held by two nurses. 

Other than a few bruises they looked to be in perfect health. Richie was shocked at how that much of an impact only did that much damage."They weren't lucky." A nurse said, reading Richie and Eddie's minds. "Hailey threw herself over them protecting them from the impact, they would have died had she not." 

"If you don't mind me asking, do you know how the accident was caused?" Eddie questioned the male nurse while Richie ran over to the infants. 

"The roads were still wet from last night's rainfall, the car spun out killing the driver and severely injuring Hailey." Eddie placed his hands over his face, not sure if he was happy or sad that the accident wasn't caused by anyone. 

The female nurse handed Richie a list of detailed instructions on how to care for newborns when their mother isn't around. "Here you'll need it." Richie thanked her, picking up Luca, handing Charlotte to Eddie. 

--- 

Richie and Eddie had arrived back at school in the evening. They hadn't missed dinner liked they had hoped, meaning that now they would have to explain why they were holding the twins. Before they could even make it to the cafeteria they were stopped by none other than Cheryl. What the fuck did she want, she would only make things worse.