Partners in Crime-Eddie Munson x OC

Chapter 29

My dad and his supersonic hearing immediately heard what I'd asked Max to do, and went to get me a wheelchair. Apparently I had a decent amount of stitches, because I was warned to be very careful several times.

I had Max wheel me across the hall, hurrying the poor girl along. Now that I'd finished my...interesting conversation my father, I couldn't think of anything but seeing Eddie.

Max knocked lightly on the door, and the voice that answered was surprisingly not Eddie.

"Come in!"

Max opened the door for me and pushed me inside. Dustin, the one who beckoned us in, sat beside Eddie. He wore a huge grin as he held a Lord of the Rings book in his lap. Eddie must've asked him to bring it for him. He'd told me once that he'd reread it every time he was stuck at home sick. 

"Helena! You look great! I mean, pretty injured, but other than that fantastic!" Dustin beamed at me. 

I chuckled at the boy. "Thanks, kiddo."

My eyes were trained completely on Eddie. He too was covered in bandages like I was. They did nothing to dim his smile. 

"Hey, Henderson, why don't you and Red give us a minute, okay?" He gave the boy a knowing look. 

Dustin rolled his eyes. "I nurse you back to health, and you kick me out for a girl first chance you get." 

"She saved my life, so I think that warrants a little special treatment." Eddie made a shooing motion with his hands. 

"Come on, doofus." Max pushed me right beside Eddie's bed before grabbing Dustin by the arm to drag him from the room. 

That left me and Eddie by ourselves. Silence hung between us. There were a million things to talk about, but neither of us could seem to choose where to start. 

"Hi," Eddie grinned.

"Hi," I giggled back due to the bizarre nature of such a simple introduction after everything.

"You feeling okay?" He tapped his neck in the same spot where my bandage sat.

I nodded. "Yeah, not too shabby. You?" I copied him, tapping the spot on my chin where his bandages were. 

"You kidding? I'm gonna graduate with a wicked scar as I flip Higgins the bird. Besides, we match."

Only Eddie could erase all my growing doubts about my scars in a single sentence. "I guess it's our year after all, huh?" I looked down at my hands and remembered something. My dad had given me back Eddie's ring when I woke up. I was just happy it had stayed on during the fight and the journey to the hospital. I slipped it off and handed to him. "I think this belongs to you."

Eddie simply stared at my outstretched hand, but made no move to take it back. "Keep it. Looks better on you, anyways, princess."

"I was kind of hoping you'd say that." I admitted, smiling as I slid it back on my thumb.

"You could've taken it a long time ago. Hell, you can take whatever you want. I meant what I told Henderson. You saved my life and I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough for that, Hel." 

"You saved us all, Eddie. You bought time so Nancy, Steve, and Robin could kill Vecna and we could all get out of this shit. You're, like, a full on town hero now. Remember what you said? You didn't run, Ed. You stayed and fought, so I'd say you're the one who did the saving." I reached up and entwined our fingers.

He swallowed and looked up at the ceiling. I caught a brief glimpse of tears forming in his eyes. "I just got tired of running, you know? Just wanted to be someone that made people, made you, proud instead of some coward."

I shook my head. "Eddie, you're not a coward. You're quite literally the bravest person I've ever known." I winced as I leaned up slightly to give him a tender kiss. It only lasted a second because it hurt to maintain that position, but the kiss was worth it regardless. I eased back into my chair slowly. "If you ever pull some shit like that again, though, I might have to kill you myself. I was so scared Eddie.I thought...I really thought that was going to be the last time I saw you alive."

Images from yesterday filled my head and I grimaced at the thought. My eyes stung as flashes of the demo bats diving at Eddie, the sounds of his screams of pain, the look in his eyes when he gave me the ring and said goodbye all clouded my head. Hot, silent tears spilled slowly over my cheeks. 

I felt Eddie's calloused fingers wipe my cheeks gently. "Won't happen again, sweetheart. Don't worry, you'll be stuck with me for a very long time. As long as we're on the subject, I'd like to add that I have right to be pissed too."

"And why's that?" I sniffed and looked up at him.

"You drew all the bats over to yourself and sent Henderson to check on my sorry ass. You went after them alone. They almost killed you too, Hel." His voice cracked near the end of the sentence. 

I chuckled a shaky laugh through the lingering tears. "I guess we'll have to agree to both stop doing dangerous shit, huh?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

I scooted forward and crossed my arms in his lap and laid my head down. His hand soothingly patted my head, something which was oddly comforting when he did it, and I closed my eyes. 

After a beat, he said, "Can I level with you?" He paused and I murmured confirmation. "Your dad is scary as hell."

I chuckled and opened my eyes to look at Eddie. "What do you mean? Is it the cover up thing?"

"Yeah, that would be why. Well, don't get me wrong, he's also fucking metal, but those kind of connections are some serious power play. I wake up, feeling like death, and he's got government workers in here briefing me on everything. They leave, and the man walks in and doesn't bat an eye as he asks me what exactly my intentions are with you and what happened when we were hiding out together." Eddie explains, his words causing my heart rate to speed up. 

This was news to me. So much for open honesty, since he'd barely mentioned Eddie when you talked earlier. "He interrogated you about our relationship? What did you tell him?"

Eddie shrugged. "I told him I'd like to take you out once we got out of here."

I bolted upright, immediately regretting the action. "You told him that?!" 

"Well, he said he'd be alright with that."

I was absolutely floored. In the past, my dad had at the very least teased my dates with some intimidating facade. He never outright showed his approval or readily agreed. He was a little protective over me, since I was his only kid. This was a good thing, though, strange as it was. 

"So, we have a date?" I raised my eyebrows hopefully. 

"Indeed we do, sweetheart. Soon as we get out of here and they clear me to drive or whatever, I'm taking you on the best date of your life." He smirked at you. 

"That's very ambitious of you...I look forward to it." I chuckled. 

Suddenly, the door burst open and Dustin reentered. "Helena, your dad sent me over to supervise you all. No funny business, you horn dogs."

Eddie and I held our hands up in surrender. "No funny business here, Dusty." I plastered on a sweet smile. "Besides, does it look like either of us is in any shape for 'funny business'." I made little air quotes with my fingers as I deadpanned the words. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You got some other visitors, too. Steve, Robin, and Nancy demand to be let in since they, to quote Steve, 'carried your asses back to the hospital'."

"Well, let the people in, Henderson." Eddie sighed, waving his hand in a lazy, beckoning gesture.

The three teenagers in question popped in immediately, soon followed by the younger members of the group. It quickly turned into a reunion with the whole group. Nurses had to come in and shush us all several times, and finally they kicked me back into my room to rest. That was probably a good judgement call, since I fell asleep within five minutes of going back, but I fell asleep with a smile on my face.