To Hell and Back Again

Chapter Seven

Eddie snapped awake. He looked around to see he was still in his trailer. "Crissy?" He looked up to see a body levitating in front of him. It fell to the ground and he ran over and held it in his arms. "Crissy, come on. Wake up." He looked again and it was Steve. He screamed and started shaking Steve to try to wake him up. "Steve, please, don't do this. Come on, please." He heard a faint, "Eddie. Eddie, wake up you're having a nightmare." Eddie opened his eyes and Steve was kneeling next to the couch.
"Eddie, are you okay?" Steve pushed his sweaty hair out of his face. Eddie took a second to breathe then looked at Steve.
"You're okay. You're okay." He sat up and put his hand on Steve's face.
"Yeah, of course I'm okay. Are you?" Eddie tried to catch his breath. He put his hand on his chest and looked around.
"We're in your house." He grabbed Steve's arm and looked it up and down. He was checking for anything out of the ordinary.
"Yeah, we are. What's going on?" Steve stood up.
"I had a nightmare. That you got..." he made a waving motion with his hand looking for the word. "What happened to Crissy." Steve's eyes got wide.
"No, I'm okay. I'm fine."
"I don't think i can go back to sleep... did I wake you up?" He looked around again. The house was dark except a light on in the kitchen. "What time is it?"
"It's like 7 am. I'm fine, I was awake." Steve pushed Eddie's hair out of his face again.
"Were you eating cake at 7 am?" Eddie smiled and dusted crumbs off Steve's shirt.
"Ignore that. I'm worried about you. Maybe you should go upstairs and take a shower or bath or something. You're sweating a lot," Steve felt Eddie's forehead then his pulse.
"I'm fine..." Eddie tilted his head. "A bath does sound oddly nice right now though." He stood up and looked at the cake on the coffee table. There was a fork sitting next to it and a chunk missing from one of the sides. "You did you were eating my cake at 7 am."
"I did not." Steve's voice did the squeaky sound when he's lying again.
"Okay. Sure." Eddie smiled and started up the stairs. He walked up the stairs and went into Steve's bathroom. He stood in front of the shower for a couple minutes looking into the empty bathtub. He gulped and turned on the water. He watched as it filled up. He slowly took off his clothes and got in. He immediately stood up and got out and wrapped a towel around his waist. He walked out of the bathroom to see Steve sitting on the bed reading a book. Steve put down the book and looked up at him. "I cant do it."
"What do you mean? Are you okay?" Steve sat up more.
"I don't know why. I can't do it." Eddie gulped trying to hold back tears. Steve walked over and put his hand on Eddie cheek.
"I'll help you." He looked down at Eddie's towel. "Y-yeah come on." He walked Eddie into the bathroom and felt the water. "It's nice and warm. You'll be okay."
"I don't know why but it's... it's freaking me out," Eddie looked into the water. Steve stared into the water.
"Okay." He took a deep breath and stepped into the bathtub with all his clothes on. He sat down in the water and held out his hand for Eddie. "Come on."
"What are you doing?" Eddie laughed confused.
"I'm in the water. I'm safe. I'm fine. Now it's your turn." Eddie took Steve's hand. Steve closed his eyes as Eddie took off his towel and got in and sat in front of Steve. "See you're fine." Steve opened his eyes and wrapped an arm around Eddie's waist.
"You're soaked now."'Eddie leaned his head against Steve's chest.
"I don't care." Steve grabbed the bottom of his sweater and slid it over his head and tossed it to the side. "You did it. That's all that matters." He rubbed Eddie's head to comfort him. Steve slid out from behind Eddie and got out of the bath. He grabbed a towel off the hook on the back of the door and wrapped it around his waist. "Let me get new pants on and I'll come back." Eddie grabbed the side of the tub and breathed heavy for a minute. Steve grabbed a new pair of pants out of the closet and put them on. He went back into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub. He opened the cabinet below the sink and pulled out a cup. "Scoot forward."
"What?" Eddie turned and looked at him.
"Scoot forward." Eddie did so. Steve scooped up water and held his chin up so he could pour the water on his hair.
"What are you doing?" Eddie laughed and kept his head tilted back.
"Washing your hair. I'm definitely ignoring the fact that you're naked right now." Steve ran his fingers through Eddie's wet hair. He grabbed a bottle of shampoo of the shelf in the shower and started massaging it into Eddie's hair.
"I-I don't know why it was so hard for me to get in." Eddie's hands were still gripped on the sides of the tub. Steve grabbed Eddie's hand.
"You'll need time to cope. It's okay." He poured the cup of water over Eddie's hair and continued until the shampoo was washed out. "Okay you're done."
"Steve..." Eddie grabbed the sides of the tub and started to shake. He started coughing. He grabbed his throat.
"Eddie? Eddie, what's happening?" Steve grabbed Eddie's face. Eddie's coughs started getting hard and faster. "Eddie, just slow down and breathe." Eddie's face turned pale and he motioned towards his throat. He leaned forward and coughed up black goo. "Jesus Christ." Steve grabbed Eddie under his arms and pulled him out of the tub. "Come on, breathe..." he felt Eddie's pulse, weak. He sat Eddie in his lap and hit his back a couple times. Eddie went limp in his arms. "No no no no." He laid him down on his back and proceeded to give him C.P.R. Thirty compressions, two breaths. Thirty compressions, two breaths. Steve followed the instructions. Thirty compressions then two breaths. He checked Eddie's pulse again. "Come on! I just got you back. Im not losing you again, Eddie. Do you hear me? Not again." Steve cried as he continued the thirty compressions and two breaths. "Please... come on." Eddie coughed again and turned over on his side. Steve sat back and exhaled with relief. He kept coughing. "Eddie, are you okay?" Steve reached for Eddie's arm.