To Hell and Back Again

Chapter Twenty-Three

Eddie sat quietly looking down at his shoes. He tapped the tips of his shoes together and watched as chunks of dried dirt fell off onto the tile flooring. His eyes shifted up to see Steve sitting next to him, completely passed out and drooling. Eddie smiled faintly and looked back down at his shoes that were caked with dried mud and grass. "Mr. Munson?" A voice said from in front of him. He looked up to see the tall doctor from before. Eddie grabbed Steve's shoulder to shake him awake. Steve groaned and opened his eyes, seeing the doctor, then perking up. Steve stood and followed Eddie and the doctor to an exam room down the hall. The bright hospital lights caused Steve to keep his eyes squinted.
Eddie sat quietly on a hospital bed while a doctor held a stethoscope to his back, checking his lungs. The doctor glanced over to Steve who was sitting in a chair across the room. He continued to hold the cold metal against Eddie's bare skin. "Breathe in and hold it," the doctor recited as he moved the stethoscope away from Eddie's back. He went to the front of Eddie to place it on his chest. "Again," he nodded as he moved around the stethoscope. "Alright, your breathing sounds fine, your heart rhythm is fine. Although, we hope you consider..." Steve's eyes shot up at Eddie who was sliding his shirt back on. He felt like his ears were ringing as he ignored the doctors words. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and looked up.
"W-what do you recommend? I'm sorry." Steve asked as he snapped back to reality.
"We just recommend that he doesn't smoke at the moment until things are looking better," the doctor nodded and looked back at Eddie over his thin metal glasses, "which, you shouldn't be smoking anyways, kid. That'll kill you like it's nothing." The doctor smiled and nodded as he removed his blue gloves. "You two are free to go. We're all done here."
"W-wait that's it?" Steve stood up, letting his jacket dangle from his hands. "We're just done? He's okay?"
"Yes, Mr. Munson is fine." The doctor walked out of the hospital room as he rolled his eyes. It's always the overly dramatic patients he gets stuck with. Steve took Eddie's hand to walk him out of the hospital room. There's no way there's nothing wrong with Eddie... Steve glanced over to see a tall doctor with grey hair walking towards them.
"Brenner." Steve squeezed Eddie's hand and started running down the hall, dragging Eddie behind him.
"What is going on?" Eddie shouted as he dug his heels into the tile flooring so Steve couldn't pull him. Steve turned to see the doctor was not Brenner. He looked back at Eddie and let out a huff.
"I-I thought he was someone else." Steve's hand held tightly onto Eddie's as he tried to conceal his shaking. Eddie put his other hand around Steve's arm as they walked towards the waiting room.
"Maybe, we should get you checked for problems." Eddie laughed as he spotted a tall black haired woman in the field of chairs. His smile quickly faded as he squeezed Steve's arm. Steve's eyes darted to Eddie then to the tall woman. She was about Steve's height but extremely thin and dressed head to toe in black pantsuit. She was holding a briefcase that matched her outfit and was decked out in gold jewelry. Steve started to put two and two together when she turned, whipping her long curly hair behind her. Her eyes met Eddie's as she let a soft smile crack. All Steve could notice was that she had the same brown, almost black, eyes as Eddie.
"Ed!" She shouted as she ran towards the couple. Her heels clicked across the floor then she wrapped her arms around Eddie, breaking his grasp from Steve's arm. Eddie was hesitant about putting his arms around the mystery woman. "How you been, Ed?"
"Don't call me that." Eddie responded as he pulled away from the hug. Dark curls fell into his face.
"But mom always called you 'Ed'. Don't I look like mom now?" The woman asked referencing her professional appearance. She smiled then noticed Eddie's absent look. She put her hands on his shoulders and shook him slightly, "Hello? Earth to Eddie!" She smiled again thinking she was funny and looked at Steve who stood awkwardly about a foot away. "Hello, I'm Beth." She held out her hand. Steve reluctantly shook it and went to introduce himself.
"Just because mom called me 'Ed' doesn't mean you can." Eddie grabbed Steve's hand and started to pull him away. Steve let a puzzled look flood his face. Eddie's mom called him 'Ed'? Eddie turned on his heel, facing Beth's pained expression. "A-and mom would never have dressed like that. You're a poser." Eddie placed his arm in its rightful place around Steve's arm. He turned and quickly pulled Steve through the large hospital doors.
"Was that your sister?" Steve tripped over his feet, trying to keep up. "Your mom called you 'Ed'?" Steve's mind raced with questions. He stumbled behind Eddie trying not to lose his balance. "Ed, I- I mean, Eddie, why did you just leave her back there?" He pulled back his arm so Eddie's arm would fly back too, hopefully stopping him. "Eddie!" He pleaded for answers.
"Yes, that was my sister. Yes, my mom called me 'Ed.' And I left her back there because she's a royal bitch. Now, can we please go." He turned with a defeated look spread across his face. Steve shook his head.
"Why don't you want to see her?" Steve focused on Eddie's eyes, which were clouded with tears, and placed a hand on his jaw.
"She's just..." Eddie exhaled a soft sigh. "She is always trying to be a good person. Always. But she's not. She's not a good person and she's going to try to weasel her way back into my life and I'm not falling for it again." He watched as Beth ran out of the hospital and looked around for Eddie. "She left me. She's left me when my mom died and my dad went off to do whatever. She left me with Wayne and ran off with some... dude."
"Ed!" Beth shouted as she ran as fast as she possible could in her heels. She put her hands on her knees and took a deep breath then continued after him. "You just left!"
"Leave me alone, Beth." Eddie started towards Steve's car. Steve followed along not knowing what to do.
"Eddie, just please come back to Wayne's trailer and I'll explain everything." She followed behind Steve. Eddie grabbed Steve's car door and looked up at Beth.
"You're gone for ten years and now you come back and you try to be all nice? Like nothing happened, right?" Eddie brushed his black curls out of his face. "What on Earth could be so important?"