It was 8 pm, right after dinner...

LXII

Eddy sleeping in Brett's bed became a normal and regular occurance after that. One time, after the second night sharing a bed in a row, Brett had asked Eddy: "Isn't it more comfortable for you in your own bed?" To which Eddy simply answered: "Nah! I sleep a thousand times better with someone next to me, apparently. Okay, if I stay?"
Brett had just nodded and Eddy had even moved his cushion over.

Brett would have died from a cardiac failure with his gorgeous crush crashing next to him all the time, if it wasn't for his body being so weak he felt like he'd aged eighty years. The little bit of energy Brett had gotten during his hospital stay was drained after the first two days and after that, he was feeling as shitty as before. He basically spent most of the time lying around, dozing in and out of sleep and if he was awake, he was just scrolling through his phone without really looking at anything or blankly stared at the ceiling above his bed until he knew every irregularity, every spot and every cockroach crawling by.

Eddy took a lot of time to prepare healthy meals for Brett, cooking congee, chicken soups and steamed veggies in all variations and brought them to his bedside. Brett only left his room for bathroom visits or when Eddy dragged him to the couch to watch a movie with him.

The Gastroenterologist called them on the third day Brett had been home to come by. It turned out that Brett was suffering from a very rare form of indigestion or Dyspepsia. While a change in the patients diet normally sufficed for decreasing the symptoms or even get rid of the disease, Brett's case was already a bit more advanced ("Because we had to wait for that God damn scan for forever!", Eddy hissed), so he needed additional medication and another short stay at the hospital to get his iron, vitamins and other vital things Brett forgot the names of the second she had listed them replenished.
"It's really good that we've finally found out, what it is", Dr. Han stated, "I really don't like what I see in your blood values and you just came out of the hospital. Any longer and this could have gotten quite dangerous."

Brett had hoped that more time at the hospital wouldn't have been necessary anymore, but well, there were worse things to endure, so he just nodded along. They thanked her for the treatment, both very glad they'd finally got a clear diagnosis. She prescribed Brett a bunch of new medications and told them they'd get a call from the hospital for Brett's short stay to come in a few days.

"I just hope you're at home for Christmas", Eddy said after they'd taken a seat in a taxi for their ride home.
Brett blinked at him with tired eyes. Right, Christmas... he hadn't even spent a minute thinking about Christmas.
"I hope so too...", he whispered. Christmas alone in a hospital? No thanks! That was definitely not a gift he wanted to make himself or Eddy.

"What do you think about the diagnosis by the way?", Eddy asked. He mindlessly took Brett's hand into both of his, like he had been doing many times these days. Brett looked at his hand vanishing into Eddy's and sighed, half contently, half tiredly.
"Dunno... Think I'm glad it's finally clear what the fuck this is."
"Yeah, about fucking time... Did you hear what she said? Any longer and it could have been dangerous..." Eddy shook his head vigorously. "Still can't believe we had to wait this long! Imagine if something..." His voice cracked. Brett glanced up and saw Eddy's feline eyes brimming with tears.
"Hey...", he stroked Eddy's hand with his unheld one. "It's fine now. Let's focus on the good stuff. Not the bad that could have happened."
Eddy didn't wipe his tears away, so the eyes that were set on Brett were glistening like there were a thousand billion years old stars living in them.
"Brett, I can't imagine my life without you... please", his voice died down to a mere whisper, "please promise me, that you're gonna take care of yourself, no matter how busy we get! You take time to rest, to sleep, to have fun! I can deal with everything as long as you're around, but..."

"Eddy!", Brett interrupted sternly, his voice stronger than it had ever been since he had gotten that fever, "Stop!"
Eddy stopped, his breath going so fast Brett had to fight the urge to hold his best friend as tight as possible. Instead, he just squeezed the other's hand a tad harder.
"That spiral, Stop it!"
Eddy nodded.
"Good", Brett said and leaned back into his seat, exhausted from the sudden little outburst.

"I'm gonna be around for a long time. Don't worry", Brett said after a while, "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"As if I'd ever want to get rid of you!", Eddy said, much calmer than before.
Brett was too tired to notice the potential danger his next question was holding. And the potential power it had to change things, so he just asked as if he wanted to know what they were going to eat for dinner.

"What about if you get a girlfriend? Start a family? Celebrate Christmas with your kids and stuff? I'm not gonna be third wheeling, that's for sure."
Eddy turned around and looked at Brett for a short while, before he murmured: "Any Christmas without you, I wouldn't wanna celebrate. So, there's that."
Brett's heart skipped a beat. At the same time he noticed, that Eddy hadn't denied the girlfriend/family/kids stuff and he felt a sting somewhere deep in his belly region, until Eddy took his hand again and pressed a soft, but lingering kiss on it.

Brett froze. He stared at Eddy with wide eyes, while Eddy winked at him. "You're my family, Brett", he simply stated and looked out of the window without letting go of that oh so sweetly kissed hand.

Brett tried to remain as deadpan and unfazed as possible, all the while there was tons of screaming and jumping up and down going on internally.
Was he dreaming, or did Eddy just pull one of the sappiest moves Brett had ever witnessed in his entire life, romcoms and all that shit included?
It's nothing! Calm down! He hasn't said anything out of the ordinary. he tried to calm himself down, but his fast beating heart didn't seem to decelerate.