Neighbour

34.

"Mmh…"

Eddy straightened up in his chair, hopeful eyes darting to the source of the sound. The night had been so long, with doctors and nurses and police. Brett had been operated on, gotten needles stuck in him, cuts rinsed. Eddy had waited faithfully, claiming to be his partner to be allowed to stay as a next of kin. The hospital administration didn't need to know he was merely his stand partner in the orchestra.

Brett's face scrunched up in pain, and he turned his head to the side, clearly wanting to curl up and protect himself. Eddy carefully took his dainty hand, the one without a needle in it, and gave it a light squeeze.

"Shh, it's okay, you're safe," Eddy said softly, doing his best to not startle him. He still tensed up, but relaxed once he realized who it wasn’t. "The doctor said to try and lie still if you can, so your ribs won't shift."

Brett whined softly, but did as Eddy asked. Eddy tried to comfort him by gently stroking his thumb over the back of Brett’s hand. It took a few moments, but Brett eventually blinked his eyes open, squinting to see his neighbour as his glasses laid broken on the table text to his bed.

"Y…you're still here?" he asked shakily, and Eddy couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Of course. I promised, didn't I?"

"What time is it?"

Eddy furrowed his eyebrows, checking the wall clock that had ticked and tocked so loudly the whole night he thought he'd go crazy.

"Almost four. Why?"

"The concert."

"Shit."

He grabbed his phone just as it began ringing, and the contact for the concertmaster popped up on the screen.
"Shit, shit, shit…" Eddy muttered as he pressed the green button, holding it to his ear.

"Hey listen, I know I'm not there and that's really bad, and I'm so sorry, but…"

"Heyheyhey, Eddy. It's okay. We heard. I just want to see how you're doing," the concertmaster interrupted him in a kind voice.

"He's okay ish, some broken ribs and stuff…" Eddy began, but then realized something. He paused and furrowed his brows. "Wait… you heard?"

"Yeah, Brett's boyfriend was here before. What was his name… uh, Mike?" the concertmaster informed him, sounding as kind as she had when he came to his first rehearsal. "He told me what happened. The most important thing is that you two are okay."

"What did he say happened?" Eddy asked, all confused. "Cause… nothing happened to me? I am just here with Brett..?"

"He mentioned you'd been in a car accident…?" the concertmaster said, sounding unsure and a bit worried. "Is that… not correct?"

"God, no! His boyfriend beat the shit out of him and ran! I'm… me and Brett are neighbours and I called the ambulance and the police, and Mike ran… Brett was seriously hurt."

The concertmaster was quiet for a long time after that, making Eddy feel unsure. Maybe he shouldn't have given so many details. He hadn’t even asked Brett if it was okay.

"Hello?"

"Yes, sorry, it's just… There's so much that makes sense now. Don't worry about the concert, Eddy. I hope to see you back for the next project, okay?" the concertmaster said softly, clearly worried after learning the truth. "Let Brett know we're all thinking about him here."