The Politics of Being Eddie Munson

Chapter Seven: If I Could Make A Deal With God, I'd Get Him To Swap Our Places

After shutting off his blaring alarm clock, Eddie slowly sat up in his bed with a slight shiver. His room was freezing, his ceiling fan on high. The man had smoked too much the previous night, causing him to break a sweat during the night.

Eddie wrapped his arms around himself as he looked over at his clock. It read 8:31 AM. He sighed softly and got up to take a shower. After showering, he dressed, grabbed an apple, and headed out to his van. Today he was going to the hospital to visit Max.

As he drove, he softly hummed along to the Judas Priest song playing through his speakers. It was a new song that he didn't quite remember the name of. All he knew, though, was that it was catchy. By the time Eddie reached the hospital, he was singing very loudly to Van Halen's cover of You Really Got Me that had come on the radio. After he parked, he continued to sing the song to himself as he walked into the building holding Max hostage for over a month

."Oh yeah, you really got me now-" Eddie hummed to himself in the elevator as he stood alone. "-you got me so I can't sleep at night. You really got me, you really got me, you really got me-"

When the elevator finally stopped on Max's floor, Eddie exited and walked down to her room. After she answered his knock, he slowly stepped into her room and shut the door behind himself.

"Hey, Red." Eddie smiled, watching her slowly turn her head towards the door.

"Eddie." Max smiled. "I thought you gave up on seeing me."

"I know. It's been a while. I'm sorry, kid." the man frowned, finally making it over to her bed. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Max smiled as he pulled away. Eddie grabbed a chair, scooted it close to her bed, and then sat down. "How are you feeling today?"

"Every day changes, but better today." she shrugged to the best of her ability.

"Everything's still broken?"

Max chuckled with a nod of her head. "Yes, Eddie. Everything is very much still broken."

"I heard broken legs mean good luck."

"You're such a theater nerd."

Eddie laughed as he looked over Max's cut-up face. His brown saucers searched her skin, hoping to find healing, but everything still looked intense and nasty. He frowned, knowing Max couldn't see him. He hated to see her in such a bad condition. He felt almost guilty for getting away with a few scars on his stomach.

"How's life?" Max asked, resting her head in a better position on her pillow.

"Life's good. My job at Family Video is still going good. I haven't been fired yet, surprisingly."

"Oh my god- yeah. I forgot that you're working with Steve and Robin. Are they treating you okay?"

"I actually fit in pretty well." Eddie blushed.

"My memories a little shoddy-" Max warned. "-but now that you mention Family Video- Steve actually did come to see me last night."

"He did?" Eddie asked, eyes getting a little larger. He didn't think Steve would do something like that.

"Yeah." Max nodded. "And he told me about a weird drawing on his arm. When I asked him about it, he got all shy and weird, like he didn't mean to mention it to me. Does Steve have a girlfriend he doesn't want to tell me about?"

Eddie's heart began to race.

"No. He's single."

"Then why was he so weird about the drawing? He was acting so strange, I can't even begin to explain  it."