The Politics of Being Eddie Munson

Chapter Thirteen: Heaven And Hell

Time seemed to stop as Eddie's body went numb upon hearing about Max falling back into her coma. She was just fine two weeks ago when Eddie saw her. Sure, her memory was all over the place, but she wasn't anywhere near bad enough to slip back into unconsciousness.

She was just okay.

She was just okay.

What the hell happened?

"What the hell happened to her, Steve?" Eddie asked, choking back his tears to try and compose himself. He was not about to break down in Family Video. He couldn't do this. Not here, not now.

"I'm not sure." he shrugged, looking just as numb as Eddie felt.

"We should go. We need to see what's wrong." Eddie nodded as he started making his way to the breakroom door to walk back into the main store.

"Eddie, we're closing. We can't just leave."

"Carol wanted to close so bad; now she's going to." the man huffed as he walked up front. He grabbed his car keys, Steve's car keys, and his backpack.

"Where the hell are you going, Munson? You're still on the clock."

"No, the hell I'm not." Eddie rolled his eyes. "Steve, clock me out!"

Carol turned her head and saw Steve clocking the both of them out.

"What the fuck? You can't just leave me here when we're about to get slammed!"

"Deal with it." Eddie huffed as he opened the door to the front of the store, the loud chime ringing throughout the store as he did so. "Let's go, Steve."

Steve quickly made it to the front of the store and then slid his way past Eddie through the door.

"Have fun, Perkins." Eddie smiled, and then he closed the door behind himself.

"Give me my keys, Ed."

"No. You aren't driving. Get in my van."

Steve didn't say anything. He just rolled his eyes and walked off to Eddie's van. Eddie quickly followed on his heels. Eddie unlocked it when they got to the car, and then they hopped in. The metalhead started the van and then sped off to the hospital.

On the way there, Eddie couldn't bring himself to turn on any music or even talk to Steve. Everything was tense around the two boys, with what happened with Carol and what happened to Max.

Today was just not Eddie's fucking day.

As Eddie drove to the hospital, the silence was almost deafening. All he could hear was the cars passing him by, his heartbeat, and Steve's breathing. It caused Eddie's anxiety to rise. Nothing about the situation was okay. For all he knew, this could be it for Max. This could be her last day on this fucked up planet. He didn't want their previous interaction to be their last. It was a heartbreaking interaction.

When Eddie finally pulled into the hospital's parking garage after an agonizingly long car ride, the two boys got out and booked it up to Max's room. When they got there, everyone was there.

"Steve, Eddie, you made it." Joyce smiled warmly as she got up from sitting in one of the hospital chairs in the lobby just outside Max's bedroom. She reached over and gave the two boys individual hugs.

"Hi, Mrs. Byers." Steve sighed into her hug.

"How are you holding up?" Joyce asked as she rubbed his back.

"I'm hanging by a thread at this point."

Joyce pulled away from the hug with a small, understanding smile.