Bloody Noses & Crack'd Crowns

Chapter 31

I DO NOT OWN THIS STORY. All credit goes to TheWeaverofWorlds on ao3

Stan was at the hospital as soon as their visiting hours had started. He had wanted to come sooner, but his parents had convinced him to give Bill a few days to recover after all he had undergone. Despite their protests this morning, Stan had made up his mind that he had to see Bill today.

In anticipation of seeing Bill his heart was already beating ridiculously fast. He wished that he could convince himself to calm down, but his heart was in no mood to listen to logic today and it continued its tap dance against his ribs.

As he was signing in at the front desk, he was greeted with some familiar faces. Richie and Georgie were just coming in through the main entrance. Stan waited until they were closer before greeting them.

"Morning, Richie. What are you doing here?"

"King George wanted to come see Bill, and Mom and Dad had to take Eddie over to Ben's."

"I thought Ben said they were going to look at the new house today?"

Richie shrugged, Ben might have said something to that effect but Richie didn't remember. He trusted Stan though, and if Stan said Ben was going out to Castle Rock than it was likely true.

Trailing a little ways behind him came Georgie. Stan smiled at the younger boy, "hey, Georgie."

Georgie looked up at Stan with an ingrained fear which broke Stan's heart, but upon sensing his warmth Georgie's posture eased slightly. He came to the front desk and began to fill out the visitors' log, careful not to make eye contact with the nurse.

Richie watched the interaction curiously. Over the past few days he had become surprising protective towards the younger boy, and watched him for signs that he might speak. Still no luck, but it had only been a couple days since he had been released from his attic. He had heard his parents discussing getting Georgie into therapy, but it was obvious they didn't wan to rush anything. Still it would be nice if the kid decided to speak on his own. Not that Richie could blame him for being silent, he just wanted to know that Georgie was alright in there.

Stan and Richie waited for Georgie to finish before heading to the elevators.

"So how's your mom holding up?" Richie asked.

"What?"

"My mom is constantly on the phone with her, so I thought you might know what they're talking about."

"For a second I thought you were setting up a poorly timed your-mom joke."

"Well we did have a rather wild evening last night."

Georgie snorted.

The older boys looked down at him with surprise.

"I won't beep you for that one, but you're on a short leash," Stan said once he moved past his surprise.

"Kinky!"

"Beep beep, Rich. And Mom is Mom. She's fretting that she isn't doing enough. She wanted to cook a dinner for Arlene, but then she started worrying about food allergies and dietary restrictions. And she wasn't sure if she should make some for Jean and her son as well or just for Arlene, Ben, and Bev. So that idea is on hold for now. She just wants to be useful."

"Your mom's a good one, Stan."

Stan sighed. "Yeah. I know."

"You get that from her."

"Get what?"

"The need to constantly mother hen."

"Ha ha, Rich. Very funny."