"i know you gave me direct instructions, but it took forever," eddie chuckled, closing the door and setting some things down. "this might sting, did the bleeding stop?"
richie took off the toilet paper. "i don't know."
"hm," eddie hummed, looking closer. "it should be okay."
eddie cleared the remaining dry blood off of richie's face, who flinched many times. beverly still wondered why richie was so jumpy when it came to someone touching his face.
"ow- eddie-" richie mumbled, opening his eyes to eddie's eyes wide and his jaw slightly dropped. beverly looked over at richie as well at this, her face dropping. "w-what..?"
"fuck," eddie whispered. he kept the inside of richie's lip showing, grabbing a cotton swab and pressing it against it.
"don't freak out, but there a huge gap in your lip.." beverly told him. his eyes widened.
"holy shit.." richie whispered. "am i gonna be okay?"
"yes, honey, don't worry. dr. k can fix it up, can't he?" beverly said and looked at eddie, who faked a smile.
"of course i can. they call me dr. for a reason," eddie tried to play off the joke. richie took a deep breath and nodded.
"okay," he breathed, closing his eyes. eddie helped clean the cut, putting treatment on it to help it heal.
"alright.. don't bite the inside of your lip, after you eat, rinse your mouth with salt water. don't eat anything that might sting, like salty or spicy things, eat soft things that'll go down easier. and we can get some medicine for your lip tomorrow," eddie instructed. richie nodded.
"i don't really eat anyway, i should be fine.." richie mumbled. beverly and eddie exchanged looks.
"you haven't been eating..?" she asked. richie looked up at her.
"you heard that-?" he asked.
she stared at him for a minute. "what's wrong," she demanded. she didn't ask, she demanded. he shrugged. richie put his face in his hands. beverly looked at eddie. eddie just shrugged as well. "oh come on, one of you tell me!"
"he's probably just still upset from the fight," eddie said. richie internally thanked him.
"about that, why were you crying, hon?" she asked, pulling a hand on his knee. he jumped slightly.
"no reason," he uttered into his hands.
"that's bull." it was silent. "please tell me. i won't judge you, i love you. i just want to know, you know you can trust me."
richie swallowed. "i just.."
someone knocked on the door. there couldn't have been better timing.
"guys? are you guys okay in there?" mike asked through the closed door.
"yea, mike," eddie said.
"okay.. we're just getting kinda worried."
"we're fine, don't worry," eddie said again.
"can you maybe join us again? only if you guys can," mike asked. eddie looked at richie.
"rich, is that okay?" eddie whispered. richie took a deep breath and nodded, uncovered his face and putting his glasses back on. "yea, hold up."
mike stepped away from the door to let them walk out without him in the way. eddie and beverly cleaned stuff up, and eddie thew it all away as beverly helped richie to his feet. richie's leg felt worse than it has all day. worse than it did when what happened to it happened.
