Rock Steady (Steddie)

It's Like Watching A Horror Movie In My Head

The next morning Eddie changed out of his hospital gown into a pair of sweatpants and an Iron Maiden t-shirt his uncle brought him. He hated the hospital gown, and it was impossible to sleep in, especially when you tossed and turned at night the way Eddie was doing. Luckily, he didn't have nightmares that first night in the hospital, but his sleep was fitful, knowing that the dreams could come back at any time. So, he spent most of the night tossing back and forth, the hospital gown twisting around him. The first thing he did when he woke up Sunday morning was call Wayne and ask him to bring him something else to wear.

Eddie had an appointment to talk to a psychiatrist later that day. Saturday evening, he and Wayne had met with his doctor, Dr. Riley, and explained about Eddie's parents and Eddie's nightmares and how he was doing anything he could to avoid sleeping, dreaming, or remembering. The doctor recommended the psychiatrist and had scheduled an appointment for Eddie immediately.

Eddie wasn't sure he really wanted to go through with this, but he'd promised Wayne that he would give it a try. If he really felt like it wasn't for him after a couple of meetings, Wayne promised to try and find another way to help him. Eddie reluctantly agreed. He really did want help, wanted the nightmares to go away. He just wasn't sure about seeing a shrink.

Eddie sat on his hospital bed staring blankly up at the television mounted high on the wall. An old western movie was playing but he wasn't really paying attention to it. The door opened and Eddie glanced over, the slight frown he'd been wearing turned to a smile when Steve walked in, then got even bigger when Dustin came in behind him.

"Henderson!" Eddie reached for him and pulled him into a lopsided hug. "I knew you'd come."

"Of course," he answered with a grin. "Mom said you were okay, but I had to see for myself." Eddie stole a glance up at Steve and winked. Steve smiled and nodded back. "I brought you something." He handed Eddie a small package crudely wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine.

"Henderson, you shouldn't have." Eddie took it and untied the twine. Inside was a portable cassette player, headphones and a cassette tape.

"The Walkman is Max's," Dustin told him. "So, when you get out of here, I have to get that back to her." Eddie lifted the tape and read the handwritten cover inside the case. "Me and Lucas and Mike stayed up all last night making a tape for you to listen to while you're stuck in here."

"Metallica, Wasp, Quiet Riot, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden." He wiggled the tape at Dustin. "Excellent choices. Thank you. And thank the others for me."

"They wanted to come visit you as well," Steve finally said. "But your uncle told me they'd only allow two visitors at a time."

"Well, hopefully I'll be able to blow this popsicle stand soon, so they won't have to come." Eddie laid the cassette and player on the over-bed table.

"So, dad," Dustin began, "what happened?" Eddie peeked up at Steve and Steve shook his head. He hadn't told Dustin anything. "Where have you been hiding?"

"I..." Eddie hesitated. He couldn't think of a suitable lie and didn't want to lie to his friend anyway. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment, then let it out slowly. "I did something stupid, Henderson."

"Stupid enough to land you here," Dustin asked with a laugh.

Eddie looked at Steve again and he nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. "I OD'd."

The smile disappeared from Dustin's face. "Eddie, are you okay?" There was a tremble in his voice.

"Yeah," Eddie answered with a smile. "I'm going to be okay. They're just keeping me here for a little while to make sure."