Timeless

Chapter 3: Eddie

Eddie hated the feeling in his chest. He was stressed, anxious, scared, worried, all rolled up into one. Sitting in the doctor's office with Chris and Evan while they waited for Christopher's doctor to call them back was not helping. He was just happy Evan was there with him. He wouldn't have been able to get through this alone. His leg was bouncing against the floor, his nervous habit he just couldn't seem to shake, until he felt a gentle hand rest against it.

"Everything is going to be ok," Evan whispered to him, holding Chris against his chest. Christopher's eyes were wandering the waiting room and he looked so happy.

"I know. I just- I don't want to fail him," he said. He just wanted to do everything right. That's what he was nervous about. He didn't want to make a mistake and fail Chris in some way. As outlandish as that sounded, he really was worried about it.

"You won't. You're an amazing father and Chris loves you so much."

He couldn't be more thankful for Evan. He had stepped up and helped him in so many ways. He never criticized him or made him think that he wasn't doing enough.

Eddie was getting a little confused about how exactly he felt about Evan. He was his best friend of course. But he was starting to feel something... more? Eddie had crushes before, what teenage boy didn't, but the only relationship he ever had was with Shannon. And having crushes on girls was different than having a crush on a man. He'd never thought about the possibility of him even being into guys because he was focused on his relationship with Shannon. What he knew right now was that what he felt towards Evan was something different than what he had ever felt towards someone before, even Shannon.

"Diaz," the nurse called out. Eddie and Evan stood up and followed her into the exam room. The nurse checked Christopher's vitals and asked Eddie a few questions. After she finished, she told them that the doctors would be in soon. As soon as the door shut, Eddie leaned back in the chair and let out a sigh.

"I'm so ready for this to be over."

"Soon. Then we can go home and just rot in front of the TV for hours."

Eddie felt a warm feeling in his chest when Evan referred to the apartment as home. He would love for it to be his home. He knew what Evan went through with his parents and he knew that he was comfortable at Eddie's place.

"That sounds amazing," he smiled. Chris must have sensed that something was off with him because he was reaching over to him, trying to grab his shirt. He took Chris from Evan and his son immediately cuddled into him. He couldn't help but relax. He couldn't not feel happy when he was holding the most incredible kid in the world. Chris didn't care about what was happening, he didn't care about a diagnosis. If he doesn't care, why should Eddie care?

Soon there was a knock on the door and Christopher's doctor came in along with a specialist. They began taking a look at Christopher's mobility, his son giggling and smiling the whole time. They asked Eddie questions about how Chris was progressing in physical aspects as well as some speech aspects. Eddie answered honestly, watching what the doctors were doing closely. After they were finished, they handed Chris back to Eddie.

"So I want to start by saying that Christopher is a very healthy and happy baby," the doctor said. "There are some things that we did notice."

The doctor and the specialists explained everything that they saw and their thoughts when it came to what Eddie was saying. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Evan typing everything out on his phone.

"Based on all of this, Christopher does have Cerebral Palsy. We are going to send you home with a list of resources which will include physical therapists and specialists that will be able to help you and give you the best guidance going forward."