Breathe ⭐️ Reddie

22

An annoying beeping sound was the first thing Richie's hazy mind registered. Constant, without settling, beep beep beep, over and over again.

"Turn it off," Richie mumbled, hoping someone would hear him. His head was throbbing, as he tried to process and remember what happened. The quarry, the gun, the pain...

"EDDIE!" Richie yelled, sitting up, his eyes flying open. "Eddie! Where is he?!"

A nurse came running in, trying to calm Richie down so he wouldn't hurt himself worse.

"You have to calm down," she said in a gentle voice.

"No, no, they have Eddie! They're going to hurt him! I need to make sure he's okay!" Richie yelled, trying to move again, but the nurse was stronger and held him down.

"Hey, calm down. I'll have him come in, okay?"

"He's alright?"

"Yes, he's fine. I'm sure everything will be explained, but I don't have all of the details," she said before pulling out a radio. "Could you please send Edward Kaspbrack to the lab? Richard Tozier is awake."

When she finished her radio call, she sat on a stool next to Richie and took notes on how he was feeling, his pulse, and his pain level. That was, until Eddie walked in and she left to give them privacy.

Eddie had tears in his eyes and didn't look like he had slept much. He ran over to Richie and hugged him tightly, trying to stop the tears that ran down his cheeks. "You fucking asshole! You don't get to take a bullet for me!" he yelled, glaring at Richie.

"Nice to see you too, baby," Richie said, giggling when Eddie blushed. "How long was I out?"

"Three days," Eddie said, sitting on the stool that the nurse had sat on. "I was terrified you were going to die. I sat here for the first day until they made me leave and try to sleep."

"I'm guessing you didn't?"

"Would you have been able to?" Eddie challenged, still glaring at Richie.

Richie smiled and took Eddie's hand. "As long as you're okay, I'm happy."

Eddie blushed and Richie moved over so there was space next to him in the bed. Eddie got the hint and laid next to him, leaning his head on Richie's shoulder.

"What happened after I blacked out?" Richie whispered, nervously. He hoped that everyone had been able to get away.

"Mike and my dad helped get you to the Hive. Those guys ambushed us. Somehow they knew where to find us, so everyone is working to track them down, even though we caught most of them. The guy who tried to kidnap me is their leader, and unfortunately for us he's the only one who escaped."

Richie glowered at that, holding Eddie tighter. He didn't know what he'd do if something had happened to Eddie.

"How much trouble are we in?" Richie asked after they sat in silence for a bit. He knew that they weren't supposed to leave the Hive, and if they had been found by Hive members, they were in deep shit.

"Not a lot, surprisingly. None of us can leave, obviously, but they didn't punish us. I think they're just happy we're all alive. Basically, once you're better, we go back to training and analysis. Try to find out who these guys are. Zack and Sharon want you working on it as soon as possible. They were really impressed with your analysis earlier."

Richie nodded, cuddling closer to Eddie. "Okay, but I just want to hold you for now. I could've lost you."

Eddie smiled and kissed his forehead. "You're the one who got shot."

"You were the target."

Eddie didn't respond, deciding to let Richie rest instead, getting comfortable next to him. Eddie hadn't slept much over the past few days. A few hours of sleep would definitely do him some good.

•••

Eddie woke up to whispering around him, and opened his eyes to the bright light of the lab in the hospital section. He sat up, blinking lazily and saw his friends standing around the bed.

"Were you losers watching us sleep?" Eddie asked quietly, looking over to Richie who was still asleep.

"No, we got here five minutes ago. It's been three hours so we figured you two would wake up soon. How's he doing?," Stan asked.

Eddie shrugged and sat up, stretching. Beside him, Richie turned a little bit, groaning. His eyes fluttered open and he saw Eddie and the others looking down at him.

"What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"Nearly six at night. How are you feeling?" Bev asked, handing Richie a glass of water.

Richie took a long drink before sitting up, wincing. "I feel like I got shot in the side," he said, laughing when Eddie rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. W-whenever you're f-feeling better the s-superiors wanna see a-all of us," Bill said, arms crossed.

"All of us?" Richie asked nervously. He had only ever met Zack and Sharon, and that was when they hadn't broken the rules.

"Don't worry, they're not mad," Mike said. "They won't go too hard on us, since everyone in this group has some relation to them. They'll probably just give us a quick lecture then tell us what the next task is."

"Is it related to the guys we did bring back?" Eddie asked.

"We won't know until we meet with them," Ben said, checking his watch. "If you're feeling up to it, we can go right now. They said they'd meet at any time before nine."

Eddie made eye contact with Richie, silently checking in on him. When Richie gave him a nod and began to slowly get out of bed, Eddie stood up. "Okay, we'll go then. You're sure that you're up for this?" he asked Richie, who was clutching his side.

Richie's legs shook as he stood up, but he smiled nonetheless. "Always. I'm a fully functioning member of this illegal, deadly facility," he said, wrapping an arm around Eddie for support.

They made their way to the meeting room where the superiors sat waiting. Bill had run ahead to make sure they weren't in a meeting, so as soon as they showed up, the door was opened and they walked in.