Richie gripped his stomach and groaned, opening his eyes. His head was throbbing, his side was burning and he didn't really know where he was.
"Richie?" came an echoey voice, just barely registering through Richie's clouded mind.
"Are you okay?"
Richie groaned again, blinking. Everything was blurry, but the walls in the room were a light blue. He tried to sit up, but his head throbbed so bad that he quickly gave up, laying back down.
A hand touched his elbow, and Richie immediately realized that he must be with Stan. He and Stan had been friends for years, and whenever Stan was trying to comfort someone, he always touched their elbow. It was a nervous thing as well as a tell between the two.
"Stan the Man? What happened?" Richie asked groggily, chuckling when he heard Stan's sigh of relief.
"Here's your glasses, dickhead," Stan said, placing Richie's glasses on his face.
The room came into focus, and Richie felt a little more comfortable standing up. He winced sitting up, before seeing Stan sitting on a chair next to him.
"How bad does it hurt?" Stan asked, nodding toward Richie's stomach.
Richie instantly remembered what had happened the night before. He had just made it to Stan's house when he passed out.
"It's pretty fucking bad," Richie said, pulling up his T-shirt and looking at the bandage around his stomach. "What happened to 'I swear to god Richard, if you ever get hurt because you're being a dumbass, I'll leave you behind to bleed out!'" Richie asked, mimicking a high pitched tone.
"Oh fuck off, we're best friends, asshole."
"You're giving me whiplash, Stanley."
Stan shook his head in annoyance. "The other losers will be here soon. I called them once I got you back here and told them to come over once they woke up."
Richie nodded, accepting the Advil that Stan handed him, as well as the glass of water. "Then what?"
"We need to save Eddie. I have no clue how, since I doubt his mom will leave him alone, but we need to figure it out," Stan said. He and the others had decided that there was no way they'd leave Eddie alone any longer.
"How the fuck are we supposed to? He'll have nowhere to go," Richie whined, flopping back in his bed.
"He can stay here," Stan said with a shrug.
"Your dad is a psycho, no offense," Richie said.
Stan's dad wasn't a bad man, but he was strict and hard on his son. Richie was almost never allowed to be in Stan's house unless Stan's mom was home, ever since he told Stan's dad off for being an asshole to his son. Stan's mom had a soft spot for Richie, knowing who his father was, but she left a lot because she had a job with long hours.
Stan shrugged again. They had no good options, but they couldn't let Eddie stay in the mansion. He would be screwed if he stayed with his fucked up mom any longer.
"Does he have any other family?" Stan asked.
"Not that he knows of."
Stan nodded and disappeared down the stairs to get Richie some food. Richie laid back in the bed, thinking. He had to get Eddie to safety, even if it cost him living in Derry.
"Stan?" Richie asked in a nervous voice once Stan had returned with a bowl of cereal and banana for his friend.
"What's up?"
