All The Time In The World

Untitled Part 1

Richie used to like hospitals. It was strange, even he could admit that. Who the fuck liked hospitals? He didn't go to them often and when he did, it was usually for something dumb. Like when he was just a little kid and his mom gave birth to his sister. He remembered running all and down the hall, practically bouncing off the walls with so much energy that he didn't even realize he clonked his head a time or two.

Another time he had gone to the hospital was when his grandmother was sick. She didn't die then, but she was damn near close to it. Taking a kid to the hospital to see someone strapped to machines and on a heart monitor was incredibly traumatizing or at least should have been. Richie didn't think so. He liked the view from the hospital window and all the food in the cafeteria.

Richie knew people died in hospitals all the time though none of that really processed to him as a kid. People lived. People died. People got sick. Hospitals were just the midway point of all those things. Some people went in but never walked out. Some people went in and then stepped out feeling better than ever. It was different every time and every person.

He had never had a bad experience in a hospital before so who was he to give it a bad wrap?

Of course, that was then and this is now and now Richie hated hospitals more than anything. He had gotten quite familiar with the one closest to his home, though he didn't think that was something to brag about. The nurses knew him well enough. Some even knew his coffee order. There was one nurse who was pretty sweet on him. She'd call him honey and comment about how tired he was. She'd always make sure there was a cot in the hospital room whenever he dropped by and whenever she had the night shift, she'd always invite him to have dinner with her.

Sometimes he'd take her up on that offer and they'd sit and chat for hours on end. She was old enough to be his mother and far more nurturing than his actual mother ever was, so Richie appreciated that. Her name was Le-Dia and Richie was fairly certain that when this was over, he'd ask her to adopt him.

This being the endless visits he made to the hospital.

Truth was, he didn't visit because he wanted to. If he had a choice, he would steer clear of a place like this and never step foot near it. And he wasn't dropping by to volunteer. Richie was a good person, but he wasn't that good. He wasn't giving or overly caring.

He donated canned goods and organized a clothing drive while in college. He goes to any event that his mandatory of him because he's somewhat famous and having him there would be a big deal. He's a decent human being but he wasn't a saint or anything close.

No, Richie visited the hospital nearly every single day of the week because he had to. Because that's where Eddie was.

That's where Eddie had been for the past three weeks.

He wasn't supposed to be. No, if Richie had it his way, Eddie would be home with him. In their big comfy bed that Eddie demanded that they make even if neither had work that day. Or sitting on the couch that was sleek and modern if not all that comfortable. Or walking through the park with their daughter, who was babbling up a storm about whatever her four-year-old mind could come up with.

Richie didn't want to bring her here because despite what his own parents though, hospitals weren't for children. The halls weren't meant for little kids to run up and down and orderlies weren't babysitters. He didn't want to drag his daughter down to see her father sleeping in a hospital bed, connected to machines and completely unresponsive.

He did, however, because he knew better than to keep her away for so long, though it was only twice. She didn't understand why daddy was always sleeping but continued to talk to him even if he didn't reply back. She could rattle on for hours about just about anything.