Reddie For You [On Hiatus]

| Chapter 4 |

Bill was the first one to fly home, letting everyone know that he landed safely and was actually thinking of moving to a bigger city. Mike invited him to Florida with him, and was the next one to leave Derry after all of this time. Bev and Ben also offered him a place in Chicago and left a few days after Mike, both almost missing their flight from not wanting to leave Richie and Eddie just yet.

But eventually, it was just Richie and Eddie left in Derry.

The only time Richie really left Eddie's side was to grab stuff from the inn, return their rental cars, and help Mike explain to the police what had happened with Bowers. Thankfully self-defense was a pretty easy route considering that he was a lunatic who stabbed Eddie and tried to kill Mike. Mike handled most of that anyway since Richie was a public figure and really didn't need a murder associated with him.

And once Eddie was able to start eating solids, Richie finally broke the news to the group that Eddie was going back to LA with him once he was released from the hospital. He still had a long way to go, and the hardest part for Richie was watching him in pain. He didn't have mobility in the small hospital bed, and it wasn't exactly pleasant having his bandages changed.

When Richie first assisted the nurses with changing them, he felt the need to throw up. The wound didn't look good at all, but the staff assured Richie that it was healing normally and just in the process of scabbing over. As the days went by, it did start to look less raw, and Richie could handle seeing it without feeling too sick. In fact, he had pretty much perfected the process of tending to Eddie's chest and back. The process was understandably uncomfortable and painful for Eddie, who shut his eyes the entire time, too scared to see his own chest.

"Looking good Eddie." Ana smiled, patting his chest softly through the cloth. "You don't need as much cover now that your wound is secured. Your nerves are still sensitive which is actually a good thing, not much damage there to the surrounding tissue."

"Oh is that why I feel like I'm getting stabbed all over again?" Eddie laughed through gritted teeth. "Goody."

"I know, I'm sorry but we have to lower your morphine each day, it's hospital protocol." She gave him an apologetic smile. "We will give you plenty of over the counter meds."

Eddie was healing very well for someone with such a life-threatening injury and the hospital staff, including his doctor, were impressed. Even Eddie was seeming very confident despite still being bedridden, but that all quickly washed away when he was told to try to walk after a week or two.

"I can't fucking do it." His voice was sharp, laced with pain as his legs wobbled.

"You're almost there Eddie, one more step then we can stop." Alex had his arms holding the smaller man upright, guiding him across the room. Eddie absolutely refuted using a walker, but in the moment he wished his pride allowed for it. Maybe it would make the pain stop.

"My fucking chest feels like it's being torn open!" He clutched at the bandages, his breath catching in his throat. Richie felt like he was going to faint just watching him.

"I know, I know."Alex stopped him, letting him catch his breath. "I promise it's not though, this is a normal part of the recovery process, it won't be like this for long."

"I can't, I can't."

Richie eyed him carefully, heart breaking at the sight of his feisty Eds struggling to stay upright without doubling over, a strong need to stop his pain washing over him. "Do you need my help getting him back into bed?"

Alex nodded, guiding Eddie again before he shook violently in his arms. "No! I want to do it."

"Eds don't be ridiculous, you're going to hurt yourself." Richie, despite Eddie's dramatic protest, went to his side. With a shaking hand, Eddie placed it on his chest to stop him from getting closer.