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Richie spent the first day Eddie was in hospital on his own. Each of his friends had their own wounds to deal with, him included. It wasn’t as if they were allowed in anyway, Richie spent the entire day and night in the uncomfortable hospital waiting room, reading the same old magazines and waking up to a horrible pain in his neck.
“Mr Tozier?” A nurse asked. Richie jumped to his feet too fast and gave himself a head rush.
“That’s me, is he okay, can I see him?” He asked.
“He’s stable. He’s in a medically induced coma, we don’t think he’ll be awake for a few more days, three more at least,” the nurse said.
“Is he going to be okay?”
“It’s too early to tell, the trauma his body suffered was extreme, we’ve done everything we can, now all we can do is wait.”
“Can I see him? Please?” Richie begged. The nurse hesitated, it was long after visiting hours had ended, but she also knew that the man had been waiting all day, begging anyone her for news each time she passed him. She’d seen that kind of desperation before, but it never got easier.
“You can, but only for a little while,” she said and Richie could have kissed her right there and then.
“Oh thank you,” he said instead, and the nurse smiled kindly.
“No bother, just only for a few minutes, and you can’t tell anyone,” she told him, leading him into Eddie’s room.
“You don’t have to worry about me Miss, I’m no snitch.”
Eddie was deathly pale and had tubes sticking out of him everywhere, but his chest was rising and falling, the heart monitor was beeping. He was alive.
“Heya Eds,” Richie almost cried and collapsed into the seat next to Eddie’s bedside, “they pretty much said it was up to you now, but I know you’re a stubborn little fucker, and that you won’t give up.”
On the second day, Bev and Ben came to visit them. Richie had barely slept, having left in the early morning once he’d found out Eddie was stable, and coming back in the early morning to be there as soon as visiting hours began. The pair arrived around lunch time, refreshed and clean in a way Richie hadn’t managed to achieve yet.
“We’re not leaving until he wakes up,” Bev promised, “we’re here for you Rich, both of you.” She kissed him on the cheek.
“Thanks Bev.”
They chatted, he was mostly silent. He hadn’t said much since they’d gotten out of the sewers. No one pushed him. They caught him up with how Audra was (she still hadn’t woken up yet), about Mike’s recovery, and their plans to leave together. Eventually, they went to visit Mike for an hour before visiting hours ended.
“Hey man,” Rich held Ben back, “I’m happy for you.” Ben pulled him into a massive hug.
“He’s going to be okay,” he said, and for the first time in two days, Richie let himself properly break down.
“You can’t know that,” he said, crying.
“I can,” Ben told him, pulling away from the hug to look Richie in the eye, “you know how you’re a mind reader? Well I’m psychic.” Richie startled even himself by laughing.
“I love you man,” he said, pulling Ben into another hug.
On the third day, Mike hobbled in on crutches.
“You look like shit,” he told Richie as soon as he did. He sounded sympathetic, but Richie who had been running on three hours sleep maximum, was irritated by his bluntness nevertheless.
“Wow, thanks Mike, it’s almost like someone called me back to my crappy hometown for a near death experience,” he snapped then immediately felt bad, “sorry.”
“No you’re right.”
“I’m not, it had to happen,” Richie sighed, rubbing Eddies hand.
“It did,” Mike agreed, “but that doesn’t make it any less shitty.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Richie muttered.
“You need to take a shower. A proper one.” He knew Mike was right, but that didn’t mean he would say it.
“I want to be here when he wakes up,” he said.
“Did the doctors say it was likly to be today?” Mike asked plainly. Richie didn’t know if Mike knew the actual answer to that, but he did know Mike would know if he was lying, so he shook his head.
“No.”
“Go back to the hotel Rich, It’s gone, he’s stable, and he needs you to look after yourself.” Mike spoke the way an adult might talk to a child, not patronising but calm and direct. Another time Richie might have resented it, but it was nice to have someone tell him what to do after the days he’d had.
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Richie joked, “you’re not my real dad.” Mike smiled and Richie returned it, feeling a little life return to him as he did.
On the fourth day he ran into Bill in the parking lot, and got stuck walking next to him to their cars.
“Has he woken up?” Bill asked. They hadn’t spoken since that day. Since he’d told them to leave Eddie down there, even as Richie screamed there was a pulse, it was weak, but it was still a pulse.
“I would have told you if he had.”
“Would you?”
“Yes,” Richie said without hesitation.
“Why?” They’d reached their cars and Richie really wanted the conversation to be over.
“I don’t know,” he said and tried to get into his car, but Bill stopped him.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” He asked and it was all Richie could do not to hit him.
“Do you want me to hate you?” He snapped, “I should. I totally could. I could have lost him if it was up to you! I could hate you because I know how much he loves you and you didn’t give a shit! No one would blame me! But I don’t!”
“That doesn’t make any sense!” Bill argued, “it sounds an awful lot like you do hate me!”
“But I don’t, I can’t!”
He didn’t want to admit it.
“Because I know that if it had been the other way around, I would have behaved the same way you did,” Richie said, “so no Bill, I don’t hate you.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “is Audra awake?”
“Yeah,” Bill said, almost guiltily, “but she’s not all there yet you know?”
“I know. Look, do you want to go back to the Townhouse and get very drunk?” Richie suggested.
“Fuck yes.”
On the fifth day, Eddie woke up, and by the seventh day he was well enough to be discharged. The doctors said it was a miracle how quickly he recovered.
“Yeah well, about time we had some good fucking luck,” Richie had told him.
On the eighth day, he woke up to Eddie beside him, back where he belonged, still asleep. Unable to help himself, Richie watched him sleep and ran his hand softly along Eddie’s cheek, smiling to himself when he leant into the touch.
“Morning,” he chuckled as Eddie groaned and rolled to bury his face in the crook of Richie’s neck, “how are you feeling this morning?”
“Stiff.”
“Well Eds, I can’t help you with that, doctors orders,” Richie teased.
“Not like that,” Eddie grumbled, “you are such a child, I hate you.”
“You love me,” Richie said and pressed a gentle kiss into his hair.
“I do.”
“Do you wanna get married today?” Richie asked as casually as he might suggest they go to the shops that day. Eddie looked up at him.
“Are you serious?” He asked.
“Sure, everyone’s here, we’re engaged, let’s do it.” Eddie smiled softly and began to drift back off.
“Okay,” he said.
“Okay.”
In the end their actual wedding consisted of them going to Derry Town Hall in jeans and T-shirt and having to sit and wait and queue for hours to sign a piece of paper. Three hours after entering the bureaucratic hellscape they left, officially married.
“I would like to make a toast,” Richie announced, tapping on his beer bottle as if it were a champagne glass. The newly weds, Bev, Ben, Mike, Bill and Audra had all gone down to their old hangout spot, close to the clubhouse and far away from the sewers. It wasn’t much of a party as far as wedding receptions went, but they’d brought more than enough alcohol and snacks to make it a good time. With his friends around him and the warm sun setting on his face, Eddie couldn’t imagine anything better.
“No one wants to listen to your shitty jokes for an hour Tozier!” Bill called out. They were all a little drunk on alcohol, on relief, on happiness, or all three.
“First Denbrough, it’s Kaspbrak now! Second, nothing about this hour or any hour of the rest of my life will be straight,” Richie told him. Bill went to taunt him again but Ben cut in before he could.
“Let him make a speech Bill, it’s his wedding!” He said. This was met with approval from the rest of the group, and Bill put his hands up in surrender.
“Yes! Thank you Haystack!” Richie started again, “27 years ago I was just a dorky kid with glasses and a crush on my best friend. If you’d told that kid where he’d be today he’d tell you to fuck off because I was not a polite child, but more importantly, because he wouldn’t dare let himself believe you. A lot’s changed. I’m now a dorky old man with glasses but Eds, my feelings for you have not. And, because you agreed to marry me, no take backs, I can admit that I have been planning this speech since I was 13 years old, though you’ll be glad to hear a lot of the racier stuff about your mom has been cut out. Eddie, I’ve loved you, lost you, found you, loved you again and almost lost you again and quite frankly I am too old to go through that shit again. It’s been an event full 27 years, here’s to 27 peaceful ones.”
“Cheers!” The rest of the group cheered, but Richie barley heard them. He was smirking smugly at Eddie who was blushing, and only had eyes for him.
“That was so corny,” he said, crawling into Richie’s lap as soon as he sat back down.
“You loved it,” Richie said.
“I love you,” Eddie kissed his husband gently, still grinning at just the thought of Richie being his husband. When they broke apart he saw Richie was also grinning like an idiot.
“I know.”