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Eddie felt… motion sick.
It felt as though he was being swayed from side to side on one of those fairground pirate ship rides that swings left, then right, then goes right over in a circle and makes you almost vomit. But he turned up to the fairground with a stab wound in his cheek and a hole in his chest.
He knew they were at the Quarry.
He could smell the water that lapped gently at the stone surrounding it, hear the rippling and splashing as the rest of the Losers waded into its depths. But he was still moving, and he could hear someone panting above his head. It was difficult to open his eyes, as though weights were balancing on his eyelids keeping them shut, but he forced them open anyway and looked up to see Richie above him. Eddie decided it was probably Richie’s arms he could feel holding him tight, then.
Opening his mouth in some attempt to speak, all that came out was a rasping, choked breath. But it was enough to get Richie’s attention. Eddie didn’t know why the other male had been crying, but the soft sobs stopped as soon as he looked down to meet Eddie’s drooping eyes.
“Eds? What the fuck?” Richie gasped, almost dropping the other man out of sheer surprise. “Fuck, hold on, Eddie.” Richie whispered, quickly carrying him over to one of the smoother rocks by the shore and setting him down more delicately than Richie Tozier had ever done anything in his life. Eddie groaned as he was set against the stone, trying to lift his hands out to grip Richie’s sleeve and make him stay with him, but his hands just fell through the air as Richie ran towards the shore and started yelling. “You fucking assholes! You wanted to leave him there, and he’s fucking alive! I hate you people!”
More cursing followed, Eddie was sure.
It all started to sound muffled as a shrill ringing began in his ears. His eyes started to fall closed once more as he stared up at the sun burning down on him. He felt like he was drying out on the rock, and he hoped Richie would move him soon.
But for now, he started to fall unconscious once more.
Eddie woke again what felt like an eternity later, which in reality had only been a couple of days.
Everything hurt.
Every inch of his body felt like it was being zapped with the strongest possible voltage of electricity.
It was easier to blink awake this time, however, and he found himself back in his own bed, in his own room. He could feel someone holding his hands, but his neck was far too stiff to look over and see who it was. Of course, there was only one person it could be.
“Myra?” Eddie grumbled, having to squint his eyes to keep himself from being blinded by the sunlight leaking in through the shutters and pooling into the bedroom.
“Do I look like a woman to you, Eduardo?”
Oh?
“Rich,” Eddie whispered, finding himself using the very limited strength he had to very gently squeeze his hand. Both of Eddie's fit into one of Richie's. It would be embarrassing, if he wasn't so delirious at the moment. “Can't see you. Can you come here?”
Richie cleared his throat and stood from the chair he'd pulled over and positioned at the side of Eddie's bed, instead perching himself on the edge of the mattress while being careful to avoid sitting on his legs or anything. “Is that better?” Richie asked with a slightly worried tone to his voice.
“Mm.” Eddie hummed, taking a moment to stare at the other man and make sure he was actually there. He was worried it would be a hallucination. “Where's my wife, Rich?”
Richie worried his lower lip between his teeth and patted Eddie’s hands. “Uh… She's gone, Eds. She left. When I brought you home like this she just… Freaked. Went to stay with her sister, I guess.”
“Great.” Eddie mumbled, still squeezing Richie's hand. “Almost died, now my wife's left me. What a great week I'm having.” Truthfully, Eddie didn't care too much that Myra was gone. As long as he had Richie there, he would be okay. He'd been thinking about divorcing Myra anyway, and as soon as he returned to Derry and saw Richie again, the idea was only cemented in his mind.
“Well, at least you have me.” Richie grinned. “Don't you worry ‘bout a thing, Eds. I'm gonna stay here with you and nurse you back to health. Nurse Richie, ready to assist his Doctor K!”
“Good. I'm gonna die.”
“You're doing it wrong,” Eddie croaked, his throat dry with a thick layer of caked, dry blood. He had been awake for seconds and could already tell Richie had no idea what he was doing as he tried to change his dressings and replace them with clean ones.
“Christ! I thought you were asleep!” Richie hissed, almost cutting himself on the scissors when his hands slipped while he was trying to cut the bandages.
“I was ,” Eddie huffed, pushing Richie's hands away from him weakly, “but I could just sense you doing something wrong and it woke me up.” Really, it had been the nightmares that woke him. They were so horrible and vivid, forcing him to deal with Pennywise all over again, and whenever he was stabbed straight through his torso he could feel the pain ripping through him all over again. They definitely didn't feel like dreams.
“Shut up, you could not .” Richie muttered, trying to go back to what he was doing but Eddie just pushed him away again. “What are you doing, man? I'm trying to change your bandages, you'll get an infection.”
“With the way you're trying to do it, yeah, I definitely will.” Eddie grumbled. He tried to reach for the first aid kit lying beside his bed, but just the action of stretching had him groaning in pain as his whole body ached. He gasped and panted for breath as he laid back against his pillows, squeezing his eyes shut to try and get rid of the black spots covering his vision. “Fuck… Okay… You can do it. But I'll talk you through it. Did you clean the wound?”
“...I'm supposed to clean the wound?”
Eddie spent the next several days talking Richie through everything he needed to do in order to take care of him. It was slightly frustrating that Tozier seemingly had no idea what he was doing, but Eddie kept his mouth shut about it because he knew he had to appreciate him going to all of this effort for him. Apparently no one else had bothered. The other Losers even wanted to leave him behind.
It had been about a week since the incident.
Eddie was slowly starting to spend more time awake during the day. He still couldn't get out of bed, but he was able to sit up when Richie brought him soup or something to drink.
The other man often sat at the foot of the bed and they would talk for hours, just like when they were kids. They would catch up on everything they had missed in each other's lives through the years, Richie would do some of his routines for him and Eddie would laugh no matter how much pain ran through his chest whenever he did so. It was nice, being able to talk to Richie like this.
Some parts weren't so nice.
When he woke up screaming and writhing from another nightmare, causing even more pain to his fragile body as he desperately tried to escape the clown inside his head, or when he had to lean over and vomit up thick blood into the bucket beside the bed, for instance. Richie ended up sleeping in the spot beside him, after a few days. It was easier to wake up and comfort Eddie when he was sleeping right beside him.
That was the excuse he used, anyway.
Sometimes Eddie woke up to find Richie fast asleep with his head resting on his shoulder, or with their arms intertwined. He couldn't say he was particularly opposed to the contact. Perhaps occasionally, despite the pain it caused, he reciprocated the touches. But that was his own business.
So what if he liked cuddling up to his best friend after enduring a horrific night terror? There was nothing wrong with that.
It was the only source of comfort he had at the moment.
“When can I get out of bed?”
Richie frowned over at the other man, setting down the bowl of soup he had brought into the bedroom for him onto his bedside table. “You can't, Eds. I doubt you could even walk right now. Where do you want to go? I can carry you.”
Eddie hated that he needed so much help. Richie was probably going to end up hating him at the end of all this, seeing him only as some pathetic piece of trash who couldn't even fend for himself. “I just wanted to sit in the sun for a while.” Eddie mumbled, embarrassed that he would ever have to admit something as simple as that, and stared at his hands with his brows furrowed.
Richie sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. He looked so tired. Eddie wondered if he should tell him to go home, that he could handle things from here. But he doubted Richie would even believe him.
“If you wanted to sit in the sun, don't you think you and Myra should have decided to live somewhere else?” Richie pointed out with a playful smile. “By the way, can we talk about how you basically married your mo—”
“Beep beep, Richie.” Eddie groaned, tipping his head back against the pillows. He squeezed his eyes shut, accepting that he wouldn't be getting any fresh air besides the slightly cracked open window any time soon.
A surprised squeak slipped past his lips when he was suddenly being picked up, and he blinked his eyes open to stare at the other man as he lifted him carefully, cradling him in his arms. Eddie managed to wrap his arms around his neck, leaning his head against Richie's chest and finding himself unable to suppress an appreciative smile as Richie carried him onto the fire escape.
To their surprise, it was actually sunny where Eddie lived, for once.
Richie took a seat in the chair out on the balcony, keeping Eddie balanced in his lap as he sighed and relaxed against the back of it. The chair wasn't comfortable in the slightest, but Eddie seemed more relaxed now than he'd seen him in literal years so it didn't matter too much to him. Keeping Eddie cradled in one arm, he allowed his other hand to drift up into his soft brown hair and card his fingers through it slowly. Richie had no idea how it was still so soft after a week of not washing it, but he guessed that was just Eddie.
It was silent for a long time.
A comfortable silence, more than anything. They’d spent days talking, it was alright to have some peaceful time to just relax in each other’s company. Besides, there was enough noise from the traffic below them. Eddie was enjoying the feeling of the sun shining on his face along with the slight breeze that came with it. He was quite happy laying there with his eyes closed, letting his fingers absentmindedly fiddle with the fabric of Richie’s sweater. But of course, Tozier had to break the silence eventually. It was in his nature.
“Eds?”
“Hm?”
“I’m really glad you didn’t die.” Richie whispered into his hair as he nuzzled his nose against the top of Eddie’s head.
Eddie hummed softly at the affectionate gesture, leaning his body weight more against Richie’s chest in return. “So am I.” He managed a soft chuckle with it. “Hey, Rich.” He continued, much more gently this time.
“Yeah, Eddie?” Richie murmured, still playing with the smaller man’s hair as he waited for him to continue. This moment felt far more tender than anything Richie had experienced in his life, and that scared him a little, but at the same time he was enjoying it. He decided he deserved some affection in his life.
“Thank you for looking after me. I wouldn’t have made it without you.” Eddie admitted quietly. Myra definitely wouldn’t have looked after him, she would have admitted him to the hospital and his weird injuries would probably end up opening an investigation, not to mention the medical bills he would be saddled with if he survived the hospital stay. “And you did a good job, even if you didn’t know what the fuck you were doing.”
“Thanks,” Richie laughed softly, and the silence fell over them once more. This time, both of them wore soft smiles on their faces as they remained under the sun until it set and the sky slowly started to darken.
They made no secret of cuddling up to each other when they went to bed that evening.