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“Eyes open, Munson.” Robin was yelling at him. She didn’t usually yell at him but apparently there were a lot of people mad at him these days. He opened his eyes and the sky flashed above him, then he closed his eyes again. He hurt . Why were they making him open his eyes when it all hurt ?
“Eddie! Eddie, hey man-” Dustin? He was supposed to be safe, far away from the bats and - oh, someone was carrying him. He was being carried by someone with a steady stride and surrounded by the kids who just kept saying “Stay awake” and “Eddie!” He was awake. He’d been awake the whole time, hadn’t he? The darkness was growing again. Maybe he should just sleep.
“Kid, you can’t keep doing that.” That voice was familiar and not in a good way. Hopper was dead. Which meant that Eddie was dead. Because that was Hawkins Police Chief Hopper’s voice coming from the man who carried him. “You’ve got to stay awake.” The air was warm, no , the air just wasn’t freezing anymore. He pried his eyes open and lifted his head slightly. He was in Hawkins. The sky was black and star dotted and there wasn’t any red and - oh .
“Am I in trouble?” He asked weakly. If he wasn’t dead yet he was going to be when the people of Hawkins got to him.
“No, no, kid.” Hopper nodded at someone behind Eddie’s head and a car started up, “You’re not in trouble at all. Only if you don’t stop passing out on us.” Eddie whined as Hopper slid them both in the back of the car and it creased his abdomen. I’m in trouble. Was his last thought as the darkness descended on him again. As his head lolled and his eyes closed he thought he saw Steve Harrington in the driver’s seat, looking back at him like he was upset by the state of Eddie. Upset for Eddie. He was probably hallucinating.
“Hopper, is he?”
“No, he’s breathing but barely. Pull up to the emergency room, tell them you’ve got an officer down and need a stretcher immediately.” The irony wasn’t lost on Eddie.
“They won’t-”
“We aren’t in Hawkins, kid. You’re going to be safe and I’ll get your name cleared, you just need to live .” Someone wrenched the door at his feet open and then the pain was overwhelming again when they moved him. He was going to be alone again, they were all going to go back home and be together and he’d be hiding and he didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to die but when living was… living was hard.
“Don’t leave again.” Someone hissed as the stretcher began to roll.
He was trying .
He woke up, head heavy with a well known feeling that he was high off his ass, and he let it roll to the left.
“Hey, Eddie.” Steve smiled, tapping Robin to wake her. “Gonna stay awake this time?”