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Ed stared off into space, a little bit past the gaze of Oswald. His eyes were blank and glossed over, not a single thought lying behind them.
It had been like this for a week already.
Oswald and Ed had finally made up with each other after the debacle with Isabella and their relationship was stronger than ever. Even after their months-long rivalry, neither of them held any ill will towards each other and they were ready to put their issues behind them. The problem was the fact that Ed wasn’t the same as he used to be.
Instead of the bright and brilliant man that Oswald had come to know, he was now sluggish and simple. Not to mention that Oswald couldn’t recall the last time he saw Ed sleep and he was always sweating buckets.
At first, Oswald didn’t want to believe it but after watching Ed suffer for so long, he knew he couldn’t deny it anymore.
“You’re still using, aren’t you?” he asked.
Ed turned to him, shaking his head, but the lie was evident on his face. Oswald instinctively gritted his teeth as anger swelled up in his chest.
“Dammit, Ed,” he said. “I thought you quit that stuff.”
Ed looked off to the side and shrugged.
“I lied.”
His voice came out shaky and uncertain, solidifying the anger coursing through Oswald’s veins.
“How long?” he asked.
“I stopped eight days ago,” Ed admitted. “I swear I just wanted to do it one last time before I quit. I promise that I haven’t taken anything since last Saturday. Just give me a few days.” He heaved a sigh, grabbing the hem of Oswald’s shirt. “I’ll be okay.”
Oswald wasn’t sure who Ed thought he was convincing with his excuse, but he refused to remain calm about the situation.
“You know that stopping drugs so suddenly can kill you, right? Come on, Ed! You’re supposed to be smarter than this,” he scolded. “God, I’ve spent these last few days worried that your behavior was my fault, but I never imagined the situation could be caused by your own idiocy. You need to—”
He was raring to kick off into an intense rant about the dangers of drugs, but he faltered when he heard a whimper escape Ed’s lips. Looking up at him, Oswald’s face paled as he noticed the tears beginning to fall.
“I’m sorry,” Ed whispered.
He buried his face in his hands to muffle his sobs and Oswald’s eyes softened. Darting his eyes down to his lap, he furrowed his brows. As angry as he was, he knew he wasn’t helping anything. He was worried about his partner, but taking the rage out on him would only make it worse.
Oswald guided Ed’s head over to his lap, letting him rest there as he broke down. He softly stroked his wild, tangled hair and started to hum a relaxing tune. Ed’s ragged breaths slowed down to a normal pace as he sang.
“I like when you sing that song,” Ed mumbled.
At that point, Oswald knew Ed had lost it. He couldn’t recall a single time when he’d sung that song in front of him.
“You don’t seem like you’d be an Amy Winehouse fan,” Oswald said, lightly chuckling.
“I’m not,” he said. “But you sang it to me after you fell in the river. I thought it was beautiful.”
Oswald paused, trying to figure out what Ed was talking about, but when he couldn’t he heaved a sigh. It must have been a dream of hallucination because he and Ed weren’t exactly on the best terms when he shot him into the river.
He hated seeing Ed like this, a brilliant man reduced to an echo of his former self. But at the same time, he knew he was responsible.
He was the one who started the whole mess.
“You wanna hear some riddles?” Oswald asked.
Ed perked up.
“Yes.”
Oswald tried to remember the book of riddles he’d purchased in the past. After he’d first become acquainted with Ed, he wanted to make a good impression on him and had memorized a plethora of different ones to brush up on his skills.
“Let’s start with an easy one,” Oswald said. “They can be harbored, but few hold water. You can nurse them, but only by holding them against someone else. You can carry them, but not with your arms. You can bury them, but not in the earth.”
Ed answered without skipping a beat.
“Grudges,” he said.
Oswald smiled.
“Give me a harder one,” Ed said.
His voice came out as a stutter and his body was still shaking, but Oswald did his best to steady him. One after the other, he threw riddles at Ed, each getting harder and harder. By his standards, they were tough, but by Ed’s they must’ve been a piece of cake since he didn’t falter even once while answering them.
Oswald was happy to see Ed’s demeanor returning to usual, but he knew that they couldn’t dance around the problem forever. Ed had an addiction. If they weren’t careful, it might kill him.
“You can’t do this anymore, Ed,” he said.
“I know.”
Oswald bit down hard on his bottom lip.
“I’m serious,” he said. “No more drugs.”
“I know,” Ed repeated, this time letting out a sigh. “I’ve learned my lesson, Oswald.”
Oswald decided that he believed him.
“I don’t want to see a doctor,” Ed said.
Oswald nodded, understanding Ed’s point of view, but he wished he would just see reason and let Oswald help him properly.
“We’ll figure something out,” he said. “A doctor is the best choice for you right now but if you don’t want to see one, I’m not gonna make you.”
Ed looked up at him before letting out a weak smile.
“Thank you, Oswald.”
“It’s no problem, darling,” Oswald whispered, tugging his fingers through Ed’s hair. “Anything for you.”
Ed smiled, reaching out to grab Oswald’s free hand.
“Thank you, my love.”