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Slowly, like dragging himself through mud, Eddie Kaspbrak woke up. He was in a bright room, which he could tell even with his eyes closed. It was a hospital. Obviously, it was a hospital. He could smell that and hear that. He'd been in enough hospitals to know.
But no one had ever held his hand at the hospital before. Even when he was little, his ma was more likely to grip his shoulder. Sometimes she'd hold him tightly to her breast. Actually he didn't know the last time somebody had held his hand, in the hospital or otherwise.
He peeked an eye open, and got a somewhat blurry view of Richie Tozier, holding Eddie's hand and covering his own face with the other.
"Someone might get a funny idea if they catch you doing that," Eddie said, his palm warm against Richie's.
Richie's head snapped up, his hand falling away from his face. Notably, he didn't let go of Eddie. "Yeah," he agreed. "Lucky for us, I get paid to give people funny ideas." He winced at himself. "Sort of. Sorry, I haven't slept much."
Eddie tried to sit up, and Richie jolted, moving out of his seat to place his free hand on Eddie's shoulder. Eddie was wearing a hospital gown. He didn't know where his clothes were. The last thing he remembered was thinking that he was okay with dying if everyone else was okay, and saying Richie, please, for the last time....
"Is Mike okay? Where is..." and Eddie frowned, something feeling off. "Weren't there other people with us?"
"Yeah, sure," Richie assured him quickly. "Mike's okay. Everyone left okay. Lie back. I'll get a doctor." He still didn't let go of Eddie's hand.
"Did I die?" Eddie asked, his voice breaking, even if he knew he'd been brave earlier. One of the last things he could remember was being so brave. Braver than he'd ever been in his whole life. But just how and why he'd been so brave, he couldn't quite recall.
Richie shook his head. "No, Eds, of course not. We got you out of there. Me and uh..." He shook his head again, this time more like a twitch. He squeezed Eddie's hand. "It doesn't matter. You're okay."
Eddie looked at him, really looked at him. Richie looked exhausted, and his eyes were puffy. His hair was a mess, and he was definitely wearing the same clothes he had been when they'd gone down to the sewers, for whatever reason they'd done that. Why could Eddie remember what Richie had been wearing, but not why they'd gone into the sewers, or who they'd gone with?
"Did I hit my head or something?" Eddie asked, and he felt himself starting to choke up.
"No, buddy," Richie said, and he shushed him. "You just got a little hurt. But you're gonna be fine. Let me go get the doctor."
And just as Richie was putting his hand down, Eddie's grip tightened. He didn't mean to do it. It was just that all of sudden he was struck with such a terrible panic, he couldn't help but try and hold on. "You'll come back? You won't forget me here?"
And Richie laughed, which at first scared Eddie because it wasn't a funny situation. Eddie was starting to realize that his chest and back hurt, and that there was some sort of benign fog taking over his memories, and that most of what he could actually remember was that he and Richie had been visiting their friend Mike, and that Mike had gotten hurt, and that Eddie had a limousine company and a cold house with his mother waiting for him.
But then Richie brought Eddie's hand to his mouth and kissed it. He pressed a big, smacking mwah! against the skin. When Eddie's grip slackened a little in shock, Richie pressed another, more tender kiss there again. And even with his vision a little blurry, Eddie still met Richie's eyes and knew that Richie wasn't going to leave him here. No matter what they might have forgotten, they had each other. They'd leave the hospital together. They'd leave Maine together. They'd never let go of each other, not really.
So Eddie let Richie let go of his hand. And Richie dashed off to find a doctor so they could start the rest of their life.