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The doctor goes through all the recovery steps with Wayne as Eddie settles under a warm blanket. She’s already told him everything but with the medication cocktail he’s on, it’s not like he’ll remember.
“Will you write it down?” Eddie asks, his words slurring.
“Yes, it’s all right here,” the hot nurse says. He hands a piece of paper to Wayne, then moves to Eddie’s side. “We’re going to take you back, get you asleep, and when you wake up, you’ll be right back in this room, with a weight off your chest.”
“That was terrible,” Eddie giggles.
“It’s a hit or miss every time,” The nurse shrugs, and puts a mask over Eddie’s nose and mouth.
“See you on the other side!” Eddie shouts, grinning at Wayne as they wheel him to the operating room.
The OR is freezing. He makes sure to tell every medical personal who’s within earshot; even pouting a little for emphasis. They settle another blanket over his lap and he smiles gratefully.
“Alright Eddie, count backward from ten,” The doctor says. Eddie takes a deep breath…
And opens his eyes in the recovery room.
There’s something annoying on his face. He reaches up to pull it away, but a hand stops his in its tracks.
“Leave that alone for now, okay?” A pretty voice says. Blinking away the sleepiness, Eddie looks around. On his left is Wayne, who’s doing a poor job of hiding his laughter. On his right is the same nurse from before, holding his hand against the bed. Without thinking, Eddie flips his hand over, interlocking their fingers.
“Pretty,” Eddie mumbles. The nurse blushes bright red, so Eddie says it again, louder this time.
“Thank you,” he laughs. When he tries to pull his hand away, Eddie furrows his brows with a whine and tightens his grip.
“Ed, give the man his hand back,” Wayne says. Eddie shakes his head.
“If I let go he’ll leave. I want the pretty nurse to stay forever,” he grumbles.
“You don’t even know his name,” his uncle reminds him. That’s a good point. Eddie thinks.
“What’s your name, pretty nurse?” He asks, rolling his head to look at him again.
“Steve,” the nurse smiles.
“Great now that I know it, you have to stay. Right, Steve?”
Steve laughs out loud, shaking his head rather fondly.
“Sorry Eddie, but I have to do my job.”
Eddie feels the way his face falls, his bottom lip juts out, but he can’t seem to stop it. Steve’s eyes soften as he pokes at Eddie’s pout.
“How about this, I’ll give your uncle my number and if you’re not too embarrassed when you sober up, you can give me a call. Okay?” Steve offers.
“Deal.” A giddy smiles spreads across Eddie’s face and he finally lets go of Steve’s hand. Now that he’s free, Steve writes his number on a slip of paper and gives it to Wayne.
“I can’t believe that worked on you,” Wayne snorts. Eddie sticks his tongue out at his uncle.
“Neither can I,” Steve admits. “So Eddie, how do you feel?”
More aware of his limbs, Eddie takes stock. He’s a lot warmer than earlier thankfully. It must be the emergency blanket, hot air blowing in through a huge tube. For a second, Eddie wonders if they could somehow smuggle that out of the hospital.
Shaking his head, Eddie focuses back on the task at hand. Higher up on his body, is some thick foam under a zip up compression bra. When he touches it, there’s a sting of pain on his chest underneath. That’s when Eddie remembers why he’s even here.
“They’re gone for real?” He asks Wayne with wide eyes.
“Yep, 95 grams each,” Steve confirms.
“Awesome,” Eddie whispers. “I feel awesome.”
Eddie called Steve a week after his surgery.
When he found out what he said and did while high on pain meds, Eddie was pretty embarrassed; but, he’ll never be too embarrassed to shoot his shot with a hottie. Especially one who looks as good in scrubs as Steve does. Lucky for him, Steve found his antics endearing. They’ve been together ever since.
His scars healed nicely, no doubt thanks to Wayne’s diligent care. His uncle made sure he changed the bandages and cleaned the area every day, forced him out of bed to keep his blood circulating. He even forced him to do the recommended stretches even when he was half asleep.
Now, it’s the height of summer.
Eddie stands on the edge of Steve’s pool, fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt. Steve’s Fourth of July party is next week and Eddie wants to swim shirtless, maybe show off his scars a little.
So here he is, nervously staring at the cool blue water.
“You can do it!” Steve shouts. Comfortably floating on his back, Steve’s hair chest shimmers in the afternoon sun. He looks like a sexy water nymph. “It’s just me.”
It’s just Steve. Eddie thinks. Gorgeous, silly Steve who saw his naked chest before and after surgery. Hell, he saw Eddie’s entire body less than an hour ago.
“It’s just Steve,” Eddie repeats aloud. With a deep breath, he pulls his shirt over his head, left only in his black swim trunks.
“Get in the water already!” His boyfriend shouts, letting out a wolf whistle.
Eddie closes his eyes, and cannonballs into the deep end.