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Dennis has been on the streets for a few months. His third year of medical school came with rotations and so much learning, but it also came with no time to work, his funds running out, and his scholarship not enough to rent a place. He's been going from one shelter to another. It's not the best, but he makes it work.

He learns of the street team, they are going to visit his area the next day, and he decides he can help. He likes helping. By the time the street team arrives, he has the basic H&P of almost everyone, with possible diagnosis and notes of what the actual real doctors should check.

Jack Abbot arrives with the street team to find most of the work already done. He finds the boy responsible for it and assumes he is part of the team, maybe new, maybe he forgot his badge. He is impressed, so he gets the boy to work with him for the rest of the day. He learns that he is still a student. He is smart, quick, attentive, good with the patients. The kind of student Abbot wants with him in the hospital.

Imagine his surprise when he offers to drive the boy home and he finds out that he doesn't have one. It can't be. He should be worried about studying and learning, not about what he is going to eat and where he's going to sleep.

He doesn't offer to take him home, because that would be insane (even if he wants to) but he starts to drop by, just to bring some food or take him out to a diner or any other food place (nothing fancy, because he doesn't want Dennis to be uncomfortable) they always eat together and Jack helps him with his studying and preparing for his rotations.

One day, Jack doesn't show up at the time they agreed. Dennis gets worried. Maybe Jack finally got tired of him, maybe something bad happened, but Jack would message him, he would tell him. He remembers the slip of paper with the man's address that he gave him in case of emergency when they started hanging out, braces himself, and heads there.

Jack is having a very bad pain day. He can barely stand when he opens the door for Dennis, he completely lost track of the time. He tries to insist he will dress and they can go out but Dennis doesn't let him. He sits him down and prepares food, happy to be the one taking care of him.

Steve’s stomach drops, his heart squeezes in his chest, the blood rushes in his ears.

There’s a ghost standing in front of him.

“Steve Harrington,” the ghost of Eddie Munson says with a smile on his face. He lets out an unbelieving laugh as he walks closer to Steve. “What are you doing here?”

“Eddie,” Steve whispers. But it can’t be, Eddie Munson is dead.

He died, and it broke Dustin. Steve can still see Dustin hurting, grieving, angry at the world. He sees him getting beat up just for trying to keep Eddie’s memory alive. The way he closed off, how he didn’t let Steve or anyone else help him. He remembers him crying, asking Steve to not die too because he wouldn’t be able to take it. He remembers how difficult it was, seeing Dustin unable to deal with Eddie’s death.

Steve decks the ghost of Eddie Munson and it feels very, very real.

Where we are:

Eddie looks at Steve over Dustin’s shoulder, a contagious smile on his face. Just a look, the way Eddie’s eyes spark and squint from the smile, and Steve knows that everything will go alright.

“I love you,” Eddie mouths towards him. Steve didn’t know his heart could swell so much in his chest.

“Love you too,” Steve mouths back.