Eddie gives a Sincere smile as he waves goodbye to the small group of people that dropped in to check up on him. Taking turns visiting him and Max, swapping rooms with the other half of the group after a while. It was exhausting on Eddie, but it was so worth it to be able to see that everyone else was okay. Though the second the last of them are out the door, leaving to head home he's shoving his pillows around and folding his body in half in a weak attempt at grabbing the pack of cigs he hid in the box spring.

Hands shaking with desperation, he thinks that he's going to finally be able to get nicotine in his system. Hospital be damned. He struggles to open the cardboard, before he pinches his fingers together like claws to reach in and grab a cancer stick. To only groan and throw his head back dramatically when he realizes it was a diabetes stick. What was once real cigs were now candy cigarettes and he was plotting murder. The amount of money that he has thrown at a brick wall to only receive sugar sticks was starting to piss him off.

Whoever was doing this was a fucking ninja. How the hell did they get underneath his box spring without him noticing. Better yet how the hell did they know he hid them in there. Once again it was very impressive but very annoying.

Sighing, he flops his head back on the pillow and turns his tv on as he slides one of the sticks in his mouth and starts to suck aimlessly.

Thing is, no matter where Eddie hides them the person finds them.

Under the bed? Found

Outside on the windowsill? Yeah, they found it.

Eddies shenanigans only get worse when he finally gets his hands on medical tape.

Taped behind the tv? They found it.

Taped under neath a chair? Found.

Taped to his ankle like a house monitor? Found.

Thing is Eddie still wasn't full recovered to really be able to pay attention to everybody when they visited. It was too overwhelming and exhausting that somedays he just fell asleep in the middle of a conversation to only wake up with his uncle in the chair next to him now.

He was slowly starting to not have the urge to smoke, but out of spite he was still going. He was still bewildered at how the guy pulled the swap out with it being taped to his actual body. Besides spite, he was also doing it for the candy cigarettes. Swapping one addiction for another.

Its been a few weeks, and Eddie was starting to be able to stay awake for long periods of times. Along with that but he was able to stand on his feet longer to hide the cigarette boxes. Now, you would think he would smoke immediately after buying them, but he couldn't. Not with the nurses around. That and a million of other excuses he finds himself making when he sees a opening to smoke.

Even though he bought a pack once a week, it seemed like the culprit was always able to swap them out the same day he got them. This meant that it must be a inside job, but all of the nurses really didn't seem that invested to commit to this for so long. Not only that but he was positive he would be more hypervigilant about a nurse getting up into his personal space. So, it has to be one of the children.

So now whenever they come in, he's so busy watching them that he doesn't catch whose switching them out.

It was slowly starting to grow old, not nearly as exciting as it used to be. To be rebellious.

So, if that's how he finds himself purposely buying a pack of cigarettes, using a old empty box and making sure to act normal so be it. And if a piece of paper is hidden in the box challenging whoever to find every single cigarette in the room than that was god's plan. And if Eddie proceeded to sit in his bed with a cocky smirk the next visit around then that was for him to know.

Though he is caught off guard when he finds a note finding its way in the box. Handwriting sloppy as it read

"I knew there was a reason why I never liked you."

It was obviously a joke, one that causes Eddie to laugh harder than what he has in a long time.

And if he finally ones up the culprit, putting a cigarette in his ear and "Falling" asleep, to only jump up and make King Steve piss himself.

Well then, that is only for him and everyone else who watches the video the staff gave them for their wedding. Numerous clips showing Eddie walking around like a goblin hiding his boxes. He feels dumb about forgetting the cameras. But what he is more shocked about is the two-gallon sized bags of cigarettes that Steve pulls out to show just how many he prevented Eddie from smoking.