ben and mike had half-carried, hal-dragged a limp eddie out of the collapsing house on neibolt street. richie could not be of much assistance, as he had practically collapsed in on himself, breaking into violent sobs. once they were out and safely on the grass, richie planted himself next to eddie, hands pressing the jacket slick with blood. bev took over at some point, freeing richie to stroke eddie's hair, kiss his hand, be all sorts of fucking vulnerable. but he didn't care, not at that moment. he heard the sirens, saw the lights. someone must have called emergency services. richie felt hands around his arms, gently prying him from eddie. he continued sobbing as he watched the ambulance hurtle off into the distance. he did not stop on the drive to the hospital and began to hyperventilate in the waiting room. eventually, he had to be given a sedative.
when richie woke up, bev filled him in on what he had missed. he could barely focus, only comprehended pieces. touch and go. surgery. assessing the damage. the only bit he cared about was, "he might actually pull through this, rich."
to surpass visiting hours, richie told hospital staff that he and eddie were engaged. the rest of the losers backed him, fucking saints. he spent most of his time glued to eddie's bedside. he would only leave after being forced, usually during visiting hours when one of the other losers came to visit.
it was late afternoon, early evening. possibly. richie had lost all concept of time at that point. his head bobbed almost rhythmically as he fought the urge to sleep. he always felt like something tragic would happen the second he closed his eyes - or that he would wake up to find that it was all a dream, that they left eddie to be forever entombed with the remnants of It.
richie had very nearly dozed off when he noticed movement from the hospital bed. twitching fingers and fluttering of eyelids. richie's heart jumped into his throat. he practically threw himself to his knees. his kneecaps were gonna ache like a motherfucker, but he didn't really give a damn because fucking eddie. "hey, man, holy shit. hey, it's rich. oh fuck. you in there, man? oh, holy fucking shit." he grasped eddie's hand, probably too tight, eyes already stinging with tears.
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