I don't own Stand by Me.
Summary: A short story of how Chris and Gordie met Teddy and learned about his ear. Very sad. ONESHOT.
Teddy's Tears
"We're almost done," says Gordie's mother, "Just let them check up on your brother and then we'll leave."
"'Kay," mumble Chris and Gordie. They look at each other and giggle slightly at responding at the same time with the same tone and pitch.
"Hey? Can Gordie and I go see my cousin?" asks Chris suddenly, "It'll only be a minute. She works by the ER."
"It's a big hospital…" trails the mother anxiously.
"Don't worry, we won't get lost." Chris winks at both Gordie and his mother.
"Alright, just a minute, you hear?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Thank you, mom," says Gordie, leaving with Chris down the huge, white hall of the hospital. Safely out of the mother's earshot, Chris asks,
"So, you go to a hospital for a regular doctor's appointment?"
Gordie shrugs. "The doctor is real good. This is the only place where his office is, so we have to come here."
"Why not get a new doctor?"
"My parents really like this doctor. Which way are going?"
"I told you, down to the ER. That's where my cousin works. She's leaving next week and I want to see her."
"Oh. Where is she going?"
"I don't know, but she says there's a good job offer where she's moving," says Chris, "The ER is this way." The two boys abruptly turn down into another hallway. At the end of the hallway, Gordie sees double doors and hesitates slightly. Chris, sensing the hesitation, gently encourages his friend through the doors. As soon as they open the doors they see an old man being rolled in the same room through another set of doors crowed by doctors and nurses. As quickly as he enters he leaves. "People don't stay in this room very long," explains Chris, "This is like the waiting room for the ER, in case there's a lot of people."
"Oh."
"My cousin must be with a patient."
"Ooh."
"You wanna wait here?"
"Yeah," says Gordie, "I can't believe I've never been here."
"Well, it is the ER. You have to be having an emergency to get in here unless you know people."
Two more people are rushed in and out of the waiting room. The boys chat quietly among themselves, ignoring the commotion of the patients going in and out. Then the boys hear a new sound. The door is opened louder than usual and they hear a woman mutter anxiously. They look up. There's a woman holding a boy their age by the hand, storming through the room, demanding to see a doctor. Suddenly, the doors open again and a man walks in, hands held up. The woman turns and yells at him, "Get away! Get away!"
"Honey…"
"My son needs a doctor!" she screeches. Chris and Gordie watch the scene in frozen, silent shock. "He needs a doctor! Someone!"
"Let me see…" starts the man again.
"You stay away! Stay away from my son!"
"He's my son, too! Don't tell me what to do!"
"Stay away!" The woman plants herself between her husband and her son. "Stay away!"
"Mom," whispers the boy.
"Theodore, it's alright," says the mother softly to calm her son.
"Let me…let me see him, please," asks the father.
Gordie elbows Chris and quietly asks, "What's going on?" Chris shrugs.
"No, I don't trust you near him."
"Daddy…"
"See," exclaims the father, "He's calling me! Me!"
"Get away! Stay away!" insists the mother.
"What's going on?" asks a passing nurse, "The noise in here is too loud. You're disturbing the other patients."
"My son," says the mother, "My son needs a doctor. Look at his ear, see?"
At that moment, another patient is rushed in, an elderly woman on a stretcher, clutching her chest.
"He needs a doctor," repeats the mother.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but this woman needs a doctor more," says the nurse and she leads the stretcher through the same doors that Chris and Gordie had entered. The boy's gaze follows and he turns his head. It takes everything the boys have not gasp at the other boy. His ear is burned and some parts black, some parts have blisters. Chris and Gordie quickly figure out what's wrong. The father, somehow, had caused this injury, and the mother doesn't want the father near their son.
"I need to see him," tries the father again.
"No," she growls darkly, "You stay away! Stay away! Don't come near him!"
"Let me see him. He needs me…"
"Needs you? Needs you? You burned his ear!"
The boy slowly and silently wanders from his mother, clutching his ears (lightly touching the burned one) in vain hopes of blocking out the fight.
"Look, I stormed the beaches of Normandy and-"
"Shut up! Shut up with your storming the beaches of Normandy! You're not the same. You're crazy."
"It was war…"
"I want you to go away. Leave me and Teddy alone. You're crazy!"
"Mom, stop," whispers the boy, Teddy. Chris and Gordie look at Teddy and see that he's almost crying.
"You're crazy! Go Away!"
"Mommy, daddy?" Teddy whimpers, "Stop. He's not crazy."
"See! He doesn't think I'm crazy!" shouts the father, "I went to war…"
"Go Away!" shrieks the mother in hysterics, "Get in a crazy house where you belong! You're not the same man I married, not the same father to Teddy…"
"Tell me again to go to the looney bin and I swear…"
"Go! Leave us alone! Go to the mental hospital!"
"Mom! Dad!" cries Teddy, still trying very hard to not cry.
"They've got to stop," whispers Gordie.
"I know," replies Chris frustrated, "Look what they're doing to him."
"They've got to stop," repeats Gordie. Then, as if by miracle, four nurses rush in the room.
"Stop the commotion!" shouts one of the nurses. Two of the nurses usher the raging parents out the room.
"Dad! Daddy!" cries Teddy, running up to him, "I don't think you're crazy. You stormed Normandy."
"Teddy," interrupts the anxious mother, "Let the people check on your ear."
"Mom-"
"I want you to get better all right?" says the mother weakly while being ushered out, "Get better for mommy."
"Come here," says a nurse kindly. She gently walks Teddy to the only chair, right next to Chris and Gordie, "Sit down and we'll see if we can get you a room, okay?"
Teddy nods weakly. When the nurses leave, he releases heart-wrenching sobs. At first, Chris and Gordie can only stand and watch, neither knowing what to do. They watch and listen to Teddy cry. Finally, Chris goes over to him and puts an arm around Teddy's shaking frame. Gordie walks awkwardly to Teddy and holds his hand, while Chris murmurs, "Hey, it's okay. I think it's cool that you're dad went to war." Teddy continues to sob. "It's okay," continues Chris, "It's okay. I'm Chris by the way, this is Gordie."
Teddy takes a few deep breaths and looks at Chris and Gordie. "I'm Teddy," he finally says.
"Hey, Teddy," says Chris, "I don't your dad is crazy."
"Yeah," says Gordie, joining in for the first time, "You're dad stormed Normandy."
Teddy nods and whispers, "Thank you."
Author's comments!
My one and only Stand by Me fanfic. My first and last. I hope you enjoyed it, and in case you're wondering, Chris and Gordie end up walking quietly back to Gordie's mom when Teddy got his ear checked up. (They don't see Chris's cousin). Teddy is my favorite character, closely followed by Chris, and I hope my one shot did him justice. Please don't tell me you hate the mom. Just think, if your spouse just burned your kid's ear, how would you feel?
Tell me what you think, what you like, don't like…just review, please?