Special thanks to Kray Z, kouhiofdoragons, MegaTJ, and Harrison for being my first reviewers! You guys are awesome!
Edd sat in the back, with his eyes closed and still coughing every minute or so. He was in a car being driven by Ed's mother, since both his parents were still at work. Sitting in the back seat with him were Ed and Eddy.
"Mom, what's wrong with Double D," Ed finally asked after twenty silent minutes (with exception for Edd's coughing).
"I'm not sure honey," said Ed's mother, sounding a bit worried, "But that's why we're taking him to the hospital."
"Whatever it is, I hope it means that you don't have to stay overnight," said Eddy, "Kevin says he'll wait until tomorrow to start up the snowball fight again, and there's no way I'm losing a whole box of jawbreakers!"
If Edd's eyes were open, he would be rolling them. But right now, they were just trying to relax. Between the pain in his chest, the coughing, and not having a goodnight's rest for who knows how long, he felt more tired than he had been in his entire life.
But even being tired, his mind was still racing.
What could cause this, I thought to myself. I was worried, but somehow I managed to convince myself that it was probably just a really bad cough. I knew that probably wasn't the case, but it helped me feel better until we got to the hospital.
Ed's mom parked just a few feet away from the entrance, so Edd wouldn't have to walk far.
"Come on, Sockhead, we're here," said Eddy, shaking his friend awake.
"I'm not asleep, Eddy," said Edd as he opened his eyes. Slowly he looked up at the sign on the building. Peach Creek Hospital. While he was interested in medicine and surgery, hospitals did frighten him a little. But this wasn't really the time to argue.
Edd slowly got out of the car, and walked with Ed's mom as she led all four of them to the front desk. With every step, Edd felt his chest tighten a little bit more, and he would become a little more out of breath.
"He's having trouble breathing," said Ed's mom to the receptionist at the front desk, "We need to see someone."
"The wait will be about ten minutes," replied the receptionist as she typed in some words on the computer. Ed's mom thanked him and led the boys over to some chairs.
While the boys waited, everything seemed quiet. Ed made no random comments, and Eddy didn't say one word about the snowball fight. Even Edd's coughs seemed quieter. The hospital surroundings seemed to make all three of them nervous.
After what seemed like an eternity, a voice broke the silence. "Eddward Mathews?" asked the receptionist. Edd and Ed's mom stood up. "The doctor is ready." Edd gave a few more coughs in reply.
"I'll walk you to the doctor's office and then come right back here to wait for you, okay?" asked Ed's mom. Edd nodded, and they both started to walk down the hall.
()()()()()()()()
"How long have you've been experiencing these coughs, Eddward. Or would you like me to call you Edd?"
"Eddward is fine," said Edd, "and it's been about three weeks, maybe four."
Edd was sitting on a chair in the doctors office. The doctor's name was Dr. Sherman. So far, he had just asked Edd a few questions.
"What other symptoms have you experienced in the past few weeks?" Dr. Sherman asked. Edd told him about the dizziness, the feeling of suffication, and the tightness in his chest. "Anything else?"
"Well, this morning, while I was with my friends," said Edd, looking down at the floor, "I had a horrible coughing fit, and I coughed up blood." Just thinking about the experience made Edd queezy. The doctor wrote all of this down.
After doing a couple breathing tests and x-rays, the doctor sent him in to the waiting room until the results were done. As soon as he entered the room, Ed and Eddy sat up.
"Are you sick Double D?" asked Ed nervously, "Did they give you a shot?"
"No Ed," said Edd, "And I'm not sure what's wrong with me. The doctor ran a few tests, and he said the results should be *cough cough* out soon."
Eddy flopped back into the chair. "Great, more waiting! Can't they just mail you the results or somethin'? This place gives me the creeps!"
The feeling's mutual, thought Edd as he sat back down into a chair. Ed's mom told them all to be patient, even if Eddy complained.
This time, it took about twenty minutes for the doctor to show up again. When he entered the room, all (if any) happiness flew out the window. Just by looking at his eyes, Edd could tell this was not good news.
"Could I please speak to you private?" asked the doctor. Edd nodded mechanically and stood up. Ed's mother stood up too, she wanted to be able to explain anything to Edd's parents, in case of a worse case scenario.
As soon as the doctor shut the door, he began to speak. "At first, I thought Eddward's problems were purely asmetic," he said, as if trying to stall, "He had the symtoms: coughing, shortness of breath, the usual things. But when he told me some of his other symtoms, I thought it would be a good idea to take an x-ray. It's a good thing I did."
The doctor looked right at Edd. "I'm afraid you have a small tumor in your lungs."
Edd's whole body became pale. "A t-tumor?" The doctor nodded.
"Do you know what a tumor is?" Edd nodded. Of course he knew, he just never thought he would ever have one. "It's not too big, but it's still not small enough to be removed surgically. We have different techniques to shrink it. We'll most likely use radiation."
Edd gave a small sigh of relief. But then he thought of something. "Is, is it cancerous?"
"At the time being, it doesn't look like it, but we'll have to do a biopsy to make sure," said the doctor, "and depending on how fast the tumor shrinks, you could be here for a couple months, at least."
Edd couldn't believe this was happening. A tumor was growing inside his lungs? He suddenly felt sick to his stomach.
"It's okay honey," said Ed's mom trying to be comforting, "I'll call your parents and they'll be here in no time." Edd didn't speak. He stayed silent for a minute or two, and then began to speak again.
"Will I have to stay in the hospital tonight?"
"I'm afraid so," said Dr. Sherman, "We'll probably get you started on radiation treatments tomorrow at the earliest."
"And, I will I be able to go to school?" said Edd.
"Not to dissapoint you," the doctor said, now smiling, "but if the tumor shrinks fast enough, you may be able to go to school a couple days a week. If not, you'll have to miss school." Edd definitely wasn't dissapointed. If there was a chance he could spend just a few hours a day out of the hospital, and at school, that would be like winning the lottery.
"Can my friends visit me?"
"Only when you're not having a radiation treatment," Dr. Sherman replied, "and it's a good thing you wear that hat, because you'll probably lose your hair." Edd gave a small smile. At least that was one thing he didn't have to worry about.
After all of Edd's questions were answered, he was allowed to go back into the lobby until his room is ready. Ed's mom stayed behind so she could call Edd's parents in private.
"So, what's the news?" asked Eddy as soon as he saw Edd.
Edd didn't say anything. He was still getting used to the news himself. "Hello? Earth to Double D? Come in Sockhead!" Edd snapped out of his trance and looked at his friends.
"So what's wrong with you, Double D?" asked Ed, curiously. Edd gave them both a sad look.
"I have a... tumor, in my lungs," said Edd. Eddy rolled his eyes.
"That's all?" Edd gaped at his friend's nonchalant attitude.
"What do you mean, that's all?"
"You just get some tumor medicine or something and go home, right?" asked Eddy.
"Do either of you even know what a tumor is?" asked Edd.
"Not a clue," said Ed with that goofy smile of his. Edd sighed. He couldn't really blame them for not knowing, neither one of them read into medicine and anatomy like he did.
"Well, long story short, I'm going to have to stay in the hospital for a while." Ed's smile dissappeared, and Eddy sat up.
"For many days?" asked Eddy.
"Probably a couple months, maybe more," Edd said, looking down at the floor. The room was silent, except for the sound of footsteps coming towards them.
"Eddward?" asked a nurse. Edd nodded. "Your room is ready, please follow me."
Okay, please review. Also, I don't study medicine and I don't take an anatomy class. All the medical terms and stuff like that I get from doing research on the internet. But some of it is bound to be wrong, and if it is, I'm sorry and I hope it's not too distracting from the story.