"So, Mike's pretty okay, right?" Sam asked Janet as he sat next to her in her bedroom.
"Mike's pretty great, Sam," Janet laughed. "Why do you ask?"
"He was around a lot. When you were in the hospital, I mean," Sam said. "He seemed nice."
"He is," Janet nodded. "What's this about Sam?"
"Eddie," he sighed. "It's about Eddie."
Janet laughed out loud again. "How is asking about Mike really about Eddie?"
"Well, you were with Eddie. Then you weren't. And now you're with Mike. And Eddie's alone," Sam shrugged.
"Eddie is hardly alone. He's dated most of the available women in Knight's Ridge in the last few months – probably some unavailable ones too," Janet explained.
"He misses you," Sam shrugged. "That's all I'm saying. When you were in the hospital…he was sad. I haven't seen him look that sad in a while."
"Sad?" Janet asked, flashing back to the conversation they'd had months and months before. "How do you know all this, Sam?"
"I hung out with the guys when you were sick. I talked to Eddie a few times. Now, some of the times I talked to him, he might not have been the most sober person I've ever seen, but we talked," Sam explained.
"Eddie talked to you?" Janet smirked, knowing how he hated talking about his feelings.
"I'm an insightful kid," Sam shrugged.
"That you are," Janet smiled at him and ruffled his hair.
"I'm glad you think so," Sam nodded. "So, the real question is do you miss Eddie?"
Janet stared at Sam for a moment. She liked Mike. He was great. He was good for her. He was dependable. But, Eddie Latekka was Eddie Latekka. He didn't need qualities to describe him. He just was. She looked down at her Eddie Bear and smiled for a moment remembering how happy she was in the hospital when she saw it in her bed.
Just then, Hannah stuck her head in. "Come on, Sam," she smiled at them. "We have to get ready to go sweetie. Janet, I'll call you later, okay? Oh, and I think Eddie just pulled up. Don't let him upset you," she warned her friend. "And Mike's coming over to my house later to pick up dinner for you. I made some soup. I'll see you later."
"Bye Janet," Sam smiled and waved goodbye.
On their way to the car, Hannah and Sam passed by Eddie. "Get in the car, Sam," Hannah told her son.
"Fine," he sighed, getting in and shutting the door tightly.
"What goes on, Hannah?" Eddie asked, pausing by her, sensing she had something to say to him.
"She's still recovering," she warned him.
"I'm just going to say hi," he told her, looking at his feet.
"Mike's good for her," she told him. "Janet's happy again," she said, shaking her head.
"Is she?" Eddie asked. "Is she really happy or is she settling?"
"Mike is hardly settling," Hannah scoffed. "When did you decide you were God's gift to women?"
"I was an ass, as you so often like to remind me," Eddie said, shaking his head. "I have some…outstanding issues with Janet," he explained. "But, as much as I want to hate her, I can't help missing the way she used to smile when I would kiss her neck right below her ear."
"She's happy with Mike," Hannah repeated.
"Was she happy with me?" he asked.
"Eddie," Hannah sighed. "Don't be an ass."
"I think she was," Sam said, rolling the window down in the car.
Hannah and Eddie looked over at Sam. "Sam…" Hannah sighed.
"Thanks, buddy," Eddie winked at him. "You have a smart kid, Hannah Jane," Eddie told her. He turned around and jogged up to Janet's front door.
"Buddy," Hannah sighed, getting in the car. "I know you want to help, but sometimes we just have to stay out of things," she told him as she drove away.
Eddie let himself in Janet's house and slowly made his way to her room. She was lying in bed, in her favorite pajamas. There were magazines scattered on her comforter and her Eddie Bear at her side. Her hair was hanging loose around her shoulders. She was pale, but she looked better than Eddie had seen her in recent weeks.
"Hi Eddie," she said, nervously tucking her hair behind her right ear.
"You're actually awake this time," he smiled, coming in further. "I knew you were out of the coma toward the end of the hospital stay, but I only really saw you with your eyes open. It's nice to see your eyes again," he said, dragging the chair over toward her bed that was by her mirror. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay," she shrugged. "I hurt a lot," she giggled, "but overall, I'm okay."
"I'm really happy to hear it. When I found out you were in an accident…." he trailed off. "I was just really scared for you. I couldn't imagine leaving here without you around," he shrugged.
"Well, I'm still here," she smiled.
"Yes you are," he nodded. "Is the bear keeping you company?" he asked, nodding to the teddy bear she was a grip on.
"Yes," she smiled, looking down at her bear. "Thank you for bringing him to me."
"He's your bear," Eddie shrugged. "What was I going to do with him?"
Janet giggled, "Still. Thank you. I appreciate it."
"I miss seeing you," he admitted.
"What are you talking about?" she asked. "We haven't really been hanging out lately or anything."
"When you were in the hospital…when you were unconscious…I would sit with you at night. I didn't want you to be alone in there with all the machines," he told her. "So, I'd wait till Hannah or Mike would fall asleep…or go home and then I'd come in. I'd tell you about my day or let you know what went on that day with your tests and what not. I told you how angry I was with you for the Rooster thing. I told you you had to wake so that we could yell at each other about all that crap. So now? Now that you've been awake…it just didn't seem right involving myself in everything. I make Mike uncomfortable or something," he shrugged. "But, Nicky told me he just saw Mike at the deli, so I figured I could come over and see you," he smiled at her and brushed a piece of hair off of her cheek. "So….hi."
"Hi," she smiled, and looked anywhere but in his eyes when his fingers touched her cheek.
"I am sorry that I was such an ass to you after we broke up," he told her, with a guilty smile. "I can get that way sometimes," he shook his head. "I don't think I've ever been hurt that badly by a girl," he admitted.
"Eddie," she sighed, sitting up straighter.
"Relax," he told her with a small. "Let me say this, okay?"
"Okay," she said, relaxing again.
"I know I hurt girls all the time. Half the time I wouldn't even call them after sex. I was horrible. But, I didn't care. If I found out one was hanging out with anyone else, why would I care? I didn't even like," he shrugged. "But you…I didn't even really realize how much I cared about you until we had that stupid about your grandparents and 'Bye, Bye Birdie,'" he laughed. "But at that moment, I realized I'd do just about anything for you. And then when you told me about Rooster. When you couldn't trust me to just ask me about Rory….I saw red. It never occurred to me that I might be at fault, too. And I wanted to hurt you. I wanted you to feel all the pain that I felt. I wanted you to be humiliated because that's how I felt. Was it childish? Yes. But, Janet…I was my most vulnerable with you. I let you see parts of me that even my friends don't see. I couldn't process things. I wanted you to be in pain, because I was in pain," he sighed. "But you know what? You had a couple rough weeks and then you bounced back. You were mature and decent and I looked like an idiot. Everyone told me that, ya know. They all told me I'd miss having you in my life and I didn't believe them," he told her, honestly. Sometime during his speech he had grabbed her hand and his fingers were rubbing the back of her hand lightly.
"Eddie…." she sighed. "That…I don't know what to say," she admitted.
"Were we happy, Janet?" he asked her. "I mean when we were together…we were happy? Were you?"
"Eddie," she smiled at him and he felt his heart melt. "Of course we were happy. I was happy. Us together made me very happy. You made me very happy," she told him honestly. Her eyes pooled up and tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Don't cry," he whispered to her, as his thumbs wiped her tears from her face. "Sssshhhh," he said, rubbing her hair back off her face. "I didn't want you to cry. I just wanted you to know how I felt."
Janet tried to nodded a little and smile. "What you said was beautiful, Eddie. Thank you."
"It was the truth," he nodded. "You know what? I don't think I'm angry anymore," he told her.
"I'm glad," she whispered.
"Mike gets off of work soon," Eddie said, looking at the clock on her nightstand. "I should go," he said, dragging the chair back to its place.
"How do you know all this?" she giggled.
"I have people," he nodded with a wink.
"Okay. Will you come back to visit me again?" she asked.
"Janet I miss you. I couldn't stay away if I wanted to," he told her honestly. "Will Mike be mad?"
"Not if we don't tell him. I mean, we're friends, right?" she asked, smiling a little.
"Always," he whispered. "I'm sorry I forgot that," he told her as he leaned down and gave her the softest kiss on her lips. His lips were partially open and only remained over her lips for a few seconds. "Goodbye beautiful," he whispered.
Janet's eyes fluttered open to watch him leave her room "Goodbye, Eddie," she whispred.