Author's Note:
Just call me alpha.
Here we are, 36 chapters in and I am so happy. I literally haven't felt this good about myself in months but thanks to you all I'm smiling like a fool! Ya'll are precious to me and need to be locked in my basement so I can keep you safe. So here's to many more chapters! I'm not even close to being done yet and I'll never stop trying to appease you all with my poor writing and editing skills! Cheers!
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The steady sound broke Eddward from his slumber. Cerulean eyes opened very slowly to adjust to the insanely bright lights that shone above him. Wait-where was he? Edd blinked a few times and peered around the room before the heart monitor suddenly went silent for a moment before a flurry of beeps escaped the speaker.
"Oh God!" Edd thought frantically as he tried to sit up in his bed but the oxygen tube around his face kept him tied down. "Oh God, I'm in a hospital..."
Suddenly a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around him and slowly calmed the ravenette. "Shh, it's okay Edd. I got you."
Edd's eyes snapped up to the owner of the comforting arms with a worried gaze. Kevin was sitting on the bed with him, his beautiful green eyes looked tired but simply didn't match the exhaustion and worry that was painted all over Edd's face. Kevin then buried his head into the mess of inky hair and squeezed his arms a little around his man. "I'm so glad you're alright." he mumbled into the top of Edd's head, pressing little kisses here and there.
"Alright? Why am I in a hospital?" Edd asked, his eyebrows knotted together in confusion as the petite hands gripped Kevin's large biceps tightly.
"You don't remember what happened?" Kevin asked quietly. When Edd shook his head, Kevin pulled the smaller man into his chest and hugged him tightly. How could he not remember? It had been the most terrifying moment in Kevin's life! It was true, Edd's episode had been worse than his mother leaving or his father beating the shit out of him for liking men. Kevin often wondered that if his dad had known that he still loves women as much as he does men, if it would have made a difference. Kevin snorted internally, probably not.
"Can you tell me please?" Edd asked, his voice was so small that Kevin almost missed the question.
Kevin looked down at the unconscious man in his arms and tried not to fall apart. His face finally looked peaceful now that he was unconscious, but Kevin knew there was a raging storm behind the closed eyes. A storm that Kevin could never truly understand.
The peaceful look on his face was the only thing that kept the soldier together, even as his love began to jerk violently. Kevin had always thought he would be prepared for whatever Edd threw his way, especially since Christine had explained every tiny detail of Edd's illness to him and what to do for any situation. However she had never mentioned what to do if he started having seizures, perhaps it had slipped her mind, or maybe it had never been a problem before now.
The first thing that popped into Kevin's mind was to hold the teen tight against him but it was as like trying to wrestle a greased up pig. Edd's muscles loosened and tightened erratically, making it almost impossible for Kevin to keep a firm grip on Edd without hurting either of them. His back kept arching harshly and he started to make gargling noises. God, what was he supposed to do?! Could he swallow his tongue? No, no I don't think so.
Kevin finally snapped into action as he held Edd's head in the crook of his arm tightly and pinned a leg over the other's as he dug around his pockets for his phone. When he finally found he quickly pulled up the emergency dialer and took a quick glace at Edd before dropping the device all together.
The nearly white skin had begun to blush a purplish color as if he was without air and tears finally fell from the forest green eyes. "Oh God, oh God please no I can't-" Kevin sobbed as he pressed his face into Edd's shaking one and pressed a tender kiss to his forehead before scrambling to pick up the phone and dialed 911. "M-my boyfriend's having a seizure! He's turning purple-" the soldier sobbed harshly as the woman on the other line talked him though the process. How long had the seizure been going on? What were his movements like? What were the risk factors?
It had only been about a minute, but it had been the longest minute of Kevin's life. Edd's movements started to slow and eventually his body slumped heavily against the soldier's with a sigh as the ravenette's breathing finally evened out. Kevin cried out in relief as the purplish color slowly drained away only to be replaced by the usual rosy cheeks. Not even a minute after that some paramedics rushed into the house and ran up to the couple on the floor.
"Is that...Vincent?" one of the man asked, his eyes bulging out of his head. The other man nodded solemnly as they moved him away from Kevin and on to the stretcher. They allowed Kevin to climb in the back of the ambulance just as Christine pulled into the driveway with a horrified look on her face.
Her baby was relapsing. Edd was dying.
...
Edd was a sobbing mess by the end of Kevin's blurry recollection of the past few hours. The ravenette cried angrily into his palms and Kevin rubbed soothing circles on the bare of his back where the gown parted. "Everything's gonna be okay Baby. I promise."
The small man sniffled a few times before raising his red-rimmed eyes up to the sad green ones. "I'm so sorry."
Kevin's eyebrows lowered and his hand paused. "Why're you sorry?"
Edd shook his head a little and looked away. "You're only home for three days and here I go and make a mess of everything. I really didn't plan on spending what little time I had with you in a hospital."
"Listen," Kevin huffed and forced Edd to look at him by grabbing his chin. "I love you and I'm just so relieved that you're alright, okay? I don't care that we went home early from dinner and I also don't care that we're sitting in a hospital right now. At the moment, I'm just happy that you're alive and I'm able to be with you."
Edd nodded and took a steadying breath and pulled Kevin into a hug with all the strength he could muster. "Thank you."
"For what?" the red-head asked as he pressed a few kisses on Edd's bare shoulder, the hospital gown was really doing nothing for Edd at this point. It hung off his slender body like it was made of rags.
"For being you." Edd sniffled and then pulled back to kiss the end Kevin's straight nose. "Thank you for taking a chance on us and for staying even when you found out I was sick. You have no idea how grateful I am for you."
Kevin smiled a little and pressed a sweet kiss to Edd's lips. "I could say the same, minus the sick part. You've done so much for me, sometimes I look back and wonder how I got so lucky to have you in my arms."
Edd giggled, Kevin certainly did have a way with words. "You were being a nosy neighbor and knocked on my front door."
Kevin scoffed and leaned back against the stiff bed with an arm still slung around Edd's shoulders. "Yeah, yeah, but if I had known we'd end up where we are now I woulda broke down that goddamned door with my bike and just declared my love for you right then and there."
Edd playfully rolled his eyes and rested his head on Kevin's chest as they talked, the events from a few hours ago temporarily took a back seat in his mind. "I'm very sure."
Christine came into the room about a half hour later with a few nurses that held various medical supplies. Kevin's eyes widened and tightened his arms around Edd. "What's goin' on?" he asked and Christine shot a tired smile at her boy as she set up her instruments on the cart.
"We're going to set up a port, it's going to help manage the tumor's aggressive nature." she explained and Edd merely nodded in acceptance while Kevin looked between the two in confusion.
"What's a port?" the red-head asked quietly as he leaned into his boyfriend's ear.
"It's a device that goes into my chest for chemotherapy, it'll be easier for me rather than taking a new IV every time." Edd said quickly as Christine prepped her instruments and put a mast over her face.
"Eddward's tumor is highly aggressive form of brain cancer, this is gonna help combat the bad cells and possibly shrink the tumor." she explained and pulled down Edd's gown to reveal his pale chest. "You're going to feel a little sleepy, Dear." the troubled mother said to her son as she applied local anesthesia through a rather large needle- Kevin openly cringed as his childhood fear of needles came creeping up on him.
The soldier watched from behind Christine as she inserted a tube and then the entire device into his love's chest. Edd watched as well, but his eyes were now glazed over instead of the usual gleam they always held. The nurses left the room once they realized that Christine didn't require any more assistance.
"You know, when I was in medical school a doctor once told me that brain cancer meant sudden death."
Kevin's head snapped up to look at his adoptive mother in confusion. She never turned to him as she threw a few stitches in to close up the procedure. "And when I found out that my baby had it I cried. I cried and cried for days. But then there he was in his little purple overalls and he came up to me and you know what Eddward said? He put his little hand on my cheek and said "Don't cry Mama, I'll get better soon. I'm a tough cookie!" and I couldn't help but smile at him. Even with an uncertain future hanging over his head, he never let it get to him."
Christine sighed and took off her mask, running her hands through the inky locks of the doped up teen, tracing her finger along the scar. "We've been through this before, when he was five. Everything is different so similar, Kevin. But I know he'll fight as hard as he can because Eddward told me those exact words when he first found out he was getting sick again and I have no reason to doubt him." she inhaled a shaky breath and turned in her chair to look up at her second son.
"He's my tough cookie," she started to sob and Kevin immediately gathered the small woman in his strong arms. The two simply held each other in silence for a while as Edd's cloudy eyes slowly slipped shut.
"D'ya think he'll really be okay?" the red-head asked quietly, gazing over to the man he was supposed to marry when he was finished with the military.
"I'm positive." Christine said with a nod and wiped the last of her tears away. "If he can beat it once he can beat this again."