Chapter 2

"You're Never Going To Believe Me"

There was a high-pitched something in his ear. His groggy mind registered that it sounded familiar, like it had happened to him before. He didn't want to open his eyes, but it wasn't like he had a choice, he had to. The high pitched noise had become clearer than before, as had a dull drone of soft voices.

"...Lucky he's even…"

"...Will he…?"

"...Repercussions…"

He let out a quiet moan. His head was hurting even from the quiet sounds of chatting. His left arm felt encased in something soft. There was a sharp intake of breath somewhere above him, and something grabbed his hands, squeezing them tightly - almost painfully. He blinked.

Two very familiar faces swimmed above him, eyes filling with tears and smiles wide. Edd felt his brow furrow a little with confusion. "Did I say something funny…?"

The two faces started laughing, nervous chuckling at first, but that turned into real laughs within a matter of seconds as they collapsed on top of him, crushing him in a hug. He yelped a little bit, and there was a sudden movement behind them. Edd noticed for the first time the doctor, clad in white and mint green scrubs. His own bushy blonde eyebrows were creased in disapproval as he tapped impatiently on his clipboard with a blue pen.

"We thought you were dead!" blurted out Matt, hugging Edd even tighter and making him whimper in pain. He loosened his grip slightly. Tom was beyond words, his shoulders shaking and face buried in the crook of Edd's neck, which creeped the latter out slightly, but he cut his friend some slack. It seemed like a lot had gone on in the time since…

What happened? Why was he here? His mind was suddenly burning with questions, from where the nearest Coke machine was,to where they were, why Tom smelled like stale cheese, why Matt was petting his head, why everything hurt, what was he doing before he got here, and what, what had happened?

"Alright boys, I'm going to need you to break it up right now," said the doctor, finally breaking his silence. Matt and Tom slowly and unwillingly untangled themselves from Edd, not wanting to let go so quickly. It was only now that Edd noticed how awful both of them looked. The circles under their eyes were dark, almost to the point Edd thought they had been in fistfights. Tom wiped his eyes with his sleeves, drying tears as Matt continued to blubber and sob. Edd cocked his head in question and immediately regretted it. Spikes of pain shot through his skull, making him wince and return to his original position very, very slowly.

"Mr. Gould, I am Doctor Names," started the blonde man. Edd giggled feebly.

"So people call you names, huh?" This weak attempt at humor earned a chuckle from Tom. Names was less impressed.

"Mr. Gould, we here at Hearth Home Hospital want you to know that you're in the best hands you could possibly be in -"

"I thought this was a bed! It's not a pair of hands, surely?"

Doctor Names glared at Edd and his laughing friends, miffed. "If you need further assistance, your friends know where the desk is. Take it easy." The angry man left, shutting the door with a heavy thud behind him. The three men continued to laugh until, with a short sigh, each of them finished.

"So, honestly, what happened?"

Tom and Matt's grins slid off their faces like the water off a duck's back. They looked at one another a moment, then Matt turned away. Edd obviously wasn't going to get an answer out of him any time soon. "You'll probably want to rest for a little while to hear what happened… Or at least wait for a Coke. It's… Quite a doozy," Tom said apologetically.

"No, I want to know. I want to know if I'm right," Edd said firmly, shifting restlessly and rubbing the cast that encased his right arm. The ginger and the drunk looked at him in mild surprise. Their friend's face was set, ready to know what had transpired.

"Well…" Tom pulled out his phone, squinting a little at the screen before typing in something. It took about 30 seconds before he accessed a video and handed it to Edd, who took it with both hands. It was a news story about a bad crash in Greater London. He felt his fingers start to tingle and go numb as he watched. That little red saloon that was crumpled in on the driver's side looked awful familiar.

"You got hit," said Tom blandly, looking at Edd's knee. Or at least, Edd thought he was looking at his knee, but he could never be totally sure with Tom, thanks to the fact that he literally had no eyes. "We… We saw it on the news, and got to the hospital as fast as we could, but you were… You were already under."

"Under what? Did I… Die in the crash?"

"No, you went into a coma. Two days. Then you just went into cardiac arrest about a day ago. They had to restart your heart and everything."

"It was awful!" Matt cried shuddering from his toes to the ends of his vibrant ginger hair. "Everyone thought you really weren't going to make it. Do you know how scary it was just sitting outside the room doing nothing?"

"We never left your side up until that point. It was pretty bad."

Tom's last words touched Edd's heart in a way like nothing else. It was an innocent, sweet, selfless gesture from two people that we otherwise nothing but selfish and idiotic. But no matter how rude they were to one another, no matter how many times they butt heads or fought or insulted one another, they always had each other's backs. And these two - the cold-hearted drunk and the vain ginger - had not left his side, even though he hadn't known they were ever there, and they hadn't known whether he would ever wake up. It left him speechless.

"Wow... I thought surely you guys would be worried about… I dunno, er, watching Professor Why or something! And Matt, his hair!"

Matt grinned a little sheepishly. "Don't think it didn't bother me mate, but we were so worried!"

"Also, Professor Why sucks, Edd, why would we watched rubbish like that?" The three laughed again. Edd stopped after a moment, wincing again and putting a hand on his ribcage. He must have bruised something. Matt and Tom both stopped chuckling soon after him, and their expressions became solemn once more.

"We really thought we were going to lose you though, Edd."

"Funnily enough, I thought so too." Matt looked puzzled, his sapphire eyes bright as he gazed at Edd.

"What do you mean, Edd?"

"I mean I saw some crazy stuff when I died."

Tom gave an amused bark of laughter. "What, you mean you saw the pearly gates of Heaven? Or maybe you made a deal with the devil for your soul."

"Actually… You're never going to believe me, but it was kind of both…"

Tom stopped laughing, incredulity suddenly written all over his tired and pale face. "You're not being serious, are you?"

"Dead."

Matt and Tom gaped at their friend before Matt rubbed his eyes. "I'm too tired to deal with this. You're saying that you died, and then you made a deal with Lucifer to come back to life?"

"Well, sort of. What happened was-"

"And that's why you're alive?"

"Are you going to let me explain or not?" Matt looked sheepish at Edd's glare. Edd sighed and closed his eyes. His head and neck were starting to hurt, but he took a deep breath and started to explain. Matt looked in awe at him, but Tom looked more skeptical than anything, however.

"So, what exactly was this deal that you made with Saint Peter and Lucifer?" he asked, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair. Edd swallowed hard. Talking about Tord was a surefire way to make Tom furious - there was no way in high heaven that he could ever forgive the devil-horned megalomaniac, and Edd understood exactly why.

"Because… People are dying so much, because of… Him. The Rebellion. And they wanted me to… To stop it."

"Well, you can't."

Edd was momentarily offended. "Why not?"

"You're in a hospital bed for one thing," Tom said sarcastically, leaning back forward in his chair. "Second, there's no way you're going to create a group or anything to fight him back. It's not like you can just walk into Parliament and say 'hey, I want to form my own group of fighters to resist the Red Army because I died and went to Heaven, then came back because I made a deal with God and Satan!'"

As much as he hated to admit it, Tom certainly had a point. "You're such a spoil sport, aren't you?" asked Matt. Tom looked affronted, placing a hand on his chest.

"Who, me?" he asked innocently. "No, I'm just realistic."

The group fell into heavy silence. Edd felt terrible, and not just because of his injuries. He was scared, he was upset. He had just been in a near fatal car crash, been in a coma, had a heart attack, died, and come back to life in what sounded to be about 72 hours. And now he had no idea how he was supposed to keep his promise - his oath - to the two most powerful beings in existence. His newly resuscitated heart thumped a little harder in his chest. This wasn't something he wanted to deal with right now, and attempted to stifle a yawn. Matt noticed

"Edd, you ought to be sleeping," he said, awkwardly pulling the bedclothes up to Edd's chin.

"Where are you and Tom going?"

"We can stay in one of the hospital guest rooms. Well, two of them, I mean. I think it's okay for us to go now that we know you're stable, right?"

Tom looked up dazedly. He looked dead on his feet. Or more like his chair. But he nodded tiredly and stood up, patting Edd firmly on the shoulder a couple of times. "Get some sleep," he suggested with a yawn of his own.

Edd hummed in agreement. "You too, guys. Don't worry about me." Much. The two other young men smiled at him before turning and leaving the room, shutting off the brightest of the hospital room lights. There was a window in the room, but any sunlight was blocked by the heavy curtains. The darkness of the room was broken only by the frantic, though dim yellow light of a lamp on a faraway table. He closed his eyes and shifted again in his hospital bed.

He was asleep a few moments later.

A/N Aww, sleepy childe. Let him rest...

He's going to need it.

Things get pretty crazy in chapter 3, which is still being written. I think I've figured out how to get these three morons in the position I want them in *evile grin* JK I love these morons, it kind of hurts when I hurt them. BUT I AM NOT A NICE PERSON, SO THEY WILL SUFFER FOR THE TIME BEING :( Sorry guys. You'll have happy times.

So, COMMENT plz, tell me what Brits use for slang or any other little nuances I should be aware of. My parents have been to England, and I watch and listen to a lot of stuff from over there, so I know quite a bit, but not enough to pass as British, which I'm not coz I'm 'MURCAN and I LOVE IT XD

Whatever, just comment and enjoy life

~File_13

Again, minor changes. Nothing big. Bye!

~File_13