Edd parked the minivan in front of the hospital. His back was strained from having to carry Eddy on his back all the way to Seth's minivan. Not to mention how many charges he would have faced just to get Eddy in front of the emergency room door; the police would not hesitate to lock him up in a juvenile detention center for speeding, auto theft, driving without a license, and parking in a no-parking zone if he got caught. He would move the minivan once the paramedics get him inside.

Edd quickly rushed to one of the receptionists, panting as he tried to catch his breath. The receptionist was a bespectacled plump blonde woman who had her hair up in a bun. "Please miss, someone very near and dear to me is possibly going to expire in the backseat of my car. My back is strained from having to carry him to the minivan. His name is Eddy McGee and he is sixteen years of age. He ingested something at a party and went unconscious, possibly from hyperthermia. He needs medical attention immediately." Edd pleaded with the receptionist hysterically.

"I'll get someone out there for you. Just hang tight." The receptionist stated, grabbing an intercom microphone, "Code White. Code White at the front entrance, we have an unconscious sixteen year old male that ODed and needs a stretcher."

Edd hurried back to the minivan to check on Eddy. Eddy was still unconscious in the backseat. Edd opened the door so that the nurses could load Eddy onto the stretcher. He held Eddy's hand as he waited for the nurses to show up. He let out a sob that he held in since Eddy first went unconscious at the party.

Eddy does not deserve to die this young. Sure, Eddy had made a couple of mistakes in his life, but that does not mean that the consequence of those past actions should be death. Eddy still had his whole life ahead of him. Eddy never got a chance to graduate high school. Eddy also never got a chance to experience adulthood. Fate was an extremely cruel mistress. If Eddy lost his life, Edd would not know how to continue without him or even tell Ed the news.

Two paramedics in dark clothing rushed towards the minivan pushing a hospital bed. They stopped the hospital bed near the van. Edd was surprised that both of the paramedics were able to lift Eddy into the stretcher so easily. Though, the two paramedics were probably used to it due to their profession. The paramedics put a ventilator on the sixteen year old and hooked him to IVs.

Edd shut all of the doors and quickly got into the driver's seat. He watched as the paramedics wheeled Eddy towards the front automatic doors. Edd hot-wired the car again when the paramedics were out of sight and quickly parked the minivan into one of the parking spaces. Edd rushed towards the paramedics who had Eddy and followed them inside of the building.

"Are you a family member of his?" One of the paramedics asked, noticing Edd following them.

"Yes, may I stay with him, please?" Edd asked, desperately. It wasn't a complete lie. He had been staying at Eddy's house

The paramedic sighed, "I don't see why not. We need to get in touch with his parents. Do you know how to reach them?"

"They're out of town at the moment." Edd admitted.

"I see," The paramedic replied, helping his partner scoot the hospital bed into an empty room hospital room, "the nurses should be here shortly."

Edd sat down in one of the empty chairs in the room and waited for the nurses to arrive. The hospital room was a cold sterile room. A hospital's atmosphere was an amalgamation of disease, injury, death, and dying. Just being in a hospital room was depressing enough. He did not want to be there and did not want to watch his friend perish in front of him. However, he had to stay in that cold and miserable place for Eddy's sake.

Two nurses in brightly colored scrubs rushed into the room. They were too hasty to introduce themselves to Edd and made a bee line towards Eddy. They equipped themselves with fresh gloves and standard medical instruments. One of the nurses pried open Eddy's mouth and took a look inside. "The patient was severely dehydrated. The saline IV should solve that issue."

The other nurse was taking Eddy's temperature. Edd listened with bated breath as the thermometer beeped and the nurse examined the reading. "He's suffering from hyperthermia. His temperature is 104.9 degrees Fahrenheit. We need to do some blood work to see which drug is in his system. Also, we need to do whatever we can to lower his body temperature. If it gets any higher, it could be fatal." The nurse took a moment to sigh, "I could be mistaken, but it looks like all of the classic symptoms of an overdose."

Hearing the nurse's words devastated Edd. He had to get out of there. He had to get to the nearest bathroom. Edd rushed down the hallway aimlessly in search of the nearest restroom. He immediately found the nearest unisex bathroom and rushed in, shutting and locking the door behind him. Hot tears streamed down his face as he sobbed into the sink. He couldn't keep it together. The world was coming down around him and he had no idea how to handle the situation.

Memories of when he first became Eddy's lackey flooded every part of his thoughts. It was five days after he first met Eddy and Ed after they had tricked him with that bottomless Ed scam. He remembered that he was in his front yard, building a police station out of Lego pieces. His parents were hesitant about giving him such small pieces at a young age, but they caved when they realized that Edd would not attempt to consume them.

Distracted by his creation, he did not notice Eddy and Ed approach him. "Hey kid, cool police thingy!"

Edd turned towards the sound and seen the two kids that introduced themselves as Ed and Eddy were watching him. "Are you two going to make me throw up again and take my money? Not to be rude, but what you did was mean!"

"Sheesh, you're still mad about that?" Eddy asked.

Ed chimed in, "Ah, don't be mad at us, new kid! We'll make it up to you! I can show my belly button lint!"

"I think I'll pass on that." Edd replied quickly, disgusted.

"I was thinking we could go to my house and watch cartoons. Maybe eat the box of cookies that my mom has kept up." Eddy suggested.

"I don't know, Eddy." Edd was a bit hesitant about spoiling his dinner and watching mind-numbing television. His parents would not be too pleased with him if he voluntarily broke their rules for him. He was also not sure why Eddy and Ed were being so nice to him.

"Look, it must suck playing by yourself. Why don't you come and play with us. You can come inside of our rooms, share our toys, and even help us with our scams. You can even see my brother's cool magazines. He's at summer camp right now so he won't know a thing. How about it, Edd?"

"What?" Ed asked.

"I wasn't talking to you, stupid!" Eddy answered irritably, "I was talking to the new kid!"

"Oh," Ed replied.

"I don't know," Edd fidgeted, "why do you want to be friends with me?"

"Look, there's just sumthin' about you that makes me wanna be pals with you. What do you say, new friend?" Eddy extended his hand out towards Edd.

Edd took his hand and shook it, "I guess it couldn't hurt."

"Great! Ed and I were in middle of watching a cartoon where this guy runs around in just his big boy pants. Pretty kooky, right Edd?" Eddy giggled. Edd couldn't help but giggle at the thought of someone running around in just their underwear. His parents would've thrown a fit if Edd ever did something like that.

"What?" Ed asked.

"Shut up, Ed!" Eddy retorted. He then turned towards Edd, "Ignore Ed, he's still like a big baby in some ways, but the lump is always there when you need him."

"I see," Edd replied.

"What?" Ed asked again.

Eddy glared at Ed and turned back to Edd, "we need to come up with a nickname for you or Ed will think I'm talking to him."

"What kind of nickname?" Edd asked.

"Let me think for a moment. Edd with two D's is long and stupid." Eddy thought for a moment. "Ah ha! Your nickname will be Double D!"

"Why Double D?" Edd asked, not sure if he liked his new nickname.

Eddy didn't listen to him and faced Ed. "Hey Space Lump! Come and meet our new friend, Double D!" Ed got the biggest grin on his face and crushed Edd in a bone-crushing hug to welcome his new friend to the group.

After Edd was done sobbing in the bathroom, he went back to Eddy's room masking his sorrow with a neutral expression. His eyes were still tinged red from crying. The doctor was now in the room, helping the nurses reduce Eddy's temperature. Several hours passed by and Edd sat still, watching his friend's condition not improve in the slightest. Edd's legs and butt were completely numb from sitting too long in the chair.

The doctor turned towards Edd, "we're going to need his parents down here. Is there any way we can get a hold of them?

"They're out of town at the moment for the weekend, but I can contact our caretaker and let him know that Eddy is in the hospital." Edd replied, nervously.

"That would be great," The doctor replied. "The phone's out in the hallway."

Edd thanked the doctor and looked around the hallway for the phone. He was not too sure of whom he was going to call, but he had to call somebody. In the distance, he seen nurses wheel a bleeding patient handcuffed to the stretcher into one of the empty rooms. It kind of looked like Matthew, but he wasn't too sure.

When he found the phone, he dialed the number to Sasha's bar. The phone rang several times and went to voicemail. A cold shudder crept along Edd's back. Edd then pulled the phonebook near the phone in front of him and flipped through the pages. When he found Seth's number, he dialed it and waited for Seth to answer.

The phone rang a couple of times and a gruff voice uttered, "Hello?" It was Seth's voice and by the sound of it, Seth sounded both fatigued and injured.

"Seth, are you alright? This is Edd, Matthew's brother's friend. Where's Matthew?" Edd asked, frantically.

"Motherfucker crashed Lucas' Jeep into a fucking tree with me and Lucas tied up in the backseat and took off. I don't know where the fuck he went. I just got home an hour ago to rest a while after my cousins found me and Lucas in the woods." Seth groaned out in pain, "My back and neck are fucking killing me. I need to rest for the night and let my back heal and I still need to get my fucking car from that one house. I also need to find Matthew, wherever that bastard is at."

"You should relax for the night to avoid exerting yourself and allow yourself a chance to heal. Besides, I borrowed your car to get Eddy to the hospital. I'm going to need ask a favor of you. I'm going to need you to come in tomorrow to the hospital and meet up with Eddy's doctor if your back is feeling better by then."

"I'm sure the pain will go away in the morning." Seth replied, "I'll be there tomorrow to deal whatever is wrong with Pipsqueak and to get my car back. I still don't know how you borrowed the damn thing when I had the keys in my pocket before I got home. See you tomorrow, kid."

Edd hung up the phone, his stomach was tied in knots. Seth and Lucas were hurt in a car crash that was caused by Matthew. Matthew took off and could be anywhere. Eddy is in the hospital and is in critical condition from the sound of it. Sasha did not answer his phone. The cold feeling in Edd's gut told him that bad things had happened and Edd shuddered at imagining how much worse the night could possibly get.