Edd felt his eyes grow heavy as he continued to watch the doctors treat Eddy for his current condition. It was both physically and emotionally exhausting to watch the doctors run circles around his friend like ballerinas at a play. It was almost morning and Edd did not get an ounce of sleep. He needed some caffeine. He excused himself and walked into the hallway.
Cops in blue uniforms just got finished talking with Matthew's doctor and were conversing amongst themselves, discussing details of the case. They surrounded the room the man was in. "Was the crime a hate-motivated one? The victim is a bar-owner of a gay bar. I would imagine that he is likely to be the target of homophobic individuals." One of the cops stated, taking notes.
"Does not seem to be," One of the other cops replied, "According to the victim's underage cousin, Kevin Barr, it was personal. Sasha Barr and Matthew McGee knew each other for years and McGee held a grudge against the victim. McGee also has a couple of priors for public intoxication and disturbing the peace. How did the scene look?"
"It was . . . what you would expect from an assault scene. There were puddles of blood and saliva, one of them containing a tooth, most likely from the victim. There was another large puddle of blood near where the victim and McGee lay unconscious before squad cars arrived. The puddle most likely came from McGee. The assault started at the bar and ended five feet towards the middle of the floor. A pair of glasses that belonged to the victim also broke during the scene. It seems like the victim was watching a horror movie before McGee showed up."
"The puddle collaborates with Kevin's witness statement. Kevin claimed to have heard his cousin's screams coming from the apartment. The apartment and the bar are connected as one building. Kevin then claimed that he grabbed a knife from the kitchen for protection and went into the bar area where McGee had the victim in a chokehold. Kevin was afraid of McGee and stabbed McGee to save his own cousin."
"Will Kevin Barr be charged for stabbing McGee?" The first cop asked, hesitantly.
"Not likely. Barr's actions fell under Castle doctrine. Kevin Barr was an occupant in the home and rightfully believed that both he and Sasha Barr were in danger. Kevin Barr was released into his parents care. Both parents were rightfully shook up." The second cop answered.
"I can see why Kevin would believe that. Did you see the victim yet?" The first cop asked.
"I have not," The second cop answered back.
"Sasha Barr's face looks like a damn purple balloon. One of his teeth completely broke off according the doctor and Sasha's whole upper body was bruised up. Sasha Barr is alright though. The only thing he needs is some rest. McGee's going to be fine as well. The worst that might happen is that he might have a lot of difficulty lifting heavy items and exerting himself from getting stabbed in the back, but he'll be fine once he wakes up. He'll be read his rights and transported to the county jail once doctors release him."
"He might actually think twice before pulling another stunt like that," The second cop joked, grimly.
"We can only hope," The second cop joked back, "let's head back to the station and get our notes together. McGee is not going anywhere."
Edd waited for the cops to leave. Everything was happening all at once. Sasha got hurt and Edd was too worried about Eddy to call the bar owner sooner. Then there was that unavoidable feeling deep within his chest. He was not going to see Matthew for a long while. Knowing the justice system, the court system would not go easy on Matthew, especially considering the nature of his crime and the fact that he had priors. His rational mind told him that was the best thing to ever happen to Matthew. Matthew was a loose cannon and hurt a lot of people in the process.
However, there was a part of his heart that ached thinking about losing Matthew. The feeling was not love. Edd was sure that he would never love Matthew in a romantic sense or become possessive over the man. However, it still hurt to know that he would not see Matthew for several years, depending upon how Matthew is sentenced. Perhaps it was undeserved sympathy for the 24 year old. Edd did not know how much of the man's volatile personality was from trauma and how much was just nature. Edd knew that he may never know the answer to that question.
He found himself walking toward Matthew's room. He looked to see if the police officers from before were still around. Thankfully they were not nor were there any doctors around. Edd entered the room and walked slowly to Matthew's bed. The man was connected to IVs, a blood pressure monitor, and other medical equipment that is used to monitor the man's health. One of the IVs is filled with blood to replenish the blood the man lost from the stabbing.
The man looked strangely serene amongst the cold instruments. Edd leaned over the bed, careful not to bump into the medical equipment that was used to keep Matthew's health stable. Matthew's left hand was still handcuffed to the bed. He leaned closer to Matthew's face and brushed his lips against the man's, his hand resting on Matthew's bicep. He withdrew a few seconds later and took one last look at Matthew. "Goodbye Matthew." Edd turned on his heel and walked out of the hospital room, not sparing Matthew another glance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!$!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edd looked around the waiting room for a soda machine. Instead he found a large lump of a human sitting in a corner in a puddle of his own tears. Edd walked towards the lump and rested his hand upon the person's shoulder. "Ed?"
The person turned around and faced Edd with tears streaming down their face. "Double D!" Ed sobbed, pressing his face into Edd's shirt to cry. Edd wrapped his arms around Ed and held Ed gently as Ed sobbed loudly. "Eddy's hurt. Our Eddy is hurt!"
Edd wondered why Ed was at the hospital and who told him about Eddy's condition. Edd's first guess was Seth, but from the sound of it, Seth did not even want leave his house. So who told Ed that Eddy was in the hospital? "It's going to be alright, Ed," Edd soothed, rubbing Ed's back, "who told you that Eddy was here?"
"Some brown-haired guy with a weird phone told me," Ed replied, "he was at Eddy's house eating a bunch of food and watching talk shows. I didn't even know they came on at this time."
`Must have been Lucas,' Edd thought to himself. Edd could take a wild guess at what happened after he got off of the phone with Seth. More than likely Seth called Lucas to watch over the house and keep an eye out for Matthew in case he came by. Ed came by the house to see Eddy and Edd and found Lucas instead.
"It's going to be alright Ed," Edd replied, unsure if he was trying to convince Ed or himself with those words, "The doctors are doing the best they can for Eddy. Eddy's sick at the moment and we both would need to hang tight while the doctors do what they can. Alright?"
"Okay," Ed nodded, wiping away the tears in his eyes. Edd hated seeing the serious side of Ed. He was more used to the happy-go-lucky side of Ed where everything and everyone was a part of a big science fiction movie plot where Ed was the main protagonist. However, there were no heroes this time. There were no monsters or clichéd alien plots to take over the earth. There was also no guarantee for a happy ending. There was just Ed and his worry.
"I need to head back to Eddy's room now, Ed. He needs someone to stay with him." Edd explained, stepping away from Ed.
"I'll go with," Ed replied.
"I'm sorry, Ed, but you can't. Only one of us can be back there with Eddy. Besides, you don't want to see Eddy while he's sick in the hospital room. I can barely stand it when I'm in there," Edd explained, remorsefully, "You might be able to visit him during visiting hours tomorrow. You need to go back home and get some rest."
"I'm not going home." Ed replied stubbornly, "I'll stay here until Eddy is well!"
"Alright, Ed," Edd caved, "you can stay in the waiting room if you want to. Just try to get some rest. Okay, Ed?" Ed nodded sullenly. "Thank you, Ed. I'll let you know if Eddy wakes up before the morning arises. Otherwise, I'll be back in the waiting room tomorrow to see you again. Goodnight Ed. Do try to get some sleep tonight."
Edd watched as Ed nodded again. Poor guy. Nobody should go through the pain of their friend dying; especially not Ed. Ed knew that the situation was serious, even if the guy believed that Eddy was just seriously ill. The most tragic thing about the situation was that Ed and Eddy never got a chance to make up for their fight over the Kanker sisters.
Edd headed back into Eddy's room, completely forgetting about why he even left the room in the first place. Edd felt like he was walking around in a nightmare. Nothing felt real in that moment. Things were just too horrible to be real. The coldness of the hospital chair he sat in reminded him that it was not a nightmare, it was real life.
He took Eddy's limp hand and held it tightly. He wanted to express his heartfelt love to his friend. He could not imagine life without Eddy. Edd got up for a second to kiss Eddy's forehead. Eddy was still warm, still had life inside of him. Eddy was not a complete corpse yet. That gave Edd a glimmer of hope. Eddy is going to pull through.
Edd sat back down and yawned. He needed to get some rest. How is he supposed to watch over Eddy if he is too tired when the day comes? Edd slouched in the chair, hoping that the uncomfortable seat would provide him some easy rest. His eyes started to feel heavy. He started to nod off when the doctor and one of the nurses came in.
"What is the toxicology report?" The doctor asked.
"The drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine was found within Eddy McGee's system. My guess is that he snuck off to a party, taking advantage of the fact that his parents were out of town," The nurse replied. Edd was not the least bit surprised that Eddy had taken Ecstasy at that party. It would explain Eddy's actions before he went unconscious. Eddy was completely under the drug's influence.
"Teenagers today." The doctor sighed, "It's not shocking to say the least. I've gotten plenty of teenagers over the years pulling similar stunts. Teenagers are brought in for alcohol poisoning, overdosing on their parent's pain medicine, misusing their friend's medicine, or even overdosing on hard drugs. Teenagers see their parents going out of town and think that it's time to go buck wild. As they say, when the cats are play, the mice will play."
The nurse nodded, "McGee seems fine right now. We should probably check back in an hour. Hopefully catch a ten minute break sometime during my shift. This has been a busy night. I'm starting to wonder if there's a full moon outside."
"There could be," The doctor dryly joked, heading out of the room.
Edd was too tired to argue with the doctor, even if what the doctor said was true. If Eddy would not have blindly drunk something at that party, they both would not be in the hospital room. There was another feeling that was creeping into his chest. He loved Eddy.
Sure, he knew that he was physically attracted to Eddy before the whole mess. However, as he watched Eddy in the stretcher, he came face-to-face over his true emotions for the other teen. Eddy was more than a friend to him and more than a fling. He wanted to them to be mutually attracted to one another. He wanted to be the one that made Eddy's heart flutter. He did not know if Eddy felt the same way. He held Eddy's hand as he drifted off to sleep, memories of Eddy consumed his dreams.