"Can you help him, Double Dee?" Sarah asked from the doorway where she was keeping watch in case her parents grew too nosy.

"I'll try my best," Double Dee said. He was on his knees before Ed, his arms around the other's body as he held him up. A quick dose of smelling salts had brought Ed to a snorting start, but he was once again trying to go limp on him. Double Dee felt his face pinch with emotion before he put his head down and forward so he could rest his forehead upon Ed's left shoulder.

"I can't stand this," he said, his voice strained. "I can't go back on my word that I wouldn't call for help in instances such as these, but this isn't right!" he said. "How long must I sit back and watch his life chipped away from one fall or another, Sarah?"

Sarah, in her shame, held her tongue. She knew that if Ed were to be removed from the house by any authority figure, tongues all over the neighborhood would wag. What would they say about him? Or her? Until tonight, she cared about what they would say about her parents, but now… Hesitantly, she pushed away from the door frame, walked over to her brother and squatted down. "I hate them," she said, her voice full of venom. This seemed to bring something awake in Ed and his eyes fluttered. He found a bit of balance as Double Dee leaned away from his shoulder and Ed turned his face to his sister. There was a peaceful countenance upon his face and he gave her a gentle smile before whispering the word softly.

"no."

"Come, Sarah, help me get him into bed. I can assess his injuries better that way. Could you do me a favor and text Eddy? Tell him what happened?"

"Sure," she said as she rose. She hooked her arms beneath her brother's armpits and began to hoist as Double Dee rose himself, doing his best to pull Ed up into a standing position.

"Up we go," he grunted through clenched teeth. Dead weight was never easy to manage and with Ed being six foot four (and still growing he feared) he found that he just wasn't built to fight it. Ed tried to help, but the room was first swimming, then spinning as they fought him onto his feet.

"Guys…" he said, his voice thick and slurred as he was carefully walked to his bed. He moved with the awkward steps of a newborn fawn.

"A little bit further," Double Dee soothed as the bed grew closer. "Just a little bit more, give us just a little bit more, please Ed." He could feel his friend working to make the effort, trying as hard as he could but the darkness was taking over his vision. They managed to turn him in time and tried to control as much of his fall as they could. Double Dee grimaced as Ed's backside connected with the mattress, causing him to bounce. He was worried about unseen injuries that may have been jarred from the hard sit.

"Alright, Sarah, you get a hold of Eddy, I'll take things from here. I'll call you if I need you. Just wait and watch for Eddy, please," he said as he peeled Ed's shirt off and then carefully let his body ease back into a supine position. She then helped him get those long legs onto the bed, and left the room to gather her phone and inform Eddy of what had happened while Double Dee finished undressing Ed in modest privacy.

"Again?!" Eddy barked. His voice was livid and small over the phone. Sarah closed her eyes, swallowed past a lump in her throat, and explained what had happened.

"I just clocked out, but I'm still on the job site. I'll be there as soon as I can, just don't do anything stupid like jostle him around or anything."

"A little too late for that," she admitted. "We had to make him walk to the bed. Double Dee's seeing after him now. I'm scared, Eddy… he's never fallen down the stairs before…"

"Fallen my ass, we both know he was pushed," came the acerbic retort. A dump truck rumbled by him and he let out a harsh breath before shoving his hardhat back and pinching the bridge of his nose. It was a habit he had unconsciously picked up from Double Dee. "Let me talk to my boss, he kinda has a gist of what's going on anyway, I'm sure he'll let me head out."

"Thanks, Eddy. We need you."

"Yeah, yeah, like I said; keep an eye on him and I'll call before I leave in case you guys need something."

"Thank you," Sarah whispered again before disconnecting the call.

"Oh Ed," Double Dee whispered as he pressed his hands against his friends ribs, feeling for any signs of pleurisy. He knew he wasn't equipped to deal with a collapsed lung, and Ed surely wouldn't survive it without medical intervention. Thankfully there was no tell-tale crackling beneath the skin.

"Double Dee?" Ed whispered, his voice no more than a forced breath.

"Sssh, try not to speak, Ed. I don't know how badly hurt you are," Edd soothed as he continued to feel the strong torso for any broken bones.

"I'm so cold," Ed whispered. He opened his eyes to slits. "I'm f-fre-freezing…"

"You're going into shock," Double Dee answered with a voice that was soft and gentle. It soothed Ed, who only closed his eyes once more. "We're going to get you warm, Eddy is on his way. Sarah gave him a list of everything we need."

Ed simply gave a minute nod before opening his eyes once again. Everything was blurry with hints of gray trying to form around the edges of his vision. He squinted and then finally gave in and closed them again. "My chin hurts," he breathed.

"You have a nasty cut on it, try not to speak, I don't want you to chance opening the wound again, I don't want you to break the stitches," the soft voice reassured. Ed wanted to nod, but instead, just let out a sighing breath and relaxed once more. His head was thundering in agony.

"Eddy called," Sarah whispered as she slipped into the room. "He said he'll be a little late because his boss was stocking him up on a few things for Ed. He thinks he'll have enough stuff that he won't need to run to the store."

"How much does his boss know?" Double Dee asked in surprise. He quickly deduced that this could be a very good thing. Someone perhaps to either take this entire situation out of their hands, or at least offer comfort.

"He said he had a gist of it," Sarah said as she looked over Edd's shoulder to her sleeping brother's face. Double Dee had done his best to suture the long vertical cut on Ed's chin, using tiny and precise stitches to minimize any scarring as best as he could.

"Tell me what happened," Edd said firmly as he pulled the fresh blanket up close to Ed's collar bones.

"He wanted to study for that text he was so worried about," Sarah said as she sank down onto the mattress next to Edd. "He was working so hard because he knew you'd be proud of him."

"Me? Why me? Why not his parents?" Double Dee asked. His eyes met Sarah's and together, there was a loud heated agreement in the sudden silence between them.

"Because they don't care," Sarah finally broke the quiet. "But we do, don't we, Double Dee?"

"We do," he said as he patted her back gently. "And that's what matters."

"Will he be okay?"

"I don't know," came the hesitant answer. "I wasn't there when he fell, I don't know what he hit going down or how far down the stairs he was when he fell."

"I think he was at least halfway down, that's how it sounded," she said as the slamming of the front door drew their attention. They didn't hear Eddy's grumbled response of returned greeting to Ed's parents, but they could hear his heavy work boots as he descended the basement staircase.

"We're a month into the new school year and they're already trying to kill him," Eddy said as he stepped through the bedroom door. "You'd think they'd want to see him graduated and out of here."

Double Dee rose quickly, putting his hands out to Eddy in a silent attempt to quieten him. "Ed's sleeping," he said in a hushed tone.

"I swear," Eddy continued. "If his dad lays one more hand on him, I'm going to rip that old man's arm off," He walked to Ed's desk and set the two large bags down that he was holding. "Boss packed me up a few big bottles of Gatorade, some odds and ends, and here," turning, he dug into the work pocket of his shirt and offered Double Dee a bottle. Within it rattled a few pills.

"What are these?"

"Pain pills. He said only to give a half of one every four hours. That that would help his pain."

Dubiously, Edd looked at the small bottle, and then sighed. "Very well. We do what we must in this situation."

"Yeah," Eddy grumbled as he walked over to stand at the foot of the bed. He gazed down at his unconscious friend for a very long time without speaking. For a little while, all he could do was shake his head. "Our last year in school and they're gonna kill him," he growled out before putting his hand upon his forehead and shoving his bangs back slowly. "We gotta tell."

"I know, but we promised. And what can we do? You know I despise this situation, but it only escalated two years ago. If we can just get him to survive this last year, then surely we'll be able to do something… rent an apartment, perhaps."

"Yeah," Eddy grumbled as he walked back over to the desk. He sank down into the chair and kicked his feet up onto the surface as he checked his watch. "It's nearly ten-thirty, I'll watch over him tonight, Double Dee, you go home and get some rest when you're ready. I'll stay with him tomorrow and maybe by Monday, he'll be up and going again."

"Will you call me if anything changes for the worse?"

"You know I will," Eddy said. His voice was tired. He'd had a long day of work at the construction site. It was a job he had gotten when he was a sophomore in high school, and the owner of the company, a man just beyond middle age by the name of Al, had taken to Eddy and immediately tucked him under his wing. He saw potential and strength in the loud-mouthed young man and put all that energy into teaching him the trade. "A trade is what you want, young man," Al had told him as he put him on the lowest run of the ladder. "Work your way up, you work hard, and by the time you're my age; you'll be able to enjoy your retirement."

The work was hard, but the money was great. He was able to easily afford all the things he had desired as a kid. And then some. By the time school had ended their junior year, he was paying the mortgage for his parent's house without feeling the financial pain of it. Whenever there was something he and his friends wanted to do, he was the one who paid for it. It felt good to be a man and he took to it well. Much to Double Dee's delight and surprise, Eddy had grown into a good man. Still loud, still boisterous and headstrong, but a good man.

"At least tomorrow is Thursday," Double Dee said as he turned his face to Ed. "I'll bring home assignments, he's doing so well, and I don't want him to lose that streak. His test is next Wednesday; I'll have a talk with his math teacher and explain what happened. If Ed isn't mentally up for the challenge, I want him to understand and to give him an opportunity to test when he is able."

"Yeah," Eddy said.

"Have you eaten?" Double Dee asked. "I have lasagna at home. I'd be glad to bring you a plate."

Eddy mulled that over for a long moment. "Yeah, I could eat," he said. "We ran late tonight because we're almost finished with building. We're breaking ground in a new location pretty soon so we're busting to try to get finished up."

"As long as it is done correctly," Edd said as he rose. "I'll be back, I don't know if Sarah has eaten either, I'll make sure she gets something if need be."

"You're such a mother hen, Double Dee."

Edd paused in the bedroom doorway before chuckling once. "If I wasn't, then who'd be?"

"Good point."