How to Run From the Mess You Made; Munson Edition
When Eddie took a chance and ran into the middle of bat swarm, he was almost positive it would be a suicide mission. Henderson wasn’t too far behind him, screaming, begging for him to not make this stupid mistake. But this was Eddie’s moment, surely.
No more running.
No more pain and suffering.
No more guilt.
The guilt that had been eating away at his brain, plaguing his thoughts with nothing but flashes of Chrissy being crumpled like a ragdoll in his uncle’s living room. He didn’t care what the others said to him; he was the reason for her death. If he had been more vigilant instead of digging around for his stash then she would still be here. He was sure of it.
That’s why, when the bats won the battle he knew he was losing, he didn’t try to fight. Lying on the dead grass of the Upside Down, Eddie twiched and screamed out in pain, but he didn’t attempt to push them away.
This was his fate.
He couldn’t run away from the inevitable.
— — —
“Guys, he’s awake!” Henderson?
Where was he- Why was he? Eddie didn’t think he would survive the demo-bats ripping away his flesh, but here he was. Letting out a groan, he struggled to sit up in the (hospital?) bed and comfortablely adjust himself before everyone was running into the room.
Eddie wanted nothing more than to be around familiar faces, but suddenly the room felt too cramped, and his eyes darted around as he seemingly struggled to remember them. But then-
“Let him breathe, guys. He’s been to hell and back, literally.” Nancy! He could never forget her voice, let alone her protectiveness to him that came naturally. She walked over to him, her hands on the bed rails and a small smile on her lips.
Eddie took note of the bruises and cuts that littered her face and frowned a bit, reaching out to touch them. Only then did he notice the IVs sticking out of his scarred hand. So he was definitely in some kind of hospital; noted.
That didn’t help to soothe any of his anxieties. Eddie already didn’t trust the government, but being in a place like this meant they knew his classification. And not the one his fake I.D. said, but his true classification.
“- and that’s how you ended up here, for the most part. Does that help tie up any loose ends?”
Nancy had been talking this whole time?! Eddie knew he was known for zoning out, but when had her lips begun moving? He just nodded, shrugging a little and acting as if he hadn’t been having a mini freakout over being in a hospital.
“Yeah. Yeah, no worries.” It hurt to talk, and for once, Eddie didn’t go off on a useless tangent. Nancy gave him a quirked eyebrow and a knowing glance, but didn’t say anything about his curt reply.
The rest of their allotted visit time consisted of Dustin rambling about fuck all and Lucas going back and forth between his room and Max’s. Word was that she still hadn’t woken up.
Poor Sinclair…
Eddie was in and out of sleep during it all, barely catching any of the overlapping conversations. It was a little overwhelming, to say the least, and his skin felt off putting (and not because chunks of it weren’t on his body and instead in the belly of a demo-bat).
Nancy somehow managed to catch his attempts to be subtle at pulling the ends of his hair, and she knew. She always knew. He tried to give her a shaky smile, but it must’ve come off as a grimace because she only gave him a sigh.
“Alright, guys, I think we need to let Eddie get his beauty sleep. C’mon now, out the door. Half in my car, half in Steve’s.” Eddie’s mouth went dry at the mention of Steve. He was here?
Eddie wanted to say that his infatuation with him had started during the Upside Down but he couldn’t lie to himself. Freshman Steve with his poofy hair and his prissy attitude had Eddie wrapped around his finger.
“H-Harrington… Where is he? I- He didn’t come in.”
“Yeah, he’s a douche!” Dustin rolled his eyes as he slung his backpack over his shoulders, filled with future campaigns he had come up with while Eddie was in the first few days of recovery. “Said something about ‘needing to watch over Max’, or whatever. I bet he’s off sucking face with some nurse around here.”
Dustin’s air quotes and his annoyed tone brought a genuine smile out of Eddie, and he even let out a raspy laugh. “Leave it to Harrington to find a way to get into someone’s pants fresh out of a near-apocalypse. Couldn’t even say hello to his old buddy?”
“Since when have you and Steve been friends?”
“Since I helped him and Nancy get back together. Eddie Munson is a total expert at love.”
“Me and Steve are not together, Pickle. Stop telling people that!”
Eddie groaned in embarrassment, sinking further into the pillows and staring daggers at Nancy. “I’ll stop telling everyone you and Harrington are back together when you stop calling me that childish nickname! We were like, 7!”
“I’m the childish one?! You and Dustin have been squawking about that nerdy role-playing game since you opened your eyes!”
Dustin watched the two bicker, confused at how their voices were loud but there was no real heat behind their words. “You guys are weird.”
Both Eddie and Nancy stopped mid-conversation and looked at each other for a hot second before bursting out in laughter and whatever it was they were laughing about floated right over his head.
“Whatever, man. I’m gonna go find Steve.”
As he left the room, Nancy’s face shifted into something more serious, and the room got stuffy all of a sudden. She got closer to his bed rails once again, this time taking his hand in hers and running her fingers along the scabs.
“You’re gonna be okay in here? I know hospitals aren’t your thing. We were all worried when you and Max didn’t wake up.”
Eddie gave her a wave of his hand. He’d be fine, surely. “Don’t worry about me, Nance, I’m doing just fine. But it’s, uh, nice to know you guys felt something towards me. I basically infiltrated your guy’s friend group…” He trailed off, mumbling something under his breath.
“What was that, Pickle?” Nancy teased, her hands trailing up and down Eddie’s arms, mapping out the damage the bats had done.
“Don’t-” He laughed, turning to face her again. “I just said it was a relief, y’know, knowing you still care about me. I thought all of that stuff stopped when you fell in with the highest of the social triarchy that was the popular kids of Hawkins High.”
“Eddie, you didn’t really think I’d just abandon you like that, right? I will admit that I’ve made a few mistakes and hung out with the wrong crowd but I never stopped caring.”
“Freak finds out the Princess still cares about him; dies from initial shock.” He cracked a smile, it only getting bigger when Nancy rolled her eyes.
“Nance, c’mon!” Steve. “I’ve already got half in my car and these parents don’t need to worry about their kids more than they already do. Mrs. Henderson has called the hospital five times.”
“Oh! Right, right, I’m coming!” She bent down to kiss Eddie’s forehead, giving him a warm smile. “Please don’t cause a problem for the nurses, whatever they say, go with it.”
“Sure, as long as they don’t try sticking a needle in me; Eddie doesn’t do needles.”
She let out a laugh, grabbing her purse before walking over to the doorway where Steve was standing impatiently.
“The freak, Nance, really?”
Ah. Nice to know he hadn’t changed a bit.
— — —
Sometime after the gang had all left Eddie fell asleep again. What a surprise. But when he woke up, the sounds of nurses talking in hushed voices by his door, he made a horrific discovery. He, Eddie Munson, was wet.
Now normally he wouldn’t panic over something like this. Back at Wayne’s trailer this was a common occurrence (those stains on his mattress came from somewhere). But here? At a public hospital where he couldn’t do anything for himself?
He was just asking to get laughed at.
Which is precisely why he didn’t make note of his accident, but instead tried to act nonchalant when one of the nurses came closer. “Eddie,” she said with a pinched smile, laying a hand on his shoulder, “you need a change, dear.”
There goes his whole ‘calm and collected’ persona.
He ducked his head down and mumbled something of confirmation. The room was tense as the thin sheet was pulled away, along with his dignity. He could tell she was trying to be understanding, but come on.
It’s not every day a 20 year old pisses the bed. And like, yeah, he knows some Littles struggle with this kind of thing, but he doesn’t like being labeled as one who does.
Hell, he doesn’t even like being labeled as a Little at all!
His eyes were staring at the ceiling the entire time she wiped him down, saying something about being glad they put a sheet down but Eddie didn’t listen to anything except for when he heard the telltale signs of crinkling.
“Woah, woah- Wait!” He almost launched himself out of the bed, holding his arms out to prevent her from going any further. “I can control myself just fine. This was just a, uh, slip-up.”
“But sir-“ she started, but Eddie shut her right up.
“I said I’m fine! Just- I can do the rest from here. Leave, please.” His patience was running thin, and he was close to losing his shit. Thankfully, she retreated back into the hallway and let him pull his sweatpants back up.
Huh. Sweatpants. In a hospital.
They were embroidered with H. L. on them, and Eddie’s mind was still too fuzzy to try and figure out what it meant. For now he was content with leaning back against his pillows and letting out a shaky breath of- of whatever he was feeling.
Even though he had just woken up, he couldn’t wait for sleep to take him back again. The tension had left the room, but only to be replaced with embarrassment. How fun.
— — —
The next morning Nancy arrived bright and early, a duffel bag next to her and a smile on her face when Eddie’s eyes cracked open.
“Eddie! I was tempted to just shake you awake if you didn’t get up soon!” She came closer and sat her hands on the bed rails, something Eddie was already getting used to.
“You painted them,” he said softly, taking note of the cherry red polish that was on her nails. She looked down at them and smiled.
“Yeah. I did. Holly and I were bored last night and most of the town’s power has been finicky, so we used what we had to keep ourselves occupied. My mom sends gifts.” She walked back over to the duffel bag and pulled out a foil tin full of muffins.
Banana and chocolate chip; Eddie’s favorite.
He reached out for the tin but she shook her head sadly, putting them in a mini fridge Eddie was pretty sure was for the nurses before returning to the side of the bed. “You haven’t been cleared to eat chocolate and that sort of stuff yet.”
He groaned, rolling his eyes and flopping back into the pillows. “Then why would you show me them?! Now they’re gonna be the only thing on my mind!”
Eddie missed breakfast with his irregular sleeping schedule getting in the way, and the smell of chocolate still lingering in the room was making his mouth water. Nancy was gonna be the death of him.
“I know, I know, but think about it! When you get better then you’ll have a little something waiting as a sort of, uh-“ she paused, trying to think of something, “a- a treat! Yeah! It’ll be a treat to congratulate you on your first step through recovery!”
Okay, so maybe it was somewhat sweet, but Eddie still wanted a muffin.
He mumbled out something along the lines of a thanks and slumped further into the pillows, the faint pain all along his body something he could focus on instead of Nancy.
Nancy who was currently checking all of his machines like she was the nurse. The sounds of beeping could be heard as she fiddled with knobs and whispered information to herself.
“Nance you don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself just fine.” He loved her, honest to whatever God out there, but she could be a little bit of a helicopter cousin (was that even a term?).
“Oh hush,” she quipped back, continuing to check all his charts, “I’m only trying to help you. Speaking of which… Have you been letting yourself relax recently?”
Eddie went red, turning his head to give her a glare with no real malice behind it. He didn’t enjoy talking about that with anyone, let alone her.
“No. I- I don’t need to do it, anyways. Especially after this whole Vecna thing, y’know? I just need to focus on healing.”
He was trying to sound smart, responsible, even, but Nancy saw right through his excuse. “Yeah, sure. But you can heal and regress at the same time, Eddie. It’s in your natural biology, so technically it would be beneficial for your health.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. The doctors tell me once every blue moon when I make an appointment” He waved it off, opting to sit up to have this talk. “But the thing is, I don’t want to. And nothing anyone says can get me to do it voluntarily. I’ll just wait till I drop.”
“Eddie. Seriously?” She gave him a disappointed look, and suddenly his words didn’t feel so well thought out anymore.
“Well- Well I mean I could! Don’t hold me against refusing or something!” He was grabbing at loose ends here… “I just don’t feel that urge, y’know?!”
She sighed, walking back over to her seat. “Well when you get this ‘urge’ (were the air quotes really necessary?) get back to me, okay? Being little in a hospital can’t be fun.”
He gave her a small nod, looking down at his scarred fingers. Yeah, he’d get right on that immediately. All he has to do is get past the mental block that keeps him from even attempting to regress. No problem. Easy peasy.
How the hell was he gonna do this?