[ the plastic crunching noise does feel a bit foreign, given the hypnotic sort of hum they've gathered around themselves, but steve can't find it in himself to be too thrown off. the comfort wouldn't be good, that distant hope that whatever peace it is they've built for themselves might be dangerous. they're not out of the woods yet. they make it around a bend and steve chances another glance in eddie's direction, gesturing down with his chin towards the bag at eddie's feet. ]
There's another in there if you're still thirsty. Food too. [ and no, eddie, for the love of god do not make fun of him right now. then he's sitting back, back to driving, back to listening to eddie explain what he is pretty sure is damn near impossible, and yet...
he's getting tired of thinking the impossible is actually impossible. and maybe, this once, he'll just have to be okay with it. with the fact that this worked. with the fact that eddie is-
part of steve seizes up, panics, almost slams the car to a stop just because he needs to reach over and make sure that eddie munson is still breathing. it catches him off-guard, the sudden need to double-check, but then eddie is speaking about being revivi-whatevered and sounds dismissive and exhausted and steve doesn't really blame him. nothing they are going to talk about here will change anything, they're not going to find venca or fix hawkins or wake max up. all they can do, really, is getting eddie back. get him cleaned up, let him sleep, maybe feed him a little more. steve tries to hide how that moment of panic is still rattling somewhere behind his ribcage, tries to breathe normally as they drive, and then there is the question. the one that has steve wincing, the one that has him sighing.
because the truth is - he doesn't know about red. none of them do. he sat at the hospital for hours with lucas and erica and dustin. he did what he could with the parents, explaining what happened, pushing off nurses who tried to look too closely at his neck. dustin, who had just finished sobbing. lucas, who couldn't stop. it makes steve's skin crawl, thinking about her in that bed, thinking about any of those kids in that room. and after billy- ]
She's alive. [ steve says, his eyes still to the road in front of them. his words are clipped, stern, almost like he's trying to convince himself as much as eddie. ] But she's not... [ he bites into his lip, tries to swallow back the tightness in his chest, that very same guilt that steve just can't quite shake. ] The doctors said she's in some kind of coma. She's breathing, still, but hasn't woken up yet. They're not sure when she will.
[ if she will, he doesn't add. they're getting close to his place, just another couple of miles. suddenly, the car is feeling a little too small. suddenly, he misses the rv. ]
no subject
There's another in there if you're still thirsty. Food too. [ and no, eddie, for the love of god do not make fun of him right now. then he's sitting back, back to driving, back to listening to eddie explain what he is pretty sure is damn near impossible, and yet...
he's getting tired of thinking the impossible is actually impossible. and maybe, this once, he'll just have to be okay with it. with the fact that this worked. with the fact that eddie is-
part of steve seizes up, panics, almost slams the car to a stop just because he needs to reach over and make sure that eddie munson is still breathing. it catches him off-guard, the sudden need to double-check, but then eddie is speaking about being revivi-whatevered and sounds dismissive and exhausted and steve doesn't really blame him. nothing they are going to talk about here will change anything, they're not going to find venca or fix hawkins or wake max up. all they can do, really, is getting eddie back. get him cleaned up, let him sleep, maybe feed him a little more. steve tries to hide how that moment of panic is still rattling somewhere behind his ribcage, tries to breathe normally as they drive, and then there is the question. the one that has steve wincing, the one that has him sighing.
because the truth is - he doesn't know about red. none of them do. he sat at the hospital for hours with lucas and erica and dustin. he did what he could with the parents, explaining what happened, pushing off nurses who tried to look too closely at his neck. dustin, who had just finished sobbing. lucas, who couldn't stop. it makes steve's skin crawl, thinking about her in that bed, thinking about any of those kids in that room. and after billy- ]
She's alive. [ steve says, his eyes still to the road in front of them. his words are clipped, stern, almost like he's trying to convince himself as much as eddie. ] But she's not... [ he bites into his lip, tries to swallow back the tightness in his chest, that very same guilt that steve just can't quite shake. ] The doctors said she's in some kind of coma. She's breathing, still, but hasn't woken up yet. They're not sure when she will.
[ if she will, he doesn't add. they're getting close to his place, just another couple of miles. suddenly, the car is feeling a little too small. suddenly, he misses the rv. ]