Lazarus Drug, Part Seventeen
Summary:
A brilliant high school chemistry teacher with a terminal illness.
A former smuggler desperate to keep his boyfriend around longer.
A criminal seizing the opportunity to reconnect with his best friend the only way he knows how.
A scam artist down on his luck who gets more than he bargained for.
Stede gets lung cancer. A few months shy of his forty-eighth birthday, he’s told he might not make it to his fiftieth. What happens next is a natural response to this.
(this is a breaking bad au) Read Part 17 HERE.
Or read from the beginning HERE.
Chapter Preview:
The week following the death of the man who provided half of his genetic material, Stede’s in good spirits. They even have the kids over, and Stede manages to pull himself out of the bedroom to come and play Mario Kart in the lounge, and they order takeaway, and it’s all great.
But by the time ten days have passed, Stede’s feeling drained again. He barely has the energy to sit up in bed and Wee John suggests a hospital bed, which Stede absolutely shoots down because no thank you, Ed cuddles at night are a necessity and they picked out this bed together –
Two weeks after his father’s delightful passing, Ed starts acting shifty.
Then one day, Ed has Wee John come over, says, “I’m popping out,” and leaves, just like that.
If he wasn’t spending so much time sleeping, Stede would have more time to worry. As it happens, he dozes for long so, the sun has set by the time he’s woken by Wee John.
“Ed wanted me to wake you up,” Wee John says apologetically, using the many pillows they’ve accumulated to help support him.
Stede sleepily rubs at his eyes and yawns. “That’s fine,” he says. “Where is he?”
“On his way back,” Wee John assures him, double-checking the oxygen before leaving the room.
Sipping at the tea keeps him awake until he hears the telltale sound of the front door opening. Then he hears Ed bounding up the stairs. He appears in the doorway, hair wild, a little out of breath. There’s a nervous energy about him. “Hey,” he says. There’s a backpack slung over his shoulder. “Have a good sleep?” He approaches the bed and puts the bag down before sitting down in the chair he’s started keeping by the bed.
“You know it,” Stede says, peering curiously at the backpack. “Where have you been?” he asks.
