it’s my wedding anniversary! and I’m stuck at work in the ER. Have some fluff!
***
It was pretty fucked up that Eddie knew the emergency room well enough now that he didn’t need to ask for directions when the front desk lady told him Steve was in room 17.
When he got there, half a dozen people in scrubs were already clearing out of the room. Eddie’s eyes spotted blood on the floor and his stomach curdled.
“Are you Steven’s husband?”
Eddie’s eyes found a woman in scrubs stepping out of the room behind, he assumed, all the doctors. She had a kind expression.
“I’m his boyfriend?” he said, more than a little confused.
“Oh! The way he was talking I thought you were married!” she laughed. “You can come in. He’s been asking for you.”
Eddie shoved down a wave of misplaced guilt. He’d gotten here as fast as he could. “Thanks,” he said as he stepped into the room.
Steve was on the bed, a sheet covering everything but his bare left leg. There was blood on the sheets, too, and a white cast on his foot.
“He’s still loopy from the sedation, but he’ll be happy to see you. I’ll be back in a few minutes with some paperwork for you,” the nurse said before exiting briskly.
“Eddie?” Steve called. His voice was sleep-rough. One hand waved feebly.
Eddie smiled softly, taking that hand and crouching next to the bed so his face was close to Steve’s. “Hey baby,” he crooned.
Steve turned his head, grin dopey. “There you are. I saved you a seat,” he said nonsensically.
Eddie chuckled. “Thank you, baby. You’re always thinking of me, aren’t you?”
“‘Course.” Steve’s eyes were glassy, but they were busy moving across Eddie’s features, something like awe in his expression. “I’m sorry you had to leave work,” he said.
Eddie shook his head with a smile. “Don’t worry about it, baby boy. I’ll always be here when you need me, ok? Work can suck my left nut.”
Steve grinned. “Nah, that’s just for me. And the right nut. And your dick. And your nip-“
Eddie laughed, something warm unwinding in his chest that felt like relief, as he covered Steve’s mouth with the hand not holding his. “Oh my god, shut up. Why do you start talking about dick every time you have to get sedated.”
Eddie let up his hand so Steve could talk. “I do get sedated a lot. Like, a weird amount.”
“You’ve had a rough year, haven’t you baby. First you broke your wrist, then the kidney stones, then the appendix, now your ankle…”
“This is what I get for turning 32,” Steve said, rolling his head dramatically.
“You’re falling apart. It’s all downhill from here. Lucky you have this nubile young stud to take care of you in your old age,” Eddie teased.
“You’re 14 months older than me, jackass,” Steve said. He giggled, and Eddie could tell he was still feeling the effects of the pain medication. That was good. He needed them.
“And yet you’re the one wracking up the hospital bills. Four surgeries in one year. If you’re going for a record, babe, there’s better ways to do it.”
That made Steve giggle again. His cheeks were flushed and even in an ER bed spattered with blood, IV in his arm, giddy on morphine, he was still the most beautiful thing Eddie had ever seen. He still couldn’t believe sometimes he got to have him.
Steve rolled his head on his pillow and then met Eddie’s eyes again with a crooked smile. “Best year of my life.”
Eddie shook his head. “Because of all the drugs?”
Steve laughed. “No. Because I’ve had you.”
That made Eddie smile. “You are ridiculous.”
“But it works for me.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Hey, Eddie,” Steve said, leaning in like he had a secret to tell. “I think I told the nurse you’re my husband.”
Eddie laughed. “Yea, she told me.”
Steve waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “What do you think about that?”
Eddie blinked, his own eyebrows shooting up his forehead. “Steven Marie Harrington, if this is your way of asking me to marry you-“
“What if I am?” Steve’s grin was dopey.
Eddie stared back at him for a few long seconds. Then he leaned back on his heels, trying to look nonchalant and fighting a grin he couldn’t stop. “Ask me again when you’re not high on morphine. And there better be a ring.” He tapped his fingers on the sheet, bouncing a little. “And no prenup! I want those millions, old man.”
Steve laughed, taking his hand back from Eddie and swiping a hand over his face. “Jesus christ, I’m high.”
Eddie had stood up, crossed his arms over his chest and bounced on his toes, feeling like he needed to run a few laps around the hospital, shout to everyone that Steve Harrington, a literal fucking angel come to earth, wanted to marry him.
Steve sighed and lifted his head weakly to look down at his casted foot. “Hey, Eddie,” he said again.
Eddie sighed, shoved his hands in his pockets. How could he be expected to carry on a conversation right now? He was gonna get married. He was gonna be a husband. Eddie Munson was going to be Eddie Harrington. “Yes, Steve?”
“You shoulda seen my foot. It was off to the side. There was bone sticking out and everything. I made Dustin get a picture.”
“Yea, you’re not allowed on the roof anymore.”