It was a fucking miracle that Eddie survived the upside down. He stopped breathing a couple of times, had lost more blood than Steve even thought was in a whole person.
Hawkins was a fucking shambles and the hospital wasn't any better, so a lot of protocols had gone straight out of the window. When they asked Steve, still covered in blood and upside down, what his name was, he'd told them. The Beta nurse had scribbled Steve's name down as Eddie's next of kin and in the thick of it all, absolutely no one questions it.
Been nearly two weeks on life support, covered in wires and machines and a tube down his throat to breath for him. Two surgeries, stealing skin off his thighs and ass to keep his guts in.
But Eddie is alive. And it still says Steve's name at the top of Eddie's notes, even if Wayne has told them he's Eddie's uncle and he's been trading off with Steve to keep watch over Eddie.
Which is why when a doctor pulls Steve aside to talk about Mr. Munson, Steve's kind of used to it and Wayne let's it slide since he can't be there as much as Steve, anyway.
"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, Mr. Harrington," and Steve starts to panic, but tries not to since he saw Eddie two minutes ago and knows he's doing pretty well, all things considered, "because of all the damage, it's very unlikely your Omega will ever carry a pup to term."
Steve sits. He sits hard.
"We haven't informed him as yet, he's still quite delicate. I wasn't sure if you felt the news may be better coming from you?"
Eddie's an Omega.
The newbie doctor standing in front of Steve thinks that Eddie is his Omega.
Eddie probably won't ever be able to have pups.
Steve drifts back to Eddie's room without really answering. He sits and watches Dustin and Eddie play cards. They look at him, now and then, because Steve has no clue what he must scent like but...fuck.
Eddie. Eddie who Steve left alone in the upside down is an Omega. Eddie who's managed to hide his designation this whole time. Eddie, who must be coated in hospital standard blockers right now...which makes sense. The scent of a distressed Omega in pain would fuck up every Alpha on this floor of the hospital, so standard practice with blockers makes sense; helping to hide Eddie's secret.
And now Eddie probably can't ever have pups. And that's probably Steve's fault.
"Hey, Steve, man, what's...what's up?". Dustin. Standing right in front of Steve and Steve has no fucking idea what to do except he knows he needs to face up to this.
"Can I get some time with Eddie? Just us?"
Dustin looks like he's about to argue and give them both shit, but there must be a look on Steve's face or something in his voice or something in his scent, so Dustin doesn't. Packs up his shit and very carefully hugs Eddie goodbye.
And Steve's got no fucking idea what to do or say once they're alone, so he finds himself perching on the edge of Eddie's bed, holding his hand. And sure, Eddie lets him, but he's also looking at their joined hands and then looking at Steve like he's lost his damn mind.
"The, the ah, doctor, they still think I'm next of kin, your, uhm, your Alpha."
Eddie, slowly and carefully, pulls his hand out of Steve's, watching with wide eyes, frozen, like he doesn't know what to expect. Like this could go any way. Like people who know Eddie's secondary gender haven't reacted too well in the past.
Steve swallows thickly, "they don't think you'll be able to have pups, Eddie."
Eddie plays with his own fingers in lieu of his absent rings. "Oh," he says, and then starts to cry. Covers his face for a moment and sobs a broken noise, but just as Steve reaches out for him, tries to offer comfort, Eddie pulls his hands away and straightens up. He wipes his face abruptly, "doesn't matter, probably never have any anyway. Never going find a mate," Eddie shrugs, "doesn't matter."
"Why?"
Eddie scoffs, still crying and wiping at his leaking nose, "come on Steve, if there's a diametric opposite to a good Omega, it's me."
"Well...maybe no Alpha even gets a chance to change your mind if they don't even know you're an Omega, Eddie."
Eddie just scoffs again.
"This is my fault -"
"Don't," Eddie snaps at him, "everything I do I choose to do, this is not your fault."
"Yeah, but-"
"What? If you'd known I was an Omega you wouldn't have let me go? Don't you fucking dare! I chose! It's up to me what I do, and maybe shit like this is the exact reason I hide!"
Steve holds his hands up in defeat, at least Eddie is angry enough to have stopped crying. His lashes are still damp though, and the anger has brought the first colour to Eddie's skin that Steve's seen for weeks. Steve always thought Eddie was pretty; at least now maybe he knows why.
Now is not the moment to say that to Eddie though, but maybe, maybe later. Maybe now it's all over. Maybe once Eddie's back on his feet.
"Stop fucking staring at me, Okay! I'm still just Eddie! This doesn't mean anything, nothing has changed."
"Right," Steve says, "no, of course. I won't tell anyone." That seems to appease Eddie, at least.
Enough that when Steve reaches his hand across the bed again, Eddie starts playing with Steve's fingers other than his own.
