#where the doctor will prescribe you cigarettes and call you slurs

[houseswife]

House MD makes for a way more interesting Sherlock adaptation than any other because it truly explores the depths of the character’s potential as a rude, selfish sociopath by making him American

[ericka-writes]

broken bones (shredded soul) // one

Summary: It's been seven hundred and sixty five days and Eddie Kaspbrak can't help but think if he's going to die in this room.

It's been one thousand and one hundred forty seven days since he saw Richie Tozier and he still loves him just the same.

Pairing/s: Reddie, side Stanlon and Benverly 

Word Count: 2,658

Read it on Ao3

It was cold and dark. He was laying in a bed that was unfamiliar yet it made him feel so uneasy. The place was eerily silent that it was as if the air in this tiny room was suffocating him. He wanted to sit up but he couldn't move his body. He can feel his heart beating rapidly against his chest. He shut his eyes tightly, trying his best to calm down. A heavy weight dropped itself on his chest, making it harder for him a breathe. Suddenly, a shriek filled the atmosphere. The voice made his blood run cold, he didn't know what to do. He was trapped, caged inside his own body. He yelled and yelled but no sound came out of his mouth.

"What do you think you're doing, Eddie?" the voice slurred, "Thinking of going back to that rascal? No. You're going to stay here, with me."

Eddie. That was his name.

"He's bad influence, Edward. He infected you with his disease. Not to worry, The doctors will fix you."

Eddie. No, that's not his name.

"You know what will happen if you go back to those miscreants, Eddie-bear. Listen to me."

No No No No No

"Don't worry, Eddie. When I come back, you'll be good as new. Its okay, you'll be okay."

His eyes were already open when the loud buzzing interrupted the silence he was surrounded by. A few minutes after that, keys jingling to open the door was the noise that occupied his ears. His eyes slowly trailed towards the door, meeting the eyes of the nurse he had ever since he can remember. Dianne was her name, she had dark curly that she likes to tie into a messy bun. She's thirty two years old; twelve years older than him and she insists on treating him like a baby.

"Hey, Stranger." she greeted him with a smile, something he didn't return. It made Dianne's warm grin fall, making him feel guilty. With a sigh, she placed the tray of food she was holding on his bedside table and sat by the foot of the small bed. She gave him a small smirk and asked, "How about a little game, yeah?"

He was silent for a moment, then he nodded. Knowing his competitive side, it made her smile as she counted it as a success on getting him to do something productive for the day. Starting with something easy, she asked "How about you tell me what you remember?"

He was still, not knowing what to say. He racked his brain for anything that he could remember before finally saying, "My name is Eddie, I'm twenty years old."

Dianne hummed before asking "Is that all?" Eddie wanted to say no; he wanted to tell her about his dreams, the shrill voice, the feeling of drowning but instead, he settled with "I remember strawberries and cigarettes." making her smile widely.

"Strawberries and cigarettes, huh? Think you used to smoke?" Dianne lightly teased him before standing up, taking the tray of food and settling it on his lap. The tray consisted of a banana, a small packet of bread, some eggs, a water bottle and the small cup that had his medicines. Eddie sighed, "I highly doubt that."

"Come on, cheer up a little. Dr. Green told me he has something important to tell you." she said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Who?" he mumbled as he sat up, rubbing the exhaustion out of his eyes. Dianne eyed him before sighing , "Dr. Green, honey. He's in charge of the whole hospital."

"Wash up afterwards then head on to his office, okay?" she called out as she walked out the door, leaving Eddie alone.

With him all alone, it gave him the time to think about what could Dr. Green possibly want from him. He was a quiet patient, not like the others who would cause such a ruckus. He can be trusted to take him medicines and be left alone, so Eddie was just confused why would the head of the hospital want to see him. The only time he ever saw the doctor was seven months ago, when Eddie had woken up from a therapy they tried out. From what he could gather, his old doctor was an asshole and did the method wrong so as a result, he fell into a coma and woke up with no memory of his life before that day. Sometimes, he wonders why he's even in this hospital. He doesn't look like a lunatic nor does he act or think like one but then again, that is what a crazy person would say.

After his breakfast, he cleaned himself up and walked towards Dr. Green's office. He knocked softly on the door, opening it when he heard a 'come in'. He peaked in before entering the room, walking towards the doctor. He wasn't alone. A woman was seated on the chair beside him, She looked well put together; her hair in a neat ponytail and a briefcase right beside her. The doctor stood up, " Eddie, this is Mrs. Gomez. Mrs. Gomez, this is Eddie Kaspbrak."

Eddie reached forward to shake the woman's hand. He sat down as Dr. Green pointed on the chair behind him.

Green looked at him and said, "Do you remember when you woke up from your therapy seven months ago? We told you that the doctor assigned to you did the procedure wrong causing your body to react so badly that you fell into a coma." when he nodded, the doctor continued "And you lost all of your memories because of it, yes?" he nodded again "Eddie, the truth is you've been checked into this facility three years ago. Your mother insisted that you needed proper treatment because you've been infected by some kids back in your hometown. A doctor named Henrik Weltch checked on you" He handed him a picture of the man, "Do you remember him?"

"Stay still, you little faggot. Your mother paid me good money and I intend on getting more of it."

"No." Eddie said, shaking his head hastily.

With a sigh, the doctor continued "Well, your mother and Weltch happen to be friends with the same mind, she paid him a lot of money and in return, he would do these methods on you, treatments, shock therapy to be exact, and medicines that weren't prescribed for you to take." the knowledge made him touch the scars on both his temples.

Eddie shook his head, "My mother insisted that I get treatment even when there isn't anything wrong with me? Why?"

Doctor Green looked at him with sympathy in his eyes, "We don't know for sure but we think its because she thought with the treatments she made Weltch do, you can convert back to your 'true-self' as your mother had put it. She thought with the medicine, you wouldn't be infected."

Eddie took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose "Correct me if I'm wrong but did my mother payed that man to torture me into turning straight?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Its a good thing we found out what he's been doing to you. We caught him and sent him to jail, where he deserves to be. And you would have been released seven months ago but we didn't want to risk your mother sending you into another facility. Not to worry now, It's not a problem anymore. Mrs. Gomez?" the doctor turned to the woman beside him.

"Hi, Eddie. I'm your mother's lawyer. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you but your mother died last week because of a heart attack."

He had a mother, and now she's dead. Eddie doesn't know if he should be happy or sad because his mother is dead. From what he's been hearing so far, his mother checked him into a mental health facility even though he's perfectly fine, she paid money for a guy to torture him and she wouldn't give a shit that the doctor was in jail already, she would willingly check him in another asylum. So, yeah, his mother sounds like a bitch and he doesn't know what to feel about that.

"This means everything she owns, according to her will, will be given to you. That means the house in Derry, Maine and everything that she owns; money, jewelry, everything. And I checked in with Doctor Green and he says that you do have G.A.D. but you don’t really have any major mental illnesses that we could consider you mentally incapable of deciding what's best for you so it would be okay for you to sign these." she finished handing him the documents and a pen to use. So, his mother is bitch but a rich bitch?

Eddie didnt know what to do, to say or to think but he knows one thing; he wanted to get the hell out of this place. So, He took the papers and signed.

He was packing up the very little things that he had when Dianne walked into his room.

"So, you're really leaving, huh?" she said with a sad smile on her lips "Im happy for you, really."

He sighed, "I don't even know where I'm going, Dianne. I don't know anything or anyone. I don't even know where I'm going to live. I'll probably be living in the streets after I leave." That's not exactly true, his mother did leave him a ton of money according to the Mrs. Gomez.

"Wait."she said before digging into his suitcase. She stopped when she saw a small green handbook, opening it and looking for something. "Aha!" she said, pointing at a page "Mike Hanlon, sounds legit. Come on, lets call him up." she tease, bumping her shoulder with his. He may hate this place, but he will surely miss Dianne. He stood up, closing his suitcase, and walking out of the room he occupied for three years.

They walked to the front desk, picking up his papers and calling 'Mike'. Dianne told him he should be the one to call the guy but he insisted that she talked to him instead. He felt uncomfortable talking to a guy he didn't know. As he anxiously waited for Dianne, he began to have a debate whether she should hang up on him or not.

Good Morning, this is Dianne from The Sisters of Merciful Angels. Is this Mr. Mike Hanlon?

Yeah Hi, This is him. How can i help you?

Sir, Do you know anyone named Eddie Kaspbrak?

um Eddie? yeah why?

Well, sir Would it be okay for you to pick him up? He's being released today and he doesn't really have a place to go.

.....

Sir?

What kind of game are you playing? Do you not have any respect?

I'm sorry, sir? i don't understand.

Eddie's been dead for three years. We know that, we had our peace with that. What do you think you'll get from this?

Sir, Im so sorry if i offended you on any sort but Mr. Kaspbrak is alive. He's been with us for the past three years. I don't know who told you that he's dead but he's alive and well. Would you like to talk to him?

Can I talk to him?

Of course, sir. Please keep in mind that he's gone through a lot and he doesn't remember anything from the last twenty years. He doesn't remember you as well.

Okay.

Dianne turned to him, "He wants to talk to you" his eyes widened, slowly talking the phone with his shaky hands. He cleared his throat before saying "Hello?"

Eddie?

Um, Mr. Hanlon, I would understand if you don't wa-

Oh my god, Eddie, It is you.

Um, yeah, its me.

I don't understand, Sonia said you were dead. She said you had cancer or some shit?

Who's Sonia? Oh wait, my mother. Right.

Yeah. Where are you? Ill pick you up.

Uh, talk to Dianne

And with that, he gave the phone to Dianne. As it turns out, Mike was four hours away, being in New York.

Dianne told me that they were in Boston, How in the hell did he end up in Boston?

Hours have passed, Dianne did her best to check up on him but she had to work or else she'll get fired. The girl at the front desk turned on the radio at some point. After a hurricane of high pitched pop songs, the soft tune of an acoustic guitar filled the waiting room Eddie was sitting in. The voice was deep and a little rugged, it felt so familiar. He can feel his heart wanting to burst out of his chest. The song continued on, he can feel himself slip into oblivion.

Laughter; the atmosphere was filled with laughter and joy. It was new for Eddie to feel this way. It was odd because for the last seven months, all he dreamed about was that shrill voice and the emptiness he feels in his heart. He felt free, like he could fly along with the birds on the sky. He can move, feel the grass and dirt beneath his feet.

"Come on, Eds! Stop being a pussy!" A voice screamed at him, the voice was followed by a group of laughter. He turned towards the noise, wanting to see who was talking to him.

"Oh my fuck, Kaspbrak! Hurry up and jump already!" "Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!" "Come on! What a chicken!"

"Alright, you fuckers!" he took a deep breath and jump off the cliff, landing on the murky green water. He swam towards the surface, gasping for air. Arms wrapped around his waist and a wet kiss was placed on his cheek. "I knew you could do it, Eds!"

His vision was blurry, he couldn't see the boy in front of him. He squeezed his eyes shut before opening them again, desperate to see who was calling him that.

Eds. That was his name, not his real name of course but he wanted it to be. He didn't want to be Eddie, he didn't want complicated and pain. He didn't want the emptiness and demons that came with Eddie. He just wanted to stay there, in the arms of the boy who calls him Eds. He wanted the blissful feeling of peace and love. He just wanted to be Eds.

He woke up to a new song; it was loud and obnoxious, he feels like an old man for saying that. To pass some time, he decided to read the magazines placed on the coffee table in front of him. Halfway through his third magazine, the doors busted open causing Eddie to look up from his paper. A guy with dark skin and dark shrivelled hair came in with a curly headed guy right behind him. Their eyes searched the room until it landed on Eddie. It made him feel nervous but when the two of them came running towards him, he couldn't help himself from standing up to meet them halfway.

Arms were suddenly around him, hugging him so tight that he couldn't breathe but he did nothing to stop them. Both of the their smell hit him in the face, it made him smile. Tears streamed down his face, he didn't know why but he doesn't mind, they're crying as well. The guy with dark hair was the first to pull away, kissing his forehead again and again before hugging him tightly, he couldn't help but laugh.

He may not know these two, nor does he know the name of this guy that has kissed him so many times on his forehead but he couldn't bring himself to mind so much because with the pair of them crying softly against each his shoulder, he thinks that there might be a chance that he belongs perfectly with them.

He never felt more at home.