Disclaimer: I do not own Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy.

Bones and Promises

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2

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"This could've been the night, guys. I could have lost my virginity but instead I'm stuck in the emergency room with you two goons."

Edd doesn't give Eddy the satisfaction of getting angry. Instead, he folds his arms over his chest and huffs, watching the nurse's station to his left. "I would remind you that there are much more important and pressing matters going on right now, Eddy, but I know you do not care."

Edd doesn't have to look to know that Eddy is rolling his eyes. It's his standard, almost automatic response to most everything Edd says to him. Eddy doesn't reply, and the two of them watch Ed play with building blocks on the floor in silence. Crossing his legs, Edd watches the nurses again, tempted to go up and ask about Kevin, but he's already done that three times. He doesn't think much could have possibly changed in six minutes.

"It's almost ten-thirty, guys." Ed looks over the top of the pyramid he's building. "I have to be home at eleven."

"You still have a curfew?" Eddy spits the word like it's sour in his mouth. "We're legal adults, dude. We don't have to be home at any time."

"But my mom -"

"This seriously blows, though, Double D." Eddy twists to face him. "Why are we hanging around here? Let's just go."

One would think that Edd would be accustomed to Eddy's disregard for common courtesy, but Edd still finds it in himself to be surprised. "We cannot just abandon Kevin here! He's hurt and alone -"

"And that's so not our problem." Eddy fishes his hand into his pocket and pulls out his phone. "Look, you can spend the rest of your Friday night here if you want, but I'm bailing."

"Eddy, Kevin is our ..." Edd stops, unable to finish the sentence because he's not sure what word to use. They're not friends. They've never been friends, really. Neighbors. Childhood acquaintances. Even the few classes they shared in high school had never brought them together much. Kevin was in a whole other circle of friends; the sporty people, guys who rode motorcycles to school and hung out with cheerleaders at parties. Well, Edd assumed Kevin was the partying type; assumptions are all he really has. Ed, Edd, and Eddy were on a completely different side of that spectrum. Not nerds, not theater geeks, not likable class clowns. They weren't inherently disliked by any means, but they sure weren't popular. Kevin was. Is.

"Kevin is just Kevin, Double D. He's a big boy. His parents will be here soon. He doesn't need us." Eddy flicks his thumbs over the screen of his phone. "Jimmy will pick us up if you're determined to stay here."

"I am." Edd crosses his arms and leans back defiantly in his chair. He's not sure exactly what is keeping him here - because Eddy is right. Kevin is just Kevin. Nothing ties them together. But he can't just leave when an injured boy he's lived on the same block with for years is lying broken and hurt in the other room with no one else here to comfort him. He likes to think that any decent person would stay.

He has a passing thought that he tries to ignore, but it's present just long enough to make him frown - if it was him lying in a room with broken bones, would Kevin stick around to make sure he was okay?

Eddy shrugs, stands, and waves at Ed to join him. "Alright, dude. We'll see you tomorrow."

Edd gives a curt nod in acknowledgement as the two head for the doors. Ed gives him a wave before they exit.

He waits twenty minutes before approaching the nurse's station again. This time they do have news for him - Kevin is okay, his parents have been contacted, and if Edd wants to see him, he can. A kind, tired woman in scrubs leads him down a short hallway and bumps open a door with her hip, cradling a clipboard on the other. Racking her knuckles on the door, she says, "Honey, you up for a visitor?"

Edd arches up to his toes to see over the woman's shoulder. Kevin is propped up against a giant pillow, one arm in a sling. He's draped in a yellow blanket and he looks a little pale, and there's a dark bruise developing on his right cheekbone, but otherwise he seems fine, all things considered. Kevin meets Edd's eyes with a slight rise of his eyebrows, shrugging his good shoulder to answer the nurse's question.

She leaves, abandoning Edd in the threshold of the doorway. He's unconsciously rubbing one arm with one hand, staring openly at the boy on the bed. "Hi," Edd says, stepping further into the room. "How are you feeling?"

Kevin snorts, wincing as he tries to shift on the bed. Edd flutters over, about to advise him to lie still, but Kevin sinks into the pillow before he has a chance to say anything. "Like I just crashed my bike," Kevin replies through gritted teeth.

Edd perches carefully on an empty chair at Kevin's bedside, as if any sudden movements would somehow spook him. "What are your injuries?"

"Broken collarbone. Shattered kneecap." Kevin runs a hand along his left thigh. "Hurts like hell. They gave me some morphine, but shit, man." His head falls back against the pillow, fiery hair falling over his eyes. "This sucks."

"I can imagine." Edd frowns, looking down at his hands. "I have never broken a bone before. I err on the side of caution most of the time. Danger is something I avoid at all costs."

A smile crunches one corner of Kevin's mouth. Turning, he looks at Edd. "Weenie."

The word - moreso the tone, actually, that Kevin uses when he says it, not teasingly like one may have expected, but casually, almost affectionately - catches Edd off guard. He looks up, meeting Kevin's tired, hazy eyes. Kevin is probably so doped up he won't remember this conversation later, so Edd dismisses the word and its used tone. "I suppose that would be an appropriate description, yes."

Kevin's smile broadens for a few moments, disappearing when he tries to move again. Edd moves off of the chair, hands hovering over Kevin's side. The two meet eyes again, Kevin's questioning, Edd's concerned. "Lie still. I think that would be best," Edd says, dropping slowly to his seat once more.

"Yes, doctor." Kevin's eyes close, his chest rising and falling with choppy, pained breaths. "Oh, man. This morphine is making me nauseous."

"That is a normal reaction to a medication like that, I believe. Would you like me to call a nurse?"

Kevin shakes his head. His eyes open again and trail slowly to the side to find Edd. Under the fluorescent lights, the boy's eyes are a magnificent green. "Where are the other dorks?"

Edd is almost embarrassed to answer, but he doesn't think highly of lying, even if it is a matter of guarding one's feelings. Besides, he doesn't know if Kevin is even sensitive to that kind of thing. Clearing his throat, he says, "They waited for a while, but they decided that their presence was not needed."

Kevin accepts this with a nod, eyes squinting with their struggle to remain focused. "Why did you stay?"

Edd's mouth opens and closes of its own accord as he searches for the right words. "I felt ... uncomfortable just leaving you alone before your parents arrived."

A sigh escapes Kevin's pressed lips. "Parent. It's just me and my dad."

The information is a surprise to Edd. He hadn't known that Kevin's mother was apparently not in the picture. How had he never noticed that? "Ah, well, my reason remains the same. I like to think that a decent person would wait until someone better suited for comfort arrived."

Kevin's smile is back again. It's a dopey, dreamy kind of smile. Edd wonders just how much of this he's going to remember the next day. "You still talk like such a weirdo." He tries to laugh only for his face to twist into something terribly painful.

Edd is off his chair again, leaning close to Kevin's side. He touches the boy's uninjured arm. This close, Edd can see the spidery legs of the burst capillaries beneath Kevin's growing bruise. "Shh," Edd whispers, waiting until Kevin's expression softens. "Are you sure you do not require a nurse's attention?"

"Yeah." Kevin breathes slowly through his nose. "I'm fine."

Looking down at his hand on Kevin's arm, Edd slowly retracts it. Kevin watches silently. They stay like that for a moment, studying each other, until finally Edd falls back in his chair. Coughing into his shoulder, he lets his eyes travel around the brightly lit room.

The silence is eventually broken by Kevin. "This is so weird." When Edd looks at him quizzically, he continues, eyes blurry from the drugs. "This, you know. Like, I don't think I've actually talked to you since fifth grade."

Edd blinks, then nods. "The circumstances are a bit strange, yes. Would you prefer if I ... left?" Edd motions to the door.

To his surprise, Kevin shakes his head, almost vigorously, as if that is the last thing he wants. "No. Stay here until my dad comes." A moment passes before he adds a quiet "please" afterward, looking away.

"Of course, Kevin." Folding his hands together, Edd does his best not to act like he's so nervous - why he's nervous, exactly, is beyond him. Kevin wants him to stay, to keep him company. Isn't that what anyone would want in a situation like this? "Do you remember crashing?"

Kevin's eyes squint at the ceiling. "A little. I don't know. I was going around the curve in the road. Too fast, I guess. I don't remember hitting the ground, or landing in the ditch." His eyes narrow further. "Did one of you step on me?"

Edd isn't successful in smothering his laugh. "My apologies. That was Eddy."

A grin cracks Kevin's mouth wide, revealing the white pearls of his teeth behind them. "That clumsy loser."

This time, Edd allows his laughter to come through. "I will make sure he knows you said that."

"The next thing I remember ..." Kevin's voice trails off. When it comes back, he's turned to face Edd again, eyes still narrowed. "Is you. You touched my face, and it was raining ..." The boy's eyes shift to Edd's clothes. "You're still wet, dude."

Edd had long forgotten the cool chill of his drying shirt. Mud has caked the dents of his knees, dirtied his palms. Usually being in that kind of state bothered Edd to no end, but he had been sufficiently distracted. Shaking his head, he dismisses the statement. "I am fine. You scared me." Eyes widening, he's quick to clarify. "Us. You scared us. None of us have been in a similar situation. I am - I am glad you are okay, that you are not seriously or permanently injured."

Kevin is staring at him with such intensity that Edd shifts uncomfortably beneath the weight of his eyes. Slowly, they turn away, toward the door. He noticeably stiffens. Edd watches Kevin's fist crumple the sheets between his fingers.

"My dad's here." Huffing, he looks away. "He's going to be so pissed about the bike. It used to be his."

Edd turns to look through the gap in the door. The man's back is to him, but the red hair coming out in tight curls beneath a soiled baseball cap is unmistakably inherent of Kevin. Turning back, Edd frowns across at him. "Surely he is more concerned about your well being than a motorcycle?"

Kevin doesn't answer. It disturbs something in Edd's chest that Kevin had not tried to support such a claim, something that seems like such an obvious observation. How ignorant had Edd been to Kevin's situation? What else didn't he know?

"I think I will head home now." Edd pushes himself to a stand. "I wish you a quick recovery, Kevin." Ducking his head, he turns, but something warm circles around his wrist. Surprised, he turns back, finding Kevin's hand trapping his arm with as much strength as he can muster. It pulls away quickly. "Kevin?"

"Thank you." Kevin meets Edd's eyes. He can tell the boy is minutes from falling asleep by the way his eyes are beginning to roll backwards. "For saving me."

"Oh, uhm, I - " Edd searches the floor for words but only finds the muddy tips of his shoes. "I doubt you were in any actual danger of perishing, and if it had not been Ed and Eddy and myself, someone else would have surely stopped to assist you and -"

"Dork," Kevin softly interjects. When Edd looks back up at him, he's smiling, faint and sleepy. "Thank you. Okay?"

Edd swallows, nods, and smiles gently. "You are welcome, Kevin. Perhaps ..." Edd inches backward, hands twisting in front of him. "Perhaps I will come visit you once you are deemed healthy enough to return home. To see how you are doing. Ah, well, goodnight, Kevin." Bowing slightly, Edd ducks out of the room. He spares one glance over his shoulder - not to Kevin's room, but to his father, who is grumbling something to the same nurse Edd had spoken to earlier. His presence is huge and his eyes, green like Kevin's but not, are cold.

When Edd leaves the emergency room, his shivers are not due to the chilly wind.