It was 8 pm, right after dinner...

XXX

There was a rhythmic, beeping sound seeping through his consciousness. Someone should turn it off. How was he supposed to sleep like this? He felt so very tired and every part of his body was heavy as fuck. Laying here forever seemed to be a brilliant plan... If this noise just would stop annoying him already!

Was it his alarm? Did he have any important appointments he had to attend today? Maybe he should get up after all, but it seemed like an impossible task...

Brett's eyes slowly fluttered open and got blinded by all the white surrounding him. He squeezed them shut again.
"Brett?" A familiar voice, a nice voice... The beeping sound accelerated.
"Brett, are you awake?"
He forced himself to open his eyes again and blinked, until he got used to the brightness.
"Brett!"
He felt a warm hand holding his, another brushing over his forehead carefully. Brett turned his head and looked into Eddy's blurry face. There was no way to tell for sure without his glasses, but he looked tired, the dark circles under his red eyes indicated that very clearly. And were there tearstains on his cheeks?

"Eddy?", he rasped.
"Oh, bro!", Eddy sighed and hugged him tight.
"... Eddy?" Brett slowly patted Eddy's back.
"I was so worried!", the other almost sobbed next to Brett's ear and Brett suddenly felt very guilty.
"Sorry...", he whispered and returned the hug. The beeping sound became even quicker, but Brett chose to ignore it. There were simply more important things to take care of now.

"Shh... I'm fine", he soothed, still holding Eddy tight, "what happened?"
Eddy shook his head and tickled Brett's cheek with his messy hair. He got up a bit, so that he could face Brett.

"You had your new violin and got up from the couch", Eddy explained and received a nod.
"I think I remember that bit..." Brett frowned. "What happened to my violin?"
"Don't worry. I took it off your hands before you blacked out."
A relieved breath escaped him. "Oh, good! Thanks!"
"And then... Well, you just fell and I couldn't wake you up. So I called an ambulance and they brought you here."
"Oh man!", Brett rubbed his forehead, "Sorry that you had to go through all this trouble."
Eddy shook his head again. "You were out for the rest of the day and the whole night, Brett."
"What? What time is it?" He started to look for his glasses, which Eddy handed to him from the stand on wheels next to his hospital bed.
"5 a.m., I think...", Eddy replied. Brett blankly stared at him and almost didn't dare to ask the next question: "Did the doctors say anything?"
Another headshake and Brett didn't know, if he should be relieved or not.
"They didn't do more than take your blood and the usual. Your vital signs were more or less normal, thankfully, so they didn't deem it necessary to take further measures. Some nurse hooked you up on IV, but just with some isotonic solutions and mild pain meds for your headache, I think."

Brett leaned further into his cushion.
"Oh man..."
"How do you feel now?", Eddy asked and brushed his thumb over the back of Brett's hand. Brett started to really like this small, soothing gesture.
"Okay, I think. The headache is better."
"Should be! Are you hungry?"
Brett took a while to further determine his state. "Don't know... Maybe? I feel empty, but not really super hungry..."
Eddy stood up. "I'll get you a sandwich then. Or an onigiri, if you prefer that?" He wanted to turn away, but Brett grabbed the hem of his shirt and held him back.

"Eddy, did you sleep?", he simply asked. Eddy glanced at him.
"Go home and get some rest. I'll manage alone. There is no use in getting you tired and low energy as well."
"I can't sleep with you staying here, Brett!"
"That really flatters me", and oh boy, how it did! His insides did a summersault and it was one of the good kind, "but I know, you don't like hospitals and it probably stresses you out being here. Get some rest and come visit me in a few hours. I guess, they might even let me go soon too. I feel okay actually..."
But Eddy just shook his head wildly. "No way I'm leaving, Brett! Just let me get you some food quickly, but I'm staying."
"But..." Brett restarted his argumentation, but got interrupted by a doctor openening the door to his room.