Expectantly?

I know the Dutch word for it, but Translate only comes up with expectantly and judging by the synonyms I get -because I think it's an ugly word- I think I'm using it all wrong.

When his father came back from talking to a nurse, Eddie looked at him expectantly.

Like, he's waiting for (probably bad) news on how his mother is doing.
You look [a certain way] at someone when you're waiting for them to bring you news, but I seem to only be able to find ways that have positive associations.

 

...Eddie looked at him with fearful anticipation?
...Eddie looked at him impatiently?

Not sure though. Going to watch this thread and see if you get a better answer.

 

But thanks for trying! ;o)

Anticipation might be a good one though. In fact, it might be the one I'm looking for, now that I look at it.
But, I, too, will watch the thread and see what happens.

 

Expectantly is fine. It does not have negative connotations. If anything, it's the opposite - it's expecting good news,

 

Oh, you're using connotations. I wasn't sure if I could, so thanks for inadvertently clearing that up too.

But what if, just to double check, the guy is expecting bad news? Can expectantly swing either way?

 

I believe apprehensively is the word you're searching for

 

Good one. Granted, it's not hard to get better than expectantly, but I believe I will be going with this one.

I know, right? It's visually ugly, it's sounds made up and it conjurs images of pregnant women.

 

I would use a physical tag here instead of modifying “looked at him”.

His father had just returned from talking to the nurse. Eddie fidgeted, unable to return the gaze laid upon him, unable to meet those sad eyes with his own. He could tell it was bad news. He didn’t need to see it to know.

Otherwise, anxiously.

 

No, I like your version. Maybe a bit too much flourish for my style of writing, with the gaze laid upon him, but I should use these 'physical tags' more. I'm still kinda limited, with about four kinds of looks for a whole novel.