Losing Him
Dr. Sam Owens walked into the room. When he saw the look on El's face he knew he was going to have to deliver the information with a better bedside manner than he was used to. He'd fallen out of the habit once he'd gotten out of general medical practise and into research.
"Ok, I'm not going to sugar coat this too much, but the news is not terrible. Not great but not terrible."
"Get on with it, doc." Hopper was giving him a look.
"El can get pregnant, um, with qualifiers."
"Qualifiers?"
"She would have to, let's say, have multiple sessions… in one night of… activity to have any kind of chance."
"What are you trying to say, Owens?"
El looked back and forth from her dad to Dr. Owens, "he means I have to have sex with Mike all night long. Multiple times. All night." She smiled.
El had never seen two grown men with faces that red who wouldn't look at each other, or at her.
"Oooookay, the other news, is maybe something that you don't want to hear. I'm just going to come right out with it." He looked directly at El.
"You're abilities did not disappear, or even get reduced in strength from not using them. As a matter of fact, it looks like they are stronger than they've ever been, even stronger than we imagined they could be. We've already seen during testing that the nosebleeds are gone."
"And we also know that extreme emotional feelings from you can trigger them, without a lot of control on your part. So think, breaking glass, bending metal, lifting heavy objects. It's not my place to say, but practice in controlling it will go along way for you to reduce or even eliminate an emotional response."
"What kind of extreme emotional response?" El asked.
Owens turned red again. "The aforementioned sex, anger, crying. They… have to be pretty intense for it to trigger, and it may not, but with your lack of practice I would count on something until you can control it."
Dr. Owens got a little quiet as he saw the tears fall down El's face. "Sorry kiddo, I was hoping it would be better news for you."
El was silent in the car on the way back home. Both her and her dad were able to take time off work and just go to the quiet of the cabin and think.
"What are you going to do about Mike?" Her dad gave her a quick glance while driving.
"End it." El said. She didn't sound convinced of her decision. Even to herself.
"What? And give up all that sex?" Her dad was trying to make her laugh but clearly embarrassed to be talking to his daughter that way. It didn't have the intended effect , she burst out crying instead.
"Sorry, honey. I think Mike would be ok with everything. Didn't you tell me he promised himself to you for life. That's a big commitment from a guy that age who's not ready to hear bad news."
El gave herself a full week before she was sure.
Mike's mother let her in. She made her way to the basement, and saw Mike sitting alone, restless. No doubt worried about her.
She couldn't look at him. She knew he'd come over to kiss her, but she couldn't let him. She had to end this as cleanly as she could.
"What's wrong El?"
"I wanted to do this in person. You deserve at least that much."
"Deserve what, El. What's going on?"
"We need to end our relationship before it goes on any longer."
"What?" Mike sounded confused..
"We just got together El. I told you I'd be with you through whatever you were going through."
As he was talking El shook her head. "I will only break your heart Mike"
El felt her own hear break when Mike said, "you're breaking it now El. I wish you'd tell me what's going on."
She started to cry, "I can't. You're a smart, logical person, you'd never believe me. I'd make a mess out of trying to explain it." At least that much was true.
Then he said the words she was dreading to hear. "I can't make you tell me El. If you say it's over between us…" Mike's voice hitched. "...then I guess it's over."
I'm losing him, El thought. I will never be able to fix this.
"You'll find someone else Mike."
"Don't want anybody else. I told you last week, I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life. Now you are saying that can't happen."
The hurt in his voice tore at her heart. "If you ever change your mind El… I'll… wait for you." Mike was crying.
El turned with her head down and left quietly.
...and I've lost him. I'll never meet his family or his friends. I'll never have another date with him. Never kiss him again. I'll never be with him again.
El went home to cry. The cabin shook with her tears. "What have I done?"
After another week she called into work, she was told by her boss that a young man had come in. Very distraught, soaked from walking in the rain.
"He left you a message."
"He did?" El was hoping it wasn't a pleading 'come back to me' message. That was cliche and not Mike. He wouldn't do that.
"He said to tell you he wasn't giving up on you. That boy is in love, El. I don't know what he did, but he wants to make it up to you. You should have seen the determination on that face."
El could barely hang up the phone before she collapsed into a puddle of tears. He didn't do anything! It was me. I didn't trust him with my secret. Once again the cabin shook with her keening.
After three weeks of crying herself to asleep, crying most of the day, she started getting the old cabin fever.
It didn't help when one night her dad came home, "got a message from Flo today."
El liked Flo, not a mean bone in her body.
"Not sure you want to hear it."
"I already know what it is dad." El looked down.
"Oh," he looked up at her with raised eyebrows.
"Mike went there to tell you that he's not giving up on me."
He came over and gave her a side hug, kissed the top of her head. "You know he loves you right?"
El nodded, her dry eyes finding more tears to shed.
"I know it's late… can you… can you go get him dad?"
"Leaving right now."
The wait for that knock was the longest wait of El's life. When it came she almost tore the locks off with her mind by opening them so fast.
A figure walked through, wearing a dark hood. It was pulled off, then she saw him.
Mike.
She didn't remember saying anything.
She didn't remember running into his arms.
But she remembered the way he hugged her tightly. Like he didn't want to let go. She didn't want him to let go.
She remembered crying so hard her legs had given out.
She remembered being practically carried over to the sofa and falling asleep.
Falling asleep in the arms of the boy she would love forever.
