Chapter 11:

Mike had gone home first to see if by some miracle, Eleven ended up there. He hoped to walk in and see her sitting there at the kitchen table, eating a half frozen eggo because she was never patient enough to let it cook all the way before she ate it.

But she wasn't there. The house was empty and quiet. He let out a disappointed sigh, then leaned back against the front door, letting his head fall back and thud against it. He was formulating a plan in his head when he heard the phone ring.

Mike rushed to it, fearful of what news might be waiting for him on the other end of the line. When he put the phone to his ear, it was Hopper's voice on the other end of the line.

"Kid?"

"I'm here," Mike said, nervously awaiting for whatever Hopper called to tell him. "What's going on, Hop? Did something else happen?" Hopper let out a heavy sigh.

"I don't know. She won't tell me anything." She, Mike wondered, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. He must have meant Eleven, but what did he mean. "Just come get her. A deputy found her on the side of the road, covered in blood. She won't speak."

"Eleven?"

"Yeah, who else would I be calling you about?"

"I'll be right there," Mike told him anxiously. "Don't let anyone near her. Keep her away from your idiot deputies." Mike slammed the phone down, then went running back towards the door. The phone rang again, and with a frustrated groan, Mike went back to answer it again.

"What?"

"Mike," came Eleven's voice, soft and scratchy. "I'm bleeding."

"What? Why are you bleeding?" Mike asked her, sitting on the edge of the bed and clinging to the phone in his hand. "Eleven?" There was silence, followed by quiet sobbing. "Eleven!" There was a thud, then nothing. "El! El, where did you go?"

"Kid, you need to head to the hospital. I'm taking Eleven there now." The phone clicked, and Mike wasted no time heading for that door. He burst through it, not locking it behind him, then sprinted to his car. Breathing heavily, he pulled out of the driveway and sped off down the road.


For the second time that day, Mike rushed down the cold hallway of the Hawkins Emergency Hospital. It wasn'ta large place, and he found the room number he was given pretty quickly. Hopper was standing outside, looking exhausted and worried.

"Hop, what happened to her?" Mike asked, frantic and panicked, the worst possible things running through his mind. "Why was she bleeding?"

"Go in and see her, son. Let her tell you." Hopper pushed off the wall, then put a hand on Mike's shoulder to offer a little bit of comfort. "Everything is going to be alright, kid. I'm going to clean up my town, so just stay with her and don't let her do anything stupid." All Mike could do was nod. He hadn't been paying much attention to what Hopper said in that moment. He was too worried about Eleven.

Hopper patted his shoulder once more, then started off down the hallway. Mike went into the room, finding Eleven laying there in the bed, her hand over her stomach. She was looking straight up at the ceiling above her, expression blank and unwavering. She didn't even look at Mike when he walked in. Her gaze remained fixed on the ceiling.

"El?" Mike said softly, sitting in the chair beside her bed. "El, what happened?" Her eyes closed, then, and Mike was pained to see tears slide down her cheeks and hit the pillow underneath her head. He reached up to wipe them away. "Tell me."

"I'm broken," she said after a brief silence. Mike looked at her for a moment, then shook his head.

"What? What do you mean?" He asked her. There was no answer, not at first. "Eleven, why do you think you're broken?"

"There was a baby," she finally spoke, rubbing her hand over her stomach. "I killed it." He didn't understand. He couldn't understand because she didn't understand. Mike shook his head, then stood up.

"El, I'll be right back, okay?" She just nodded, opening her eyes to stare back at the ceiling. It bothered him immensely that she wouldn't look at him, but he didn't push her. Mike stepped outside, catching the closest nurse. "Excuse me, can you tell me what happened to my girlfriend?" He asked, pointing back towards her room.

"She sustained an injury to her thigh. It was a bullet wound, we think. The stress of it caused her to miscarry, I think. I'm very sorry, sir."

"Miscarry? She wasn't... she wasn't pregnant." Mike stared at the nurse, eyes wide and horrified. The woman looked down at the clipboard in her hand, then lifted the top paper to read the one underneath.

"No, she was pregnant. The doctor ran some tests. According to this, the doctor doesn't think the miscarriage was caused by the wound. It looks like it's a chromosomal issue. For some reason, her eggs will never be able to develop properly. He recommends a permanent contraceptive." She looked back up at him. "Didn't... he tell you all of this already?"

"No," he shook his head. "I wasn't... here." She gave an apologetic expression, then went scurrying down the hall. It was so much happening at once, and Mike's head was starting to spin. He went back into Eleven's room and took a seat beside her bed. He reached for her hand, taking it between his and holding it tightly.

"Do you understand what the doctor told you?" Mike asked her gently, rubbing his thumbs over her hand. "Does it make sense to you?"

"I killed it, Mike." Most of it didn't make sense to her, but she understood that it was there, then it dies. It died because of something that was wrong with her. "I'm sorry, Mike. I'm sorry."

"No, no, no, El, don't be sorry. You dont need to be sorry." He squeezed her hand tighter when he saw the tears start to fall again. "It's not your fault. The lab did this to you. All those tests and experiments on you caused this. It's not anything you did." He glanced down. "Can I see your leg?" Eleven pulled the blanket off of her right thigh to show him where it was bandaged.

"I went to the lab. I killed people. They hit me." She covered it up again, not even slightly concerned with it at the moment. It didn't hurt after the doctor gave her medicine for it. The pain went away like he promised it would. "Mike, I'm sorry."

"I said it's not your fault, El." He laid his head down on her hand, kissing it quickly. "I was so worried, El. I'm so glad you're okay."

"But the baby..."

"No, there wasn't a baby. It wasn't a real baby yet, so you didn't kill anything, Eleven. You didn't do anything." He wasnt sure what else to say. Eleven hardly understood pregnancy, and yet she felt some kind of loss when she learned that had been a baby in her womb for a brief period of time. "What's important is that you're okay. That you're still here with me."

"You aren't safe with me."

"I'm not safe without you," he corrected her immediately. "Eleven, I lost you for seven years. I never got over it, not really. How could I? It would destroy me to lose you again, after everything we've been through together. All the time we've spent together. You cant leave me again."

"What do we do?"

"We figure this out. We help Hopper figure this out. We can do it, Eleven. I will do it." He didn't want her involved anymore. He wanted her to stay out of it completely. It was impossible not to worry about her. "You need to relax and rest, El. Just rest." Two of the people he loved the most were in the hospital with bullet wounds. Mike had never felt so helpless and out of control as he did right then. He knew he had to figure it all out and do it soon. However, for the moment, he just wanted to stay by Eleven's side and make sure she got better.

Later, he would go visit Dustin, since he was there on the floor just above them. Lucas was probably still there, too. For as long as they were able to stay in the hospital, they were safe. It would buy them some time to look for a more permanent solution. Mike hoped with his entire being that Hopper woild find a way to solve all their problems. Hopper had to clean the town, then it'd all be over. They could all go home, and no one would ever be hurt again.