Steve sat in one of the old upholstered chairs in the waiting room, slouched way down, knee bouncing rapidly. A hand rubbed his forehead as he let out another sigh in the span of three minutes. This was driving him crazy. They'd been sitting there for nearly four hours now, it was nearing sunrise at this point, and still not a single fucking word from any of the doctors. What if she'd been hurt worse than he thought?

He shook his head and tried not to think about it. But it was all he could think about. Damnit, he was going crazy with worry!

He was the first to notice the doctor walking over. He shot up out of his seat, alerting the others.

"Mrs. Byers?" The doctor asked, and Joyce rose slowly. Her hands were twisted together and her face looked haggard and beyond worry. Steve felt a pang of sorrow for this poor mother; two of her children stuck in the hospital and no news for hours.

"Yes?"

"You may go to your son, now. Two visitors at a time until visiting hours open, please. Your daughter is still in intensive care, for the moment. But everything is going fine; she's going to make it."

Steve nearly collapsed back into his chair at the news. While he was worried that it was taking so long, at least he didn't have to worry about her dying anymore. That would be just his luck- to lose his soulmate as soon as he found her. She was going to be fine, though, he kept telling himself. Fine, fine, fine.

So now he could worry about the other thing he had been pushing away.

Johanna Byers hated him. With a passion, he was pretty sure. And with good reason, too. He'd been an asshole. Full of shame, Steve recounted all the times he'd shoved books out of her hands or slung cruel words at her in the past. What would she do if he told her they were soulmates now? Probably laugh in his face. He'd deserve it, too. Damn, he really was an asshole, wasn't he? He'd been so rude to her and her family before- for no good reason. Sure, Jonathan gave off some psycho vibes and had taken pictures of Nancy that he shouldn't have, but that could have been resolved a different way and he knew that. He just... Chose the asshole version.

Speaking of Jonathan... Now that he and his mother had left to go see little Byers, Nancy moved over to sit next to him instead.

"How are you doing?" She asked softly. Kindly. He wondered how she was doing. But then he remembered the shitty thing he had done to her, and how closely she'd been sitting with Jonathan Byers the last four hours. While it stung and hurt, he was happy that she wasn't torn up over this. It would have made it so much worse. Nancy held a special place in his heart, for sure, and he couldn't stand the thought of hurting her like that.

He sighed and shook his head, raising his arms to let them fall back down to the arm rests. "Better now, I guess." He continued to stare blankly at the carpet. If you asked him later, he couldn't even tell you what color it was. "Just thinking about all the stupid shit I've done. I'm sorry- so sorry, by the way. I should have never- I didn't-"

"Steve," she cut him off, "it's alright. I know you're sorry, and I forgive you. Just don't pull that shit again."

He nodded his head as he let it hang in shame. "How much do you think she hates me?"

Nancy frowned. "Jo? I don't know. I didn't really spend that much time with her, and we barely talked, to be honest. Well, she did say she didn't like you either, after Jonathan said it, but..."

Steve groaned. "She probably hates me. I don't know what to do, Nance. How am I supposed to tell her? 'Hey, so I know I'm that asshole you don't like but guess what? I'm your soulmate'?" He shook his head again for the millionth time. "She'll laugh in my face and tell me to get lost."

"Maybe, maybe not. You don't have to tell her right away, you know? Work up to it. Change your tune." Nancy suggested.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess." Steve felt all out of hope at this point, though. "So, uh, what does... What does Mrs. Byers think?" He asked awkwardly.

"About what? You and Johanna?" At Steve's confirmation she shrugged. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You sat with her for four hours!" Steve exclaimed, his voice still hushed.

"Yeah, but we didn't say anything. It wasn't my place to say anything, and I think Jonathan's still processing it." Nancy replied.

Steve sighed. Yet another obstacle. The twin brother. Probably a bigger obstacle than the mother, to be honest. Depending on how much Mrs. Byers had heard about him. What all the twins had told her. Steve got the feeling that Mrs. Byers wasn't someone to cross lightly.

They fell into silence as they went back to waiting for more news.

A groan slipped past my lips as my eyes fluttered open. Bright light filled my entire view for a few moments as they adjusted. Once I could see, I realized I was in a hospital room. The steady beep of the heart monitor droned on to my right, and to my left-

"Harrington?" I croaked in surprise. Jesus, I needed some water.

Harrington shot awake, his eyes wide and hands gripping the arm rests tightly. "You're- You're awake." He quickly spun out of the chair, stumbling to the open doorway and half leaning out of it. "She's awake!"

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

He turned back to look at her, putting his hands in his pockets with a great air of awkwardness. "Uh, I was- uhm, worried. And your mom and brother have been with little Byers, so I, uh, offered to take watch over you."

I raised my eyebrows at him. Steve Harrington? Volunteering to sit in a room and watch over me? Impossible. "No, really. What are you doing here?"

Steve frowned and opened his mouth to reply, but three smaller bodies came barreling past him and over to her bed.

"Jo! Thank goodness you're ok!"

"How do you feel?"

"That was so dumb but so awesome!"

"Hey, guys, guys!" Harrington said loudly. "Back off a little, she just woke up."

"It's alright," I said with a smile. "What'd I miss?"

"Will's awake! He's doing alright!" Mike informed me.

I let out a deep, relieved sigh. "Thank God." I tried to sit up, but grunted in pain as my stomach pulled. "Shit."

"You shouldn't get up, you're healing, stupid," Dustin chided.

"Watch it there, buster," I quipped back. "I'm fine." I tried to throw my legs over the side but Harrington came forward.

"Woah, woah! Henderson's right, you need to stay in bed!"

I scoffed. "Since when do you get to tell me what to do?" His mouth opened and closed like a fish and I tried to get up once more before finally giving in. I just want to see Will... I groaned in pain.

"I'll go get a nurse," Harrington said before he was gone.

I turned to the kids, a weird look on my face. "What the hell is he doing here? How long was I out?"

"About eight hours," Lucas supplied.

"And he's been here the whole time?"

Dustin shrugged. "Yeah, but I don't think any of us know why. He hasn't said. Just sat in the waiting room impatiently the whole time."

"Yeah, he kept sighing like crazy and seemed all worked up," Lucas added.

"Weird," I said, frowning.

"Super weird," Mike agreed. I turned to look at him and could see the heaviness in his shoulders.

"How are you doing, buddy?"

His face fell into deep sorrow too old for him. "I can't believe she's gone," he whispered.

I held an arm open for him and was slightly surprised when he took me up on the offer, tucking his face into my shoulder. "She was one brave girl," I said softly. "We owe her our lives. Don't think she didn't know what she was doing. Now we have to go on and make her proud of us, like we are of her."

Mike sniffled and nodded, pulling back. He discreetly wiped at his face and I pretended not to notice.

A nurse walked in then, Harrington showing back up behind her along with Jonathan.

"How do you feel?" The nurse asked.

"Uhm, a little bit of pain, I guess?" I answered. She nodded and came over to the hanging bags, adjusting them and adding a syringe full of something to one. "What's that?" I asked.

"Morphine. You'll probably feel a little sleepy. Get some rest and press the button if you need anything. I'm going to check your bandages before I go."

She bustled around the room, collecting antiseptics and bandages before coming back to my bedside. Lifting back the covers and pulling up my gown, she started to painstakingly unwrap the gauze and bandage from my midsection. When she pulled them away I nearly gagged at the stitches holding together shredded flesh. This was gonna be some gnarly scars...

I hissed as she started cleaning the wounds, an intense fire breaking out across my skin. But it was over quickly and then it was only a dull throb as she wrapped me back up and put my gown back in place. I noticed all the boys had turned away while she was working, thankfully. Didn't need any of them seeing my underwear. Especially Harrington.

After the nurse left Jonathan came over and sat in the chair Harrington had been in before. I reached over and he grasped my hand, holding it tightly in between his.

"I'm so sorry, Jo," He said softly. I sighed.

"It's ok. I understand why you left. Did you kill it?"

He looked down. "We're not sure."

"The thing was there one second and then gone the next," Harrington cut in, throwing his hands up.

I raised an eyebrow and looked back to my twin. "Do you know why he's here?" I asked teasingly.

Jon smiled and shrugged. "No clue."

I sighed. "Guess I'll never know."