Michael Wheeler heard a faint voice calling for him.
-'Mike? MIKE?' The voice got louder, as it pounded against his ears and drilled into his brain, -'Fuck' he whispered to himself, a shaky hand laid on his forehead, who the fuck?
-'Mike' the voice called again, gently now that his eyelids were stirring, -'It's El...baby wake up', he scrunched up his nose and his freckles danced around it, -'El?', -'Yes, it-it's me', she was crying. Crying? What for?. Mike sat up quickly, feeling intense pain on his left rib, a headache making it's way in.
He held his hand out, reaching for her bandaged wrist, -'Babe' he mumbled, his lip so swollen he could barely speak properly, -'Mike, thank God...are you okay?', -'As ok as I can be...', El leaned down and kissed his head, -'Mike, Mike he's missing' she sobbed desperately, -'I know' Mike felt the tears pooling his eyes. The sting of the salty fluid making everything harder. -'I think Papa took him' El felt his chest clench as she admitted her worst fear, -'He doesn't have powers Mike, what are they- God, what are they gonna do to him?!', -'I don't know El' a cough, -'I have n-no idea' another painful cough. Jane held Mike's face gently, -'H-How are you?' What happened?', -'Fisured rib. Concussion...can't remember what else' he covered his face with his hands, -'I'm so worried about him El', -'Dad's working on it. Joyce-Joyce...she told me she's gonna make flyers', -'oh God come on, we know who did this!', -'Yes but the public doesnt! This has to be a smoke screen while we work to find him Mike!', she was panicking and the lights wer flickering, -"Jane stop...just stop okay? We are gonna get through this. We have to go to school next week, and face this and face everybody, are we clear? Now i'm scared. I'm scared shitless...that's my son out there okay?', -'IT'S MY SON TOO MIKE!' Tears spilled out of her eyes. An ocean.
After El calmed down, she sat down at Mike's bedside and waited for Hopper to arrive.
Her foot tapped nervously, holding Mike's hand so tight her knuckles turned white, -'Watch the IV, El' he reminded her between gritted teeth, -'Sorry, I'm just nervous', -'I know'.
Hopper entered the room two minutes later.
El bolted off Mike's beside, -'What-what do you-?', -'Nothing' his eyes were cloudy with tears, he rubbed his face and groaned when El slammed her body against his, -'Dad you have to find him, please' it reminded him of Joyce's desperation when Will went missing, but this time he felt it right through his heart, -'El...Mike...I swear on my life, I will find your son, okay? I swear', Mike was trying to hide his tears, -'Joyce is making flyers...this gotta be a smoke screen for everyone else..', -'Hopper if Sam Owens is behind all this you better tell me now so I can go murder him with my own two hands', -'Michael, Levi is not in Hawkins lab', the young man stopped breathing and stared up at him with huge eyes, -'What', -'We turned the place upside down. There's still some of my guys working around there...he is not in Hawkins Lab'; El's cries became even more desperate, -'THEN WHERE IS HE?! WHERE DID HEY TAKE HIM DAD?!', -'El, if you keep screaming they're gonna get you out of here and-', El pushed Hopper away and jumped beside Mike on his bed, she hugged him as carefully as she could. She took two handfuls of his hair and made him look at her, -'I'm-I'm DESPERATE Mike...I-I-', -'Can you find him in the void?' He asked in a low voice. His brown eyes penetrated hers. -'The void?' Hopper asked, El turned her head, -'That's where I can see all of you...it's an empty space. I can find people in it'. That had to be it.
The doctors had let El sleep in Mike's hospital room after they learned she was his girlfriend and the mom of his son.
They heard a knock. It was 10pm.
Will's auburn head of hair poked into the room, El hopped into her feet and grabbed the two bags he was waving around, -'Two changes for esch of y'all and toiletries. We are all thinking of you', El flashed Will an unsure smile, -'Thanks', -'You're my sister El. We are family...this is what we do', he wiped a small tear, -'We all miss him back at home. I know you're gonna find him', -'I will...', -'How's Mike?', -'He's asleep, docs gave him painkillers so...it's about him he rested, he cried all day', Will looked down and sighed heavily, -'I'll visit tomorrow okay? Goodnight El', -'Night, thank you so much, by the way', the girl laid the bags on the two visiting chairs a few feet from the bed where Mike was sleeping heavily. He needed it. The pain, worry and stress had taken a toll on his body and he had asked for something to help him sleep.
El dug into her backpack and got some lotion and her toothbrush and toothpaste out of it. She went on with her night routine. When she went to put the things back in, her hands grazed against something soft. She pulled on the material. Levi's first baby blankie. Karen had embroidered it with the child's initials as a gift. She tried not to cry there and then.
El looked around in the darkness of Mike's room. The steady beeping of his heart monitor, and the even sound of his breathing were to assure her it was the real world.
She laid a hand on Mike's arm gently, trying to make a connection with him in the void too but to no avail. She closed her eyes once again and clutched the pale green blanket with both hands. Like a bloodhound looking for a missing person.
When the girl opened her eyes, she found herself surrounded by complete darkness. Had she even opened her eyes?. The floor was covered in water but she didn't get wet. The sound of the void was overwhelming. But it was actually just silence. She was gripping the blanket so hard she thought she was gonna poke holes through it with her fingers. Her hands were shaking. Her whole body was trembling in fear but fund-less anticipation. Was he even here? Was he grown enough to be channeled?
Then El heard it. A sound. Not just a sound. But THE sound. The most beautiful one in the world. Or perhaps the scariest. A whimper.
Her legs took off before she even had time to command them to. She sprinted across and towards the sound, heavy tears falling from her face, -'LEVI?! LEVI? BABY?' Her son couldn't speak yet but she was hopeful he could recognise her voice and respond somehow.
Then she found him.
He was clearly upset. His lower lip pouting like Mike's used to do. His hair was wet for some reason. His big, hazel green eyes were terrified. His white skin glowed in the darkness of the void. His head cradled with the same helmet they made Eleven wear when she was at the lab.
-'He doesn't have powers' she whispered, breathless, -'HE DOESN'T HAVE POWERS! LEAVE HIM ALONE!' She crouched in front of the boy who was still whimpering probably wondering why he wasn't with his family.
-'Baby it's mamma, I'm here' El knew that if she touched him he would go out in a puff of smoke, so she just leaned in a tried to soothe him with words, -'Where are you' she asked herself; her eyes went big when a suited man grabbed the crying child, -'HE DOESNT HACE POWERS PLEASE LEAVE HIM ALONE TAKE ME JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE, PLEASE!' She cried desperately, the baby and the man disappeared and El was left freaking out on Mike's hospital bed. She didn't realised he was cradling her, a bunch of nurses poking at her eyes, -'Has she taken any drugs?' She heard one ask, Mike's response was a blur. — 'DRUGS?! WHAT DRUGS?! ARE YOU INSANE?!', Mike yelled at the nurse, how dare they accuse El of taking DRUGS; -'Okay Michael you need to calm down and-', -'El? Baby? What's wrong? What happened? You can talk to me', the girl tried to speak through the tears, her whole body was shaking and her lip was quivering, -'I SAW HIM...Mike. They're-they're doing TESTS. TESTS! On him, I-I couldn't help him', Jane saw Mike's face change from worried and curious to equally devastated, -'What? What do you mean tests? Where is he?', -'I-I couldn't see..' el crumbled in his arms, putting pressure on his bad rib, which made him grit his teeth but that was the least of his worries. The rest of the nurse team just stared at the couple interacting. They felt like they were intruding into something much more emotionally bonding than any of them were able to comprehend.
The tears kept falling onto Mike's chest, -'El, we will figure this out' he tried to soothe her by caressing her back, -'Come on, girl', the nurses were now taking a distance ready to give Jane some stress medication once she decided to back away from her boyfriend, -'I-I don't want our baby to end up like me and Mamma, Mike', she could barely word that out before starting to sob, -'He won't, El...we are gonna find him, and he's gonna be safe and happy okay? I fucking...I swear on my life'.
The nurses gave El a sleeping pill and proceeded to call Hopper to inform him of her panic attack.
-'I'll be right there' he had said. He was at the station, holding his third cup of coffee and looking through tips about his grandson. He wasn't gonna sleep until he found him.