-'You'll be fine, baby' Karen laid a couple of blankets on Mike who was shaking like a leaf even though it wasn't that cold.
He was a handful of nerves and overstimulation. El was sitting on the floor beside the couch, holding his hand which he had on a death grip.
-'Can you bring him some tea? Maybe chamo tea with one sugar', El looked up at Karen with swollen, pleading eyes to which the woman complied; El glanced down again and noticed her hand was getting purple,
-'Mike, let go for a bit' she sighed, stroking his hair, the young man refused,
-'Come on babe, let go',
-'I-I don't wanna lose you too' he was so afraid he was stuttering and his voice was breaking, El pulled himself from his grip and held his face,
-'You will not lose me, Michael. Do you hear me?...Have you slept at all?', Mike sighed in defeat and shook his head,
-'Y-You have to sleep baby, you know how it goes' she took the cup from Karen's hands,
-'Here, have your tea, it's your favorite and it helps you relax'.
Karen sat beside her son and let El go talk to her own father this time.
El looked drained. Physically and emotionally. She wasn't as destroyed as Mike, she hadn't developed a debilitating depression or lack of appetite but the emotional burden was showing. These had been the most intense two weeks of her life. Tension was at all time high. She knew time was running out.
-'Dad' she hugged Hopper as tight as her thin body could allow, -'I'm tired' she whispered while tears fell from her face.
-'I know baby, I know. I'm doing every thing I can' he stroked her head of curls back and Will joined the hug.
-'But listen Jane' Hopper held her face and examined it. Dry mascara stains down her cheeks, eyebrows pulled together and lower lip trembling,
-'I...I have to tell you...I have my friend Tom looking into this case...elsewhere', -'Elsewhere? Where is he', -'Chicago. Told him to look for suits. I think that Hawkins lab may have moved...and is operating somewhere else. I'm not sure but that's what we're trying to figure out'.
El took a deep breath, as if preparing herself for a storm.
-'I could help find, but I'm afraid I'm not strong enough right now' she finally broke into tears. She was a human radar but couldnmt find her son because she was in emotional distress and not strong enough.
-'Oh, Jane...come here...are you sure about that?'
-'Yeah, I'm just...like just taking care of Mike and making sure he doesn't do anything dumb is just...draining for me',
-'...Do you think if you rest you can find him?'
El gulped and hesitated for a second before nodding,
-'Okay, that'll do...you have to sleep baby, deal?'
El whined and started crying,
-'I see him in my dreams dad, it's like a torture'
Hopper sighed deeply and tried not to break down in tears,
-'I get flashbacks too El. He's only been gone for two weeks but-'
-'Not gone. Missing'.
-'Yeah. Not gone. You're right'.
-'I'm scared, Joyce' Hopper held the mug between his hands with force.
-'I know. I am too',
-'What if-what if when we find him and it's too late? You can't expect me to just kneel beside his little body and just-'
-'Jim...JIM. Listen to me...I'm not gonna lie to you' Joyce held his face, -'But that-that is a possibility, -'How do you think I would feel if I had to see the boy I watched being born, get buried...get a burial huh? A tiny coffin?'
-'Stop saying that for Christ sake'
-'Its plausible'
-'Mike would kill himself, I'm sure of it'
Joyce froze...her hands held the edge of the table, hard.
-'He's not in good shape is he'
-'No Joyce. Boy is barely functional. He just...cries and goes through panic attacks and is still refusing to eat'
Joyce sighed deeply and held her husband's trembling hands,
-'El...we talked, just now, before she fell asleep'
-'What did you talk about'
-'Memories. I figured if she had good memories she would, I don't know...have good dreams'
El sat beside Joyce on her bed. The warm room littered with posters, polaroids, framed pictures, lamps...and a white crib in the corner. Pale pink sheets, because everyone betted Levi was gonna be a girl. And they never changed anything about it.
-'It's funny how some people, like classmates, come in here and just frown at all his pink stuff and I have to explain', Joyce chuckled at her adoptive daughter -'Yeah. So, I-I brought you something. So you can have good memories when you sleep',
El took a deep breath and forced a smile,
-'I'm sorry I'm just trying not to think about how bad Mike is doing'
-'No no sweetie, it's okay to be worried. But he's with his mom now and you have to rest. You've done enough and he knows it'
-'Youre right. Whats that'
-'This iiiiiis Levi's baby album, remember we were making it as the weeks went by?'
El nodded softly,
-'He's cute...pretty'
-'The cutest in the whole world huh? You got that right'
-'Mamma's eyes...'
-'...Yeah, mamma's eyes...look at this one'
Mike Wheeler's huge, beaming smile jumped off the pages of the photo album. He was happy.
A gold medal hung from his neck. First place in the individual inter-school track race. his bushy black hair was held back a bit by one of El's hair-clips. A bright green plastic dragonfly.
In his arms, an ebony-haired baby with freckles and huge green eyes made a grab for the medal, possibly to stick it in his mouth.
-'Perfect' El whispered with tears prickling her tearducts, -'I took that one' she pointed proudly at the portrait,
-'I know...You asked Jonathan for his cam and he was all freaking out about it'
El nodded, remembering the moment.
The next picture was in a hospital room.
Mike was seen asleep on a couch in the background, El was sitting in front of Will on a bed, laughing at probably her brother's stupid jokes, and Karen was marvelling over little Levi
who was asleep inside a plastic incubator.
-'Holy shit that was last year!'
-'Yeah I think Dustin took that one. Your dad and I were working'
-'Working?''
-'Yeah, Hop was so angry when he got called into the station'
-'I don't remember that, wow'
-'That's what happens when you're topped up on painkillers, hardly remember a thing'
The next one made El break into tears. Like sudden, desperate tears.
Mike was teaching the little boy how to play with a Rubik's cube while El observed them looking pretty amused.
-'I miss him Ma...I miss both of them, I've lost everything'
-'All is not lost, El. We just have to find him. That's all'
-'She's asleep' Joyce reassured Hopper whose shaky voice gave up his cover
-'She has to find him Joyce. Otherwise I think I'll take too long. Be too late...and I can't be too late Joyce, you can't ask me to just take my time and risk finding my-my grandson just dead. A baby, just dead. I won't do that'
-'You won't. Nobody will...come here', Joyce held the man in her arms as best as she could, -'We're gonna find him babe. On time. I promise'.
-'See? This is what happens when you don't eat, son'
Ted Wheeler was frustrated. Mike refused to eat but gastritis told him otherwise.
-'Come on, don't hurt yourself because you're too stubborn'
-'I'm NOT stubborn!' He managed to snap back at his father,
-'Then I don't know what to tell you son-'
-'Dad, I'll take care of it...you go...relax or something' Nancy came in Mike's room with a bowl of potato soup
-'How are you loser?' Nancy asked with a little grin
-'I feel like someone is stabbing me from the inside out...and then pouring gasoline on the wound and lighting a match on it'
He was in literal agony but in such a depressed state he couldn't even show it
-'Okay, sit up...this is your favorite soup, remember? Disgusting potato soup'
-'I'm not a baby Nancy',
-'No you're not, but youre sick. And if you dont eat, you'll be in the hospital again with a stomach burn do you want that?', -'No', -'That's what I thought. Now come on'.
-'I need Mike. To find him, I need Mike to find Levi', she muttered, while waking up from her slumber.
-'Since when do you need him?' Hopper raised an eyebrow,
-'Levi is half and half. Half me and half Mike...I think maybe if we are together...I can find him easier, get a better and more precise location',
Hopper nodded. It made sense. -'Okay, we should call him up then'.
Mike could barely gather energy to get uo, walk to the car and withstand the trip to the Byers Hopper house. Of course, the Wheeler kids went under the excuse that Mike wanted to be with El in this hard moment, and Karen had understood completely. Much easier than saying: Hey mom, I'm gonna go over to my telekinetic girlfriend's house to see if we can find our son with her human radar powers.
Much easier.
-'Hey' Mike breathed El's scent in. A vanilla candle, with a touch of flowers.
-'Hi sweets' -she hugged him as tight as she could, ignoring his winces and grunts, -'I missed you' he whispered gently, -'I missed you too...I just had to rest for a few days...get some energy on me', -'Rest from me huh?', -'No no baby. Not from you...I just needed some me time, just for a little second', Mike nodded understandingly
-'Yeah I get it...I'm here now, what's the plan'
-'I-I think I can locate Levi now...I feel strong enough. And I think being with you makes my search more successful...somehow',
-'Okay sure whatever helps you...but I'm not a psychic...I can't-',
-'I know. I just need you, your hands. You energy, I don't know how to explain it'
-'Just my presence is fine. I get it'
El nodded and looked around her. She wasn't alone in a hospital room this time. Hopper, Will and Joyce were there. And of course, Mike was aware of what was happening this time.
She was under so much stress already, her head was pounding, -'Fuck' she mumbled under her breath, -'Okay, come here' she held Mike's hands. Tight. Will put a black sock over her eyes and waited for the sensory deprivation technique to work.
Cold. And wet. But not.
It was as if she existed elsewhere from these sensations. Every single sound produced an echo. It was like a dark cave, where she could see everything despite its darkness.
She looked around for any source of sound or a glimpse of something.
A hallway, apparently. Like those at a hospital's with glass windows and secret doors. This hospital had no ACTUAL windows...
"Underground" she whispered, as a small trickle of blood began staining her nostril.
Hopper froze. Of course. Underground was the perfect place to hide.
Mike felt the grip of El's hand tighten around his.
The buzzing of actual people was like static around her. She could feel the energy but no see the beings transmitting it.
Then she heard a steady beeping. Like those in heart rate monitors. She walked towards the sound and the machine quickly materialised before her. The horrid sound of oxygen support masks and devices rang in her ears.
Connected to them, was a small baby laying helplessly on a bed.
"Levi" she teared up.
Blood was staining her upped lip now.
Mike perked up for the first time in two weeks. His big, tired eyes looking even bigger. He wanted to say something, but couldn't mutter a word.
The baby was not in a good condition. El knew exactly what was wrong with him. But that wasn't all...
His head was shaved. There wasn't a single trail of hair. And he had marks on his temples.
El almost died right there. They were really doing hardcore experiments on him, and he was helpless because he was normal. El started crying, and went to him quickly. He looked exactly the way he did when he got sick...that night.
That night a few months ago where El thought her son was gonna die in her arms on the way to the E.R. She had woken up in the middle of the night to the sound of a faint wheezing. When she checked on the baby, she realised he was barely breathing. Never in her life had she jumped into action so quickly. She even started Hop's car from the inside, swinging open ever single door in the house and waking up its occupants. The only thing Hopper needed to know about the fucking scandal, came from El's lips "He's dying" she had sobbed. And it was enough for him.
The doctors told El and Mike that the breathing problems would persist because they were a consequence of his premature birth, and he would have to be in treatment for it.
And now...her son had gotten sick away from her and he was technically on life support.
She knew that if she touched anything, her vision would go out in a puff of smoke. She tiptoed around the bed and examined him. Yep, completely bald, and in his delicate forearm, an identification tattoo. Like hers.
"Twelve" she said out loud.