HI GUYS!
Next chapter will be the last one, and THEN! I'll post a long ass epilogue I've been writing. Hope you like this one! A bit short, I think, but anyway, let me know what y'all think! Last chapter and epilogue coming by the end of the week!
The nurse noticed Lucas' distress.
-'He's dehydrated, but we'll make him better. His fever went away already...his hands though will have permanent scars'
Lucas' eyes watered,
-'He tried to rip his way through a door'.
The nurse nodded sadly, -'I heard'.
-'What about-what about the seizures?' His throat felt dry,
-'He had a very high fever and was under a lot of stress...I know it looked scary but he'll be fine with the right amount of care'.
Lucas had heard that so many times he didn't know what to believe anymore.
Karen Wheeler sat beside the tiny hospital bed almost in a hopeful prayer.
A pneumonia had set into his little lungs but he was doing better two days later.
She caressed his tiny hands and remebered all the times she used to babysit, teached him how to eat his mashed fruits with a spoon (kind of) and was in the process of luring him out of his pacifier (although she figured that someone who never had to privilege of bonding with their mother through breastfeeding would have some issues leaving the most similar thing to it there was).
She had ripped herself away from Mike's bedside now that Nancy was watching him after he woke up for a few hours.
Two hours ago—
Nancy had never seen his brother look so small considering he was 6ft2 and still growing.
He had just barely woken up from what may have seemed like a coma, but actually, he had just been laying asleep for more than half a day.
Exhaustion bit into Mike's body when Max held him back as he tried to reach Levi's gurney.
He didn't gave much of a struggle. The fever caught up to him, and his glass-stabbed knees gave in.
Nancy had been there to see her mother and two nurses put him in a bathub filled to the brim with ice chips. The stabbing of the icicles barely made him groan in disagreement. His fever was so high his brain had gone into seizures just minutes ago. Nothing major, but still—it could escalate if his fever wasn't lowered right that second.
The ice water tinted red. The blood from his hands and knees dying the surface a little, making swirls of ominous color contrasts against the white tiles.
-'I've never b-been so scared in my entire life, N-Nancy'
A stutter? Mike had never stuttered in his life. Maybe his nerves had spiked up so bad he had lost control of basic language pronunciation.
Nancy held her brother's hand and sighed deeply,
-'I-I failed, like I always do' tears knotted his throat, making his voice quiver,
-'Mike, you were so brave. So so brave, I cannot believe it' she chuckled, -'Your son is okay, right? He's alive and breathing, he even smiled at dad, trust me'
Mike nodded between tears,
-'H-He couldve died in there, and Nancy you know I wouldn't be able to survive that' .
El woke up feeling like a train had just hit her.
The last thing she remembers was fainting in Will's arms. And her father's panicked pleas, and something about 'Please don't die on me'.
A shiver ran down her back, she was starting to feel again.
She felt a weight on her shoulder. Her father had nestled himself into her like a little baby. Probably to help him sleep after he imagined every scenario of her demise.
-'Dad' she whispered, making a grab for his stubbly cheek.
Hop bolted awake and craddled his daughter's face
-'El, oh my god El, my girl, are you okay? How do you feel'
She pouted dramatically,
-'Like a train just hit me'
Hop chuckled, -'Of course baby, of course...wha-how—I mean...you've been asleep for almost a full day'
El nodded and looked up, -'I know...how's the baby...is he-is he alive?' She choked out the last few words.
Hop nodded,
-'Yes, he just has some pneumonia and bruising, but he's gonna be—as okay as can be'
El hugged her father tight, -'I wanna see him dad, take me to him'
Hop shook his head,
-'I'm gonna have to call Owens to come check on you first honey, okay? Just to make sure everything's fine, just a second'.
—-
-'So, a migraine? And some fatigue? Is that all?' Owens looked at the chart that hung over El's bed and ran his eyes through it.
-'Yes' she mumbled firmly while fiddling with the matching bracelet she shared with Mike.
-'Can I see Levi now?' She asked again.
Owens sighed deeply, -'Sure, come on...he's in Mike's room'.
Shit.
Mike.
El has been so busy stressing about the possibility of her child dying, she didn't really thought to stop and wonder how Mike had pushed through. If at all.
Last thing she remembers seeing from her boyfriend was him screaming, his bloody hands clinging to Levi's skin and getting into Lucas' car.s she knew adrenaline would only get his weak body so far.
She felt a bit bad for realising this, but the moment she saw Karen leaning against the little cot holding her baby in it, she forgot all about any other person in the world.
Joyce would often talk about that feeling. Like when she saw Will again after his time in the upside down, or when Jonathan kicked a drunk Lonnie out of the house a few years ago.
El thought she'd felt it before; when a tiny pink-cheeked little thing was placed on her arms a year ago, a feeling that made her forget she had gone through a double surgery a mere two hours before that. The feeling of unconditional love thT flooded every vein and artery in her body, like a wave crashing over her and engulfing her in a sweet embrace.
This feeling was much more than that. Colossal relief. Inmense adoration for the small being in front of her.
El didn't even felt Karen's hand on her shoulders. She just held onto Levi for dear life.
-'My sweet angel, I love you so much-' tears raced down her cheeks with no intention of stopping. Not that she cared. She's been away from her son for two weeks. The worse days of her life.
-'I missed you so much, you know that? You're finally safe with me' she sighed in relief and caressed his back gently.
—
Mike felt like he had just ran a marathon to the moon and back. What woke him up were the cooing sounds of his girlfriend and his son's occasional whimpers for attention.
He turned on the bed to see El comforting Levi in a super soft voice only she could produce. Mike could tell the child was jittery and tense, but melted in his mother's embrace.
-'You're okay, it's your mamma, baby! I got you, I promise'.
Mike wished he could announce his now awake state but the knot in his throat didnt allowed so.
He just flung himself around them and started crying uncontrollably. His family. His and only his. Safe, at last.
El didnt tried to comfort him either since she had started to cry herself.
After a while, Mike finally talked.
-'I love you both so much...without you i'm nothing' he kissed El's head gently and then Levi's cheek, -'You're my whole world, my life and my heart, do you hear me?'
El nodded and let out a sob before holding his battered face.
Gosh.
So pretty. Even when his eyelids were purple and swollen. Even when his cheeks were hollow and pale. Even when his lips were cracked and irritated.
Mike was Mike. A true paladin. She looked down at his hands, covered in gauze. He really had lost two fingernails and skin trying to help her. Her gratitude towards him was inmense. She could only come up with a few words:
-'I love you, Mike'.
—-
-'I'm moving in with them' Mike stated firmly.
He started feeling better after finally eating a full meal. His first in days, maybe weeks.
Hop sighed deeply, -'...Moving? Really Mike?'
The young man nodded, -'I never wanna be away from them again. Especially now that...all this happened...I-I'm
Leaving for Chicago f-for a few weeks and I h-have to be with them'
Hop ran a hand through his disheveled blonde hair (it's been a couple hard days ok? No time to think about looks) and considered it. Mike would be leaving for a six week early college induction during the start of winter break, because of course he was. The little smart ass. And now he wanted to a) Live with El and Levi, and b) take them with him to Chicago.
Hopper's mind ran through every possible scenario in case he let his happen.
Mike living with them? He'd have to help paying for food and water, he and El would have to behave (She already got pregnant though, what else could possibly happen), he'd be El's ride to school, and the most important part was that Levi could spend even more time with his father.
It was only natural now that this all happened that Mike would want to move in with his family maybe permanently. He was just being a good father and boyfriend and Hopper appreciated the shit out of that.
Hop sat beside the scrawny teenager and laid a hand on his gauzed-up knee. He could feel Mike trembling slightly under his touch. Not because he was scared of Hop, but because he was still going through a days-long anxiety attack that prevented him from beinh fucking normal.
-'You can move in. Of course'.
He heard the young man sigh in relief and saw his eyes water.
-'No crying, Wheeler. Hey, come look at me—'
And Mike did.
His brown eyes looked into the ocean in front of him.
-'You were so brave' He heard Hopper's voice in an echo; -'So brave I cannot believe it. Of course you can be with your family. Who am i to take you away from them'.
—
The issue with the recent massacre at the underground lab was only one thing. The body count.
The lab itself was a well kept secret. The people were not.
El had really outdone herself. Around eighty people worked in that lab, and they were all dead, just out of the blue. Gone.
Owens' team had made sure to wipe every piece of tape or evidence that could link anybody to the sheer destruction that happened. It helped that El fried the wiring of everything, but still, tapes had to be destroyed. And they were—burned in a huge pit with other stuff like the door Mike had tried to rip open that night.
-'Sooo they're sure we're in the clear...they're covering up everything as we speak' Hop told Mike and El, who were staring at him with eyes as big as plates.
Hopper sighed deeply and laid back on a chair,
-'I need rest...and Owens said Mike should get on walking' he pointed lazily at the boy in front of him.
Mike shook his head, -'N-No, h-how can we be so sure this is the right information?'
Hopper held his forehead and sighed deeply,
-'Michael trust me dammit'
Mike's big brown eyes stared at him, only deviating from its target when Levi would reach up for the IV on his father's arm to pull on the tubes.
-'I do trust you, sir, I'm just...' Mike glanced down, -'I'm just scared they're still gonna c-come for us, and I can't-I can't-'
El caressed his arm but couldn't find words to comfort him this time. She was equally scared she would be hunted twice as hard now. Suddenly, Chicago was not scary anymore. It was absolutely necessary.
Papa was gone, she had seen him bleed to death at her feet. She had seen Smith and Allen meet their demise, her face the last thing burned into their eyelids. Who else was out there looking for her? Ready to take her or her family?
Hopper was almost reading her mind right now.
He grabbed her shoulders and looked into her big hazel eyes, which were to the brim with hot tears. Her little nose turned red and her lip quivered.
-'El...I will protect you, alright? Nothing and no one will ever come for you again'
Her eyebrows fell, and she sighed deeply like she was exhausted,
-'You've said that once already, dad...look what happened'
-'You locked me in a room while you went and—
-'I know what I did, dad!' She breathed, holding her son a little bit closer. A little big tighter. Making sure he was a little bit more tucked into the thick woollen blanket. Making sure the oxygen mask was doing its job.
Loving him a little bit more.
-'Now, shhh...behave. Let's not—talk about what we did or didn't do. But El, for the love of god and everything holy, believe me when I say...I'm serious. I'll fucking do anything for you. You know that?' Jim was crying as hard as his daughter now. He reached over and pinched her cheek gently, -'I love you El. You're safe now'.
—
ONE WEEK LATER
—
Lucas, Max and Dustin sat on El's bed, neither of them knowing how to bring someone out of such miserable state.
Mike laid face down on the bed, crying uncontrollably after a nightmare.
-'It's-It's f-fucking d-daytime and I-I'm here c-crying like a baby' he moaned.
The stutter hadn't gone away, Owens had told them it was the effect of the situation on him.
-'What did you dream about, man' Lucas asked him.
Just—faces of people staring up at him while he stepped on their bodies. He remembers slipping in some blood. He remembers fainting into shards of glass. He remembers his fear making him scream like he was being ripped in half.
-'I dreamed about everything-everything that happened, Lucas. I feel like I'm dying' he sucked in a deep breath, -'W-Where's El huh? Where is she'
Max looked at her boyfriend worriedly and back down at Mike,
-'She's in the hospital with your baby, remember...you know this, Mike...she's with Will and Hop—'
-'I want her here though'
-'I know but, she's making sure he's getting the best care'
-'So then why am I not there?!' He said, angrily.
Oh boy.
Hopper's request.
He told Karen he didn't wanted Mike around El or the child before they came home because he would make them even more nervous and afraid.
But Max had to lie.
-'Because you're just, tired okay? They wanna let you sleep'
Dustin nodded -'I visited yesterday, made him laugh and everything. I promise he's
Doing okay'.
Mike sighed deeply and lifted his head from the pillow.
-'Sometimes I feel like I dont wanna live anymore' he whispered with a wheeze. He covered his face with his hands in order to stop the tears from overflowing.
-'I-I'm such a s-shit dad, and s-shit boyfriend, friend, s-son...I let all this h-happen, I-I should've s-seen the c-car tailing us-'
-'MIchael. I swear on the name
Of everything good, if you don't shut up I'm gonna kick your ass. Seriously
Man. None of this is your fault' Dustin held his friends' bony shoulders.
Holy shit, how much muscle mass had he lost?
-'Did you eat today?' He asked,
-'No' Mike responded weakly,
-'It's three in the afternoon. Dammit.
Max, grab my car, go get this guy something to eat. We need to talk to him'
He pointed faintly at Lucas.
Max sighed and nodded before leaving The Hoppers Byers house.
Digging Mike out of his own mental grave was gonna be a challenge they'd have to accept.