In Mike's dream, he and Eleven were running across a huge sunflower field. They were kids again - maybe eleven or twelve at most. El was wearing Nancy's old pink dress, the first one she ever owned. She was way ahead of him, looking back over her shoulder at him as she laughed and glided her hand along the flowers. The sun was shining profusely - it was another beautiful summer day. Mike picked up the pace, but couldn't seem to catch up to her.
''El! Wait up!'' he called.
''Hurry, Mike!''
She came to a halt at the edge of a cliff. The closer Mike got closer to her, the faster dark grey clouds were beginning to form in the sky, making the sun disappear entirely. He could hear the low rumbling of thunder in the distance.
Then, blood rain began to fall from the clouds.
Horrified, he sprinted as fast as he could to reach her. When he was about twenty feet away, she turned face to him, fat droplets of blood rain trickling down on her ghostly pale face. Her nose was also bleeding profusely, creating two rivers of blood that flowed onto pink dress.
''Look what they did to me,'' she whispered, running a hand over her shaved head. Mike noticed a small, protruding lump on the back of her head that he had never seen before.
''Eleven,'' he said softly, his heart breaking into a million pieces. He took a few steps forward, desperately wanting to hold and comfort her, but the ground stretched out beneath him as he approached her.
She began to cry. ''Help me, Mike. Promise you'll save me!''
''Of course, El! I promise! Always!'' He took another step towards her, reaching for her hand. She reached for his in return, but to no avail. It was like they were being kept apart by some unseen magnetic force. Eventually, Eleven gave up, and raised both arms to her sides.
Then she jumped backwards over the cliff.
''NO!'' he screamed, and dove off after her. He fell, faster and faster, finally grabbing hold of her hand right at the moment they both hit the troubled water below.
Mike gasped as he came to from his violent nightmare, heart pounding in his chest. He was relieved when he saw Eleven sleeping on her bed, her hand in his, thankful it had all been just a bad dream. Unfortunately, real life wasn't that much better.
It was dark in the room, with the exception of the faint glow emitting from the lights of the medical equipment. He'd spent the day at the hospital, staying by El's side the whole time, urging her to wake up. His mom had called him to ask if he wanted to come home for dinner, but he'd declined - the last thing he wanted was to talk to his family about what had happened to El. Nancy had come by later in the evening to bring him some leftovers. Then he'd watched T.V. for most of the night, and that was the last thing he remembered. The nurse must have turned it off when she came to shut off the lights.
From his chair, Mike reached for the nightstand beside El's bed, where the staff had stored her personal belongings, and grabbed his old wrist watch that now belonged to El. 2:25 am. He tried very hard not to panic at the fact that she still wasn't awake, telling himself for the millionth time there was nothing he could do but wait. Sighing, he removed his shoes and climbed onto El's bed while being extremely careful not to touch the tubes that were coming out of her arm and nose, and snuggled in beside her, pressing his head against hers, eventually drifting back off to a dreamless sleep.
Mike was trying to remain in the state between consciousness and sleep when he heard Eleven's voice calling his name, afraid that she would still be unconscious if he did wake.
''Mike...'' Her voice seemed to come from a thousand mile-long tunnel, echoing in his head.
''Mike.'' It was suddenly very close, snapping him to focus. His eyes flew open, and the first thing he saw was Eleven's smiling face, just inches away from his. "Wake up, sleepyhead."
''El!'' he cried, placing a hand on the side of her face. ''You're awake!''
She laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard. El put her hand over his. ''Hi.''
Mike leaned in to kiss her and wrapped his arm around her, holding her tightly against his body. It felt so good to have her back - he wasn't ready to let himself worry about the tumor again, and how he was going to break this news to her.
''Mike, you're kind of smothering me,'' he heard her mumble into his chest.
He loosened his grip a little bit. ''Sorry! Sorry, it's just so good to have you back. I was so worried.''
She slithered out of his grasp to face him. ''What happened, Mike? What the hell are we doing here?'' she asked, her eyes filled with worry.
''Miss Hopper, you're awake.''
Mike and El both jumped and turned towards the unfamiliar deep voice that had interrupted their conversation. Mike recognized the man as Dr. Epstein, the doctor assigned to El. Dr. Epstein looked back and forth between the two of them several times, clearing his throat. Mike suddenly realized that he wasn't supposed be sharing El's hospital bed. He quickly returned to his chair, feeling his cheeks grow hot in embarrassment. He glanced over at El and could tell she trying hard not laugh.
''I'm sorry to interrupt. My name is Dr. Epstein, Miss Hopper. I'm your doctor here at Hawkins General.'' He extended his hand to El, and she shook it.
''Nice to meet you, Dr. Epstein. You can call me Jane.''
Dr. Epstein gave her a warm smile. ''Alright then, Jane. I'm assuming you have a lot of questions, and I promise you, I will try to answer all of them. But first, we'll have a nurse come by to remove the tubes from you and let you take a shower. You dad had a change of clothes prepared for you. Then, I'd like to meet with the three of you in my office when you're ready. Is that okay with you?'' he asked her. Mike decided that he liked Dr. Epstein. The older man had an air of authority about him, but seemed to be kind and respectful at the same time.
El looked over at Mike with uncertainty, worried about where this was going. Mike took her hand and offered her an encouraging nod.
She turned to face Dr. Epstein. "Okay."
After Eleven was showered and dressed, she was beginning to feel like herself again. But she was was eager to find out what had happened to her, desperately wanting to put this whole episode behind her once and for all so she and Mike could go back to their lives. The nurse directed them to Dr. Epstein's office, where El, Mike, and Hopper each took a seat in front of his desk. The doctor walked in shortly after them, closing the door behind him and making a beeline for his desk. El sat in the middle of the three chairs, with Mike to her right. She reached over and grabbed his hand. He held it firmly, offering her an encouraging look.
Dr. Epstein opened up his file and took a moment to review his notes. He looked up at the three of them with a grave expression on his face, looking heartbroken and exhausted at the same time.
''Okay, Jane. You should know I've asked your boyfriend and dad not to tell you anything before we got the chance to speak. I wanted you to get the facts first, the truth from a medical point of view.''
El swallowed hard. She looked over at Mike. He was watching her carefully with a pained expression on his face. Then she glanced over at her dad, who looked like he was about to start crying. This wasn't good.
''What's going on?'' she asked weakly, turning to Dr. Epstein.
Dr. Epstein sighed. ''Jane, you have a... tumor on your brain. The size of a grape, to be precise.''
The news felt like a giant slap in the face. Tumor? Her mind spun. A nauseating feeling was building at the pit of her stomach, and she felt her pace quicken.
''Tumor?'' It came out as a squeak. Mike gave her hand a firm squeeze, and from the corner of her eye, she saw her dad subtly wiping a tear from his cheek.
The doctor nodded gravely. ''Yes. Now, first, we're going to need to do some tests to find out if it's benign or cancerous. You know what benign means?'' he asked El. She nodded in response.
''We couldn't do these tests sooner because of the condition you were in yesterday,'' he continued. ''As I previously explained to your dad and Michael, this tumor caused you to hemorrhage internally rather severely. You were lucky that your boyfriend brought you in so quickly, Miss Hopper. Another hour or so and you probably wouldn't have made it.''
El was shocked. She looked at Mike. He offered her a warm smile, but his eyes were shining with tears. As much as he felt like falling apart, he knew he had to be strong and supportive for her.
''Our primary focus yesterday was to stabilize your condition to ensure you recovered from the hemorrhage as quickly as possible. However, we did perform an M.R.I. to help us locate the source of the hemorrhage, and that's when we discovered the tumor. Now, as I said, the first step will be to determine whether or not it's cancerous. The second step will be to assess whether or not it's possible for us to remove it...''
''There's a chance you won't be able to remove it?'' interrupted Hopper.
Dr. Epstein gave a firm nod. ''Yes. Brain tumors are among the trickiest. It all depends on where in the brain the tumor is located. In Jane's case, I'd say the odds are in her favor. It's situated is in an area that isn't putting pressure on the more vital parts of her brain, such as the cerebellum and cerebrum, which operate the ability to remember, think, feel. Coordination and balance...'' Dr. Epstein held up the picture of El's M.R.I scan, and was motioning to different areas as he spoke. He then pointed to a specific area.
''This is where Jane's tumor is located - the parietal lobe. Now, all the areas of the brain each play a different and very important role. However, this particular area of the parietal lobe should be fairly easy for us to operate on, since it's located in the center of the lobe and not connecting to other areas.''
Eleven was barely registering anything Dr. Epstein was saying, not knowing how to process this information. It felt like her whole world was coming apart. A tumor. Cancer. Never in a million years did she think this would happen to her. She'd been poked and prodded like a lab rat for most of her life, and after a short taste of freedom, it seemed like she was being condemned yet again to spending her days in a hospital, interacting with doctors, and performing medical tests. Always more tests. It was like being back at the Lab all over again. Maybe that was her destiny - to be a lab rat until the day that she died. And her death suddenly didn't seem so far away. Hot tears trickled down her face.
''Baby, it's ok,'' soothed Hopper, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into a sideways hug. He kissed the top of her head. ''We'll get you through this. I promise.''
''You shouldn't promise,'' replied El in a cracked whisper. ''You can't promise it's going to be okay. You don't know.'' Mike squeezed her hand. He was crying, too.
''You're right, Miss Hopper. No one should be making promises at this point. But the good news is that if the tumor is benign, there's not really a significant chance of remission. You'd be in the clear after removal.'' She felt a sliver of hope at this, but was quick to cast it aside. Hope was useless. She was doomed, and that was it.
''And if it's not?'' asked Hopper, mirroring her thoughts.
''We can potentially remove the tumor if it's cancerous, depending on Jane's stage of cancer. The earlier the stage, the better. Tumors usually start out the size of a bean. Jane's is the size of a grape - my guess is she'd be in one of the earlier stages,'' explained Dr. Epstein. He paused and looked uneasily at the three of them. El knew there was a but coming.
''However... if it's cancerous, even if we do successfully remove it, there's about a 75% chance that it could return to other areas of the body in a process called metastasis.'' Dr. Epstein offered El a sympathetic smile. ''I'm sorry.'' There was a moment of silence in the room.
Mike couldn't handle all this negativity. ''How soon can we find out if it's benign or not?'' he demanded, his voice coming out as a croak. ''I mean, there's a chance she'll be completely fine, right?''
''Right,'' confirmed the doctor. ''But there's another thing.''
El almost felt like laughing. Of course there was another thing. There was always something else.
''What do you mean, another thing?'' demanded Hopper, leaning forward in his chair.
Dr. Epstein sighed. ''During Jane's M.R.I., we discovered something very unusual. Something we had never seen before. Jane has a highly-radioactive, metal apparatus connected to the back of her brain, which we think could have potentially caused this tumor.'' He checked his clipboard. ''Now I understand you don't possess Jane's medical record, Mr. Hopper?''
El was stunned. So were Hopper and Mike. All three of them looked at each other, confused. Radioactive apparatus?
''I… no, I don't. Never have. She was born and raised at the Lab. After the uh...maccident, that happened there a few years ago, they said her medical record was destroyed. The only official document I have is her birth certificate.''
Dr. Epstein nodded. ''Although this apparatus is quite small, it seems highly complex. Appears to be powered by some sort of nuclear substance. My recommendation would be to remove it as soon as possible. But in order to do that, we need to have a better understanding of it. It would help us - immensely, might I add - to know why it was implanted in the first place - how they did it, what it is, exactly. You know, that sort of thing. And we need her medical record in order to have access to that sort of information.''
''I know why they put it there,'' whispered El. She turned to Mike. ''That… thing… probably helped generate my powers.''
''I'm sorry?'' asked Dr. Epstein. She looked sideways at her dad for approval. Hopper immediately knew what she was thinking.
''It's okay, you need to show him,'' he told her.
El sighed. ''Dr. Epstein, don't freak out, okay?'' She focused on his pen holder, pushing it back a few inches with her mind. It obeyed, sliding across his desk.
''JESUS CHRIST!'' he cried, rising from his chair so fast he almost fell over it.
''She can do so much more than that, Dr. Epstein. She can lift people, cars...'' said Mike, purposely leaving out the part about monsters, and how she created a gate to the Upside Down with sheer force of power.
The blood drained from Dr. Epstein's face. ''Is this a joke? Some sort of prank?'' he demanded, his eyes darting from Hopper, to El, to Mike.
Hopper took a deep breath. ''It's not, I promise you. Jane's biological mother, a woman named Terry Ives, was a test subject in the Lab's government-sanctioned MKUltra program while she was pregnant with Jane, taking part in experiments involving psychedelic drugs and sensory deprivation. After she was born, Martin Brenner raised her as his own walking science experiment. For twelve years, they trained her to develop the ability to move things with her mind, among other things. I swear to you Dr. Epstein - it may be hard to believe, but this is all too real.''
Dr. Epstein blinked, utterly shocked. They all watched as the expression on his face shifted from fear to confusion, then finally, downright fascination.
''Amazing,'' he breathed. ''I knew thought them folks at Hawkins Lab had an air of secrecy about them," he mused, rubbing his chin.
''You don't know the half of it,'' Mike said under his breath.
''What I'm trying to tell you, Dr. Epstein,'' El cut in, ''is that I think this... apparatus is what gives me the ability to be able to do all these things. That's why they put it there, so I could become this super-human they could study and use to their advantage.''
Dr. Epstein nodded solemnly, taking a moment to assimilate the information.
''An organization such as Hawkins National Lab would make copies of their patients' - or should I say subjects' - medical files,'' he said, crossing his hands together and turning to face Hopper. ''What I'm saying, Mr. Hopper, is that I'm quite positive they lied to you about her medical file. There must be a copy of it still out there somewhere. I'm sure of it.''
Hopper paused to consider this. He scoffed. ''You're right. Absolutely. That makes sense. Those sons of bitches...''
''They know far too well how much trouble they'd be in if the truth came out,'' continued Dr. Epstein. ''If Jane's medical record, and all of their other subjects' medical records, were made public, it would make for a huge scandal. Not that their whole operation isn't controversial enough as it is...''
Hopper and Dr. Epstein exchanged a look. They nodded at each other in unspoken agreement.
''Find a way to get your hands on that file, Mr. Hopper. Whatever it takes.''
''Whatever it takes,'' repeated Hopper.