Chapitre 14: 14. Never Tear Us Apart
[A/N: Hey y'all! I hope everyone is enjoying themselves so far. We're only at the tip of the iceberg but I think you guys will be happy with this chapter ;)
As always, if you like what you're reading, please favorite/follow/review and let me know!
Toodles :)]
Chapter 14: Never Tear Us Apart (by INXS)
"We could live for a thousand years but if I hurt you, I'd make wine from your tears. I told you that we could fly 'cause we all have wings but some of us don't know why..."
. . . . . . . .
The middle school had been closed down for a few weeks back in November due to all of the structural damage that needed to be repaired and the massive clean-up of so many government agents' bodies. Even after re-opening just before Christmas break, the signs of destruction had still been there. Paint cans, ladders, sawdust, and maintenance personnel working in the hallways were a constant reminder that something big had happened in that small school. On their first day back after winter break, the school was almost back to normal sans a few areas sectioned off by caution tape but anyone who'd been there on that eventful night could still vividly see and remember the broken cement blocks from the Demogorgon's entrance, the trails of blood seeping across the linoleum, and the screeches and cries of the monster and its victims.
Falling back into routine with school did little to subdue Mike's nervous energy surrounding El's condition. It was Tuesday and classes had resumed as usual but Mike's mind was elsewhere. He'd sat through Mr. Clarke's class in the morning but could barely remember what had happened. They'd done some group work and he'd had to move his desk at one point but he only vaguely remembered talking about different types of rocks and volcanoes. He'd biked to school with Lucas, Dustin, and Will and had idly chatted with them along the way but ever since first period, he'd been uncharacteristically quiet, lost in his own head. The frantic tapping of his foot and the nervous fidgeting of his hands throughout the day were the only indicators he hadn't gone completely catatonic.
They were going to start to wean El off the drugs that were keeping her comatose today. Her brain swelling had gone down considerably and they didn't want to keep her under any longer than necessary. Dr. Kramer had said they wouldn't begin the weaning process until mid-afternoon which left just enough time for them to get out of school and get back up to Clarksville right away in the hopes of being there when she woke up. Jonathan was going to pick them all up after school so all Mike could think about was how slowly time seemed to be passing and how excited yet nervous he was to finally get to see and talk to El again. Like, really talk to her. He hadn't even had any of those weird dreams with her since they found her and he wondered what that could mean. Was she unable to do it if she was unconscious? Did it mean her brain was scrambled and she wouldn't even know who he was when she woke up? He tried not to let it bother him as much as it actually did.
Mike hadn't been able to glide through the day as easily as he'd hoped, however. Seventh period came with a welcome ringing of the bell and Mike rejoiced in the fact that there were only 50 more minutes left in the school day. As he sat down at his bench in the tech ed classroom, he eagerly watched the clock at the front of the room. The hands made their way methodically around the clock's face, steadily bringing him closer to 2:45 when he'd be able to meet back up with his friends and head up to the hospital.
They'd been working on making small picture frames out of plastic. Before the break, they'd started the process of bending the material with heat and molding it into the correct shape so that it could sit up on its own and someone could slide a picture in through the gap between each layer of the bended plastic. They'd had to measure everything precisely so as not to overuse materials and it'd been a time-consuming process with only two machines for bending the plastic being shared by 25 other students. It wasn't their most exciting project - Mike had much preferred creating the egg-crash cart they'd worked on at the beginning of the school year - but he'd decided that he could use this little plastic frame to hold his very first picture of El. This livened him up throughout the remainder of the period and he'd worked diligently in perfecting the edges of the plastic, smoothing out stray pieces that were frayed from being cut.
As the class drew to a close, Mike was chatting animatedly with his table-mates about the progress of their frames. Almost everyone had finished with only a few people still at the back work tables putting the finishing touches on their projects in the last fifteen minutes of class. Mike admired his work and beamed with excitement at the thought of seeing El, taking a picture of or with her, and being able to put it in this frame. He'd spent weeks lamenting the fact that he never got a picture of El back in November and wasn't sure if he'd ever see her again so he wanted to make sure he fixed that right away.
Their teacher, Ms. Burns, was an intimidating woman with long, curly, dark red hair and she rode to school every day on a motorcycle which explained the consistent theme of black leather in her wardrobe. As Ms. Burns rounded up and assisted the lingering students in the back, the rest of the class was able to leisurely wait at their benches at the front of the classroom. Mike was lost in thought, staring at his creation, when Troy came up behind him and plucked the frame from his grasp.
"Nice frame you got there," His voice dripped with malicious sarcasm and Mike whirled around, glaring at him.
"Give it back, Troy," Mike said assertively, his brow furrowed.
"Why?" Troy mocked. "So you can put a picture of your ugly frog-face in it?"
Mike sighed in exasperation, rolling his eyes. The other students around them were watching but no one said or did anything.
"Here," Troy said, pretending to offer the frame to Mike but as he paused to consider taking it, Troy quickly whipped the frame at Mike's face, a remaining sharp edge catching Mike across the cheek, before pulling it back out of Mike's grasp. Mike growled as a long pink scratch formed across his pale cheek and little pinpricks of blood formed along the line. He wiped at his cheek and scowled.
"Oooooooooh," Several students around them taunted in a low tone, awaiting some sort of entertaining altercation.
"Cut it out, Troy," Mike said in a low voice, his patience wearing considerably thin.
"Or what?" Troy said, getting in Mike's face and his hot breath made Mike want to gag. "What are you gonna do without your freakazoid girlfriend to protect you?" He added, matching Mike's low tone with a menacing grin and several students around them snickered.
"Shut up," Mike growled, swiping at the frame but missing as Troy pulled it away again.
"Did she run away when she realized how much of a frog-faced loser you are?" Troy taunted with mock sympathy, his grin widening.
"Shut up!" Mike yelled, standing up. Their faces were entirely too close and Mike met Troy with a fierce gaze of his own.
"Aww," Troy mocked. "Looks like someone got his feelings hurt," He smirked as Mike once again tried to snatch the frame out of Troy's hand to no avail. At this point, the teacher had stepped out of the room with another student and the bully took full advantage of the temporary lack of supervision as he darted to the back of the classroom.
"What the hell, Troy?!" Mike called as he chased the boy to one of the machines in the back where he held the frame against the heat and Mike watched in horror as the plastic began to melt. "Stop it!" He demanded but the damage was done. Troy casually tossed the frame back to Mike who caught the still-hot edge in his hands. Mike yelped in pain, dropping the half-melted frame to the ground as Troy doubled over with laughter.
Mike crouched to the ground to pick up his mutilated frame as Troy scurried back to his bench at the front and Ms. Burns stepped back into the classroom.
"Mr. Wheeler, to your seat," She ordered and Mike stood up, dejectedly trudging back to his own bench as his table-mates watched him with sympathetic expressions. He plopped back down on his cold metal stool and examined the damage to his frame. It wouldn't stand up on its own anymore when he placed it on the tabletop, instead falling over to one side as it favored the melted edge. The two plastic pieces that left just enough space to slip a photo inside were now fused together and the frame was utterly useless at this point. Mike glared at the frame, trying to keep himself together just long enough to make it out of school. As angry as he was, the only thing that could make matters worse would be getting in trouble and missing the chance to see El.
As the final bell rang and the student excitedly filed out of the classroom, Mike stuffed his disfigured frame into his backpack and tossed the bag over his shoulder.
"Who shit in your coffee?" Dustin asked as Mike stomped down the hall toward him and his other two friends, an unconscious glare still present on his face.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Mike declared as he brushed past his friends, leading the way to the main entrance of the school.
"I bet it was Troy," Will surmised gently.
"Man, I hate that asshole," Lucas grumbled, shaking his head. "What'd he do?"
"I said I don't wanna talk about it!" Mike repeated vehemently as he pushed open the doors and the boys stepped outside in search of Jonathan's car.
. . . . . . . .
Throughout much of the 30 minute car ride, Mike had been silently fuming but the duration of the trip and the anticipation of seeing El were enough to slowly work him out of his funk. By the time they made it to the hospital, Mike's nervous energy had returned and while he could carry on idle chit-chat with his friends, his mind was focused primarily on thoughts of El. The four boys, along with Jonathan, sat around in El's room, waiting and watching her with anticipation. Their eyes were peeled for any minute sign of movement or wakefulness from the frail girl but boredom from sitting around doing nothing was all but driving them stir-crazy.
Hopper and Becky were already at the hospital when the boys arrived. Joyce had said she'd like to come but she wouldn't be able to get there until later that evening after her shift ended at the store.
"You know," Becky said as she leaned against a wall as Hopper poured himself a cup of coffee from a pot in the cafe. They'd spent the past half hour with El so once the boys had gotten there, they'd opted for a coffee break. "I've been thinkin'..." She trailed off and Hopper lifted a sideways glance to her.
"Yeah?"
"Say she wakes up and everything's fine and all that… then what?" Becky wondered aloud. "Where's she go?"
Hopper pursed his lips and shrugged. "Haven't crossed that bridge," He'd had a feeling this conversation would come up, given Becky's interest in El since New Years, and had been hopeful it would from the get go.
"I mean…" Becky went on thoughtfully. "She's my niece, right?" Her gaze wandered out to the tables in the middle of the cafeteria. "And Terry's daughter,"
"Mmhmm," Hopper nodded, a keen suspicion of where this was going. "You think you wanna take her in?"
Becky sighed. "I don't know," She ran a hand through her messy waves. "I wouldn't feel right if I didn't but I… I mean, I don't even know this girl. She doesn't know me. What do I even say to her?" Becky rambled, silently pining for a cigarette to calm herself at this point. "And how the hell do I introduce her to Terry? My sister thinks her baby is still a baby,"
Hopper sighed thoughtfully as he lifted the lidded cup of coffee to his lips. "One day at a time," He said before taking a sip.
"And what the hell do I do about her papers?" Becky continued. "No birth certificate, no social security number… it's like she doesn't even exist,"
Hopper furrowed his brow in thought. "I might be able to find a way around that,"
Becky quirked an eyebrow. "How's that?"
"I've got a friend down at the SSA that owes me one," Hopper said surreptitiously. "Just let me look into it,"
"Okay…" Becky paused, her mind whirring with problems and solutions and hypotheticals. Never had she expected to find herself in a situation like this. She'd spent the past five years of her life caring for her older sister, convinced that she'd simply taken too many drugs during her college years and as a result, had completely lost her mind. In truth, she'd resented her sister quite a bit for the burden it'd put on her. They were all they had in the world, though. Their father had walked out on them when Becky was a baby and their mother died of a stroke three years ago. To think that maybe they had more family than she'd known was bewildering to say the least. "What happens if I don't take her?" Becky asked as she and Hopper sat down at a small metal table nearby.
Hopper shrugged. "You're her only real family," He said simply, bringing his styrofoam cup up to his lips and taking another sip. "And CPS can't get involved. That's a surefire way to get her back to the lab," He said plainly, adding, "Or worse,"
Becky nodded solemnly, looking down at the slotted metal table in front of her. Hopper had explained that much of Terry's accusations had been true. The government had been holding El for all these years, conducting experiments on her in the hope of using her as some type of weapon. She still had her doubts that this young girl actually had powers like they were saying - that had to be some sort of exaggeration. But the kidnapping was obviously true and the thought of it turned her stomach. All her life, their mother had drilled the idea into her and Terry's heads that family was everything. You didn't turn your back on them, you didn't run away, and you did everything in your power to make sure they were taken care of. That's why she couldn't put Terry in a hospital like so many of her friends had encouraged her to do. She'd had to drop out of her own college program to take care of Terry when their mom died. Working full-time, plus the money from their mom's life insurance policy, kept them afloat and at least paid for a day nurse to watch Terry when Becky went to work. As much as it exhausted and stressed her, she couldn't abandon her sister so could she really turn her back on her niece? As if she wasn't already overwhelmed enough 99% of the time…
. . . . . . . .
"When is she gonna wake up?" Dustin groaned, wondering aloud.
"It's been three hours," Lucas bemoaned. "The sun's already gone down,"
"She could wake up at any second, guys," Mike said emphatically from his place next to El's bedside. They'd pulled additional chairs into the room so each of them had a seat around the perimeter with Mike's place by El as he held her hand.
"Well, it's obviously not gonna be this second so I'm going on a snack break," Dustin stood up from the chair he'd been lounging in at the end of El's bed. The pain of boredom was nearly driving him crazy and he needed to stretch his legs and do something.
"I'll come with you," Lucas said, following his friend out the door.
"Guys, c'mon!" Mike rebuked. "She's gonna wake up soon,"
Will silently stood up and started walking to the door.
"You too, Will?" Mike said in a disappointed tone.
"I've um…" Will's voice was strained and tight and Mike recognized the tinge of green on his friend's face. "I've just gotta use the bathroom,"
Darting a glance back and forth between El and Will, Mike quickly scrambled around the edge of the bed and followed his friend into the hall.
"Are you okay?" Mike asked Will once they were out of the room.
"Yeah," Will nodded, his stomach twisting in his gut. "I should be. I'm just gonna run to the bathroom," He jerked a thumb at the men's room across the hall and Mike watched as his friend darted away. Maybe he should go in and make sure Will was alright. He didn't think there was any way he could prevent Will from slipping back into the Upside Down but it'd probably be best to keep an eye on him. Besides, he could use a pee break and stepping away from El for a couple minutes couldn't hurt. They had been waiting for hours, after all.
Will pushed his way into a stall and the sound of his retching made Mike wince.
"Do you need anything?" Mike asked as he stood outside the stall door, looking up to the ceiling and trying to keep his sympathy nausea at bay.
"Uh-uh," Will managed as he began to cough violently and a splash into the toilet signaled the apparent end of his efforts. The sound of the toilet flushing drowned out Will's soft, miserable groan and Mike stepped aside when Will emerged from the stall.
"Hey, you didn't disappear this time," Mike noted gleefully and his friend forced a smile, his eyes still dull with sickness.
"Yeah," Will nodded meekly as he walked up to the sinks. "Cool,"
Mike quickly walked over to the urinals, satisfied that his friend was okay and eager to get back into the hospital room.
. . . . . . . .
Everything was blurry, white, and far too bright for her liking. The first thing she noticed as her vision came into focus was the corner of a table. It was made of that fake wood with an oak stain and there was a plastic cup of water sitting on top next to a fat, teal-colored lamp. As her tunnel vision gradually lessened, she noted several chairs situated around her. She was in a bed, she knew that much, and the heavy, scratchy feeling against her legs was coming from the overly starched white sheets and blanket over her. Turning her head to the side, there were tubes and bags with liquid dripping inside as well as several machines and monitors. She stared at them vacantly, quizzically, trying to make out what they were for as she slowly registered more and more of her surroundings.
She felt dizzy and her arms and legs were weak. She tried to lift her head but the effort seemed to take an enormous amount of energy. As wakefulness washed over her, she noticed a stinging, pinprick sensation in her arm and looked down. A thin tube was sticking out of the inside of her elbow and another was coming out of the top of her hand. In that moment, she recognized the familiar feeling of adhesive stickers and wires on her head and after blinking a few times, registered the sight of a familiar machine near her bedside. She watched in paralyzed horror as the needle darted up and down, drawing lines and waves on a long sheet of paper that had already reached the floor and doubled over on itself.
No. She tried to speak but nothing came out right away. "N-No," Her voice cracked as panic began to set in. Her heartbeat quickened and her chest felt tight. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't be back there. She'd gotten out! How did this happen?
"No!" She cried, her voice still brittle as tears flooded her eyes and her panic heightened. She felt little tubes in her nose and yanked them out, tossing the tubing aside. "NO!" She began to scream, gradually finding her voice.
A woman in floral print scrubs ran into the room, yelling to others in the hallway but El wasn't paying attention. She had to get out. She had to escape. She couldn't go back. She couldn't stay in this place. Several men in white lab coats rushed into the room and El started to scream louder.
"NO! NO!" She cried, sitting up and ripping the tubes out of her arms, ignoring the burning sensation they left and the droplets of blood that escaped the tiny holes in her arm and hand. One of the monitors by her bed was beeping out of control and she just wanted everything to stop.
"Mike!" She called out desperately, her voice punctuated with distress as she cried. "No!" She yelled into the face of a man who tried to gently push her back against the pillows. "MIKE! Mike!" She was exhausted, using every ounce of her energy in her fight against these strange people. She noticed the gown she was wearing and this only fueled her desperate fight even more. She shoved against the doctors and nurses attempting to restrain her, crying and yelling all the while. "Mike!"
. . . . . . . .
"Do you hear that?" Mike asked as he ripped a paper towel from the dispenser by the sink, drying his hands.
"Someone's yelling?" Will guessed but Mike was already yanking the bathroom door open and rushing out.
Down the hall, he could immediately recognize El's voice. "She's awake!" He yelled as he ran, closing the distance between himself and the room door as Will jogged closely behind him.
Stopping abruptly in the doorway, Mike braced himself against each side of it with both hands as he caught his breath. "I'm here!" He yelled over the commotion happening in the room. "El!"
The sound of his voice pulled El's attention away from her struggle and when they made eye contact, it was all Mike could do to keep his knees from buckling. She was awake. She was alive. And she knew who he was.
"El, it's okay!" He darted over to her, squeezing in between two nurses and grabbing El's hand. Her eyes were wide with terror as she looked around at the doctors and nurses standing over her. Seemingly satisfied with the way she was calming down, they lessened their grips on her but didn't step away. "You're in the hospital. It's okay. They're here to help you,"
"Help?" El's eyebrows stitched together with worry, her big brown eyes darting between Mike and the hospital staff.
"Yeah, El," Mike nodded reassuringly, rubbing her hand between both of his. "You were really sick and they made you better. You're safe," He smiled, his eyes brimming with tears of relief that he fought hard to blink away.
"P-Promise?" She stammered, keeping a wary eye on the men in white lab coats on her opposite side.
"I promise," Mike said emphatically, shaking her hand as he did so. "We're all here - Dustin and Lucas and -"
"Will," El said softly, noticing the smaller boy behind Mike.
"Hi," Will waved awkwardly, stepping forward at the mention of his name. "Nice to meet you," he said, adding, "Again,"
El looked back and forth between Mike and Will as she gradually settled down.
"Sweetheart," one of the nurses said gently, pulling El's reluctant attention. "Let's get your arm cleaned up, okay? Then we've gotta hook you back up so we can watch your heart and your breathing, okay?"
El looked to Mike and he recognized her confused, concerned expression. "The monitors and tubes - that's how they make sure you're breathing and everything is working the way it's supposed to. If something goes wrong and you need help, the monitors let them know,"
El pursed her lips, uncertain and afraid but she trusted Mike. She looked up at the nurse who was smiling warmly and gave a tentative nod. El watched as she retrieved some gauze and alcohol pads from a drawer and replaced Mike at her side momentarily, efficiently cleaning up the dried bloody mess inside El's elbow.
"I've got it from here," The nurse said to the other doctors and nurses surrounding them and El watched with relief as they filed out of the room. "Don't you worry, honey," She said as she held a gauze pad against El's original injection site before replacing it with fresh gauze and taping it down. "My name's Denise and we're taking good care of you,"
El watched warily as Denise discarded the old tubing and walked back around to the other side of her bed, pulling fresh ones out of a drawer. Mike resumed his place at El's side, cradling her hand in his.
"Holy shit, she's awake!" Dustin's loud voice echoed in the room as he and Lucas appeared in the doorway carrying bags of chips and donuts.
"Give her some space, guys," Denise said gently as she wiped an alcohol pad against the inside of El's other elbow. El watched the woman as she prepared the needle and catheter. Dustin and Lucas dropped their snacks down on their respective chairs and stood by watching.
El shot a worried glance at Mike who squeezed her hand. "It's okay. It's just a needle. I've gotten a million of them before and it only hurts for a second. Like a pinch," El's gaze was fixed on the strange objects in the nurse's hand. "Just squeeze my hand, okay?" Mike said, drawing her attention back to him. "For as long as it hurts, just squeeze, okay El?"
El bit the inside of her lip before reluctantly nodding as the nurse tied a rubber tourniquet around her arm. She'd had needles before. The people at the lab always wanted blood from her and sometimes they injected her with weird liquids that made her feel funny before doing experiments. She'd never had anyone hold her hand through it, though. The lab people were rough, pulling on her skin and stabbing her. Sometimes a new person would take her blood and they'd miss the vein, then wiggle the needle around in an attempt to get it right which only hurt El more and left her with gigantic bruises in her arm.
"Here we go," Denise said, inserting the first needle and attaching the new tubing to it. El shut her eyes tightly and squeezed Mike's hand as the painful prick of the needle subsided and the nurse released the rubber tie around her arm.
"See?" Mike said after a second and El opened her eyes tentatively, looking down in fascination at the new tube coming out of her arm. "Not so bad, right?"
El pursed her lips and watched as the nurse attached another needle and tube to her hand.
"All done," Denise said in a sing-song voice, tossing the needles into a sharps container and the rest of the trash into their appropriate bins. "You did great, sweetheart," She said as she removed her gloves. "Get some rest, okay?" She directed her attention to the boys. "Don't get her riled up again, alright?"
"We won't," Dustin and Lucas replied automatically before exchanging confused looks. They hadn't witnessed El's freak-out.
El sighed heavily once the nurse was gone, clinging tightly to Mike's hand as she relaxed back into her pillow. Mike took a seat in the chair by the bed, scooting close and giving El more of his arm to hold onto.
"I can't believe you're really back," Lucas said softly and El looked up, meeting his gaze.
"We've got a lot to catch you up on," Dustin added, grinning, and El matched his smile with a more demure one of her own.
"Friends," El murmured peacefully, turning on her side and resting her head against Mike's forearm as she kept his hand tightly in her grasp. Mike fought the blush that crept up his neck and ignored his friends' smirks. Despite everything that had happened, the only thing that mattered right now was that El was finally back and she was okay.
. . . . . . . .
"I was standing, you were there. Two worlds collided, and they could never tear us apart..."
[A/N: El is awake! :D]
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone