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Thirty Nine

Allison and Nancy spent the night in the hospital parking lot, waiting for the doctors to run more tests on Mrs. Driscoll, so that they could gather as much information as possible. When the next morning arrived and all of the test results had come back inconclusive, the girls knew it was time to contact the others.

Nancy grabbed a handful of change from her purse and called the Byers' house, using the payphone outside the hospital. Allison stood nearby, sharing worried glances with Nancy as the phone continued to ring. Finally, someone picked up on the other line and Jonathan's grogging morning voice could be heard through the speaker.

"I'm at the hospital with Driscoll...no I'm not joking. Why don't you just save me the lecture and put me on the phone with your brother.", Nancy demanded, getting straight to the point of the phone call.

"Uh, he's not even here."

"Where is he? Is he safe?"

"Why wouldn't he be safe? Nancy, why wouldn't he be safe?"

"Stay where you are. I'll explain everything when we get there."

"Who is we?"

"Me and Allison. We're on our way!", as soon as Nancy hung up, her and Allison ran to the parking lot and jumped into the car, which tore out of the parking lot moments later.

Aside from Nancy anxiously tapping her nails against the steering wheel, the drive across town was quiet. Allison stared out her window and tried to focus on drowning out Nancy's overlapping thoughts about the Mind Flayer, and her relationship with Jonathan.

When they arrived at the Byers', they found Jonathan standing outside on the front porch. As he approached the car, Allison flung the back door open to let him in and then slammed it shut once he was seated. He mumbled out a quiet thank you and made eye contact with Nancy in the rearview mirror, both their thoughts revealing to Allison just how much they cared for eachother.

"So...uh...where are we going?", Jonathan asked, clearing his throat. Nancy refused to answer him and directed her thoughts towards Allison instead.

Tell him we're going to my house.

"We're going to Nancy's.", Allison announced, glancing over her shoulder at Jonathan and then side eyeing Nancy, who was focused on the road. "Why don't we listen to some music?", she suggested, turning on the radio to avoid the uncomfortable silence that had come over the car.

As the Wheeler's house came into view, Nancy sped into the driveway and slammed her foot down on the break, forcing Allison and Jonathan to brace themselves. They got out and stormed into the house, straight towards the basement door, where Nancy pounded her fist against the wood.

"Mike, open the door!", her demands were closely followed by the sound of footsteps and the door creaking open to reveal Mike, Will and Lucas standing on the steps with Eleven and Max at the bottom. "We need to talk.", Nancy sighed, pushing her way into the basement.

Allison locked eyes with Eleven and pulled her close, while Jonathan and Will did the same. The kids sat down on the couch, and Nancy began to explain everything that she and Allison had witnessed at the hospital, causing the kids thoughts to simultaneously enter Allison's mind.

We should tell them.

They need to know what else happened last night.

"What happened last night? What aren't you telling us?", Allison questioned the group, who all exchanged worried glances.

"We thought that Max's brother might be flayed. So we did a test.", Mike explained.

"What kind of test?", Jonathan inquired, scratching his head.