𝙂𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙚𝙧 - ᴍᴀx ᴍᴀʏꜰɪᴇʟᴅ

Chapter Eighteen: Finding Billy

After that incident, Ava went to the hospital with a severely broken jaw, two broken fingers, and a fractured wrist. She's been in the hospital for 3 weeks, and today is her day out.

Steve would always be there, but also have to leave for his job. Max would always visit, too, but Ava would never speak to her. The rest of the party would continuously visit as well, it was good company. Especially Will and Mike, the only two that were really trying to save her.

"Hey kiddo." Steve walks in with a nurse by his side, as well as Will, Lucas, and.. Max. Ava was upset with both Max and El for planning on putting her in the sauna, as if she was like Billy, but also understood why they thought that, but they didn't need to act out upon it.

Ava gets disconnected to the plugs and wires behind her, and the nurse helps her up. "You sure you can walk?" Steve asks his younger sister, "Yes, Steve, it's not like i b-broke my legs." Ava responds, still having trouble talking.

"She's actually healing particularly quickly, and is managing to talk pretty well for a broken jaw." The nurse informs, looking at Ava fascinatingly.

Ava just nods slowly, and turns back to everyone, making sure she doesn't even lay eyes on Max, who is staring at her. "Alright, let's get you home then." Steve says with a bright smile on his face, happy that his sister will be with him now.

Ava sits in the front seat of Steve's car, and surprisingly the rest of the group managed to fit in the back. Ava could feel eyes on her, and she knew it was the redheads. She just rested her eyes until they got home, still exhausted.

~~~

They pull into a house, but it wasn't the Harrington's residence, it looked more like the Byers. "What are we doing here?" Ava asks, eyeing the house. "El and Mike are here because El is trying to find Billy again." Lucas explains in the back.

"I can drop you off at home if you'd like?" Steve asks the girl, who shakes her head. Ava was curious about Billy, especially after what happened in the sauna, she wanted to get in on this information.

They all walk out of the car, Steve driving off. Mike pacing around the room as soon as they walk in. "Oh, hey Ava." Mike says, waving, before pacing again. Damn i was gone for 3 weeks and all i get is a "Oh, hey Ava." and a wave. Ava thinks and smiles to herself.

Ava sits down, away from most in the living room, but still in there. "It can't be good for her to be in there for this long." Mike says, still pacing. "Mike, you need to relax." Max says, not being able to take her eyes off of Ava.

"What if she gets brain damage or something?" Mike scoffs. "Oh, shit. Is that, like, a real thing?" Lucas asks, "No, it's not. He made it up. Mike doesn't know what he's talking about." Max says, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, and you do?" Mike scoffs again.. "No, i-" Max says before getting cut off by Nancy on the phone. "Yes, from The Hawkins Post. I-I called a couple days ago about the-.." Nancy says, sighing. "Yes, yes, um.. I was just.. Following up to see if anything else had gone missing." Nancy continues.

"Or if- Okay. Um, sorry to bother-" Nancy says before the line hangs up. Nancy mumbles curses to herself before putting the phone back. Ava walks over to Nancy and them, tired of Max and Mike's bickering.

Nancy looks over at Ava and frowns at her, upset about what she's been through. "Is it safe to hug you?" Nancy asks jokingly, before pulling the smaller girl into a hug. Ava hugs back, enjoying the smell of Nancy, she smelt like cherries.