mercy ; peter ballard

32. r o s e m a r y

july 15, 1986

"doctor! we need a doctor in here!" lucas' voice sounded muffled.

her eyes were a cloudy grey. she felt her eyelids open but she couldn't see. everything was all just fuzzy. mike and dustin stayed silent, allowing lucas and max to have their moment.

"lucas?" her small voice rasped. she felt his warm hand in hers.

"yes! yes, it's lucas!"

she could the shuffles of other people behind him.

"you're currently in the hospital. i brought mike and dustin. you have been out for almost four months," he tried to speak as gently as he could, but internally, he was freaking the fuck out. he needed to stay calm. for max. "how are you feeling?"

she tried to look around. "i still...i can't see. everything still hurts like a bitch...where is bea?"

lucas looked to mike then back at max. he simply shook his head and she knew.

"she ran out about two months ago. will did too. they are both with vecna."

max turned her head to the ceiling. she felt unsure. she hated vecna but she really couldn't hate bea. she was too attached.

"some people in the group thought bea was a spy and wanted to..." he couldn't find the right words to describe it. "...contain her. she said something about not wanting to be locked away again and ran out. will and a few others tried to defend her but the overall vote was against her."

max scoffed. "you guys are assholes."

the doctor burst through the door. his eyes widened. "you're awake! boys, do you think you wait outside so we can run some tests and make sure some things are working properly please?"

a couple nurses stood behind him with the same shocked expression.

mike spoke up, "yeah. no problem."

max looked up at lucas. "i'll explain more when they are done," he whispered to her, answering her unspoken question.

she nodded as he started to walk out of the room with mike and dustin.

"okay, what...the...hell?" dustin whispered to the boys. "what the hell is happening?"

mike thinks for a moment. it hit. he walked into the waiting area where a tv stood. the newscast echoed the waiting room.

"the body of hawkins student jackie mason was found in the woods earlier today. jackie was viciously mutilated. there will be memorial held. it's safe to say, it will be a closed casket. more information still to come..."

"uhh," mike said, his eyes widened. lucas and dustin walked up behind.

"what?" dustin asked, staring at mike.

"i think when jackie went missing, max came back. the downside of this is jackie is dead and there is most definitely another gate opening," mike theorized, turning to his friends.

"what!" lucas whisper-yelled. "i thought he was still weak?"

"apparently, he's strong enough to kill jackie," mike said, exasperated.