bitchin'

Chapter 66

"It's you and me, it's you and me, won't be unhappy," Max sings softly as she sits next to her girlfriend in the Roane County Hospital. She's been by Lindsay's side since they were allowed to see her. When everyone else went home, she and Steve stayed. He made it clear to the nurses that Max was family and that she was not leaving. She was thankful for that, now resting her hand on Lindsay's cast, rubbing her thumbs over the hard shell where her knuckles would be, "And if I only could, I'd make a deal with God. And I'd get them to swap our places..."

Steve left to go to Nancy's house to get some supplies for him and Max, for their stay at the hospital with Lindsay. He would return soon with clothes, food, blankets, and pillows. She had slept in the chair, her neck sore from it being tilted to the side but she didn't care.

She is caught off guard when the door opens, she wasn't expecting the Harrington boy back so soon. But he returns with Nancy, Mike, Eleven, Jonathan, and Will.

"Oh my god," her hoarse voice whispers. She gets up from her chair to greet them, taking them in for a big hug, "We've been calling you guys like crazy."

"I know," Mike answers, "We came as soon as we heard."

"I'm sorry," Eleven whispers. Max begins to cry again. When they pull away, she notices Eleven looking at Lindsay. They all turn to her, "Do they know... when she will wake?"

"No," she answers quietly, "They say she might not. Her heart stopped. For over a minute. She died. I... I mean, clinically, but... then she came back. They say it's a miracle."

Eleven sits down on the edge of the bed. She carefully takes Lindsay's fingers into her hand.

"I'm here, Lindsay," she closes her eyes and hopes to enter her mind, finding memories, visions, something.

But it's blank. Empty. Dark.

Nothing.

***

Steve, Dustin, and Robin pull up to Hawkins High School. The town has set up a base camp there for people in need. The Wheeler's had a lot of stuff to donate and the three decided they could drop it off. Erica and Lucas went back to the hospital to be with Max and Lindsay for the time being.

Inside the gym, there are cots set up for people without homes. Lots of people wander aimlessly and there's a board specifically for missing people. There are volunteers helping sort clothes and other donation items. There are hospital beds since the Roane County Hospital filled up the night the gate opened.

"Hi," Robin says, approaching the donation table.

"Hi," the volunteer says.

"Uh, so these are blankets and sheets," she explains, "And some... some clothes and... and some kids' toys."

"Wow. It's already so organized," the volunteer smiles, "we appreciate that. Do you want a tax receipt for it?"

"Um... No. I don't think we need one. Thank you, though," the girl answers, "But is there anything else that we can do to help?"

"Uh, yeah, actually," she smiles, "Jamie, will you show these guys to different stations? They want to help."

"Sure," the man named Jamie says. He motions for the three to follow him. Steve gets assigned to sort clothes with another volunteer.

"Okay, then we sort by age," she explains, "We've got infants, girls, boys, men, women... oh, if anything is in too bad shape, we really don't want that."

Robin gets assigned to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

"I found another jar of peanut butter, and it's crunchy," a familiar voice says. Robin turns around to see Vickie come out of the kitchen. The two are shocked to see each other, "Robin."