Joe Keery Imagines

For The Love Of Steve.

After what felt like forever stuck in the Upside Down, it felt so good to finally get out of there. Steve and Eddie were my best friends and with Eddie, he and I had both had followed Steve into Lover's Lake after he'd found the gate, along with Robin and Nancy. Steve was being attacked by these horrid Demo-bats when we got to him, they'd taken a good chunk out of his sides as well as trying to strangle him. Added to that were all the scratches on his back and arms from when the vine dragged him there in the first place. After managing to find refuge at the Upside Down version of Skull Rock, we had intended to head to Nancy's house when Steve almost collapsed as a result of his wounds. Nancy did her best to patch him up and we thought he was okay, adrenalin was keeping him going or he was ignoring the pain.

Thanks to Dustin and his clever mind, we found ourselves looking up at him as well as Max, Lucas and Erica in Eddie's trailer. He'd figured out how we could get out of the Upside Down as our initial entrance to it was now guarded by those stupid bats. Once we were all back in the real world, we were able to gather our thoughts and assess how each other was. It was decided that we would go back into the Upside Down to get Vecna, this time we were better armed. Max and Eddie had been injured in the process but were easily fixed by Nancy and the first aid kit at the Wheeler's house. While Steve's wounds had been dressed by Nancy, after the initial bat attack, the makeshift bandage wasn't working as good as it had, given it had been there for a while. Steve was now feeling weak again, as his body began to try and recover from all that it had endured. Eddie and I were the first to notice something was wrong.

'Steve? What is it? You've started losing blood again, we need to get you to the hospital.'

Steve groaned as he held onto me, not really willing to talk as he was in too much pain.

'Oh shit! Ohshitohshitohshit!' Eddie said as he ran his hands through his hair.

I got Steve's car keys out of his pocket and threw them to Eddie.

'Eddie, I need you to calm down and go and start the car.'

He stood stunned for a few moments as I tried to get Steve to walk towards the car.

'NOW EDDIE!' I yelled, pulling him out of his stunned state. He quickly ran to the car, unlocked the doors for us and started the engine. The others were all too shocked in the moment to register what was going on, until Nancy seemed to shake herself out of the daze and said they'd head back to her house to wait for news from us.

I somehow got Steve into the back seat of the car and then got in with him, both of us still holding on to his wounds. His breathing was ragged, as was mine, but mine was due to me trying not to cry. He leaned against me as I stroked his hair, trying to keep him calm. Eddie had found his balls and was driving us as quickly as he could to the hospital. He took it a bit too hard over a speed hump as he entered the hospital carpark.

'FUCK!' Steve yelled out at the jolt.

'Sorry man!' Eddie said as he looked back at us in the rearview mirror.

Eddie parked the car and somehow, he and I managed to get Steve out of the car and into the emergency room. The medical staff quickly put him onto a stretcher and wheeled him away, down to the room at the end of the corridor. I ran after them, before realising I couldn't follow. I stopped, standing there covered in Steve's blood. Eddie came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. The adrenalin that had been pumping through me had stopped, making my mind and body begin to come to terms with what had happened. I could feel myself start to fall before Eddie caught me in his arms. I buried my head into his shoulder and burst into tears, my whole body was racked with sobs.

Eddie took me into the disabled toilet to try and clean me up as best he could. I watched as Steve's blood was finally washed off my hands and face and was now heading down the sink. Eddie took my hand and led me to the waiting area where he sat me down and went to get us a coffee. He never said a word and I was so numb; I couldn't talk. We just sat there in silence, Eddie's arm over my shoulder, as I cried, and every now and then, would kiss my head or rub his hand up and down my arm.