lost in the labyrinth of my mind

Chapter 6

El and Lucas sat stubbornly quiet on the uncomfortable chairs of Max's hospital room. Chairs she and Lucas had become too acquainted with after the past months. El knew every lump and every loose thread. A thread she played with as she and Lucas waited for the others, Mike and Erica (Erica who had come to convince Lucas to leave for the night), to start talking. But neither side was willing to break. The other two held various degrees of anger, concern, and pity.

Well, El did not need their pity. She needs them to leave and let Lucas and her finish rescuing Max. Though she couldn't see what was happening while Lucas searched for Max inside her head, she believed it when Lucas said he was close. It felt like the moment when you slot the right piece of a puzzle and finally understand what the picture was forming. But then Mike, stupid Mike, her pillar of strength Mike, interrupted them.

Though she feels horrible that she worried him, she knows how awful it is when someone you care for looks to be in danger. The immediacy for action and to stop their pain. But she was on her way to freeing Max from her pain.

Erica must have run out of patience or was done with putting up with their bullshit.

"I know that you," Erica pointed at El, "Bleed from your nose when you use your powers. But that doesn't explain why you," Erica pivots to Lucas, "Have blood on your face."

Dried blood itched on Lucas' face. He hasn't seen his appearance, but Lucas can guess he didn't make a pretty picture. Once the spell had shattered, he felt the warm liquid running from his ears, eyes, and nose. He tried his best to wipe most of it away; he could see from the maroon stains on his blue sweater that there was more than the usual trickle El got after using her powers.

Erica continued, "So what exactly could cause that? Lucas, do you have anything to say?"

"We were looking for Max," El admits.

"I thought you said you stopped looking for her after what happened," Mike questions them.

The incident. Throughout the first month after the spring break from hell, El would spend hours: listening to static and hours in a sensory deprivation pool. It had drained her strength and almost all of her blood. It almost brought El back to her power level after Starcourt. She had stayed up for three days straight looking for Max until she passed out, blood flowing from her nose, ears, eyes, and mouth. Even now, she wouldn't use her powers, and her nose would trickle. Hopper had tried to dissuade her halfheartedly. Hopper couldn't fault her or stop El from trying; after the incident, he put his foot down, and it seemed El followed his orders. But now, obviously, she had lied.

"That still doesn't explain why Lucas is bleeding," Erica interjects.

Lucas and El whipped their heads together in an attempt at conspiracy. Nevertheless, it was clear from the panic in their eyes that whatever they had been doing was not good.

"He's helping me," El stated.

"Helping how? As far as I know, Lucas doesn't have any telepathy. And I would know."

"I keep the door open; Lucas searches for Max."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

Lucas evenly and furiously asks, "Like you wouldn't try to do the same if you could: to save El?"

Mike splutters, "That's beside the point!"

"Is it? Then what's the point? Am I supposed to abandon her when there's a chance I could help her? El and I are the only ones who care about Max. Everybody else has given up on her!"

"That's not true!"

"We've been here every day, and no one else comes to visit her. Her mom," Lucas' voice cracks into dry tears. He shakes his head; it's better not to think about Max's mom, "I can't give up on her."

Mike looks wildly between the two, wishing one of them showed signs of hesitancy or doubt. That they could be pleaded to stand down. Mike didn't want to lose anyone else; losing Eddie had been a hard enough shock. To potentially lose the three of them would be too much.

"Lucas, please don't do this."

It was a sharp reminder that despite all the bluster and take no prisoner attitude in Erica, she was only 11 years old. She was younger than them when Will was taken to the Upside Down. She was too young to lose him to whatever dangerous game they were playing.

Looking at Erica's big brown and pleading eyes, Lucas wished he could give her this. Lucas knows he hasn't always been a good brother, boyfriend, or friend. But he has to try for Max. Now he is being torn in two. How could he deny Erica? How could he give up on Max? She must see something in him because she looks away, cries and nods.

"Please, be careful, don't be stupid. Get Max back."

Erica is a lot of things, but a fool is not one of them. And she would be foolish to ignore that if Lucas lost Max forever, he wouldn't be her brother. There would be a ghost living in his room.

"Erica-" Mike splutters, expecting to get her support, for her to call out their stupidity.

"They're not gonna stop. We could drag them out of here, but they'll try anyway. This way, we could keep an eye on them. It's just the facts."

"Mike." El turned to him in a not-quite questioning tone. She asked with her eyes. When words failed her, he seemed to understand her even when she could only speak through her eyes, and she needed him to know.

"There's nothing I can say to make you change your mind?"

"No," El answered as kindly as possible but maintained a tone that suggested she would not change her mind.

"Okay. Can you at least wait until tomorrow? The nurses are about to come in and kick us out."

"Tomorrow," El and Lucas promised.