MadMax

The tube.

I walk up to the door and Mrs. Wheeler answers.

"Hello Max, how are you hon? Everyone is in the basement." She says with a big smile.

I nod my head, smiling and then go downstairs.

"MAX!" Eleven runs up and nearly knocks me over with a hug. The others say hi and we sit on the couch. We take forever to pick a movie and then Mike decides we are watching The Outsides for like the billionth time in a row.

After the movie Mrs. Wheeler yells for us to come upstairs for dinner, I slowly follow them to the table and sit with El. Boxes of pizza sit in front of us. The boys instantly dig in while I sit there quietly. Mike notices and grabs a piece and puts it on my plate.

"I already ate at Robins." I say quietly.

"Nancy told me to make sure you eat dinner." Mike replies.

"I'm not hungry." I say, crossing my arms.

Eleven looks at me worryingly and then looks at Mike. "Maybe we should call Nancy, she will know what to do."

Mike nods in agreement.

"No, it's fine." I grab the pizza and take a small bite. I smile sarcastically and they go back to eating their food. I eat most of one slice and then excuse myself to the restroom. Nobody bats an eye.

I turn the sink on and then sit down in front of the toilet, I stick my fingers down my throat until I've puked up everything I just ate. A sharp pain shoots through my stomach and I sit there for a moment until it goes away. I flush the toilet and wash my hands, I open the door and Eleven is standing there.

"Are you sick? I heard you throwing up." Eleven says obliviously.

"Uh yeah. I'm fine now though." She just nods her head and we go back downstairs and join the boys. They are playing Dungeons and Dragons so I decide to curl up on the couch with El. I'm so exhausted and I fall asleep to her talking.

The next morning, Nancy and Robin are here to pick me up. Eleven walks me to the door.

"How was your night Max?" Robin asks.

I just nod and mutter, "It was fine."

"I think she's sick, she threw up last night right after dinner." Eleven says quickly. Nancy and Robin shoot each other a look and I know I'm screwed. Eleven hugs me goodbye and I get in the car.

Nancy and Robin don't say a word the whole drive which can't be good. Once we get back to Robins, Nancy tells me to put my bag in my room and then come sit down. I do just as she says and then sit down on the couch with them.

"I'm not even going to question the throwing up because I know exactly why you did it, but me and Robin talked last night and we agree that it's best if you get an NG tube." Nancy says softly.

I immediately start to freak out. "No, no. Please."

Robin chimes in. "It's going to be okay, it doesn't hurt and it only takes a few minutes for them to put it in, we will be in and out of the hospital in just a second if you just cooperate."

After about 20 minutes of arguing, I finally agreed. "Can we go now and get it over with?" I ask.

Nancy grabs the keys and we pile back into the car. We pull up to Hawkins Hospital 10 minutes later and Nancy explains to the nurse what's going on. She leads me to a room and I sit on the bed. I felt calm and ready until the nurse brings out the tube. I start to freak out again, Nancy notices and grabs my hand but it doesn't help. I start shaking and am unable to catch my breath. I'm sobbing and I didn't even realize it. The nurse leaves and comes back with a needle, everything goes black.

I wake up a few hours later in my bed, I don't remember leaving the hospital. My nose hurts and I feel the tube in it. "Fuck." I whisper. Nancy must've heard me because she comes in and sits next to me.

"How are you feeling Max?" She asks sincerely.

"Like crap. What happened, I don't remember anything." I say.

"You had a panic attack so the nurse gave you a shot to put you to sleep and she put the tube in while you were sleeping."

"Oh." I say blankly.

Nancy wraps me in a hug. "It's all going to be alright." She whispers.