Brenner had a favorite. She was volatile, and dangerous. A storm he thought he could control. She hated him for it.
Henry was like a saving grace. Her friend, the man she thought she could love forever. The man that she wasn't sure if he loved her...
I screwed with the time line a bit here, too. Hope you don't mind, as El had to go and rescue Ella, I had to push back her rescuing the other's as well. So Will has been tied up for two days.
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I awoke with a scream. My body jolts upwards, water and ice sloshing over the side of the motel tub and spilling over onto the floor. My entire body is shaking so badly that I wouldn't be able to hold a pen in my hand if I wanted to. My teeth chatter, and my hospital gown clings to me. I have to yank it down from my neck, the material having slid up to choke me as I came back into my own body. My body that felt like I'd been torn apart and burned, and maybe even beaten.
Eleven rushes forward, her cold hand grabbing onto my flailing one immediately. "It's okay," she says, "you're safe."
My teeth are still clattering loudly as I look around, sitting upright and trying to get ahold my myself and my surroundings. "W-wh-where a-a-are w-w-w-we?"
I slowly stand up, my knees shaking and ice cubes dropping from my lap. The moment I do, a thin white towel is draped over my shoulders and Reese is there, scooping me out of the tub and into his arms. I shudder, gripping his stained white shirt into my fist as tightly as I'm clinging to his body heat. "Missouri," he answers. "Thank god, you're okay."
"Wh-what h-happened?"
Reese pulls me over to sit on the bed, then goes over to rifle through a plastic Walmart bag before dropping a change of cloths onto the bed beside me. "You don't remember?"
I shake my head in the negative and Reese shares a look with Eleven who has followed us into the main room. I remember flashes of puking, and garbled words being spoken, but mostly everything has faded into a delirium that's indistinguishable.
"You had a high fever for most of the trip," Answers Reese as I shift to go through the clothes. It's a simple yellow cotton dress with white daisy's printed on it, and a plain pair of white underwear. I blush, looking at the simple but pretty lace along the hem. I was used to regular boring panties that mostly resembled Tidy Whities.
"We were scared your brain was melting," Eleven says. Her eyebrows are pulled together in a worried expression. Compassion made her face soft, and I wanted to bring her in and cuddle her as if she were still twelve. She's thirteen now, and looks so much better with dark hair framing her face. It comes down to just below her ears in soft waves.
I smile at her reassuringly while I stand to change into the dry clothes. Reese respectfully turns around while I strip. It isn't until I've pulled the dress over my head and settled it around my shins that I let him turn. He smiles, his eyes scoping me out from head to toes, frowning at my bare feet.
"I wasn't sure what size shoes to get you, so I hope these are okay." He goes to collect a pair of white tennis shoes and a stack of white socks and hands them over to me with a light blush across his cheeks. I thank him, even as I try to hide a grimace as I put them on. They are a little too small, my toes hitting the front, but it isn't too bad, and wouldn't be painful to walk in. Reese looks at the simple black watch on his hand, sucking in a breath through his teeth. "We really need to go if we are going to make it to Hawkins by night fall."
