Stormy Weather - mileven

Stormy Weather

 It had been a year. A year of Mike daydreaming about seeing Eleven again. A year of Mike staying in his room and refusing to see anyone but his three best friends. A year of fighting with his Mom over imaginary frustrations. A year of slamming doors and crying in the shower and nightmares. A year of constantly asking Will about the Upside Down so he knew just was Eleven was facing. A year before she finally returned, completely unconscious and on the brink of death. A year before Mike felt whole again.

Eleven was in the hospital for a month, with Mike being her most frequent visitor. He remembered the moment she opened her eyes, two days after finally being rescued from the Upside Down. For a moment, all she did was stare at the ceiling, her eyes wide. Then, she let out a scream that threw Mike back into his last night with her. As her shrieks echoed around the hospital room, he swore the could see her turning to ash in front of him for a second time. Without warning, tears were pouring down his cheeks and he was grabbing for her hands, begging her not to leave him a second time.

Soon, he was being gripped from around his waist and pulled away. Doctors and nurses came flooding into the room in an attempt to calm the screaming girl. As they dragged him out, his legs flew sporadically in a desperate struggle to free himself.

"I can help, I can help! She won't trust you, she won't calm down! I know she won't! Let me help her! Please, I'm begging you, let me help her!"

He was right. After fifteen minutes of screaming and two nurses with broken arms, the hospital staff called him back into the room. Almost immediately, Eleven became completely silent. Mike could see the relief in her eyes, but he noticed something else in her gaze. It was an emotion he had recognized from his first days with her; doubt. Eleven had feared for Mike's safety from the Bad Men during the week they had spent together, and he knew that she must be under the impression that they had taken her back. She probably assumed that they had kidnapped Mike as well. He swallowed hard, wondering if he would be able to convince her that she was safe.

"Hey, El," he said gently, "how are you feeling?"

As he spoke, he slowly moved toward her bed. When she didn't back away or look at him in fear, he quickened his pace.

"The bad men..." she started.

"Are not here," Mike smiled, "I know you're in an unfamiliar place with adults you don't know, but I would never let you stay somewhere that wasn't safe."

Eleven remembered how Mike and his friends had attempted to protect her from the Bad Men before. She could remember how they had yelled at her Papa and threatened him, even though he had soldiers and weapons and they did not. So, after a few unsure glances at the wide-eyed nurses behind him, she smiled softly at Mike.

He took this as a cue to sit next to her, and she immediately stretched out her hand so he could take it. For a while, all they did was sit there in silence with tears making pathways down their faces and confused nurses bustling in and out of the room. Every time an unfamiliar person came through the door, Eleven tensed. Mike could feel her squeeze his hand and his heart hurt every time fear shot through her body. The last thing he wanted was for her to be afraid.

"The lights..." Eleven's soft, cautious voice broke the comfortable silence they had created.

"Yeah?" Mike encouraged her to continue, knowing she was shy with her words sometimes, "What about the lights?"

She swallowed and looked away from him, ashamed of her fear.

"...Remind me of... bad place."

Mike swore he could feel his heart breaking. He squeezed her hand and rubbed her arm gently, trying his best to soothe her.