The Virus | ST Mileven fanfiction

Over and Out

El:
El walked silently and quickly behind the nice nurse as she streaked down hallways and up elevators. She made sure to keep her distance from Max all together, so she kept glancing over her should to make sure she wasn't too close. If she was, El would speed up her pace to get away from her.
When they finally reached the door labeled 804, the nurse stopped in front of it.
"He's right in there, girls. His mother and sister are in there too. The doctor should be in shortly to check up on him, but you're free to talk."
"Thank you." El murmured to the lady. And then, without another word, she pushed open the door.
"Oh. It's just you, El, and... and Max too..." Nancy greeted quietly from the right side of the bed when they entered.
El examined the room as she walked across it to the bed. First, she noticed the yellow walls, but that was no surprise. Then she noticed Ms. Wheeler asleep in the corner on the left side of Mike's bed. Though, that wasn't a surprise either.
Nancy wiped her puffy eyes with a Kleenex and stood up off her chair. "You can have a seat, El. Talk to him. The doctor said that Mike can... he can hear you. So, if you guys wanna talk to him, you can. Or... I guess Max probably would talk to him, but if you want to say anything to him, El, you can."
El looked at the chair once, before she shook her head and crouched down next to Mike's ear. Then, grabbed his hand and clutched it tightly. She wasn't going to say much, there was no need to sit down.
"I love you Mike," she whispered to him. "Sorry you got hurt. It's the energy from the shadow monster. He's not all the way gone, I can feel it. I'll help you get better. Hang on, okay?" Then, satisfied with her words, she stood up straight again and made eye contact with Max.
Max's stare stayed the same and her eyes didn't leave El's as she spoke: "May I talk to him?"
"Of course," Nancy said.
Max took a step forward and El took a step back.
The girl plopped down in the seat and folded her hands on her lap. She bent down close to him and began speaking quietly to him, but El heard every word she said.
"Hi, Mike. I'm really sorry that you're in the hospital right now. I really hope I wasn't the one who caused you this... But, I promise you this, Mike. I'm going to help find a way for you to get better. You'll see, you'll be up and running again in no time."
Then, she pulled away again and stood up.
El watched her her coolly. She was talking as if she was going to be the one to fix this.
"Alright, um, thank you. I'm... I'm going to go try and reach my brother again. See if he can come pick me up."
"And if he can't?" Nancy asked.
"Then, I'll walk, it's okay."
"Oh no, I can't do that to you. El, are you staying?"
El nodded. "Please."
Nancy dipped her head. "Alright. Keep an eye on my brother and mother. I'll tell Hopper you're staying and drive Max home, okay? I'll be back in a few."
El nodded and seat down again as Nancy and Max left the room. She scooted the chair closer to Mike's bed and grabbed his hand. She pressed her thumb against his pulse point and sighed. "It's something with your mind. That's what I think. I'm going to tell someone about it. They can help."
She closed her eyes briefly, noticing how the beeping seemed to be in sync with the pulse underneath his skin.
A knock at the door threw off her concentration. El jumped in surprise and turned around as the door opened.
"Oh! Hi there, I'm Dr. Ambrosie! I don't believe we've met!" Her gaze flickered across the room and rested on Ms. Wheeler sleeping. She stepped into the room and shut the door quietly behind her.
"What's your name?" She whispered.
"Umm...Jane."
The woman smiled happily. "Hi Jane! Do you mind if I just squeeze past you here? I just need to give him a little checkup, okay? See how he's doing."
El nodded and took a step back.
The lady grinned happily and bounced over to where El was previously standing. She pulled the weird tubey thing from around her neck and placed the two cubes in her ears. Then, pulled back the sheets on the bed slightly and then slid the circular part underneath the front of Mike's hospital gown.
After moving the part along various places on his chest, she looked back up at El. "Alright, dear, can you help me with something?"
El nodded.
"Okay, so if you'll just climb up on the bed here, and help me raise him up? I need to listen to his back."
El blinked, confused, and nodded slowly. She climbed up on to the bed and sat in front of her boyfriend.
"Alright, on the count of three, we're going to lift him up to a sitting position. He's most likely going to flop over on your shoulder, but it's okay, he can't help it. Just let him do it."
El bobbed her head.
"Alright... one... two... three!"
El lifted her boyfriend as gently as she could manage off the bed. She thought she was handling it pretty good, but yelped in surprise when he dropped down on her shoulder.
The nurse gave a little giggle and placed the circle on his back. She listened quietly for a minute before she pulled the cubes out of her ears. "Thanks so much for the help, Jane." She said.
El gave a small smile. She bit her lip and bought for a minute. Why was Mike shaking? Was he okay? "Umm... he's shaking..."
"Shaking?" The nurse demanded, her cheery smile fading.
"Shaking and gasping.. and coughing a little." El repeated.
Dr. Ambrosie stared at El, as if she were mental. She blinked a couple of times and shook her head.
"Umm... keep him up, okay? I'm going to peek around your shoulder and see what's wrong."
El nodded. She wondered if this hand anything to do with the 'coughing up blood' phrase the doctors had mentioned earlier.
Dr. Ambrosie slowly let go of Mike's limp form. She steadied him with the palm of her hand before rushing around to the backside of El, and lifting his chin from off her shoulder. A small gasp escaped her lips and she let his chin drop again.
"Alright, Jane, I'm going to go get some help, okay? I need to make sure you don't move him. Can you do that for me? We have to make sure he doesn't drown in his own blood." She reached around behind her and handed some kind of mask to El. "Here. Hold this against his nose and mouth so he can breathe easier."
El bobbed her head. She reached around her shoulder and laid the mask on Mike's face, over his nose and mouth.
"Good." Dr. Ambrosie whispered from the door. "Now, make him feel safe, okay? Don't allow him any fear."
"Okay." El pulled Mike's form closer to her in the darkness and hugged him gently. Hugs always made her feel better when she was scared. Maybe Mike was no different.
A little while passed, and the lady had still not returned. Neither had Nancy....
That's when Ms. Wheeler finally decided to wake up; when it was just the three of them in the room.
"Nancy?" She croaked out, squinting at the bed. "Is that you?"
"Umm, no... M'am. It's El." 
"Oh. Good... evening, Dear. Why are you holding Mike up?"
It was in that moment that El was thankful for the darkness. She was overjoyed that Ms. Wheeler couldn't see the mask pressed against her son's face.
"The nurse told me to stay this way. She told me not to move him and that she'd be back in a few."
"Well, where did she go? Is Mike drooling? Dear, I think he's drooling on you."
"Um... no, it's fine... he-he's not. Pretty sure."
"A-Are you sure-?"
That's when the door finally burst open and Dr. Ambrosie came trotting in, a group of more doctors following her. "Ah, Ms. Wheeler! Did you have a nice nap?"
"U-Umm, yes. Thank you."
"You're very welcome. I seem to find that sleep seems to calm stressed people. Have you calmed down a little?"
Ms. Wheeler bit her lip, a look of uncertainty crossing her face. "I-I think so..."
"Oh, good."
"Well, look, Ms. Wheeler. Dr. Ambrosie has reported Mike coughing up a bit of blood, so we came to check it out and-" she flipped on the lights and froze mid-sentence. On El's other side, Ms. Wheeler let out a breathy cry.
"Jane, dear. Would you allow Dr. Kane to come and take your position?"
El glanced back at Dr. Ambrosie and nodded. She made eye contact with the black haired nurse who took a step towards her.
"What about the mask?"
"Oh! Uhh... just keep in on for now, okay? Once I get him back into a good position, you can bring it down, and hand it to that nice lady with the red hair over there, alright?"
"Yes." El whispered, although she wasn't quite what was going on. The doctors were acting like she was a bunny rabbit. Like the slightest movement would send her fleeing into the bushes.
"Alright, I've got him!" Dr. Kane exclaimed. "You can let go now, Jane. Give the mask to the nice lady."
El brought the mask from her boyfriend's nose and mouth, being careful to mind the tubes. She reached out to hand it to the lady, but then she had a good chance to look at it.
Instead of clear like it was when she had first place it over his mouth, it's whole bottom half had been stained with dried spit and sticky, fresh blood mixed with saliva.
"Jane." Dr. Ambrosie called out. "Just give her the mask, don't look at it."
El slowly reached out to hand the lady the mask, but her attention got spiked again, by a large foamy red stain on the crisp white bed sheets, just below where Mike's chin was resting on her shoulders.
It took her a moment to connect the dots, but once she did. The mask thing slipped between her fingers and clattered to the ground.
"M-Mike?"
"Jane, dear. Your friend is fine...."
"No, he's not..." El whispered. "Blood is not good!"
"Jane, take a seat. We need to take care of him, okay?"
El looked around the room, and the nodded numbly and took a seat in the chair.
She was not stupid. She would not use her power. She kept telling herself that until the door had shut. Once everyone was out of the room, then she gave a jerk of her head and a flower vase went sailing across the room into the wall.

Dustin:
Dustin paced back in forth in his living room, subtly ignoring the dinner that his mother had set up for him.
"Dusty— you have to eat!" She cried out.
"I'm too worried to eat," Dustin murmured under his breath. "Mike's in the hospital and could die because nobody knows what's wrong with him!"
"Yes, but the same thing happened to Will, right? He was in the hospital. He recovered. Mike's not much different."
"Yes, but Will was conscious. He was able to tell them what hurt and when it hurt. Mike is unconscious and I don't know what's going on—"
"Dusty, don't raise your voice! You'll scare my baby!" She gave a little stroke on the cat lying lazily on her lap.
Dustin groaned in frustration, and continued pacing. That's when the phone rang, and as quick as a flash, he was picking it up.
"Hello? Hello? Hi?"
"Dustin."
Dustin recognized the voice immediately. It was El... but why was El calling? She never used the phone. "El? W-What are you doing?"
"Mike. We need to help him." El's chilling voice came through the receiver.
"El, h-how is he?"
"He's in a...coma. We need to help him."
"A-A coma? What? El, a coma? We can't do anything about that."
"They said his mind is active. I need to see what's going on."
"El, what are you talking about? Wait, can you do that? A-Are you strong enough for that?"
"Don't know." El said. "But, I want to try. I want to help."
"Well, El, we can't do anything right now. Everyone's at home."
"Call the party. Meet at the cabin."
"Wha- does everyone know where that is?"
"Meet me."
Then, the call ended.
"Who was that, Dusty?" Dustin's Mom asked.
"No one!" Dustin answered quickly. "Can.... I go over to Will's? I think I left something there."
"Dusty, no! I don't want you out this late! The street lamps are on, see?"
"But Mom, it's important-!"
"You don't have your bike, remember? It's still at that field. You can grab whatever you left at Will's after you get your bike, Okay?"
Dustin rolled his eyes and spun on his heel towards his room. "Fine. I'm going to bed. 'Night Mom,"
"But, your dinner-!"
Dustin didn't give her a chance to finish her entrance before he closed his door. He glanced around his room, snatched his headset off his nightstand, and slid it over his hat.
"Come in, Lucas, Will. Come in!"
The receiver crackled for a moment as Dustin opened his window.
"Come in!"
"What is it, Dustin? I'm eating dinner!" Will complained a moment later.
"This is an emergency. We need to meet by that cabin in the woods."
Lucas responded next: "What cabin? Why?"
"The cabin where Hopper kept El last year."
"Okay, but why?" Lucas asked.
Dustin hopped into his bike and pedaled quickly down the hill. "Eleven called me on the phone. She needs us there. Otherwise I wouldn't have snuck out!"
"You snuck out?" Will gasped. "I-I can't sneak out! There's no way my Mom would let me. I doubt I'll even sneak past her. There's no way she'd let me go out when it's dark either."
"Why can't you just try, Will? Say you're going to the arcade!"
"It's a school night..." Will said.
"We won't be gone for long, we just need to meet El! Try the excuse of the arcade!"
"Ugh. Fine." Will mumbled. "I'll try to be there soon. Over and out."

(Wow, that was really long. Sorry)