CHAPTER NINE.
cleaning spree.
—
nineteen comes to as a cold cloth rubs her eyes. she groans out, moving her head away. she blinks and realizes she's in the wheeler basement on their yellow couch. she groans again, hands automatically coming up to her sore throat. she swallows and a pinch moves through her body. hands touch her shoulders, helping her sit up.
she blinks and her friends come into view. they're all sitting around in what looks to be a heated discussion. max picks up the cloth again and moves to continue wiping away the blood on nineteen's face.
"hey." eleven says, moving towards them. she had been sitting at nineteen's feet, holding an ice pack to her head silently. nineteen sniffs, her mouth dropping open in pain. "how are you feeling?" eleven asks worriedly.
"my throat." nineteen gasps. her voice is croaky and gravelly. the others send each other looks as eleven reaches forwards to touch her throat. there's a dark red ring from where billy had choked her. she makes a noise of discomfort as max runs the wash cloth over the marks.
she clears her throat, ignoring the pain. "what's going on?" she asks instead.
"we tried calling hopper, but he didn't pick up, so we're gonna try and find him through eleven." max tells her. nineteen nods, and her eyes find the boys'.
"like i said to do." she states. she looks directly at mike. if they had just listened to her, they could have avoided all of this in the first place.
"we needed to be sure." he replies. his eyes move between her and eleven.
"i was sure." she grits out. "and now look." she gestures to her throat before covering her face with her hands and setting her elbows on her knees. "i'll look for him."
"no," eleven protests, grabbing her arm. "you need to rest. i'm feeling better." she scoots down closer to her sister. "i was waiting for you to wake up." she grabs the bandana off of the table and starts tying it around her eyes.
nineteen sighs and gives eleven space. the short-haired girl sits silently, looking for hopper.
"i found him."
nineteen breathes out in relief. she had been so focused on their own situation, she hadn't thought about anything else.
"where is he?" max asks.
"woods."
"woods?" lucas asks in confusion. nineteen squints. she couldn't get a read on him right now. her eyes were too heavy and her limbs felt like goo.
"he's with... will's mom." eleven says. will looks to the group.
"my-my mom?" he leans forward. so does nineteen.
"what are they doing?" max asks.
"ill... annoy. they're going to ill-annoy."
nineteen jumps as a sudden knocking rings through the basement. "mike! breakfast!"
mike wastes no time. "not now, mom!" he turns back around. "illinois? illinois, like the state?" he then says calmly. "the state of illinois?"
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OPEN HEART » stranger things 3
FanfictionBOOK 2 in the 'NINETEEN' series. " "i can fight." eleven tells hopper strongly. "better than any of us." he replies. nineteen looks up from her space on his shoulder and wraps her arms around his middle. "but right now, i need you safe. i n...
