what should never be [s.h.]

46. the beginning of the end

{ July 4, 1985 }

It was barely a couple hours into Independence Day, but Townes found herself wishing for the day to be over already. The stress from the past two days and the lack of sleep was starting to take a toll on Townes's body. Everything sounded muffled, and Townes moved sluggishly, despite the girl writhing and screaming in pain underneath her.

"Get it out!" El's eyes were clamped shut, but some tears still managed to escape. One of her hands clamped onto the calf of her injured leg, and some broken screams broke through her sobs. Townes could only look for a few seconds before the queasy feeling in her stomach forced her eyes away.

Her queasy feeling soon turned into nausea. When Townes forced herself to glance at the wound one final time, something underneath Eleven's skin squirmed. It was enough to make Townes gag, and she instinctively cringed, "Holy shit. Holy shit. What the fuck is that?"

"There's something in there," Mike concluded. He kneeled next to Eleven, their hands clamped together. Townes couldn't tell whose hand was shaking. Probably both.

"No shit," Eleven hissed, teary eyes open just long enough to send her ex-boyfriend an annoyed glance. Are they still broken up? Townes would have to ask Amber later.

"Okay," Jonathan breathed out, "Just keeping her awake. Keep her talking; distract her. I'll be right back." He said before scampering off behind one of the restaurant counters. His loud rummaging was drowned out by Eleven's whimpering.

"You know it's really not even that bad," Robin tripped over her own words as she brushed the hair away from her face. Her gaze was still fixated on the squelching wound underneath her. "There was a goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg, and the bone came out of her knee. Six inches or something; it was insane."

Everyone circling around Eleven blinked.

Steve looked to his right, "Robin?"

"Yeah?"

"Not helping."

"Got it," Robin gushed, nodding her head furiously. "Sorry."

Jonathan returned to the group with a wooden spoon and large knife in his hands. He fell onto his knees on the opposite side of Mike with a loud thud, startling Eleven. She jumped at his presence, pulling herself closer to Mike. Not that this was the most concerning problem given the circumstances, but Townes was pretty sure they were back together.

"Okay, this is going to hurt like hell," Jonathan was always great at pep talks. He presented the wooden spoon close to El's face. "You're going to want to bite down on this."

If you had to give Eleven a defining character trait, bravery was definitely a candidate. She bit down hard on the wooden spoon without so much as a protest. The wood was already creaking underneath her teeth, threatening to snap before the real pain even began. Strength was also a worthy candidate for Eleven.