𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝔂 *{𝓐 𝓙𝓸𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂}*

September

(Hopper's POV)

In the middle of the night, Hopper woke up, feeling nauseous, and quickly rushed to the bathroom. He began to throw up what looked like slugs, but after a few weeks of this happening, he was used to it. He was sure it just had to do with the upside down. No, he had not told Joyce. He didn't want her to worry. Since Will came out as gay, Joyce had been constantly stressed that someone would hurt him, and while he was worried too, he didn't want her to have one more reason to stress
He finished throwing up and wiped his mouth, flushing the toilet and checking his beard to see if there was anything in it.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Joyce came into the bathroom, a blanket over her small frame
"I had to go to the bathroom." He lied, washing his hands
"S-Sorry-I was just worried." Joyce apologized, hugging him tightly
"Hey, it's fine." He kissed her on the forehead, which he could do without getting slug vomit on her, "You apologize too much." He smiled, letting her hold him
"Come back to bed."
As they laid in bed, Joyce already asleep again on his chest, he started to think he should tell her. He should've told her a long time ago. They were dating, they should be able to tell each other everything. But she was so stressed already, with the kids and work. Her anxiety had been really bad recently, and he was scared she would have a panic attack if he told her or if he was even slightly hurt by the throwing up. He couldn't do that to her. He cared to much about her
After trying to get some sleep for hours, he was finally able to drift into dreams, though only the Upside Down came to him as usual

"Hey, you okay?" When he woke up from his nightmares, the first thing he saw was Joyce, which made him feel better
"Yeah, just a nightmare." He muttered
"Aww, sweetheart..." Joyce hugged him again, kissing his forehead. After being held by Joyce for a few minutes, his stomach rumbled
"Looks like someone's hungry." Joyce joked, giving him a kiss on the cheek, "Come on. We gotta get the kids up."
After getting Will, El, and Jonathan up, they made breakfast for them all, then went to drop them off at school. His stomach was still off, but that was probably from last night. Also, he wasn't sure if he should worry, but he had noticed he had gained weight from being in the Upside Down, even though he barely had any food.
"Hey, you okay?" Joyce asked when she dropped him off at work
"Yeah, I'm fine." He smiled, then kissed her on the cheek, "See ya later."
Luckily, his day was just filled with paperwork, as usual, but he could barely stay awake. His stomach hurt, he had to throw up two times, and he once passed out on his desk, but was woken by Flo
"Are you sure you're okay?" Flo asked him, which he answered yes to, though he could tell she didn't believe
After an hour or so, he felt the same feeling in his stomach, and he quickly ran to throw up
When he stumbled out of the bathroom, he, of course, had to be met with Flo
"That's it, I'm calling Joyce." Flo declared, dragging him back to his office to rest while she called Joyce with his phone
"I'm fine!"
"Jesus Christ, you're an idiot." Flo muttered, then finally got Joyce on the other line.

(Joyce's POV)

She was started to grab all of her stuff since her shift had ended when the phone rang. Since her co-worker was finishing something, she picked it up
"Is this Joyce Byers?" Flo asked. Why was Flo calling?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
"Your stubborn little boyfriend is sick. I found him puking." Flo told her. Hopper was sick? She had found him in the bathroom last night, and he hadn't been looking the healthiest, but why didn't he just tell her?
"Okay, I'll come get him." She said, put down the phone, and drove to the police department, though she could've just run
"Hop!" She threw open Hopper's office doors, and found him lying on a couch, looking pale
"Joyce-I'm fine..." Hopper insisted, though she wasn't buying it
"I'm taking you home." She gave him a look that read 'You're not getting out of this', then asked Flo, "Is it okay if I take him home?"
"Yeah. Better him be at home then be falling asleep and snoring in his office." Flo joked
"I don't snore." Hopper insisted, and only then did she realize his voice sounded sick, like he'd been coughing all day
"Jim," She gave him the stink eye, "I sleep with you. I can confirm you snore."
Hopper's face went bright red
"Come on, I'm taking you home." Somehow, she picked up Hopper in her arms and dragged him to the car.
The drive to their house was silent, Hopper probably asleep. What was going on with him? What was keeping him up at night?
When they got home, she moved him from the car to the bed
"There you go," She finished covering him with the blanket, "Now will you tell me what's wrong?"
Hopper sighed, then asked, "When Will came back from the Upside Down, did he ever throw up?"
"No-I-I don't think so..." She racked her brain, trying to think
"Oh-I-I've just been throwing up a lot..." Hopper admitted
"H-How do you know it's connected?"
Suddenly, Hopper rushed to the bathroom, and began to throw up again
"Oh, Hop..." She muttered. When her boyfriend slid on to the floor, she saw that he had basically thrown up slugs
"Oh god, what is that?"
"I don't know..." Poor Hop said, clutching his stomach in pain
She sat next to him, hold him, and asked, "Can you tell me what it feels like?"
"It feels like something's inside me." Hopper said, eyes now closed
"Okay, here's what we're gonna do. Tomorrow, I will call Dr. Owens-I know you don't like him a lot, but we have to- and he'll figure something out."
"Mhg."
"In the meantime, I'll have to take care of you, though all I got is kisses and soup. Is that okay?" She knew that would get him to agree, which he quickly did.
The rest of the day was just her taking care of him, since she had asked Karen to pick the kids up (luckily, Mike had apologized to Will), but something kind of cute happened
She was feeding Hopper when he asked, "Joyce, why do you love me? Like, what made you fall in love with me?"
"Why do you want to know?" She smiled
"Just wondering."
After thinking about it for a few seconds, she began, "Okay, first off, you're the hottest guy I've ever met. Second, you're the most amazing, sweet, funny, and caring person ever. Third, did I mention you're hot?"
Hopper smiled at her, then went back to eating cutely
The rest of the night was okay. They had a hard time telling the kids what was wrong, but when they did, Will gave Hopper a big hug and asked him if he was okay, which made her almost cry.
When they laid in bed together, she noticed Hop clutching his stomach
"Are you okay?" She asked, worried it was getting worse
"Does that feel like something's moving?" Hopper asked, scared, then put her hand on his stomach.
"Kinda. But unless you're pregnant," She joked, "You're probably fine."
Hopper chuckled loveably, and began to fall asleep
"I love you..." He muttered
"Love you too." She smiled

(Hopper's POV)

When he woke up in the middle of the night, he felt like his stomach was trying to come out of him.
He ran to the bathroom, beginning to throw up, but then realized he was throwing up so much, he could barely breath
"HOPPER!" Luckily, Joyce found him right when the lack of air was really getting to him
He fell on to the floor, not able to keep himself up anymore, still throwing up
"DAD?" He heard the kids panicking
"Hop, I need you to breathe through your nose. We're gonna get you to a doctor. Just sta-"
He didn't hear the end of Joyce's sentence, because he passed out

(Joyce's POV)

As she drove quickly to Dr Owens's office, a passed-out Hopper threw up on her lap, her scared kids in the back
"Is dad gonna be okay?" EL asked, panic in her voice
"I-I don't know..." She admitted as Hopper threw up another slug, tears still rolling down her cheeks
When they burst into Dr. Owens office, he must've been surprised to see them
"W-What the hell happened here?" Dr. Owens asked them
"I-I don't know!" She sobbed, "H-He just started throwing up slugs!"
"Okay, we'll take him."
After she hesitantly let the doctors take Hopper, she and the kids waited as they tried to not stress
"Mrs. Byers?" A doctor came up to them
"Yes? Is he okay?" She asked
"He's unconscious, but still throwing up. Did this just start happening today?"
"I-I don't know."
"Well, you can come see him, just be warned."
When she saw Hopper, her heart hurt. She saw him throwing up, hooked up to a bunch of machines, breathing quietly as he threw up
"Oh god..." She muttered
"There's not much we can do." Dr. Owens told her
"Can't you just try?"
"We are."
"TRY HARDER!" She yelled at him, making him run off to get more doctors.
She held Hopper's hand as the doctors talked in another room, El asking, "Is he gonna be okay?"
"I hope so..."
After hours of waiting, she fell asleep, holding Hopper's cold hand

"J-J-Joyc-e!" She heard someone said between coughs. HOP!
"Hop! I'm here!" She quickly sat up, happy to see that Hopper was at least awake
"J-J-Joy-W-Wh-What h-happened?" Hoper asked weakly
"You passed out. Don't worry, I'm here. You're okay." She smiled at him, then Hopper threw up again
"Mom? Is-" El asked, then saw Hopper "DAD! YOU'RE AWAKE!"
Hopper smiled, but then threw up again
"Oh-Good, you're awake." Dr. Owens came in with a few doctors
After a few hours of Hopper throwing up, he muttered, "I think it's finally out of me!"
"Oh thank god!" She exclaimed, hugging him tightly
After the doctors forced her off Hopper, they began to run tests on him, drawing some of his blood, which she was forced to stay still and watch her poor boyfriend get stabbed with needles.
When the doctors walked away to check the blood or something, she found bandages and started to cover where the needles had been
"You okay?" She asked
"Well, I just almost died, so..." Hopper joked
"Not funny, Jim." She knew calling him Jim would get him to knock it off
"Sorry." Hop apologized, looking down sadly
"It's fine, but seriously: You okay?"
"Yeah, I think so..." He squeezed her hand, "Definitely feeling better."
"Good." She kissed him on the forehead, them remembered something, "Oh god! Jonathan!"
"Wha-OH my god!"
She quickly called her son
"Mom! THANK GOD! Where are you?" Jonathan asked in a panicked voice
"Dr. Owens's office. Your dad started throwing up again."
"Why didn't you wake me up?" Jonathan asked
"I-It was a stressful moment!"
"Sorry! Sorry."
"It's fine."
"I'm coming now. See you, mom."
"Okay, be safe. Love you."
"Love you too mom." Jonathan said, then hung up
After a few minutes of waiting, Jonathan burst into the room
"Oh god, Dad! W-What happened?" Jonathan freaked out, looking at all the machines Hopper was still hooked up to
"Long story, but I'm fine." Hopper reassured Jonathan
Eventually, the doctors came back
"Everything looks normal. Something must've gotten into your stomach when you were....Anyway,
you're fine."
"Oh thank god." She sighed in relief
After she guided Hopper to the car, she buckled him, gave him a kiss, then covered him up with a jacket she had
"Joycie! Joyce! I can function by myself!" Hopper chuckled
"I know, but-but can't I just-" She covered him with a blanket, "Perfect."
"Mom, wha-You know, I don't even wanna ask." Jonathan shook his head, smiling
When they got home, she made the kids breakfast, then fussed over Hopper more
"Joyce-What are you-?" Hopper asked as she laid him down of the couch, grabbing more blankets for him
"Making sure you are okay." She said, putting a pillow behind his head
"Joycie-Owens said I'm fine." Hopper said, "But continue. I like this."
She rolled her eyes, then smiled at him, "Love ya too."