the unpromise- stranger things 4

F O U R

A/N: leave comments bc im an attention whore and love feedback <3

"But who am I supposed to talk to, what am I supposed to do, if there's no you?" Soon You'll Get Better, Taylor Swift

The blood is rushing to my head way too fast and I can barely breathe. I sat in the front with Joyce and Will and Jonathan were in the back. "I-it's ok right?" I swallow lumps in my throat.

"He just fell and hit his head sweetie, it'll be alright," Joyce comforts. I nod. God, three hours they're here and it's already a mess. Once we pull into the emergency parking lot of the hospital we rush to the front desk. "We're here for Mike Wheeler?" Joyce speaks to the lady calmly.

"Room 353, so take a left and down two rooms should be right there," the lady directs. 353. I softly smile. That's how long I was gone for, and it all felt so distant now. Will nudges my arm and sneers and I roll my eyes, my smile plastered across my face. We take the directions and find the room Nancy and Mike are waiting in.

When we walk in Nancy is sitting in a gray leather seat and Mike is lying in a hospital bed, a gown and all. He's asleep, and his whole body is covered with a big white blanket. "Hey," Nancy smiles and hops up from her seat.

"Thank you for yelling for us as soon as he fell, you saved him from a really bad concussion," she smiles at me. I nod and step a bit closer to her chair and Mike's bed.

"He's alright?" Will asks.
"Yeah, he's tired and has a concussion but once he's up and the doctors clear him for no memory loss or anything, he's free to go," Nancy explains. Memory loss? I hope so badly he doesn't have that.

"He shouldn't have lost any memory though, he was calling for El before he passed out," Nancy leads the four of us to the center of the small room. I grin lightly and nod again.
"Are your parents coming down?" Joyce asks.

Nancy sighs, "I called and said he was ok, so I don't think so unless it's extremely necessary." Joyce nods. Nancy asks me or Will if we wanted to sit, and so I take her spot and Will sits in the exact replica of my chair, but to the right of me. I turn my body to Will and sigh. The bed rustles a little, and Mike turns over to Will and I. He looks calm and not in too much pain.

"I'm gonna look for coffee, Jonathan wanna come with?" Nancy suggests. He nods, unfolding his arms and opening the door to let Nancy through and they go off. We're all silent and have nothing to say. I look over to Mike again, and his eyes blink open. I hop up from my chair and kneel down beside him, grabbing his hands. "Huh?" he whispers. I'm playing with a piece of his dark, curly hair to see if he'd notice.

I giggle, "hey it's me, El." He nods and sighs, falling back asleep. I sigh and let go of his hands but he pulls at them again, like he knew I dropped them. In a few seconds a doctor comes through the door. He's looking at a chart. "Are you Mike Wheeler's family?" he asks.

"Um no, his sister is out of the room right now," Joyce speaks up.
"We can't have anyone not related in the room right now, come back in about 10 to 15 minutes," he orders. I jump up from my kneeling and Will hops up from his chair. We all leave the room.

The three of us sit in the waiting room for about 15 minutes and that's also when Jonathan and Nancy come back. We went back to the room and met the doctor halfway down the small hallway. "Hi there, it looks like Mike is all good, just take it easy for the next few weeks. I also told that to his grandfather," the doctor says.

"His grandfather isn't here right now, Sir," Nancy practically gasps. Grandfather?

"Well a man with an ID reading Martin Wheeler came in here looking for him. Gray gelled hair, well pressed suit, fairly skinny guy," the doctor explains. My stomach drops. It couldn't be? The doctor wanders off.

"I-I don't understand," Nancy blinks fast.
"Papa," I whisper, holding back tears. All of their eyes go wide. Joyce offers to go look for Mike, and Nancy says she should go too.

"No, I need to be there. He wants me, he just wants to get through Mike," I explain. Will is standing really close to me, and Jonathan has a hand on my shoulder. Nancy shakes her head, "we can't risk it."

"Please, just watch to make sure everythings ok, I'll be ok," I insist. Maybe I'm being stupid, but I can't let Mike get taken by him if I have something to do with it. Joyce and Nancy share a look, and Joyce slowly nods, following me down the hallway.

I pick the room lock with my fingernail, bursting through the door. "El, stay back, please!" Mike whimpers. Papa turns to me. "Let him go," I sternly order.

"Now you see Eleven, either you come with me or Mike does. And I don't need Mike, so who knows what I'll actually be doing with him," Papa fights back. I knew what that meant. He was going to kill Mike. "Take me," I stare at him.

Mike is crying, "El no!" My lip is quivering and if I wasn't so scared I would be a puddle of tears.

"Let me talk to her," Mike whispers, "just for a few minutes."
"You have three minutes exactly," Papa walks out the door and down the hallway where Nancy and Joyce wouldn't catch him. Mike sits up and I sit beside him on the hospital bed. "Let him take me, please, I can't live knowing you're being treated the way you were for so long," he touches my face.

Tears start dropping down my face. Heavily. I shake my head, "please Mike, I'll be ok." I never wanted to go back there, but I couldn't let him take Mike.

"No. You're not going with him. I am. But we'll be reunited again, I promise," he swipes a few of my tears away with his thumb. I wrap my arms around Mike's neck, our cheeks connecting. My hair is sticky with sweat and tears. "You promise?" I can barely speak.
"Promise," he responds. As hard as it is, maybe I have to trust someone other than myself this time. Mike would be that person I trust so deeply, and I know he'll do everything in his power to see me again.

"I love you so much," I dug my chin farther into his shoulder.
"I love you, too," he runs a few fingers through my hair. I pick my head up, and kiss him sweetly for the last time. No, not the last.

"I don't want you to go," I whimper, "you-you aren't supposed to leave!" My breaths are shaky and short, and I'm panicking in a way I haven't before.

"Hey hey stop," Mike grabs my hand, "it's going to be ok, you'll be ok." I sniff and nod, pressing my head into his arm for a quick moment. His other arm goes around my back, holding me for a little, for what could be the last time.

I knew it had been almost three minutes, and I wasn't going to say goodbye.

"See you later, Mike," I tug his hands one last time before standing up.

Tears fall from his freckled face and he gives me a soft nod, like he's allowing me to leave him. I can't stop the crying, even when I press my eyes closed to try and stop. I slam the door open and shut, giving Papa one last blurry glance as he walks back to see Mike. I want to go back on my decision. I want to save Mike. But he promised. He promised we'd be together again.

I walk back to the four of them, sobbing hard. "El what's wrong!" Nancy rushes to me. I practically choke on my tears, shaking my head and pressing my eyes shut again. I feel Joyce's arms wrap me in a consoling hug, her cooing at me to be calm and that everyone would be alright. Everyone would not be alright. "No," Nancy whispers, "No! MIKE!" She's crying now, jolting herself forward, but Jonathan catches her and hugs her tightly.

Will wiggles his way into Joyce's arms as well, and he's crying too. Everything I feel, everything I've ever felt is numb. I can't feel anything anymore. I feel as numb as I did back in the lab. Because, he saved my life and now he sacrificed himself for me. And I couldn't ever see him again. Everything flashes like a movie, everything that's happened in these past three years. How could I let this happen, to the one person I loved the most.

A/N: well yikes. this chapter sets up the whole plot btw. i struggled with writing this but i hope it turned out ok and give me suggestions on how to edit to make things clearer or better if anyone writes too :))
btw i'm starting putting lyrics on top of most chapters and most of them are from taylor swift songs lol