[COMPLETED UNTIL SEASON 5]
Ana Thompson always seems to wind up in the strangest predicaments...
A perpetual victim of Murphy's Law, Ana finds herself arriving in Hawkins, Indiana just prior to the events of November 6th, 1983.
And, just prior to f...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"I CAN'T do this," Ana choked out between heavy breaths. She'd been pushed past the point of exhaustion, to a place where nothing remained but unadulterated anguish. Her skin flared red hot while perspiration coated the flushed flesh, the dampness cooling when it made contact with the room's frigid air, causing her to shiver through racks of strangled gasps.
Her mother stood by her bedside, attempting to soothe her distraught daughter. The older woman's hand ran gently along her hair, pushing back the pieces that had fallen to stick against Ana's sweaty forehead. "You can, sweetheart. Just hold on for a little bit longer."
The sentiment rang back at her from a different voice, through a dream.
Just hold on for a bit longer.
The words, which were intended to encourage resilience, had the opposite effect. They reminded her of promises made but not kept. And, so, instead of spurring steadiness, they drew forth another round of suffering sobs from Ana. "I'm not ready. I don't think I can do this alone," she expressed, shaking her head back and forth violently against the pillow she was resting upon.
It didn't matter how many times others had told her that she was strong, that she needed to be strong; Ana still hadn't felt it. And in this moment when that presumed strength was needed most, she felt it failing her. The fortitude to press forward slipped from her fingers like sand in an hourglass, rapidly depleting.
Because the strongest part of her wasn't here.
"You're not alone, honey. We're all here with you," her mother tried to reason, clasping Ana's clammy hand between her own in support.
She knew what her mother meant. She was there beside her, and a horde of family and friends sat patiently waiting outside the room, but they weren't all here.
The one person Ana needed was notably absent, his vacancy leaving an unfillable void that had grown wider and wider in recent months. The temporary reprieve from such a persistent nihility coming only with his presence gracing her in those unconscious fantasies.
She couldn't express that inequity, though, because Dr. Owens interrupted her tormenting and turbulent thoughts. "It's time to push now, Ana," he instructed clinically.
She willfully ignored him, too consumed with her own swirling suppositions.
It wasn't right, none of it was, and the notion caused a cavernous pit to form in her stomach that no oncoming contraction could hope to overshadow. The black hole was there, threatening to pull her into its murky depths, attempting to swallow her whole with its nothingness.
It wasn't right. Hopper was supposed to be here with her, but the black hole had taken him too.
"You have to push now, Ana," Dr. Owens pressed again with more urgency. However, she couldn't see him through the haze clouding her vision, only hearing his insistent voice muffled as it slowly reached her brain.
