Bloody Negatives {Stranger things}

Epilogue

《Epilogue》
__________

Two Days Later
__________
"You know you aren't supposed to be in here," Nancy remarked as she stepped into the cramped room.

Tally didn't lift his head to look at her. He was too fixated on Max.

Nancy let out a breathy sigh and a pulled a chair away from the side of the wall, sitting down next to Tally.

She gently took his hand in hers, and he had to resist the urge to flinch away.

"Have you eaten today?" Nancy asked calmly. She'd been talking to Tally's doctors. They'd told her how to talk to him. How to speak to him without making it worse.

Tally shook his head back and forth. No.

Tally hadn't been able to sleep for the past few days. Or eat. Or talk. Or anything, really. It'd all been too much.

Nancy sighed again.

Tally felt himself feeling increasingly more nauseous as he stared at Max.

Lying there she looked so... lifeless.

The way her eyelids were bruised and unmoving. How her position hadn't changed since she'd first gotten there.

Tally let out a heavy, hopeless breath that caused his entire body to shudder.

His voice was scratchy and painful from not being used for so long, though he still had to speak. The past few days had been such a blur he wasn't even sure if half of the things he'd heard were true.

"Eddie's dead."

Nancy closed her eyes and winced before nodding slowly. "He is."

Tally looked at his jacket, resting folded-up on his lap. The clean, pink eraser of Eddie's pencil sticking out of his left pocket. It was like a taunt. Reminding him; You let everyone down.

"Jason's dead," Tally said, wincing at the words. He could barely say them without his eyes watering.

Nancy squeezed his hand, nodding slowly. "I'm sorry."

It made him feel sick. Jason was his best friend. For over a decade. And now he was just gone. Just... gone.

Tally tugged on a strand of his hair anxiously. He had to confirm one more thing. They hadn't come to visit him, so he could only assume.

"My parents are dead."

Nancy was quiet for a long time. Like she was really considering her answer. When she finally spoke, Tally could barely focus long enough to hear the whole sentence.

"Your parents are missing."

Lots of people were missing. Tons of people. At this point, missing was just a synonym for dead.

Tally sighed, shifting uncomfortably. "How's Jonathan?"

The words were bitter on his tongue. His stomach lurched as he watched Nancy's expression change.

"He's... okay."

She had more words to say. Tally could tell. Nancy Wheeler always had more words than she would ever speak aloud.

Tally stared at her. His chest ached miserably.

"And... everyone else?" he felt his tone grow softer. "How's... El?"

Nancy smiled softly. "She's excited to meet you in person," her eyes darted towards Max. "Also... sad."

Tally slouched in his chair, feeling his face crinkle as he rubbed the side of his face.

"It's my fault," he whispered, barely able to keep tears from from rolling down his cheeks as he stared at Max.

"No—" Nancy began to say, though she didn't seem to be able to finish her sentence.

"It is."

Everything seemed to be his fault. If he'd just tried harder.

If he'd tried harder maybe Vecna would be gone. Really gone. Forever.

Nancy features were all of a sudden set with a strong determination. "We're going to finish this, okay? We're going to kill Vecna. For real this time."

Tally nodded, trying to convince himself that she was right. He turned away from Max to look at Nancy, and suddenly realized how close their faces were.

He felt his face heat up.

Don't fucking do it, he told himself fiercely, his hands trembling.

The next thoughts to come were the dangerous ones. The ones that told him fuck it and you'll probably be dead in a week, anyways.

Those were thoughts that told him to kiss her.

So he did.

They stared at each other for a moment. Neither of them able to speak.

"I have to go," Nancy finally said, standing up quickly.

"Right, yeah" is what Tally said outloud. Dumbass is what he said to himself silently.

Tally watched her leave the room, and then slapped his forehead and groaned. "Fucking dumbass."

His eyes wandered to the window of the hospital room, and he felt his stomach lurch.

Small, white specks floated through the air. Except it shouldn't be snowing. It was the middle of April.

Tally stood up and pressed his hand against the window.

Something told him that this was bad news.

_________
To Be Continued...