"What was your nightmare about, El?"
Shit. I wasn't sure if I should tell him. He didn't know that I was in Max's head when she died, that I wasn't strong enough to save her. What would he think of me? Then again, I feel like we've grown close over the past months, and he's not the type of person to abandon his friends, is he?
"...Max," I said, my voice shaking. "It was about Max. She was with a bunch of people, people who died because of me. Said it was my fault that she's in a coma."
I prepared for Lucas' response, expecting him to be angry, but he wasn't. Instead, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug. God, I feel pathetic. I'm making everyone feel sorry for me when they have their own issues to deal with! Even so, it feels nice for people to care about my well being for once.
"Hey Lucas?"
"Yeah?" Lucas said, still hugging me.
"We should go," I had work today, so we needed to get to the hospital quickly if we wanted to see Max.
We headed off, sprinting the whole way. When we made it to the hospital, we rushed up to Max's room and Lucas closed the door, adjusting my blindfold before turning on his walkie. I grabbed Max's hand and plunged into the void, holding two letters in my free hand.
I was still holding the letters when I got into the void, so I guess that worked! I told Lucas and began walking towards the hole into Max's mind I had made last time.
"Max?" I called. "Are you there?"
"Yep! I'm glad you came back!" Max was sitting on my bed with her legs hanging off the side. "What's that?" She gestured towards the letters in my hand.
"Oh, right! Lucas wrote you a letter!" I had already forgotten. "I wrote one too, but you already know a lot about what's happened with me, so..."
I handed Max the letters and we sat in silence for a minute while she read them. I didn't know what Lucas had written, but my letter was from day five of Max being in the hospital. I had written about what Lucas and I could do with her when she woke up, how I was practicing with my powers to bring her back, and just normal everyday things.
"El?" Max snapped her fingers in front of my face, bringing me back to... reality? Was it technically reality? Nevermind.
"Yes?" I said, trying to push away the memories of my nightmare as I spoke to her. Even just seeing her was making me think of it.
"Are you ok? You seem upset," Max asked, a worried expression on her face. "Did something happen?"
I didn't want to say anything about my nightmare, but she was my friend, and friends don't lie. There wasn't much of a way to avoid the question otherwise. I thought for a few seconds before deciding to tell her, but only partially.
"I... had a nightmare," I said hesitantly. "About him."
"Oh," Max stopped pressing the subject. I assumed it was because of what Henry had done to her. I couldn't even say his name, so Max was probably the same way.
"So, um, how was school?" Max asked, trying to lighten the mood. "I've honestly missed being there. What's been happening?"
"I don't know," I was being honest. "I've only had one full day."
"I thought you started yesterday. Shouldn't you have had two days?"
"I, um... I was late today. And Miss Kelly wanted to see me."
"Why?" Max looked concerned. "Did something bad happen? Did you get hurt?"
"I'm fine, Max. Nothing happened," I said, trying to sound positive. "Apparently Will thought I needed to talk to somebody."
Max ended up dropping the subject and started ranting about all the stuff she'd found in her mind. I climbed up onto the bed and laid down, staring up at her. I noticed that her face had faint lines of blood running from her eyes, almost like a reminder from the Upside Down. She was wearing her regular blue jacket with jeans, but the walkman she normally carried around was gone. I made a mental note to bring it to her.
"El! It's almost time for work!" Lucas called from outside the void. Right, I have a job. I set the letters on Max's lap and got off the bed.
"Will you come tomorrow?" Max asked.
"I promise! See you tomorrow Max!" I really didn't want to leave but I knew I needed to. Susan needed money to get groceries.
"Bye El.." The last thing I saw before taking my blindfold off was Max smiling sadly from my bed.
