Oneshots: Elmax / Sillie

Whiskers

Max's POV:
It's now June, 6 months since Christmas. El and I have been dating for 2 years, we celebrated our anniversary just a week ago.

Whiskers is honestly the cutest cat. He always cuddles with us both and he loves being held. However, recently in the night his breathing's been a bit odd. It's as if he can't fill his lungs properly, and it turns into a series of hectic breaths. After a few minutes he's okay, but I'm not sure what's happening.

Whenever this happens, he doesn't move, he remains still until it passes. I really hope it's not hurting him.

It was around 11 pm when El fell asleep, she's an early sleeper anyway, she always has been, so it's not like it was a crazy thing. Whiskers ran into the room and fell asleep too. Since I was having a sleepover, I also went into the bedroom.

I got changed into my pyjamas, and got into bed with El. She put the blanket over me and laid her head on my shoulder as Whiskers laid between our intertwined legs.

I smiled and gave him a few gentle strokes before putting my arms around El, lifting her on top of me. She nuzzled into my neck and together we all fell asleep.

2 am.

I woke up to the sound of snuffling, it was Whiskers. It sounded like he was suffocating. I sat up and El lifted her head up from my shoulder, looking around sleepily.

She noticed Whiskers almost immediately, and quickly rushed to him, moving all the blankets away from him. Even with nothing around him he made those noises, he wasn't breathing properly.

"Hey." She said, stroking his soft head, "You're okay."
He didn't react, and instead began panting. Like full on pant, almost like a dog. At this point El was truly worried, as was I. She looked at me, "Keep an eye on him, imma go get Hop."

She ran out the room and I put my hand on the cat's fur, watching him still not pay attention to it. "Dad!" El shouted.
I heard mumbles and then Hop came into the room, his eyes sleepy. "What's happening?" El asked him.

Hopper picked him up and listening to his heartbeat. "I'm not sure kid. I'll take him to the vet." He put his shoes and jacket on, wrapping Whiskers like a burrito, using one of his blankets to carry him to the car.

The front door shut and El looked at me, tears in her eyes. "He's gonna be okay El. Don't worry." I assured her softly.
She laid back down on me, her head on my chest. "What was happening?" She asked, sounding upset.
"I don't know love. The vet is going to make him better though." I said.

She sniffed, wrapping her arms around my waist. I put an arm around her and put my other hand in her hair, playing with it as I felt her tears on my shirt. I didn't care about the shirt though.

"El." I said softly, rubbing her back.
"I'm sorry." She sobbed, wiping her tears. "I don't wanna ruin your shirt."
"Hey, it's okay. I don't care about the shirt. It's okay to cry." I whispered.
She held me tighter and cried a bit more, before falling asleep half an hour later.
Once I made sure she was asleep, I fell asleep too.

8 am.
We both awoke to the sound of knocking on the bedroom door, and it opened. Hopper came in, and he looked like he'd been crying.

Oh no.

"Hey kiddos. I've spoken to the vet, they said Whisker's got a genetic lung condition, he's never gonna be able to breathe properly." He informed us.
"We can help him though, right?" I asked.
Hop shook his head, "It's hurting him. She gave us 2 options. Either he can live in pain or we can put him down."

My heart dropped, put him down?!

"What does put down mean?" El asked innocently.
"It's when the vets inject an animal." Hopper told her.
"Like medicine?" She asked.
"When an animal gets the injection, they die." El's eyes widened, "But it's painless. He'll be in a better place."
"What?! We can't kill him!" El said, standing up.

"He doesn't deserve to live like this El. He's had an amazing life with you." Hop handed Whiskers to me, who was calm in my arms. "We have until tomorrow to make a decision." He left the room and El shook her head.
"Why does dad want to kill him?" She asked, sitting down on the bed.
"He wont kill him. But the injection doesn't hurt El, he won't feel it. He'll be happy in heaven, he would be able to breathe properly."
"He can breathe properly now!" She shouted, tears threatening to leave her eyes, "He's okay now." She said, softer this time.

"You have until tomorrow to make a decision. Let's just spend time with him." I advised, not blaming her for getting angry. I would be too if I had the choice between life and death for my pet.
She nodded and we invited the others over, we all played with him for hours. Cuddling him, sleeping with him, playing with the laser pointer, giving him treats.
We fed him a can of tuna, his favourite food.

That night, he cuddled right up to El and I. "I don't want him to be in pain." El whispered, cuddling him.
"I know, love." I said, spooning her.
She looked at me, "Is he going to be put... down?"
"That's your choice El."

She looked back at him, "He won't be hurt anymore?"
"He's gonna be amazing. He'll be happy."
"Promise?" She asked quietly.
"I promise."

My heart broke as she snuggled him closer, "I'm sorry Whiskers." He licked her cheek, seeming to understand. He wanted her to know it's okay.

We stayed up late that night, spending as much time as we could with Whiskers.

The next day, we all headed to the vets.

There he was. Lying on the bed, one more chance to speak to him.

We all walked inside. "I'm really sorry you were hurting for so long. I love you so much, I'll see you up there." El said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

God, and I thought my heart couldn't break anymore.

Hopper and I said our parts, and then the vet assured us it'd be painless, grabbing the needle.

El held his paw as he was put under anaesthetic, and he got injected. His paw went limp in El's hand, and she sniffed.

I hugged her tight and she broke down in my arms. Tears rolled down my cheeks as she buried her head in my chest, grasping onto my sweater as her whole body shook with each sob.

"He's in a better place El." I soothed quietly, "You did such a brave thing."

We hugged for a long time, and once we got home Hopper let her have an eggo extravaganza.

We miss you, Whiskers.

1180 words