Roles Reversed (Season 3/Part 1)

12.

Max heard a soft gasp making her head lean up immediately. She accidentally fell asleep once she leaned her head on the side of y/n's hospital bed. She came in right after school, wanting to 'talk' to y/n about Billy. That helped Max cope with the things going on in her life. She felt like y/n listened even when she was unconscious. To her surprise, y/n was awake. She seemed confused and fearful.
"Y/n." Max smiled widely and slowly approached her. Y/n's eyes blinked at a slow pace, trying to intake the bright florescent lights of the hospital room. She gazed around fastly, trying to take her surroundings in.

Y/n was simply afraid. She didn't remember  everything so soon, it took some time. Tears filtered her eyes as flashes of memories came flooding through her mind. Max gave her a moment and held her hand while she woke up. Max knew to give her space, everything was probably so much to take in.
"Where's El?" Y/n asked. Max was surprised by her question, yet eleven did help her before y/n got hurt. Of course that would be the first thing on her mind since it was the last before everything.
"She's actually in California. Her and the Byers moved." Max confessed with a sad voice. Y/n took in the information and felt bad. She softly nodded and let her body relax back into the bed. She looked around further, to see needles in her arm and all the medical equipment beside her.  Remembering the flayer physically hurt her head so she tried to think about other things. She noticed a bouquet of roses beside her. That was Billy's signature, she hoped they were from him. It's such a common flower. Anyone could've given her them, right?
"Um Billy, did anything happen to him?" Y/n questioned Max.
"Do you want me to tell you now? Maybe you should relax for a while." She responded.
"Did something bad happen? Is he okay?" Y/n's mind immediately went to worry. She leaned her body up, letting her body weight rest on her arms to keep her up.
"No, no... " Max said as she stood up. "I'm sorry, you don't have anything to worry about, I just didn't know if you wanted him to tell you the story." Max finished. Y/n nodded as a deep breathe released from her nose. She felt better knowing he was safe. Y/n's head pounded, it wasn't excruciating but definitely annoying. She held her head and tried taking deep breathes.
"Do you want me to give you some space? I mean you haven't exactly been alone that much. People have been in and out of here for two months now..." Max stated making y/n stare at her in confusion.
"Two months?" Y/n fastly questioned.
"Yeah, you've been in a coma for over two months now. " Max repeated. Y/n was dumbfounded. She really didn't know. All it felt like was like being asleep for a long time, maybe a couple days if she had to guess. She found herself truly bewildered by that statement.
"Let me get a doctor." Max suggested and rushed out of the room. Y/n had a moment to breathe to herself. She couldn't remember much. Many parts of memories would pop up in her brain but she could barely connect them together. Everything towards the end (during & after the mall) felt like... hazy.

A doctor explained any information y/n needed to know. How many surgeries she had and where, what medication she'll be on and for how long. He tried to give y/n some space, knowing it was a lot to take in.
"How much of the accident do you remember?" The doctor questioned y/n. Max's eyes went wide. She didn't exactly get to explain that part to y/n. How they can't say anything really related to the incident.
"Really not much. Only anything before the 4th." Y/n stated. The doctor nodded and Max felt relived she didn't spill any information.
"Well, that's okay... Maybe you need some time. Let's go ahead and get you out of bed. We need to help you walk for a bit, get your legs back to work." The doctor suggested. "I'll get a nurse and we'll be right back." He said before he left the room.
"We'll tell you more later but make sure you don't say anything to the doctors about the incident. They all think you were involved in a bad fire. That's all you need to know for now." Max stated. She felt bad for having to tell a clueless girl information she'd only question but she had to let her know. Y/n was definitely confused but listened to the Max.

Nurses and Max ended up helping y/n walk around for a bit. She needed to get back in the routine of using her legs. After some time she ended up being pretty okay. She just needed some support and time to get back up. Everything was almost back to normal.

Y/n wanted to use the restroom by herself. She started to feel overwhelmed. Everything she remembered was all a big question mark in her mind. Why? How? Who? What? So many questions sparked in her mind. She found herself crying out of fear. She didn't know what to do anymore.

Max quickly called Billy once y/n went to the restroom. She wanted her to be able to get used to being awake again so everyone wouldn't rampage her.
"Hawkins pool." Some guy answered the phone.
"Billy please, it's an emergency!" Max fastly spoke. The pools were still open for one more week. That's exactly where Billy was.
"Hargrove here." Billy's deep eased voice came through the phone.
"Billy." Max said before Billy quickly interrupted her.
"Max? What's wrong?" Billy questioned her, knowing she never calls him at work.
"She's awake." Is all Max had to say before Billy let the phone fall out of his grasp. He immediately went to the locker room to change, not caring about work anymore for the day. The pool would close in a few hours anyways.

Billy was quick on his feet. He showered fastly to get any sunscreen and chlorine off of him. He changed within seconds. He didn't care about anything except for y/n. He sped on the way to the hospital and ran down every hallway. His brain perfectly memorizing the way to her room for the past two months. His boots would hit the cold tile floor as he deeply breathed in and out.

Without hesitation, the door to the hospital room was opened by Billy. He expected to see y/n in bed, looking at him but she wasn't there. Max was sitting in the chair next to the bed.
"She's been in there for 15 minutes." Max stated as she stood up next to the bathroom door. Billy wanted to argue with his step sister but he trusted her to be smart. He just wanted to see his girl anyways.
"Yn?....Baby?" Billy asked as he knocked gently on the wood bathroom door of the hospital room. He tried to open the door but it was locked. No matter how much he wanted to pry it open, he didn't.

Y/n's eyes were tear stained. She had been admiring her scars for awhile now. Seeing the scarred skin before her, that were once flesh wounds. Ones she barely remembered receiving. Visions constantly flashed before her. Impacting her mental state and conscious. She was still confused but she remembered everything she felt. Alone, afraid, scared... Controlled, forced... She could barely piece together all the little memories. She can't quite put together the timeline of it all. Once Billy was heard outside of the bathroom door she felt better. A sense of hope lifted inside of her. She didn't feel the heavy burden of the recent events. She needed to see him and be with her boyfriend again.
"Billy?" She questioned as she leaned on the closed door.
"Y/n, are you okay?" Billy asked her with a fearful tone. Y/n nodded at herself with a wet face.
"I'm okay." Her voice cracked. It broke Billy's heart to hear her like this. He just Needs to see her.
"Baby, please open the door so I can see you." He requested. Y/n hesitated before she opened the door to reveal and teary eyed man, staring back at her. Y/n ran into his embrace even though she was weak, this is what she needed. Billy quickly let his body relax around hers as he held her close. She continued to cry out as slow tears fell from each of their eyes.

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