you are not alone → stranger things

xxxxiii. explaining

Sunday morning
Dustin's POV

"Dustin?" Mom said, knocking on my open door. "A girl is on the phone for you." She arched an eyebrow. "Said her name was Eleanor."

I recognized El's fake name and, dropping my comic book, grabbed at the phone. Mom smiled knowingly and left. "El?" I asked into the phone. "What's wrong?"

"Dustin, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but... well, a lot has happened. Can you come to the hospital as soon as possible?"

My happiness drained out of me. "Is Max okay?" I whispered, my chest tight.

El sounded bewildered. "Mostly. But it's not her that I'm talking about. Why?"

I cursed myself inwardly for nearly giving away her secret. "Um, no reason. Who is it?"

"Will. I'll explain when you get here. Would you mind bringing Lucas too?" I could hear her exhaustion.

I pressed a hand to my forehead. "Yep. See you soon."

"Bye."

I hung up and picked up my supercomm immediately. "Lucas, you there? Over."

He picked up almost immediately. "Yeah, what's up? Over."

"El wants us to come to the hospital. Will's there. No, I don't know why," I said as he started to say something. "She said she would explain when we got there. Over."

Silence for a few breaths. "I'll meet you there. Over and out."

I set it down on my nightstand and, throwing on a jacket, raced out the door. "Bye Mom, I'm going to the hospital!"

"What?!" she yelled after me, but I didn't reply.

***

El finally stopped talking, panting. She reached for the water bottle on the floor beside her chair.

I stared at her, wide-eyed. Lucas spoke first. "Holy shit."

"The nurse said we can visit at noon," El croaked, wincing at the sound of her voice. She glanced at Mike, who was staring straight ahead. Her forehead creased with worry.

"I didn't know you could talk, El," I said, trying to play off how confused I was by what she had just explained to me.

She gave me a look. "I just prefer not to. I'm smarter than you think."

I folded my arms. "What's twelve times thirteen?"

"One hundred fifty-six," she said without batting an eye.

I raised an eyebrow. "Nice."

Lucas punched me in the arm lightly. "Quit changing the subject, man." He got up and went over to Mike. "Hey," he said quietly, "I'm sorry about that stupid fight we had."

Mike looked at him and nodded. "Me too."

El looked over at him sharply. "Mike?"

He looked at her. "I'm okay now. I can forget," he said with a shudder.

"Okay," she said calmly. She went and stood by him, and he reached up for her hand.

I couldn't help but smile, but it fell slightly when Mike's sleeve fell away and I could see those scars. Some looked more recent.

I sighed and looked over at Max. She seemed to be sleeping, and I got up and sat in the empty chair beside her. "Do you like Will?" I whispered, half to myself. I knew she couldn't hear me. "I mean, you kissed him. But I didn't know you had ever really talked to him..." She stirred slightly and sighed in her sleep. I quickly glanced around to make sure no one was looking, then reached for her face and brushed the hair out of her face tenderly. My hand lingered near her cheek. Her bruises stood out sharply against her pale skin, but I thought it made her look more beautiful than she already was.

Lucas cleared his throat, and I realized he was watching me. He gave me a small smile and a nod, and I knew then that he was over Max.

I smiled back and turned to Max. "He doesn't like you anymore. Just me..." I remembered when she had stayed in my house's guest room for two days. It was a little weird, but I had wanted her to be there. If Mike could have a love story with a girl in his basement, then I wanted one too. What a cliché, I thought.

Max stirred, alerted by my warm hand still pressed to her face, and I quickly pulled away. But when she opened her blue eyes, I knew she knew what I had been doing. And I got the sense she didn't mind one bit.