Healing ||mileven||

The visitor part 2

El's POV

Gotta...keep...running. Mike will know what to do, he always knows how to help me, I need to get home to Mike...Mike...run...Mike.

She didn't care about the pain on her face, the blood dripping down her top, her burning lungs, her bleeding, blistered feet, she just knew that running away from danger was what she had to do, then and now.

...........................

"Mike?" Karen called from the kitchen, "Mike, come here, it's important".

Mike came up from the basement looking annoyed, "Mom, I'm setting up for the game later, can't it wait?" He noticed that his mom looked upset, "what's going on?"

"The chief just called, he said that something about Lonnie causing trouble at the Byers'..."

"What happened? Is...is everyone ok?" Mike said, looking scared, worrying about El.

"He said Lonnie's been arrested and is on his way to hospital, Joyce is ok but a little shaken up..."

"What about El!?"

"She got hurt and scared and she ran away, they're looking for her but he said she'll probably come here. Do you think she will? I mean, it's a long way to walk..." Before she could finish Mike was running to the door, letting himself outside, ready to bike in the opposite direction and find her. As he reached the end of his driveway he looked down the road and saw a figure stumbling towards him, it was her. She could barely walk she was so exhausted, her feet were ripped to shreds from the rough country roads, dried blood stuck to her face. "MOM!" Mike shouted as he sprinted to her as fast as he could, he got there just in time to catch her from collapsing onto the road.

El grabbed Mike's shirt like her life depended on it, she collapsed into his arms, unable to stand any more, I made it. Mike just held her, she looked a wreck, her breathing was fast and shallow and her skin pale and glistening with sweat. Karen came running out with a blanket and wrapped it as best she could around El, made almost impossible by the fact that El wouldn't let go of Mike's shirt, eventually Karen just put the blanket around them both. A minute later the chief's car pulled around the corner and stopped yards away, Joyce flew out of the car to find El practically unconscious in Mike's arms. Hopper walked over, bent down and picked her up with ease, dragging Mike up too as she still wouldn't let go, even in her unconscious state. Mike had to remove his shirt and lay it on her else they'd have been stuck there in the road.

Hopper carried her inside and laid her on the big couch, he then went to call the doctor, there was no way they could fix her up with the first aid kit, he knew that much. "The doctor will be here soon, in the meantime, maybe you should clean her up a bit" he said, speaking to Mike, "wipe her face and feet". Mike nodded, his emotions hard to gauge.

Hopper motioned Karen and Joyce to the kitchen, "listen, Lonnie won't bother you again Joyce, he'll be in jail for the next few years, he was drunk so no-one will believe that she did anything, don't worry", Joyce nodded. "Our next problem is her, she can't catch a break can she? She'll have to go home with you as soon as possible, Joyce..."

"But she'll be scared, she won't want to leave Mike" said Joyce, looking at Karen, "you know how they feel about each other, we can pretend it's nothing, they're kids, too young, but we all know it's more than that. I don't think we can ignore that, he'll help her get over this". Karen nodded in agreement, however uncomfortable it made her, knowing her 14-year-old son had these feelings for this strange girl, she couldn't help but be in awe of it too.

"Look, if she stays here, she won't ever want to go back, and while it's fine now, and they're 14 years old and nothing will happen, do you want these two living together at 16, 17, 18 years old, starts to get more difficult then...we've all been teenagers, right?".