Home ||~~Elax/Elmax~~||

Had to see you

El started to slip in Max's arms and she was having to support more of El's weight. Catching Hopper's eyes, Max nodded her head slightly towards the girl in her arms, he understood and scooped El up into his own arms. Everyone could see that she was exhausted from the few minutes she'd been standing and from all the attention she was getting, "folks, El needs to go back to the hospital, when things have settled down then things can be discussed" she heard Hopper say.

Hopper carried El to his truck, Max walking by his side, as close to her as possible. Mike followed behind pushing the wheelchair that would need to go with them, and the rest of the Wheelers and the gang followed with him. Placing El gently in the back seat, Hopper turned to the small group, "she needs to be in hospital for a while, the doctors were not happy she left today" he stated.

"So why did they let her?" asked Joyce, the worry at how thin and tired she looked evident on her face.

Hopper shook his head slightly, appearing frustrated at a memory, "when she came to, she told me she wanted to see Max, and the rest of you, and when I said no she...uh..."

"She what?" asked Karen.

"She told me she would crawl here if she had to and she wouldn't let anyone stop her" he answered, clearly displeased with her, "I didn't exactly have a choice if I wanted the hospital left intact" he deadpanned. They all glanced over at El, she was leaning against the window just listening to them talk and gazing out as if seeing the most beautiful scenery she'd ever seen.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

El knew that Max watched her the whole ride to the hospital; most of the time she just leaned her head against the window, looking at the passing world with a look of serenity on her face, but occasionally she would look and meet Max's eyes with a tired smile. When they got there, Hopper scooped her up and carried her inside, Max looking worried by how easy Hopper found it to carry her. They were intercepted pretty quickly by an angry looking doctor, "what the hell are you doing, chief? She was in no condition to leave!"

Hopper took a deep breath to calm himself down, "I'm sorry doc, she's here now, I'm taking her to her room and I can guarantee she won't be leaving again until discharged, right El?" he said through a clenched jaw. She gave an apologetic nod in response.

The doctor sighed loudly, "get her into a gown and into her bed, the nurse will be in soon to reattach the IV and I'll come by to check her over."

"Come on" Hopper said, addressing Max and walking off down one of the beige walled corridors. He stopped and opened the door to the room that was obviously assigned to El, looking inside Max could see it was a private room with one bed, an uncomfortable looking chair, and an en suite, and that was pretty much it. Hopper carefully put El on the bed so she was sitting, legs dangling off. "I'll be back in 15 minutes with the nurse, you'll be in your gown and in bed, am I clear?"

"Yes chief" she replied in a quiet voice, looking down at the floor. Hopper took one last look at her, then locked eyes with Max and tilted his head towards El, Hopper was leaving her in charge, making sure El did as she was told.

And then they were alone.

For the first time in a year.

Max looked as if she didn't know what to do or say. All of a sudden, the atmosphere in the room had become thick. "Y...you need to get changed...here" said Max, handing El a gown.

El raised her head slightly, but only enough to see the gown in Max's hand, "thank you" she said quietly, taking it. She stood carefully, slowly, finding her balance. She went to take her top off but stopped and looked up at Max, "can you...turn around?" she asked hesitantly.

Max looked stunned, until she realised what the look on El's face was, she looked ashamed. Max shook her head 'no'.

"Please" El almost begged. When Max shook her head 'no' again, El closed her eyes and turned her head to face away from her, "I don't want you to see me like this" she whispered, a tear escaping from one eye.

She heard Max's breath hitch, but she took the two steps required to close the gap between them, "no, I won't ever look away again" she said, cupping El's face and making her look up. El met her gaze for only a moment before she couldn't hold it, she closed her eyes tight and looked down again. "Let me help you" Max said softly, and El nodded, still not looking at her. "Arms up" she said, El slowly complied and Max gently pulled her top up and over her head and arms. She had to compose herself fast, the gasp that threatened to come out she pushed deep inside, the shock she didn't let show on her face. She could see each and every one of El's ribs, front and back, her skin was mottled and bruised all over, scratches and grazes everywhere too, the worst ones covered by bandages. El was still trying to look away, but watched every part of Max's reaction from the side of her eyes, so Max gave her a small smile and helped remove her pants too. Her legs were the same, too thin, lacking muscle, too many bruises, bad cuts bandaged but some with blood seeping through. Max took an extra few seconds to fold the clothes, facing away from El, needing the time to gather herself. Turning back, she helped El get the hospital gown on, and then helped lift her, far too easily, onto the bed.

El felt so tired, she knew she shouldn't have left the hospital, but she wanted, no, needed to see Max. It was the only thing keeping her going, the thought of seeing her again, holding her in her arms, kissing her, being with her for the rest of her life. She moved over slightly and looked at Max, who seemingly understood immediately what she wanted and climbed carefully onto the bed with her. They lay facing each other just looking into each other's eyes, no words were necessary. After a few minutes, El lifted her head slightly and Max moved so El could rest on her shoulder, after which it took hardly any time at all for her to drift off to sleep.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*