Shatter [Jonathan Byers] Stranger Things II

XX: Reminisce

rem·i·nisce

verb

indulge in enjoyable recollection of past events.

A heavy fog covered the town of Hawkins, Emilia and Jonathan walked along the lakeside unnoticed. Hand in hand, they strolled well into the evening. After the events at the lab earlier that morning, Emilia and Jonathan had decided to head out into the nature of things in order to help Emilia clear her head. Around their necks were their cameras.

"Did you ever go to therapy after your mum?" Jonathan asked her, kicking a small pebble along the ground. It skittered ahead, but was slowed by the wet ground.

"I had a few doctors check in with me, you know, after... while I was still in the hospital." Emilia found that talking to Jonathan about her mum had become easier. The time that had passed since the accident had helped her heal, there was no denying that, but she didn't talk about the actual accident often with, well, anyone.

She thought of Hopper, and how she still owed him a real apology from her blow up at the gun range.

Jonathan stopped and looked up at the sky, shrouded by the dense fog. The faint glow of the orb that was the moon offered little light, and it felt as though they were in some horror movie. Emilia slowed when he did, reaching over and grabbing his hand. His long fingers were cold to the touch, and yet they still warmed her. With her other hand, she brought her camera to her eye and snapped the photo of him looking up at the starless night above them.

When the shutter clicked, he looked back at her. A swell of love filled him, knowing that they had been through so much, and that nothing had changed between them except that he loved her more than he did the day before, and the day before that.

Emilia wasn't sure what was running through his mind, and so she released the camera and let it dangle against her chest. She then stepped back, still holding Jonathan's hand, and twirled herself underneath his extended arm. When he caught on to what she was doing, he pulled her back in and wrapped his arm around her lower back, pulling her close. Like a prince and princess, they danced on the sandy shores of the lake, to no music at all.

And then it was as if the music was ending, and he leaned in their foreheads touched. Their lips were dangerously close to one another's, and it felt as though this was their first kiss. She felt a quiver in her lower lip; she felt a sudden pang of guilt, although she could not pinpoint it. Jonathan closed the gap between them, capturing her lips like he would a photo.

When they broke, Emilia forgot that the guilt had come, for it was long gone.

"I've never danced with someone before," Jonathan admitted, sheepishness filling the tone of his voice.

"Neither have I," she ducked her head down. "If I didn't have you, I don't think anyone would dance with me."

"I don't think you understand how beautiful you are. Inside and out. Don't ever think otherwise, Emilia," he said. "Although, I don't mind reminding you ever day, if you need it."

She looked up at him and smiled, "Can you believe it's been a year?"

He nodded, "I can."

She leaned into his chest and they swayed gently, the cold air settling deep into their bones. They would be chilled for the rest of the night if they didn't head in soon, but Emilia didn't care. She'd felt cold so deep, that physical cold meant very little. She held on to Jonathan a little tighter, clutching him so that she might never forget his shape, his scent, the way he held her back.

Home alone, after him and Emilia had parted, Jonathan flopped down onto his bed. There was a shape of her in her side of the mattress from all the nights she had spent there. She'd made an indent on her life like no one else, but he still felt as though some days she was absent. Planting his arms behind his head, he stared up at the ceiling and reminisced about the first time he met her.

It haunted his dreams that night.

He ran through the trees and the fields that separated him from the blaring sound of the car horn. His feet somehow managed to keep him upright as he dashed over tree roots and rocks that threatened to trip him. The headlights came into view and he knew that he didn't have much time. The crumpled car was hardly in one piece, and he could smell the gasoline the moment he neared the wreckage.

A moan from the passenger seat -the window shattered- caught Jonathan's attention. Running through the snowy ditch, he caught sight of all the blood and felt something inside of him twist. He didn't want to get closer to the carnage, and yet he needed to. Overcoming the fear and dread, Jonathan pulled his jacket off and wrapped it around his hand, then brushed away all the shards of glass. There was no way he could open the door to the car, so he had to pull the woman inside out through the window.

Reaching in, he could smell blood, and he unclipped the seat belt. When his eyes flickered up at the driver's seat, he stared at the blue eyes of a woman who was clearly dead. His heart sunk and he thought he was going to throw up; the woman was dead and yet she was staring right at him, and she was beautiful. Jonathan recoiled, then wrapped his arms around the passenger, who he recognized. Emilia Roth, he knew her from the odd class here and there.

Giving a name to the person made it easier for him to pull her through the window. Up the ditch, he scrambled, fighting the dead weight that was Emilia. The sirens were blaring in the distance, reds, whites and blues making purple flash over the entire forest around them.

The car blew up in that moment, and Jonathan pulled Emilia close to protect her from the blast. Shrapnel flew, but they came out mostly unscathed. Heaving, Jonathan held on to Emilia; he didn't know what made him do it, but he could not carry her further, and leaving her in the snow would possibly kill her, if she wasn't already heading in that direction of death.

The paramedic touched his shoulder, ten minutes later, two minutes later, three hours later, he did not know.

"Sir, are you alright? Were you involved in this accident? What is your name?" She asked him.

He shook his head, unable to speak. The paramedic pried his arms off of Emilia and felt her pulse. Then she began shouting commands and orders at the other paramedics in the area. Two were attending the man in the truck, Jonathan had not even seen another vehicle, for it was a thirty meters away, the headlights smashed out.

Two paramedics managed to get Emilia onto the stretcher and into the back of the ambulance. And while he was too busy staring at the scene as a whole, Jonathan was whisked away into the same ambulance. One paramedic focused on Emilia, making sure she would survive the drive to the hospital. They snipped her jacket and shirt off, exposing her chest, the internal bleeding leaving her skin purple and blackened. Jonathan looked away while the other paramedic was prying open Jonathan's eyes and checking his pupils.

"He's in shock, grab me a blanket."

"Was he involved?"

"No, I don't believe so."

"Kid, what's you name?"

"Did you witness the accident? Can you tell us what happened?"

"Stop talking to him about the accident, if he's in shock, he needs a distraction."

"Where do you live? Do you know your address? Who are your parents?"

Jonathan just thought about how Emilia would feel when she woke up and did not have a mother. 

Thank you to everyone who helped me get back on track! Last night I hunkered down and cranked out two full chapters that I am happy with, and got myself back in the mindset of writing this story! I'm really immersed in my Dark Knight (Bane) story but I don't want to lose focus of this one. A good friend recently binge watched season 1 of ST so obviously we'll be chatting about it, and that'll help too! 

Question of the Day: Have you ever been in shock?