One

Chapter Eight - part four

   Phina woke up in a hospital bed, hooked up to multiple machines. Her head was pounding, her leg, burning. She almost didn't know why, until the memories came back. A tidal wave of trauma that almost swallowes her whole.
   "El," she whispers, her voice cracking, "Eleven?"
   A nurse, who was checking all of her machines, snaps her head over towards the girl, wide eyed.
   "Oh my god, you're awake," she shouts.
   "Why is that so shocking," Phina asks gruffly, raising one eyebrow.
   "W-with the w-wounds you sustained, and the amount of blood that you lost, we thought you would go into a coma," she explained.
   Phina lookes at her, wide eyed, "how long have I been out?"
   "Only a few hours since we found you," the nurse says, "which is why I'm so shocked. Oh my god, what am I doing, I'll go get your parents."
    The nurse rushes out of the room leaving Phina to her own mind. She was ok, but was El? Something told her that the girl wasn't ok, that something bad had happened to her.
   Karen Wheeler rushes into the room, letting out a cry when she sees her daughter, Ted Wheeler walking in calmly behind his wife. Without hesitating, Karen runs towards the redheaded girl, pulling her into a warm embrace. Phina winced, white hot pain lighting through her. She didn't care though, she wrapped her arms around her mother, hugging her just as tightly.
   "Oh my god Phina! Why do you have to scare me like that," Karen sobbed into her daughters hair.
   Phina didn't answer, she couldn't, her mind was on over drive, the trauma she'd been through, was holding her tongue like a snake holding its prey.
   Her mom pulled away, but Phina didn't have anytime to breathe, as three bodies bounded towards her. Mike got to her first, wrapping his arms around her torso.
   "Don't hog her all to yourself Wheeler," Dustin yelled, rounding to her other side, copying Mike.
   Lucas pushed Dustin over, "you're one to talk!"
   Phina yelpes when the intense pain flashes through her again, making all three boys jump away from her. They looked at her wide eyed, but she gave them a calm smile.
   "I'm a little battered and bruised up boys," she joked, "you gotta be careful with me."
   They gave her cute childish nods, Dustin giving her a mock salute. She saluted him back with a chuckle.
   "How's Will," Karen askes the boys.
   Phina glances at her mother, and then looked back at the boys, "they got him?"
   Lucas nods, "he woke up an hour ago, we were with him when they told us you were awake."
   Phina let her head fall back against her pillows, thanking any and every god or goddess she could think of. Will was ok, her boys were ok, they'd all be ok.
   She turned her head to look at her parents, "could you get me some water, and something to eat?"
   "Of course," Karen jumpes, "is there anything specific you want?"
   "Anything," Phina replies shortly.
   Her parents leave the room hesitantly and she waites a moment before she lookes back at the boys, "what happened, after I blacked out?"
   The smiles on the boys faces fell, Mike's head dropping so he could look at the ground.
   Dustin lookes at the other two for a moment, but sighed and turned back to Phina, "you and El where surrounded by this, this, I don't even know, we couldn't see you.
   "All we could hear was El screaming and the Demogorgan screeching, then this blinding white light bursted from the center of the darkness, and it disappeared just as quickly as it came, the black stuff leaving as well. El and the Demogorgan were gone, and you were laying on the floor, burning, like actually burning. You were on fire," Dustin shudders at the memory, "Lucas grabbed the fire extinguisher and put you out, but we couldn't touch you for a good 20 minutes because you were still radiating heat."
   Lucas liftes his hand and shows her a little burn mark on his finger, "I didn't even touch you, I was just reaching out to touch your shoulder and the air around you burned me."
   Phina held her hand to her mouth, to keep a sob from releasing. El was gone, and she had hurt Lucas.
   "Oh god, Lucas I'm sorry," Phina said, reaching her hand out to grab Lucas's burnt hand.
   "I'm ok, really. It only stung for a second," he smiled at her.
   Phina then turnes her head towards her brother, who had not looked up from the ground this entire time, and she saw the single tear drop from his eye. She gave the other boys a look and they both nod in understanding, leaving the room.
   "We're gonna go check on Will," Dustin says.
   "Yeah," Lucas agrees.
   They leave and Phina turns to Mike, a sad smile on her face. She slowly moves her body over to one side of the small bed, tapping the spot next to her. Mike doesn't say anything, but he climbs into the bed besides her.
   They lay next to each other, their hearts both breaking because of the girl they lost. Phina puts her arm around his shoulders, comforting him in silence. He rests his head against her shoulder, letting out soft cries. She doesn't shush him, just lets him cry. He needed to cry, they both did.
   Her own tears finally flowed, for the girl she shared the same past with, for the girl who quickly became a sister to her, for Eleven. She was truly gone, just as quickly gone from their lives as she had entered it. El had lived her entire life in Hawkins Lab and had only experienced a week of freedom, and she was on the run for all of it. El deserved more than she got, she deserved a life of happiness and friendship, but she was given the short straw, and Phina will forever hate whoever decided fate. Why her, why not me, why did you have to pick her.
   Their parents come back into the room, but one glance at their kids, and they were walking back out.
   Mike's sobs slowly fade into soft cries, hiccuping every few seconds.
   "She's gone Phina, she's gone," Mike finally whispers.
   "I know," she grips him tighter, "I know."
   Mike grabs her shirt, holding it like a life line, "and I almost lost you."
   Phina's heart shutters, breaking slowly into a million pieces, "I-I...."
   She didn't know what to say, what could she even do to console him? She had almost died, had almost been gone like El, she couldn't imagine what that would do to him.
   She sighs, "I know, Mike, I know that what I did was reckless, but I did it for you guys, my boys. El and I, we were not going to let anything happen to you, and we were willing to die for it, for you. I will not apologize for protecting you, never."
   "But you promised," Mike whispers, "you have never broken a promise."
   Phina nods, "yes, I did break my promise, and I'd do it again a million times to make sure you were safe."
   Mike looks up at his sister, "I know you would, and that's what scares me the most."
   She smiles at him, "you don't have to be scared anymore Mike, because the Demogorgan is gone, and Will is back, and we will all heal. Together."
   Mike smiles back at her, holding out his pinky finger for a pinky swear, "together."
   She wraps her pinky around his, "always and forever."
   "Always and forever."

-1282 words-
If any of you watch The Vampire Diaries or The Originals, I'm sorry but I couldn't help myself but use it, it's to cute not to ok. Anyway, hope you liked the Mike and Phina scene, I honestly love it because I love sibling relationships in anything really. Next part is going to be the last of season one, hope you're ready for it.
-Morgan