Together Again

Chapter 2 - The Deputy (part 1)

Mike scrambled to his feet. terrified for what he might find inside. A thousand images flashed through his head, most of them included finding El either at gunpoint or dead on the floor. He thought back to that scream, what could it have meant? Should he even go in there? What if there was a killer in there? Or worse, the demegorgon! He heard that bone chilling scream again. "MIKE!!" He decided in an instant that no matter what was in there he had to save El! He burst through the door and found El standing over a body on the ground. Hopper.

  Eleven looked at him, wild eyed and said "Not dead." Mike ran over to Hop. Remembering back to the first aid course they took in gym class last year, he pressed two fingers to his wrist and felt a faint pulse.

  "Call 911" Mike instructed. El ran over to the phone and dialled 911.

  It picked up on the first ring. "Hawkins emergency."

  "My Dad is unconscious." El stated.

  "Are you hurt miss."

  "No, i'm fine" 

  "Can you tell me what happened, was he drinking?"

  P"I don't know, I came back from hanging out with my friends and found him unconscious, but he has a pulse."

  "Where are you?"

  "At home."

  "Do you have an address?"

~November~
  Hop had just moved her into his own home, and out of the cabin. He realized he had never gone over safety procedures with her before. So he spent the day instructing what to do in case of a fire, break in, etc.

  "If there is ever an emergency -and by  that I mean a real emergency, like the house is on fire, not just that we ran out of eggos- you need to call 911. That will contact me-the police-, the fire department, and an ambulance. You can tell them the problem, and they will ask for an address, you tell them—"  That is where her memory went fuzzy

  El thought hard about what the address was, but she couldn't remember the rest of his instructions. "I don't know" she replied

  "Okay, What is your Dads name?"

  "Jim Hopper"

  A gasp came from the other end of the phone. "The chief?"

"Yes"

  "Okay sweetheart, and ambulance is on it's way, don't worry."

  El put down the receiver and ran over to mike to tell him they were coming.

  She managed to get the words out, but fell down crying when she saw Hop laying there. She sat on the floor, sobbing. Mike rushed over to her and took her in his arms. He rubbed her back as she sobbed into his shoulder. He took her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "It's going to be alright." He said, then pressed his lips against her forehead. She rapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder.

  They could hear the sirens in the distance, and listened as they grew louder. When they could see the lights out the window they raced outside and waved their arms. Two paramedics jumped out of the front of the ambulance while two more hopped out the back, carrying a stretcher. Mike held the door open and yelled, "he's in the living room." They loaded him up onto the stretcher. As they came out the door Eleven squeezed her eyes shut and turned her face into Mikes shoulder.  Holding the door with his foot, Mike turned and wrapped his arms around her, closing her off from what was happening.

  Suddenly El pulled away. "Wait." She said sternly. "I want to go with Daddy"

  "You can't." The one paramedic said sympathetically. "We are not allowed to take you away from here without the permission of an adult."

  Mike was getting nervous by the expression on her face. A plant vase shattered behind him. That was no accident. El lowered her chin, her nose starting to bleed. He could see her hand opening behind her back. "I want to go with daddy!" she screamed.

  The paramedic looked terrified. Mike couldn't let her do something she'd regret. He ran at her quickly. "No! El! Stop." He got beside her and grabbed her right hand. She could have easily thrown him away, but he took a risk and trusted her. He grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Your not mad at this lady. Your mad at Hop. You don't want to hurt her. You don't want to end an innocent life." He whispered, so the paramedic couldn't hear what he was saying. She turned back to the paramedic, and Mike thought he didn't get through to her. She lowered her head again, blood streaming out of her nose. "You're not a killer El." Mike took one last stab at getting her to stop. Immediately El closed her hand and dropped to the ground. Mike rushed over to her and gathered her in his arms. He mouthed "Go!" To the paramedic, and to his surprise she just waved a hand signal at the ambulance and it took off, sirens going. The paramedic just stood there silently. Mike thought she would have been eager to leave after what just happened.