Together Again

Chapter 4 - The In-Between (part 1)

  Hop had a terrified look in his eyes. He kept looking around, but didn't seem to see any of the people sitting there. "Flower." He kept repeating over and over again. He sounded like mama to El. Oh no! She thought. Is he stuck in a circle like Mama?

  El got up from her chair and slowly walked toward him. Hoping a familiar voice would help, she whispered softly. "Daddy. It's me." She whispered placing a hand on his shoulder.

  He relaxed for a second and he looked like he recognized her. Suddenly his back stiffened again. "Flower." They all sighed in disappointment.

  Elevens eyes welled with tears. "Daddy come back to me!" She cried.

  Hops response was. "Flower."

  Mike thought hard. What could flower mean? Was he talking about his daughter. El told him a while back that Hopper had a daughter that had died, maybe he was talking about her. Was that his ex wife's name? So many different scenarios ran through Mikes head, but none of them seemed right.

  El walked over to Mike. "I need a radio, a cloth, and a quiet room." She said, sounding very certain.

  Mike quickly realized what her plan was. Mike asked the nurse for a clean cloth while Joyce went to the front desk to see if there were any quiet rooms they could use. She walked towards the front desk, preparing what she was going to say. She couldn't just tell them they needed a quiet room to see into the upside down.

  Back in the hospital room Mike asked the nurse if they had any radios, to play Hoppers favourite music on. The nurse went to check, doubtful that they would have any.

Joyce came back into the room, shaking her head. "They wouldn't give us a room. I tried my best, but that lady was pretty d*mn strict. I couldn't get her to crack."

  Sighing Mike leaned his head down. This room was way too noisy for El. Between Hop saying flower over and over again and all the equipment there was no way she would be able to focus. The nurse came in. They had no spare radios that they could use. Suddenly Joyce remembered something. Her car had a radio! They could sit in her car with the radio on a static station and El blindfolded. She told them her plan.

  As they headed out the door they realized something, someone had to stay with Hopper. They couldn't leave him alone. Joyce had to go to start her car. And El was the only one that could reach the upside down. So that left Mike. He wanted to be there for El, he knew that she was scared of this place, it always made her think of the lab. He had no other choice though.

  "I'll stay." He declared. El looked worried, knowing that he wouldn't be there. He stepped forward and looked her in the eye. He held both of her hands in his. They were sweating a lot and shaking. She must be terrified. "Be brave. You can do this, do it for Hop." He told her then leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek. She blushed and then turned away. Joyce was in the background smiling. She loved seeing young love, so innocent.

  Joyce and Eleven walked away toward the front doors, cloth in hand. Mike stared after them, wishing he could be there, for El. He knew that she would be okay though, Joyce was the closest El had to a mother.

  When they arrived at the car, El sat cross legged in the backseat as Joyce tied the cloth around her head. El squeezed her hands shut. What if she ran into the demegorgon? Like she did at the Lab. All the memories of her time in the tank flooded back to her. She could hear Papas voice ringing in her ears. "Today is the day we make history." She grimaced at the thought of Papa.

  The car came to life, bringing her out of her memories. She could hear the radios changing as Joyce flicked through the stations. It stopped when she got to the static one. El closed her eyes under the cloth. She took deep breaths, in and out. Mikes words came back to her. "Breathe Eleven, in and out." She thought about the word flower as she drifted off.

  In the darkness, an object appeared. She made her way towards it. It looked like a flower, only it was grey instead of green. Her feet echoed in a thin layer of water as she walked. The flower grew bigger as she got closer. It appeared to be growing out of a rock. The front of the flower began to open. A bunch of liquid came spitting out of the flower. What the heck? El thought. She looked around her, she appeared to be standing in a cave. No it was a tunnel. "Tunnel." She whispered. There were several different tunnels going in different directions from it. Vines covered the floor. "Vines." The vines looked like something from the upside down. This must be the Flower Daddy was talking about. But why was this flower important?