Together Again

Chapter 5 - Hunt or be Hunted (part 3)

  Hopper sat an his bed frowning. Joyce looked up from the chair she was sitting in. "What's wrong?" She asked him.

  "How the hell am I going to get out of here?" Hopper Demanded. He was worried about El, and Steve who had taken over for him. Or so Joyce told him. Steve was just a rookie. Hopper was fine, why was he stuck sitting on a hospital bed.

Joyce got up and walked over to his bed, she placed her hand on his. "Everything is going to be just fine." She said, rubbing his hand.

  Hopper looked into her eyes. "Why did you stay? I mean like, I understand why El was here, and Mike was here for her, but why did you stay with me?"

  Joyce blushed and looked down. How could she say this? She hadn't even stopped to question this herself. She stayed because she...kinda liked him. The way his eyes softened when he smiled. How strong and muscular he was. How he would go out of his way to help anyone. The way he was always there for her. She had this feeling in the. Pit of her stomach whenever she was around him. She had butterflies in her stomach, and she felt almost sick, but in a good way. It was the best feeling in the world. She had never felt this for anyone before. Not Lonnie, and she had a little bit of this feeling when she was dating Bob, but it was much less than this. She thought back to his question. She couldn't just say 'I like you.' Suddenly an idea hit her. "Well, you were always there for me with Will and everything. And El needed an adult..." she paused not really knowing how to continue.

  Hop smiled his goofy grin. "Okay, so it had nothing to do with me?" He asked jokingly.

  Joyce blushes again. "Well...maybe I kinda—"

  Before she could finish her sentence, a nurse walked in, cutting her off. They both tried not to look disappointed, but they were. They had both wanted something like that to happen, and it finally was, until the nurse walked in.

  Joyce looked up at the nurse. Noticing it was not Robin, she asked. "What happened to nurse Robin?"

  The nurse responded. "I don't really know, she took the afternoon off unexpectedly." That was weird. The nurse continued. "We still don't know exactly what happened, but we know enough to let you go home. You just cannot stay on your own, you must be with someone at all times. If anything unusual happens you must come right back in, and we will be calling you in for check ups daily."

  Before the nurse could finish Hopper was getting up out of the bed. Lucky for him they hadn't put him in a hospital gown, probably because he was the sheriff, so he didn't have to change. Joyce handed him his jacket, which El had brought for him the first night, and they left the room with the nurse yelling some instructions at them, that they didn't listen to. They signed out at the front desk, then walked across the parking lot.

  A person in an army uniform drove up, they got out of their truck, carrying a bag. They were fumbling to put their keys in their pocket. A few feet in front of Hopper and Joyce, he dropped his keys. As he bent down to pick it up, his bag fell over, its contents spilled all over the pavement. Joyce and Hopper rushed foreword to help. The army person told them to leave it, but they bent down anyway. They reached to pick up some stuff when they noticed something. A lab coat lay in the bag. On the ground was a clip with a bunch of key cards, they looked the same as the ones that Dr. Owens always used. There was also a bunch of supplies for microscopes, 2 beakers, and an envelope. Written of the mailing address was a single name that sent shivers down their spines.

  Dr. Martin Brenner.

  Hopper stood up. "Hey buddy, you going to work?"

  "Yeah, why?"

  "At the army base?"

  "Yup, I'm a soldier in training."

  "Really, so what's with the contents of your bag?"

  "It's none of your business."

  Hopper remembered that he was wearing a jacket. So he unzipped it and flashed him his badge. "Actually it is. And unless you can tell me why, I'm gonna have to take you in for further questioning."

  The soldier still refused to tell him why. So Hopper went to grab his handcuffs. S***! He wasn't wearing his uniform. He also remembered that he didn't have his truck here, and he couldn't make Joyce put a criminal in her car.

  He made the 'soldier' wait there, as he took his license plate number. Hopper got his name from the key cards. Now that he had that information there was no point in him running away. Hopper got Joyce to go inside and dial the police station on the pay phone to get Steve to come.

  Joyce rushed inside. She dialled the police station and put the phone to her ear.

  "Hawkins police, how can I help you?" Answered Flo

  "Flo, it's Joyce Byers."

  "Oh Joyce! How is Hopper doing?"

  "He's awake but I can't talk about that right now. I need you to pass a message along to officer Harrington. Hopper needs him to get down to the hospital with his police car and handcuffs as soon as possible."

  Flo said that she would pass the message along, then hung up. Joyce and Hopper were left to wait.