𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞~𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

Chapter 16: Why Can't I Come In?

Lucas's POV

The three of us ran, my breath catching in my sore lungs. We had been sprinting to the hospital for the last ten minutes.

I looked back to make sure that Will and El were still behind me. Will still clutched her hand and basically dragged her along. She was tired. We needed to get there fast.

I sighed in relief. The hospital came into clear view.

I stopped and put my hands on my knees as I caught my breathe. El sat in the grass and breathed heavily.

After a few minutes I turned to the curly haired girl, "El, do you think you can find his room number? I don't think they'll let us in without an adult."

She nodded and closed her eyes, "113."

Will glanced at me, "That's on the first floor. We can probably go through a window or something."

I shrugged, "That'll work."

Will grabbed El's hands and helped her up as we walked towards the back of the hospital with rows of windows.

I could just barely see the room numbers through the glass.

"101...103...105..."

Will ran ahead, scanning for the number of Mike's room.

"111...113!" Will whispered loudly as he gestured for us to go to him.

Sure enough, the black haired boy lay asleep on the hospital bed, breathing heavily.

Will tapped on the window gently. We saw Mike stir in the sheets. He sat up and glanced around with a confused look on his face.

"Mike!" Will and I said in unison as he slid the window open.

All I heard was a small gasp behind me.

Mike's POV

"Guys! What are you doing here?"

Will spoke up, "You weren't at school and we were worried."

"Oh I'm...fine."

Lucas didn't look convinced, "Dude, we know there's something wrong. Why are you in the hospital?"

I made a puzzled face, "Wait. How'd you know I was in the hospital?"

Both boys glanced back at the small girl behind them, "Eleven," they said in unison.

I blushed and she smiled. Suddenly, her face became troubled, "What's wrong with you?"

"Oh-well I-um..."

"Spit it out Mike," Lucas raised his eyebrows.

"I caught pneumonia."

Will and Lucas looked at each other, "WHAT?!?!" El just looked confused.

"Guys it's not that big of a deal."

"Wait. How in the world did you get pneumonia?" Will commented.

I blushed fiercely, remembering the rain that night, "It was probably going around school or something. And I went for a bike ride in the rain."

"Why would you go biking in the rain?" Lucas exclaimed, exasperated.

"I was um-leaving El's."

El's face scrunched up in a horrified expression, "Because of me," she said, her voice barely audible.

"El, it's not your fault."

She shook her head, "No," she pointed to herself, "my fault. You should have left," tears started streaming down her pale face.

"El don't cry. It's not your fault. It's natural. People get sick all the time," Will patted her back as Lucas used his sleeve to wipe her eyes.

I smiled at her, "I'm glad all of you are here. Where's Dustin?"

"He decided that he wanted to eat lunch instead. And Max...I'm not even gonna start with that," Lucas shook his head.

I looked to Will for an explanation, "I'll tell you later," he mouthed to me.

"Well, we should probably leave. The school will be flipping out by now," both boys waved and started strolling away.

"Bye Lucas! Bye Will!"

El looked at me with sparkling eyes. She reached her arms into the room, "Help me in."

"You can't."

"Why can't I come in?"

I shook my head, "I'm still sick. You can't be near me or else you will be sick too."

"I don't care. Help me in." She smirked sassily at me. I couldn't help but smile. Reaching out to her, I lifted her into the room.

She fell into my arms. Standing on her tiptoes, she hugged me tightly. I breathed in the scent of her hair. She smelled faintly of lilac. And she smelled like me.

I let her go, gazing into her glowing brown eyes. She looked up at me with a dreamy look in her eyes. I smiled widely.

"You're wearing my sweatshirt."

She looked down and blushed, "Here," she started taking it off but I grabbed the ends of the fabric and pulled it back down. She giggled as I brushed her bare sides.

"That tickled," she smiled gleefully up at me.

"Oh did it?" I raised my eyebrows slyly.

I grabbed her sides and started tickling her. She laughed, tears streaming down her cheeks. She fell onto my bed and I leaned over her, still pinching her sides.

"Mike-Mike-stop! Stop..."she shrieked as she kept giggling.

"Okay okay," I sat next to her, smiling at the girl I loved. It felt like forever since I saw her even though it was only yesterday.

She looked at me with an intense gaze. She slowly leaned over me, sliding her arms around my neck. Our lips met in a perfect collision. I was lost in the moment, but I quickly snapped out of it and pushed her away from me.

She looked extremely hurt, "El, we can't. You're gonna get really sick. I can't get you sick. Oh my god. I can't let you get sick."

El smiled affectionately at me, "I don't care. I guess I am stupid," she leaned towards me again, pressing her soft lips on mine. I felt her lips curve into a grin. I couldn't help smiling either.

We parted, both of us breathless. She had taken my entire heart. With just a kiss she had rendered me speechless. I touched her lips again but was interrupted by a hoarse cough and a piercing pain in my chest.

El grabbed my hand, "Okay?"

"I will be. You should go. I need to sleep and it's not good that you're around me."

"Get better."

"I'll try."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

She nodded and stepped towards the open window, hopping out. The window slid closed on its own. I smiled.

Later that day

Mike's POV

I was finally home. I listened to my mom, who was calling all of my friends parents, telling them I would be in school the next day.

"Oh hi Chief! How are you doing today?"

I turned my head. Hopper? Why was he calling?

"Oh. Yea, he's getting better. What? Oh that's strange. There must be something going around. Okay, well I'll talk to you later Jim. Have a good afternoon. Tell Eleanor to get well soon. Alright, I will. Bye now," my mom set the phone down gently.

I frowned at her, "Why'd Hop call?"

"Eleanor has pneumonia! Isn't that strange?" She walked away shaking her head.

I tried to hide my grin, "Oh yea. Very strange."