Together Again

Chapter 5 - Hunt or be Hunted (part 5)

  The teens stood in the parking lot of the hospital as they watched Hopper and Joyce drive away.

  Eleven frowned at them. Why would Joyce want to go with Hopper? She was really starting to get on El's nerves.

  Steve went inside the building to try and get the hospital to send an ambulance to Dustin's house. He walked in through the doors and saw the receptionist at the front desk. "Excuse me, I need an ambulance."

  The receptionist looked up. "Your at the hospital already, you don't need one." She shot back. Whoa! She was grouchy. Her voice was raspy, as if she had been smoking for most of her life.

  "Its not for me. I need one sent somewhere."

  The lady held up a hand, scowling. She reached for the phone on her desk like a sloth. One by one, she pressed the buttons of a phone number. She began talking to someone. She told him to have a seat and wait. Ugh! They didn't have time for this b*******! About 2 minutes later, another lady came and stood by him.

  "You need an ambulance?" She asked, sounding much nicer than the receptionist.

  "Yes, I need one sent to a house."

  "And so why didn't you just bring the patient here with you when you came."

  "It's a long story that we don't have time for, let's get a move on!"

  "Can you tell us what's wrong with the patient?"

  "We don't entirely know, but we have reason to believe that he will be falling ill shortly."

  "So he is not already ill?" Oh no! Steve thought, this is not the way this conversation is supposed to be going.

  "Well, not exactly, last we heard he was throwing up."

  "It's called the flu." She whispered sarcastically. "Children get it all the time. We cannot send the ambulance on a call unless we know the person needs it. We only have one ambulance in Hawkins, and we need it in case of a real emergency." Well s***. Steve tried to argue the case further, but she wasn't buying it.

Eventually he gave up and ran outside. He yelled at everyone to get in the car on his way out the door. The kids all climbed into the back and sat the same way as before, Max, then Lucas, then Will, then El on Mikes knee. This time, Jonathan had the keys, so Steve had to climb in the passenger seat.

  Nancy waited and held the door opened Steve ran over to the car. He jumped in onto the seat. Nancy tried to sit beside him, but once again, it didn't work. "Just get in!" Steve instructed as he lifted her onto his knee. It startled Nancy, this had been weird, with both Jonathan and Steve.

  The door slammed as Jonathan backed out of the parking space, and headed towards the gate. "Where am I going?" He shouted at Steve."

  Steve yelled back to go to Dustin's. Jonathan turned onto the main highway and drove in the direction of Dustin's house. About a mile down the road Steve spoke up. "You drive like an old lady! We're in a hurry here!" Steve was extremely concerned about his little buddy.

  Nancy took it into her hands. "Okay, everybody calm down. We're already breaking one law with this many people in the car, we don't need to speed there as well, remember, this isn't even his car."

  They continued to stay squished in the car until they finally turned onto Dustin's driveway. Lucas and Max hopped out to go inside. They could get out the easiest. The rest of them waited there in anticipation. Mike and El held hands. Whenever Mike got nervous he would just squeeze her hand. Then she would squeeze back, letting him know that she was there. It was so comforting to him, just knowing that she was there with him through thick and thin. He couldn't believe he'd almost lost her earlier. I'm an idiot, he thought. Beside them sat Will. He kept clenching and unclenching his fists, a habit he had picked up from his mom.

  Steve sat up front, worried as hell. Dustin was one of his closest buddies, even though he was a few years younger. Steve felt that it was his job to protect him.

  Suddenly Max and Lucas came running back out, with no Dustin. Max held up her hands as if to say 'I don't know!' They both looked worried sick. Steve clued in to what was happening. He shoved open the door and Nancy scurried off his knee. He raced inside the house, flinging the partially closed door out of his way. It slammed into the wall behind it, leaving a dent, but he didn't notice. He ran into the living room. "Dustin!?!?" He asked.

  Next he ran into the kitchen. "Dustin?!?" This time he yelled. Where could that kid have gone, Lucas said that he went home sick, that his mom came and got him. Why wasn't he here?

  He ran throughout the rest of the house. The hallway. The bathroom. His room. His mothers room. He even looked outside, and in the cellar. All the time he wailed "Dustin!?!?" But Dustin was no where to be found.

~End of Chapter 5~