Smoke -- Jim Hopper

41. RETURN

Well, I'm out of school! Yay! also Im so sleep deprived so this may make no sense at all!!!

butttt the book is pretty much over till season 3 :(((((( (THERE WILL BE ANOTHER CHAPTER FOR SURE AFTER THIS ONE)

although, I am starting to write my Billy book! and there may be a side plot to this book too!!!

Not edited

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Natalie gasped as helped Will sit up in the small cot, and place her hand on his forehead.

It was cool.

It was done, and she smiled, tears spilling over her cheeks as she looked at the group around her, her family. Nancy and Jonathan hugged each other fiercely and Joyce cradled Will against her, sobbing with happiness.

Joyce released Will with a blinding grin and Will wrapped his weak arms around Natalie, "I'm sorry about the muffin, it made me send you away" he whispered in her ear.

Natalie shut her eyes and shook her head she pulled him close to her, "No need to apologize."

Will smiled at her and then looked down at her leg and his mouth dropped in worry, "Your leg!"

Natalie shook her head, "It's fine, you need to rest, okay?"

Will tore his eyes away from her bloody leg and laid back down on the cot and passed out. Natalie brushed some stray hairs into place and smiled down at him, feeling so happy despite the pain that coursed through her body.

"Natalie," Joyce said as she walked over to the younger girl, "Let's get you to Jim's room, you need to rest too, you've lost a lot of blood sweetie."

Natalie felt a wave of exhaustion hit her and she nodded sleepily, "okay, yeah," she muttered and started to stand up and then winced, "Jonathan, can you help me?"

Jonathan rushed over to her side an helped her stand and hobble over to Jim's room. Natalie sat down on the side of the bed and grabbed her bad leg and pulled it up onto the red plaid blanket that was covering Jim's bed. In the back of her mind, she decided that he really had bad taste in matching colors, considering his sheets were an army green. Jonathan and Joyce helped her get more comfortable on the bed and they stuck a pillow under her leg after she flipped over on to her stomach.

Natalie's eyes fluttered shut to the hushed whispered of Jonathan and Joyce saying something about the stitches on her leg being ripped, but she was too tired to even care. Soon she was in a deep sleep.

----JIM'S POV----

Jim quickly grabbed El just before her limp body hit the bottom of the elevator. He was so proud of her for shutting the gate, and pretty shocked too. He had no idea she was that powerful. He pressed the button on the side of the elevator as tucked some of El's hair behind her ear as they rose to the lab.

After a short while, they arrived at the lab and Jim readjusted El in his arms, and then Natalie came to his mind, and her leg. Panic bloomed in his chest and he quickly rushed through the building, but still decided to give a demo-dog that had a broomstick sticking out of its mouth.

Jim made it out of the lab and unlocked his car and placed El in the passenger seat. He quickly buckled her in and then raced around to the driver's side and started the car. His foot pressed down on the gas and the engine roared as he made his way down the road. Nervous fingers drummed on the steering wheel as he sped down main street and he turned on his lights just for good measure, even though no one was out.

Soon, he was pulling up to his cabin and he grabbed El and jogged into his house. Joyce ran up to him with a wide smile, "She did it!" she exclaimed.

Jim looked down at El proudly, "she did," he said and then set her down on the couch and looked at the group in front of him, "How's Nat?"

"She's sleeping in your room," Nancy said, "but, her stitches broke, I tried to use some bandages to try and reduce the blood loss."

Jim ran a hand through his hair and nodded, "Okay, I'm going to take her to the hospital, let El know when she wakes up."

Joyce nodded as she placed a blanket on top of El and returned to her conversation with Jonathan and Nancy.

Jim rushed down the hallway and opened his door to she Natalie sprawled out on his bed. His heart broke when he saw how pale she was. He approached her and kneeled down next to her and placed his hand on her cheek, the pad of his thumb running over her cheekbone. She let out a small sigh and her eyes fluttered open revealing her bright green eyes that he loved.

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"Jim?" Natalie said quietly as her eyes focused on his face that was covered in dirt and sweat, "you look terrible," she whispered as a wave of nausea hit her.

Jim chuckled, "Thanks," he then ran his hand through her hair which caused her to smile and shut her eyes again.

"I have to take you to the hospital, Nat, okay?" Jim told her as he tried to gently pull her into his arms, "let me know if I'm hurting you."

She nodded, feeling her self start to slip back into unconsciousness again, but she tried to fight it. Once she was in Jim's arms she gripped his shirt tightly and pressed her face into his chest.

"Are you okay?" Jim asked as he looked down at her.

She nodded, "Yeah, just hurry."

Jim nodded and rushed through the house and placed Natalie in the back seat of his car. His eyebrows were furrowed with concern when she looked up at him and smiled weakly.

Throughout the entire ride, Natalie was in and out of consciousness, and she had broken out into a light sweat as the pain in her leg increased.

Next time she woke up she was in a hospital bed with her leg bound in thick gauze and an IV stuck in her arm. Natalie let out a groan and pressed her lips together, "Jim?" she croaked.

A hand that she didn't realize was holding her own squeezed her lightly and she looked up to see him standing over her with a small smile.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" he asked softly.

She returned the smile, "Better," she then sat up a little in the bed, "When can we leave?"

Jim's smile faltered "They want to keep you here a while, make sure you don't have an infection or any side effects from the demodog."

Natalie sighed, "That makes sense, and Jim, why don't you go home and rest? You need it."

Jim shook his head, "No, I'm not going to leave you, Nat."

She smiled softly at him, "I'm not going to go anywhere, J. You need the rest and shower. I'll be fine, I promise."

Jim's shoulders sagged in defeat, "fine, but I'll be back before you know it." he said and leaned down to kiss her gently.

Natalie placed her hand on his cheek and smiled into the kiss before breaking apart, "Good, now please go shower, you smell like a demodog."

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Don't worry theres another chapter with the Snowball dance thing! Then thats the end haha