Merry Christmas all!!

Enjoy~

(y/n)'s POV

I was sat beside Will, holding El's hand. I was contemplating how conflict and chaos in our lives seemed to give me a little bit of purpose. When things were getting crazy, it was somehow easier to be in the know. Now that people were settled and getting more comfortable, I only felt in control when we were doing something like this--trying to wake Max up. Conflict brought our group together and that was why being in California had been so alienating for my family.

My nose dripped and I used my free hand to wipe it with a bloodied tissue. Looking at Max, I thought about how things would slow to a stop after she woke. Obviously, things would have to change to accomodate her, but the ways in which the Upside Down had driven our lives...I would be left with nothing to do. It wasn't like I wanted to be in danger, that was crazy.

I just didn't know what to do.

Max looked better actually. She obviously didn't look well, but each time that El sat by her side Max seemed to gain more color to her skin. The blackened veins under her eyes were almost gone and her face was fresher, ready for more freckles to appear from the Summer sun. Her mother came and went from the hospital as much as possible. It seemed like her mother was trying really hard to get back into a job to support Max. We had discussed it and my mother was absolutely fine with Max staying in our home whenever she needed to. El could look after her, accompany her to school, we would feed her and Jonathan or I could drive her. Her mother was grateful, so she could work and not worry so much about Max.

We just had to wait for Max to wake up.

Or wait for El to find the right way to wake her up.

El squeezed my hand, as she had done frequently this morning. She let go when Hopper placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her for the morning. El let out a dejected sigh and I reached over to take a tissue and hand it to her. She placed it under her nose with a frown. Will shuddered and stood, using the chair to help himself up. My legs always hurt after this, like I had just done a thorough work out. I tended to feel more irritable too. I helped myself up, El patting down Max's hair like she always did.

Will took my arm, walking with me towards the door.

"Wait!"

Will and I looked back, Hopper near the door pausing too. He always supervised these mornings. Lucas, who was practically withering away in the chair beside her bed stood up quicker than I ever expected. Will let go of me and I approached behind El, glancing over her. Max's eyes were open, not looking anywhere in particular. I glanced back to the boys, who moved in like I had.

"Max?"

Max's greying irises shifted towards the sound, eyelids shaky and fluttering. Max didn't exactly look towards any of us, eyes just pointed in our direction.

"El?" she asked, recognizing the voice. Max's voice was hoarse and extremely quiet.

"Max! It's me," she said, breath heavy. El's face was so relieved and she immediately began to cry.

"Max, I'm here too," Lucas said, taking her hand. I watched Max's face tense slightly before her eyes shifted the other direction. I was so relieved that she was actually awake this time, but again noticed she wasn't really looking at Lucas.

"Lucas."

"Max, this is (y/n). Can you see sweetie?" I questioned. Her eyes fluttered around, pausing.

"...no," she replied. Hopper was already calling the nurse to the room. El looked to me, confused and not knowing what to do. Max just laid with one hand in Lucas' hands and the other in El's.

"Okay, you're in the hospital after Vecna," I said. "We're getting a nurse now."

~~~

I had left El and Will in the hospital with Max. They took off school today, considering what had happened. Education could wait for today. Hopper stayed with them and my mother would be there when I returned that afternoon. I had made my way to Family Video to work and let both Robin and Steve know what was going on.

We were all sat placing labels on VHS tape cases, a massive shipment having come in this morning. I had a killer headache after waking Max, which seemed relatively expected. I was grateful to be sitting as well, knowing that I was exhausted. We had been in the hospital much longer than expected obviously, so I hadn't remembered to pack myself a lunch for work. It was fine, I could just find something or power through.

"I can't believe she's actually awake," Robin breathed. Sometimes, I forgot how Robin was not used to El's powers. She hadn't really been in contact with the sheer power of it, so it must seem strange to work out how El had woken Max from her coma.

"I'm so relieved," Steve stated. Max's letter to me was still sitting on my desk, which Steve had given to me. His was still sealed too. I was relieved that I didn't have to open it up either. "What's going to happen now?"

"Well, her mom is working really hard. So when she's discharged from the hospital, she can come stay nights with us if her mother is working. Jonathan or I will drive her to school. El can make life easier for her, you know moving stuff around and such."

"What about her legs?" Robin asked.

"Well, the nurses looked at her briefly and they're speculating that she'll be in a wheelchair for a while," I stated. "Then she could move to crutches if that goes well."

"Oh man."

"Obviously, that's difficult for her single mother. So El is going to work on getting Max in and out of cars and where she needs to go. Since El can move her," I stated. "I mean, I could do it but El is taking it upon herself to be by Max's side."

"Hey, I can always take El and Max places too. I already drive Rob to school," Steve said.

"That would be great! We'll figure things out. She's in good hands, that's nice," I said, placing another label down. I finished my stack, getting up off my stool. I stopped, wobbling slightly.

"I'll get it," Steve said, picking up the stack of tapes and bringing them to the cart we had.

"...Thanks," I said, collapsing back down. I was feeling relatively weak.

"So what about her vision too?" Robin asked, Steve returning back around the counter.

"She said she couldn't see when I asked, so doctors are going to look at them. For now, I don't think Max can see at all," I stated. "If they could do anything, she's still going to be partially blind."

"Oh man."

"It's going to be tough," I stated, frowning. We finished up the rest of our shifts, Robin and Steve electing to come to the hospital as well. When we got there, everyone was in the room. Max was propped up a little more, empty food containers on the table beside her bed.

It had been crazy chaotic this morning, with the doctors and nurses coming in and out. I would've thought that with everyone in the room that it would've felt cramped and even more haphazard. However, it seemed like the doctors had taken a pause. To distract Max from everything that was going on, Lucas was reading a book out loud. El sat with her head resting against the pillow beside Max's. It was really peaceful actually.

"Steve and Robin are here with (y/n)," Lucas said, pausing his story. Max turned her head just slightly, Steve approaching first. He leaned down and greeted her, placing a hand on her arm. Robin and Steve ended up sitting down next to Dustin. Steve pat Dustin on the back a couple times before sitting back. My mother watched the door, stood beside Hopper. Lucas just resumed his story. I realized that Mike and Will weren't in the room right now. I approached Jonathan and Nancy.

"Where are Mike and Will?"

"They left a little while ago, I was going to check on them soon," Jonathan stated. "Mom's stressing over it."

"I'll do it," I reassured, slipping from the room. I glanced down the hall, taking a left. I didn't know if that was where they were, but my intuition lured me to the left. I found an area with seating and reading material. We were in a wing of the hospital for the long-term patients, so it was a little more like a care facility. Mike and Will just so happened to be standing there. Will looked tense and defensive, which made me more alert.

"Can't it wait?!" Will asked, his voice in a loud whisper. "Max just woke up, I don't have time to talk about anything! Why are you trying to start something with me?"

"I'm not!"

"You are! Whatever you want to talk about can wait Mike. You're being ridiculous," Will said, turning away quickly and headed towards where I was approaching. He looked furious.

"Hey, hey, what's going on?"

"Leave me alone!" Will snapped. "I have a headache and I don't want to talk right now."

Will even went so far as to hit my shoulder with his as he passed. I turned to watch him storm past me, his fists curled up.

"Will!" I called, half scolding for treating me so rudely. I was irritable too. I had a headache too. What was his issue?

"Leave me alone!" he stated again, heading back for the room. I watched him leave before looking to Mike, a look of shock on both of our faces.

"I was just...going to talk to him about..." Mike trailed off. It was obvious that Mike struggled to read certain situations and I knew he was planning on talking to Will about repairing their friendship. Possibly more depending where the conversation went and what things Mike would realize. This wasn't the time and Mike had probably said things to make Will heated, especially in this situation.

"I know. Not the best time, unfortunately," I said. He just nodded. I feared that this would deter them talking, unless I talked to Will. For now, that would have to wait.

The strange thing was that Will never fought with me like that. Even when he was not feeling well or upset, he never tended to extend that anger to me. I was one of those people that really understood him. It greatly worried me that we both had headaches now. I wondered if that was why he was acting so angry.

I escorted Mike back to the room to hear the last of Lucas' story. Her mother came in, the only one allowed to stay for the night. It was good that Max at least had someone to be with her. Spending a night alone in the hospital would've been awful. I ended up driving Lucas and Dustin home. Will, El, and Jonathan rode with Hopper and my mother, Nancy took Mike home, and Steve headed off with Robin. I was more than willing to take the boys home, getting a chance to drive home all alone after I dropped them off.

I ended up heading inside and upstairs immediately, completely exhausted. Will had shut himself in his room and Jonathan was downstairs talking with my parents. El was also in her room, but her door was a few inches open. She was fast asleep already. I collapsed at my desk, recognizing that I had let my room get a little messy. There were a couple things out and I grabbed a shirt off the ground, tossing it in my hamper. There was a knock and I glanced up, looking towards the window now.

Eddie was crouched there and waved.

I pulled up the window, exasperated. I was not in shape to talk to Eddie right now, but I couldn't just send him away. This was the second time he had come in through my window.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, stepping back as he crawled in. I shut the window when he planted his feet in the ground, turning around to face me.

"I was at Gareth's," he shrugged. I sighed and sat down on my bed. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing."

"Clearly not, by the highly audible sigh that just came out of your mouth," he said. "Mind if I--"

He didn't finish his sentence or get an answer before he sat next to me at the edge of my bed. He looked to me with a boyish smile, tilting his head to the side. Eddie didn't seem to get that I was not feeling well, he thought my mood was fixable with a smile.

"Tell me what's wrong," he said, tapping my nose. I pulled my head back away from him, scowling. He just raised an eyebrow at me.

"Do I need to call Argyle to give you a ride?" I asked.

"No, not until you spill," he stated.

"I don't want to talk with you right now," I said.

"It'll make you feel better."

"No it won't."

"I'm an expert at turning frowns upside down, so--"

"Eddie get out!" I snapped. "Can't you figure that I don't have the energy to deal with you?!"

I looked to Eddie, seeing that he was slightly taken aback. My throat closed up almost immediately, my head still throbbing. I felt better now that I had a little outburst, but it was overpowered with the guilt I felt for being so crabby to Eddie. His expression lost its playfulness, realizing that I was really serious. It upset me to see the visible consequences of my snap back.

"I'm...sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't meant to get so angry."

Something was happening to me. And Will.

"Sorry," I said again, placing a hand on the side of my face. My skin was flushed and my nose started to sting. Eddie recognized almost immediately the regret I was feeling and tilted his head again to look at my face.

"It's alright. What's wrong?"

"Sorry, I just have a headache and I think I'm feeling sick from this morning," I said.

"Henderson told me your sister woke Red up," Eddie stated.

"Yeah," I confirmed, letting out a stressed breath.

"I understand. I didn't mean to stress you out," he said. I just shook my head, trying to express that he was fine. "You do...look sick. You need a nap or food?"

"Oh..." I recognized that I had gone from work with no food to the hospital and still hadn't eaten yet today. My stomach felt empty, like it would whine on cue. "I forgot to pack a lunch. I haven't eaten yet today."

"That's probably why," Eddie stated, looking at me with great concern. I nodded in agreement. He got up from beside me on the bed and I quickly grasped his wrist, stopping him.

"I appreciate you going to get me something, but you came in through the window," I pointed out.

He stopped then and I went to get myself something for dinner. I grabbed a sandwich and aspirin, returning to my room. I sat myself back down next to Eddie, handing him a drink that I had brought with me. He accepted it and I sat, eating my sandwich. Eddie didn't say anything, knowing I just needed to eat in peace. He just looked around my room, as he frequently did. He didn't smell like weed, so I wondered why he was at Gareth's.

"Why were you at Gareth's?" I asked, finishing up my food finally.

"Oh, I got the okay to start playing for a little," he stated. "So we had practice."

"That's great."

"Yeah, you'll have to come watch soon," he said. I glanced to his torso for a moment before turning away. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah."

"Gotta watch out for yourself," he stated. I hummed in response.

"I...really am sorry."

"It's seriously alright."

We sat side by side for a moment, both staring ahead of ourselves. My exhale was drawn out, trying to relax myself. I hesitantly leaned my head over, placing it on the denim material covering Eddie's shoulder. I let more weight of my head rest, feeling his hair on the top of my head. He was still for a moment before his shoulder shifted slightly, arm moving from between us to behind me. His fingers wrapped around my outer hip, pulling me up against him so our sides were pressed together. I adjusted my head, my hands in my lap.

Eddie was warm and I could feel the edges of his torso move as he breathed. The pads of his fingers pressed firmly into my hip and the way that Eddie was sitting basically allowed for him to hold me up so I didn't have to. It was comfortable and I felt the irritability leave my body, weighing into him. I didn't worry about Will and Mike right now or what was happening to me. I didn't over worry about Max or the state of our group. It was fine to just let those things wait. I felt too tired to really stay awake, Eddie holding me firmly.

He didn't say anything.

~Caly