PAINKILLERS || max mayfield (ON HOLD)

xviii - waiting

"𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆."

❁❁

AFTER A LONG 30 MINUTES in Mike's mom's car, the kids were now at the hospital where Mrs. Driscoll was staying. Nancy planned to sneak her out of the hospital, but Andy Harrington doubted it would work. And the last time she followed a Wheelers' plan someone almost died.

A curious look appeared on the front desk lady's face as they walked through the hospital doors. As they attempted to walk by her, she lowered the phone she was holding to her ear.

"Excuse me?" She yelled. "Where do you think you're going?"

Grumbling, they turned to her. "Oh, Uhm, I was just going to visit my grandma again. And this-this is my family." Nancy gestured to them and the woman looked convinced until she realized Lucas was with them.

"Extended." He smiled, reading the skeptical look on her face.

"I don't care who they are, you know the rules. Two visitors at a time." She snapped, clearly having dealt with this before many times.

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but-"

"Two." She sat down in her desk chair and put the phone back to her ear. "Girl, this child has lost her mind. She brought a whole zoo in here."

Jonathan and Nancy headed to the elevator while the rest of the kids sat in the waiting room. They knew they would be there for a while, so they used whatever entertainment they could to keep themselves busy. Max and El looked at the magazines and Andy found a chair by the window. 

She slid a Tears For Fears cassette tape into the Walkman Max gave her and placed the headphones over her ears. Andy watched with a smirk on her face as Lucas and Mike struck the vending machine, their eyes glued on a large orange KitKat that didn't seem to move no matter how hard they hit it. But with the nod of Els' head, the snacks fell into the bin and they grinned and collected every candy that they could fit in their pockets. Andy sighed and lowered her headphones when she saw a tall, freckle-faced boy walking toward her, Michael Wheeler.

He sat down in the chair next to her and held out a bag of Reese's Pieces. "Hey, Harrington." 

"Hi?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "So now you finally decide to talk to me?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Look, if you won't take the candy then-"

Andy quickly grabbed the Reese's Pieces from his hand and put them in her pocket. "No, no. I'll take it. But I was just wondering why you've been such an asshole these days." She shrugged. 

An annoyed sigh escaped from his lips. "Asshole how?"

"Well, for one, you've been ignoring El-"

"Hopper forced me." He shook his head in disbelief. "He said if I didn't, he wouldn't let me see her again. Clearly, I didn't have a choice."

"I don't see Hopper around now," Andy replied, giving him a firm punch in the arm. "So why don't you go talk to her while you have a chance?"

"What if she doesn't want to?" He rubbed the spot on his arm where she had hit him. "And do you really think Max will let me talk to her after what happened? She's like her bodyguard."

"Didn't you see what she did back there? That was it." She gestured to the big pile of candy by the vending machine. "She wouldn't have helped you if she didn't want to talk, Mike. So I'll tell you this. I'll distract Max and get you an opening. And then talk to her. Alright?" Andy smiled. Mike nodded and sighed, already preparing himself for rejection. He stood up from his seat as Andy gave him a pat on the back. An M&M packet in his hand, he walked over to El, hiding the nervous grin that dared to take over his face.

-

Andy and Max were looking through a magazine when they noticed Will staring up at the flickering lights of the hospital. As they stood from their seats, they knew it could only mean one thing. Every flayed was now activated.

With jagged breaths slipping from his lips, Will placed his hand over the goosebumps forming on his neck.

"He's here."