WILDFIRE ↝ E. MUNSON

[33]

"I've got him," Lily said, encouragingly, and Nick nodded, pushing Eddie up until the gravity of the real world took over, sending him toppling into Lily's outstretched arms.

Lily did her best to catch him, though his weight sent both of them toppling down onto the mattresses, with her cushioning his fall as he lay sprawled against her. She managed to get out from underneath him, muttering apologies to his unconscious form, pulling him off the mattresses and laying him down on Wayne's fold out mattress to allow Nick and Dustin back out of the Upside Down, and she instantly ran back for the Mayfield house.

Lily stormed into the mobile home, moving everything she could off the counter in search of her mother's car keys, barely registering where Susan snored softly on the couch, blissfully unaware of the events her daughters were caught in the middle of that evening. She heard the slight jingle of the metal scraping across the tabletop as she moved their mail, grabbing them and racing back out the door to where the vehicle sat on the gravel driveway.

The engine roared to life, and Lily backed away from the mobile home, closing the distance between her own house and the Munsons' trailer. She brought the car to a stop, throwing the door open and jumping out to where Nick and Dustin had begun to carry Eddie, the younger boy's limp becoming more and more evident with each difficult step.

"Dustin, you get in the car," Lily said, grabbing Eddie's legs from him. "We can take him."

"Dustin, you take shotgun," Nick told the boy, struggling to keep her voice even. "I'll sit back with him. Lily, you drive like hell."

They managed to get Eddie into the backseat, his head resting in Nick's lap, and Lily took her spot back in the driver's seat, hardly waiting for Dustin to shut his door before she slammed on the gas. The engine roared angrily as they sped through the gravel paths of Forest Hills, but she continued to drive, moving onto the main road with her foot planted firmly on the pedal.

They were almost into town when the ground began to feel unsteady, and suddenly it lurched, sending the car spinning. Lily, Dustin, and Nick began to scream as the ground moved from under them, the car coming to a stop dangerously close to a tree, the earthquake rumbling and shaking below them.

"What the hell is going on?" Dustin screamed, and Lily took a deep breath, stepping on the gas again.

She knew she couldn't waste a single second, and she didn't intend to, even with the sinking feeling that something had gone very, very wrong with their friends. While, in the Upside Down they had been no stranger to earthquakes, it was no coincidence that one had managed to find its way up into the real world.

"Something's wrong." Lily said, driving slower than before to account for the moving ground, but still urging the car to push forward as they grew closer and closer to the hospital. In the rearview mirror, her eyes landed on Eddie, still laying limp against Nick. "How's he doing?"

"Hanging in there," Nick said simply as the ground stopped shaking, and Lily slammed on the brakes as they reached the ambulance entry door to the emergency room, throwing the car door open as people in scrubs began to pour out of the building towards the vehicle.

"Please help him," Lily pleaded as a gurney was brought out and the back door to the car was opened. "Please."

She watched helplessly as Eddie was lifted from Nick's arms and onto the gurney, before they rushed him inside, the doors closing behind them and shielding him from her view. Behind her, the sounds of sirens could be heard, along with cars honking as those injured in the earthquake were beginning to arrive.

"Please come with me," she could hear a nurse say, though through the ringing in her ears it sounded as if the woman was underwater, and the three of them followed her inside, Dustin limping behind them. The nurse led them over to a place where they could sit down, and returned with a clipboard and a pen. As she watched the three of them, recognition settled over her face as her eyes met Lily's. "You're Lily Mayfield, aren't you?" she asked, in a calm, reassuring voice.