The Long Game━ (l. sinclair)

why would you push a sweet girl so far

El asked, "How do we find it?"

Corey straightened up, eyes wide with a genuine thought.

"Mrs. Driscoll," Corey spoke up. "If she wants to go back so badly, why don't we let her?"

Max (and everyone) stared at him, eyes wide. "Wow, Gray," she mused. "I think that's the first time you've had a good idea."

Nancy and Jonathan locked gazes before finally deciding.

"Let's go."

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By the time they reached the hospital where Mrs. Driscoll resided, it was properly night now, and the summer sun was no longer shining brightly over Hawkins.

Sam didn't really know how Nancy planned to smuggle Mrs. Driscoll out of the hospital, unseen by other doctors, but she was trusting the process. All of Sam, Lucas, Max, Corey, El, Mike, Nancy, Will, and Jonathan rushed through the automatic sliding doors.

"That is not mean," the receptionist spoke on the phone, presumably gossiping with a friend on the other line. "That is honest. She won't find out."

Since the receptionist seemed distracted, the nine teenagers tried sneaking past her and straight to Mrs. Driscoll's room. The key word there was tried.

"See, you're the only one who gon' tell me — Woah, woah, woah! Excuse me!" The receptionist held a hand out for the kids to stop walking. They all deflated in defeat. "Where do you think you're going?"

Nancy turned to face the lady, putting on a forced easy-going look. "Oh, um... I was just going to visit my grandma again," she excused. Nancy nodded to the eight teenagers accompanying her. "And — And this... this is my family."

They all waved, painting innocent smiles on their faces. The receptionist, in turn, stared at Lucas with a disbelieving, unconvinced look.

"Extended," Lucas grinned back, like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"I don't care who they are," the lady snapped at Nancy. "You know the rules. Two visitors at a time."

Nancy tried, "Yeah, but—"

"Two!" interrupted the receptionist, with a tone that told Sam she didn't get paid enough to deal with this shit. She huffed, going back to speaking with her friend on the phone. "Girl, this child has lost her mind. She brought a whole zoo in here."

Needless to say, only Nancy and Jonathan would be going to Mrs. Driscoll.

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Sam, Lucas, Max, Corey, El, Mike, and Will were all finding their own ways to combat time while Nancy and Jonathan dealt with Mrs. Driscoll. For Mike and Lucas, that meant attacking the poor vending machine that got suck whilst distributing their snacks; for Corey, that meant sitting on the waiting chair and making fun of them from a distance; for Max, Will, and El, that meant going through magazines while the girls gave Will style advice since "the short shorts really aren't doing it for you."

For Sam, of course, that meant befriending the receptionist because she couldn't restrain herself from hearing all the gossip. Her name was Chantell and Sam was actually having a great time talking with her.

"And then she told me that I needed to 'calm down,'" exclaimed Chantell.

Sam gasped, an incredulous look on her face. "No way!"