DOCTOR VISIT
panic attacks at night were a normal for el but this was nothing near normal.
this was her 6th panic attack of the night and it was now 4am. joyce had just woken up about a half hour ago after hearing el's small sobs from her room and el still couldn't calm down.
will woke up about 15 minutes ago too after hearing the both of them but nothing was helping el calm down right now.
and whilst wills was focusing on trying to help el bandage the new cuts on her wrist, joyce focused on helping el to breathe properly.
her face was tinted strawberry red and her small hands were brought up to her hair as a coping mechanism that she developed over the years.
"in and out, el." joyce tells her as el trembles in fear, "i-i can't. h-help me s-stop shaking, i-i can't s-stop a-shaking."
will gives joyce a nod, signalling that her wrist was already bandaged properly.
joyce then moves to the bed and pulls el closer to her. she holds both of her hands close to stop her from shaking.
"it's alright, everything is alright. you're safe here." joyce whispers.
"i-it's all m-my fault. m-my fault." she sobs.
"el, it wasn't your fault." will states.
"he's r-right. i'm b-broken, i can't be f-fixed. i s-should do everyone a-a favour." she whispers.
"who's right? who the fuck said that!?" will starts to grow angry as she shakes her head.
"i-i wanna puke." she breathes heavily, "h-help me p-please." she lets out a chocked cough.
"it's okay, you're just nauseous. they're symptoms the doctor mentioned." joyce says softly.
"n-no, i n-need to puke. it's all t-too much." she cries, attempting to stand up as they both help her.
she continues to shake as they both hold onto her so she wouldn't fall. finally she made it to her connected bathroom and she falls to the ground and pukes in the toilet.
there wasn't much to puke anyways considering she didn't eat much today anyways.
"t-they never m-mentioned this." she sighs.
will gives joyce a look as she nods, "i think we need to go back to the doctors, el. the medication is definitely not helping you, we need to get you a higher dose."
"and what? it won't help me... it won't fucking help me." she sobs.
joyce gives will a look and a small signal for him to go back to bed as will nods.
once he left, joyce helped el off the floor and flushed the toilet as she leads her to the sink to freshen up.
"here sweetie, to wash your mouth." joyce hands her a glass of water as she shakily grabs it.
she washes her mouth with the water and puts the cup down with a sigh.
"better? can you breathe now?" joyce asks as el nods, "still h-hurts though." she points to her chest.
"the chest pains will pass." joyce reassures her.
el nods and hugs her, "make it stop. it won't stop."
joyce just sighs against her, "i'll take you to the doctors, we'll figure this out."
"please. please, i can't take this anymore." she sobs into her chest.
"i can't take it anymore."
//
"mom texted saying she made an appointment for you after school which is like right now." will says as he holds onto el.
she nods tiredly, leaning against his shoulder for extra support since she got no sleep at all and she was completely drained from all her attacks.
"woah woah." he holds onto her tighter as they walk down the halls. "look, you need to stay awake for me because even if you weigh like 115 pounds, i can't carry you to the car."
"i weigh 90 pounds." she corrects him in a small breath.
"even worse but come on. we can even get food on the-"
"i don't want food. just thinking about it makes me want to throw up." she whispers.
"that's not good." he says.
"why else am i going to see a doctor?" she asks quietly as they walk out of the school.
"you really should have stayed home." he says. "first time in high school and i can't miss the second day." she murmurs.
he opens the car door for her, "you feel like a fucking feather, you really needed sleep." he helps her into the car.
she nods, closing her eyes as joyce helps put her seatbelt on.
he shuts the door for her and then starts to walk to the back.
"yo, will!" someone shouts as he turns around right before he opens the door.
"what do you want, mike?" he asks.
"party wants to hang. you free?" mike asks.
"i have to take el to the doctors." he says.
mike nods, "what's up with her?" he asks, signalling to the brunette who was clearly asleep and leaning against the car window.
"what do you think?" will scoffs, opening the door, "it was you wasn't it? calling her broken and unfixable?"
"yeah and?"
he slams the door shut, "you know what, fuck you mike. you keep bringing her down and for what!? for what!? you out of all people should know what it's like to be talked to like this!"
"i'm talking from experience. we're both broken and unfixable."
"just because you are doesn't mean she is too! don't you ever dare to speak to her like that again." he points a finger at him.
"dude, calm down-"
"no, don't tell me to calm down! you've changed, i don't even know who you are!" he yells at him.
mike stays silent.
"don't ever talk to my sister unless you have something nice to say." he scoffs, opening the car door and gets into the car.
"you alright?" joyce asks as she starts the car.
"no. mike's an asshole." he rolls his eyes.
"mike is just mike." she says softly.
"well i don't care. that's not an excuse to be an asshole towards others he barely knows." he says. "where are we going anyways?"
"the hospital. the doctor back in chicago suggested this doctor, he can help with all of el's disorders at the same time so we don't need to see separate ones." she explains.
"but wouldn't that cost a lot?" he asks.
"money doesn't matter as long as el is fine." she says as he nods.
"so did she have any attacks today? any triggers of sorts?" she asks.
"not that i know of, no. she was just really tired, i saw her fall asleep in class." he says.
"okay that's good. did she eat lunch?"
"no. she hid in the library again but i went with her."
"alright." she nods as he leans against the window himself.
about a good 15 minutes later they arrive at the hospital and joyce parks the car in the parking lot.
"should we wake her?" will asks, pointing to el as joyce shakes her head whilst getting out of the car.
joyce opens the door on el's side and carries her out of the car.
"do you want to eat out tonight?" joyce asks as will shrugs, "i don't mind."
"then let's leave it up to el later, how does that sound?" she asks as he nods with a small smile.
"which floor are we going to?" he asks as they walk into the hospital.
"thirteen." she answers, pressing the elevator.
"we're going to psych?" he asks as they walk into the elevator. she nods, "she is a psych case in a way."
"that doesn't sound good."
"i know, i don't mean it that way but they'll never let her see a normal doctor." she explains.
"yeah but she isn't some sick case." he mumbles as she nods.
"of course." she smiles as they reach their floor.
they both walk to the reception, "hi, i have a appointment with dr miller." joyce says to the nurse.
"for?"
"el hopper." she answers.
"dr miller is ready for you." the nurse answers, standing up and guiding them to her room.
the nurse knocks on the door, "your 4:30 appointment, dr miller."
she looks up with a smile as both joyce and will walks in whilst the nurse closes the door.
joyce then slowly wakes el up as she stirs, "i'm sleeping."
"we're at the doctors already. come on." joyce says softly as el opens her eyes.
joyce places el back down on the ground. she looks towards will then the doctor and gives her a small wave.
"hi el." the doctor smiles, "you guys can take a seat."
they nod and sit down on the chairs but el decides to lay down on the small sofa in the room.
"so what seems to be the problem?" dr miller asks el as she shrugs.
"she's been experiencing more attacks lately and last night she had about 7 or so. she even vomited which was a new symptom for her." joyce starts to explain.
"well vomiting is not a common symptom but considering you experienced so much attacks, it was normal. what we can do is upper your dose on your lexapros to try to help." dr miller explains.
"okay and what about her meal plans?" joyce continues to ask.
"there's not much we can change about it. all i can say is follow it because you won't get better if you don't." dr miller says. "have you been sleeping, el?"
el shakes her hand as a sometimes.
"well i can provide sleeping pills if you like but only take them when you actually can't sleep." dr miller says as she nods.
"that's about it then. if you have any more problems just come back." dr miller smiles, "want a lollipop?" she shows el the tin can that was full of small lollies.
el nods rapidly and stands up to go pick one, "can i pick two?" she asks quietly.
"of course." dr miller smiles as el grabs two different flavours. she then grabs another one and turns around to hand it to will.
he smiles and grabs it as she gives him a smile back.
"you can grab your medication at the counter outside." dr miller says as they nod.
joyce stands up, "thank you dr miller, come on guys, let's go."
el and will both gives dr miller a small wave before opening the packet to their lollipop.
"what should we eat tonight? your pick." will says, turning to el as she hums, "i don't mind."
"you wanna eat out or buy takeout?" he asks.
"takeout sounds good. we can wear comfy clothes and eat on the couch. can we have a movie night?" she asks, turning her head to look at joyce.
"of course!" joyce smiles widely, "let's get thai food, how does that sound?"
"great." will smiles.
"go sit down whilst i go get your medicine." joyce says as they both nod whilst going to sit down on the chairs.
el kicks her legs playfully as she licks on her lollipop, "why aren't you hanging with your friends?"
"because i'd rather spend my time here with you and make sure you're okay." he says.
"how cute but seriously, why? you were so excited to come back to hawkins to see your friends. you shouldn't be hanging with your lame stepsister." she says.
"well i'd rather hang with my lame stepsister then some asshole." he grumbles.
"you shouldn't fight with your childhood best friend because of me. i've heard your stories about you guys, i don't want to get in the way of your friendship." she says sadly.
"he had no right to speak to you that way."
"it's how life is. i don't blame him for being an ass."
"i do." he protests.
"you said he didn't mean it, just don't ruin such a long relationship because of me. it's not worth it." she says.
"but he can't talk to you like that-"
"he's just saying what he thinks." she cuts him off, "i'm fine with it, really."
"but you-"
"will. it's fine. all i'm saying is don't ruin a decade long friendship because of me." she says, "joyce is done, let's go."
"can we go to the candy store later?" el asks, leaning against joyce as she finishes her lollipop.
"sure. let's go to the mall. we could all use some new clothes." joyce suggests as they both nod.
//
"well that movie sucked." will says, standing up.
"no, it was good, what are you talking about?" el asks, "i bet you only chose it because you wanted to see that hot military dude." he says.
"i did not! i like talking robots and besides, bumblebee is so cute." she says, laying down on the floor as he rolls his eyes, grabbing her plate.
"totally." he hums, walking off to the kitchen.
"it's the truth!" she shouts after him.
"totally!" he shouts back as she giggles quietly. "i'm gonna go get ready for bed." she tells joyce as she nods.
"okay. sleep well." joyce gives her a smile.
"i'll try." el nods, standing up and giving her a quick hug, "NIGHT WILL!" she shouts loudly as she walks to the stairs.
"NIGHT!" he shouts back as she runs up the stairs and to her room.
she walks to her bathroom and quickly takes her hair tie out to let down her hair. turning on the tap, she washes her face and brushes her teeth at the same time so she doesn't waste time.
after she was done with her nighttime routine she walked back to her room and switched her lights to her led lights instead.
"psst! el!" will whisper shouts, opening her door.
"will?" she asks as he opens the door wider, "let's have a sleepover." he suggests.
she smiles instantly and nods, "let me get changed first."
he nods and shuts the door as she walks to her closet to get changed into her oversized t-shirt.
"come in." she says, opening the door as wills walks in with his pillows and blankets.
he drops down to the ground with a loud thud as she holds back a laugh, "shh! we're gonna wake up joyce."
"sorry! what should we do tonight?" he asks, setting up his little area as she lays down on her bed.
"let's talk. we never actually just do that." she says as he hums.
"what should we talk about?" he asks as she switches the colours of her lights with her powers, "anything you want. tell me about you as a baby, what's it like to be normal?"
"i was anything but normal as a child. i would mess up the bathroom, paint the walls and i was just a really naughty child." he says as she laughs, "joyce must have been really mad."
"she was." he chuckles, "but that's a childhood, you know?"
"i don't."
"you're blunt." he says, "well you know i never had a childhood. i was locked up my whole life." she says.
"what did you do in the lab? clearly there wasn't netflix in there." he says.
"i had mr lion with me." she shows him the stuffed toy, "and of course i drew."
"that's sad..."
"yeah. i talked to plants, i miss my little cactus." she says honestly as he hums, "get a new one."
"it wouldn't be the same, will." she says, "my cactus had a name. i called her lulu."
"well did she talk back?"
"in my mind." she giggles, "she and mr lion were my best friend."
"how come your cactus had a name but your lion was just called mr lion?" he asks.
"because i was a baby." she rolls her eyes playfully.
"so you named it mr lion?"
"yeah duh!" she laughs as he does the same.
"at least you don't have any stuff toys named like that now." he says.
"yeah yeah."
"if i hang with my friends tomorrow, you're gonna come with me." he says as she sits up quickly, "no."
"you said you wanted me to hang with them and don't ruin my friendships so if i'm doing that, you have to come with me." he says with a shrug.
"then ruin your friendships." she lays back down.
"el, come on. i mean, you said you liked dustin. you can just talk to dustin." he says.
"i did talk to dustin. he gave me snacks." she tells him.
"yes i know, he told me."
"he's nice. if only all your friends were like that..."
"so this is about mike? if you come with me tomorrow, i'll make sure he doesn't say anything." he says.
"you can't just stop him from talking." she chuckles.
"but i can. just come hang with us, if you don't feel good then we can leave. i promise you." he sits up and holds his pinky out.
she hooks it with hers, "fine."
"good. now goodnight, change the colours of the lights." he says, laying back down.
"what colour?"
"let's do purple." he suggests as she changes the colour, "better?"
"very. night night."
"night will."