CARLA IS AWOKEN BY A REPETITIVE BEEPING.
Her eyes flutter open, capturing the bright white room shes in. Her ears are filled with continuous beeps and sounds of machines, and her body is filled with pain. It's not a terrible pain, but it isn't anything she'd like to have.
The sudden pain seems to recall some of Carla's memories of the previous night. Leaving the school with Jonathan and Nancy, setting up to fight the monster, Steve showing up, getting attacked, Steve saving her—
"Oh my God, Carla!"
The Wheeler girl slightly jumps at the voice, eyes meeting the figure of Karen Wheeler sitting at her bedside. The woman looks tired—she has no makeup on, and she's wearing her pajamas—yet utterly awake at the same time. "Baby, are you okay? God, I can't believe you're awake."
"What happened?" Carla asked. Of course she knew what had happened—she'd been attacked by the creature—but she wasn't quite sure how she ended up in a sterile hospital room with wraps around her arms. She doesn't remember anything after getting into Jonathan's car.
Karen gives a sympathetic look to her daughter, "They called me late at night to tell me you'd been admitted in—your wrists were all slit, one of them was broken, you'd lost a ton of blood....." she trails off, as if she doesn't want to remember the sight, "Honey, you scared me so bad.....you scared all of us."
"It's okay now, Mom." Carla tries to reassure. What happened wasn't okay by any means—how would being attacked by an inter-dimensional monster ever be okay?—but she needs her mother to calm down. "I'm fine."
"Thank God you are." Karen runs a hand through her hair, clearly stressed. "You had us all worried with your condition—I don't think that Harrington boy has slept since you were brought in."
Carla's heart rises in her chest. Steve was here?
"Speaking of him.....is he okay? Are Jonathan and Nancy okay? The boys?" Carla asks. She doesn't care that her mother doesn't know why she's asking if they're okay when she's the one hurt, she just needs to know whether or not her friends were okay. Whether or not the creature came back.
"Take it easy honey, they're okay." Karen replies softly, watching as the girl tries to sit up in her bed. Noticing the sling around one of her arms, Carla lowers herself again, causing the mother to explain, "You'll have the cast and sling until your wrist fully heals. Then you'll have that wrap—" Carla looks down at her other arm to see a wrap around her wrist, "—until your scars are healed via the stitches."
Carla nods. "How long will I be here?"
"I'm not sure, honey, but hopefully you'll be out soon." the Wheeler woman replied, "But maybe since you're awake now, it'll only be a day or two until you can come back home." The brunette looks behind her, a light smile crossing her face as she turns to face her daughter again, "But, while I go talk to a doctor, I think there's something—or someones—waiting outside to make you feel better."
As Karen spoke, three heads peeked in the doorway, smiles gracing their faces.
Karen gives a reassuring squeeze to Carla's shoulder before getting up and walking out of the room.
The three teens outside then came in.
Nancy was first, sprinting right in to take a seat where her mother had been. She's wearing a relieved expression as she eyes her sister up—she'd been guiltily eating herself up the past hours, scared that something bad had happened to her sister because of her. It was a relief to see she was okay.
Jonathan was next, coming in with news spewing from his lips. "They saved Will—he's back." Those words mean more to Carla than anything. Everything paid off in the end—they had Will Byers back. "He's a few rooms down."
Carla lightly smiled. They'd done it.
Nancy speaks up, knowing her sisters questions, "Everyone's okay. The boys are here and safe—they were so worried about you."
"We all were, actually."
Carla looks in the doorway to see Steve Harrington. He awkwardly stands in the center, a relieved look on his face. He still wears a face full of wounds, and a crooked nose, but he doesn't seem too worried. The boy wearily enters and takes a stance beside Jonathan.
"I'm just glad you guys are okay—that everyone is okay." the Wheeler says, before asking another question, "Hey, what about Eleven? Is she here? Is she out of custody from that lab?"
Nancy and Jonathan share a look before the Byers boy speaks grimly, "Sometime after we left, people came to Hawkins Middle in search of El. They tried to hurt the boys, so Eleven killed them, causing the monster to leave us and instead attack them. She fought against it but when it disappeared....so did she."
Carla's face fell. Oh.
Carla hadn't known Eleven too well, but she didn't deserve that. The little girl had already been put through hell in that lab, and now, instead of getting to live a normal life, she was dead. She was taken away before she even knew what life was.
"Hey, uh, could I talk to Carla alone?" Steve speaks up, looking at the two other teens in the room. Nancy and Jonathan look at one another before doing as asked and leaving, giving the exes room to talk.
Once alone, Steve began to say, "Carla, I'm sorry. I really am—"
"Steve, you don't have to apologize, seriously—"
Steve cut her off. "No, Carla. I-I want to apologize."
The Wheeler seals her lips and lets him talk.
"Carla, I'm sorry for how I've acted over the past year. I have been such an asshole to you ever since we broke up, and it hadn't really hit me until you did. I should have talked to you, or at least done anything after our break-up because you didn't do anything wrong, and I left you to think that you did. I was the asshole for making you think you needed to say it back because you didn't. I knew your feelings were real then.....I'm just sorry that I made you feel cornered like that."
Despite having gotten rid of her grudge against their break-up the moment Steve saved her, it felt good to hear him say that. To hear him admit that he regretted how things went just as much as she did; to hear that she wasn't in the wrong like she'd assumed she'd been for the past year.
"It's okay. I don't even care anymore, honestly." Carla sighs. He'd saved her—the least she could do was forgive him for being an asshole a year ago. "But thank you for apologizing. I do appreciate it. I was in the wrong too—I should have told you that I'd never said it to anyone before....that I didn't know that it was how to describe my feelings for you."
Steve slightly smiles, "So.....you did love me?"
"I did." She still does.
"I'm glad we got that cleared up. My past self would be relieved." His current self is relieved, too.
Carla pauses before asking, "So, does this mean we can be friends again? I mean, I get it if you still don't think we can be content around one another, but I'd really like it if we could be friends again.....or at least closer than enemies?" I miss you.
Steve lightly smiles, giving a curt nod. "Yeah, I'd, uh, I'd like to be friends again too." I miss you, too.
Karen re-enters the room, breaking the moment between the two teens. "Okay, Carla, I have Dr. Morris for you—" she pauses when she notices Steve still in the room, "—I hope I wasn't ruining anything."
"You're good, Mrs. Wheeler." Steve replies, sending her a reassuring glance. He looks back at Carla for a moment, "I'll, uh, see you later, I guess."
"Bye, Steve."
After being checked over by Dr. Morris, Carla was allowed to roam around the hospital. She'd been contained to the sterile building for a few days until they were sure she'd be okay, and decided to give her free-will to pass the time.
The first room she rushed too? Will Byers.
Joyce Byers and Hopper stood in front of the room, making it clear who it belonged too. She watched as a relieved look took over their expression when they noticed the Wheeler girl—everyone had been worried.
"Hi, sweetheart." Joyce softly smiles at the girl, bringing her into a small hug, careful not to hit her arm sling.
Hopper adds, "Hey kid, how're you holding up?"
"I've been better." Carla pulls away from Joyce with a sigh, nodding to her sling. "It's not everyday you get attacked by an inter-dimensional monster."
The Byers woman frowns, "Jonathan told me what happened—I can't imagine how terrifying that was. We were all so worried......I don't think any of us have slept between you and Will being locked up here."
Getting the conversation off of herself, Carla's heart skips at beat at the mention of Will. She looks at the woman hopefully, "Speaking of Will....how is he? I've been wanting to check in all morning but I was stuck in my bed."
"He's been waiting for you.....they all have, actually." Joyce slightly nods her head towards the room. Carla can hear boyish chatter and familiar laughter that no doubt belongs to Dustin. She lightly smiles, and Joyce turns to the door. "Hey, boys, there's someone waiting to see you."
All four boys turn to look at the door, eyes widening as they see Carla standing in the frame. Huge smiles grow on their faces, and Carla steps into the room, a matching smile on her face as she looks over at Will.
He was home. Everything they'd done had mattered.
"Carla! Are you okay? I heard something happened—" Will sounded worried as she spoke to his friend.
Carla slightly laughed at the Byers' words. "Will, are you seriously asking me if I'm okay?"
Lucas raised a brow, "Are you?"
Carla hadn't really thought of whether she was okay or not yet. Physically, she was fine, she supposes. Other than the obvious scars and broken wrist, she wasn't terribly damaged.......but she sure as hell had some internal damage done.
Seeing the creature in front of her, thinking she was going to die—it would never leave. She'd always remember her agonizing scream, the monsters growling, feeling like that was it. It would always linger in her mind, even in her happiest of moments.
But....the kids didn't need to know that. They don't need to worry about her.
"Why wouldn't I be okay, Baby Boy?" Carla puts on a weak smile, slightly wrapping her arms around the younger boy. He lightly smiles and the Wheeler holds on to him for a minute more before her eyes glance over at her own brother, who'd been awfully quiet—especially for seeing his sister after a night full of terror.
He met her gaze, and that's all it took for him to break.
Mike trudged over to his sister and just broke. She could feel him lightly crying into her chest, tears staining the material of her hospital gown. Pale fingers pulled him closer, Carla holding him as tightly as she could with one hand.
They would never be okay again. Not like they had been.
mara's misc
okay i literally hate this chapter. it's so short and like nothing happens whatsoever, but it was needed.
i apologize for skipping missing monday last week, but i had no inspo whatsoever to finish this chapter, and it turned out eh.
but, there's only one more chapter until i've finished re-writing missing, so yay? this has been my one way to keep a decent update schedule (i'm kinda stuck on gone and ss rn) and now it's almost over, but oh well.
hope you enjoyed <3 see you back with chapter 17!!