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Steve gasped as something gripped his leg, attempting to pull him under the water of Lover’s Lake. He gripped the side of the boat tighter, trying to hold on until whatever grabbed him ceased the attack.
It did, and Steve’s eyes widened, looking down to the water, expecting to see a black vine reach towards him. Nancy watched him with fear, and he looked back at her, adrenaline at an all time high. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by another jerk on his leg. He didn’t get a chance to scream as he was dragged back into the water, his arms desperately reaching for help as he went under.
Bubbles flew around him as he was dragged through the water, the air in his lungs dwindling as shock and fear set in. He tried to grab the thing wrapped around his leg, yup, a vine, but couldn’t. It snaked through the water, dragging him with it until it reached the lake’s floor, where it slammed him against the ground, not far from the glowing red of the gate. Another vine pushed through the gate, gripping his neck and pulling him towards it, and Steve fought the scream that made its way into his throat. He gripped anything that he could to stop his descent into the Upside Down, rocks, dirt, anything, but all he did was slow his impending doom.
He could feel his chest tighten as his lack of air became evident, pressure in his head and under his skin making thinking more difficult than it should’ve been. He realized that he was losing oxygen, and fast. It didn’t help that he was being strangled at the same time that he was drowning, but he knew he had to keep it together. Keep the air in him. Hold on for as long as he could.
He could feel rocks cut into his arms as he continued to resist falling into the gate, the vines never letting up their fight. Another one grabbed his chest, making his gasp, more air escaping from his body and being replaced by water.
Everything began to burn as he gave up on keeping his grip on the floor, instead choosing to claw at the vines with everything he had. He could see the gate come closer and closer as his vision began to fall into darkness, the last of his air escaping through his mouth as he thrashed. His chest burned as water pushed its way into his throat, making him gasp for air that wasn’t there. He could see the last of it float to the surface in perfect pockets, rising up and away from him.
He didn’t even realize that he was nearly through the gate. He honestly didn’t care at this point. Nothing mattered anymore.
He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe and he was going to die.
He didn’t realize two blurry figures swim up beside him, stabbing the vines with oars. He didn’t realize that the vines around his body let go, letting him float aimlessly in the murky water, right above the gate. He didn’t realize two pairs of arms wrap around his chest, hoisting him up and bringing him to the surface. He didn’t even realize when his eyes closed, all of the strength leaving his body.
He was like a puppet with its strings cut, unable to do anything but exist in silence, suffocating in what he didn’t know.
------------------------------------------
Eddie paced nervously on the boat, watching the water for any signs of life. They had to be making their way back up, right? They had to have gotten Harrington free, they were probably on their way up right now.
He looked down to the watch in his hands. Steve had been under for four minutes, Robin and Nancy for two. It had seemed like they jumped in right after him, but he assumed that their arguments about who should go in delayed them. He just hoped that they weren't too late.
He decided that if they went back in one minute he was going in after them.
As if on cue, Nancy’s head popped to the surface, her hand reaching for a grip on anything, and Eddie grabbed in, pulling her into the boat. Robin’s head broke the surface next, and finally Steve, who was unconscious and being held up by the two girls. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Grab him!” Nancy exclaimed, and Eddie rushed to obey, taking Steve under his armpits and dragging him into the boat, laying him down as flat as he could.
“What do I do? Is he dead?”
Nancy didn’t waste a second jumping into the boat, dripping with water, and rushed to Steve, kneeling down and holding her hand in front of his mouth and nose, tilting his head up and back, feeling for air going in and out of his body.
“Steve?” Robin whispered, tears mixing with the water on her face, and Steve didn’t respond.
“He’s not breathing. We have to get that water out of him and air into him.” Nancy said sternly. “You have to do chest compressions, Eddie. At my signal.”
Chest compressions. He could do that. He could do that, right? Wasn’t it just to the tune of that song? Something about…staying alive? He didn’t listen to the song very often, it wasn’t his style, but at least he knew it.
Shaking the thoughts out of his head, Eddie tried to remember how to do chest compressions, holding his hands in an uncomfortable position, and resting them on Steve’s chest, waiting for Nancy’s go ahead.
Nancy pinched Steve’s nose, pressing her mouth to his and breathing into him, only focusing on saving his life. She did it again, and nodded to Eddie, who began pressing on Steve’s chest with as much strength as he could remember giving in his high school training course, running the song through in his head.
“Thirty seconds.” Nancy instructed, and Eddie began counting under his breath, which proved hard as he tried to keep in pace with the song. As much as he hated it, he found himself ignoring Robin’s cries from beside him, knowing that he had to focus on the task at hand or else Steve could die.
Steve could die. He never really thought about it until now.
His task just became so much more important to him.
Once he finished, Nancy began giving Steve breaths again, and Eddie pressed into his chest as soon as she was done. He could feel Steve’s ribs let out a sickening crunch, Eddie wincing as he heard it, but he couldn’t stop. Not until Steve was breathing.
They didn’t know how long they continued this cycle for. At one point Robin began to call Dustin, receiving no response, and all hope began to die around them. Steve should’ve been breathing by now. Why wasn’t he breathing?
“Eddie, stop the chest compressions!” Nancy exclaimed, moving out of the way as Steve jerked awake, coughed up water, rolling on his side as he did so. His eyes were blown wide, fear and pain reflected too clearly in them, and Nancy rubbed his back, pressing gently as he expelled the water from his body, water mixed with blood and bile.
“Steve! I thought you were dead!” Robin said tearfully yet thankful, rushing to his side, and Eddie sat back, relief flooding through his veins.
“Iー” Steve let in a watery breath as he continued to cough.
“Don’t talk, okay?” Nancy instructed. “Take deep breaths, take your time.”
Eddie reached down and grabbed Steve’s sweater, draping it over Steve’s shaking shoulders, hoping that it would help him relax. Nancy nodded in thanks, taking Steve in her arms as he fell back, too weak to continue sitting upright. Robin rushed to his other side, holding his hand as he struggled to breath.
“We have to take him to a hospital. He may be breathing but he could still drown in the water in his lungs.” Nancy stated, and Robin flinched.
“He could still die? But…but he’s okay!”
“Dry drowning.” Steve muttered, taking in a shaky breath. “It’s bad.” He coughed again, closing his eyes at the pain of it all, leaning forward until Nancy caught him.
“You would know.” Eddie said, trying to lighten the mood, although his own hands shook. “You’ve probably been trained in all of this.”
Steve nodded weakly. “Two second breaths, two times in a row.” He blinked slowly. “Chest compressions, call for help.”
“So, we’ve done most of those things. Now we need help.” Eddie stated, “That’s not so bad for newbies.”
Steve smiled weakly. “Newbies.”
Eddie grabbed one of the oars that had been discarded into the boat when they got Steve, the other one probably still under water from when Nancy fought the thing under there. At least Robin had gotten hers back.
But, deep down, he didn’t care about the oars. He was much more happy that Steve was back with them. That was way too close of a call.
He began rowing back to shore as quickly as he could, admittedly it wasn’t very fast, but it was the best that he could do. He watched as Nancy and Robin helped Steve continue breathing, coaching him through getting more water out of his body, and he was so thankful that he had people that cared about Steve so much. Eddie never thought that he would ever think that about Steve Harrington, yet here he was.
He was even more surprised to find himself caring about him, too. Who would’ve thought that Eddie “The Freak” Munson would ever care for Steve “King Steve” Harrington? It was a strange reality, and Eddie hoped that after all of this they could become friends.
But, first he and the girls needed to make sure Steve survived the night. Then they would focus on what came next. It was the only thing this small group could do.