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Mike entered the doors to the hospital and stepped into the waiting room. Just like he had years ago, when he sat in that exact chair, waiting to hear news on whether Will was okay.
“Excuse me,” snapped an irritated voice across from him. Mike looked up to see the old lady at the front desk looking down at him. “You here for something, kid?”
“Oh uh yeah, Max Mayfield?”
The lady hummed in response. “She has one visitor right now,” she said, checking her papers, “that Sinclair boy. Glued to the side of the bed I tell ya.”
She waved Mike away and he headed to Max’s hospital room.
As usual, Mike entered the hospital room to find Lucas parked in his chair at Max’s bedside. He glanced up and smiled but it was clearly forced.
Mike felt the pang in his heart that he felt every time he had come to visit, every time he saw Max. The once lively, skateboarding zoomer has never been more still and, as much as Mike and Max annoyed each other, he really missed her.
“You okay?”, he asked Lucas.
Lucas nodded like he always did but everyone knew that was a lie.
The dangers lurking around with the upside down were far from over as far as Mike was concerned. The group has been working on a plan to the greatest extent they can with what little they still know.
With Lucas and Max gone and Dustin going through his own struggles, it has become very apparent that they need everyone they can get to save the world.
Mike just hoped he could convey this to Lucas.
Mike was getting concerned for Lucas. He rarely ever left the hospital room and nobody else seemed to know what to do or say about it. He decided in this moment that he must try something and thought carefully about how to approach the topic.
“ you know,” Mike started off cautiously, “we really need to be focusing on, oh I don’t know, the end of the world.”
Lucas’s eyes widened in disbelief. Shit, that was the wrong thing to say. Why does he always say the wrong fucking thing?
Lucas took a deep breath, clearly restraining himself from yelling, but even so his voice sounded livid. “So what your saying is you just want to give up on her? Is that it?”
“No,” Mike quickly tried to backtrack.”I’m just saying that we can’t spend every waking moment in this room when we have all the upside down shit to deal with.”
“I need to be there for her when she wakes up.” Lucas snapped.
“The doctors will take care of her.”
“She will be scared, Mike. You weren’t there when it happened. You didn’t see how scared she was.” He was yelling now and, Mike realized, he was yelling back.
“Well it’s just gonna keep happening. If we don’t stop Vecna now it won’t just be Max in this hospital. In fact, his next victim probably won’t even make it here.”
“But how would you like it if you woke up to your bones crushed, blind, and not have someone familiar to tell you it will be okay. Just some random fucking doctors who you can’t even see.”
They were yelling loud enough now that they will probably attract attention from another room. He didn’t want them to get kicked out.
“Okay,” Mike began, softening his tone slightly, “okay look, I know this is hard and that you want her to feel safe. I get it, okay. But we have to remember that the rest of Hawkins is in fucking ruins and if we don’t stop Vecna, Max will never be safe.”
Mike thought that was reasonable. In fact, he thought he may have actually said the right thing for once. But the look on Lucas’s face told him otherwise. While the anger seemed to leave slightly, the expression that replaced it seemed cold and maybe even hopeless.
To Mike’s relief, Lucas decided to match his tone and lowered his voice, but that relief quickly washed away with his next words.
“You know, I really thought you of all people would understand.”
What? What the hell is he talking about?
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Mike demanded.
Lucas released an exasperated sigh. “It means that I thought you would at least understand what I’m going through, with what’s happened to Will and all.”
Mike froze at Will’s name, at what Lucas may be implying. “What does Will have to do with this?”
“I’m just saying- you know what, forget it.”
“No,” Mike raised his voice again. “You’re just saying what?”
Lucas had a pained expression on his face,“ I’m saying that you have done everything in your power to make sure Will is okay. You have dragged me through the rain to apologize to him, to find him. You stayed at the hospital and his house by his side at all times. I just thought you at least would have understood.”
Mike’s head ringed with the words Lucas just spoke.
By his side, by his side, by his side, Lucas had emphasized.
How had he never thought about that. About how Lucas was doing exactly what he had done just a few years ago. And he knew deep down that if someone told him what he was telling Lucas now a couple years ago, he would react the exact same.
He could easily say that to Lucas. He could tell him that he does understand and maybe try to convey to him in a nicer way that the only way to help Max is to defeat Vecna. Easy.
But he’s Mike Wheeler. He never seems to say the right thing.
“ I don’t know what you think you are trying to say but you are fucking wrong. You don’t get it, you don’t-“ He cuts off, unable to avoid the tremble of fear in his voice.
Lucas caught onto that as well and softened a little.
“Look Mike, I’m not here to try to insinuate anything, analyze you or whatever. I’m just trying to put things into perspective.”
Mike felt resigned. He slumped into the chair next to Lucas but refused to look in his friend’s direction. He knew what Lucas was saying and couldn’t get it out of his head. Even worse, he knew Lucas was right.
Suddenly the fear of the whole situation really hit him. If Lucas knew that Mike had felt the same about Will being in the hospital as Lucas felt about Max, he must know that Mike is a queer. How could he have let anyone see through him like that in a way he could hardly see for himself.
Mike felt himself get lost in a spiral of his own thoughts. What would Lucas do if Mike confirmed his suspicions? What would he say? The guilt and the self loathing and the fear all hitting him until the silence was broken by Lucas.
“I was finally able to reach her. After so long of her pulling away, I was able to talk to her a bit but then Vecna got her. It feels like every time I reach her she gets pulled farther away,” he spoke softly.
Lucas didn’t take his eyes off of Max while he spoke, as if she would disappear the moment he looked away. “I’m just so terrified of losing her,” he said in a near whisper.
Mike finally looked up at Lucas and saw the tears welling in his eyes.
“I know, I’m sorry…for yelling at you. I know how hard this is for you.”
Lucas nodded in response, “We are all having a hard time, Mike, I understand.”
The two friends sat next to each other in silence for a few minutes. Mike studied the stack of books on the bedside table that Lucas had clearly been reading to Max, the abundance of flowers left by all their friends, the cards that the party spent a day writing in Mike’s basement.
Lucas looked at Max, waiting for the sign of the slightest movement.
“You know, you can talk to me,” Lucas’s voice shattered the silence that had taken over the room. “As you said, Vecna is still out there and… well it’s probably not best to keep everything in.”
Mike had been thinking about that a lot. It seemed like everyone in their group has been dealing with their own baggage, leaving plenty of likely candidates for Vecna’s next victim. He had to say something.
“I uh- you know I haven’t really been open I guess. It has been worrying me a bit, the whole Vecna thing and how I probably look like a good target and stuff. That probably sounds self centred.”
Lucas shook his head, “Not at all, I understand. It might help if you talk about it though.” Lucas urged Mike to continue, hoping to actually be able to communicate and get through to him before it’s too late.
Mike struggled to figure out how to voice his thoughts, “ yeah so, um, I… I don’t love El in the way I’m supposed. Like, she’s amazing and I love spending time with her but- but im… in love with someone else.”
Mike whispered the last words. He knew that that is all it took to confirm Lucas’s suspicions and braced himself for the impact.
“Will,” Lucas whispered back. It wasn’t a question but Mike nodded anyway.
Suddenly Mike felt arms wrap around him, the warm embrace of a friend for many years. Relief washed over him and left him wondering when the tears had started to fall.
“It’s okay, Mike. It’ll all be okay.” Lucas whispered and Mike found himself saying it back to Lucas.
“It’s okay. Max will be okay.”
They pulled away from each other and in that moment they both felt something they haven’t been feeling much as of late. Hope.
Mike was the one to break the silence this time, “I just felt like I had no one to talk to about all of this.”
“Well, now you do.”
“Same goes for you. You can tell me anything.”
Lucas smiled. In this moment they both felt closer than they ever had, a step forward in their friendship with a new found comfort and honesty.
It was all going to be okay.