•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧

(a/n: this isn't all from addie's dream because she wasn't there for the entire time but this is a full detailed description of that night / my interpretation of s1 e8. and from all the stories she was told about everything that happened, when addie has nightmares about it, it's usually about that whole night, how it was described to her. not just her being in the upside down.)

that night

     JONATHAN AND NANCY had a plan. When you didn't look into it too much, and you forgot about the risk of dying, and you ignored the gun, plus the bat with the nails... it was a simple plan, really.

Joyce and Hopper had a plan too. Only theirs would seem a lot less crazy if told to someone who didn't know any information, other than the fact that her younger son and daughter were missing and Joyce was prepared to do whatever it took to get them back safe. To get them back alive.

Plans rarely ever work out exactly how you want them to, though. Nancy and Jonathan's plan was interrupted when Steve showed up, meanwhile Joyce and Hopper weren't having much luck either, wandering around aimlessly as they were calling out for Addie and Will.

Steve didn't know what the hell was going on. All he knew was that his best friend was missing, and he didn't know if she was alive or... not. And he had no idea why he couldn't call the police. But after Nancy pointed a gun at him and he ran out to his car and looked back, when he saw the lights flickering in the house, he knew he had to help.

Meanwhile at the school, Dustin and Lucas were ecstatic about finding the chocolate pudding stash. Mike was with El, talking about all of their future plans once El wasn't a secret. Where her new room might be, the fact that she'd also gain Nancy as a sister, he was so happy just thinking about it. Things didn't stay happy with them for long though.

As Joyce and Hopper wandered around, neither would admit it but they were slowly starting to lose hope. Then Joyce spotted Will, and Addie right next to him. That hope quickly returned, until she got a closer look at her children.

"Addie! Will! Oh my God Hopper you have to help me get them out!" She was panicking more than she ever had in her entire life. They'd found both of them, but didn't yet know if they were even alive.

At that same moment, El was making the biggest sacrifice a person could make. "Goodbye Mike."

Joyce was having trouble breathing. As they laid Will and Addie down on the ground, she screamed. "Oh God, oh God what do we do? How do we save both of them? I can't lose them, not my babies!"

"Joyce! Joyce you need to listen to me right now." Hopper grabbed the closest thing he could find and placed it under Addie's neck, so that her head was slightly tilted back. "You need to do what I'm doing right now. Look at me, and do exactly what I'm doing. Hurry." He began to do chest compressions, whispering the numbers. "Now when I say so, do what I do again. Pinch his nostrils and breathe into his mouth twice. You got that?"

Joyce's hands were shaking and she was hyperventilating, but she knew it had to be done if there was any chance of survival. "Okay!"

"...twenty-nine, thirty. Now! Do it now!" They worked on Addie and Will for what seemed like an eternity, just waiting for any signs of life.

"Adeline, William, it's me it's your mom. I need you both to listen to me. I need you to fight, and get through this. I love you both so much. Please!"

"Come on kid!"

Finally, Will sits up and gasps. Joyce cries out, hugging him to her chest. That happiness only lasts a few seconds though as she sees Hopper still trying desperately to save Addie.

He'll never admit it out loud, but in those moments, he once again flashed back to being in the hospital with his daughter. Only this time, he was the one doing CPR, and maybe this time he could save her. In his nightmares, he still hears that nurse yell out "flatlining!"

"Come on Sarah! Come on don't do this, don't you die on me. Come on Addie just open your eyes!"

Even as Will still coughed and was barely conscious, he saw his sister laying there. And he knew what she went through to get there, to get to him. So he weakly reaches out and just barely manages to grab her hand. A few seconds later, Addie starts coughing, and she opens her eyes.

Hopper picks her up like Joyce is holding Will, and pats her back as she continues coughing and panicking.

"Hey hey, you're alright. That's it, you're okay kid."

Masks are immediately placed on them, and Hopper falls back as Joyce holds both Will and Addie. They're alive.

Addie's condition was a little worse than Will's, and no one knew why yet. She had all of these little scratches on her face, and a pretty deep one on her neck. It was a mystery how she even survived, doctors and nurses would later say. It was a miracle that they both survived.

On the way to the hospital, Joyce rode with Addie and Hopper went with Will. Despite the begging that both her children remain together so she could be with them both.

She was barely conscious for the beginning of the ride to the hospital, when her heart stopped. They managed to get it beating again, but her eyes remained closed. Joyce thought she was going to lose it. She begged Addie to stay alive again, saying they couldn't have come this far only to lose her.

At the hospital, Addie and Will were given a double room so that they could stay together. This also ensured privacy, so that only Joyce, Jonathan, and whoever else they decided to allow, would be the only ones to see them.

Will woke up just moments before Addie, and Jonathan and Joyce rushed to his side.

"Where... where am I?"

"You're home now. You're, I mean you're in the hospital, but you're safe."

Addie slowly opened her eyes, and Steve immediately woke up. He hadn't left her side, even sleeping on the uncomfortable couch that was on her side of the room.

"Hey, you're awake." He pulled up a chair and sat by her bed.

"What— what happ—" A few drops of blood oozed out of her mouth.

Steve stood up in a panic, looking at her and wondering what to do.

"It hurts," Addie whispered, clutching her side as she continued to cough.

"I'm gonna... Addie I'm sorry I have to..." He lifted up her hospital gown, and saw a big wound in her side. Blood was pouring out. "Oh God. No no no no you are not dying right now. Call a doctor!"

Joyce and Jonathan looked up, shooting out of their chairs and running to Addie's side. Will looked, panicking as he thought his sister was going to die again.

Steve leaned down, still putting pressure in the injury. "I'm telling you right now do not die on me. You're my best friend. You know me better than anyone. And you're the most sympathetic person I know so I need you to sympathize with me and realize that I cannot lose you. Stay with us." He whispered, but he didn't care if anyone else heard him. He needed her to live.

Where the fuck were the doctors and nurses? He put more pressure to try and stop the bleeding, and tears slipped out when Addie cried out in pain. He kept the pressure on her until a team of doctors and nurses ran in and asked him to step aside. After seeing just how bad it was, she was wheeled in to emergency surgery.

It turned out that with all of the blood that was already on her, and the nurses trying to clean her up as best as they could, once that area was wiped they put a bandage over it. No one realized it was an injury that got worse the longer it remained unstitched. In the panic of everything else going on, no one paid much attention to what looked like a little cut.

While she was in surgery, Joyce and Jonathan stayed glued to Will's side. He asked multiple times where Addie was, and each time one of them had to tell him that she wasn't out of surgery yet.

Steve remained on that couch, frozen. Nurses approached him a few times and asked if he wanted to clean up, but he turned them away each time.

He stared at the blood on his hands, wondering if that was the last time he'd see Addie. And could he have done something? She had been unconscious up until that point, but could he have somehow saved her? He'd leave the blood on his hands, unable to move, until he knew she was okay.

5 hours later, a doctor entered the room, followed by Hopper. They all stood up and anxiously waited for whatever the doctor was about to say.

"It was touch and go for a while... but over time we expect her to make a full recovery. The cuts on her face, those are shallow and will heal a lot faster. The one on her side was much deeper than we thought, and whatever caused it did a lot of internal damage. She'll need to stay here for a while. She's in recovery right now, I'll allow one of you to come see her but only one. She needs rest for at least the next twenty-four hours, then the rest of you can see her."

It wasn't even a question, Joyce stood up and followed the doctor, after Will told her that he'd be fine, and to go check on Addie. She was allowed to spend just half an hour with her daughter before a nurse came in and said that the best thing for Addie right now, was complete rest. After a tearful goodbye and a promise that she'd be back as soon as she was allowed to, Joyce made her way back to Will, Jonathan, and Steve.

When she saw Steve, her heart broke for him. Addie and Steve had been close for a long time now, and he knew she must've been feeling just as bad as they were, especially before they knew she'd be okay.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Nancy walked in. She went straight to Will and talked to him for a little bit, asking how he was feeling and about other random things, just to take his mind off of everything even if it was only for a little bit. Jonathan joined in on their conversation, and they surprisingly got Will to laugh.

"Umm, the boys want to know if they can come see you," Nancy told Will. He nodded, eager to see his friends. Jonathan excused himself, saying he'd go get Dustin, Lucas, and Mike.

Nancy looked up and saw Steve, sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. She slowly made her way over to him, and held out a hand, motioning to the bathroom that was in the room. Together they went inside and he sunk down to the floor, still in a sort of daze. It took nearly 10 minutes for Nancy to wipe all of the dried blood off of Steve's hands.

Eventually, she convinced him to let her drive him home, saying she'd pick him up in the morning and bring him back to see Addie and he could drive his car home then.

Will and Addie were the only ones who got a semi-decent amount of sleep that night. Will's body was so drained and exhausted, that he didn't even have any nightmares that first night. And Addie couldn't remember that first night at all. After her surgery, she'd been given something to help her sleep for a while.

Joyce, Jonathan, Steve, Nancy, Hopper, everyone else was plagued with dark thoughts, nightmares. They'd gotten Addie and Will back, alive. So why did they all have a feeling they weren't completely out of the woods yet?

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧