okay, so this got dark really quickly so I’m gonna trigger-tag it and put a break in it.
tw: overdose, cpr, heavy angst, near death experience?
There were four reasons why Joyce felt like something was wrong.
The phone was ringing; that was reason number one.
As the incessant ringing pulled her out of her deep sleep, the first thing she felt was utter dread.
Both boys were home safely and tucked into bed, right?
She paused…
Yes. She kissed them goodnight.
She tossed the covers off of her body and made her way towards the phone. She squinted her eyes to fight through the dark, trying to read the clock.
3:42
That was reason number two. It was three in the morning, who the hell calls at three in the morning?
“Hello?” she answered, trying her best to hide the exhaustion in her voice.
Silence.
That was reason number three.
“Hello?”
There was a deep breath on the other side of the line. One that she instantly knew belonged to Hopper. She had heard that same deep breath a thousand times while her head was pressed against his chest. She’d recognize it in her sleep.
“I’m on my way.”
Something was wrong. Something was incredibly wrong and her mind instantly went numb. She grabbed her keys, running out the door with nothing but slippers and the pajamas on her back. It was the first time since ‘83 that she’d left the house suddenly without reassuring Jonathan to keep his eyes glued on Will. No, they’d be okay.
She white-knuckled the steering wheel for the entire drive across town. All she could hear was the sound of puddles splashing against her speeding tires. Well, that and the thoughts in her head telling her that a million things were wrong.
It was June 6th. Jesus, why did that date sound so familiar?
Then it hit her.
Oh, for God’s sake.
That was reason number four.
It was Sara’s birthday.
The Pinto’s wheels screeched as she turned, heading down the path that his Blazer had carved into the ground. She was almost there.
“Take Denfield, then you’ll see a large oak tree. You’re gonna swing right. That road is gonna be a dead-end and it’s about a five-minute walk from there.”
There was no time for walking.
Hold on Hopper. Just hold on.
Once the cabin was within her vision, she quickly shut the car off and shot out of the driver’s side. Mud and dirt picked up on her feet with every step but she couldn’t stop running.
She ran up the steps of the cabin as quickly as she could, luckily finding that the door was unlocked. When she stepped in, her heart dropped.
“Hopper!” she cried, running to where he was slumped up against the couch on the floor. “C'mon, wake up Hopper!”
She looked around, trying to find El or anybody who could help. As she whipped her head behind her, she saw and empty orange bottle of Tuinal sitting on the coffee table.
“No no no.” she whispered, smacking at his cheek trying to get him to move. “Please, no. Hopper!”
She stopped for a second, pressing her head to listen if he was still breathing.
Nothing.
No. No. No.
”Please, just look at me.”
She tried to remember what they did to Will in the Upside Down.
God damnit.
What was it?
Pinching his nose with her small little fingers, she pushed a lungful of air into his mouth before pounding compressions into his chest.
Nothing.
She had seen enough Hospital soaps to know what she needed to do next.
With one quick swing, she used all of her force to punch him in the chest. Something, anything to get him to breathe.
And like music to her ears, he shot upward and gasped.
Robert was at the back of the café slumped up in his car. He didn’t expect to be looked after, he didn’t have a home to go to, he ended up alone in his car.
