#sharing heartbeats

“I have her. I have her,” El says protectively, not bothering with the wheelchair Hopper is clattering around trying to unfold, and just carrying Max straight to the house. Hopper grumbles profanities and Joyce scurries ahead to make way with jingling keys.  Max is just lucid enough to love this. 

"Tell me again," Max asks. Just a little girl wanting to hear the bedtime story she knows by heart. The one El tells her at the end of every visit. A tube is dripping calm into her arm, and the world is ending. She's not embarrassed. She hears El smile and shift closer. A hand settles above her forehead and begins to stroke softly at the hair there. El has learned it soothes her. "When you come home... the first thing we will do is get right into my bed," El says in her gentlest voice, and Max's eyes slide shut. "With piles of blankets. No casts or tubes... only soft. I'll wrap you up and keep you warm, and you can listen to my heart. And we’ll sleep so good. As long as we want." Max smiles faintly, a teardrop crawling down one temple. It sounds so nice. It’s all she looks forward to. There’s no guarantee it will ever happen.

did you like my fic Do Not Cry? never heard of it? cool well it continues here, with Max waking from her coma and being released into the care of the Byers-Hopper household:

KRC

Prompt 1 - Sharing Heartbeats CW: Mentioned Character Death Rating: Teen+ WC: 1084 Tags: Alternate Universe: Modern Setting, Medical Conditions, Bittersweet Ending 

At the Konoha Rehabilitation Center, we'll make sure you're running right as rain again!