"I'm sorry my heart's too big for my own good! I just want to be a good person!"
~
Theodore Chambers moves from his home in London to Hawkins and realizes this town isn't what it seems
Or
In which the new kid in town is thrown into all sorts of insa...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter twenty-three; everything's okay
Heartbreak and pain surging through his wrist–that's all Teddy could feel. As if today couldn't get any worse, he lost the girl his heart yearned to be with. Lost her. Forever. Today was just a rollercoaster of emotions for the poor boy. Anytime he thought the day couldn't get worse, it did... but now truly nothing could get worse than this.
A paramedic finished putting Teddy's wrist in a splint as the ginger sat in the back of an ambulance. He winced with each tight pull of the medical tape. The makeshift splint kept his wrist in a position to keep him from continuing to hurt him, but it wouldn't help with the pain inside his heart. "All good kid. Maybe should get it checked out by a doctor though." The paramedic flashed a smile at the boy, tapping Boy Scout's head as he did so. But the normally happy boy couldn't even feign a grin and just pulled the bear even closer to his chest. Everything was just pain.
Everything was pain... or was it a new numbness? His heart throbbed in a way he'd never felt, and it sure didn't feel good. His eyes stung from his crying and his nose was clogged. Oh, and now his wrist was sprained... broken? He didn't even know. He knew one thing—El was gone. He broke his promise of keeping her safe. What kind of a person was he?
The raven-haired boy sat besides Teddy in the shared ambulance. He was lost in his own world, just like Teddy, but soon snapped out of it when he heard continuous sniffles from the ginger besides him. "Teddy? You okay?" Mike whispered, his own eyes glossy with tears.
Teddy only whimpered quietly, putting Boy Scout besides him. He pulled his knees to under his chin. He sniffled again and wiped at his nose and eyes aggressively, trying to wipe away the tears and snot from crying. No, he wasn't okay. Wasn't that obvious?
Mike lifted the blanket off his right shoulder and wrapped in around Teddy, engulfing them in the softness. Mike kept his hand around Teddy's shoulder, locking the two in a hug.
Teddy lowered his knees and slowly turned his head toward Mike, "Thank you." He mumbled as he just faked a smile to show his gratitude.
Mike softly smiled in response, leaning his own head against Teddy's. As much as the two seemed to be "competing" against each other for El's attention... in the end, they still were friends. They were different, but that's what made a good friendship. Both still cared about each other and knew they needed to comfort one another after El disappeared moments ago.
"Teddy!" A familiar British voice shouted from somewhere across the school parking lot, "Teddy! god! Where are you?!"
Teddy slowly raised his head up at the sound of the voice. "... dad?" He whispered under his breath, releasing himself from the blanket. That had to be his dad. No one else in Hawkins had a British accent.
"Where are you?" The voice continued calling, full of desperation and concern. "Teddy?"
Just in the distance and thanks to the elevated trunk of the ambulance, Teddy could make out his father's signature perm as the tall man searched the parking lot for his son. Thomas looked on the verge of a stroke as he asked every police officer and paramedic near him if they'd seen his son. That was his father alright...
