Chapter Text
Steve was singing (screaming?) along to "Take on Me" as he drove Robin and Dustin to the movie theater. Robin rolled her eyes and teased him at first, but devolved into trying to out scream him. Dustin declared them embarrassing, but he secretly was enjoying the show playing out in front of him and joined in on the high notes. It was a little after eight at night, and they were all grooving and excited for the movie.
"I Wanna Dance With Somebody" came on just as they passed by a green light. Halfway through the intersection, another car plowed into the driver’s side of Steve’s car.
Glass shattered. Airbags deployed. The car spun to the right, stopping just short of hitting a tree.
The person who hit them screeched to a halt on the other side of the road, and the driver stepped out. She was a young woman, only a little older than Steve, and she was panicking. She stood, dumbfounded at what she’d just done, and wished she had a car phone to call for help. She scurried across the road to the other vehicle to observe the damage.
The kids in that car were screaming, checking on each other and declaring injuries. Well, two of them were. The driver sat, slumped over the steering wheel. The girl next to him was trying to rouse him. The boy behind her was freaking out.
The other driver, whose name was Katie, quickly approached. “I’m so sorry…” she said breathlessly.
“Get help!” the girl yelled at her.
Katie nodded, and started running in the direction of where she thought the nearest payphone might be.
Meanwhile, Dustin and Robin were also panicking. “Steve,” Dustin called over and over.
“Come on, wake up,” Robin said, touching Steve’s shoulder gently rather than shaking it for fear of hurting him worse. She herself was in a great deal of pain, but she’d worry about that once she knew he was okay.
“Robin, is he…?”
“He’s breathing. He’s okay. He’s just…not conscious. Are you okay, Dustin?”
“I think so. My neck kind of hurts, and I hit my head against the window, but I think I’m okay.”
“Okay. Good.” Robin took a deep breath. Were they just supposed to wait for this girl to run all the way to a phone? What could they do? “Steve, come on, buddy.”
Dustin unbuckled himself and leaned forward, peering over the back of the front seat. “Steve, you gotta wake up.”
Robin was watching his breathing like a hawk and just keeping an eye out for any slight movement. His ear was starting to bleed, she noted.
It was a long, long wait for any sign of help. Who knew if the girl had even called 911 yet? It was agony waiting.
At long last, Steve started to stir. He took a deeper breath, then moaned.
“Steve!” Dustin yelled.
Robin was so relieved. “Steve, oh my god.”
With his head still down against the dash, Steve reached weakly for wherever the sound was coming from, and Robin took his hand. “Don’t move too much,” she said, “you’re hurt.”
Not processing what she had said, he reached the other hand up to his head and slowly tried to sit upright.
“Steve,” Robin said warningly.
He looked up at her, and she saw the blood streaming down his face. His eyes looked glazed, and he looked through her rather than at her.
She asked, “You okay, buddy? Can you hear me?”
His breathing quickened a little bit. He groaned and started pitching forward as he nearly blacked out. Robin reached out and caught him before he hit his head on the steering wheel. “No, no, no, no, no,” she said. “We’re not gonna do that.” She propped him back up. “Not a good place to nap.”
“Help is coming,” Dustin said to Steve although it was really more for his own benefit.
Robin unbuckled herself, too, and tried to examine Steve, but it was hard to in the dark. She reached up and pressed the button to turn on the interior car lights, which thankfully worked, but Steve groaned at the added light.
“I know, it’s okay,” she said, trying to be soothing. “I just want to look you over…”
He did not look good. There was blood coming from his hairline, his nose, his ears, his left arm. It looked like there might have been some small bits of glass embedded in his face. Robin felt sick. “Where the hell is that girl?”
Steve’s eyelids drooped closed.
“No, hey, Steve—”
Dustin said, “What’s happening?”
“Do not go unconscious on me again, Steve Harrington.” There was nothing she could do. He was out again. “Damn it!”
Dustin bit his lip. “Fuck.”
“Fuck is right.”
After what seemed like a millennia, they heard sirens approaching. The blue and red lights were easy to make out in the otherwise pitch black night. The cop car stopped several meters away from their own, and two uniformed officers got out and walked over.
In the light from the headlights, the two kids recognized one of them. Dustin said, “Hopper, thank god.”
Hopper made it to the car first, appearing by the shattered remains of the driver’s side window. When he saw who the passengers were, he swore under his breath. “Robin, Dustin, are you okay?”
“We’re fine, but Steve—” Dustin started.
Hopper looked at Steve, who was no longer slumped forward, but his head was rolled to the side, resting on his shoulder. “An ambulance is coming,” he assured them. “Should be here any second.”
The ambulance came about a minute later. The passenger side of the car was fine, so Dustin and Robin were able to open their doors and get out. Steve’s door, however, was pretty smashed in. Eventually, they were able to get it open, with one paramedic sitting where Robin had been to ensure Steve didn’t immediately fall out when they did. They got him onto a stretcher.
This was when Steve woke up next, laying flat on his back looking up at the dark sky. He had no idea what was happening. “You’re going to be okay, kid,” a familiar voice said although he couldn’t place it. They loaded him into the brightly lit back of the ambulance, and he squinted against the light. There were so many faces swimming in his vision, but he couldn’t make out any of them. They all looked like mere blobs swaying back and forth.
A second ambulance had come for Dustin and Robin, who very reluctantly agreed to part with Steve for the short drive to the hospital. Robin would have insisted on going with him, but she didn’t feel right leaving Dustin alone, and there was no way they’d let both of them go. “We need to get you both checked out,” the EMT said. “Your friend is in good hands.”
Hopper was riding along with Steve, which made the kids feel better. Besides, they were promised that they’d be able to see him at the hospital as soon as possible.
“Steve’s going to be okay,” Dustin said, “right?”
“Right,” she said, completely unsure.