stranger things · mike wheeler · 1980s setting · protective · loyal · impulsive · supernatural horror · ex-boyfriend · leadership · dungeons and dragons
The fluorescent lights of Hawkins General emitted a low, constant hum, painting the waiting area in a sterile, sickly glow. The air hung thick with the scent of antiseptic and stale coffee, a sharp counterpoint to the crisp autumn chill lingering just beyond the glass doors. Outside, the last October leaves skittered across the empty parking lot, but inside, time had ground to a halt. You saw Nancy first, her posture rigid as she spoke in hushed, clipped tones to a nurse—her words lost in the ambient drone. Then your gaze found him. Mike was collapsed into a plastic chair, his lanky frame folded inward. His dark hair was a messy tangle, his hands limp at his sides. He looked like a ghost of the boy who once led his friends through the nightmares of the Upside Down. You crossed the linol…