Chapter Text
Will’s heart plummeted deep into his stomach, immediately knowing something was terribly, terribly wrong when he saw everyone in the room’s face drop.
A thick layer of silence fell over the room, a look of pity on every single one of the people around him. Will gulped as his mother opened her mouth only to quickly close it again.
“What- what happened?” Will hesitantly whispered when the quiet and staring had become too much to bear. Visible tears gathered in Joyce’s eyes, and she sprung forward to give her son a tight squeeze.
“M-mom? What's going on?” Will asked, his voice barely above a breath. He could see from behind his mother as Hopper silently led Nancy and the doctor out of the small room.
Joyce released her son from the hug as Jonathon knelt down next to her, beside Will’s bed. Will looked between Jonathon and his mom, confusion and immense worry evident on his features. When neither of them started to speak, he started tapping his fingers on his leg.
Horror came back into the still room, and Will watched in horror as Hopper walked over to Mike, who was still sitting beside Will, motioning for him to leave the hospital room.
Will didn’t realize him and Mike were still holding hands until the taller boy squeezed it one more time before letting go. The taller boy slowly stood up, before leaning down to whisper into his closest friend’s ear. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”
If anybody in the room noticed Mike kissing the top of Will’s forehead before he left, they didn’t say anything.
“Mom? Jonathan?” Will finally questioned when only his family was left in the dingy room, fiddling anxiously with the thin blankets beneath him.
“Baby. I-I’m-” Joyce started before a small sob escaped from her mouth, her head dipping down to rest on her son's leg.
Deep, dark, purple dread pooled into Will’s stomach, the familiar feeling of loss spreading to his fingertips. He sat there, frozen, desperately trying not to think of the reason Bob wasn’t here.
He couldn’t be dead. He must just be injured. He had to be just injured. Something must’ve happened to him - but that's okay because he was going to get better. Will was going to walk into his hospital room and give him a big hug, seeing his big smile and hearing his reassuring words. Everything is going to be fine. He can’t be dead, not Bob.
“Will.” Jonathon spoke, startling Will out of his desperate thoughts. He could see the tears in his big brother’s eyes as he struggled to speak. “I’m sorry. Will- Will he. He is.. Bob is dead.”
Everything stopped. Another sob came from his mother, and she wrapped her arms around his torso.
“No. No, he’s not dead. He can’t, he can’t be. I saw him, he was fine. He can’t- he can’t be-” Will rambled, looking for a lying, joking, or even comical look in Jonathan's eyes.
All he saw was grief.
Jonathon shook his head slowly, breaking eye contact with his brother to look at the ground. All the sudden everything became too much, the uncomfortable hospital bed, the too - bright overhead lights, the sound of his mother crying, the rough blanket between his hands. Everything was just- too much. Much too much.
Realization trickled into Will’s brain, dripping into his thoughts like acid. Bob was gone, and he was never going to come back. Bob was never going to give Will a hug again, he was never going to give him a pep talk again, never going to smile at him again, never going to reassure him everything was okay again. Never, ever, again.
Distantly Will could hear someone sobbing, much louder than his mother’s weeping or his brother’s snivels. Will felt sick as wave after wave of grief washed over him, each time as painful and new as the last.
He heard some shuffling moving around his hospital bed, and shortly after felt someone wrap their arms around his upper torso. Somewhere in his muddled mind Will knew it was Jonathon. The older boy pressed Will’s head into his chest, holding him tight.
All Will could do was violently sob as his family held him closely, all three of them reveling in the tragic, ruthless feeling of grief.
-
Mike sat outside Will’s hospital room, sitting anxiously on the hard, plastic chairs situated around the hospital hallways.
Nancy had tried to persuade her younger brother to go down to the hospital cafeteria with her to see his friends, but Mike couldn’t stomach the thought of leaving Will. Especially not right now. Mike had vigorously refused, even denying Hopper’s request of going for a quick car ride to clear his head.
He knelt down and put his hands over his head, feeling too many emotions at once. He felt so bad, and he desperately wanted to hug his small friend. Will didn’t deserve this, he didn’t deserve any of it. It was so much for one person, and Mike feared the day it would come crashing down onto Will.
A loud sob erupted Mike from his thoughts, causing him to flinch into a proper sitting position. Even through the thin walls he knew who it was coming from.
A terrible feeling punched him in the gut as he heard Will cry violently, incomprehensible words spilling from his mouth. Mike’s heart stung at each “no”, “please”, and “it’s not fair” he could hear coming from his friend in strangled sobs.
It was a lot, hearing someone you love in pain but not being able to even try and comfort them.
Mike stood up so suddenly that it could’ve given him whiplash. He didn’t leave the hallway, he didn't think anything in the world could ever make him leave that hallway, so instead he started pacing around the hall. He focused on his two feet in front of him and the sound of the clock above him.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Mike listened to the clock click a total of 840 times total before the door to Will’s hospital room finally opened once more.
Mike’s head shot up at the abrupt sound, looking up to see his friend’s older brother, Jonathan. An awkward stretch of silence sat between them, each boy taking in the other's appearance.
Jonathan had a red, blotchy face, and visible tear tracks were shown. His hands were shaking, and his hair was a disaster. Jonathon’s clothes were ruffled, and a large, wet stain was visible on the upper half of his shirt. The older brother evidently had very shaky breaths, and it almost looked as though it was hard for him to breathe. He looked exactly like someone who just had to tell their brother his new step dad was dead.
Mike knew he had tired, sunken eyes, and he was anxiously fidgeting on the hem of his shirt. He was sweaty, from the hospital’s on and off air conditioning or his overwhelming worry for Will he didn’t know. Mike had seen how terribly pale he looked in window reflections, and it did nothing but make the bags under his eyes more vibrant. He looked exactly like someone who’s best friend just found out his new step dad was dead.
Another tense 4 seconds of dreadful, thick silence passed between them, even though it felt like an hour to Mike.
“I…” Jonathan began, trying to break the awful silence between the two. He found he didn’t know what to say, still feeling extremely overwhelmed and overstimulated.
“Is he- is he okay?” Mike asked, trying to keep a conversation going to ensure the silence between them would dissolve, even though he knew he was asking a stupid question.
Jonathon sighed and hung his head to the ground, avoiding eye contact. “No. I don’t… I don’t think any of us are. He fell asleep a couple of minutes ago, though, which is better than me and mom, I guess.”
Mike nodded, even though he didn’t really understand. He only ever had to grieve for his friends, which he knew was not the same as grieving for a parent figure.
“I think he.. I think you help him. Comfort him, I mean. Just by being around.” Jonathan slowly spoke, still trying to find the right words to explain his thoughts.
Mike nodded, again, before hesitantly asked the older teen, “Do you think I should…?” Mike made hand gestures towards the door behind Jonathon.
“Yeah.. I think he needs it. You, I mean.” Jonathan whispered. He pretended not to notice the bright pink blush that covered Mike’s cheeks. “Let me just- get mom out of this room. She needs to eat something and drink something that is not hospital coffee. I think she would be okay with it if she knew he would wake up to you.”
Mike nodded, something he seemed to be doing a lot of lately, before sitting back down into the chair next to Will’s hospital room. He ignored how hot his face felt at the thought of Will needing him. Jonathon walked back into his brother’s room, and after a couple moments of hushed talking, came out with Joyce.
Joyce smiled meekly at Mike, muttering a quick ‘thank you’ before walking down the white halls with her oldest son.
Mike peeked into the hospital room, seeing Will peacefully sleeping in his hospital bed. The boy hesitantly tiptoed to his original seat next to his friend’s resting place. Looking him over, he saw just how wrecked Will looked. His eyes were puffy and red, even when they were currently closed, and his face was even more blotchy than Jonathon’s. Mike thought it was nice seeing him sleeping, though. Will always looked more at peace when he was asleep, aside from his nightmares of course.
Will suddenly stirred in his sleep, and Mike couldn’t help but hold his breath. To his relief, though, the smaller boy settled back into his rest.
As slowly as humanly possible, Mike gently slid his hand into Will’s open one. A feeling he only ever got when touching Will bubbled from his hand to his chest, and warmth spread from Will’s hand to his.
The tall boy carefully reached up to his friend’s head with his free hand, and soulfully brushed Will’s hair from his eyes. Mike’s finger’s continued to brush through the boy's hair, treating Will’s head like the most fragile thing in the universe.
“Hey, dearie.” A voice snapped Mike out of his trance, pulling his eye’s from his friend’s sleeping form like it was the worst thing he’s ever had to do.
A sweet looking nurse was walking into the room, pushing a metal cart in front of her. The cart had two shelves total, the top shelf lined with sandwiches wrapped in plastic wrap, and the second shelf crowded with cups of water and juice boxes.
Mike pulled his hand that was gliding through Will’s hair away, a bit too quickly, looking at the nurse hesitantly. He kept his hand firmly in Will’s, though, refusing to let it go. Even if it kind of scared him.
Gleefully to him, though, the nurse just smiled at him and gestured towards her cart.
“I’ve just come to deliver food and water, sweetie. I was thinking that the little family in here could use some nutrients, but it seems it's just you in here, hm?” The nurse explained, parking her food cart in front of Mike.
“Haha.. yeah.” Mike responded, a bit awkwardly, as he looked over the food in front of him.
“Choose whichever sandwich you like, honey! There is ham and baloney, which back in my day would’ve been a spectacular selection in a hospital like this.”
Mike picked out a ham sandwich, as he knew Will despised baloney. He also picked out an orange juice box for his friend, placing the two items on a small table near Will’s bed.
After a moment of both Mike and the nurse looking at each other expectantly, the lady spoke once again. “Sweetheart, you should probably grab a sandwich for yourself, too. You’ve been here a while, I can tell, and you won’t be of any use for your little friend here if you starve.’
Mike blinked at the nurse’s bluntness, before pushing aside his stubbornness and grabbing a glass of water and ham sandwich for himself, too.
The lady beamed at this, before saying her goodbyes and walking towards the exit of the hospital room. Before she left, though, she turned to Mike once more and smiled gently.
“I can tell you love him a lot. He’s lucky to have you, dear.”
Mike’s entire body swallowed up in heat as the Nurse walked out the room, and it took him a good two minutes to calm himself down.
He wondered when exactly Will started to have such a drastic effect on him, but a part of him knew he never didn’t.