Chapter Text
Smoke surrounded him, his body engulfed in flames. He couldn’t see, his eyes felt scorched. He couldn’t smell anything but heat and coal. He couldn’t feel, his body was numb. He couldn’t hear over the roars of the fire around him.
He couldn’t breathe.
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The murmured sound of people talking around Will lulled him out of a hazy sleep.
He didn’t open his eyes at first, partially because he wasn’t 100% sure what he would awake too, and partially because his eyelids felt immensely heavy.
Instead, Will tried listening in to his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was - and possibly why he was there. There were definitely people talking around him, but all in hushed voices and whispers. They must be trying to not wake someone up, Will briefly thought, before realizing they must be trying to not wake him up.
He could hear the sounds of footsteps and louder chatter in the distance, muffled by what Will assumed to be thin walls around him. If he listened closely, he could almost make out a definitive dripping noise to the left of him. It was practically reassuring, the constant plop of - what he assumed was - liquid.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
Will suddenly registered the familiar sound of repetitive beeping beside him, more consistent than the much softer dripping, and he briefly wonders how he didn’t hear it before. It was a blaring noise compared to the more gentle, low, noises around him.
It suddenly occurred to Will that he was in a hospital room. His sense of touch suddenly kicked into overdrive, a stark difference to feeling completely numb when he first awoke.
Will’s entire body felt as though it was submerged in hot water, a tingly sensation especially on his outer arms and legs. To the right of him, he heard a shuffle of feet and noise move past him, and shortly after the sound of a door open and close. With the quiet talking now gone, Will took a moment to take in his surroundings.
He was laying on slightly uncomfortable, plastic - like, sheets, and a thin blanket was tucked up under his armpits, allowing his arms to lay above it. Will could feel someone’s sweaty hand entwined with his own on the bed, and he couldn’t really tell which hand the sweat was coming from.
An unpleasant rush of pain flashed over Will’s body, feeling like a mix of molten hot lava and strikingly cold ice water. The unexpected impression of pain caused him to tightly hold onto the hand that was holding his.
“W-will?” A familiar voice hesitantly whispered, and Will gathered the voice must be the owner of the hand he was now tightly holding. “Are you awake?”
Will leisurely cracked open his eyes slightly towards the voice, only to be met with the worried face of his best friend, Mike Wheeler.
“Will! Will you’re awake!” Mike said, a bit too loudly, making Will recoil just a bit. The pain from before had settled into a tedious pounding of pain in his body, and even just opening it increased the unpleasant feeling in threshold.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you in any pain- here I’ll go get your mom,” Mike started, sounding genuinely apologetic as he made a move to get up.
“Wait.” Will suddenly spoke out, coming out in a ragged whisper. His throat felt as though it was on fire. With all of his strength, the smaller boy pulled Mike back down into his seat with his hand. “I don’t ‘anna be alone.”
Mike frowned, but obliged, “Okay, but we have to tell the Nurse that you’re awake. And your mom. Jonathan is also here, and I think Nance’ is with him. The whole party is here, also. And, hell, even Hopper is here.”
Will gave Mike a genuine look of confusion, and even tilted his head for extra effect.
“Do you- do you remember what happened, Will?” Mike asked, a hint of pity evident in his voice.
Before Will was able to answer, though, the hospital room door opened to reveal Joyce and Hopper.
“Will!” Joyce cried, speed walking to her son with a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. “Are you okay? Are you in any pain?”
Will scrunched his eyes up in pain, and Mike took that as a cue to inform the adults of their short conversation. “He- um, he doesn’t like the noise. I don’t think he remembers much of what happened, I think.”
Seeing the disapproving glare coming from Hopper, Mike quickly added, “I- I was going to go and get you guys or a nurse or something when he woke up, but he didn’t want me to leave.”
Hopper nodded, noticing Will’s death grip on Mike’s hand, and figured his friend comforted him. Hopper crouched down to Will’s level as he opened his eyes again, before softly speaking. “Hey kid. I’m going to call a nurse down to get some more painkillers in your system. You are in pain, right?”
Will nodded, up and down, and even that action caused him great pain. Hopper urgently stood up to go and find a nurse as Joyce took his place kneeling beside her son.
“Hey, Will. How are you, sweety? Do you need anything? Water?” Joyce gently prompted, hoping to get a vocal response out of Will.
Will shakily nodded, before realizing he needed to actually tell his mother what he needed. Will took all of his strength and weakly mustered out a response. “Watr’? Please?”
“Of course, honey! I’ll be right back, I’ll just be a minute.” Joyce responded, standing up and quickly jogging out the door to fetch some water.
Will and Mike sat silently in the near-empty hospital room, Will’s hand still gripping onto to Mikes. The smaller boy’s head started to feel increasingly heavy, and he found it was getting more and more difficult to open his eyes after blinking. Everything felt as though it was in slow motion, and his body continued to ache and pound in pain. Will finally closed his eyes - and kept them closed-, exhaustion seeping into his veins. He wanted to sleep so badly it hurt, but he also desperately wanted to know why he was like this in the first place. Consciousness steadily slipped from his brain, and Will desperately tried to fight unconsciousness.
Mike could see that his friend was struggling to stay present, and a wave of protectiveness washed over him like it always did with Will. He knew that it was best for Will to stay awake, as he needed to tell the Nurse’s and Doctor’s where he was in pain so that they could help him. His family and friend’s were also very worried about him, and Mike knew for a fact that Dustin, Lucas, Eleven, and even Max would like to talk to him to ensure his wellness. Even for just a moment.
“Hey, Will,” Mike gently prodded, squeezing his best friend’s hand to try and ground him, “I need you to stay awake for me, just for a little while more.”
Will struggled to open his eyes to look at Mike. “It ‘urts.” He eventually mumbled out, sounding more in pain than before.
“I know, I know Will. We just have to wait for Hopper to bring a doctor and get you feeling better. Just a little longer, I promise.”
Will groaned in pain, abruptly squeezing his friend’s hand once more.
“Mikee… hurts evry’-where, can’t.. can’t breathe.” The smaller boy cried out, eyes shutting tightly and body stiffening up almost completely.
“Will it’s okay! It’s okay! Here, um, my breathing! Copy my breathing. In… out….” Mike panicked, placing his hand on Will’s chest reassuringly. After a few minutes of Will copying Mike’s breathing, his own steadied to a - basically - normal pace.
“Good job, good job Will. Just focus on my voice. Your mom will be back in one minute, I promise. You’re okay. You’re going to be okay.” The older boy rambled, looking up at the door expectantly, waiting for Joyce or Hopper or even a Nurse to walk in at any moment.
Almost as if on cue, Hopper and a man dressed in blue with a clipboard in hand came striding through the entrance, talking amongst each other.
Mike immediately spoke up from his position beside Will, one hand still on his chest and the other holding the smaller boy's hand. “He- he’s in a lot of pain! He seemed really scared, but I think I helped him a bit. Can you- can you help him?”
Hopper looked at Mike’s anxious demeanor, a sense of understanding flooding his brain. “He’ll be fine kid, I promise.”
The man beside him nodded, walking up to Will to look over him further, “He’s going to be okay. We just need to get him on different pain killers, then he’ll be feeling better in no time!”
Will squirmed in his bed, tears collecting in his eyes. Mike’s heart dropped at the sight of his close friend crying, and he gave Will another reassuring hand squeeze.
Joyce walked into the now crowded hospital room, rushing a bit. “I couldn’t find a water dispenser anywhere in this place!”
The mother handed the small cup of water to her son, a flimsy blue cup filled with lukewarm water. Hopper and Mike ungracefully helped pull Will up into a sitting position, allowing him to drink the hospital water. Will brought the cup to his lips and took a sip, grimacing as the liquid made its way down his throat. His throat was extremely dry, and it felt like he hadn’t dranken anything in weeks.
“So, Mr. Byers. How are you feeling? Any specific points of pain you need to point out?” The man asked Will, and that's when he took a moment to actually look at the man in front of him. He was the same doctor who had talked with him about his ‘ptsd’, back in Hawkins lab.
Will swung his head around, trying to figure out if he was actually in Hawkins lab this whole time. Apparently this motion was too much for his current state, though, because a pang of hot heat ran through his body like a waterfall.
“Don’t do that! You could hurt yourself.” Mike whispered to Will urgently, and the adults around him agreed. Will swallowed, his throat feeling a tad better now that he had his cup of water. He decided to ignore the doctor, and instead ask the ‘big question’, even though he was starting to dread the answer.
“Why? Why am I..?” The boy slowly motioned his arms around the room, hoping at least someone would understand what he was trying to say. He knew at least Mike would understand.
“You don’t remember, sweetheart?” Will’s mom asked, trying to keep her composure, even though she was quite obviously terrified.
Will shook his head ‘no’, before continuing, “I- I remember being in that messy room, I think it was our shed? And Jonathon was there, I think. And mom and mike. Hopper maybe too. That’s it, though.”
“Do you remember what we were doing?” Mike slowly asked, as no other person in the room was speaking and it was kind of worrying.
“You were… talking to me? About memories and stuff?” Will hesitantly answered, sounding unsure of his memory.
“Yes! Yes, yes we were.” Joyce exclaimed, happy that her son didn’t lose all his memories like previously expected, “The mind flayer. He’s gone now Will. We burned him out of you. He won’t get you again.”
Will blinked at his mother, before realization flushed onto his face. “He likes it cold. Oh.” He repeated, now understanding why he felt as if his body was on fire.
Before anyone else could say a word, Jonathan and Nancy walked into the room. Jonathan gasped when he saw his brother awake once again, shoving Hopper and the doctor to the side so he could kneel beside Will’s bed.
“Will! You’re awake. How are you feeling? Do you… do you remember me?” The older brother cringed at the thought of Will forgetting about him, he didn’t think he could take it if Will did.
Will smiled at Jonathan, even though it still kind of hurt to move his face. “Y-yeah. Jonathan.”
Jonathan smiled widely at his confirmation, pulling Will into an awkward side hug in order to keep him from being in more pain.
Will took a moment to evaluate the people around him. The fact that so many people were so concerned about him left him dumbfounded. His family, his friends, Mike, and even Hopper. Someone who he has thought was terrifying less than a year before, now standing by his hospital bed yet again.
Will’s pleasant smile dropped from his face when he realized someone was missing.
He searched around the room once more, in case he had just missed him, to no avail. Will looked over at his mom, slightly confused, before asking,
“Where’s Bob?”