Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“How much longer till we get home?” Mike whines from the backseat.

“We’re just outside Hawkins, Mike. We should be home soon.” Karen Wheeler replies, glancing back when Mike heaves a sigh.

“You should be thankful we went all the way to Indianapolis for this shopping trip.” Ted Wheeler says, unimpressed with his impatient son.

“I know you just want to get back to hang out with your friends, Mike, but you’ve been growing like a weed. Plus since your father needed some things from the city, it just made it easier to make one big trip.” Karen looks at Holly continuing to color in the seat behind Ted before giving Mike a subtle glare to stop irritating Ted.

Mike exasperatedly frowns out the window with his arms crossed, trying not to mourn the loss of time that he could have spent playing D&D with The Party.

“Yeah, but we were supposed to start a new campaign today. Now it has to be postponed to next week.” Mike complains, put out with the entire dilemma of a day spent with family.

“That’s what happens when you get older. People get jobs. Or they play sports instead of spending days never seeing the sun sitting in a basement playing games,” Ted drones on, eyes focused on the road.

Mike’s frown deepens, but he chooses to not continue this age old argument with his father. He was irritated because Dustin had gotten a job which meant he would have less time to hang out, and Lucas was back on the basketball team so he was always busy with practices. And his father never failed to let him know that he was disappointed in his lack of desire to get a job this summer.

Honestly, Mike was looking forward to spending more time with Will this summer. But things have been weird between them lately. Even though it had been over a year since Vecna and everything happening with the Upside Down, Mike still felt disconnected from Will. It almost felt like Will was pulling away. Even after Mike had told him he didn’t want to lose him in California, things hadn’t been the same. Some would chalk it up to growing up or growing apart, but Mike knew Will.

After the Byers had moved back to Hawkins last summer, he and Will had a sorely needed conversation, with Mike desperately apologizing and begging Will for forgiveness.

Will being Will, had of course offered Mike his forgiveness. But things didn’t go back to normal. Sure, it took time for things to be fixed, but he desperately wanted his best friend back, and seemed unable to accomplish it. LIke Will was just out of reach.

At Will’s birthday party in March, Mike gave Will a mixtape that he spent days trying to curate the perfect list of songs. Will had blushed so much when he opened Mike’s present, which thankfully he had done so in private. Other people did not need to know how much Mike cared about Will.

At this point, his crush on Will was becoming a little pathetic. Mike was constantly stealing glances at Will that quickly turned into long drawn out stares that Will had caught him at several times. He hadn’t said anything to Mike about the staring, but Mike would always smile when he caught Will blushing. Sometimes it was just the tips of his ears turning red, other times his whole face would look like a strawberry. Will was very cute when he blushed.

Shaking his head to drag himself into the present, Mike noticed that they were coming up the welcome sign for Hawkins.

Good, Mike thinks, not too much longer till he would be back home. Maybe Will could stay the night so they could hang out all day tomorrow.

After dealing with literal monsters, Mike figured not a lot would phase him. Coming close to death multiple times does that to a person apparently. But at least with monsters he could run and hide or even fight. Apparently none of that applied to a car crash.

The twisting and screeching of metal was louder than a gunshot going off. His body seemed stuck in motion. Unable to stop his body as the car slammed to a stop, the seat belt cutting into his throat causing him to choke on and screams he might have voiced. Glass was shattering, it was difficult to orient directions with how slow everything seemed to be moving in comparison to his brain.

More crunching of metal as tires squealed along asphalt, jolting the car hard to the side. Mike feels his head hit the glass, bouncing off the only unbroken window.

His last conscious thought was, This is gonna kill Will, before darkness overtakes his vision.

——————————————————

“Mike is running late.” Dustin sighs, tapping his finger against the table.

“They did drive all the way to Indianapolis, so not a short car ride.” Will tries to intervene.

“Yeah, but he said he would be back by 3:30. It’s almost 4:30.” Dustin dramatically collapses face down on the table.

“Well it’s not like we can start without the Dungeon Master, so we’re kinda stuck here till he gets back.” Lucas half heartedly flips another page of one of the comics laying around the basement with .

“At least Nancy was here to let us in.” Will says.

“I didn’t realize she was visiting from college. I thought she got a summer internship or something?” Lucas asks.

“Did Jonathan know?” Dustin raises his face to frown.

“He seemed just as surprised to see her as we did when we pulled up.” Will says.

“Hmm” Dustin shared a look with Will. That probably didn’t mean anything good for the two of them.

“Well I don’t have practice tomorrow since it is Sunday, so I can stay late.” Lucas continues obliviously, missing everything between Will and Dustin.

“Yeah, shift doesn’t start till 11 for me tomorrow, so I can stay late, too.” Dustin excitedly smiles.

Bored silence descends upon the group.

“Want to put on a movie since Mike is taking his sweet ass time to get here?” Dustin pipes up.

“We could order pizza or something for dinner, if you guys want.” Will says. It would probably be a good idea to order soon, so they could get food at a decent hour.

“I haven’t had pizza in weeks. Coach has us all on these fancy athlete diets. I hate it.” Lucas complains.

“And you actually stick to it?” Dustin asks.

“Well…” Lucas trails off. Hunching in slightly with embarrassment.

“So pizza?” Will raises an eyebrow.

A phone rings upstairs. It rings several times before they hear Nancy running down the stairs before picking up the phone.

Looking at the ceiling Dustin mutters, “Maybe Mike is calling to say he’s stranded in Indianapolis.”

“Ugh. With his dad, that would be a nightmare.” Lucas chuckles. “Not a fun family outing”

Dustin snorts.

There is a clattering as plastic hits the hardwood floor before Nancy screams, “Jonathan!”

They all shoot up at attention. Nancy hardly ever raises her voice, let alone screams in a panic like that.

“Jonathan!” Nancy hollers, scrambling to put the phone back on the wall.

Dustin and Lucas scramble to the stairs with Will close behind. They all rush up the stairs, a stampede of feet, before throwing open the door to see Jonathan slide on socked feet as he darts over to Nancy.

Nancy grabs onto his arm, as she tries to get her bearings, her face is steadily growing whiter.

Trying to catch her scattered gaze, Jonathan puts his hands on her upper arms, forcing her to halt any movements.

“What happened?” Jonathan asks.

Wide panicked blue eyes finally latch on to Jonathans’ before she manages to force out, “The hospital. Something happened to my parents. That was the hospital.”

“The hospital?!” Dustin yells.

“Are they ok?” Lucas asks.

“What happened?” Dustin calls out as everyone seems frozen.

Will just stands, slightly squished between Dustin and Lucas, not able to say anything. He immediately starts running through worst case scenarios in his head.

Lucas grabs his upper arm, grip tighter than he normally would. When Will glances over, Lucas seems to be trying to make sure he is ok. Almost like he was covering for Mike.

Because that was normally Mike’s job. When something went down, Mike was the one that always checked in with Will. But since it was Mike that might be in trouble, his unofficial second in command had stepped up. Plus Dustin wasn’t the most emotionally capable of the Party, so if anyone was going to keep tabs on Will in Mike’s absence, it would be Lucas.

Will manages a small nod, and Lucas lets up his grip, but doesn’t release his arm.

Trying to keep a straight face, Jonathan asks, “Where are the keys?”

Glancing around the kitchen, Nancy tries to make her way to the chair her purse is sitting in, but Jonathan still has hold of her arms so she’s not able to go far.

“Nancy, where are the keys? I’ll drive.” Jonathan tells her with a slight shake to her right arm, trying to bring Nancy back to the present.

Distress that had been bleeding into her expression with every second that passed slows. Forcing a deep breath, Nancy whispers, “My purse. The keys are in my purse.”

“Ok,” Jonathan says, before turning to the kids with slight dismay and telling them, “Go ahead and get in the car. Not like you’ll stay put after all this”

They race to the car, clambering in the backseat, not a word spoken between them.

Jonathan and Nancy are right behind them, and they are reversing out of the driveway in seconds.

Will has felt scared before. He is practically the master of being scared and terrified. But this? This is completely different. The dull roar of an oncoming panic attack is growing, so he concentrates on keeping his breathing even, taking comfort in the press of bodies from Lucas and Dustin on either side.

He just hopes that Mike is ok.

Chapter Text

Hospital waiting rooms were the worst.

Thankfully Will had managed to escape frequent use of them, only due to the issue of him normally being the one in the hospital. This was decidedly worse. Waiting for the unknown, some kind of answer. Slowly driving a person insane. He briefly wondered if this was how his mom felt. Sitting in a white walled room with no information, just hope that dwindled as the hours passed.

Nancy had been taken back by a nurse a while ago, so now they were just waiting on her return.

The rest of them just sat in silence, the windows of the hospital showing beautiful sunsets of colors, something Will would love to paint. But white noise filled his brain. He picked at a loose thread in his pants trying to distract himself.

Spiraling wasn’t something he could allow himself to do. So he tried to think of anything except Mike. Which was difficult since so many of his thoughts were about him. Especially recently.

He just felt so overwhelmed with how he felt about Mike sometimes. He should be so much better at hiding this crush, but then Mike would do something and make Will fall more in love with him. It could be something completely stupid and it took everything Will had to not just burst and kiss him.

Since Dustin and Lucas had been busier this summer, Mike and Will had been spending more time just the two of them. It was so easy to slip back into how they used to be. Touching with ease, cuddling on the couch, easy laughter, bright carefree smiles, it was just so simple. It was Mike and Will. Will and Mike. That was just how their relationship worked.

As soon as you threw someone else in the mix though, Will felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on him. Jerking him out of an impossible fantasy and back into reality.

So Will had to stop. It wasn’t fair. But it was better for both of them this way. The ache for Mike’s presence would ease with time. They would grow up, leave Hawkins. Mike would get married one day. And Will would continue to silently love him from afar.

They just needed some distance between them. And for some reason Mike wasn’t getting the subtle hints so Will had to be the bad guy and pull away. For Mike, he would tell himself. It was for Mike.

Now as he sat in the hard plastic chairs Will was regretting everything. Mike had wanted to get a campaign started earlier in the year, but everyone had been too busy. And Will knew that spending hours with Mike going over D&D stuff would not help his crush in the slightest. So he had fumbled through excuses anytime Mike asked.

Mike brought up a short campaign idea he had recently, though, and miraculously all their schedules lined up. So what was supposed to be the day for the campaign had been shortened when Mike’s family dragged him shopping.

Which was fine. Mike had grown like a weed and desperately needed new clothes. While it was cute to see what fun socks Mike had on or even some ankle when he didn’t wear socks with his jeans, it had gotten a little ridiculous.

So his family had taken a shopping trip since his dad needed something in Indianapolis anyway. And this was season 3 of the campaign, so it didn’t have to be a super long one. Just meant that the finale would be longer. They could make a sleepover out of it or something.

Whatever they ended up doing, Will knew that he would never say no to Mike after this. This pit of despair was something he wouldn’t wish on anyone. And the longer he sat stewing, the more he realized that Mike had to have felt like this anytime he was in the hospital.

Breath hitching, Will could feel his eyes start to water as he quickly fell down that thought trap.

Before he could get too much farther with his thoughts, though, Nancy walks out the doors. Instead of the typical proud and strong Nancy Wheeler she always portrayed, this one had her arms wrapped around herself as if trying to hide away from the world. Red rimmed eyes and streaky makeup did little to calm any of Will’s panic.

She took a shaky breath before looking around the room, quickly finding where everyone had taken over a small corner of the waiting room. Her usually confident steps turned to dragging feet as she made her way over.

She sits delicately in the seat next to Jonathan, who quickly draps his arm over her shoulders, pulling her into his side. She goes easily, soaking up the affection and comfort.

“Any news?” Dustin breaks the silence wearily.

Her body shudders before she whispers, “A car accident.”

Clearing her throat, she repeats louder, “There was a car accident.”

Ice cold horror sliced through Will. There were so many things that could happen in a car accident.

Jonathan squeezes Nancy’s shoulder, as if trying to take some of her suffering away.

“My parents,” she says, looking down as a few stray tears fell, “They…they didn’t make it.”

Everyone stiffens. After all they had been through, who knew that the Upside Down would one day be the least of their worries.

Will could feel his eyes widen and his breathing pick up. His hands were shaking. Mike. What about Mike? Was Mike ok? He needed to know. But at the same time he didn’t want to know. Keep living in ignorance.

“A-And Mike?” Dustin chokes out, grabbing Will’s hand tight, as if trying to anchor himself to the moment. Asking what he knew Will couldn’t.

“He and Holly are ok at the moment.” She grabs a kleenex from the end table next to her seat to wipe her eyes. “The doctors say that they are in surgery at the moment. They were trying to list off injuries, but I sorta stopped listening after a while.”

“My parents are dead.” She says, blank eyes staring off at nothing. Drawing her knees up to hug them to her chest, trying to become as small as possible, scrunching her body into the stiff seat, and hiding her head as her shoulders begin to shake with silent sobbing.

——————————————————

Even though she stopped crying about ten minutes ago, they have not been able to get any more information out of Nancy. Thankfully a nurse calls out for her, jolting Nancy out of the dissociative state she had entered.

As she stands up, she takes Jonathan’s hand and turns to the kids, “You should all come with me. You might be able to get more out of this than I probably will at the moment."

Just having Nancy confirm that she even realizes how out of it she is makes the knot in Will’s stomach squeeze.

Following the nurse, they are led down bleak sterile halls, beeps from various medical equipment filling the silence. Eventually they make their way to a room that contains an impossibly small Holly Wheeler on it. Looking at her, there almost seems to be more machines and tubes visible than her on the bed. Her small body seeming even smaller on the hospital bed.

“Micheal is still in surgery” informs the Nurse, looking down at her clipboard. “Holly had some internal bleeding, and they had to set her arm.”

A bright pink cast is on her left arm and Will hopes that is the worst of it. Of course their luck is never that good, though, because the Nurse continues, almost carefully.

“She has injuries to her spine. We have some X-rays, and are working on what the best solution would be. We aren’t sure, but she may have damaged her spinal cord. We are going to take her for a CT scan to get a better look.”

“Right now,” she continues with an exhausted breath, “We are most worried about the concussion. She hit her head pretty hard, so we are monitoring that closely.”

Too many injuries. That was too many injuries for a little girl to have, Will mourns. Biting his lip and twisting his shirt sleeves he tries to not think about what this might mean for Mike. Was he worse off than Holly?

“Do you think…the spinal cord injury…”Jonathan interrupts Will’s thoughts. “Will we know…about walking?”

Nancy stiffens at his side, while Will sucks in a breath. Walking. Holly might have issues walking. Spinal injuries often cause life long issues or complications.

Before Will can bite through his entire lower lip, Dustin grabs his arm and forces him to take his hand in a tight grip.

“We won’t know more until after the scans. And once she wakes up.” The Nurse answers. “Right now, that is what we are most worried about, any injuries to her brain. We hope she wakes up soon.”

It hits Will like a brick to the gut. The doctors aren’t sure Holly is going to be ok. They aren’t certain she’s going to wake up. Will tightens his grip on Dustin’s hand, reaching out to Lucas with his other hand, who quickly takes it.

“What about Mike?” Will manages to croak through his growing panic.

Turning to him, the Nurse tries to smile, as if trying to offer some relief from her answer, but it does nothing except wind his emotions into a tighter ball.

“Mike has a concussion as well, but we were more worried about the internal bleeding when he first came in.” Turning back to Nancy she continues, “He had a broken rib that punctured his lung. The surgery should be just about done, so he should be out shortly. Thankfully the punctured lung wasn’t too much of an issue and we were able to stop the internal bleeding fairly quickly. He’ll be hooked up to a breathing machine to monitor everything, but we have high hopes for a good recovery.”

If things were more relaxed, Will would laugh. Mike? A good patient? Out of the entire party he was the worst when he got sick. He had to be the most impatient person Will knew. Anytime Mike got sick he was awful to keep in bed. He would show up to school looking half dead, saying he was fine. This was going to be a nightmare if the doctors expected Mike to rest without putting up a fight.

——————————————————

Mike’s surgery had finally finished. The doctors had wheeled him in several hours ago. Things had been a morbid silence since, everyone sitting in various seats in either Mike or Hollys’ rooms.

Will jolted as he felt his head begin to fall as his body tried to force him to sleep. Shaking his shoulders he met Nancy’s tired eyes across the room. She had been sitting by Mike’s bedside for hours, just holding his hand.

With a weak smile Nancy says, “You guys should go home and sleep in a real bed.”

“No.” Will immediately protests. “I can’t…I mean, we can’t leave. You shouldn’t have to go through this alone.”

Shaking her head, Nancy tells him, “They’re both just going to be sleeping for the next several days. Not like anything exciting is going to happen. You guys should try and get some real sleep in a real bed while you can.”

Not giving Will a chance to respond, Nancy turns to Jonathan, asleep in the chair near her, and carefully shakes him awake. Jolting awake, Jonathan’s eyes dart around the room, before he remembers where he is.

Turning to Nancy, she says, “You should take Will and the rest of the kids home so they can sleep in a real bed tonight.”

Jonathan opens his mouth, but Nancy pleads, “You guys can help, but I think tonight you should go home. Let everyone know what is going on.”

There must have been something in Nancy’s expression, because to Will’s surprise, his brother doesn’t put up a fight. Instead he stretches, before standing up. Lucas and Dustin are able to read the room for once and just carefully stand up, stretching unused muscles as they make their way out of Mike’s room.

Jonathan walks over to Will, placing his hand on his shoulder. “He’ll still be here when we come back tomorrow.”

Glancing up at Jonathan, Will takes one more look at Mike. Hooked up to machines, a breathing tube down his throat, bruises and bandages over various smaller injuries, Will would do anything to just crawl into that hospital bed and hug him. Hide him away from the world. But since he can’t do that, he just squeezes Mike’s hand from where he had been holding it for at least the last hour.

Will slowly gets up and follows his brother out the door. Thank god for older brothers, Will thinks, as Jonathan just silently puts his arm around Will shoulders in a side hug as they walk down the hallway.

——————————————————

As thankful as Nancy is to have people there to support her, she also knows she needs a little bit of time. A few hours to herself. To cry. To grieve. Without other eyes watching. She knows they won’t judge her, but she has always been such a strong person to them. She doesn’t want them to see her break.

She cries, grasping Mike’s pale hand as the night hours creep by. At some point she makes her way back to Holly’s room, but somehow it’s worse seeing her baby sister hooked up to all of the various machines. Her frail, tiny body swallowed by the hospital bed, the lack of life she has as she sleeps, Nancy is unable to stay longer than a few minutes before heading back to Mike’s room.

She sleeps for a few restless hours before waking around 4. Wandering the halls, she finds a vending machine, grabbing a snack, before stumbling upon the holy grail. A coffee maker. She pours two cups and walks slowly back.

She has been sitting for half an hour at most when she hears the blaring of machines. Too close. She rushes to the doorway and sees nurses running to Holly’s room.

Terrified, Nancy tries to elbow her way past people to see what is going on. Someone holds her back.

Struggling, Nancy yells, “That’s my sister!”

The arms don’t let up. Instead, she’s pulled back as Holly’s bed is wheeled out of her room and down a hallway.

“What’s happening!?” she screams. Why isn’t anyone answering her?

A different nurse suddenly comes up to her, asking, “Are you family to Holly Wheeler?”

“She’s my sister!” Nancy tries not to yell.

“Follow me.” The nurse tells her, leading her to where Holly was wheeled.

From there, Nancy is instructed to wait. Something had happened, but the doctors were looking into it. That they will tell her once they have more information.

They tell her everything should be fine. That the doctors will take care of it.

Nancy just sits in a new hard chair, praying that Holly will be ok.

——————————————————

Fifteen minutes. Only fifteen minutes.

A doctor and nurse come out of the room Holly had been wheeled into. Nancy looks up, hoping they have more information.

“Are you Nancy Wheeler?” The nurse has a kind smile as they walk over.

“Yes.” Nancy meekly answers, going to get up, before the doctor quickly motions her to stay seated.

“Do you have any parents…” The nurse asks.

Sucking in a breath, Nancy tries to control the trembling in her voice. “...No. Just me.”

“Miss Wheeler,” The doctor starts, “There’s no easy way to tell you…”

Static.

Static.

No.

Not that.

Anything but that.

What have I done to deserve this?

Why?!

Why!!

At least the nurse is kind enough to hug her tight as she cries.

Chapter Text

Will shoveled cereal quickly into his mouth, the faster he finished breakfast the faster he could go visit Mike.

“Slow down, hun.” Joyce looked over exasperated at her normally polite son inhaling his food. “We won’t get there quicker if you choke on breakfast first.”

Will just looked up and continued to spoon cereal into his mouth before focusing back on the soggy cereal. If he responded he would have to slow down, and that wasn’t an option at the moment.

Joyce just rolled her eyes.

Jonathan stumbled into the kitchen still in pajamas. Yawning, he shuffled over to get a glass of milk. “Morning.”

“Morning Jonathan.” Joyce greets as Will just hummed in acknowledgement.

Ten minutes later Will was lacing his shoes getting ready to leave when the phone rang.

Heart rate picking up, Will had to quickly put a stop to any panicking thoughts. It was probably someone else. Mike was fine. He was at the hospital. It was fine.

“Nancy?!” Surprised, Jonathan tightened his grip on the phone on worry.

Hearing it was Nancy on the phone, Will’s head shot up. He quickly went over to stand by Jonathan. Worry started to settle uncomfortably in his stomach. Had something happened? Why was Nancy calling?

“Wait. What!” Jonathan exclaims.

Will desperately tried to make eye contact with Jonathan, but he turned away, focusing on the phone call.

Not wanting to go too far from the phone, Will leaned against the wall, fingers digging into the long sleeves of the sweater he wore. He tried to keep his breathing even, but he knew that wouldn’t last forever. He needed to know what was happening!

Nancy was doing most of the talking, Jonathan responding with quiet words, before he carefully hung up the phone.

He let out a heavy sigh and ran his hand over his face, still turned away from Will.

“Jonathan…?” Will stammers.

“Shit.”

Full on panic was starting to settle in. Will could feel his hands shaking, his knees starting to feel weak. Not Mike. Anybody but Mike. He should have been there, should have tried harder to stay last night.

Jonathan seemed to realize that he had been silent for too long, because he quickly turned around and grabbed Will’s shoulders hard. Grounding.

“Mike’s fine.” He says, starting hard into Will’s eyes. “Mike is fine. He’s ok.”

All the air wooshed out of his lungs, Will hadn’t even realized he had been holding his breath.

He felt dizzy with relief for 5 seconds. If Mike was fine, why would Nancy call… “Holly.” Will realizes.

Jonathan gave a small nod before licking his lips and taking a breath. “Yeah. Umm… There was internal bleeding and they…had to do emergency surgery early this morning.”

Will waited for Jonathan to continue, but it seemed like he was stuck. “Is she ok…”

“She didn’t make it.” Jonathan rushed out as Will was talking.

“What?”

“Yeah. She lost too much blood, and they weren’t able to…”

Tears started to well up. Dear sweet Holly. A beacon of light, such a bright and innocent child. Gone. It couldn’t be possible.

Will quickly pulled Jonathan into a hug, holding him tight so he wouldn’t slip away. A moment later and more arms wrapped around both of them, with soft murmurs.

They all stood in their small huddle for a while, taking in the familial comfort, hiding away from the real world for a short while.

——————————————————

His mom had made the decision that she was going to take Jonathan and Will to the hospital, and visit Nancy, too. Honestly, Will appreciate the extra support. It felt like he was stuck moving in slow motion while the rest of the world was on fast forward. There had been too much happening at once. Too much potential for disaster or things to go wrong.

He couldn’t even imagine how Nancy was dealing with any of this. It hadn’t even been 24 hours and everything about their life had changed. Will tried not to panic, but he couldn’t help but worry about what Nancy and Mike were going to do in the near future.

Nancy was supposed to start college in the fall, and Mike still had senior year at the high school. This could drastically change both of those plans.

Will tried to shake off those kinds of thoughts as the Byers made their way into the hospital, walking right past the main desk and back to where they knew Mike’s room was.

And there, sitting leaning over her knees, clutching a cup, staring vacantly off into the wall. Someone had been kind enough to put a blanket over her shoulders. But her eyes, her face. She looked like she had aged a decade overnight. Her face was puffy and curly brown hair pulled back in a short ponytail.

She didn’t move or even seem to notice them as the three of them came to a stop.

“Nancy, hun-?” Joyce attempts to get her attention.

Nothing. Just continued staring. As if she was sleeping with her eyes open.

Joyce carefully put a hand on her shoulder.

Instead of a jolt like Will expected, Nancy simply turned her head to look at Joyce. And without any words, his mom went into full caring mom mode and gathered Nancy into a tight hug. It quickly turned to soft desperate wails as Nancy grabbed Joyce, not wanting to let go.

His mom simply tucked Nancy closer to her, running a hand down her back and trying to sooth her.

Deciding to give Nancy some privacy, Will quickly padded away, brushing Jonathan’s arm as he left to imply that he should come too. They both slowly walked to where they knew the coffee was kept in silence, filling four cups. It was definitely going to be a multi-cup day.

They stayed by the coffee for around 20 minutes before heading back to Mike’s room. His mom had moved Nancy into Mike’s room, both sitting on a couple chairs on the far side, huddled together.

Will looked at Mike as he walked into the room. He hated seeing his best friend like this. Normally so full of life and energy, always talking or doing something, now still and pale almost blending in with the white hospital sheets. Jonathan quickly made his way to Nancy’s side, while Will headed over to Mike.

He carefully took Mike’s hand, curling his hand around it, trying to remind himself that Mike was ok. He was still alive. He hadn’t lost him.

Around lunch time, Jonathan managed to convince Nancy to go with him to get food. Just a quick run to get some fast food and get her out of the depressing hospital. Get some fresh air in her lungs.

His mom had been sitting quietly with him in the room when one of the machines began to speed up.

There had been slight changes throughout the morning, so at first they didn’t think anything of it.

Instead of stabilizing, it started getting faster.

And faster.

Will jumped up and hit the call button for a nurse. Something wasn’t right! And he couldn’t lose Mike. He couldn’t.

“Mike.” Will calls out. “You have to hold on.”

Even though he knew Mike couldn’t hear him, he started getting desperate, “You have to hang on. You can’t go. You can’t leave me!”

Two nurses rushed into the room and quickly began taking stock of the situation.

Frantic, Will tried to keep ahold of Mike’s hand. He couldn’t leave him if Will never let him go.

But his mother pulled him back from the bed. Away from Mike.

More nurses were coming into the small room. More machines were wailing, and Will was panicking.

His breathing sped up, a clammy feeling working its way down his trembling arms. Thankfully whatever weird sixth sense his mother had, made her realize that he was falling into a panic attack.

She grabbed his face in her hands and forced him to look away from Mike and into her eyes.

The soothing tones did little to calm him, though. He couldn’t even make out what she was saying, everything was starting to fuzz out.

Abruptly he found himself being forced to sit in a chair. Colliding with the seat must have jump started something, because he quickly sucked in a huge shuddering breath. Before coming back to and realizing that his mom was almost yelling at him to breathe.

Oops. Apparently he had stopped breathing.

After a few moments of actually breathing, his mom’s grip on his face loosened. Will carefully turned to see what was happening with Mike.

He was gone.

“...surgery. Will, honey, they’ve taken him to surgery. He’s still with us, baby.”

Words. His mom was trying to tell him something. He zeroed in on what she was saying, using all he had to focus on the words coming out of her mouth.

“Will, keep breathing.” she soothes. “It’ll be ok. Just need you to focus on me. And keep breathing.”

He manages a stuttering nod, sucking in air as he tries to claw away from the oncoming panic.

It could have been five minutes, it could have been an hour, but at some point Jonathan and Nancy come back with lunch.

Lunch that now sits cold on the table as they sit waiting for any updates regarding Mike.

——————————————————

Will jolts awake, startled by whatever he had been dreaming about.

It takes him several seconds to realize where he is. Apparently he had fallen asleep almost as soon as Mike had returned from his emergency surgery. Looking at the clock, he sees that it is almost seven. The darkened sky peaking through the blinds confirms that the sun had set.

He looks back over to Mike, and realizes that Nancy is the only other one in the room, leaning over and holding his hand, she’s fast asleep. Will grimaces for the back pain she’s going to be in later.

Taking a moment, Will stretches out his arms, popping his back with a grunt. He warrily stands up before making his way into the hall and to the machine of life.

He grabs a cup of coffee for Nancy after a moment of consideration. Hopefully she’ll stay asleep, but Will doubts she will. Either way, she has to be exhausted. And while coffee at seven in the evening is not recommended, he figures that a traumatic experience overrides that.

When he gets back to Mike’s room he sees that Nancy is actually awake.

He places the hot cup on the table next to her and quietly says, “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

Exhausted, Nancy still tries to reassure him, “Thanks. And no, one of the nurses popped in here and had to run some tests.”

Frowning, Will realizes that he must have been at the coffee station longer than he thought. He’ll have to be careful to not space out like that again. At this point, they all just need to sleep for a week straight.

“They said he should wake up soon.”

“Really?” Will asks.

“Yeah, I was surprised too.” Nancy manages a small smile. “But the nurse said he should wake up on his own sometime within the next twelve hours.”

Will finds himself relaxing for the first time in well over 24 hours. “Good. Great.”

He smiles back, “That’s great, Nancy.”

“They aren’t worried about any…?”

“No.” Nancy affirms. “They said they did a scan for any more internal bleeding. And he’ll have to stay in the hospital for a few days to make sure he’s in the clear.”

“Good thing they caught it when they did.” Will stares down at Mike’s new additions to the multiple bandages he already had with remorse.

Nancy tightens her grip on her coffee cup, “I wish they could have done the same with Holly.”

“Sorry.” She mutters.

“Don’t.” Will interrupts whatever she was going to say. “A lot of shit went down. You shouldn’t be expected to keep everything together. You’re just a kid like the rest of us.”

…

“Mike does make a point to say how wise you are.” Nancy chuckles.

Heat rushes across Will’s face as he quickly ducks his head in embarrassment.

“I’m trying not to think too much about the future. But I get stuck in my head sometimes.” Nancy admits.

Surprised that Nancy had actually opened up to her, Will comes to a conclusion. “You’ll both be staying with us.”

“What?” Nancy looks confused, but also hopeful.

Nodding, “You and Mike. You’ll both stay with us and we’ll help you guys figure everything out.”

“But…”

“You shouldn’t have to figure this out by yourself, Nancy.”

“I know you’re 18, but there’s probably going to be stuff that even you don’t know.” Will smirks.

“You’d let us stay with you guys?” Nancy asks.

“Of course.” No questions asked. He knew his family would do anything for the Wheelers. But especially for Mike and Nancy. “You guys shouldn’t be by yourself right now, anyway.”

“Your mom will probably be helpful in figuring some stuff out.” Nancy reluctantly admits. It’s obvious she doesn’t want to accept any handouts, but at the same time there is a part of her that seems to realize that she can’t do this alone.

“And I’ll help with Mike. He’s the absolute worst whenever he gets hurt or sick, but I guess I’ll take on that task.” Will sasses. “And I don’t know what Jonathan will do, but we’ll find something for him to do.

Nancy lets out a small laugh. “So sassy. Good to know there’s a sense of humor under all that meekness that you had growing up.”

His blush comes back with a vengeance, pinking his entire face.

“It’s good to see you more confident.” Nancy tells him.

Will decides that he is done with this conversation if it just means more embarrassment for him.

“I managed to convince your mom to let you stay tonight.”

Will looks up, shocked.

Nancy smiles, “I know you probably don’t want to be separated from Mike right now. So I talked with your mom.”

“And she really said yes?”

Nancy smirks, “Took a little convincing on my part.”

“But I don’t think either of us wanted to separate you anyway.” Nancy says with a soft and knowing smile.

Suspicious, Will decides it’s in his best interest to not ask too many questions. “Thanks.”

Nancy leans over and reaches into a bag that was on the floor next to her. “Jonathan brought some stuff for you while you were asleep. Something to occupy your mind instead of going insane with worry.”

Sheepish, Will ducks his head, “Is it that obvious?”

“Only to people that really know you.” Nancy hands him a soft cover book, worn and well read. The Hobbit.

Will smiles, before opening the book and starting to read. Thankfully Nancy doesn’t seem put off at all by the end of the conversation.

A couple hours later some nurses come by and turn off the lights, except for a few lamps for anyone staying overnight. Both Will and Nancy manage to last another hour before sleep claims them.

Both have one of Mike’s hands in theirs as they fall asleep. Comforted by the warmth and proof of life it provides.

Will hopes that Mike wakes up tomorrow. They don’t need any more complications. No more emergencies. It feels good to take a few moments to rest, knowing that Mike will still be there when he wakes.

Chapter Text

His eyes felt heavy. Like when he woke up from a long nap. What was the word Will used…groggy. He felt that.

And heavy. Everything felt heavy. Like his arms and legs were made of lead.

He slowly forced his eyes open and was met with bright overhead lights. He quickly shut his eyes. Back to the safety of darkness they provided.

He tried to remember where he was, because he didn’t feel like he was in his bed, but he couldn’t remember.

Needing to get some answers, he carefully opened his eyes again. To not his room.

A hospital room.

He tried to swallow and realized his mouth was dry. He needed water. Something. He tried to quickly look around for a glass or anything, before he saw the figure next to him.

Will.

Will was asleep next to him, leaning over onto the bed. Holding his hand.

“Will.”

He accidentally squeezed his hand. A small smile appeared as Mike took in his best friend.

He looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes. His hair was a mess and he had to be uncomfortable sleeping leaning over like he was. But even like this he was still so beautiful. Here with Mike.

Mike wasn’t sure how long he stayed looking at Will, taking him in, soaking in the moment. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours. He was perfectly fine to never leave this moment.

The door opened and Mike slowly looked up, making eye contact with Nancy.

“Mike?” Nancy whispered

Shocked as he took in Nancy’s appearance, “Nanc--”

“Mike” She quickly put down the coffee that she had, rushing over to his side and collapsing into a hug. Crying.

Nancy never cried. What was going on? Mike carefully raised his arm in a half hug, trying to offer some comfort as she hugged him tighter than she ever had before, pulling him into her.

A broken, “Mike..?” interrupted Mike’s stampede of thoughts.

He pulled back slightly from Nancy to see Will was awake. Awake and holding his hand as if it were a lifeline. His eyes searching for something.

“Will.” Was all that he could manage before he had an armful of Will Byers alongside Nancy. Joining in on the hug.

The three of them stayed like that for a while, before Nancy slowly pulled away, saying that she was going to get a nurse. Instead of backing away, Will scooted down so he was almost half laying on top of Mike, arms around his middle and his face tucked into his shoulder.

This was fine with Mike. He would gladly be Will’s to cuddle any day. He simply put his arms around Will as well and pulled him closer. A few tears escaped, Mike trying to comfort him, but that just seemed to make Will cry more.

They only had a couple of minutes before a nurse was coming in and asking Will to leave.

As Will disentangled himself, Mike tried to keep a hold of his hand, keep Will with him.

Will quickly reassured him. “I’ll be right back.” As he pulled away, and then left the room.

Thankfully the nurse was quick in her check up. And Mike didn’t ask questions. He wanted to talk to Nancy. She would know what was going on. Not this nurse. A stranger.

At least she helps him into a slight sitting position in this awful hospital bed.

As soon as the nurse left, Nancy was back in the room. Will trailing close behind. Before she could say anything, Mike cut her off.

“Nancy. What happened?”

“What did the nurse tell you?”

“A car accident.” Mike says.

“Ok. Yeah. You and mom, dad and Holly. You were all in a car crash.” Nancy tells him.

“You were hurt pretty bad.”

Furrowing his brow, Mike says, “I don’t remember.”

“It’s ok.” Nancy reassures him. “You had a concussion. The doctor said you might not ever remember the accident”

Well that wasn’t concerning at all.

“It’s been about two days since the accident.” Nancy continues.

“I don’t feel…” he trails off as he carefully presses against his chest, not really hearing Nancy. He can feel something wrapped around him. But he doesn’t see any casts, which seems surprising considering he was in a car crash. Don’t people normally come out of those with broken bones?

Nancy reaches over and carefully pulls his arm away from his chest. “Broken rib. They had to do a couple surgeries. We’ll have the doctor go over it all. Honestly I don’t really remember. It’s been a bit of a blur the past few days.”

“...few days?”

“Yeah. You’ve been unconscious, and with the concussion, the doctors were a little concerned about you waking up.” Nancy’s eyes start to water. “But you did. You’re going to be ok.”

“Where’s mom and dad?”

Nancy’s face went white, as she looked away. Before Mike could ask anything, Will reached over and took his hand on the side he had been silently sitting on. Giving his hand a squeeze, and a reassuring look.

Mike quickly turned back to Nancy, “...Nancy?”

“Mike…” Nancy suddenly grabbed his other hand tightly. Tears were beading under her eyes.

“Mike.”

“Nancy. What…”

“Mike, they…”

“You’re scaring me,” he admits.

Nancy takes a deep breath, using her whole body. Then squeezes his hand with both of hers.

“They didn’t make it.”

…

…

“What?”

“They died in the crash, Mike.”

“What? But. What? How?”

“I’m not really sure. But when the ambulance got to the crash they were both already gone.”

STATIC

“I’m so sorry, Mike.”

STATIC

This wasn’t real life.

This was a dream.

A terrible dream.

A nightmare.

His parents weren’t dead.

No.

They couldn’t be dead.

No.

It wasn’t possible.

No.

STATIC

“Breathe Mike!”

He sucked air violently into his lungs as his face was slapped to the side.

Heaving gasps overtook his now trembling body as Will grabbed his face, forcing Mike to look at him.

“Mike. Focus. Focus on me.” Will says. “Breathing. In. And Out. In. And Out.

Mike zeroed in on Will’s soothing voice. Copying his breathing pattern, slowly feeling his body relax.

“Good. Good.” Will says. “Just like that.”

Will carefully releases the tight grip he had on Mike’s face. “Calm down a little?”

Not quite up to a verbal response, Mike simply nods his head slowly. Showing that he is paying attention.

Will grants him a little smile; that Mike is quickly to copy back to him. He squeezes his hand in quick succession. Mike returns the non verbal check in with his own squeezes.

Not really wanting to, but needing answers, Mike carefully turns his head to look at Nancy. He opens his mouth, but nothing actually comes out.

For once, Nancy seems to be on the same page as him. “Everything is going to be ok. For now, we’ll be staying with the Byers.”

Relief.

Mike didn’t think he could stay in that house right now.

Turning back to Will, Mike tries to jokingly ask, “You guys ok with having three extra people crammed into your house?”

Instead of a smile or even a scoff at him trying to use humor at a time like this, Will’s face goes white. And he sits up straighter, tensing, readying for a fight.

Nancy lets out a quiet sob.

Immediately Mike turns back to Nancy, protective instincts flaring up.

“Nancy?”

She shakes her head, more tears falling.

“Holly. She. She didn’t make it.”

STATIC

“But you said….”

“...Mom and dad--” He stutters, not able to say it. “In the crash”

“She made it to the hospital.”

“But last night. She had some internal bleeding. Or something. And they weren’t. They didn’t.”

“They didn’t make it in time.”

STATIC

A nightmare.

He wanted it to end.

Wake up.

Wake up!

WAKE UP!!

A feeling of calm washed through him. He felt heavy again.

He could breathe again.

The darkness pulled him under.

He welcomed it.

——————————————————

Watching Mike have not one, but two panic attacks in a matter of minutes? Definitely made the list of top five worst days for Will Byers.

It was terrible seeing Mike go unresponsive. It wasn’t like when Dustin or Lucas had a panic attack. They had all had them over the years dealing with the Upside Down. Everyone had seen each other at their worst at this point.

Mike would just stop. Stop breathing. Stop talking. And just start trembling. Full body, but his arms would shake the worst. He would disassociate as well. Just leave mentally. That’s what made them so awful.

To look into the eyes of the boy he loved and see nothing. Dead eyes. No one home.

It was what made it so hard to get Mike out of a panic attack. He didn’t seem to hear them when they would try to do breathing exercises with him. Most of the time he needed a hard restart to get back to the world.

Will hates it. Hates having to slap Mike. Or shake him roughly. But they haven't found another way that really worked to bring him out of a panic attack. And since he stopped breathing, they tended to be short on time.

He had been able to get him out of the first one. But the second one, nothing seemed to be working. Will had yelled at Nancy to get a nurse. He just had to watch as Mike turned whiter and whiter, then blue as his lungs failed to receive any oxygen.

He had almost missed it when the nurse had stabbed Mike with a needle. Some kind of sedative.

All he could focus on was Mike’s chest as it started rising again. They had strapped an oxygen mask on him as well.

Now Will was back in what had basically become his spot in the room. The chair next to Mike’s bed. Holding his hand where it lay resting above the blankets.

Nancy had come and gone. She had needed to talk some things over with the doctors. At one point his mother had come in. But now it was just Will and Mike.

The doctors had said Mike should wake up soon, and Will was determined to be here when it happened. He wasn’t going to leave Mike’s side.

He glances back up at Mike’s face, when he notices bleary brown eyes looking at him.

“Mike?”

Mike slowly blinked a few times, his breath fogging up the oxygen mask. “...Will.”

“Hey, Mike.” Will gently smiles. He slowly reaches up and lifts the oxygen mask off Mike’s face before he can try and do it himself.

“They had to give you a sedative.” He explains. “It’s why you’re a little out of it right now.”

Mike just gives a slow barely there nod, before his eyes go distant, looking slightly past him, as if seeing something that isn’t there.

“Mike?” Will quickly squeezes his hand, not wanting Mike to get lost in his head.

A single tear falls down his face. Then another.

“She’s really gone?”

Will feels his lip start to tremble. He manages to shake out, “Yeah.”

It’s quiet for a minute, before Will can’t take it anymore. “I’m sorry, Mike.”

Not surprised, there isn’t a response from Mike.

Several more moments pass, and Will starts to get worried, “Mike?”

When he still doesn’t get a response, Will makes an executive decision. He gets up and pushes against Mike’s shoulder, trying to get him to shuffle over. Before he crams his way into the bed, tucked up against Mike’s side.

As Will gets situated, Mike seems to come back, and he scoots over to make room for Will.

Making sure to be careful of Mike’s injuries, Will gingerly pulls him into a hug.

Mike tenses for a moment, before going boneless into Will. Wrapping his arms around Will and pulling him tight against him.

Mike shoves his face into Will’s chest, as Will tries to keep as much of him together as he can.

——————————————————

He is breaking.

This is agony.

It’s taking all he has to cling desperately to Will, a stone pillar standing strong as the storm of his emotions wrecks havoc through him.

Mike isn’t a crier. He hasn’t been for years ever since his dad would yell at him for it. He keeps his emotions bottled up.

But for some reason Will has always been able to get past that wall. He has seen Mike at his worst. But he’s always there. No matter what.

And right now, everything is too much.

He can’t hold it in.

So he gives in. He cries.

He cries until there’s no more liquid in his face and his eyes are itchy and red. And then he just clutches to Will. Holding him tight, refusing to let him go.

Through it all, Will holds him. Softly talks to him. Keeps him grounded.

When Nancy comes back, they are both still snuggled together on the bed. Will looks up with fearful and embarrassed eyes, but Nancy is quick to reassure him.

Mike turns to see what has made Will tense up and sees Nancy.

Will makes a move to try and leave the bed, but Mike tightens his grip, grabbing his clothes and forcing him to stay.

“...Mike”

“Stay.” He buries his head back into Will’s chest for a moment. Trying to prepare himself for addressing the real world.

Nancy slips into the seat Will normally occupies, so Will’s back is now facing her. “Feeling ok?”

Realizing a shrug won’t be enough, Mike says, “I’ve been better.”

“The doctors are going to have you stay one more night in the hospital. Make sure you’re good to go. But you should be outta here tomorrow afternoon.” Nancy says.

“Ok.”

“And we’ll be staying with the Byers.”

“Yeah.”

…

“Nancy? What are--?”

“I don’t know.” Nancy sighs. “I’ve talked with a few people, and we’re working on some stuff.”

“Ugh. Adult stuff.”

“Yeah. Adult stuff.” It manages to get a rough chuckle out of Nancy, though, which makes Mike smile.

“But we can worry about that later. It’s been a hard day. We can deal with that shit later.”

“And you will?” Mike asks.

“Will what?”

“You’ll let me help you?”

“Mike…”

“I know you want to do everything yourself.” Mike interrupts. “But it’s just us now.”

“We gotta stick together.”

Nancy seems shocked, before a warm smile spreads across her face, tears forming again. She sniffs and rubs her face, “Yeah, Mike. We’ll stick together.”

“Good.” Mike reaches out for her hand over Will, and she quickly grabs it, holding tight.

“No matter what happens. We still have each other.” Mike tells her.

“Of course, Mike. Always.” Nancy swiftly agrees with him, giving his hand a squeeze.

“And you’ll have Jonathan, too.” Mike says with a smile. “You won’t be alone.”

“And you’ll have Will.” Nancy has a cheeky glint in her eyes.

Suspicious, but not wanting to argue, Mike just hugs tighter around Will. “And I have Will.

Will’s answering hug is all the response he needs.