Work Text:
“Hooray!” Cheered the group of kids as Fredbear and Spring Bonnie walked out on stage. Fredbear and Spring Bonnie were usually animatronics, but right now they were in the form of wearable costumes so that they could interact with the kids in a more realistic way.
Inside the golden Fredbear suit was Henry Emily, and inside the Spring Bonnie suit was William Afton. The two owners of Fredbear's Family Diner loved to dress up as their characters and perform for the children’s parties. William was particularly skilled at performing in the Spring Bonnie suit, and he had mastered the art of moving around with ease despite the limited visibility of the mascot mask.
On this particular occasion, the group of kids were from a class at Hurricane Elementary, who had been rewarded with a pizza party at Fredbear’s Family Diner due to being the class that sold the most chocolate as part of a school fundraising event.
“Hello, children! My name is Fredbear, and this is my best friend Bonnie!” Said the man in the golden bear costume.
“Uh, where’d Bonnie go?” A little girl asked.
"Why, right next to me of course! He's my right hand rabbit!"
The girl looked at Fredbear skeptically. "Did he turn invisible or something? Bonnie's gone."
It was then that Henry noticed that Spring Bonnie — William — had disappeared. It was kind of odd for William to disappear in the middle of a show. But Henry didn’t think much of it, because he assumed that William had probably just needed to use the bathroom or something like that.
However, the show continued on and there was no sign of Spring Bonnie’s return. Fredbear was forced to pick up the slack in Spring Bonnie's absence.
After the show ended, Henry had a chance to go behind the curtains and remove his Fredbear costume. He then looked all over the “Employees Only” area of the diner for William, but he could not find him. He did find the Spring Bonnie suit, slumped messily against the wall, as if its wearer had taken it off in a hurry. Henry frowned. It wasn’t like his business partner to skip out on a show, much less remove the Spring Bonnie suit and discard it in such a way.
Henry checked everywhere else he could think of, but there was no sign of William — even his office was completely deserted. Henry decided to take a break from searching and use the restroom.
He opened the door to the employee’s bathroom, and that was where he found William.
William was lying on the tile floor, curled in a fetal position and clutching the right side of his abdomen. He looked more pale than normal. There was a fresh puddle of sick nearby where he had obviously emptied the contents of his stomach.
“William! What are you doing?” Henry asked worriedly.
William noticed Henry’s presence and his demeanor quickly changed. He sat up, seemingly trying to look as normal as possible.
“Oh, hullo, Henry,” he said in a strained voice, “just using the loo.” He forced a smile to try and prove that he was okay.
“Will how stupid do you think I am? From the looks of it you aren’t just using the bathroom. You look as pale as death and I’m pretty sure that puddle of puke right there belongs to you.”
“I… have no idea how that got there.” William said, trying to sound casual. “Must’ve come from a kid.”
“Will this is the staff bathroom. Kids aren’t allowed in here.”
“Well one must have snuck in! Come on, I got to finish the sh—owwwwww!”
He had tried to stand up but ended up doubling over in pain and lying down on his side on the floor.
“Will, are you feeling alright? You look like you’re in a little bit of pain.”
“I’m okay… just ate something that didn’t agree with me…” William said shakily, as if saying every single word was pure pain.
Henry hadn’t seen his friend in this much agony since the time he’d been springlocked in the Bonnie suit, and that time he’d almost died. Henry didn’t think that William had a mere stomachache — it seemed like it was something much worse.
“Do you need to go to the hospital? I can take you.”
Henry knew that his friend was one of those people who hated going to the doctor and avoided going if they could help it, but he hoped that William would see sense given his current condition.
“No! I don’t need to go to hospital—" he vomited again on the floor, but nothing much came out this time.
“That’s it. I’m taking you to the hospital.”
Henry found that William couldn’t walk without assistance, as the pain was so intense, so he had him lean against him as they discretely went out the back door of Fredbear’s together. He put his friend in the passenger seat of his pickup truck, and drove to the emergency room.
~~
When they got to the ER and the doctor examined William, he immediately diagnosed him with appendicitis. His appendix was severely inflamed because he hadn’t gotten it treated sooner, and it was dangerously close to bursting. He was given some painkillers as a temporary fix, but it was clear that something more needed to be done.
“The only thing to do is to have an emergency appendectomy.”
William still found a way to be stubborn even in his sickened state. “I don’t want an appendicectomy,” he groaned.
“It’s the only way you’ll feel better,” Henry said.
“I’ll feel better on my own. I just have an upset stomach.” William said obstinately.
“No, you don’t,” the doctor insisted. “If that appendix were to rupture, you could get sepsis and die.”
The thought of death made William even more nauseated than he already felt. So he thought for a second.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” he said.
Henry breathed a sigh of relief.
“But I want Henry to be there with me.”
The doctor said that Henry couldn’t be there during the actual operation, but that he could be there for William afterwards.
William was nervous. He didn’t like the idea of his body being cut open, with his organs exposed for the world to see. It reminded him too much of his past springlock failure.
“Are you sure Henry can’t be there with me?”
“It’s okay, you won’t feel a thing.” Henry reassured his friend.
The nurse had William change into a hospital gown. Then he was given an IV with a sedative to help him relax before the operation. Henry watched as William was wheeled away towards the operating room.
“You’ll be okay, Will.” He called. “I’ll be there as soon as you’re done!”
William began to feel drowsy as the medicine he was given started to take effect. However the nurse still tried to make conversation with him anyway as she wheeled him down the hallway.
“Mr. Afton, is it? What do you do for a living?”
“I make animatronics,” he said, staring absentmindedly up at the fluorescent lights that were moving past him.
“What’s an animatronic?” The nurse asked curiously.
“It’s like a robot, only it’s made to look like a living creature.” He explained, finishing his sentence with a yawn.
“Oh, interesting! And what’s with the accent of yours? Are you from Europe?”
“I’m from England.”
When they arrived at the operating room, the nurse greeted the surgeon who was going to operate on William.
“Our patient Mr. Afton is English!” The nurse said excitedly. “And he makes animal-tronics!”
“Mm-hmm,” William said sleepily, not bothering to correct her mistake.
“Where in England are you from?” The surgeon asked as a mask was put over William’s face.
“London…” He replied. “East London.”
And that was the last thing he said.
A little while later, Henry was in the waiting room when he got an idea. He decided to ask if he could use the hospital’s phone so he could call someone up. He called Clara, William’s ex wife, to see if she wanted to come to the hospital.
“I found him on the floor in the bathroom at work. He was in pain so I took him to the hospital. It was his appendix. They’re operating on him right now. I was wondering if you’d like to visit him.”
Although Clara had divorced her husband due to the fact that he was very difficult to be married to, she still cared about him. So she decided to come to the hospital.
Clara and Henry sat in the waiting room until the doctor came to talk to them.
“The surgery was a success. It was a good thing we took it out when we did, as it was very inflamed. But he should feel much better now that it’s gone. You can see him now if you’d like.”
Henry and Clara were led to the recovery room where William was. He hadn’t woken up yet, but the doctor said he probably would soon. William had new stitches on the right side of his stomach, and he’d had a catheter put in.
Clara walked over to his bedside.
“Hi, Will.” She said gently. “You can wake up now. They’re all finished.”
Clara had wanted to hug him, but she didn’t want to take the chance of messing with his fresh incision, so she just decided to rub his shoulders and stroke his hair for a few minutes.
Then, William stirred. He opened his eyes and stared at Clara. He was clearly disoriented.
“Henry?” He asked hoarsely.
Clara chuckled. “No, silly. It’s me, Clara.”
Henry got up from where he was sitting and walked over. “He wanted me to be with him when they operated, but of course they don’t allow that, so I told him I’d be here as soon as he woke up.” Henry looked at his friend and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m right here, old friend. How are you feeling?”
William seemed to brighten at the sight of Henry’s face. “My throat hurts.”
“Don’t worry. That’ll go away. What matters is that bothersome appendix of yours is gone.” Clara said.
The doctor came in and said that William would have to spend the night in the hospital so they could keep an eye on him, but that otherwise he was fine. He was brought in to a new room where he would spend the night.
William was sleepy and could barely keep his eyes open, but he still looked at Henry and Clara and smiled.
“My two favorite people,” he told them, looking fondly at them. “I love you both.”
“I’ll spend the night with you tonight. Don’t worry about the kids. Michael can watch them.” Clara told him, stroking the side of his face.
“Can Henry stay too?” William asked hopefully.
“Of course.”
“Can I have a word with you, Clara?” Henry asked. And they went out into the hallway together.
“I don’t want to spend the night here.” Henry said.
“Why not?”
“I have a daughter to take care of. And anyway, it’d be weird.”
“It would make him very happy.” Clara pointed out.
Henry looked at Clara. “Why though?”
Clara grinned. “Henry, you don’t see it, do you?”
“Don’t see what?”
“William obviously has feelings for you.”
Henry’s brown eyes widened in disbelief. “That’s impossible.”
Clara shrugged. “It’s as clear as day. He said he loves you. And believe me he never uses that word lightly.”
“He’s drugged. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.” Henry countered.
“Oh yes he does. The first person he asked for when he woke up was you. He never would have had this surgery done in the first place if you hadn’t been there.”
“I’m not… he’s not… we’re just friends.” Henry stammered.
“I think he sees you as more than a friend.” Clara said, smirking.
“Well I don’t see him that way. I don’t like other men!” Henry protested.
“Would you spend the night if I paid you?”
~~
About three minutes later, Clara and Henry re-entered the room.
“Great. You’re back,” William mumbled drowsily.
“William, you should probably get some sleep.” Clara said. “You just had an operation.”
“I don’t want to, I want to stay awake and be with my loves.” William insisted, continuing to be hard headed even though he was drugged.
“We’re right here with you, Will. Both of us.” Clara glanced in Henry’s direction. "But you really should sleep."
"I will if you kiss me." William said, apparently trying to flirt with his ex-wife.
"Okay, if it'll make you feel better." Clara grabbed one of the chairs in the room and brought it near the hospital bed so she could sit next to William. Once she sat down she gently massaged his body with her hand, taking care not to disrupt his delicate new incision. Then she began kissing him on the cheek repeatedly. William looked like he’d died and gone to heaven judging from the look on his face as he was kissed.
“Nice to know you still love me, Clara. I never stopped loving you.”
"Oh, William. You're so cute when you're like this. The drugs are making you so affectionate."
"No, no, you're making me affectionate." William murmured.
Watching the former couple cuddling made Henry want to gag, but he stayed quiet.
When Clara finished her display of affection, she whispered something to her former husband that made Henry’s blood turn to ice: “Guess what? Henry’s gonna give you a kiss so you can go to sleep, okay?”
“Really?” William looked as excited as someone who was still experiencing the lingering effects of anesthesia could possibly be. "A kiss from both my loves?"
Henry led Clara out into the hallway again.
“Oh no! There is no way I am kissing him! That wasn’t part of the deal!”
Clara pretended to pout. “Aww, but he’s so cute! Don’t you want to kiss him?”
“You’re crazy, Clara.”
“Oh come on. He’s sick. It would make him feel better.”
“I just don’t want him getting any ideas.” Henry said. “I’m not attracted to him. This could never be… a thing.”
“It doesn’t have to be ‘a thing,’ just kiss the man!”
Henry let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine. But I expect you to pay me double for this.”
Henry walked back into the room with Clara close behind him.
“As promised, you’re going to get a goodnight kiss from Henry, Will!” Clara said.
Henry gulped, but he walked over to William anyway. He couldn’t believe he was about to kiss another man, let alone his friend and business partner William. But a deal was a deal, so Henry bent over and gave his friend a kiss on the cheek.
“I love you, Henry.” William whispered, looking as happy as he did when Clara had kissed him.
"Will, you know I like you as a friend, but I don't like you in that sense. Do you understand?"
But it was too late for William to understand, because he had already fallen asleep.
~~
“All right, we’re going to remove the catheter now.” The nurse said to William the next morning.
“Wait I’m not ready yet— oi!”
“Okay it’s out.”
"That was easier than I thought it would be." William observed.
When he had been awakened by the nurse that morning, the anesthesia had completely worn off, and he felt much more clear-headed. In fact, he had only a very fuzzy, vague memory of everything that had happened after he’d told the surgeon that he was from East London. But the drugs they gave him must have been a hell of a concoction, because he’d had a dream that Clara and even Henry had kissed him. At least… he was sure it had to have been a dream, because Clara hated him and there was no way in a million years that Henry would ever kiss him.
Yeah, definitely a dream. But a very nice one, William thought.
Henry, for his part, was pretty sure that William didn’t remember being kissed at all. Well, he hoped as much. He prayed as much. Because the last thing he needed was for William to think that his feelings were reciprocated.
After the catheter was removed, the nurses checked William's vitals and his incision to make sure nothing was wrong and there was no sign of infection. Once he was all cleared, he was helped into a wheelchair so he could go home.
"You know, something, Henry?" William asked as Henry was pushing his friend down the hallway, with Clara close behind him.
"Yes, Will?" Henry asked, nervous that William would bring up the events of last night.
"You know what the best part of all this is?"
"What?" Henry hoped it didn't have anything to do with kissing.
"I was supposed to take Michael fishing this weekend, and now I have an excuse to get out of it!" William started to laugh in a rather vicious manner, but he found doing so hurt, so he stopped and simply grinned at Henry.
"Uh, yeah, that's great, Will." Henry said. He never understood his friend's inexplicable hatred for his oldest son, Michael.
"You're still taking him fishing, Will, just not this weekend!" Clara said.
"No one asked for your opinion, Clara!" William said playfully over his shoulder, before saying to Henry in a stage whisper: "Push faster, Henry, we need to get away from her!"
~~
William spent the next few days lying on his couch, only getting up to use the bathroom, with Clara tending to his every need. Once a day, Henry would come and visit William. Of course, William had to stay home from work, but he could still give Henry his input for how to run things at the diner from his spot on the couch.
And he had plenty of kisses and cuddles, courtesy of Clara.
One evening, when he was almost fully recovered, William asked Clara about the night he spent in the hospital.
"I don't remember much of it, just that my throat was sore and I dreamt that you and, strangely, Henry, kissed me."
Clara's green eyes sparkled with amusement. "Oh, Will, that wasn't a dream. That actually happened."
"It did? Well, I can understand you kissing me, but Henry? Why did Henry do it? I didn't know that he was--"
"He did because you wanted him to." Clara told him.
William all of a sudden looked panicked. "You're lying!" He snarled. "I don't like Henry! I don't want to be kissed by Henry! It was a dream! I didn't want it!"
Clara interrupted William's anxiety attack. "William! I don't care that you like Henry!" She shouted over him.
William stopped. "You-- you don't?"
Clara took William's hand in hers. "I don't care. I've known for a while. It's obvious how happy he makes you. And you were so happy when I made him kiss you!"
"Well I remember it being a nice dream," William said.
Clara sighed. "I just wish he felt the same way about you."
"It's okay. I know that Henry will never love me the way I love him." There was some sadness in William's gray eyes. "But at least... I have you." He began kissing her cheek.
Clara rubbed William's back with her hand. "Yes, you do have me."
"Hey," William said in between kisses, "thanks for making Henry kiss me. So, you're really okay with me being, uh, 'half-gay'?"
Clara burst out laughing. "That's what you think you are? It's called 'bisexual,' Will, and I really don't care."
"Oh. Bisexual. Okay."
They spent the rest of the evening cuddling each other. Even though he still had a dull ache in the right side of his abdomen, William couldn't have been happier. It felt good to know that whatever happened to him, he would always have the two loves of his life, Clara Schmidt and Henry Emily, to help him get through it.