Will looked up from his drawing as the phone rang. Jonathan was out at lunch with Nancy and his mom was busy making lunch in the kitchen. Will stood up, grateful for the chance to stretch his legs a bit and hurried over to the phone. He pulled it off the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Hey kid, it's Hopper," came the police chief's gruff voice. "Is your mom around? I need to talk to her about something important."

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen. I'll go grab her. Just a minute."

Will set the phone down on the counter and walked into the kitchen, where Joyce was preparing sandwiches for lunch.

"Hey, Mom," said Will. Joyce looked up at him. "Hopper's on the phone and he wants to talk to you. He says it's important."

"Thanks, honey," Joyce replied. "The sandwiches are ready. Can you put them on the table for me while I talk to Hopper?"

"Sure, Mom," said Will, rolling up his sleeves and walking over to the kitchen counter as Joyce walked out of the kitchen toward the living room. Will picked up the plates and set them down on the table and took his usual seat, waiting for Joyce. Just a few moments later, he heard a gasp from the other room.

"Are you sure?" Joyce demanded, her voice sounding shrill.

Will stood up and hurried into the living room. His mom had a distressed look on her face as she spoke to Hopper.

"OK, OK," said Joyce hurriedly. "We'll meet you there right away. Thanks for calling, Hop."

With that, Joyce hung up the phone and turned to Will.

"Sweetie, you'll have to have your lunch on the go," she said.

"Why, what's going on?"

"It's about Uncle Dale, Aunt Pearl and Chris," said Joyce, not quite meeting Will's eyes.

"What about them?"

"They were in a bad car accident on their way here for a visit. It's pretty bad."


Will ran into his bedroom, throwing his shoes on as fast as he could. He glanced around, finally finding his walkie-talkie and turned it on.

"Mike, come in. Mike!" he said into the walkie.

"I'm here, Will," came Mike's voice on the other end. "What's up?"

"I hate to do this, but I gotta cancel our dinner plans," Will said hurriedly, grabbing his jacket. "My aunt, uncle and cousin were in a bad car accident and we've got to get to the hospital."

"Oh shit," said Mike. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Yeah, when Jonathan drops off Nancy, tell him to meet us at the hospital. We're leaving now. Mom won't say how bad it is, but I have a bad feeling about this."

"I copy. You know what? I'll just have Jonathan take El and me with him."

"You don't have to do that, Mike…" Will started to protest, but Mike cut him off.

"It's fine, Will. You've had enough to deal with this year. We're coming."

"All right. I'll see you soon. Over and out."

With that, Will switched off his walkie-talkie before listening for Mike's reply.


Joyce led Will into the hospital waiting room, where Hopper stood waiting, dressed in his uniform like he almost always was.

"How bad is it?" Joyce demanded as they reached him.

Hopper sighed and then pulled her to the side. Will followed them and to his surprise, Hopper did not wave him off.

"Dale and Pearl are dead, Joyce," Hopper said quietly.

Joyce gasped and clamped her hands over her face. Will's eyes widened in shock.

"What happened to them?" asked Will.

"They had just entered the city limits when a pickup truck ran a stop sign and slammed into them," Hopper explained. "The truck was going about 65 when it hit them. Their car basically split in two. The coroner on scene thinks Dale and Pearl died instantly and didn't feel any pain."

Will nodded as he tried to digest all of his information.

"And what about Chris?" Joyce asked, sounding close to tears.

"They're working on him now," said Hopper, gesturing behind him toward the ER. "They say his chances are high. He was wearing his seat belt and he wasn't hurt by any of the car fragments. But they think he might have a concussion from hitting his head on the window of the car when the accident happened."

"Does Dad know?" asked Will, hesitating as he glanced at his mom, who seemed to pay no mind that he was talking about Lonnie.

"I called him, but didn't get an answer. I know he and Dale weren't really that close, so that's why I called you, Joyce."

Joyce nodded as she wiped away fresh tears from her cheeks. "Thank you, Hop. I really appreciate it."

"No problem," said Hopper. "Listen, I can't stay here much longer. My guys are bringing in the driver of the pickup for questioning and I'd like to personally find out what the hell he was doing running a stop sign like that. You guys gonna be OK?"

"We'll be fine."

"I'll come back later," Hopper said, giving Joyce a quick one-armed hug before he walked away.

Joyce turned to Will and pulled him into a hug as they both dissolved into sobs.


Half an hour later, Will sat by himself as Joyce explained to Jonathan, Nancy, Mike and El what had happened. Once she was done talking, they all sat down. Nancy and Jonathan sat next to each other, holding hands as Jonathan cried quietly and Nancy put her arms around him. Mike and El sat down on either side of Will.

"Hey, how you doing? You all right?" Mike asked.

Will sighed. "I don't know," he replied. "I don't think it's really sunken in yet. I just can't believe I'm never gonna see uncle Dale or aunt Pearl ever again. But I'm more worried about Chris. What's gonna happen to him?"

"It sounds like he'll be fine," said Mike, trying to be optimistic. "At least physically."

"And emotionally?" asked Will.

Mike stared back at him, unsure of what to say. El spoke up for him.

"Friends take care of friends," she said simply. "Chris is a friend."

Will nodded and smiled sadly at her as a doctor came into the room and approached Joyce. They all stood up.

"How is he?" Joyce demanded.

"He's stabilized now, Ms. Byers," said the doctor. "Fortunately, we found no other external or internal injuries on him. He did suffer a concussion when his head hit the windshield, but he should make a full recovery. We've taken him out of ICU and we're hoping he'll wake up soon."

"Will he have memory loss or anything like that?" asked Jonathan, choking back some tears.

"He might," the doctor said, nodding. "We don't think his long-term memory will be impacted, but his immediate short-term memory, particularly leading up to the accident, could be impaired. For how long, we can't say for sure, but we're hopeful that his memory won't be affected in the long run."

"Can we see him?" asked Will.

"Sure. But since he's still unconscious, let's make it family only for now."

"Thank you, Doctor," Joyce said. The doctor nodded and walked away from them. Joyce turned to the others. "We're going to go see him, you guys. You're welcome to stay, of course, but I want us to be there when he wakes up."

"Of course," Nancy said, giving Jonathan a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting back down.

Mike pulled Will into a hug that El joined.

"Let us know how he is, OK?" said Mike. "We'll stay here as long we need to."

"Thank you," Will whispered back to them.

They broke apart and Will turned to follow Joyce and Jonathan into the hallway leading to Chris' room. He followed them through several hallways before they finally stopped outside room 303 and saw Chris' name written on the whiteboard hanging outside of the room. Joyce opened the door and led the boys into the room.

Chris was still asleep and hooked up to an IV. Will noticed right away that Chris had a breathing tube in his nose and he was reminded instantly of his own stay in this same hospital a year ago after the events in the Upside Down. Joyce and Jonathan stood on the right side of Chris' bed while Will walked around the other side and stood next to the bed. Joyce bent down and gave Chris a kiss on his forehead.

Just then, two nurses came into the room, carrying chairs for them to sit in.

"Thank you," said Joyce as they set the chairs down around Chris' bed.

"Of course, ma'am," said one of the nurses kindly. "You all stay in here as long as you need to. He should wake up soon."

With that, the two nurses left the Byers in peace. Will sat down in his chair and grabbed onto one of Chris' hands. He held onto it tightly.

"We're here, Chris," he said quietly, just loud enough for Joyce and Jonathan to hear him. "We're all here and we love you."