Danner had not seen anything like it before. As he stared at the x-rays he had managed to get of the young boy's chest, he wondered if his equipment was malfunctioning or if he was really seeing something unbelievable.
Jim Hopper walked into the small office that was only a few steps away from the room where Will Byers still lay unconscious and crossed his hands, waiting for the doctor to say something to explain what was happening to the kid.
Carl reached for a donut, feeling like he needs a little extra energy as the night wore on and muttered, "Pleural effusion. He's got a large amount of fluids in his lungs. He almost drowned."
"Jesus," Hopper muttered as he looked at the scans and said, "There's a ton. He was only in the water for a few minutes!"
"That Lake is really dirty, Deputy. Could be some dirt in his lungs too, look how dark these blotches are," Carl said pointing toward the spots on the scan that he couldn't quite make out.
"Okay, so how do we help him?" Hopper asked.
"Good question," Danner agreed as he gestured toward the first aide materials that had in stock and added, "We're not exactly equipped to handle this."
Hopper glared at him and muttered, "Well you can't just-"
Before he finished the sentence there was a tap on the door and he opened it to see the Headmaster arriving alongside Jonathan Byers.
"Where's my brother?" Jonathan asked anxiously as the doctor got up and positioned himself in front of the clinic door. "Relax now son, we are doing all we can right now," Danner explained.
"Ambulance is on the way," Roberts chimes in. Hopper glared at both of them, a crackle of thunder startling all of them as he peered thru the blinds and saw the rain had started to come down over the night sky.
"Well they better hurry, this storm is getting real bad," Jim murmured.
Rain hit the back of El's neck as she followed Mike thru the woods, trying to call out to him but still he refused to listen to her pleas. Finally, after what seemed like forever they had gone deep in the woods and Mike turned to confront her.
"I wasn't trying to hide it from you," Eleven explained softly. The young boy still looked hurt over the secret she had kept and slumped against a tree muttering, "We could have helped you. That's what friends do."
She looked down at the ground and slid her hands in her pockets as they stood there silently and finally she muttered, "You're right. I'm sorry."
Mike kicked a stone and shrugged, "Whats done is done."
El slowly reached for his hand and the two stood there for a moment holding each other's palms before Eleven said, "We can't fight right now. We need to help Will."
A crackle of thunder boomed louder overhead as the two hid under the massive oak tree and the storm grew more intense.
Mike wrapped his arms around her to keep her safe, saying nothing for the moment and then together they dashed back toward the campsite.
Jonathan finally had a chance to look at the unconscious form of his brother lying on the clinic slab and he tried not to cry. He knew that this was his fault for insisting that they come out to this stupid camp anyway.
"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" He shouted as he squeezed Will's hand and looked toward all the adults who seemed to be standing around uncertainly.
"Look kid I agree, but this is the doc's call. There is no way to get that fluid off his lungs safely," Hopper explained.
"This is bull shit," Jonathan said kicking a random trash bin over.
"Let me see if I can check to find out how far out they are on the walkie-talkie," The robust ranger said as he left the room.
Hopper and Jonathan stood alone in the clinic as he stared down at his unconscious brother and wished there was something he could do.
He clenched his fists and then raced toward the supply cabinet as Hopper muttered, "What the hell?"
He grabbed several long metal brooms and mops and wedged them in the door even as the doctor on the outside saw what was happening.
"Hey! Hopper open this door right now!" Danner growled as Jonathan made it as tightly sealed as possible and turned to the old sheriff before commenting, "You going to help me or what?"
Across the stormy campgrounds, Lucas and Dustin's argument was beginning to get heated even as the rain hit the boy's cabin with stronger force.
"How the hell could you put a Demogorgon on ice?" Lucas shouted.
"It was for science," Dustin objected.
"What the heck is wrong with you? How could you be so stupid," his friend growled angrily.
"Dude it was dead! I didn't exactly expect it to pull a Reanimator on me!" Dustin shouted back as he took a few steps into the cabin.
"Guys," Max muttered as she saw several of the boys inside starting to stir awake.
"It's from another dimension you dipshit, the laws of our universe don't even apply to it!" Lucas said pushing him back.
"Guys just calm down," Max insisted even as Dustin got an angry glare on his face and pushed Lucas back.
"I'm sick and tired of your attitude man! You are always treating me like shit!" Dustin yelled back.
Now several of the boys were fully awake looking down at the two as they bickered.
"Well maybe it would be easy if you didn't act like a freaking idiot sometimes!" Lucas shouted.
Dustin had had enough and clenched his fists, and then slammed his friend right on the jaw.
"Fight!" a boy above said as the others started to wake and see the brawl begin.
Hopper watched as Jonathan grabbed the medical kit and then shined a light on Will's chest, glancing at the x-ray.
"Kid What the fuck are you doing?" He asked, uncertain why he was letting this even happen.
Jonathan had taken out some scalpels and graze along with a small plastic straw from the doctor's thermos nearby and started to wrap gauze around the straw.
"I saw this in a survival guide m once, we have to poke a hole in his chest cavity and then we can drain out the fluid," he explained as he kept second guessing as to where to put the incision.
"What? That's insane," Hopper muttered to which Jonathan shot back, "Do you have a better idea?"
A slamming noise on the clinic door made the former sheriff jump and he looked back to see Doctor Danner glaring at him.
"Jim! You need to open this door before the ranger's get back or I swear to god!" Danner shouted.
Hopper turned to Jonathan and muttered, "Look, whatever you're going to do you better do it fast."
"Yeah Okay one second," the old sheriff shouted as Danner kept struggling to get the door open.
Jonathan took a deep breath and cut an incision where he felt the makeshift tube could pierce straight thru and then held it over Will's chest, and plunged it straight down.
The tube went straight into his lung and Jonathan said, "Quick! Turn him over on the side."
Hopper helped and they pushed Will over on the right side of the table as Jonathan pushed hard on the boy's chest.
"Come on Will!" he said as he as he felt something coming up.
The boy's chest heaved and he spasmed and Hopper looked down at the small tube that Jonathan had inserted to see an oozing greenish slime seeping out of the end.
"Keep him propped up like that," Hopper said as more of the sludge dripped out.
"What the hell?" he muttered as more of the strange substance came out but still Will was not coming back to consciousness.
"Why isn't this working?" Jonathan muttered as he kept beating on his brother's chest. "Get that door open," the old sheriff said as he grabbed a nearby dish and scooped up some of the mucus looking slime. As the doctor came in, Danner glared at them both and muttered, "I don't know what the hell you two were thinking!"
"Can I use your phone doc?" Hopper said ignoring the man's irate manner.
"What? After this little stunt be glad I don't get your badge taken away!" Carl muttered as Hopper pushed past him to the Phone.
Behind him on the table, next to Will's still form, the green slime in the dish seemed to throb soft and slow.
Almost like it had a heartbeat.