June 24, 1995
"El?" said Will, feeling relief that she was the one who answered the phone.
"Will? Why are you at the hospital? What happened? Did someone hurt you?"
Will inhaled sharply. Of El had used her powers to find him. It must have been in the lat few minutes as she was still in her motel room to answer the phone. "Do Mike and Eric know?"
"No, they went to the lobby to get a local map and ask about some different places. They don't know I used my powers." El had recently recovered from Mono. Her powers were taking more of a toll for a while according to the doctors.
"Good. I need you to come and pick me up. Have Mike make sure that Eric stays at the motel while you're getting me. They can pack up or something, but we need to get out of town."
"What's going on, Will? Do you think Eric's in danger?"
"I'll explain when you get here, I promise. It's for Mike's safety too, but don't tell him that yet. And, El, wear your glasses."
"Okay," said El.
Will hung up the phone. He looked at his wrist in a cast. Troy had mentioned that he was pay back he wished he could have given "the shaved head freak," but he, Will, the fairy would have to suffice. Will wasn't sure he wanted El possibly seen by his attackers, but as she was the only one of his traveling companions that met the legal definition of family, she was the only person who could sign him out of the hospital.
"Your drug tests came back clean, Mr. Byers," said a Nurse as she entered Will's hospital room with a clipboard. "The only thing that showed up was those anti-depressants that you told us you're on."
"Thanks," said Will dryly. "My sister's coming to pick me up."
"That's good," said the doctor as he followed the nurse into the room. "Are you sure you aren't going to change you're mind about talking to the police and pressing charges against the people that did this to you?"
"I'm positive," said Will. "And I really appreciate the fact that you assumed I did anything illegal."
"We're just concerned that you don't want to talk to the police," said the doctor.
"I just don't think they'll be much help and getting beat up just made me want to get out of this town," said Will.
The sun was up when Will woke up with his head on a pillow that was on Eric's lap. They were in the back of Mike's car several hours after El had picked him up from the hospital and Mike and Eric had hastily thrown all their travel bags into the car.
Will noticed that they were at some sort of rest stop as he sat up. He winced at the pain from his injuries.
"Here, have some breakfast," said Mike as he handed Will a breakfast sandwich and a drink, before handing the same items to Eric. He then pulled out a bottle of prescription painkillers from a grocery bag. "And then you can take one of these."
"I don't need those," said Will as he took a sip of his soda.
"Will," said Will. "Henry's long gone. He can't hurt us anymore. Please take the medicine."
Will considered her for a moment. "Fine." he took the small container from Mike. It had the address of a pharmacy near Omaha. "We should find another motel. You've been driving for a while and need some sleep, Mike. Sorry about that, by the way."
"Don't be sorry," said Mike. "Just tell us what happened. Why did you want to get out of there so quickly? And who did this to you?"
"It was Troy. When I went out to get some air last night. I tried to run away from the tavern, but I wasn't fast enough to get away from him and his buddies."
"Troy Walsh?" asked Mike. Will nodded. "Why didn't you tell the police or try to get back inside."
"Well, it turns out his uncle is the sheriff of that county and I didn't want him to know that any of you were there with me."
"Why would it matter if he knew we were there?" asked Mike.
"Oh aside from him literally trying to kill you, not much," said Will dryly before taking a bite of his sandwich. Eric reached over to caress Will's face, but glanced around at the other travelers at the rest stop. He let out a small frustrated sigh as he leaned on the door at rubbed his temples. Will, Mike and El had told them about the time Troy had threatened Dustin with a knife in order to make Mike jump off a cliff.
"You can keep putting yourself in mortal danger trying to protect us," said Eric. He reached over and squeezed Will's elbow, careful to keep the gesture out of the sight of anyone not in the car.
"I wasn't in *mortal* danger," said Will. "And I had perfectly selfish reasons for not wanting you to get beaten up by those assholes."
"Oh, what's that?" asked Eric.
"I need you healthy so you can take care of me while I recover."
"You're hilarious," said Eric. "But this is no laughing matter."
"What else can we do about it?" asked Will. "I'm not going to drive myself crazy or let him ruin our trip. We all just got our Master's Degrees and I want to celebrate. Now let's find a motel and get some rest so we can meet Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Suzy in Vegas Thursday."
"You still want to do that?" asked Mike. "They'll understand."
"Yes, Mike. I still want to do that," said Will as he took one of the pain killers and washed it down with his soda. "It's bad enough I can't do a little PDA with my boyfriend," Will jerked his head slightly at Eric and winced at the pain from the stitches on his forehead. "Without the Troy Walshes of the world wanting to beat the ever loving shit out of us, but I'm not going to let those assholes stop me from having fun with my friends. Now let's find a motel so you can get some sleep!"
"Alright," said Mike. "Just promise me you'll get some rest of you need it once we get to Vegas."
"I promise," said Will. He glanced around the rest stop to make sure no one was looking at them before laying back down on the pillow. Eric gently draped one arm over Will's chest and caressed his hair with the other as he looked down and smiled sadly at him. Will glanced at his broken wrist and wiggled his swollen fingers. He would still be able to draw once it healed. Henry Creel had once tried and failed to take everything from Will and everyone he loved. The Troy Walshes of the world would fail as well.
