Chapter 7
24 Hours to go...
"You tried, Will, no one can fault you for that," said Dustin as the party left the classroom after their chemistry exam.
"Kaminski's a cold uncaring bastard," said Will. "But the joke's on him, I aced that exam. He's going to feel really stupid about not letting us skip it."
"That's another thing I miss about Mr. Clarke," said Lucas. "At least he would have thought you trying to use your impending surgery to get us out of the final funny."
"It got us out of detention though," said Mike.
"Kaminski's a mouth breather," said Eleven.
"We'll see you after school," said Will as he and Julie headed to their art exam. They had spent the last couple days taking their semester exams. Fifth period was the last exam for everyone. It was a bit of a cool down for Will and Julie after Chemistry. They had a half day of school and an afternoon off to look forward to.
Will's surgery was scheduled for the next and he needed to get plenty of sleep before going to Bloomington early. He had been focusing really hard on studying for his exams in order to take his mind off the surgery.
"At least we're halfway through Kaminski's class! Just a little over five months to go," said Julie as she noticed the worried look on Will's face and realized that his mind was wondering to the surgery. She squeezed his hand and he smiled at her.
"We'll survive it," said Will lightly.
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22 hours to go….
"Let's take one more trip backstage before break," said Julie after the art exam was over.
"People might be there," said Will.
"Are you kidding?" asked Julie. "They all just finished their exams, they'll want to get there hell out of this building."
"Okay," said Will. "But Jonathan should be here soon to pick us up." Jonathan and Nancy had gotten home for the break a couple days earlier after finishing their first exams at NYU.
"Then we'll hurry," said Julie as she tugged on his wrist. When they got to the stage door, Will noticed that Julie didn't grab the key from behind the plaque before she opened the door.
It turned out that Will didn't need to worry about Jonathan waiting for them in the parking lot because he was in the backstage room… along with several other people that included the party members, the decathlon team, drama club members and a couple of Lucas and Dustin's baseball teammates and some orchestra members Will had befriended when he went to Julie's orchestra concerts and competitions.
The room looked festive. There were Christmas decorations everywhere.
"There you are, Byers," said Dustin. "It's about damn time!"
"What's going on?" asked Will. He felt a blush creeping up his face.
"It's just a typical Christmas party," said Jonathan.
"We all chipped in and got you this," said Tim Wilson ask he stepped forward and handed Will a Dragon Quest game with a bow on it. "You need to play something other than Zelda."
"Thanks," said Will as he took the game from Tim. "If this is a typical Christmas party, why isn't everyone else opening presents?"
"Don't think of it as a Christmas present," said Lucas. "Think of it as a birthday present that's nine months late or three months early."
The Christmas party was relatively short because so many people had to go to their part time jobs in the final rush before Christmas and others were going out of town, but everyone helped with the clean up.
Will, Mike, Eleven, Julie, Lucas, Max, Dustin, Cathy, Randy, Tim, Jennifer and Dave all decided to catch a matinee showing of "The Golden Child." It was a mix of fantasy, horror and comedy, so everyone loved it.
12 hours to go...
That night, the friends who were in on the secret that Eleven was actually Will's twin sister (Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Max, and Julie) stayed the night. Hopper and Joyce insisted that everyone go to sleep by 10:30. They all decided to build experience points in Dragon Quest. Without caffeinated drinks, it was enough to make them feel drowsy. They fell asleep in the living room until Jonathan woke them up. The boys all went to Will's room while the girls went to Eleven's room.
6 hours to go...
Will drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the night. Luke sat next to him purring while Chester rested in the dog bed. Mike, Dustin, and Lucas were all sound asleep on their cots. Suddenly, the lights on the street lamps flicked outside of his window. Will's eyes were wide open. He threw off his covers an tiptoed to the window. The bulb in the lamp closer to the house was dim. It just needed to be replaced. Will glanced around his room to reassure himself it wasn't covered in rotting snot and floating dandruff. He then looked back at the dimming light in the lamp post outside.
Will leaned his head against the cold window. He closed his eyes and reminded himself that the Upside Down was gone. He ran his fingers over his chest thinking of out this was the last night it would be without a scar from open heart surgery. Small price to pay, Byers, small price to pay.
Will opened his eyes and saw that his breath had fogged up the window. He drew a smiley face with his finger and stood back to admire his work. Will then grabbed his sketch book and some pencils from his desk. He went out to the hallway and sat at the top of the stairs. He was in the final two hours (for at least the next few weeks) that he'd be able to walk up and down the stairs or even just to the kitchen or bathroom on his own.
Will leaned against the wall, propped the open sketchbook on his knee and began to draw. The Christmas lights lit up the hallway enough for a decent perspective drawing. Will glanced at the door to Jonathan's bedroom. He remembered having nightmares at the old house and going to Jonathan when he was really little. He never went to his mother until after Lonnie left.
Will hadn't thought about his nightmares in years. But the specifics came flooding to him in that moment. They were about being locked in a small, windowless room...at Hawkins Lab. He'd been dragged kicking and screaming by a couple of orderlies...only it hadn't been him in his dreams...it had been Eleven.
Will had never made that connection. He'd never remembered the specifics of his nightmares after he'd woken up, just the feelings of terror. Eleven had told him about how Brenner would lock in her a room as punishment when she didn't obey him. She had told him about how she had her own now memories when he was in danger, yet Will had never made his own connection until that moment. He would always shut down when he had to go to Hawkins Lab for his check ups. It was like he had bad memories of the place, but they weren't his memories, they were his sister's.
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Mike woke up and saw Dustin and Lucas sleeping in their cots. He turned over to check on Will, but only saw blankets thrown aside on his bed. Mike shot up and stopped himself just before he screamed Will's name. He walked over to a sleeping Chester and nudged him awake.
"Hey boy," Mike whispered. "Think you can find Will?"
Chester lifted his head and started sniffing the air. He then got up, pushed the door that Will had left slightly ajar a few minutes earlier, and went out into the hallway as Mike followed. Will was sitting at the top of the stairs drawing as he always did when he had a lot on his mind. Mike had a stack of drawings from moments that Will had a lot on his mind.
Chester went up to Will and shoved his nose under Will's arm. Will started absently scratching behind Chester's ear and looked up to notice Mike.
"Hey, Mike."
"Couldn't sleep?" asked Mike as he sat next to Will at the top of the stairs. Will shrugged.
"I'm sure I'll get plenty of sleep tomorrow-I mean later today," said Will as he noticed that the clock on the wall showed that it was 4:45 am. It wouldn't be long before everyone else started waking up. They planned to leave for Bloomington around 7:30. "You probably need sleep more than I do."
"Nah," said Mike. "Chairs in hospital waiting rooms are notoriously comfortable."
Excellent point," said Will. He went back to drawing and Mike just sat quietly with him for another hour until the others started waking up.
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3 hours to go….
Getting ready for the trip to Bloomington was a quiet ordeal in the morning consisting of loading things into the cars. No one ate breakfast as they didn't want to eat in front of Will, who wasn't allowed to eat because he had a surgery scheduled. Will, Jonathan, Julie and Joyce were going to ride in Hopper's truck. Karen arrived with Nancy around seven to take Mike and Eleven. Steve also arrived to take Dustin, Lucas and Max.
Will packed some mixtapes to play in the car. He really didn't feel like listening to everyone telling him it was going to be ok.
"Are you okay, Will?" asked Joyce as she caressed his cheek while they stood outside of the truck.
"Yeah, Mom, I just had trouble sleeping last night. Don't worry."
"I'll grab a pillow in case you get sleepy," said Jonathan as he ran into the house one last time.
"Jonathan, you don't have to...fine, thanks." Will shivered and Joyce rubbed his back.
"Are you cold?" she asked.
"Hopper will have the heat on in the truck, I'll be fine," said Will as Jonathan came out with a pillow and a couple of blankets. Will felt irritable. He told himself because he was hungry and couldn't eat or because he just wanted to relax and enjoy the break, but he had to go get surgery. Maybe he was just tired, that was it. He turned to Julie. "I'll take the middle seat."
"You don't have to do that," she answered.
"Are you kidding? It's mandatory that I do that because A: I'm still a gentleman and B: I can't have my handsome college brother sitting between us because I'm the type of guy who's extremely jealous and insecure; and C:" Will leaned in and whispered in her ear. "Propping the pillow on your leg will be a lot more comfortable than trying to prop it against the window."
"You're about to have surgery, I'll take pity on you," Julie replied dryly.
When they got into the car, Will put his head on the pillow and closed his eyes while Joyce popped in one of Jonathan's mix tapes. Will decided to pretend to fall asleep so he didn't have to talk to anyone. He felt himself relaxing as Julie caressed his head, but he was so tired from getting no sleep the night before that he actually did drift off to sleep and the next thing he knew Jonathan was gently shaking him awake.
90 minutes to go...
As he got out of the car and headed to the building with his family and friends, the thought that this would be the last time he was walking without help for a while occurred to him. He felt as though he was in a trance.
80 minutes to go…..
Sara was there to greet him and the others when they got to the waiting room. Apparently she had to go to a group therapy session that morning, but wanted to wish him luck before the surgery. He thanked her and told her that he looked forward to her visiting them in Hawkins.
70 minutes to go...
Dustin told Will that a magazine article he'd read recommended getting up to level 21 of Dragon Quest before trying to take on the dragon lord. He said they should spend the break building experience points.
Lucas and Max promised to bring him his homework every day when the break was over, but teased that he had done enough assignments ahead of time that he could probably just relax for once in his life.
60 minutes to go...
Mike just quietly hugged him and Julie did the same. They both looked like they were trying to put on brave faces. Will understood that all too well. He was still in a daze as he walked down the hallway to the prep room with his mother, step father-no father- brother and sister.
45 minutes to go...
Will went behind a curtain to change out of his clothes. He didn't like only wearing a pair of hospital issued pajama bottoms when everyone else was fully clothed.
30 minutes to go...
Will barely listened as Dr. Owens came in with a nurse and a surgeon to explain the procedure. What did he care, he was going to be unconscious the whole time. Will felt Eleven taking his hand. He looked over at her and tried to smile reassuringly, but the smiled felt stiff. He remembered the realization that the nightmares he'd so often experienced as a kid were a psychic connection to her. He'd lost so much time with his sister and didn't want to lose any more time.
20 minutes to go...
Will remembered Mike coming and sitting with him when he couldn't sleep just a few hours earlier. He'd barely spoken and Mike had just sat there quietly and never tried to make him talk. He should have talked to Mike. What if he never saw Mike again. What if the doctor who was about to cut his freaking chest open was connected to the people who had taken Eleven and almost taken him when they were born?
15 minutes to go...
He shouldn't have fallen asleep on the ride over. Why had he tried so hard to avoid talking to anyone in the car? His mother who had always been there for him was sitting in the front seat. His big brother who he'd missed so much for all those months was sitting right next to him. Will saw the nurse prepping the anesthesia machine. It made a weird sound. 10 minutes to go... Hopper had been sitting in the front seat. He'd been a good father to Will. Doctor Owens continued to explain what they would need to do after the operation. Sara had come to wish him luck. Why hadn't he said more to her. She was still stuck in the hospital trying to get better. The buttons in the sleeping gas machine lit up. 5 minutes to go… His friends had been there in the waiting room. He hadn't even thanked them for coming. 4 minutes to go...What if he never went to a decathlon meet or one of Julie's concerts again. 3 minutes to go.. What if they never got a chance to sneak backstage again? 2 minutes to go...What if he and Mike never got to design their video games or write their comic? What if he never got to visit Jonathan in New York? 1 minute to go,,
The nurse walked over with the gas mask and was about to put in on Will's face. 30 seconds.. What if this was the last time he was awake? 1 second-
"No!" Will shouted in a panicked voice as he quickly pushed the mask away. "I'm not ready. I can't do this. I don't want to do this!"
His mother was at his side in an instant, pulling him into a hug and kissing his forehead. "Ssshh! It's okay, baby, you're alright."
"Let's give them a couple minutes," said Doctor Owens. The medical personnel left the room and only Will's family members remained.
"I'm sorry," said Will as tears poured down his cheeks. His hands trembled as he hastily wiped them away. He hopped out of the bed, walked over to the sink and splashed cold water on his face. He then grabbed a towel and held it to his face as he took deep breaths.
"You don't have to do this today if you don't want to," said Hopper and he walked over to him and put his hand on his step son's should. Will lowered the towel covering his face and looked up at Hopper. His eyes then flickered over to his mother, Jonathan and Eleven. He couldn't postpone the surgery for very long. There was a small chance that he would die on the operating table, but the chance of him dying if he didn't get the surgery was almost certain.
"I just want to get this over with," said Will as he threw the towel at the sink, the picked it up and draped it back over the rack. "I was just having a stupid last minute freak out, sorry."
"That's okay," said Jonathan. "You have a good reason. You don't have to put on a brave face for us."
"And you really don't have to be sorry, baby," said Joyce as she walked over and brushed a few stray hairs from his forehead.
"I know," said Will. "But I am. Let's just call in the doctors."
"You ready for this, Will?" asked Hopper.
"No," said Will. "But the sooner we let them start, the sooner they'll be don't. I'm ready for this to be over."
"Wait here a minute," said Joyce. "Hopper and I just need to ask them a couple quick questions before they get started."
"Okay," said Will. Joyce led him back over to his bed and kissed his forehead.
"El, why don't sit with your brother for a minute?" said Joyce to her daughter. Eleven nodded and sat next to Will as Hopper and Joyce headed out to the hallway. Jonathan leaned against the doorway and watched his mother and Hopper talking to Doctor Owens. He looked back at his younger siblings and gave them a small smile.
Eleven gently rested her hands on the side of Will's face and closed her eyes. Will felt the anxiety leaving him. His saw flashes of his thoughts from the past 24 hours and knew that Eleven could see and feel those thoughts. Will saw Jonathan look at them curiously.
"How?" he asked Eleven. He noticed that her nose wasn't bleeding.
"Don't know, just thought I'd try," said Eleven with a shrug.
"Thank you," said Will with a small smile. He seemed completely calm as the doctors and nurse entered the room with his parents. "I'm ready," Will told them. "Sorry about that."
"Don't worry, kid," said Doctor Owens. "It happens all the time. That was actually one of the more mild incidents.
Eleven stepped back to get out of the nurse's way. She felt Jonathan put his arm around her and squeeze her shoulder. She reached up and squeezed his hand, but never took her eyes off of Will. He layed back down and stared at the ceiling as the Nurse prepared the anesthesia. His eyes flicked over and made contact with his sister's. He smiled and she smiled back weakly.
The nurse put the mask over Will's face, but this time he remained calm. His eyes slowly drifted shut and Eleven felt tears forming in her eyes. Jonathan gave her shoulder another squeeze. The nurse put some sort of cooling pack on Will and gave him a shot that was supposed to slow his heart down. Eleven knew they had to lowers Will's body temperature for the surgery, but still wanted to scream at the nurse to stop because Will didn't like it cold. The nurse then put a cap over Will's head to cover his hair. They wheeled Will's bed out of the room and the remaining Byers-Hopper family members were alone in the room.
Eleven started outright sobbing and Joyce walked right up to her and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay, Sweetheart, your brother's going to be just fine. The next few hours are just going to be a little rough."
Hopper and Jonathan joined Joyce in engulfing Eleven in a hug. She sobbed even harder. She knew that Will would be alright. That wasn't entirely what she was crying about. She had seen his thoughts and felt his fear. She was aware of Will's epiphany that the nightmares he'd had as a kid were her own memories. She'd never truly been alone.
"Let's go out back to the waiting room and sit with the others," Jonathan suggested. "Mike will feel better if you're there with him."
"Okay," said Eleven. "But, I want to wash my face first. Don't want them to know I've been crying, it will scare them more."
"Let's get you cleaned up," said Joyce as she rested her hand on Eleven's back and guided her over to the sink.
Eleven splashed cold water (cold like the packs they had put on Will to lower his body temperature. Will hated the cold)in her eyes then grabbed the same towel that her brother had used a few minutes earlier. As the towel was pressed against Eleven's eyes, she saw a vision of Will in the operating room. He had a blue cloth covering him. There was a hole in the middle of the cloth that exposed his chest. A doctor took a scalpel and began making an incision in Will's chest. Eleven wanted to scream at all the people in the room to get away from her brother. Eleven's hand clenched the towel harder against her face. She felt her mother rubbing between her shoulder blades.
"They're starting," said Eleven as she lowered the towel from her face. Her mother was still standing next to her and she saw her father and brother reflecting in the mirror.
"They means they'll be finished sooner," said Hopper.
"Finished sooner," Eleven repeated. She knew that Will had been scared for months about the surgery. She also knew that he wasn't scared that that very moment. He wasn't anything except unconscious. Eleven wasn't sure if she found comfort in the fact that Will wouldn't be scared during the surgery or scared about the fact that Will was simply defenseless at that moment.
"And the doctors know that if anything happens to Will, they'll have everyone in this room and everyone in the waiting room to deal with. We're a pretty scary bunch. Eleven smiled.
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Eleven walked right up to Mike and sat down next to him when she and her conscious immediate family members got back to the waiting. She was still clutching the towel that Will had used. Dustin and Lucas both looked at her like they had a million questions, but not the words to ask them. Julie was staring at the floor. Max's eyes were flickering around the room as though she was making sure everyone was alright.
"Did anyone have breakfast this morning?" asked Mrs. Wheeler. Will's friends all shook their heads. Maybe you can go to the cafeteria and get yourselves something to eat.
"No," said Mike. "If Will doesn't get to eat, then I'm not eating either."
"Honey, he's going to be in surgery for a few hours. Starving yourself won't help him," said Karen. Mike jumped to his feet.
"Yes, Mom, he's in surgery. They're cutting him open right now, just like we did to those frogs in biology. I can't eat while they're doing that to Will. I CAN'T!" Mike turned and punched the wall.
"Mike," said Eleven pointedly as she got to her feet. "I want to go for a walk, I need some air."
Mike looked at her for a moment, then nodded his head. Dustin and Lucas recognized the tone in Eleven's voice and didn't offer to go with them.
"Wait a minute, you two," said Joyce. "Get your coats on. Will's going to want to see both of you when he wakes up and you won't be allowed in the room if you catch pneumonia."
They both nodded and complied. Eleven turned to Julie and handed her the towel. "Here, Will used this." Julie nodded and clutched the towel.
Eleven saw Max take a seat next to Julie out of the corner of her eye and she and Mike headed down the hall to the exit. The frigid early winter air stung their faces. They were in the courtyard of the facility. Eleven remembered a lot of people walking around it during the summer months when she and Will went there for their monthly check ups. It was empty the morning of Will's surgery. Eleven and Mike brushed a thin layer of snow off a bench and took a seat.
Eleven rested her head on Mike's shoulder. He put his arm around her, pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. "He was scared, wasn't he?" asked Mike.
"How did you know?" asked Eleven.
"It took longer than expected for you, Jonathan and your parents to come back out, you were clinging pretty hard to that towel he used, and your eyes were still a little red," said Mike as he ticked off each point by raising one finger at a time. "That and the fact that I'm terrified and so are you. If we're terrified just thinking about Will going through this, he's probably terrified of actually going through it."
"Yes," said Eleven quietly.
"As much as we've all been telling ourselves that this is a simple operation all these months, it's still scary. Will was super quiet this morning. That means he was holding it all in."
"He regretted that," said Eleven.
"Being quiet?" asked Mike. Eleven tilted her head slightly to look Mike in the eyes.
"Not talking to you more this morning when you sat with him by the stairs," said Eleven.
"He said that?"
"No, I-I saw some of his thoughts and memories when I was trying to help him not be scared. He wished he had talked more to everyone on the way her and before he went into the room. It's why he got scared before they made in breathe the sleeping gas."
"Well... We all understand. I mean, we'll get plenty of time with him when he wakes up and after he heals. He'll be okay.. He'll be okay. This waiting just really sucks."
"Yeah, it really sucks," said Eleven. They sat there quietly letting the wind sting their faces. Will was the most important person in the world to them. Sure, he was important to Mike because they were each other's first and closest friend. He was important to Eleven as her long lost twin with whom she'd been cheated so much time thanks to Papa; but Will was important to them. Mike and Eleven found each other because they were trying to save Will. Mike had looking his oldest and dearest friend and Eleven had been looking for a boy (who had turned out to be her long lost brother) she'd seen was in danger from the Demogorgan and wanted to save. Yes, Will was very important to them.
"Will hates the cold," said Mike.
"They made him cold after they put him to sleep," said Eleven. She reached up to Mike's arm that was around her shoulders and intertwined her fingers with him. Memories of hiding in the woods for over a month after saving Mike, Dustin and Lucas came flooding back to her brain. She agreed with Will. She hated the cold. She noticed the time on Mike's watch. "Sara should be done with her group meeting. Let's go see her."
"Will she even want to see me?" asked Mike. "She doesn't even know me." He'd briefly met her that morning as she came in to wish Will luck before his surgery, but there really wasn't time to make a meaningful connection.
"Will and I told her good things about you and Sarah trusts us, so she'll like you...And I really hate the cold."
"Okay, let's go see Sara," said Mike.
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"Will the Wise," said Sara thoughtfully as she took Will's D&D figure from Mike and examined it with a bemused smile. "You carry this around with you, Mike?"
"We don't play as much as we used to," said Mike. There was a hint of regret in his voice. "I just decided to keep that piece with me today while he was in surgery."
"Oh," said Sara. She clutched the tiny wizard figure and closed her eyes. Mike started to ask her what she was doing, but Eleven put her hand on his arm and held her finger to her lips. Sara's expression changed from bemused to happy to sad several times over the next few minutes. She opened her eyes and looked at Mike curiously before handing him back the tiny wizard.
"Looks like it's a good thing that you and Will have people you can trust. Kids like us don't get that very often," Sara said to Eleven.
"What just happened?" asked Mike.
"I thought Will and Eleven told you everything," said Sara.
"Wasn't our secret to tell," said Eleven.
"I'm psychic and was sold to a corporation to spy on other corporations," Sara told Mike and as she tossed the miniature wizard back at time. Mike panicked as he nearly dropped it and sighed with relief as he clutched the tiny figure. Sara folded her arms and casually leaned against the wall.
"Sara," came a gruff, but familiar voice from behind Mike, further startling him. "You really need to be careful with other people's things."
"Right, Dad," said Sara. "Sorry, Mike."
"Don't worry about it," said Mike as he pocketed the tiny Wizard.
"Is Will's surgery done?" asked Eleven hopefully.
"There's still a couple hours before they finish, sweetheart," said Joyce as she pulled Eleven into a one arm hug. "They can't rush these things" Eleven rested her head on her mother's shoulder and closed her eyes. Mike could see them moving under her eyelids and knew she was checking on Will. She gasped and opened her eyes.
"Were you checking on Will?" asked Hopper. Eleven nodded. "El, you have to be careful."
"Telepathy with Will doesn't hurt me," Eleven answered irritable. "Doesn't hurt Will either."
"Did you use telepathy before to surgery to help him calm down?" asked Joyce.
"Used instincts," said Eleven. Instincts had been a word of the day for her while staying in Hopper's cabin. It may have been her favorite word as it described her relationship with her brother- even before she'd learned he was her brother, she'd always had good instincts about him. "Saw his thoughts. He had regrets."
"Regrets?" asked Joyce.
"He wished he had talked to everyone more today. Like in the car on the way here, or Mike this morning. And Sara, he wished he'd talked to Sara more." Eleven felt a little guilty for telling her brother's private thoughts, but felt his friends and family should know about them.
"Me?" asked Sara. "He regretted not talking more to me?"
"You're his friend," said Eleven matter-of-factly. "His sister."
Sara looked surprised, but pleased. "I guess it's nice to have someone who cares about me."
"You have quite a few people who care about you, Sara," said Hopper.
"Sorry, Dad, I didn't mean..."
"Don't worry about it, honey," said Hopper.
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Karen Wheeler looked around the waiting room at people who had barely moved in the last four hours. Will Byers being in the hospital seemed to have that effect on people. Nancy held Jonathan's hand as he stared at the ceiling. Lucas and both sat with their elbows on their knees and their faces in their hands while Steve twirled his car keys on his fingers. Max and Julie were too flustered and gave up on their game of cat's cradle.
Karen looked up to see Joyce coming down the hall followed by Hopper, Mike, Eleven, and Hopper's daughter Sara. Karen mused, for the millionth time, about how she'd simply been a friendly acquaintance of Joyce's when they were children, but their children had become as close as anyone could be. Jonathan had become Nancy's closest friend after Barb died. Mike and Will had been best friends since the day they met, and Joyce's long lost daughter had hidden in Karen's basement and fallen in love with Mike. Karen would never have predicted that when they were younger even though she'd always had an odd admiration for Joyce.
"Any news?" Karen asked Joyce. Joyce looked at her watch and bit her lip.
"We were about to ask you the same thing. They should be almost finished by now," said Joyce.
"I'm sure everything's fine, Mom," said Jonathan. "They're probably just double checking everything, you know Dr. Owens."
"Yeah," Joyce nodded as she took a seat. Hopper sat next to her. Eleven took Sara over to give her a better introduction to Max and Julie than she'd had time for before her group therapy. Mike took a seat next to his mother.
"Sorry about earlier, didn't mean to snap at you, Mom."
"It's okay, Mike. Are you feeling better?" asked Karen as she rubbed Mike's arm. Mike shrugged. Karen looked around at the other kids in the waiting room. She'd tried to get them to eat something after Mike and Eleven went for their walk. Julie had said that she agreed with Mike about not eating until Will could eat and everyone else had followed suit. Karen thought that maybe if she could get Mike to eat something, the rest of the teenagers might follow. She didn't want them passing out. That wouldn't do Will any good. "Would you like something to eat now?"
Mike shook his head. "I think I'll puke if I eat."
The group sat in agonizing silence for the next 45 minutes. Karen saw Steve giving Dustin encouraging pats on the shoulder every few minutes. Mike went over an sat next to Eleven with the other girls. They seemed to have lost their voices.
Everyone leapt to their feet when Dr. Owens finally came out with the surgeon. Joyce seemed to sway a little with anxiety and Hopper pulled her into a one arm hug. Fortunately, Doctor Owens got right to the point.
"The surgery went really well," said Doctor Owens. "We're taking him to recovery. He should be awake soon."
The people in the waiting room all visibly relaxed. "Can we see him?" asked Joyce.
"Sure, follow me. We'll walk and talk," said Doctor Owens. "Before we go, has anyone been coughing or sneezing today?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good, make sure you all wash your hands before you go in. We want to keep the room as germ free as possible."
"What other precautions should we take?" asked Hopper as the group headed down the hall.
"We'd like to keep him here until Monday morning just to be safe," said Doctor Owens. "He's going to need a lot of rest over the next couple weeks, so he'll probably miss the first week of school after the break. We can make a trip to Hawkins to check on the healing so you don't have to bring him back here."
"Thank you," said Joyce.
Doctor Owens explained a few more things as they continued down the hall, mostly about keeping the wound clean. He told them that's he'd given them a packet as a guide. Everyone stopped to wash their hands and hang their coats and hats up in a closet next to Will's recovery room.
Mike was relieved that he could see Will breathing as they entered the room, surrounded his bed and waited for him to wake up There was a bandage on his chest covering the incision.. Karen, Nancy and Steve stood back as they weren't as close to Will as the others. Sara started to stand back as well, but Eleven grabbed her arm.
"You're Will's sister," said Eleven. "He'll want to see you." Hopper smiled and gave Sara an encouraging nod.
It was almost another fifteen minutes before Will's eyes started to flutter. He was clearly disoriented as he stared at the ceiling for a minute, or came close to staring. His eyes were unfocused. He looked over at his mother and Jonathan then reached up and brushed his fingers over the bandage on his chest. His friends had to fight the urge to hug him. It was an old habit.
"It's over," Will mused.
"Yeah, Bud. The surgery went really well and you're going to be fine," said Jonathan.
"Good," said Will. He noticed everyone gathered around him. He was pleased to see them, but felt as awkward as he always did when he was the center of attention. He pushed himself into a sitting position and winced.
"Will, honey, you need to take it easy," said Joyce as she put her hands on his shoulders. She didn't try to push him back into a resting position as she feared it might put too much strain on the incision.
"I'm okay, Mom," said Will. "I just, you know, wanna face everyone."
"I'll just adjust the bed and pillows then," said Joyce. She pulled the lever on the bed and fluffed the pillows, then gently prodded Will into resting on them. He didn't really have the energy to resist. He made a face like he was going to ask for something then stopped himself. "What is it, baby?" asked Joyce as she caresses the side of his head. "Can I get you something?"
Will looked like he felt guilty for asking. It was a look Mike recognized all too well. Will always wanted to do things for himself and never liked asking for help. "Water?" asked Will timidly.
"I got it," said Jonathan. There was already a pitcher of ice water ready for Will. Jonathan poured him some and dropped a straw in the glass and held it out to Will, who bit his lip in embarrassment. "It's alright Will. You just had a life saving surgery. Let us help you out while you're recovering."
"Sorry," Will muttered as he took the straw and started drinking.
"Are you hungry, Will?" asked Karen. "Your friends here refused to eat until you could."
"What?" Will exclaimed causing him to dribble some of the water he was drinking. "Shit!"
"It's okay," said Joyce as she grabbed a paper towel. "We'll get that cleaned up."
"Guys, you can't starve yourselves because of me!" said Will.
"Wanna bet?" said Dustin.
"It's flu season. I don't want you getting sick!" said Will.
"Well, having lunch didn't feel right while you were having surgery. I may have puked if I tried to eat," said Mike.
"Jesus! Would you all knock it off with the whole feeling guilty," said Steve from the back of the room. "Shit happens. None of you have anything to feel guilty about and all you're doing in making each other feel more guilty-over nothing!"
Everyone turned and stared at Steve. "Sorry, that may have been out of line," said Steve.
"Nah, you were right," said Dustin.
"He does have a point," said Jonathan. "We should all work on that. Could be a good New Years resolution."
A nurse came in pushing a cart. "I brought you something for the pain, Mr. Byers. We have a couple options." There were pills and needles on the cart.
"No! Thank you," said Will. "I'm fine."
"Mr, Byers, you're going to be needing plenty of rest. The pain can make it hard to sleep. These will help."
"I don't want any pain medication, I'd rather deal with the pain. It's not that bad." said Will. He turned to face Joyce and away from the nurse. He clutched his pillow and his lower lip started trembling. A tear fell down his cheek.
"Hey," said Joyce as she squeezed his shoulder. "What's wrong?" Will merely shook his head.
Eleven walked over from where she'd been standing next to Sara at the foot of the bed and put her hand on her mother arm. Joyce looked up at her and Eleven nodded. Joyce stood back and let Eleven closer to Will.
Eleven reached down and brushed Will's hair out of his face. She rested her hand on the side of his head. Will looked up and met her eyes. Eleven gazed at him for a moment and closed her eyes. "I understand," she said as she opened them. She then leaned over and pressed her forehead to Will's and closed her eyes again for a moment as though she was recalling a painful memory.
"Thanks, El," said Will with a small smile. Eleven stood up, turned around and faced the nurse.
"My brother doesn't want to be drugged anymore. We should respect his wishes," said Eleven boldly.
"Alright," said the Nurse. "Let me know if he changes his mind. He's in a lot of pain."
"He was in much worse pain another time," said Eleven. Mike suddenly realized why Will didn't want to take the pain medication. He knew what Eleven had seen when she had just looked into Will's mind. It was his memory of the night he'd collapsed in agony when she soldiers started burning the vines in the tunnels. Mike recalled that horrible night very vividly. The doctors had to heavily sedate Will and when he woke up, the Mind Flayer was in control.
Hopper and Joyce had the same expression on their faces. They had been there when Will couldn't remember anyone but Mike or Joyce. Mike recalled the emotionless look in Will's eyes as he recalled who Mike was. Even then it was more like he was guessing, because it was no longer Will who was speaking at that moment. That was when the Mind Flayer was starting to spy back, something that had terrified Will.
Mike remembered when they'd both been in the hospital a year earlier after getting into a fight with Troy. Will had hit hit head really hard and had refused to take anything stronger than aspirin. Mike hadn't put two and two together then, even though Will had mentioned having a flashback to the Mind Flayer possessing him. "Aspirin." said Mike. "How about that?" WIll looked over at him and nodded.
"Would you guys mind getting yourselves something to eat? I just woke up and don't need you all passing out in here," said Will. He winced a little as he leaned back into his pillows and closed his eyes.
Doctor Owens had told Joyce and Hopper to expect some mood swings and irritability from Will while he was healing. Will had overheard this as they thought he was asleep. He'd been drifting in and out of consciousness all day Sunday. He barely had the energy to do anything when he woke up. He went to the bathroom a few times, but had to have help getting out of bed. The tiniest bit of effort to move put too much strain on his healing incision. Doctor Owens knew that Will liked doing things for himself.
Will woke up in the middle of the afternoon. He looked over to see Jonathan sleeping in a cot near the wall and his mother sleeping in a chair near his bed. Eleven and Hopper must have been visiting with Sara. Will's friends had gone home the night before because only family was allowed to stay with him. Mike and Julie had put up quite the protest, but to no avail. There had been a nasty snow storm late in the night, so the roads weren't safe for people to travel from Hawkins to Bloomington. The roads were expected to be clear enough the next morning for Will to go home.
A voice inside Will screamed like a frightened child that he wanted to go home. He wanted to see his friends. Another voice scolded the first one saying that it was dangerous for his friends to try to visit him. The voice of the frightened child screamed back that he wanted his sister there. She always knew what to scolding voice shot back that Sara probably needed Eleven more and his sister wasn't just his emotional crutch. She'd been through much worse than he ever had. It was something that Will had constantly reminded himself about. He'd been reminding himself a lot more frequently in the last day, since he'd realized that his childhood nightmares that sent him running to his mother or brother for comfort had been a psychic connection to Eleven's experiences at Hawkins Lab.
Will stared blankly at the ceiling and blinked back tears. The morning before, Will had been put under with the terrifying thought that he'd never wake up. His sister had calmed him down. When Mike had told him that Eleven would understand, she always did, he'd been absolutely right. Will was grateful to be alive. He wanted to be happy that the surgery was over and happy that he would recover, but in that moment, he only felt sadness.
"Will?" said Joyce as he felt her hand squeezing his. "What's wrong, baby?"
"Nothing," said Will. "My chest just stings a little. I think it's time to change the bandage."
"Alright, we can get that taken care of." Joy helped Will sit up and grabbed some fresh gauze. Will was glad that only the initial bandage was adhesive, but he wasn't thrilled with the amount of time it took to change the wrap around gauze.
When Joyce finished she sat next to Will and gingerly pulled him into a one arm hug. "You wanna tell me what's on your mind?"
"I'm fine, don't worry about it," said Will. "Sorry I worried you."
Joyce sighed, caressed Will's hair, and kissed his forehead..
"Aren't you going to tell me to stop it with the sorries?" asked Will.
"No, Will, I'm not going to tell you that. I still think you apologize for things that you don't need to apologize for, but if you feel the need to say you're sorry, you should say it."
"Okay," said Will.
"And if you have something on your mind that's upsetting you, you should talk about it."
"I'd just be complaining," said Will. "And compared to everything El and Sara have been through, I have no right to complain. It's the old saying: no matter how bad things are, someone else has it worse. Aren't there starving children in war zones all over the world?"
"That's the kind of thing people with no empathy say. Just because other people have had things worth doesn't mean you don't have the right to complain. There's a balance between complaining too much and holding everything in just because other people have it worse. I love that you care about other people, but I don't want you holding things in when you're upset. That builds up and it's not good for you. So spill it."
"I don't know," said Will. "The surgery's over, I should be happy, but I just hate having to have people help me with every little thing. It's frustrating. But what right to I have to be frustrated? It's only a couple weeks. El was in Hawkins lab for almost 13 years. Sara was trapped in that program for eight years."
"Yes, they both went through horrible things for years and you'll be healing for just a couple weeks. It doesn't mean that it won't difficult. And if you need to talk about it, promise me you'll talk to someone-anyone, even if it isn't me. Hopper, your sister,your brother, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Julie, Max, hell-Steve Harrington, talk to someone. They all love you and they'll listen."
"I saw what she went through, I felt it, Mom," said Will.
"What who went through?" asked Joyce.
"El. Those nightmares I used to have. They weren't nightmares, they were now memories. She told me that she could see when I was in danger before we even met. I could see her too, I just never realized it."
Joyce rubbed Will's arm. "H-how do you know they were now memories?"
"I just know. I figured it out yesterday morning when I couldn't sleep."
Joyce bit her lip. Will had demonstrated to ability to just know things when the shadow monster had possessed him. It was due to a psychic link. Will absolutely had a psychic link with Eleven. She had used it twice to calm him down the day before.
"So you know what she went through," said Joyce. "You understand and you can help her."
"How?"
"The same why you've always helped her, be the, let her talk to you if she needs to talk. Only now you know. You really know. You two have a special bond and have been very protective of each other."
"She's the one who's always being protective of me."
"Yeah? I've seen you be pretty protective of her. When the possibility of her exposing herself by using her powers in public or meeting Lonnie, you get very protective."
Will hesitated, then merels answered "Good point."
"It's the truth," said Joyce. "Now, here's what going to happen: You're going to take it very easy while you're recovering, you're going to get back on your feet and you're going to live your life. Everything is crappy now, but it will be alright."