warnings: takes place in a hospital. mention of drug overdose

Chapter 33: Will & Angelica

In which Will meets Angelica

Will wakes up in a bed; that's the first thing he notices.

The second thing he notices is that he feels like shit. Vaguely, bits and pieces of his surroundings begin to register in his brain. Everything seems very white: the ceiling, the bedsheets, the walls. There's a beeping sound coming from somewhere nearby. There's an IV in his hand.

Fuck.

He sits bolt upright, glancing around wildly, and that's when he sees the lady sitting by his bed, a blonde lady in a white dress.

She's talking to him, he realizes: "It's alright," she's saying softly. "It's okay, kiddo. No one's gonna hurt you. You're in a hospital, but you're okay."

"Who the fuck are you?" Will asks hoarsely, hoping he doesn't sound as terrified as he feels.

"My name's Angelica," says the lady. "The hospital called me because you had my business card on you. I'm guessing you got it from Jonas?"

"Jonas," Will murmurs, remembering the social worker's business card. He must have kept it.

"That's right," says Angelica soothingly. "You're okay, honey. You can lay back down."

Will leans back against his pillow and swallows. His throat feels raw. "What happened?" he whispers.

She gives him a sad smile. "You overdosed, kiddo."

Will stares at her. Shit.

"Some police officers found you and gave you Narcan," Angelica goes on. "You just got out of the ICU about an hour ago. They had you sedated and hooked up to a ventilator and everything."

She reaches out like she wants to touch him, then stops and retracts her hand. Will flinches anyway.

"I know it's a lot to take in," says Angelica. "But you're gonna be okay now."

Will blinks groggily as fragments of the day come back to him. (He doesn't think about his dad, no no no no no.) But he thinks about Croome. Whispers. The alley, the rain, the drugs.

"I fucked up," Will breathes.

"You're alive though," says Angelica. "That's what matters."

"No, I— I quit. I got clean. And now I fucking relapsed, and OD'd, and—" Will shakes his head. He let everyone down, he thinks: Himself. His dad. Sara. The others.

Suddenly, he feels his stomach drop.

The others. They're waiting for him. He promised he'd come back.

"What time is it?" he asks frantically, sitting back up.

Angelica frowns. "Just after 7 PM," she says. "Why—"

"I have to leave," says Will. "I have to go—" He reaches to pull the IV out from his hand, but Angelica grabs his arm.

"Hey," she says softly. "Take a deep breath, okay? The doctor's gonna say when she thinks you're ready to be discharged, but you gotta stay here till then."

Will looks at her helplessly. "No," he says. "You don't get it; I— I have friends. They're gonna be worried. They— I have to tell them I'm okay; they're gonna be freaking out—"

"Alright," says Angelica quickly. "Alright, what if you just give them a call, hmm? Do you know their phone numbers?"

"No," Will practically shouts. "No, they— shit, what if they do something stupid? What if they go to the police—" He thinks of Wolfgang.

Angelica nods. "Okay honey, shh, it's alright. How about this, okay? How about if I go visit them and tell them where you are; how does that sound?"

Will shakes his head. "No," he says, looking away. He's too tired for this. He just wants to sleep.

Angelica sighs softly. "I want to help you, kiddo," she says, and she sounds so fucking sincere that Will glances over at her. Then he shuts his eyes, and takes a deep breath, and says:

"But what if— what if I told you we don't have, like, a house, or whatever?"

"That's alright," says Angelica calmly, as if she'd expected it or something.

"So if you found a group of kids living in, like, an abandoned building," Will probes. "What would you do? Like, as a social worker?"

"That— depends," Angelica says. "How old are these kids?"

"Eighteen," says Will immediately, opening his eyes. "We're all eighteen."

Angelica nods. "I'm not the police," she tells him. "I'm not gonna make them leave, if that's what you're asking."

"Or report them, or anything?"

"As long as there are no minors involved, then no."

"Okay," sighs Will. "Okay, it's— it's a church. An abandoned church. The door'll be locked. Knock and say... say that Will sent you." He tells her how to get there. Then: "I swear to god," he says, fighting to keep his voice even, "if you screw shit up for us—"

"Will," says Angelica, "I won't."

And for some reason, Will believes her.