Break and Mend | "Lost and Found" Sequel

Chapter Eleven: The Spy

Warnings: no Doc, sedation, implications of abuse and racism (Billy towards Lucas), mentions of violence and death

Word Count: 4771

     There was silence. A deep, patient, unfazing, unknowing silence. Then, tires screeching, the opening and closing of vehicle doors, and Will Byers's blood-curdling screams of agony.

     "Get him out! Go! Go!"

     "God! Hold on, sweetie!"

     The screams soon turned into sobs as Will was being wheeled down the hallways of Hawkins Lab, Joyce running right beside him with Bob and Mike keeping up behind. Will clutched onto his arms and his eyes shut tight as he screamed into the ventilator mask.

     "I'm right here. Just hold on." Joyce tried to calmly reassure her son. Even when he had been brought into a room and transferred onto a bed, she was still calling out to him in her own sobs, Bob holding her back from lunging herself at him. The doctors moved in front of her to check on Will.

     "Vitals?"

     "Heart rate 220. Temperature's 106."

     Amongst all the hands on the boy, one pair belonged to a nurse who leaned close to the boy to speak to him. "Will, where does it hurt?"

     "All over." He loudly groaned as another nurse used a pair of scissors to cut him free of his pajama shirt. By this point, Will had lost color in his skin with dark bags under his eyes.

     "She says he feels like he's burning," Dr Owens told the nurses. "Check for burns."

     The shirt was ripped off of the boy to reveal his sweating, paled skin. His screams rose in volume and pitch and he writhed in the bed as the nurse checked his skin. There were no burn marks anywhere. "I don't see anything. Where does it hurt the most, Will?"

     "Everywhere!" He screeched, slamming his head back onto the pillow below him. "Everywhere!"

     Joyce could do nothing but cry in Bob's arms as a needle was injected into Will's skin to sedate him.

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     Steve and Dustin hadn't spoken a word to each for the past couple of minutes. They let the sound of Queen fill the car as they stared forward at the road. Steve had just received a quick rundown of Dustin's latest situation with his pet, Dart. The Harrington boy was still trying his best to wrap his head around it all, but it seemed to still be too much. "Wait a sec. How big?"

     Dustin used his thumb and index finger to indicate Dart's initial size. "First it was like that," Then he stretched his hands out wide. "Now, he's like this."

     "I swear to god, man, it's just some little lizard, okay?"

     "It's not a lizard."

     "How do you know?"

     "How do I know if it's not a lizard?"

     "How do you know it's not just a lizard?!"

     "Because its face opened up and he ate my cat!"

     Steve had been through enough a year ago for that statement to be anything but unordinary. It was fairly easy for him to believe Dustin, which was why he gave a shrug and a nod as he pulled into the Henderson driveway. The two got out and rounded the car to meet at the trunk. Opening his trunk, Steve's eyes immediately fell on a wooden baseball bat spiked with nails hammered into it. The bat was originally Nancy's, but Jonathan upgraded it in order to defend them against the Demogorgon.