Time After Time (a Stranger Things fanfiction)

Stayin' Alive

"Stayin' Alive"

You know it's alright, it's okay

I'll live to see another day

- The Bee Gees

"I don't know about this, Hop." Joyce kept her voice low. Will had just gotten home from school and he was having a snack in the kitchen while Joyce and Hopper conferred outside, despite the snow and the cold.

"I don't see what other choice you have," he pointed out. "Hawkins Hospital doesn't have the first clue what happened to him. Hawkins Lab knows all about it. They're the best people to monitor him and make sure he's well again."

Joyce didn't entirely like the way those keen blue eyes were studying her. Hopper had always been able to read her too easily, and she didn't want him to see her concern for Will. Yes, because he had been missing and she was going to go a long time before she felt comfortable when he wasn't with her ... but also because of the cough he couldn't quite hide, which didn't seem to be getting better, and the occasional faraway look on his face like he was seeing things no one else did, and the sounds from the bathroom like he was coughing something up. Will seemed to think he was concealing all of it from her, but she had half an ear on his whereabouts all the time, and a new sensitivity to any movement he made. Hopper was right, she had no choice but to take Will to Hawkins Lab and trust them to find what was wrong with him and fix it ... but she didn't have to like it.

"What if they try to—take him?" she asked. "Like they did Jane."

"He's not an infant, Joyce. And if they'd wanted him, they would have gotten him out of the Upside Down and no one would have known anything about it. Taking him now would be pretty awkward."

"Maybe." It was good logic, but Joyce didn't trust those people to be logical.

"Joyce."

"It's fine, Hop, we'll go. But they better be one hundred percent on the up and up." She glared at him before heading into the house to get Will. "Hey, sweetie, you ready?"

"I thought you said we didn't have to go." He looked scared, and she didn't blame him.

"Just this once, just to make sure. Okay? For me?" She ruffled his hair. "Humor your mom. We worry, you know. Moms."

Will tried to smile, and she hated that she had to remind him of what he'd been through when he just wanted to get his life back to normal. "Okay."

They went outside where Hopper was waiting for them. He crushed his cigarette under his boot. "Hey, kid."

"Hi."

"How's school?"

Will forced a smile, and started telling Hopper about science class. Joyce listened as they climbed into Hopper's car, remembering that not so long ago Will wouldn't have had to pretend to be excited about school. She hoped he got that back, at least—something to look forward to. The boys were starting D&D sessions back up soon, too, so maybe that would make Will feel like life was back to what it had been.

She resisted the urge to hug him, pat his back, ruffle his hair, or in any other way satisfy herself that he was still here. He'd been good about that, but she knew it was starting to annoy him.

As they got closer to Hawkins Lab, though, Will reached out and took her hand, holding it tightly. He was trembling. Joyce held his small, cold hand in both of hers, wanting to give him some of her courage but feeling pretty short on it herself.

Hopper pulled into a parking spot and killed the engine, turning to Will. "Look, kid. No one's saying this is going to be a lot of fun, but it won't last too long and then what do you say we go have dinner at McDonald's? My treat."

"Okay."

"And don't worry, okay? I'm not going to let anything happen to you, and if they get past me your mom's going to be right there, and no one's going to mess with her." Hopper smiled at Joyce over Will's head. "The doctor's scared of her."

Will actually laughed at that. "Really?"

"Really."

They got out of the truck and went inside. The nurse seemed nice. She was young and friendly and put Will at ease talking about some science fiction movie that was about to come out. Joyce would have thought he'd had enough of science fiction, but apparently not.

The doctor came in then, introducing himself to Joyce and Will. He was an older man in wrinkled clothes like he'd been working long hours. Good. He should be.

"With your permission," he said, "we're going to run some scans."

"Mom?"

Joyce studied this Dr. Owens. Hopper was right, she had to trust—at least a little bit. "It's okay, Will. How long, Doctor?"

"Half an hour. And I'll be with him the whole time."

"Okay, Will?"

She could tell he didn't want to say okay, but he did, and he went with the doctor, but his swift, fearful backward glance at her broke Joyce's heart.

She didn't have much time to dwell on it, though, before another man, this one brisk and businesslike in a suit, came into the room, carrying a stack of papers.

"Mrs. Byers? I'm afraid there's some paperwork we need you to fill out."

"Medical records?"

"Yes, and confidentiality forms." He started laying them out on the table. There were an awful lot of them.

"How many?" Joyce demanded.

"Just the necessary forms to ensure that nothing ... untoward is leaked to the press."

"Untoward?" she echoed, outraged. Who did they think they were?

Hopper grabbed her arm before she could get any further. "Leave the forms, we'll look them over," he said, and the guy in the suit hurried out of the room.

"Untoward, Hop. Untoward! Like their confidentiality matters more than what happened to my boy, more than what they did to that little girl."

"It does, to them. Sign the forms, Joyce. Take the money and the medical care. Let me worry about Hawkins Lab, all right?"

She looked at him, weighing her options. On the one hand, she was done letting someone else take care of her. On the other hand, her priority was Will's safety and health, and if these people could help her restore that, it was the least they could to do make up for what had happened. "All right," she said reluctantly. "For now."

Hopper nodded, looking out the window as the snowflakes started to fall again. "For now," he agreed.