things change - byler

.30

i wake up, the light above me seemed to be blinding me. My ears were ringing and my head was throbbing, I winced as I slowly looked up to doctors all around me..
Where am I?
Why am I here?
Why does my body hurt so much?
a doctor came over to me and sat on a chair.
-"how are you feeling?" He asked, I just shrugged my shoulders.
i put my hand over my head that was bandaged and gauzed up, I saw my mom and hop walk in and saw my mom in tears when she saw me.
-"honey! Are you okay?" She asked hugging me.
-"yeah..." I mumbled, nodding my head.
-"what happened?" Hopper asked me.
-"I don't.. I don't know.." I mumbled again, confused.
-"you don't remember?" A doctor asked, as I shook my head no.
all of the doctors looked at each other, and then at my mom.
i watched as my mom was pulled out by the doctor and hopper followed.
next thing I know, my friends were sprinting towards me.
-"oh my god, are you okay?" max asked.
-"what happened?" El asked.
-"thank god you're alive!" Lucas added.
-"we thought you died." Dustin also added.
I stared at all of them blankly without saying anything, confusing and scaring them.
mike turned around to the doctor and my mom and hop when they walked in again.
-"what's wrong with him?" He asked, as all of my friends turned around.
-"he has a class 2 concussion." Hop said, crossing his arms.
they all turned around towards me again, confused.
i couldn't say anything, I didn't even know why I was here.

•••

hours had passed, doctors were still asking me questions and running a few tests on me and taking my blood.
-"what's the last thing you remember?"
-"walking outside.."
-"why were you walking outside?"
-"I don't know.." I hesitated.
-"maybe you've asked him enough questions, doc." Hop said.
-"but I-"
-"he's told you a million times he doesn't remember! give it up!" My mom shouted, finally making him walk away.
my friends were in the corner of the room, whispering to each other.
i didn't know what to do, i was helpless.
-"Troy was arrested earlier today." Hop informed me.
-"why??" I asked, worried he brought him in for my assault.
-"he was the one who hit you." my mother said.
-"he hit me?" I asked, shocked.
It seemed like they all had forgotten I couldn't remember.
why would he hit me?
what did I do for him to give me a concussion.
"Chief, we need you down at the station. We got Troys mother down here, she's quite the women." An officer exclaimed through his walkie on his shoulder.
-"I'll be down in a second." he said, before whispering in Joyce's ear and walking away.
i saw mike walking up and sitting next to my mom and Jonathan that were sitting next to my bed.
i was so confused, I couldn't even smile at mike no matter how badly I wanted to. I love him, but this wasn't the moment.
I wonder who found me..
why won't anyone tell me what happened?
-"what happened?" I ask, loud enough to where it wasn't muffled.
they both looked at mike for some reason, why were they looking at him?
was he there?
-"uhm.. it's a really long story. But I-"
-"you were there? I'm going to need to talk to you now." a police officer overheard and grabbed his arm.
He took him out of the room, and I sighed looking up at the ceiling.

•••

the officer pulled me outside to the hallway and pulled out his notebook, telling me to explain.
-"leave out no details." He ordered.
-"okay.. I was with will in the living room, when I got a phone call from Troys best friend, James. James Dante. he hated will, but warned me. He said troy wanted to hurt him for what happened at school.. and I turned around and will wasn't in the living room anymore. The door was wide open and he was just gone. I ran outside looking for him, but he was nowhere. I called the police when I heard yelling coming from down the street in the alleyway.
i ran outside again and down the street. I turned the corner and Troy was on top of Will, holding a bloody rock in his hand yelling at Will. I found a crowbar on the ground, I picked it up and hit him across the head with it when I saw he was trying to hit Will again with it. I tried to keep him awake, and tried to keep pressure on his head but it wouldn't work." I explained, not realizing I was tearing up.
-"what was Troy saying to him?"
-"I don't know.. I heard him say 'you could've ruined my reputation.' Or something on those lines. I heard wills voice before troy raised the rock above his head, but I couldn't make out what it was. It was too mumbled." I said, before I heard a familiar voice come from left.
-"mike!" Nancy yelled, walking towards me.
she hugged me, making me feel weird.
-"are you okay? Is he?"
-"I'm fine, Will isn't.. the doctors told me he has a grade 2 concussion, and possibly short term memory loss." I said, tearing up a bit but wiping it away.
she walked into the room and saw Jonathan, she hugged him feeling sorry.
i walked over to my friends again, as they sat there not knowing what to say.
-"what do we do?" Lucas asked.
-"I don't know.. I'm sure he's going to be fine." I whispered.
-"at least he didn't fall into a coma." Max added.
we all looked at her, annoyed.
-"what?? I'm just saying! it could've been a lot worse." She crossed her arms.
i sighed, looking over to him and his mom.
I hope he's going to be okay..
a grade 2 concussion only takes a few days for him to heal if he gets plenty of rest. He only stays here for 2 more days. At least he remembers everything else around him. At least he remembers me.
hopper runs into the room, frantically.
-"okay, everyone except for wills family needs to leave." he ordered.
-"what about me?" I stood up as everyone left the room, confused.
He looked at me.
-"sure, whatever." He nodded.
everyone left and hopper walked over to Will who was now sitting up.
-"you do remember everything else before the incident, right?" He asked, sitting down on a chair with his notepad.
will nodded.
-"why?" He asked suspiciously.
I stood at the end of his bed as everyone was huddled around him.
-"Troys being put in the system, he's being transferred to juvenile hall. He's only going in for a 24 months because we found drugs stashed in his house.." he explained.
I was shocked.. drugs? Troy Harrington Walsh was on drugs?
-"that's why he was acting so crazy today. But if the court knows about the assault, he'll be trialed as an adult for 36 months. We need to know the story of what happened before he gets transferred." He said.
I could see the fear in wills eyes, I remembered our previous talk. will started to choke up on his words and I saw the tears in his eyes.
-"he doesn't have to if he doesn't want to!" I blurted out.
-"do you have any idea how urgent this situation is??" Hopper stood up yelling at me.
-"he's not ready!!" I yelled back.
-"WE NEED TO KN-"
-"ILL TELL YOU!!" Will yelled out.
we all looked at him and stopped talking, noticing the tears falling from his face.
-"I'll tell you!" His voice cracked, as he repeated his previous sentence.
we all slowly sat down again, waiting.
he sat there, staring at us for a moment, before reaching his hand out to hopper.
we looked at what he was reaching for, it was his notepad.
-"you never said it couldn't be a written confession." He mumbled.
Hopper hesitantly gave him his notepad and pen, and we watched him hesitate to write anything.
once he was writing, he was writing fast. His hand had to hurt with how long it took him to write so much. I could see the tears falling from his eyes as he wrote, but nobody was forcing him too do it.
he didn't have to if he didn't want to.
but he was.
He stopped, wiped the tears off his face with his arm and gave him back the notepad.
hopper stood up reading it, I could see the look on hoppers face. It was a look of guilt, he didn't say anything. He just walked out of the room, with Joyce and Jonathan following after him.
i looked back at will, his head was down as he looked ashamed.
I sat to his left and pulled him into a hug, I felt him sobbing over my shoulder. I rubbed his back the harder he cried.
i noticed my friends slowly walking in, but i shooed them away with my hands and they slowly closed the door shut.
i ran my hands up and down his back, trying to assure him it was okay.
i pulled him away and held my hands onto the side of his face and wiped his tear-filled face.
-"you're so brave, will. I'm proud of you." I told him, smiling with tears in my eyes.
he started crying again, and I pulled him into my chest.
I was being truthful.
I was so very proud of him.
that had to of taken courage to do that.
to relive that moment must've been scary.
but he did it.
i didn't even want to read what was on that paper.
If I had,
I probably would do something I'd regret.