Stranger Things Have Happened- Steve Harrington x OC

The Maybe-Body

I glanced over at Joyce, who was watching me with slightly wider eyes. I nodded back at the mortician.

"We'll get going then," I said, putting my hands on Joyce's shoulder to guide her back out; "Please let your superiors know that your bedside manner with grieving families is appalling."

I gave him a sickly sweet smile as we headed out of the door, not missing Joyce's little scoff. I smirked as the two of us sauntered down the corridor.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"It's not him," she shook her head vigorously; "It looks like him and it has the same bits on it that make Will Will... but that's not him. I don't know what that thing is, but it's not my boy."

As she explained, she was getting increasingly more irate, before rounding on me with a fiery look in her eyes.

"I don't know who is trying to pull the wool over our eyes," she spat, "But that is not our Will."

With that, she banged out of the door and stormed into the car park. Hopper and Jonathon looked over at me in shock, before Jonathon took off after her.

"What the hell was that?" Hopper demanded.

"An unsuccessful viewing," I replied, kicking my heels, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

I made sure to start walking towards the exit as I asked, not wanting to have a conspiracy theory style chat in front of the receptionist.

"Sure?" he questioned, grabbing his hat and coming out after me.

When the crisp autumn air stung my cheeks again, I turned back around. 

"I'm assuming you've had to deal with dead bodies before, even if it was just in the city?"

"Yeah. What are you getting at, kid?"

"So the viewing is the chance to both identify the body in some cases, but to say goodbye, right?"

Hopper's brows were furrowing further and further with each word that came out of my mouth, to the point his eyes would probably be engulfed by them soon.

"Kid," he sighed.

"Just... hear me out."

He sighed, "Fine. Yeah. That's the last chance to say goodbye. Normally, the body is identified and the family can say their piece, hug them, kiss them, that kind of deal, and then it's shipped off to the funeral parlour to be put in the coffin ready for the ceremony."

"And the family don't typically see the body again?"

"Not unless it's an open casket," he quipped, "What are you-"

"And they'd done the autopsy right?"

Hopper threw his hands in the air at the fact I still wasn't done with my interrogation but answered all the same; "Yeah. She was just telling me someone from state did it instead of our usual guy, which is weird but, what hasn't been weird lately."

I silently banked that information; "So presumably, they'll have done the autopsy overnight and collected any and all evidence before telling the family they can come in?"

"Yeah... What are you getting at?"

"So  we weren't taken into the morgue. We were taken into a room next to the morgue with a big window in it."

"Wait you had to identify the body from behind a window?"

"Yeah. And when I asked if we could come in to say goodbye, the guy got really defensive. Told me we'd contaminate evidence."