The Fall of the Aftons

072: William Afton

William halfway listened as Michael struggled to grab Noah's attention and comfort his friend. He was apologizing frantically for giving Noah such a scare earlier and was trying to promise him that he was fine now, though Noah wasn't having it. Noah was going on and on about how he was right to be worried---but, thankfully, he wasn't being mean about it. If anything, he was only teasing. He was clearly upset that his friend but he was happy that Michael was safe now.

A couple of hours ago, Noah had randomly burst into the house, screaming at the top of his lungs for William. At that moment, William had been upstairs, playing with Evan. The second he heard Noah's screaming, he rushed downstairs with Evan trailing behind him, only to find Noah struggling to carry an unconscious Michael into the house for safety.

Suddenly, someone tapped William's shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts. He turned to where the source of the taps was, not surprised to find Henry. His friend gave a him small smile and pointed at the doorway. A doctor was standing in the motioned-to doorway, waiting for a response.

"Mister Afton?" the doctor asked politely. "May I please talk to you when you get the chance?"

"Oh! Yes, of course," William replied kindly, quickly following the doctor into the hallway when she left the room. 

"First of all, Michael is free to leave now," the doctor told him with a small smile. "He doesn't have a concussion or any other complications from when he hit his head. But..." Her words trailed off as she looked down at her clipboard. "He's extremely malnourished--so much so that it could become a major problem soon. Is he... Is he being fed at home?"

William hesitated, caught off guard by the question. "Um, yes. Yes, he is. I give him full meals to eat--breakfast, lunch, dinner, with snacks in between them--but he refuses to eat them. He always claims that he's 'not hungry.'" He finger quoted, frowning when the doctor sighed. "Is something wrong?"

"Does Michael participate in a lot of extracurricular activities--sports and physical activities specifically?"

"Not really. He does martial arts, basketball, soccer, and track. But that's all," he answered with a shrug. But then he realized exactly what he just said. "Actually... Now that I think about it, he does partake in a lot of sports."

"Do you know if he's being bullied at school? Whether it be verbally or physically?"

"Both," somebody else answered for him.

William turned to find Noah standing a few feet behind him. When did Noah even leave the room?

"One group of kids beat him up, and a couple of others mock him and write mean things on his locker and desk," Noah continued. After he watched the doctor make a note on her clipboard, he looked at William. "Mister Emily is looking for you," he said before he went back inside the room.

~ ~ ~

As soon as he finished talking with Doctor Ingissroy, William went back into Michael's hospital room. He stood next to Henry, who was still right next to the bed.

"Do you have any gloves that I could use, Will?" Henry asked quietly as he rested his head on William's shoulder. He was watching his finger glide over the thick, pale marks on his hand from the springlock incident.

William laughed at the sudden out-of-season question. "Henry, it's the middle of the summer. No, I don't have gloves." He chuckled as he brushed a strand of hair out of his friend's eyes. "If your hands are cold, put them in your pant pockets." 

"No, it... It's not that. They're not cold. It's just that..." He sighed and tucked his hands behind his back. "I can't stand looking at the scars. From the... incident..."

A few weeks after Michael's sudden trip to the hospital, Henry started wearing gloves every single day to cover the springlock's scars. Sometimes, he'd only one glove that was on the scarred hand. Sometimes, he'd have both hands covered with a pair of gloves. It depended on the weather and what Henry was wearing to work that day, but most days, the gloves were fingerless. And on other days, they'd have fingers.

William never questioned it. It made sense why his friend wanted to hide the scars lining the side of his hand and wrist. To be completely frank, William was glad that Henry covered the scars. They were sort of terrifying. The only thing they did was remind him and his friend just how dangerous their job could truly be.