Heartbreak Story - Byler

VI - I Promise You

The early morning light wove its graceful way through the cracks in my curtains as the sun began to rise on what, to anybody else, would be just a regular day but to me, was another day of knowing Will had been hurt.

Sleep evaded me all night - as I knew it would. How could I possibly sleep knowing that on the other side of town, Will was probably incapable of shutting his eyes without flashbacks of his brutal beating attacking his consciousness all over again? If he wasn't sleeping then neither was I and I could somehow feel that he was staring at the ceiling of the hospital just as I stared at the ceiling of my room all night long. My heart ached and I longed to be there with him to comfort him, the thought of him being alone and scared tore me apart.

My mother had promised to take me once again to the hospital to see Will and, it being a Saturday, I planned to spend all day there. That's if he wanted me there, of course. The others were going too: the rest of the party, Steve, my sister and Will's family and my mind queried whether or not he'd told his family his story yet. The doctors words swam in my mind and I prayed Will would explain everything to them so he could come home as soon as he was healthy enough. I hated knowing he was stuck in that hospital until he was willing to talk.

Dawn had finally arrived meaning it would be an acceptable time for me to leave my room which, all night, had felt like a holding cell to me. I was grateful to get out of those four walls after I'd gotten washed and changed and I plodded downstairs, desperately awaiting the moment my mom and Nancy would be ready and we could get going. Every second away from Will was a second wasted and so far, I'd let what felt like an eternity slip by.

I remained sitting on the couch until, eventually, the sounds of my family stirring drifted down from upstairs. My mom asked if I'd eaten but I was agitated and couldn't wait any longer so I lied and we set off. I couldn't eat, anyway. I had no appetite.

"What are you smiling at?" My sister teased and her words dragged me from my own private thoughts about the last time Will had stayed over at my house. It was probably only last week but it felt so much longer ago now that Will was further away from me. Joyce had taken Jonathan to visit some local university even though they both knew he wanted to go to NYU. He and Nance had taken a couple of years off before going to college to spend more time with us and each other and I couldn't blame them after everything we've been through in these last few years.

The absence of anyone in the Byers household put Joyce on edge so she asked my mom if Will could stay with us. I made him take my bed and I slept in a sleeping bag on the floor. At around two in the morning, I woke up to hear him wailing in his sleep. Another nightmare. It took me a few seconds to wake him but I managed and I let him cry into my chest for some time whilst he got it all out of his system. Crawling off my bed after Will had calmed back down, I planned to get back in my sleeping bag but he begged me to stay up there with him. My heart very nearly exploded as I lay down next to him under the covers, barely able to breathe.

We talked about nothing and everything all at once for another hour or so before my eyes began to get heavy. "Maybe we should sleep?" I suggested.

"I don't think I can just yet." He paused. "Mike, would you please do something for me?"

"Anything."

"W-w-would you hold me?" He stammered, clearly embarrassed. "And sing? I know you hate your voice but I think it's beautiful and it always makes me feel calmer."

My heart rate increased at his words and anxiety washed over me. It was true, I loved to sing but I hated to do it in front of people because I worried my voice wasn't good enough but this was my Will's request so how could I turn him down? If I was willing to jump off a cliff for Dustin, I'd be willing to do just about anything for Will.