𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝; byler

-¢нαρтєя 19 -

MIKE FELT AS if they had been walking for hours, like the office was on the other end of the world instead of just a few minutes away. The halls of the hospital were completely silent except for the clicking of the Ms. Smith's heels, loud and echoing through Mike's head, interrupting his thoughts.

Click, click, click- had Will finished the operation already?
Click, click- Who was this woman? what was she going to say to him?
Click click click click- Why wouldn't anyone tell him anything? 

Finally, they reached a small office on the very end of an empty hall. The woman stopped, making the annoying sound stop with her and pulled out a key chain with dozens of colorful keys. 
It was only a few seconds, but Mike felt like she was fumbling to find the right key for ages. When she finally found a small black key and pushed the door open, Mike felt like his heart would explode.

Ms. Smith stepped inside without looking back, and Mike shyly followed her in, not sure he was supposed to.

The room was completely white and barren except for a file cabinet at one end and a glass desk in the middle. No windows. When the woman saw he was in she closed the door behind him, clicking fast and removing a file from the cabinet before sitting down on the side of the desk
furthest from Mike.
"Sit down," she commended, gesturing at the open seat. Mike took a few shaky steps and collapsed on the chair. He couldn't stand it, what was happening to Will? where was he?

"Mike, right?" She asked, and Mike nodded swiftly. 
"Hi, Mike. I know Dr. Miller introduced me as Ms. Smith, but you can call me Miranda. I'm a social worker with the hospital."
Mike still didn't understand what she had to do with Will.

"The hospital thinks we need to have a talk, since you're the one who brought Will in, and I have to say I agree. I'm just going to ask you a few questions, okay?" Miranda said, annoyingly calm, as she opened the file on the desk. Mike saw it was labeled "William Byers".

"Where is Will? is he okay?" Mike yelled out. Why would no one tell him? Why would he answer her questions when no one would even tell his if his boyfriend was even alive?

"I'm afraid you'll have to answer my questions first." Her voice left no space for arguments. "Firstly, what is the nature of your relationship with Mr. Byers?"
"I'm his boyfriend," Mike slunk back in his chair, daring her to protest or say anything, but her face didn't change at all.

"Thank you. Now, Will is 17 years old, is that correct?" Mike nodded. "21 years-old brother named Jonathan, currently studying at NYU, mother Joyce and father Lonnie? is that correct?" Miranda asked. Why the hell did they know so much about Will? Mike realized she was still staring at him expectantly, so he nodded.
"Now, I understand you found Will with an empty bottle of whiskey this morning. Does Will have a history of drinking, aside from his father's evident alcoholism?" This was so weird. Why would a hospital know that about Will's dad?

"Um.. I think so-" Mike told her what Will had told him, about the two booze-soaked years. 
"And you're sure he didn't come in contact with any form of alcohol over the last week?" Miranda asked as she scribbled down something unclear to Mike in the folder.

"Positive."
"Where there any changes in his behavior through the time he was sober? mood changes? paranoia? shaking, fever?" Mike hated the way she said it, hated how she made Will seem like a question in a test.
"No- only yesterday, he was really sick. He had a really high fever, shaking, and I'm pretty sure he puked. But he wouldn't go to the hospital, I tried!" Mike added in the end, but she didn't seem to care.
"Those were all symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, they could've killed him alone. You should've brought him in." She didn't say this in a judging manner, but as a fact. Mike was really disliking her.

"Now, the real question. Do you know how Will acquired the alcohol?" She sat down her pen, staring at Mike.

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK! Mike had forgotten about that part. He had forgotten Will was a minor, that he wasn't allowed to drink. what would they do to him? and how had he gotten drinks? Mike had forgotten to ask...

"I'm just going to go ahead and rule out a fake ID," Miranda said when Mike wasn't answering.  Mike got madder. Who was she to pass judgment on the way Will looked? When he was the most perfect looking human on the planet? so what if he didn't look 21!

"Could his mother or his older brother been buying it for him?"
"No, No! Definitely not!" Would they believe him? would they remove Will from Joyce's care? make him leave Hawkins?

Instead of asking another question, Miranda pressed down on a button Mike hadn't noticed was on the desk. She closed the file and slumped back in her chair.
"That was just for the record. My name is actually May, and I used to work with the Hawkins department of energy." 

Wait, what? Mike didn't even need to say it out loud, because Miranda- no, May, smiled at him and started explaining, leaning forward towards him
"Listen, I had to get this case. I'm fully aware what Will went through. I understand it was hard for him, and I didn't want some douche bag attorney to take him away from his home. Now, listen closely: this is what's going to happen."

Mike still didn't understand, but she didn't seem to care.

"I'm going to take care of the legal stuff. It won't go on his file, no one will bother his mom. But you have to find out where he got the booze from, make sure he stops. Make sure he talks to someone, gets some real help. Okay?" Mike nodded, confused as fuck. But she wasn't done.

"Now. the real problem: this can cost the Byers' about 29,000$. Maybe less, but still a lot. Will's insurance can't cover this." Mike felt his stomach drop again. 29,000$?????
"Don't panic. If you have insurance I can charge it to you, it's not completely legal but no one will find out. I want to help you, help Will. He's gone through so much already, I don't want him to start his adult life in debt, okay?" Mike nodded, giving her the insurance number. If it wasn't for her, Will would've been screwed. He still didn't understand how she knew to come and help Will, but he was glad she had. 

"Thank you. Now, I can finally take you to Will. I'm sorry you had to wait so long." She rose up, stepping towards the door. Mike followed her eagerly, and she clicked through more halls, quicker this time.
Finally, she stopped by a door and turned to Mike, her eyes full of worry. Mike felt his stomach drop even more.

"I'm no doctor, but I have to tell you... I'm not so sure he's doing that well."