𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐧 [s. harrington]

IT HUNTS AT NIGHT

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(the monster)

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"Shit, shit, shit, shit! Nancy, ah, this fucking hurts!"

"You're making it worse Beth," Nancy scolded, continuing to daub the gash on Beth's leg with rubbing alcohol. "Just hold still. I've got to make sure that this doesn't get infected."

"That's funny-fuck!" Beth hissed, "you said the same thing a minute ago about that stupid-ah!-fucking saline solution."

"Maybe next time, you shouldn't get your drums blown out by being a moron and trying to kill that thing," Nancy chided, finally twisting the lid shut on the bottle and grabbing the bandages from Jonathan, who was watching from the side of the bed. Though her left ear was pretty much completely fine, albeit a bit tender and sensitive to loud noises, Beth had to admit that she was rather nervous about her hearing, particularly in the right one. Even after her night's rest, it didn't feel any better. In fact, though the pain had dropped from searing to dull throbbing, her hearing hadn't returned. At all.

"Gee, you're so sweet, Nance," Beth said sarcastically. "How about a 'Thank you so, so, so, so much for saving my sorry ass from a fucking monster from another dimension!'? I think I deserve that much. Jesus, you're gonna cut off circulation to my foot at this point, and then I'm gonna have to get it amputated and be the one-footed wonder."

Nancy pulled back, examining her bandaging job, the gauze and cloth wrapped securely around Beth's calf, stopping any more bleeding and keeping the wound clean. "Quit being so dramatic, your foot's gonna be fine," Nancy paused, her words dropping. "And seriously, thank you for saving me. I mean it. Without you there, I-I...I don't know what would've happened. I was just so scared, and I was sure that was gonna be it and, and every time I close my eyes I just see it-"

"Hey, hey hey," Beth placed her hand on Nancy's shoulder, causing the girl to look up and meet her eyes. "It's okay, we're okay. I'm not going to let anything like that happen to you again. No matter what, I'll be there, and I'd fight that monster a million times if that meant you were safe, do you understand me?"

Nancy nodded, sniffing. "And you know I would do the same for you, right?"

It was Beth's turn to nod, and the two girls wrapped each other in a tight embrace, clinging to each other like their lives depended on it. And in a way, it did. Beth knew that Nancy was the only one that knew what horrors lurked in that strange world that both the girls encountered. There was a strange bond that came with shared trauma, one that brought Nancy and Beth even closer without them even having to talk about it. Beth for one, was in no mood to discuss in further detail about what had happened, and Nancy seemed to share the sentiment. At least for herself, Beth knew that recounting her experience, especially immediately after it, would only make her feel worse, and more scared. Perhaps it was cowardly in a way, but Beth found comfort in hiding behind jokes rather than having to actually confront her fear.