Hawkins Unraveling

CH 20 : Sense of Healing

They were lucky, every single one of them.

The entire town of Hawkins had absolutely no idea what kind of threat they'd been up against, and not a single soul outside of the group knew what kind of danger they'd almost been in. Not a single person outside of their group knew about the Upside Down's existence, or the threat it still posed even with Vecna gone because of how frequently monsters manifested out of its shadows to terrorize this world. None of them had any idea that the string of violent, unexplainable deaths were due to this wicked realm, and all still believed some kind of serial killer or satanic worshiper was behind all of it. Some had, fortunately, dropped Eddie Munson's name now that the immediate threat had passed, but most still trashed his trailer, ridiculed his name, and mocked his uncle.

And they were all lucky, even though none of them knew it.

June still remembered vividly all that Vecna had shown her– how the town had been meant to rip apart, how the monsters of the Upside Down had been meant to seep into this world and destroy every soul in their paths, how every individual was meant to die slow, painful, tortuous deaths– an endless wave of suffering upon which Vecna had intended to feed. Even though nearly all of her friends had suffered some kind of pain or injury from their fight, June couldn't help but feel like her own pain was worse, that even though her physical body ached and pained in ways it never had before, the psychological torture of those visions on loop in her brain were far worse.

She was the real unlucky one.

"Junebug, you came."

June forced a smile, hoping it wasn't obvious, and took another step into the fluorescent, white-washed hospital room. "Of course I did."

Eddie patted the bed next to his legs, signaling for her to come closer. "Don't be a stranger way over there." With a slight roll of her eyes, she did as Eddie wanted and perched herself carefully on the edge of his bed, to which he snorted and sighed heavily. "I'm injured, not dead."

"That's not even funny," she shot back immediately, surprised by the hard edge in her tone. She frowned deeply. "You almost died."

Eddie frowned at her frown. "Okay, but I didn't, thanks to you, and Henderson, and Wheeler, and Buckley, and-"

"Okay, okay," she muttered, lifting her hands up. "I get the point."

He grabbed one of her hands in his own before she could react, then pulled her hand into his lap. For a long moment he sat just holding her hand, running the tips of his fingers along the length of hers, her palm, the back of her hand. "It's weird, honestly. Being treated like trash one minute by some and then being treated like glass by others the next minute."

"Sorry," June muttered, feeling guilty for contributing to the latter response.

He rolled his eyes again. "I'm not mad at you, Junebug. I could never be."

She swallowed with difficulty anyway, not believing that to be true. She was finding it hard every day not to be upset with herself, with her brain. "Maybe you should be."

"Hey." There was an edge now to Eddie's voice, and his grip on her hand tightened. He tapped her skin until she met his gaze, which still looked exhausted even after almost one full week of time to heal. "None of this is your fault. You've been the one helping me, remember? You know, with all the running and the hiding and the swimming away and the stealing-"

Somehow, a tiny laugh burst from her mouth. "Yes, yes I remember."

He squeezed her hand, a determined expression on his face. "If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead— either from self-conceited jocks or mutant devil bats, take your pick." He gave her hand another squeeze. "And if, somehow, I wasn't dead from those things, I'd sure be waiting for death in prison for murder."