³𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 ✔

012-the flayed

BEING STUCK IN THE HOSPITAL WAS TRULY NO FUN.

At least in 1983, she'd been out for most of her time within the building, unaware of how slow life went when confined to one room where everything was painted the same three shades of blue and white.  But now....she was painfully aware.  Boredom was taking over her mind.

She'd called Steve twice more, because despite knowing that something was wrong and that her boyfriend wasn't going to answer the phone, there was still a form of denial set in her mind.   She was supposed to have a normal summer, and while it had already been fucked over by whatever the hell was going on with Billy.......something in her was still hoping that  it wasn't completely ruined.   That maybe, they could still have a somewhat decent summer after everything was over.

Yeah, Carla was definitely in denial—summer had already been ruined.

To keep herself from leaving the hospital to try and figure out what had happened to the Harrington boy—as well as his co-worker, who she assumed to be with him, where ever he may be—Carla had paced around  her hospital room, making sure to stray away from the phone as much as possible.

There was only so much her room offered—staring out at the town from her window, ordering a small, bland meal, examining herself in the bathroom mirror—but she'd done all of it at least twice by now, and boredom was drilling a hole in her mind.

Time went rather slow in the hospital—but it could just be her.   As she stared at the clock, the hours seemed to be ticking by slower and slower, and it didn't help that she'd been alone for almost all of them.

Besides a small re-visit from her mother, Carla had been alone for the entire day.   She hadn't even been checked on by a doctor—which sure, she thought was a little weird—but Karen would make sure Dr. Madden made his way to her when she returned.   But, if she were honest, even a doctor or nurse visit would have made her day less boring.

Back when Carla was younger, she didn't mind being alone.  She embraced the silence—though, she didn't have many friends to break it other than Jonathan, who was a loner himself—and could sit in it for hours without a problem.

But, ever since the events of '83—the monster attack, her injuries—Carla found herself enjoying being within company.  She liked having someone with her, someone to talk to or just to sit next too, whether it be her boyfriend or her boss.

Maybe that was because of the trauma bond she now shared with people. If she was alone, she had her feelings only to herself, but with people like Steve or Nancy she felt more comfortable—they'd been what she'd been through, they'd also suffered the repercussions and understood what she felt like.

Whatever the reason, for a person who was enjoying company.....sitting here made Carla feel, well, lonely.  Really, really, lonely.

While she now had an idea as to why Steve hadn't showed up, another person she was surprised hadn't shown up yet was her sister.

Now, Carla knew that her twin was a busy person.  She'd scored herself a job at Hawkins Post—though Carla wasn't so sure it was satisfying Nancy like the girl had expected—and was going around listening to paper-worthy stories, but after revealing the guilt she held towards Carla's injuries......the Wheeler thought she'd be seeing her sisters face.

Then again, she'd had terrible luck with people showing up to check on her, so was it truly surprising?

Currently, the girl found herself back in the bathroom, staring at herself like that would take up more time—she'd un-clipped her hospital monitor for more free will. She'd already counted all her bruises, splashed water on her face,  picked at her already peeling nail polish.....this was sounding kind of depressing.   It sounded like she was a robot who was only tasked with a couple of things, and was bound to repeat them until someone re-coded them.