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“So we really don’t know who that is?” Regina asked for the umpteetnth time. Marcy rolled her eyes and sighed loudly and dramatically.
“No, I already told you,” she glanced over at the sleeping boy in the room. “But he does look familiar, I just can’t place him right now.” Pause. “Might be the concussion,” she joked with a wry smile.
“That’s not funny,” Regina said with a roll of her eyes. Marcy giggled. “But why can’t I place him?”
“Maybe because you popular kids only paid attention to the other popular kids,” Marcy responded with a shrug. Regina balked, her eyes wide and mouth open in shock.
“What? I knew other non-popular people!”
“You can’t tell me that you would know someone who looks like him,” Marcy said pointing to her comatose roommate. “Besides, we don’t even know if he’s from Hawkins. He could have been hurt from something else.”
Regina conceded with raised hands. Marcy glanced over at him again and tilted her head thoughtfully. Something told her that he was familiar but she really didn’t know why.
“I come bearing gifts.”
Her brother walked through the door, a bag slung over his back. He eyed the sleeping boy, his muscles tensing.
Marcy laughed at his posture.
“Relax, he’s literally in such bad shape. He can’t do anything to me.”
“You can’t do anything either, what if he’s faking?”
“Josh, look at him.” They all watched him for a bit, his chest rising and falling as he slept. He slept fitfully through the night and Marcy, being a light sleeper, did not get a good rest. She already complained to the nurse who added a sleeping aid to the cocktail of pain meds she was already taking. “I saw his wounds earlier, when they came to change his…what’s it called?” She snapped her fingers searching for the word.
“Gauze?” Regina supplied. Marcy snapped, her fingers pointed at Regina.
“That’s it, they changed it this morning and he looks like he was like… mauled or something. So, if he did get caught in the earthquakes, maybe he got attacked by something too. I mean, what kind of earthquake causes a blast like that, you know?”
“Girl, you think he got ate up by some animal that came out of the earthquakes?” Regina asked, laughter in her eyes.
“Maybe he was hurt in a hunting accident. Who knows. But regardless, I may be in a cast, but I’m sure I could take him.”
“Whatever,” Josh said. He opened the bag and described the contents. “Don’t worry, mom packed it. I didn’t go through your stuff. I don’t need to see my baby sister’s panties.”
“Okay, get out so I can help her,” Regina laughed, her hand making a ‘shoo’ing motion. Josh raised his hands in surrender.
“Fine, I gotta get back to Hawkins anyway. I told mom and dad I’d bring them tomorrow so they can see you.”
“How is Hawkins?”
He shook his head and tangled his fingers in his locs.
“It’s not good Marce, some houses and businesses were completely demolished. Some people are missing, the hospital is full and people are displaced. They set up the Hawkins High gym as a shelter,” Josh explained, sounding weary just having to explain it. Being that they never made it back to Hawkins while she was aware, she had no idea what she would be going back to when she was officially discharged from here.
“Mom and dad have been trying to help with food distribution so I’m going to make sure they’re taken care of too. This isn’t how I thought I was gonna be spending my Spring Break,” he finished with a derisive laugh.
“I’m sure,” Marcy said, frowning. “I hate that you don’t get to have a vacation.”
“I’ve heard people say they think that Munson kid has something to do with the earthquakes,” Regina added conspiratorially. Josh nodded his head to her words and Marcy rolled her eyes.
“That’s stupid, why would they think some regular guy could have anything to do with earthquakes? That’s just fundamentally impossible.”
“I’m just saying what the word on the street is,” Regina retorted, raising her hands in surrender as she excused herself for the bathroom.
“Well the streets need to get a grip,” Marcy said with a shake of her head. She graduated last year so any high school drama she heard was only through the grapevine from her coworkers who might still be in school or had connections to the gossip. She worked at Leo’s, a burger joint downtown; it actually might be destroyed now, but students often came in, after practice and games, and she would hear a lot of the latest gossip. This school year was no different, the basketball team would pile, very loudly, into the rounded booth in the back, their cheerleader girlfriends giggling and smiling as their boyfriend recounted their winning game.
Regina, like her, decided to take a year off from college but unlike Marcy, she still attended the Hawkins High sports functions and would pop into cheer practice as a former Cheer captain. They were best friends but Regina was more part of the “in-crowd” than Marcy ever was. She was a tutor and was often assigned to students, especially athletes, who struggled academically and she had a pretty high success rate. Students sought her out for study groups, to copy her notes or to beg her to tutor them over the weekends, which she would charge a fee for.
A lost memory of seeing Edward Munson’s name on her assigned list brushed through the fog of her mind. She remembered being shocked seeing his name and being confused because she didn’t actually know what he looked like. She always saw him from a distance but there were a lot of white boys who had long hair and wore denim and leather. He never showed up to their meeting so he was dropped from her list and she never got to officially meet him.
She glanced over at her sleeping roommate again and frowned. She couldn’t really see him that well from here but he was indeed a white boy with long hair.
Nah, there’s no way. She thought to herself as she watched his chest rise and fall. It would actually be ridiculous if that was Eddie Munson in the bed next to her. It would actually be ridiculous if not only was he Eddie Munson, but he was also a serial killer.
Regina returned and helped her to her feet so she could wash up and put on fresh clothes. When she made it back to the bed, a Nurse “Brenda”, was at the boy’s bedside, fussing over him. Regina, who walked arm and arm with Marcy, slowed and tried to secretly watch.
“Oh yeah, you’re real discreet,” Marcy muttered to her friend who shushed her. But Marcy also looked. Marcy sat in the middle of her bed, her leg resting on a chair while Regina kneeled behind her and slowly began pulling Marcy’s curls back into a high ponytail. It gave them a reason to be facing the other bed.
The nurse pulled the sticky, bloody gauze back and Marcy bit back a sound at the sight, her hand flying to her mouth. She couldn’t see what his injuries were like but if they produced that much blood, it had to be bad. The nurse’s body blocked their sightline as she took to wiping him down and replacing each piece of gauze she removed. She started with his torso and Marcy could just barely see wounds that looked like he’d been gnawed on like a piece of meat. His skin was ragged and she looked away, her stomach weak.
When Nurse Brenda finished with his torso, Marcy resumed her watch. His legs were in bad shape too but not nearly as bad as what she’d seen before. He was ultimately naked, a pair of hospital shorts and bandages wrapped his body. He looked like a mummy. When the nurse finished, her green eyes widened seeing the two girls watching, who both smiled sheepishly. She smirked, walked over and clasped her hands in front of her.
“And how are you feeling, Miss. James?” Nurse Brenda asked, her voice soft and soothing.
“Still in pain,” Marcy answered honestly. Nurse Brenda nodded.
“Well, be sure to move around carefully. You didn’t need surgery for that fracture thank goodness, but if you’re too reckless, you could make it worse,” her voice was light as she spoke and Marcy appreciated that she was their Nurse. She seemed to have a kind spirit. “I’ll be back later, and if not me, then the next Nurse on duty, to check on you and we’ll have to eventually get you into some physical therapy sessions.”
“Physical therapy?”
“Yeah girl, you need to be able to walk around in that cast and I’ll bet you’ll have to do more when you’re finally free,” Regina added lightly, nudging Marcy’s shoulder. Nurse Brenda nodded her agreement.
“Exactly. Everyone who gets a cast needs to go through physical therapy and once you get your cast off, you will need to have a few more sessions. You’re gonna be fine.” She gave them a smile and swept out of the room leaving the girls alone with Marcy’s sleeping roommate.
Later that night, Marcy could not get comfortable and she glared at the cast as she shifted once again, muttering under her breath. But she supposed she should be thankful it didn’t need to be elevated in one of those slings she’s seen on TV and in movies, leaving her absolutely immobile. She would actually die then.
She stared at the ceiling, sleep refusing to come and it made her irritable and jealous of her roommate who continued to sleep, dead to the world.
“Must be nice,” she muttered. “I know you’re really hurt over there but I am so jealous of you right now. I have a pounding headache, and sure, the night Nurse did give me something but it’s taking too long,” she rolled her head over to look at him but of course he was none the wiser. “Are you Eddie Munson?” She asked quietly and when he obviously didn’t answer, she nodded to herself. “It’s not like you can hear me anyway and if you can, you’re probably not gonna remember-”
“That’s just gross,” a sudden voice startled her out of her ramblings. They seemed close. Wasn’t it past visiting hours? Were they going to come in here? She pulled the covers up further as the door was pushed open.
“Why? I just flirted a little.”
Now that voice she definitely recognized but she couldn’t place the name. That concussion is actually doing wonders, she thought bitterly.
“Yeah, to get into a hospital room-”
“Well maybe if you put in some extra effort into your appearance then you could flirt for a little special privilege.”
“I don’t need to flirt, I have a girlfriend, did you forget about Suzie?”
“How could I forget about Suzie,” the familiar voice montoned. “How’s that going? Still going strong? Anymore special concerts over the phone?”
“Shut up,” the younger voice sounded annoyed but not angry. She could barely make out two visitors, a taller guy and a shorter guy, the shorter one wore a baseball cap over what looked like slicked back curls. They walked over to the other occupant of the room and both sucked in a breath. “Shit,” the younger one breathed out.
“May-maybe it’s not that bad in the sunlight, we should come back during actual visiting hours. Especially not when people should be sleeping, like us .”
“My mom has been watching me like a hawk,” he sighed. “But maybe you’re right, it’ll be better to come tomorrow when Mike is back. I know once I tell him everything he’s gonna wanna come.”
“Huh, Wheeler too?”
“What?”
“Nothing, nothing,” they both were silent for a while, then the older one spoke. “So, what now?”
“I, I guess we just come back tomorrow,” the younger voice said. Marcy heard him shuffling and then his voice spoke, much lower than before. “Hey Ed-ow!” She heard a thwack! She assumed the older one hit the younger one. “What did you do that for?”
“Don’t say his name!”
A pause.
“She’s asleep!”
She wasn’t but he didn’t have anything to worry about, she couldn’t make out whatever it was he said before being popped. However, it seemed he took the words to heart because when he spoke again, he was much quieter and she officially couldn’t hear a thing. After a few extra moments of quiet whispers and worried hovering, the two visitors left and finally, finally the meds began to kick in and Marcy fell into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning, after a fitful and uncomfortable sleep, Marcy limped her way to the bathroom. This cast was going to be the death of her, she moved too quickly to be weighed down by heavy plaster! Stupid earthquakes! Stupid gravity!
As she hobbled back to her bed, her eyes darted to the sleeping form only to find him not sleeping, he was awake and watching her. She froze, eyes wide and slightly frightened. She remembered from the other night how intense and large his eyes were and it really unnerved her.
“Water,” he croaked, swallowing painfully, his Adam’s apple bobbing slowly, like it was submerged in quicksand. She glanced around the room, was there a water bottle she could easily grab? Well, not easily since she was currently an invalid but she’d try her best.
“Y-yeah, hold on a second,” she spied a couple of unopened water bottles on the rollaway table in the corner. She took a breath and made her way over to them, took another breath and hobbled back to his side. She twisted the top off and held the bottle out to him but he didn’t move, he frowned, his full lips downturning into a whine as he tried to reach for the bottle but he felt so weak. Marcy could see the pain on his face and fumbled to move closer. She slipped a hand under his head and slightly lifted him as best she could. He groaned and she panicked, almost dropping his head. He gasped in pain and she squeaked.
“Shit, I’m so sorry, hold on, lemme just… let me adjust,” she said through clenched teeth. She looked for a place to set the water bottle down for a moment but now that both of her hands were busy, she didn’t know what to do. She would either drop the water or his head.
“Please,” he moaned, a tear slipped out from his clenched eyes and Marcy felt so bad. So she decided to just take her chances, he’d be the one getting wet and maybe he wouldn’t mind, he had bigger problems. She tipped the bottle to his mouth, a little spilled down his chin.
“You gotta work with me here,” she said gently. He nodded a little and tilted his head up with the help of her hand and together, he was able to slowly finish the bottle. Marcy gently laid his head back down on the pillow, and used his blanket to wipe his chin. He exhaled, sounding exhausted. She understood exactly how he felt. Her leg was on fire and the aches she’d been pointedly ignoring were making themselves known in full force.
“Thanks,” he muttered, his voice not as hoarse. Marcy smiled down at him and when he returned it, she felt her face warm up. God, he was cute.
“You’re welcome, do you want me to call the nurse or something?”
“No,” he whispered, his eyes lowering and he fell right back to sleep. She watched his breath even out and she scoffed.
“Lucky bastard.”
Visiting hours generally lasted from 9AM to 9PM and due to Hawkins being so crowded and in shambles, she didn’t expect to see Regina or her family today but she was surprised to see her roommate get visitors and even more than last night. Her back was to the group so they probably thought she was asleep, which under normal circumstances, she would be, but light sleeperness strikes again. As soon as they walked in, her eyes fluttered open. What she also didn’t expect was for her roommate… to be awake.
“How are you doing man?” That familiar older voice asked.
“It looks worse than it is,” came the pained reply followed up with a wry chuckle. “Lighten up, it could be worse.”
“That’s true,” a raspy feminine voice added. Marcy really wanted to turn over and see who was visiting him and if anything to place that one familiar voice and she also wanted to know if maybe the young one would slip up again so she could actually catch his name this time.
“Anyway, how did you get me in here without them calling the police or something? Was I that fucked up they didn’t know who I was?”
“I don’t think the news spread outside of Hawkins, and if it has, it’s probably on the back burner considering the um, well the cracks,” it was the girl again. Marcy decided she had a pleasant voice.
“Yeah, people are blaming you for that,” the familiar voice answered, the tone apologetic. A scoff was the only reply and she assumed it was the mysterious, maybe not so much anymore, fugitive in the bed. If people were blaming him for the earthquakes… then maybe he was actually Eddie Munson. She really did learn all the important gossip from Regina.
“Of course, because I’m the spawn of the devil or the devil’s apprentice or some other stupid shit.”
“They’re all idiots,” came the lisp from the younger of the group.
What an interesting bunch, she thought. Marcy frowned, as her roommate began to cough, it sounded rough and painful, like it was rattling his chest. She heard shuffling, silence and then a worried ‘you good man?’. There was no verbal reply.
“So,” a heavy exhale. “Just to make sure you’re all caught up, you’re Steve’s cousin, Joseph Harrington-”
“Joe for short if you want,” the older male cut in. “And uh… I think uh, I think you should cut your hair.”
Steve Harrington! Marcy almost shouted it aloud as just the mention of his name brought his face to her mind. They graduated together last year. She supposed it wasn’t that big a deal that she couldn’t place him on voice alone, he probably couldn’t pick her out of a lineup. But what was really interesting to her, was why were they telling her injured roommate who he was? She wasn’t always coherent or awake when the nurses were present and tending to him to hear any diagnosis, but did he also have a concussion? Was he so hurt that his memory was shaky? She didn’t want to assume anything but she couldn’t help but to try to put pieces together.
If that boy was actually Eddie Munson then not only did he have an interesting group of friends but he had an interesting group of friends who were trying to help an alleged murderer. Her curiosity was truly trying to get the better of her.
“Hell no.”
Her roommate’s voice sounded angry, confused and offended by the question. Honestly, she would be offended too. Not to mention, he had a lot of hair. It probably took a lot for him to grow it out, there was no way he would want to cut off all that hard work. It just needed some TLC, she decided, after having a moment to briefly feel it earlier.
“Come on Ed-”
“Steve!”
“Shit, sorry Dustin, Joseph…wow, I hate that, Joe… Joey?” There was a long pause before Steve continued. “You’re eventually gonna get released and then what?”
“I-I don’t know, but I’m not cutting my hair Harrington.”
“Does your hair matter more than your freedom?”
“Yeah Robin, it does. Those fuckers already ran me out of town with their witchhunt, I’m not gonna let them make me cut my hair too.”
Silence.
Marcy felt pity swell in her chest but her mind was working over time. She didn’t want to give in so easily to him being Eddie Munson because that would absolutely be crazy. But if he was, and she was leaning towards it being true, she couldn’t help but think… he couldn’t be as bad as the rumors said. She didn’t think he killed those students but she did want to know what actually happened. Allegedly he was there when Patrick was killed and Chrissy was found in his home. It didn’t look good but she always trusted her gut.
“Fine, keep your hair. We’re just trying to be smart,” the girl, Robin, said in her resigned tone. Sure, she could see the usefulness of changing his appearance but this wasn’t a movie, a haircut might not be enough to keep him safe if he decides to go back to Hawkins when he’s free from this hospital. Clearly he had some choices to make.
After everyone left, Eddie laid staring at the ceiling, the nurse came in to check on him, happy to see that he was awake and alert but since his pain threshold was still a 9 out of 10, she didn’t lower any of his doses. So he was basically waiting for the sleep meds to kick in.
He hurt everywhere and whenever he woke up he felt like he’d been thrown into the fires of Mordor and whenever he was asleep, he was assaulted with red skies and demon bats with Master of Puppets playing in the background. It was honestly hell. The nurses had him on so much medicine to help him heal that being awake was rare but now that he was awake, he really didn’t want to go back to sleep. Not with that hellscape waiting for him.
He couldn’t get what Robin said out of his head, was his hair more important than his freedom? He wasn’t having second thoughts but even he had to admit that there was extreme logic in the suggestion but he didn’t want to give those assholes the satisfaction. He already gets looked at like a freak due to his appearance, he didn’t want to change it to appease a town who hated him. Honestly, part of him was angry that he didn’t die in the Upside Down so he didn’t have to come back into a world where he was the villain when he was innocent.
He heard movement and turned his head to look at the prone figure in the bed across from him. That girl helped him with his water earlier, he felt like she was near once before, but this was the first time he was really able to look at her. She switched positions in bed so she was now facing him and their eyes met. It was just the two of them and their silent breathing.
Then she smiled.
“Glad to see that you’re alert over there,” she said softly. Eddie’s face cracked into a grin as he responded.
“Glad to be alert, I feel like I’ve been mostly in a dense fog.”
More like a red fog, he thought.
“I bet, when you woke up yesterday, it looked like no one was home.”
He was silent as he mulled over her words. Her voice was familiar to him but in his mind it was coming from a distance, like he was under water and she was on land. So maybe that’s why her voice was familiar but far away, they’d had a conversation he wasn’t present for.
“Are you okay?” He decided to ask, she blinked, surprised. She shifted in the bed again and shrugged with the one shoulder he could see.
“Better than you,” she joked. He laughed too, but carefully. His throat still hurts. “It’s just a mild concussion and I have to wear a cast, nothing serious. I know it’s a little silly to ask if you’re okay but-”
“I’ve been better,” he said. “But it’s just a couple of scrapes.”
It was more than a couple of scrapes and judging by her reaction, she also knew it was more than a couple of scrapes but she didn’t say anything, only an awkwardly amused breath escaped her nose. The medicine seemed to be kicking in, he yawned, his jaw stretching the cuts and scratches on his neck painfully.
“Big yawn,” she observed, her voice soft and gentle. Eddie nodded, his eyes lidded, but he kept his eyes on her. This was the first time he’d be awake truly since the Upside Down and felt calm and safe. She wasn’t doing anything except lay there, her eyes on him.
“Yeah,” he muttered, his eyes drooping shut.
“Good night… Eddie… or whoever you are.” He heard her say as he was swept away from the waking world and back into his nightmares.