"I swear, if I'm dying tonight because of you, I'm gonna haunt your ass so hard, Harrington!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! I'm gonna go full Poltergeist and shit!"
"Then bring it, Graveswood."
"Challenge accepted."
***
In which after years of suppressing their...
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Chapter One-Hundred-And-Fifty-Six: Visions And Plans
(Papa, Pt. 2)
***
When Rowan woke up, she had a crick in her neck, her back aching and her wrist giving a throb of pain. Hissing, Rowan got to her feet and made her way to where she assumed the bathroom was, if it was the same plan as hers and Eddie's trailers. Her hunch had been right, and once she was inside, she unwound the makeshift bandage and examined the bite.
It was on the side of her wrist, and was shiny with the technical burn it had bexome since she cauterised it. There was no blood, and it didn't look like anything from the Upside Down had gotten into it and it seemed to be healing okay. Still, Rowan stuck her hand out and turned the water on in the sink, another hiss held behind her teeth as she let the water run over it, washing it.
When it seemed clean, Rowan pulled her hand out and grabbed a towel, patting the burn dry before she opened the cabinet and rifled through it to find a first aid kit.
"What are you doing?"
Rowan turned and saw Max there, frowning.
"I'm looking for the first aid kit. I need to bandage this again," Rowan explained, showing her the cauterised bite. "Uh, where is it?"
"Under the sink," Max answered, moving into the tiny bathroom to grab it out. "Did you wash it?"
"First thing I did. Which reminds, probably need to do the same for Steve and Val, especially Val. God knows we don't need her bite getting infected given it's on her neck," Rowan said as Max pulled the kit out and opened it, taking a roll of medical gauze out. "You're a real lifesaver, Madmax."
Max shrugged. "I picked up some stuff from skateboarding. Besides, given all the shit we've been through, makes sense if someone knows what to do about this."
"Definitely," Rowan agreed as she stuck her hand out and Max expertly wound the gauze around it. As she tied it off, she asked, "Is that okay?"
"It's fine. You did great, Max," Rowan assured, carefully rotating her hand before giving a thumbs up when the gauze didn't pull and she could still move her hand. Max cracked a tiny smile at that.
"Come on. Let's make sure Steve and Val get this stellar medical treatment too," Rowan said, sidling up to the door. As she walked through it, Max asked, "Are you okay? Vecna, he... he used my memories against me, some of my darkest memories, to scare me. Did he do anything like that, when he..."
Rowan tensed, then forced herself to relax as she admitted, "Yeah, he did. It was fucking awful. But, as awful as it was, it was kinda cathartic? I mean, it was definitely cathartic shooting him with lightning twice."
That small smile grew. "Oh man, I would kill to have seen that."
"Next time we square off against Vecna, I'll make sure you get a front row seat to him being barbecued," Rowan assured, grinning at Max. She returned it, before walking away—obviously to wake Valerie.
