Insane in the membrane-Stranger things

Prolouge

Prologue before Stranger Things, Hawkins Indiana, 1982
Jess Henderson sat in the hospital waiting room, her knees were bouncing up and down as she twiddled her thumbs in her lap, tears trickling down her cheeks. Her younger brother Dustin was getting surgery for his Cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) she was worried about him, she believed that he may not make it. Jess couldn't take this anymore, she stood up, wiped away her tears away from her now stinging eyes. Her mum, Claudia Henderson tried to pull her daughter back down, stopping her from causing a scene but knowing her daughter all too well she knew Jess would just cause one anyway. Jess trudged over to the front desk, a lovely woman with curly black hair had her pen in hand as she filed some paperwork. ''Hi, is my brother okay? I'm really worried about him,'' Jess exclaimed, tapping her fingers nervously at the front desk. All Jess wanted was her little brother to come out of this alive, all the anxiety and worry building up inside of her made her brain come to thought that for some reason he wouldn't make it, she kept on reassuring herself though. Dustin's rare disease was one of the reasons she wanted what was best for him, she wanted her brother to be able to live a happy life without being teased and judged for his condition, it wasn't fair that he had to go through all these surgeries. He was only a little kid after all, no kid at his age should have to go through what he went through and is still going through. ''Answer me, please. Is my brother okay?'' Jess slammed her fists onto the desk, unable to control all the emotions she felt right now as the young woman looked up at her. The young woman could tell in Jess's eyes that she was worried and upset, Jess's wide green eyes began to well up with tears again as she sighed and started heading back to her seat. The young woman wasn't going to tell her and that made her furious, perhaps she didn't know but perhaps she just didn't want to say anything that would upset Jess. A few more hours of pure anxiety and exhaustion, Dustin came out of his surgery with some nurses, Jess didn't notice that he had come out of his surgery since she was looking down at her twiddling thumbs so her mum nudged her shoulder, indicating for her to look up. Jess's eyes widened in pure excitement as she rushed over towards her brother, engulfing him into a massive embrace as she ruffled his curls. ''Dusty, thank god I was so worried,'' Jess exclaimed, kissing his forehead. Dustin returned the embrace, he would have said something but the doctors and nurses said that he shouldn't speak just yet due to having procedures on his teeth. Jess didn't mind though, she knew Dustin was okay and that's all that mattered to the young girl. Mrs Henderson smiled at her two children and walked up to the desk to pay for the expensive fees that would be needed to be paid for Dustin's surgery. Jess let go of her brother and clutched hold of his hand as she watched her mum pay and her dad stand furiously behind her, Jess could tell he was trying to hold in anger, his deep blue eyes were burning with it and Jess could tell, quite frankly it terrified her. When Mr Henderson was angry, he was really angry and often took it out on his wife and kids. After Mrs Henderson had paid for the fees, Jess still clutching onto Dustin's hand followed her outside into the car.

Mr Henderson started the car, Claudia Henderson sat beside him in the passenger seat and Jess and Dustin sat in the back. As Mr Henderson pulled out of the parking lot, he could no longer contain his anger and started it taking it out on Claudia. ''I can't believe this, we just wasted half of our money on some useless surgery that doesn't help our son at all, he still has the disease,'' he shouted loud enough to make Dustin cry, small whimpers escaped his lips and tears rolled down his cheeks.

''Don't say that, all this surgery is helping Dusty and it may be expensive but it is helping our son into being normal,'' Claudia exclaimed.

Jess sighed, she clutched hold of Dustin's hand as he still sobbed and she wished Mr Henderson was kinder but that would never be the case. The next few hours consisted of a few more petty conversations and sharp turns, entering the Henderson household. Once the car had parked up onto the driveway, Claudia Henderson and Mr Henderson were the first to step out, Dustin and Jess stayed behind for a little bit. Dustin still had tears rolling down his cheeks, his eyes were bloodshot from crying so much. ''It's going to be okay, Dusty I promise,'' Jess explained, unlicking her seatbelt and helping undo Dustin's as the two of them embraced each other in big hugs. Dustin pressed his thumb to his eyes and began wiping away his tears. They stepped out the car and headed inside the house, the first thing that they witnessed was Mr Henderson slapping Claudia across the face for sticking up for herself, both Jess and Dustin headed upstairs to Jess's room. The two of them were just hanging out for a while, trying to block out the yelling and screaming happening downstairs. This yelling went on for about two more hours and Jess couldn't stand it and she didn't want Dustin to be growing up in a household with abuse. After the yelling had finally stopped and it was safe to head back downstairs, the Henderson siblings walked down and their dad sat at the kitchen bench while their mum sat at the couch in front of the TV with an icepack pressed to her temple which had a massive bump from being shoved into the wall hard. Jess walked over and sat beside her, on the right and Dustin on her left. Dustin looked down at his feet, not wanting to see his mum hurt like this; Claudia wrapped her free arm around Dustin's body and pulled him close to her so his head was pressed against her side. ''Mum, are you okay? What did dad to you?'' she asked, removing the icepack from her head and examining it. Claudia Henderson hesitated to speak, she was afraid of opening her mouth, knowing that if she did Mr Henderson would hit her again or put words into her mouth about her kids. ''Mum, talk to me. What did he do? What did he do?'' Jess asked again but her mum just wouldn't speak up.