INSANE, it 2017

𝟎𝟏𝟓

              ୨♡୧ — 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

▌ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 that I woke up to was me, laying in a hospital bed. I remembered what had happened yesterday.

I was relieved to see I was still alive. The only thing I was wondering about at that moment was if my friends were okay. Soon, a nurse came in. "How are you feeling?" She asked me. "I'm feeling fine." I replied.

She smiled at that. "Your friends slept in the waiting room last night. They refused to leave until you had woken up." I was surprised by what she had just said. They waited for me to wake up?

"I can send them in here if you'd like?" The nurse asked. I nodded. "Yes, I would like that very much." She nodded and walked out the door. Soon, everyone walked in. The nurse closed the door, leaving all of us alone. Everyone scattered around the room. "Hi." I smiled. I was happy to see them. "H-h-hi." Bill started. Then, his face suddenly became saddened. "I'm s-s-s-s-so s-sorry." He stuttered. I furrowed my eyebrows. "What are you sorry for?" I asked.

"If I hadn't m-m-m-m-made you go i-i-into that house, maybe y-you wouldn't h-h-ha-have gotten hurt." I was shocked at his words. Did he really blame himself for what happened to me? "Bill, it's not your fault. I was the one who didn't see the spear coming." I reassured him.

"But I was the one that dragged you into this." He admitted. "Yes, but I'm glad you did." I responded. He looked at me with a confused look. "What?"

"This summer was the best summer I've ever had. Besides having to deal with a shape-shifting clown, I've made so many great memories with all of you." I said as I smiled at him.

I knew everyone was surprised by my positivity by the look on their faces. "You are 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑒, you know that, right?" Stan sighed. We both smiled and laughed at that.

Suddenly, the nurse came back in. "Lydia, there is someone else here to see you." She spoke. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Who else came here to see me. Then, I thought, what if it's my mom? What would she say to me? Then, someone walked in. I could not believe my eyes.

"Dad!?"

I wanted to get up and hug him, but unfortunately, the wound still hurt, so it would probably make it worse if I got up and ran.

I heard Mike whisper to the other, saying they should leave and let me and my dad talk. They then left the room, leaving me and my dad alone.

"I came as soon as I could." He set down his bag and speed-walked over to me and immediately hugged me, and I hugged back. "I missed you so much, Dad." I said as tears were starting to form in my eyes. "I missed you too." He replied. After we had stopped hugging, he pulled the chair closer to the hospital bed and sat down. I was still surprised he had come here. "As soon as your mom called me about the incident, I had to drive all the way here." He told me. "Wait. Mom called you? How did she know what happened?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Yes, she called me. The hospital called her, saying what happened, but it seems she didn't even bother to come here." I was still confused about one thing. What did they tell her? "What did they tell her?" I asked. "Well, they said you were hanging out with your friends, and you all were in the sewers when you tripped on something and accidentally got stabbed with an old metal pipe."

I was confused at first, but then I realized they don't know what actually happened. I'm guessing my friends came up with that story.

Nobody could know what actually happened.

Nobody except me and my friends.

"Yeah, that's true." I responded. He nodded. "Why were you kids hanging out in the sewers anyway?" He asked. I didn't know how to respond to that. "Umm.... it's just a thing that we do."

He furrowed his eyebrows for a moment, and then he just didn't bother questioning that.

"Mom has been horrible to me since you left." I told him. He gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry, but you don't have to deal with her anymore." I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. What did he mean? "What do you mean?" I asked him. Then, he said something I would have never expected.

"Because you are going to live with now."