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Jonathan, who had left Will's room not long ago, went looking for the Henderson family. He returned to the waiting area, but they weren't there.
When he asked the receptionist, he learned that the Hendersons had already gone to the room where Chris was being treated.
So Jonathan made his way there.
When he reached the door, he stopped for a moment and looked through the small window. Chris was still unconscious, lying weakly on the hospital bed, his face marred with bruises and cuts. One of his arms was heavily wrapped in bandages that extended toward his side, suggesting the worst of the injuries ran across his back as well.
Jonathan looked at him with a mixture of pity and quiet admiration.
He knew Chris had protected Will. He had taken far more damage than Will had.
After a brief pause, Jonathan finally opened the door.
Dustin and Claudia looked up at him, along with Hopper, who was still standing inside the room.
Claudia offered Jonathan a small, weary smile. She didn't blame him or his mother after all, even though Joyce had been the one to start the ruckus in the waiting room earlier.
Dustin, on the other hand, ignored Jonathan completely and turned his attention back to Chris.
"Ho… how is he?" Jonathan asked softly as he stepped closer to Claudia.
"Oh, he's fine, Jonathan. The doctor said it's a miracle he doesn't have anything wrong with his head, and he doesn't even have any broken bones!" Claudia said with a small laugh, clearly trying to comfort herself as much as anyone else.
Hopper scratched the back of his head. He had already seen the bike, the blood on the asphalt, and the gravel scattered across the road. It was honestly a miracle that Chris had escaped with only these injuries.
Especially since he hadn't even been wearing a helmet.
"No internal bleeding in his head. Only a dislocated shoulder. What kind of miracle is that…" Hopper muttered, letting out a long breath. He still needed answers from Chris about what had happened, after all.
Hearing all of that, Jonathan felt some of the tightness in his chest finally ease. He had already prepared himself for the worst.
"How's Will? Has he woken up yet?" Claudia asked, looking at Jonathan, though her hand never left Chris's.
Jonathan shook his head slowly. "He's… lucky. More than lucky actually, having Chris protect him like that." He paused for a moment before continuing, his voice softer now. "I'll make sure he thanks Chris properly."
He offered Claudia another apologetic smile. "And… I'm sorry about my mom. I know Chris is a good man. He's been kind to me… and to my brother."
Claudia nodded gently. "Don't worry about it, Jonathan. I'm a mother too, after all," she said quietly, her fingers tightening slightly around Chris's hand.
Dustin let out a small snort at Jonathan's words. He knew exactly what Jonathan meant, he and Chris had a bond, just like him and Will.
Hopper, on the other hand, was watching Jonathan with a serious expression.
"…This is getting weirder," Hopper muttered under his breath, exhaling slowly. "Kid, are you sure about that?" He asked about their relations, how Chris looked like an older brother and best friend to Will and Jonathan. He assumed that Chris is not gonna make Will get in an accident or anything like that.
"Yeah," Jonathan replied without hesitation. "He works part-time at a motorcycle shop. And I know the people there, they don't have any problems with Chris."
Hopper nodded once, processing that. "Well… do you know exactly where he works?"
"What do you know about this, officer?" Dustin suddenly cut in, his tone laced with sarcasm. "Is he become a suspect or something?"
Hopper turned his gaze toward Dustin hard and unamused before shifting his eyes to Claudia, who now looked just as confused.
To them, this was still just an accident.
Hopper hadn't told the Byers family and Henderson family anything yet. About guns and all of that.
"Can we talk alone?" Hopper said, looking at Claudia before glancing back at Jonathan. "Can you call your mother too?"
Jonathan nodded and stepped out of the room without another word.
Claudia then looked at Dustin. "Take care of him for a moment, alright, sweetie."
"I want to hear it too!" Dustin protested immediately, grumbling under his breath.
"No," Hopper said flatly, leaving no room for argument.
Dustin clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed, but he stayed seated anyway.
"…It's not like he's going anywhere…" he muttered, leaning back in his chair with a frustrated sigh.
Hopper and Claudia ignored him and stepped out of the room.
They waited and waited.
A few minutes passed, but Joyce still hadn't arrived.
"…Let me check on them first," Hopper finally said, letting out a quiet breath as patience began to wear thin.
Claudia nodded and returned to the room.
"That was fast…" Dustin said, frowning in confusion as he saw her come back so soon. "What happened?"
Claudia shook her head. "We didn't talk, Joyce hasn't arrived yet."
Dustin didn't press further. He just nodded slightly and turned his gaze back to Chris.
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"No! It's a monster attacking us!" Will's voice trembled as he spoke, his eyes locking onto Connie with wide, shaking, desperate to be believed.
"Will, no," Connie said gently, her tone soft but steady. "You don't have to worry. You're safe now."
She leaned in slightly, her voice lowering, almost soothing. "It was a shock to your brain, Will. Sometimes when something terrifying happens, your mind tries to make sense of it. You might think someone was attacking you… and your brain turns it into something else. Something like a monster."
She offered a faint smile measured and deliberate, guiding the thought gently into place, one careful piece at a time.
"Don't worry, Will," she continued. "You're safe here."
Will's breathing was still uneven. A part of him knew what he saw, felt it, heard it, but Connie's voice kept pressing against that certainty, soft and persistent, like a hand guiding his thoughts somewhere safer… somewhere simpler.
Slowly, his shoulders began to relax.
Not because he believed her….
But because he wanted to.
He wanted that nightmare to be just inside his head.
Connie noticed the shift and let out a quiet breath. "That's it… easy," she murmured. "Do you want something to drink, Will?"
Will shook his head.
She waited a few seconds, watching him carefully as he steadied his breathing, before speaking again.
"Will… what exactly happened?"
Will looked at her. The fear was still there, lingering in his eyes but it wasn't as overwhelming as before.
He shook his head weakly. "…I don't know," he whispered. "It was too dark… I could only see the monster."
Before Connie could respond, the door opened.
Joyce stepped in, a doctor right behind her.
"Hello, Will," the doctor said, his tone calm and professional. "Any pain? Feeling dizzy?"
He began checking Will's condition, shining a light into his eyes as Joyce stood beside the bed, her worry written all over her face.
"…No," Will answered quietly, following the beam of the flashlight.
"That's good," the doctor said with a small smile. "You're a strong kid. Stronger than most."
"Will, tell him about the monster you saw," Joyce said urgently, her voice tight with concern.
Will hesitated.
For a moment, fear flickered across his face again but he forced himself to speak.
He told them everything.
The monster.
The way it chased them through the dark road.
Chris rode fast while holding the shotgun.
The deafening blast that echoed behind them.
The chaos.
And the crash.
Connie listened quietly beside Joyce, her expression composed, unreadable. But inwardly, even she had to admit it.
That boy… Chris… His courage wasn't normal.
It was reckless and maybe a little bit insane. He didn't turn around and leave, but rode through the Monster completely aware of what's in front of him.
And yet… they were alive.
After hearing everything, Connie still couldn't fully understand how the two of them had survived an encounter like that.
But then again, they were government agents, and they had far more reach in this town… than anyone else realized.
"Will, I'm sure it's just your mind playing tricks on you," the doctor said calmly, giving his hand a reassuring pat. "Maybe it was another person… but because you were scared, your mind turned it into something else. Something like a monster. You know, like a ghost, there is no such ghost but our mind who created them."
He smiled gently. "It's okay. You're safe now."
Will wanted to argue.
He wanted to tell them they were wrong, that he knew what he saw.
But doubt… slowly began to creep in more.
And more than that, he didn't want to make his mother worry even more.
The doctor then turned to Joyce.
"Will only has minor injuries. I'm confident he can go home after a few hours of rest," he said, giving a small nod to both Joyce and Connie before leaving the room.
Not long after, Jonathan stepped in.
The moment he saw Will awake, sitting up on the bed, he rushed forward and pulled him into a tight embrace. Relief hit him all at once, so strong his eyes began to sting.
Will immediately asked about Chris.
"He's fine, Will," Jonathan said simply, offering a small smile, the one meant to calm him, to keep his thoughts from drifting toward something heavier.
Then Jonathan asked what had happened that night.
Will told him everything again.
But this time…
It didn't land the same way.
Jonathan didn't respond the way Will hoped he would.
Instead, Jonathan glanced toward Joyce, just for a moment.
A quiet, uneasy look.
Like he was afraid.
Afraid that Will might be going through the same thing Joyce had been going through.
"Alright… don't worry, Will," Jonathan said gently, though there was something dismissive beneath it. "You should focus on getting better first."
He gently nudged Will to lie back down, his hand lingering for a moment as if to reassure him, but the conversation had already been closed, quietly and firmly. There was no room left for Will to explain, no space for his words to be taken seriously.
Will could feel it, that quiet disbelief.
That subtle rejection hidden beneath soft voices and careful smiles.
No one believed him.
And yet, it was real. He knew it was real.
He had tried again and again to make them understand. But slowly, little by little, doubt began to form inside him too.
He knew what he saw.
Or maybe… He was trying to hold onto that belief.
There was a monster.
He knew it sounded impossible.
But the fall, the injuries, the pain….Those were real.
He wasn't crazy!.
Connie watched all of this unfold in silence.
And she was… satisfied.
Neither Joyce nor Jonathan believed Will. Even Will is starting to doubt it a little bit.
Good.
"I'm going to check on the other kid, alright?" Connie said, already turning toward the door without waiting for an answer.
As she stepped out, she found herself face to face with Chief Hopper.
She offered him a polite, easy smile and stepped aside, letting him pass.
She wasn't worried about him.
Men like him weren't the type to believe a child's story about monsters after all.
Hopper gave her a brief nod before stepping inside the room, his eyes immediately landing on Will who was awake now.
'Finally.'
Now he could get the real answers.