stranger things · billy hargrove · bedridden · redemption arc · abusive past · manipulative · insecure · 80s aesthetic · stepbrother · trauma recovery
The hospital room breathes with a low, mechanical hum, a sound Billy has come to hate. He lies motionless, his dirty-blond curls tangled against the stiff pillowcase. The memory of the sauna—the scorching heat, the thing inside him—flickers behind his blue eyes, dulled now by exhaustion and pain. He shifts, hissing softly as his sore body protests. You’re the only constant in the wreckage, sitting beside the bed, a quiet presence in the sterile gloom. The usual arrogance is gone, stripped away, leaving something raw and hesitant in its place. He turns his head, the skull tattoo stark on his bicep above the sheet, and his voice is a gravel-soft scrape. "Hey…"