From the Derry News, August 11th, 1989 (page 1):

PALMER FAMILY ATTACKER ARRESTED FOLLOWING PUBLIC MANHUNT

At approximately 4:30 P.M. yesterday, the person behind the attack of Stephanie and Jamie Palmer was caught and incarcerated at his own home following several civilians of Derry forming a lynch mob to hunt him down. The suspect, Henry Bowers (15), is to be charged with three accounts first-degree murder of his father, Oscar Bowers (47), and two fifteen-year-old children (Victor Criss and Reginald Huggins), one account of third-degree attempted murder of Stephanie Palmer (13), and dozens upon dozens of accounts of second-degree murder of all of the children that have gone missing in the small town over the past year.

More information will be revealed at the court trial on August 20th.

_____

A quote from Sheriff Frank Hawkins in the official interview mentioning Henry Bowers's arrest; August 12th, 1989:

"I have a firm belief that this boy, who is not even sixteen yet, will no doubt become known as one of the deadliest spree killers in all of Maine history. The crimes he committed against those children are among the vilest acts of inhumanity I have crossed in my decade on the police force. The ones that were able to escape him alive are definitely the luckiest kids in the world right now. I just can't imagine the trauma they're going to have to endure because of this monster...."

_____

Six Days Later
August 16th, 1989

The entire building was filled with dreadful anticipation of what was to come.

The heart monitor next to the hospital bed that the blonde girl lay in was beeping excruciatingly slowly, and there was clear evidence that it would end soon. Rachel checked over her stats with a depressed frown on her face, knowing that there was no use to it whatsoever. The girl had been in a coma for a week now and she kept getting worse by the second, from her skin looking more sunken in every day (especially around her eyes) to her bright hair graying out completely.

The intense loss of blood is probably what caused it, she thought to herself as she carefully reached out to the unconscious Steph.

She gingerly grabbed her bony hands and crossed them over one another as if she were already dead and in a funeral. Afterwards, she placed her own hand over one of them, feeling how icy her skin really was.

"I'll make sure Amber always remembers you..." she whispered to her, praying she could somehow hear her. "She'll never forget you for the amazing friend you were, honey. And I'll forever be grateful for you bringing my babies back to me... even Justin. You did all you could and that's what matters."

Rachel then leaned down and gave Steph a caring kiss on her forehead before grabbing her clipboard and exiting the room.

Bill and the rest of the Losers were waiting just outside of the door, along with another boy that visibly seemed to be older than all of them. Rachel had found out that he was Steph's older cousin, Danny Torrance, and his name struck a chord with her because her husband practically had the same name. His reddish brown hair stuck out like a sore thumb and the freckles on his young face were enough to differentiate him from Steph. However, despite them looking nothing alike, the woman had a feeling that they were just too similar in terms of personality... maybe more than that.

"How is she?" Danny asked in as calm of a voice as he could muster, his brown eyes wide with worry.

Rachel took a deep breath and shook her head lightly. "There's nothing I can do for her, I'm afraid..." she regretfully murmured. "She keeps getting worse by the second and she's slowly deteriorating. I think what that sick bastard did to her is what caused her state now. All we can do is pray for her but if she doesn't improve in the next hour... I'm going to be forced to pull the plug on life support."

Eddie's face seemed to crumple completely as he succumbed to the tears that he had tried hiding for the past week. Beverly fell to her knees and began sobbing hysterically out of pure grief; meanwhile, Richie and Mike chose to be strong and comfort a broken Amber while Ben and Stan just stood there, completely stunned. Danny's expression never wavered, but he did sigh sadly to himself.

Bill, however, had a completely different response.

"Yuh-Yuh-You have to try harder, Rachel!" he pleaded desperately. "What about her m-m-m-mother? What about Amber?! Have you even thought ab-about them?"

Rachel's expression switched to a stern one as she glared at Bill. "You don't think I have?" she demanded. "I've done nothing but think about how they would feel about losing her. I know it's going to break them but I can't do anything about it. The only thing I can do is pray for a miracle to happen... but I don't even think God can perform a miracle like that."

Bill pondered over that possibility for what seemed to be an eternal second of desperation but he knew that not even he could do anything about it. As a single tear trickled down his cheek, he slowly nodded as he lowered his head.

Rachel's face softened at his sadness and she put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Bill..." she whispered. "I did all I could... but it wasn't enough."

His head bobbed up and down in response. "I know..." he said. "It-It's not your fault."

_____

Steph's POV

While that conversation continued in the hallway, life was ever so slowly beginning to return to Steph's physical being.

Despite physically being unconscious for the entire week, she was mentally awake but unable to move an inch. She was in utter agony when it came to her soul as she anticipated the feeling of death that was rapidly approaching now. A few times, she was able to see her father and Justin in her dreams and that gave her hope that it would be over soon.

But, over the past twenty-four hours, a new type of feeling had begun to take over her being and it was fighting for her. She was battling with that sensation, wanting to die while this thing – whatever it was – absolutely wanted her to survive. She knew she was going to lose badly but there would be no point if she didn't try her best; it made her want to scream maniacally in order to grab someone's attention but her voice would never escape her.

The blood that weakly coursed through her veins felt like the worst kind of fire imaginable, almost as if she were being forcefully held over the blue flames. The horrendous burning was starting to travel throughout her whole body and she wanted to cry and sob and wail as much as humanly possible.

Steph was completely unaware that her heartbeat was picking up a rapid sort of speed.

_____

The sound of the door to the room opening piqued Steph's awareness after what seemed to be centuries of waiting. While she couldn't turn her head to see who it was, she was still able to hear what could have been happening. There were two pairs of footsteps that echoed in her eardrums and one of the people that the footsteps belonged to had a strong sense of what she had and it made her want to smile.

(danny is that you if that's you please let me know)

(yeah steph it's me i came to see you)

(i'm glad you came here even it it's useless now)

Suddenly, a hand pressed gingerly against hers and, had she not been physically under the aura of alertness, she would have opened her eyes right away. The warmth of this person's hand was all too familiar since she could date it back to over a dozen years ago, and she wanted to smile. A strange sense of comfort swept through her and cooled the fiery pain for just a brief moment.

"I wish that fucker didn't do this to her..." Jamie could only whisper and it was clear that she was struggling to speak.

"It's all going to be okay, Aunt Jamie..." Danny replied and Steph heard him walking over to where her mother presumably was. "She's strong. She'll pull through."

"She better..." Jamie said. "If she doesn't, that stupid boy is gonna die no matter if I get sent to jail or not."

(no mom there's no need for that i don't want you to)

(i'll make sure she doesn't get herself in trouble steph don't worry)

(thank you danny)

"Steph wouldn't want you to kill him..." Danny pointed out. "And neither Mom or I would want that. Not even Uncle Jonathan would want that for you or her."

The hand over Steph's then squeezed it as carefully as it could and she wished she could move her own to embrace the grip that was holding onto her. But she just stayed perfectly still, knowing that if she moved even a centimeter, she would upset Jamie even further. She could tell by searching through her thoughts that Rachel had told her of her slim chance of surviving the next hour.

This was Jamie coming to say her final goodbyes.

If Steph didn't pull through in time, Jamie would truly be alone for the rest of her life...

Not only that, but Amber would feel even lonelier than ever....

Now she had reasons to fight for her life.

She internally battled alongside the new influence in her soul and she was able to feel her heartbeat racing for a few seconds.

"She looks like she's still hurting..." Jamie whimpered in agony, sniffing as the heart monitor picked up ever so slightly. "Her face... She shouldn't have to be in pain."

Danny, apparently, didn't say anything and allowed his aunt to have her moment with her daughter.

"Stephanie... baby..." Jamie mumbled under her breath. "I know you're so tough. You have been since you were born. You're gonna be just fine... forget what Rachel said. I'm not gonna give up hope and neither are your friends. Your Aunt Sue and Grandma Eleanor are on their way to see you. I hope you're awake by the time they're here..."

After a few minutes, Jamie decided to leave the room and then a new pair of footsteps entered after her. Steph heard them walking over to the opposite side of the bed from where Danny was and she couldn't get this person's frantic breathing out of her head.

"Huh-How's she doing?" the boy asked in an almost shattered voice. While he sounded completely dead and hollow inside, she could still detect the grave hope in his tone.

Bill, she thought as her heart wrenched out of sympathy for him. I'm alright now... I'm going to come back. Neither of those fuckers won. Not It... not Bowers. None of them.

"Her state seems to be improving..." said Danny. "Her heartbeat is picking up, slowly but surely. She's fighting against everything. She's one tough girl." There was an obvious smile in the way he was saying that and he clearly had the most optimism out of everyone that Steph knew at the hospital. "Is Amber alright?"

"I-I-I guess," Bill replied with a ragged sigh. "She still wuh-won't speak to us. Mike and Rachel th-th-th-th-think it's traumatic mutism."

So Danny knew everything about what happened in the sewers, that was certain. Steph was okay with that. He deserved to know.

The pain was growing even worse in her body and she screamed inside her head and bellowed at whatever was hurting her, begging for it to stop. How long could this possibly go on for? How had this not killed her yet? How in the hell was she getting through this without crying out in the worst kind of pain imaginable?

Would she even be able to make it through this in time?

"That'll probably last for a long while," Danny sadly admitted. "It happened to me once when I was around her age. Poor kid must be shaken up pretty terribly. It's a shame what happened to her brother."

Amber! Steph thought frantically as she began to panic, unaware of her heart rate becoming much faster. Where was Amber? What was that Danny and Bill had said about her? Traumatic mutism? Had that been caused by that creature killing Justin? If so, It would have some serious hell to pay.

"Yuh-Yeah, I know..." Bill muttered. "It's even worse than w-w-what I went through... with Georgie. Amber huh-huh-had to see Justin die like that."

"Amber will eventually make some progress," Danny promised. "It'll be easier for her over time, even if it takes several years. She'll be happy again one day."

"I know she will be," said Bill. "Thank you f-f-f-for being here, Danny.... I know Steph would be happy to see you."

(i want to wake up i want this fucking pain to end)

(it won't be too long now steph just keep hanging on)

Although Bill soon left the room, Danny remained right by her side and patiently waited for some more progress to happen. Steph could hear him breathing evenly and she envied him, since oxygen was only coming in and out of her lungs in quick and breathless gasps. The cannula in her nose didn't make matters any better.

An image then entered her mind... it was her grayish hair ever so slowly recoloring itself. Only now, it wasn't as messy and frizzy as it once used to be; it was more wavy than anything and that was able to relieve her.

(at least i'll be prettier when i wake up)

(steph what did i say about putting yourself down)

(sorry)

_____

About twenty-five minutes later, Steph felt a new pressure on her right hand and she nearly flinched from the startlement. That's when she realized that she was becoming more physically alert of her surroundings; the pain had started its journey of ending its wrath on her body and she felt a whole lot more relaxed, to the point that her face (which had, apparently, been permanently scrunched in anguish) flattened slightly and it looked at such peace that one would assume she had died.

But Danny knew better. He was actually able to see that her hair was back to completely normalcy and her skin looked so healthy now that there weren't even circles under Steph's eyes.

"It's almost done, Steph," he mumbled, clearly grinning.

All Steph wanted now was to see her mother, Amber, and all of her friends since she knew they were safe and sound. The agony wasn't as hellish as it once was and it was almost too bearable, but she was over the moon about that. At least it was about to be over.

"Now, Steph..." Danny began, taking a deep breath. "When you wake up, please try not to be afraid. None of us here or outside this room are that thing you fought. We won't be a danger to you, alright?"

(okay)

It was then that Steph was able to hear the thoughts of her friends and she knew they were standing just outside the door, waiting in case something went wrong.

Please, God, I beg of you to let her live. Beverly.

I don't want to lose the one person that felt like a real mom. Eddie.

It was already enough with Daniel and Justin. Not Steph, too. Mike.

She's practically my baby sister. Please let her keep fighting. Stan.

Don't die, Steph. Please, please, please don't die. Amber.

God, don't take Steph from us. She has her whole life ahead of her. Don't rip that from her. Ben.

Steph, you're a tough son of a bitch. Please, for the love of fuck, pull through. Richie.

Steph... please... sweet girl. I can't lose you, too. I love you too much to lose you.... Please, sweet girl.... Bill.

And finally, the person standing next to her: Just a few more minutes now. You look a whole lot better. Danny.

The pain created one final fiery wave through Steph's veins before fading once and for all, and her breathing was now completely normal.

In an instant, a whole bunch of memories flashed through Steph's mind: Pennywise's petrified face as it realized it had been defeated, embracing Amber in a death grip after it had been finished, cradling both Justin's and Georgie's bodies back to back in the sewers, witnessing the clown erupt out of the projector screen in the Denbroughs' garage, Its golden or ruby eyes staring into her soul as it leaped out of her entry hall closet, Bill and her admitting that they both had crushes on the other, the apocalyptic rock fight with the Losers and the Bowers Gang, Bill kissing her on the cheek and calling her beautiful at the quarry, them hugging in Beverly's clean bathroom, Steph embracing her mother on the last day of school, befriending the Losers when she was eight and, finally, a then blonde Jamie holding a three-month-old Steph in front of her vanity mirror as she grinned at how adorable her little girl was...

And then it all stopped.

For just a few seconds, all she could hear was the hitch of Danny's own breathing out of anticipation along with her healthy heartbeat.

And then her eyes slowly fluttered open as she stared at the ceiling, processing how blurry her entire vision was.

Then they were moving as she glanced all around her, trying to will her eyesight to return to her being as she took in a shallow breath. She felt as though there was something in her throat blocking her from taking as normal of a breath as she could manage and it was completely painful. She even groaned from the irritation of it as she blinked once or twice to adjust to the bright light of the room.

"Steph...?" came her cousin's voice from her right again.

Despite Danny assuring her that he wasn't the creature that had tried to kill her and her friends, Steph still felt a sense of danger. Her arm lifted itself upward and gripped his wrist almost inhumanly tightly, her eyes flickering to gray for just a moment.

"Hey, hey, kid!" Danny exclaimed in surprise, wincing from the fire that erupted in his hand from the vice-like grasp the younger girl maintained despite having just woken up. "Now, what did I say? I know you're still paranoid but I'm not that monster you took care of, really. It's me, your family."

(prove it to me prove that you're actually danny)

(okay remember when you wouldn't shut up about asking me about what happened at the overlook hotel when i was little and i kept saying that i would tell you when you were older)

"Alright..." Steph whispered almost inaudibly. "Alright. I believe you." Her voice was completely strained as she sat up weakly, her muscles still proving to be almost non-functioning. Somehow, someway, she was able to stay upright as she looked at her cousin. "Where are the others...? Where's my mom... and Amber...?"

Before Danny could answer, the door to the room opened and Steph narrowed her eyes at the figure in the doorway. Her breath hitched in her throat once more but not out of nervousness but of pure dread as she stared towards the teenaged boy she had grown closer with over the past few months. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as her shoulders went rigid.

"St-Steph...?" Bill whispered hesitantly as he took a small step into the room, his eyes wide in utter shock. Against all odds, he could now see that she had pulled through at the very last moment; she was alive, she was actually going to be okay.

"Is it really you...?" Steph replied, that rasp whisper being all that could leave her again as she tilted her head in curiosity.

Bill, realizing that she didn't think he was actually himself, instantly walked over to the side of the bed and carefully reached his hand out towards her. "Take your tuh-time..." he assured her with cautious eyes.

Steph then raised her left hand and very lightly touched his palm before placing her whole hand into his. She didn't even need to read his mind to make sure... she knew it was actually Bill. He was okay and he was with her now.

She was finally able to draw in a deep breath as she fully relaxed in his presence, closing her eyes out of pure peace. Bill's almost abnormally gentle touch was a dead giveaway that it was actually him instead of Pennywise and, knowing she was safe, she reached up and brought him into an almost bone-crushing hug. What she was unaware of was that she caught him by complete surprise as he chuckled.

"Nuh-Nice to see you, too..." he muttered as he delicately hugged her back, knowing all too well that she could still be in pain from the injuries that had been inflicted upon her. "Are you okay...?"

Steph slowly pulled out of the hug and nodded her head shyly as her face then turned pink; her eyes then fluttered shut when she felt him brush a strand of her hair out of her face and she leaned into his touch. "Hi, Bill..." she murmured sweetly, a real smile enhancing her features for the time being. Her eyes opened back up so she could properly look at him and get used to him once again and she noticed that he was visibly taken aback by this. "Are you okay?"

But Bill had just taken notice of Steph's pretty eyes and that, despite remnants of a bruise still being around one of them, the color of those voids were a much darker midnight blue than they once were. He wondered how that was possible but he couldn't deny that her eyes were even more beautiful than they were before.

"Huh-Hi..." he replied shakily, clearing his throat. "I'm perfectly fine... I'm so glad you're alive, Steph." He then squeezed her hand super carefully in order to not cause her any further harm. "Do you wuh-want me to get the others?"

Steph peered back up at Bill and quickly nodded her head again. "Yeah..." she whispered. "I... I want to see them. Bring them in."

Listening quickly, Bill had the door to the room wide open for all of his friends to pile in. Meanwhile, Danny stepped out to inform Rachel that Steph had pulled through and would be just fine as the remaining Losers showered his cousin with hugs and words of comfort. He was just grateful that she had lived through her traumatic experience, and it was something else they would now both have in common besides their power and the losses of both of their fathers.

Beverly and Richie were the first ones to sprint in and they embraced her tightly but not too much to crush her in their grip. Steph hugged back carefully so as to not pull at the IV in her right arm but enough to assure them that she was really alive.

"We thought you were fucking dead!" Richie exclaimed as he started actually crying a little bit.

"I'm not, kid..." Steph comforted him. "I'm alive, you don't have to worry about me now."

While Richie continued to cry, Beverly gathered the courage to kiss her best friend on the cheek, choosing to ignore the blush on her face entirely. She then hugged her again as she whispered, "Praise be... Praise fucking be, you made it."

Afterwards, Eddie rushed to her to hug her, followed by Stan, Mike, and Ben; eventually, all eight of them were in a crying group hug. It was just them, not a single disbelieving adult in the same area anymore and they were able to finally let out all of the anguish they had been suppressing for months and months – for Bill, nearly a year now.

While Steph felt utter relief to see her friends perfectly fine, she couldn't prevent the icy agony from entering her heart as everything from the week before came back to her in droves. Finding Georgie's body, waking up and seeing Justin, Beverly, and Amber in the sewers with her, facing Pennywise in her mind for the very first (and, hopefully, only) time, seeing the gory gash in Justin's temple, hearing Amber's grief stricken wails, having to hold the young girl as she sobbed hysterically... the fight with It....

And then Steph frantically asked, "Where's Amber...?"

The group of seven in front of her simultaneously parted in half and revealed the seven-year-old child that stared at her with a deep sadness in her bright green eyes. Her facial expression was one of forlorn depression and the sight of that was enough to shatter Steph's heart as she hesitantly reached her hand out to the girl.

"Amber..." she murmured with a tilt of her head, grateful that her left eye had opened back up and was healing so she could see her fully. Her bottom lip quivered as she battled the soon-to-arrive tears from bursting out of her as if she were a dam. "Sweetie..."

Amber leapt towards her and hugged her fiercely and Steph gave her a bone-crushing embrace in return, her hand holding the back of her head protectively.

And Steph finally broke, hoarse sobs rapidly leaving her as she squeezed her eyes shut; it hurt even more when she heard quiet cries coming from Amber, and that just made her wail more as she held her even closer. "I'm so sorry..." she whimpered as she buried her face in the little girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry, sweetie..."

Amber's only response was to shake her head and relax in her arms, knowing she couldn't bring herself to speak at all.

This concerned Steph as she pulled back to look at her with raised eyebrows of confusion. "Amber...?" she whispered, tears falling down her face.

"She can't speak..." Ben mumbled, causing her to glance up at the others.

"What?"

"She's traumatized..." Mike clarified with a heavy sigh, wiping his own tears away. "Rachel called it 'traumatic mutism.'"

"Wuh-When someone goes through something like Amber did," said Bill, "s-s-sometimes, they can't pr-pruh-process it. She's too young to process it, so she lost her a-ability to speak."

Steph simply nodded as she looked into Amber's eyes with a sympathetic smile, playing with her brown hair. "Okay..." she muttered, putting on her strong face to make her feel better. "That's alright. I just assumed you can speak, but it's okay that you can't. I'm sure you'll find your voice again.... Are you okay right now?"

Amber's head slowly moved up and down but Steph could tell that she was lying to keep her from getting upset again.

In response, the blonde tucked a strand of the girl's hair behind her ear. "Baby... you don't have to pretend in front of me," she assured her. "It's okay to not be alright... especially now. And... it's okay if you're mad at me... if you think it's my fault for everything...."

Amber's eyebrows scrunched together as she quickly shook her head, thinking to herself, How could she think any of this was her fault...?

Steph could read that thought in her mind as she frowned, shutting her eyes. "But it is..." she murmured, shrugging her shoulders and ignoring the flaring pain in her left shoulder blade where the stab wound was still healing. "I'm so sorry I couldn't do more... for you.... I'm sorry I couldn't save Justin like I wanted to. I'm sorry I couldn't protect the both of you."

The only thing Amber could think to do was mouth the word, "No." The only audible thing that could escape her was a croak as her throat protested against her desire to actually speak. She then lifted her left hand and placed it on Steph's cheek to try and communicate with her.

(none of this was your fault i'm not mad at you you did nothing wrong you're still my best friend you did all you could to help us and that's enough)

Steph heard all of this as she slowly nodded her head, sniffing as she wiped another tear away. "Okay..." she whispered. "Alright, honey..."

_____

A little while later, after Jamie had rushed in and held her baby girl in her arms as she cried from pure happiness that she was alive, Rachel had entered the room with a cart (which contained a blood pressure test and thermometer, along with other medical tools) and excused her way through the entire group while staring at Steph in utter surprise.

"So... you're not dying, after all?" she joked as she smirked at Steph.

"You could say that," said Steph and everyone around her laughed.

"Well..." Rachel muttered before pulling out her clipboard. "I'll need to check your blood pressure, your oxygen, and your temperature to see if you're truly alright. Then I'll leave you to talk with your mom and friends." She glanced at Amber for a moment and offered a sad little smile, which her daughter returned.

Rachel then carefully helped Steph sit up properly on the bed and wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her right arm; after taking that test, she took her temperature and tested her oxygen rate to see if her health had truly increased that rapidly.

"I'm impressed, kid," Rachel informed her a few minutes later as she stared at the stats on her clipboard. She then turned to Jamie to mainly tell her, but she made sure everyone else could hear. "Her blood pressure's ninety over sixty, which is precisely what we need. Her oxygen is around ninety-nine percent and her temperature is ninety-eight point six degrees. She's absolutely healthy, despite her wounds still needing some time to heal. I don't know how she got so better so fast but... it's a miracle from God, for sure. Praise be."

"Praise be..." Jamie, despite not being a Christian like Rachel, replied with a grin.

"Praise be," was all Steph could say as she chuckled.

Rachel then came over and placed a hand on the top of Steph's head, fighting back tears as she did so. "You've made us all proud, kid," she told her, sniffing quietly. "Now, all you need to do is heal. If you're up for it... we can let you go home tomorrow. We'll just need to lend you a pair of crutches. The bullet wound you got damaged a nerve in your right leg, but it's not permanent, don't worry. You'll be able to walk normally eventually. It might take six months, though."

"I can deal with it," Steph replied with a kind smile, even though it didn't quite reach her eyes. Having to walk with a limp for six months? That just sounded like a fucking nightmare...

"I know you can," said Rachel. "Well, I'll let you get back to talking with them. Amber, are you alright with staying with the kids while I get back to work?"

Amber just nodded and Rachel left the room to get back to her shift.

"Hey, kids," Jamie then spoke up. "May I ask you all to leave for a few minutes? I need to talk to Steph..."

"Yeah, of course," Mike said before picking Amber up and carrying her out of the room, noting how sleepy she was becoming. He envied her for the time being, wishing he was just as exhausted as she was.

One by one, the rest of the Losers escorted themselves out of the room, leaving Danny to be last.

"I'll just be right outside, Aunt Jamie," he whispered to her.

"Alright," she replied. "Call your mother at the house and tell her that she's awake."

Danny said he would before leaving the two to their own devices.

The moment they were alone, Jamie slowly sat down on the mattress next to her daughter and looked directly at her. Not a single word could leave her because she was still stunned by the turn of events; just an hour ago, she was certain that her baby would succumb to her horrible injuries but, as if by a stroke of luck, she pulled through at the last second and made it. And she was sitting in front of her, mostly healthy. She would forever thank whatever godly force was watching over them for helping Steph until the day she died.

She had an inkling that Jonathan may have had something to do with Steph surviving.

Steph looked back at her brunette mother with a seemingly normal expression, a hint of a smile still touching her lips. She then spared a glance at Jamie's forehead and saw the now yellowing bruise on her skin from where he had given her a concussion – she figured now that it was a minor one since time had passed – and her face crumpled into a nearly unrecognizable one. The tears came again and her lips shook with the effort of holding them back, but she knew it was no use. They streamed down her cheeks like tiny little rivers and that made Jamie move closer to her.

"Hey..." the older woman whispered as she placed a hand over her trembling ones.

"Mom..." was all Steph could say before letting out a haggard breath of pain. "Mama... I was so sc-scared...."

"I know..." Jamie murmured before reaching out to her and tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her left ear so she could see her better. "It's okay now. He can't hurt you anymore..."

"What...?" Steph replied. "What do you mean?"

Jamie took a deep breath. "Henry Bowers was arrested," she answered. "He was charged for murdering his father and the Huggins and Criss kids, and nearly killing you. But that wasn't before a lynch mob had been created to hunt that fucker down. They were so determined to get revenge... we were."

That made Steph perk up with raised eyebrows, ignoring the pain around her left eye because of the fading bruise. "You... You formed a lynch mob?!" she exclaimed. "But... But you were hospitalized, weren't you? After what Henry did?"

"That wasn't gonna stop me," said Jamie. "Like I've said before, you fuck with my baby... it doesn't end well for you. As for Bowers, after what he did, that was a death sentence for him in my eyes. We had guns and baseball bats and all sorts of weapons. We were going to kill him, honey."

"That could have gotten you arrested," Steph said.

"It would have been worth it.... Anyway, we tracked him down to his father's farm just outside of town. The police were already waiting for him at that point. He had nearly attacked another child around your age. You know of Samantha Williams, right?"

Steph nodded.

"Well, she was walking to a friend's house... more so running because she was paranoid," Jamie explained. "And she tripped. She turned around and saw Henry behind her and he was getting closer. That was when we found him. I told her to go back home, that she shouldn't be out... not until the son of a bitch was caught. And we followed him all the way to his father's home. Oscar was already dead, had been for over a day now. They said... that Henry had taken Oscar's switchblade and stabbed him in the throat while he slept."

"Jesus..." Steph whispered.

"I know," Jamie muttered. "The police took no chances. They immediately forced him to the ground and handcuffed him and were reading his Miranda rights. That's when I rushed over and had my gun pointed at his head... but Officer Doyle wrestled the gun out of my hands and threatened to handcuff me, too. I said I didn't care, that he may as well have killed my daughter. But he said that it didn't matter... that, even if I did kill him, 'it wouldn't make it better.'"

"He was right," Steph replied. "You shouldn't have hunted him down. If... If I had died, killing Henry wouldn't have made it easier for you. Besides, I can't imagine you murdering someone."

"Yeah..." was all Jamie could say. "You're much kinder than I am, sweetie. But he's in the town jail right now and is waiting for his trial."

While Steph just simply smiled in satisfaction at this information, she sensed an opportunity to do something; maybe not today, or even tomorrow but, one day in the near future, she would take that chance. "Thank you for telling me," she said. "I needed to hear that."

"Of course," Jamie responded before carefully pulling her into a hug.

A half hour later, Jamie went out into the hallway and told them that Steph wanted to see them individually, one at a time. Whoever wanted to go first would be granted that possibility, according to her.

"I'll go first," Bill spoke up as he stepped closer to the door, placing his hand on the doorknob.

"I figured you would," Jamie said with a smirk. "Stay in there as long as you want. She's really looking forward to seeing you."

Bill could only nod his head before stepping through the barrier that blocked him from Steph. He did all he could to maintain his composure, knowing Steph wouldn't want to see him break down into tears over her. He forcefully held said tears back as a result.

As he walked towards the bed, he stared at the floor, frightened to meet her gaze out of worry that she was angry with him. Whatever reason that was, he didn't know, but he was scared nonetheless.

"Bill..." came her voice, quiet and uncertain. "You can look at me."

Bill did. The moment their eyes locked, he did everything he could to not throw his arms around her and burst into sobs.

Steph smiled. "Hi..."

"Hey..."

Steph then reached out with her right hand – ignoring that the IV was still hooked to her skin – and placed it over his, squeezing delicately. "Are you all right?"

Bill did the only thing he could think to do then: he chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "Are you seriously as-sking me that?" he asked incredulously but with a grin.

"Yeah, I am," Steph replied bluntly as she also giggled.

Bill then finally nodded in response to her initial question. "Yuh-Yeah, I am... now that you're a-aw-awake," he said.

"Good..." Steph whispered before drawing in a deep breath through her nose. "Apparently, I missed a lot of chaos. Bowers being arrested, the lynch mob... I would have loved to see it."

Bill laughed. "Me too," he muttered. It was the first time he hadn't blushed around her in months, and he felt strangely relaxed instead of flustered, for once. Then, he added, "That wasn't all th-th-that happened, you know?"

Steph raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? What else happened?"

Bill hesitated, not wanting to bring more pain to the girl than had already been done; but he figured that she deserved to know this, after all she had been through. It wouldn't be the worst thing she heard in her life, anyway, so he just cut straight to the chase. "You died in surgery," was all he said.

All of the softness drained from Steph's eyes as she stared at him. "Wuh... What?!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide.

Bill then sighed deeply before continuing. "They had to puh-put you under to operate on y-y-y-you," he added. "The others and I were waiting in the h-h-hallway. Eddie had briefly gone home to shower off the muck that the leper had g-given him. Richie and Mike were busy com-comforting Amber and Stan was getting stitches for his wounds. I just sat there and wuh-waited for further news from Rachel... and that was when I-I-I heard the intercom going off, saying 'Code Blue.' Then they said your ruh-room number and I couldn't have been there f-f-f-fast enough. But they wouldn't let me in..." He finally began to let his heart collapse, piece by piece. Tears welled in his eyes again. "They... They wouldn't... I th-th-th-th-tho-thought..."

Steph, although she was still in deep shock, reached up and placed her hand on Bill's cheek, her eyes also stinging with tears. "It's okay..." she whispered, sniffing. "I'm alive and I'm recovering now... That's all that matters. Don't think about that."

Bill nodded as he rested his own hand over hers. "Okay..." he replied before peering at her. "Are... A-Are you hurting?"

Steph was tempted to simply smile and say, "No, I'm fine. What do you mean?" She wanted to maintain the jovial attitude she seemed to always have around Bill. But, her head decided to move itself up and down, and she lowered her gaze. "Yes..." was what she ended up saying.

Bill nearly panicked, thinking that she was in physical pain due to her healing injuries at first. But, when he saw the look on her face, he knew better. She was grieving and for good reason. So he scooted closer to her on the bed, sighing once again. "I know w-wuh-what you're going to say," he said. "So don't. What happened down there... with I-It... wasn't your fault."

"But it was..." Steph murmured, a single tear streaming down her left cheek, shaking her head. "I... I couldn't protect him. I couldn't save Justin. I was too focused on trying to hurt It... with... with my mind."

"With your mind?" Bill pondered, looking for clarification.

"Don't call me crazy but I can read people's minds and shit like that," Steph specified. "Like... I can read your mind and assume that you're very worried about me, right?"

Bill nodded, completely surprised. "Yuh-Yeah, you're right," he responded. "You're not crazy for that. I'd believe anything at this point after It, so I b-buh-believe you."

Steph smiled slightly with relief before her expression changed to one of sadness again. "But I was too focused on trying to use my mind to hurt It," she went on. "I had no clue that they were also trying to fight It. If I had known... I could have saved Justin.... He... He would still be alive. But he's not... he's dead because of me."

"No..." Bill whispered.

"Yes," Steph protested. "I couldn't save him..." And more tears arrived again. "Rachel must hate me, she must despise me. I didn't save her child, I didn't save him, so she has to hate me...! She has every right to fucking hate me... E-E-Everything that happened to her is my fault. My fault! I... I may as well have killed him."

"That's not true," Bill said, finally having no choice but to interrupt her. He stared at her with hardened eyes of determination. "You did all you could, Steph. I'm sure Justin knows that, and Rachel and Amber know that, too. They don't blame you for his death. Rachel is grateful that we brought him back to her, alive or dead. Also, you were dying yourself. Your strength was running out, so anything you could have done... It would have just overpowered that in spades. All that matters is that you tried. Nobody blames you, sweet girl. It wasn't your fault. So don't do that to yourself..."

Steph then felt Bill's fingers on her chin as he tilted her head upward so she could look at him. It was only then that she noticed that he hadn't stuttered once while saying that to her.

"Do you understand me?" Bill added with earnest eyes.

Steph just nodded, closing her eyes as she chose to finally believe what he had said. "Okay..." she said. "Yeah, I do."

Bill then placed a kiss on Steph's forehead to bring more comfort to her soul, cradling her cheek in his hand. Then, he said without any shyness in his voice, "I love you."

Steph was stunned for a moment as she stared into his eyes, but she relaxed as the tiniest smile touched her lips. "I know..." she replied genuinely. "I love you."

Bill, in response to that, kissed her cheek and pulled her into the most careful hug he could do, still cautious of her wounds. But, right after, a thought hit his mind, which made him pull out of the hug to look at her with curiosity. "Cuh-Can you show me how you read m-m-minds, exactly?" he asked.

Steph's eyes seemed to brighten a little bit as her head bobbed up and down. "Yeah, sure," she said before placing her left hand on the right side of his face. "It doesn't hurt, I swear."

Bill then felt a strange sensation in his temples, almost as if a string he couldn't see was being pulled out of his skin. It wasn't painful, just weird in general but he didn't let Steph know that out of fear of hurting her feelings. Then he was aware of what seemed to be his brain tingling and he knew that had never happened in his childhood, perhaps except for when he had been hit by a car as a child (which had, presumably, caused his stutter). He knew then that Steph was telling him the truth, and he wasn't frightened, but rather impressed.

Does anything feel different? Steph thought in her mind, hoping Bill could still hear it.

Bill just nodded dumbly, unaware of what to do next.

You can talk in your head. If I'm right, you're better capable of speaking to me with your thoughts.

I am, Bill thought with an amused smile. How can you do this?!

I have no idea. I was born with it, so I think I must have gotten it from my dad. Anyway, you seem to be happy and... impressed?

"Yuh-Yeah," Bill answered aloud as he slowly pulled Steph's hand away from his face, the tingling feeling in his brain slowly receding.

Steph then paused for a moment as she sighed quietly, lowering her head. "There's something else I feel you need to know..." she muttered.

"Wuh-What is it?" Bill asked.

"Well... the night I was taken... It had to have been before It got Justin and Amber... I woke up where you found us. It was pitch black and I could hardly see anything but... I realized I wasn't alone. Someone else was down there and I went to see who it was. It was a young boy around Amber's age and I tried to wake him up... but then I saw that his eyes were open... and that his arm was missing..."

Bill instantly understood. "Georgie..." he whispered.

Steph nodded. "Yeah... but it wasn't that damn clown pretending to be him. It was really him... but he was... he was already gone. He was dead the whole time. I know that'll break you and I'm sorry for being the one to tell you but –"

"I-It's okay..." Bill assured her. "I kind of already fuh-figured that out that day. I'm... I'm glad you told me. At least I nuh-nuh-know now. I guess that muh-means all of that time l-l-looking for him was for nothing."

"But it showed how much you cared about him," Steph said with an endearing gaze. "I know how much you loved Georgie... and he loved you. Well, he still loves you... wherever he is."

"Yeah... you're right..." Bill replied with a soft smile. "And also... i-i-it wasn't all for nuh-nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"I fuh-fell in love with you..." he said as he blushed.

"You smooth fucker..." Steph replied while her face became overwhelmed by red, and Bill chuckled as he held her hand.

There was a long moment of silence that passed between the two of them, but it wasn't awkward at all. It was peaceful, soothing.

"Thank you..." Steph then said.

"F-For what?" Bill replied with a raised eyebrow as he looked at her out of subtle puzzlement.

"For going down there... for risking everything... for saving us," Steph said with a tender smile.

Bill didn't say anything but just smiled back softly, nodding and squeezing her hand gently.

A little while after this (during which Bill had asked Steph to be his girlfriend and she said yes), after all of the other Losers had trickled in one at a time to talk to Steph, Rachel was suddenly the next person that wanted to see her. Luckily, she was okay with that and, eventually, she walked in and sat down in the chair beside her bed, removing her glasses and rubbing her eyes.

Steph instantly noticed the pack of cigarettes in the older woman's hand and raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you smoke?" she asked, yawning a little bit.

"Since I became a widow and lost a son," Rachel deadpanned before drawing a cigarette and lighting it. She put it to her lips and puffed on it, blowing smoke away from Steph.

Steph sighed sadly as her heart wrenched at the mention of both Daniel and Justin, gulping a little. "Good point," she muttered, looking down at her hands that rested in her lap.

"I came in to talk to you," Rachel said before inhaling a lungful of smoke, feeling calmer from puffing on the cigarette. "It's, uh... It's actually very important and I think I should have... Well, we should have told you before..."

Steph tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "We?" she muttered.

"Daniel and I before he died in that so-called 'accident,'" said Rachel as she stared right at the young girl.

Steph just stared back at Rachel in utter confusion. What did she mean by that? Did... Did she know? That wasn't possible. Almost none of the adults in Derry knew a thing about the evil that plagued where they live, how could she have known?!

"Yeah... I know Pennywise killed my son... and Daniel," Rachel said with a sigh. "I know how crazy it sounds but he and I have dealt with this before."

"I thought you moved to Derry in your twenties," Steph said as her eyes widened. Rachel had dealt with this before, too?! Not just Daniel? What the absolute fuck?

"I lied..." she muttered, gnawing on her lower lip before puffing on the cigarette again. "It was twenty-seven years ago... 1962.... I met Daniel that summer in the hospital. Some racist pricks had picked on him and caused him to cut his hand open on some glass. I worked at the hospital since I had gotten my high school diploma and helped stitch him up. We... We may have only been seventeen and may have fallen in love a bit too quickly but we didn't care. Daniel was a very sweet boy, quiet but smart and caring. He wasn't like most of the people in this town. He came from a racist family, did you know that?"

"No," Steph replied, raising both of her eyebrows now.

"He did," Rachel murmured sadly. "Both he and his little brother, Matthew. He never liked bringing him up after... uh... He died to Pennywise during its last cycle, right after he packed his things and left his family – Daniel had been kicked out by then and moved in with Mike's father and grandfather, the Hanlons. He didn't want to leave his brother's side and pretend to side with his parents any longer. But It got to him before he could make that choice. It nearly got my little sister, too."

"You have a sister?" Steph asked, completely taken aback and astonished as she listened.

"Yeah, I do," said Rachel. "Her name's Nancy, you'd like her. She's a tough one. She's coming here for Justin's funeral, so you'll get to meet her then."

Steph smiled a little, liking the idea of that.

"Anyway," Rachel continued, "Nancy had been kidnapped just like you, your friend, and my kids. Only she escaped on her own but she broke her leg. Daniel showed up and shot the fucker several times but it got back up. He was knocked out while it chased Nancy into that goddamn house. Needless to say, she was brutalized and beaten senseless. It's no wonder she survived."

"Jesus..."

"You got that right." Rachel puffed on the cigarette again before saying more. "Daniel saved her life in the nick of time by decapitating that stupid clown. But, what do you know? Of course it wasn't dead. Two weeks later, Daniel went to the Black Spot with William and that cult burned it down. Dick Hallorann helped them escape and then Daniel was nearly killed by Pennywise and stabbed multiple times. That's how he got locked up in the loony bin... babbling on about the clown... and they never believed him."

Rachel took a deep breath and closed her eyes for what seemed to be an eternity. But she opened them again and kept speaking, putting out the cigarette in the ashtray she had brought with her.

"I always had a terrible feeling that the clown would get Daniel eventually and come after our children when the killings started again. Daniel had to be on guard every minute of every day. When the monster would come back after twenty-seven years had passed, he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep running from It forever. He always feared that, sooner or later... his luck would run out...."

She then moved the sleeve of her hospital uniform to where her left shoulder was exposed to Steph. Etched into her skin were three jagged scars that the blonde had never seen before and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as Rachel then said, "It gave me these... Nobody else can see them but you and anyone else that saw that bastard."

Steph tentatively reached out and brushed her fingers against the scars before drawing her hand back quickly. God only knew how this had happened to her and it made her wince. She tried to search through the woman's mind but it seemed as though she were being blocked from doing so and it made her frown. "How did this happen, Rach?" she murmured.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Rachel replied bluntly as she tugged the sleeve back over her shoulder. "I just needed to tell you that you're not alone, Steph. You and your friends... You kids weren't the only ones in Derry that had to deal with this shit. You're not alone. I just wish Daniel and I could have told you before It killed him."

"It's okay," Steph tried to say but Rachel cut her off.

"No, it isn't," she said with a firm look in her eyes. "It is not okay. If we had told you, if I had told you... maybe he and Justin would still be here. And now Amber and I have to live with that alone."

Steph sat up further and glared at Rachel with determination, reaching over to take her hand into hers. "No, you won't," she said almost crazily. "No, you will not live with this alone. I lost them, too, Rachel. You're not alone either. You don't have to suffer with Amber by yourselves. If you two ever need anything, and I mean anything, don't you dare hesitate to call me or Mom and we'll help you guys out. It doesn't matter what it is."

"But Jamie wouldn't understand..." Rachel muttered sadly, sighing softly. "She doesn't know about It."

"So?" Steph scoffed. "She knows well enough that this town fucking sucks, pardon my language." At Rachel's laugh and assurance that she wouldn't snitch on her, Steph kept going. "Mom isn't under Its curse, I promise you that. Don't forget that lynch mob she formed with the rest of the town to hunt down Henry Bowers."

"That's the most this whole town's seemed to have done."

"Yeah... but we can make the best of that and just keep going," Steph said, squeezing the woman's hand. "Because it's over... We stopped the clown when Bill and the others came to save us. We defeated It..."

"For now," was all Rachel could say as a grieving tear trickled down her cheek and she wiped it away.

Steph nodded in agreement. "For now."

A/N: well... this is awkward... it's been nine months since i posted the last chapter. i hope the wait hasn't been too much to handle.

ANYWAYS, thoughts on this chapter? while relatively shorter than some of the others, a lot actually did happen. there was actual suspense as to if steph would wake up or not.

speaking of, thoughts on that whole scene with steph struggling to wake up? what about her interaction with danny through her mind?

also, what did you think of the first interaction with steph and bill after she woke up? what about the other losers and amber?

did you find it sad that amber couldn't speak because of the trauma?

what about the scene with steph and jamie? and yeah, jamie formed a lynch mob to go after henry and nearly shot him in the fucking head!

what about steph's scene with bill and them confessing their love? i know them becoming a couple wasn't actually shown but the book is not just about the romance and it doesn't need to entirely focus on said romance now. just saying that they became boyfriend and girlfriend is more effective considering the depressing shit going on right now.

and finally... steph's scene with rachel that reveals rachel's backstory?

don't worry! prequel with rachel and daniel based on the television series coming out next year will be developed eventually!

predictions for the next chapter?

be looking forward to the next chapter, where certain characters get their comeuppance!

-denbroughswife