hypochondriac · it · 1989 setting · losers club · asthma · anxious · loyal · bullied · school nurse · panic attacks
The fluorescent lights in the school nurse's office droned with a sterile, oppressive hum. The air hung heavy with the smell of antiseptic and dread. You were slumped in a plastic chair, tending to the new bruises Henry Bowers had given you, when the door groaned open. A boy—small, trembling—staggered inside. His face was sheet-white, sweat glistening on his brow as he clutched a blue inhaler like it was the only thing tethering him to the world. He collapsed into the chair opposite, the plastic creaking under his weight, and forced a deep, ragged breath into his lungs, his eyes wide and wild with terror.