#Streber lost his arm and it makes me sad when I think about that

[spaceacethespookypansfanfics]

Heyyy. Could you do a CandyBat fic about the immediate aftermath of the Tasty treats ep? Thank you 🙏

Of course. I’ve been avoiding writing about tender treats specifically because I didn’t want to misrepresent anything but hopefully this is okay. I just kinda started writing and didn’t stop. Not really sure what to title this though. I hope everyone enjoys.

Kevin should’ve gone home immediately. As soon as the coast was clear, should’ve gone right home.

There had been a sinking pit in Kevin’s stomach for the rest of his shift. He should’ve listened to it. Not convince himself it was all in his head.

That might be Kevin’s biggest regret of the night. He should’ve been faster.

Thinking back on it now, Kevin has a lot regrets tonight.

He should’ve called the police immediately.

He should’ve kept those two gremlins in sight so they couldn’t cause any more damage to anyone else.

He should’ve . . .

Kevin stands up with a growl. He stomps his (good) foot hard against the vinyl floor. The pain shoots up his calf before dispersing, leaving the bottom of his foot sore. He wants to stomp (and scream and cry and break things and just absolutely die) more but looking around at the other bereft and grieving visitors, he sits back down.

He’s not the only one in pain.

Kevin resorts to clenching his hands, digging his nails into his palms as hard as he can.

It doesn’t help.

“Uh, hel—hello, d—dear. Kevin, right?”

Kevin looks up. A tall woman with long dark hair he recognises to be the mom to one of the gremlins. Skeleton one’s mom, Kevin thinks. Lila was it?

“Yea—“ Kevin’s throat has been closed for hours now, his voice thick and wavering. He clears his throat before he can sound any more pathetic to this lady. “Yeah. Why?”

Lila’s face goes from slightly nervous to full of pity. Kevin watches it in real time. Somehow she knows. Normally that wouldn’t bother him, he’s proud of himself and strangers can fuck off about it. But normally strangers frown at him. They don’t look at him like this.

It’s making it too real.

Kevin looks down at the floor. He wants to crawl away from this woman.

“I just wanted to thank you, dear, for protecting my son.” The woman sits down in the chair next to his. So she’s staying then. Great.

Kevin wants to scoff but shrugs instead. He wants to be rude, tell her he doesn’t care about her son, but that’d be a lie. If he didn’t care, he would’ve ran from the store the minute her son showed up. But he does blame her son.

Not that he’s going to tell her that. “What kind of person wouldn’t, if they were in my position?” Kevin tries to play it cool, keep his tone light, but everything’s flashing through his head, the recall instant and blurry but oh so overwhelming.

Kevin’s heart picks up again and his hands start trembling for the umpteenth time tonight. It’s more than just his hands. His legs are shaking and his skin’s crawling and it’s fuzzy. Everything feels fuzzy and he can’t breathe again.

The tears drip onto the floor before Kevin can wipe them away. The lady definitely noticed now. Kevin’s about to get up and leave when he’s suddenly trapped.

Lila’s got her arms wrapped around him and he’s stunned. He doesn’t know what to do.

“Oh dear. It’s okay. You don’t have to pretend.” Lila sounds just like any mother should and despite her not being his own, Kevin is drawn into the comfort. He buries his face in her shoulder and cries quietly. Her sweater is soaked in under a minute with how hard Kevin is letting himself cry.

Kevin couldn’t help reliving tonight’s events.

He stayed behind to clean up with Rick after being attacked. Neither called the cops about it. They really should’ve. Why didn’t he?

Still, Kevin didn’t start walking home until after the shop was clean and locked up.

He only started running after he noticed the sirens following him. They weren’t after him, they were just going where he was going. When the ambulance passed him, Kevin booked it.

Kevin had never run so fast in his life.

The crowd around his home was massive, it had to be the entire neighbourhood plus some. Kevin played it off, of course there’d be a crowd. Streber goes all out every year and he’s always a hit.

Except the ambulance parked on the front lawn was a new addition that had Kevin’s heart sinking.

He should’ve been faster.

Kevin had to muscle his way through his neighbours to find out what happened, all while hearing glimpse of gossip.

“Poor man—“

“His arm—“

“He’ll never be the same—“

Right there, on their shared porch steps, was Streber.

EMTs were strapping him to a stretcher. They were acting fast but Kevin found himself wanting to shout at them to hurry up.

There was so much blood, Kevin couldn’t actually see Streber underneath it all.

He ran to the EMTs, ran to Streber.

“Is he okay?! Wha—what happened?!” Kevin couldn’t hear himself over the sound of his heart in his ears.

“Excuse me sir,” the third EMT who wasn’t holding the stretcher placed a gentle hand on Kevin’s chest, keeping him at bay. “You’re gonna need to step back. We’re taking the patient to the hospital now. Are you his family?”

Kevin was nodding before he really knew what he was nodding too. The EMT guided him to the ambulance where Streber was being looked at by the other two officers. He was in a daze at this point.

The ride to the hospital was blurry and fast and Kevin held Streber’s bloody cape in his hands the entire time. It was wet and sticky with blood but Kevin didn’t notice. Or seem to care.

It wasn’t until he was finally sitting in the waiting room that Kevin’s mind finally settled. It was the cops who’d gotten his attention.

They’d explained everything.

That maniac broke out and went on a rampage for those two kids and attacked Streber in the process.

This was those kids’ faults just as it was Kevin’s.

It’s been hours now, and Streber’s still in surgery.

Each minute that passes kills Kevin just a little bit more.

Kevin cries in Lila’s shoulder for longer than he normally would’ve allowed himself but today’s a unique exception.

He pulls away to wipe his face. Lila does the same, giving Kevin a bit of room.

He’s about to apologise to the woman when there’s a loud bam at the end of the hallway. A doctor in messy scrubs hurries over. “Are you the family?”

Kevin immediately stands to his feet. This is it.

His heart is on hold and he can’t read the doctor at all.

“Yes! Me. It’s me. I’m the family.” Kevin trips over himself, a strange sense of pride welling in him from those words. In any other circumstances, Kevin’d probably smile and boast that he’s Streber’s family, because he is and always will be.

The doctor focuses on Kevin, staying unreadable. “The patient lost a lot of blood. We’ve closed the wound and started blood transfusions but we were unable to recover the patient’s arm to attempt reattachment. Unfortunately, the patient has lost his arm from the elbow joint down. This is an extremely life changing injury and he will need all the support he can get. You can see him now, but he won’t be awake for several more hours.”

The doctor turned around and started walking down the hall. Kevin immediately takes after him, his mind buzzing with questions, but not knowing where to start at all.

“But he’s going to be okay?” Kevin finally asks. The doctor nods, leading him to the post-op room where Streber is.

“Visiting hours will be over shortly. Someone will inform you when it’s time to leave but you may come back tomorrow when visiting hours have started.” The doctor stays at the doorway. Kevin nods, not looking back. He doesn’t know the doctor’s left until he hears the door jam click.

All Kevin can look at is Streber. He’s hooked up and unconscious in the most uncomfortable looking bed ever. If he were awake, he’d complain for sure how it’s not big enough like their giant, king sized bed at home. He’d probably also complain that the colour scheme here is too bright and plain. It’d be a joke of course, and Kevin would laugh.

Kevin’s feet drift forward, he’s stumbling to Streber’s side in an uncoordinated haste.

All cleaned up now, Kevin sees what the doctor was talking about. Streber’s arm is gone. There’s only a bandaged stump where his elbow would be.

Kevin can’t quite comprehend it. There should be an arm there, and a hand. A hand he knows very well. But there isn’t.

Thankfully there’s a chair close enough to the bed that Kevin’s legs can give out without him falling flat on his ass. He lands in the chair and reaches for the hand that isn’t there anymore.

Kevin was sure he’d cried all the tears he could earlier.

Seems he was wrong.

It’s just him and the quiet steady beeping of the hospital machines here. He cries, gripping the bed’s sheet where Streber’s hand should be.

Kevin isn’t sure if he’s crying in relief or in pain. It might both. Because he’s so goddamn relieved Streber is still here. But not all of him is. And Kevin knows it’s going to crush Streber when he wakes up to see what he’s lost.

Still. He’s here. And the doctor said he was going to be okay.

Kevin let’s that thought pacify him for the rest of the night.

Streber may not be whole, but he’s going to be okay.