Chapter Text
November 1st, 1963
In the early hours of the first morning of November, Haddonfield Hospital was a complete media circus as nurses alternated between bustling in and out and holding back the crowd of reporters who had gathered at the front door. Other nurses tried their hardest to calm the patients down, with varying results. Several police officers had been called to contain the riotous crowd as they continued to bellow the same questions over and over again. In one of the many secluded offices, Don Myers found himself speaking once more to the doctor and a newly graduated Leigh Brackett, who eyed the distraught father in concern as he handed the shaking man a cup of warm tea.
And yet, Leigh Brackett had a concentrated look on his face, he had been one of the first officers on the scene at the Myers home after Edith Myers' frantic phone call tonight "Now, Mr. Myers, just tell me what happened when you came home as best as you can," his voice was calm and almost comforting in a way but firm and serious, almost seeming to be in complete control despite the circumstances "Take your time if you need to."
As the distraught man cleared his throat and started to speak to both him and the doctor in charge of Judith Myers, Leigh Brackett found himself subtly eyeing the child sitting next to his father. From an outsider's perspective, one would assume that this child looked angelic. The child had light, mousy blonde hair that was sure to darken when he got older and a round, adorable face that one would almost call angelic.
And yet....
It was the dark red splotches on his colorful clown costume and the blank, pale, emotionless look on his face to everything going on around him that sent chills up Leigh Brackett's spine. His normally bright eyes were now darkened and almost completely blank. The child seemed almost completely withdrawn from the reality of the events going on around him. When he first arrived, the rational part of him said that it was likely that the Myers boy had gone into some kind of shock, especially with the way the Myers parents described him coming out to their yard, almost in a trance...
But deep down, despite finding it completely irrational, Leigh Brackett now had a suspicion that it was more than just shock. But he didn't want to admit it, couldn't fathom a child of such a tender age doing the unimaginable.
***
In one of the many hospital rooms, soft weeping could be heard as the monitor beeped every few seconds, breaking the almost unnatural silence of the room. This room was where a young teenager of fifteen years old laid under heavy sedation, bandages wrapped around her abdomen and IVs sticking out of her arms. Beside her was her weeping mother who held a squirming toddler in her arms almost like her life depended on the toddler keeping her in some level of reality. The mother's hair was a complete mess and huge bags rested under her eyes from the hours of crying she had done. Two-year-old Laurie Myers grunted and whimpered, her little pudgy face scrunching up in concentration as she reached as far as she could to reach her unconscious sister on the bed.
"Ma?" Little Laurie babbled in confusion, even at her tender age, she seemed to know something was wrong with her big sister. She pointed at her big sister on the hospital bed, tilting her head "--'Udy sleep?"
Fresh tears welled in Edith Myers' eyes as she hugged her youngest close to her, unable to stop trembling as her eyes ran over her unconscious daughter. Her oldest, who looked so pale and her hair limp as she laid on the hospital bed, completely unknowing of the events going on around her and the media circus outside "Yes dear, your big sister is just asleep right now," Even to her own ears, Edith found her voice monotone and almost raw of unbridled emotion. Her youngest's wide eyes stared at her questioningly "Where Mikey?"
The simple question from her youngest broke the floodgate for more tears as her harsh, weak sobs filled the hospital room once more. No matter how hard she tried, Edith Myers couldn't stop thinking of the scream that tore through her when she saw her oldest being wheeled out on a stretcher and seeing her only baby boy slowly amble out to the front yard to greet her and Don, holding one of the kitchen knives in his hand. His blank, pale, emotionless face despite their questions to him broke her heart in more ways than one. Despite trying outwardly to ignore the mere idea, deep down, Edith knew in her heart what had happened. And she could see it in the eyes of the officers too.
He had done this, her sweet little boy who loved watching Bugs Bunny had done this to the sister he looked up to.
"Oh Judith," Edith whispered hoarsely, reaching out to hold her eldest's hand in her own. She looked at her through tear-filled eyes and not for the first time since arriving home, she wished that she and Don had cancelled their evening plans. Maybe, just maybe, they could've been there to save Judith and to stop all of this "I'm sorry my sweet baby, I wish I'd been there."
A tiny, pudgy hand slowly wiped at her face and Edith looked up to see Laurie now staring at her with a somber look on her little, round face. A somber look that no child should ever have "It okay, Mommy," Laurie soothed, gripping a few locks of Edith's hair as Edith began rocking Laurie back and forth, bringing her own hand to gently caress her daughter's golden-blonde locks "It all be okay, Mommy."