"Wendy?"
That gasp, that realization, that octave above a whisper, that voice, was the last thing Wendy Testaburger heard before she hit the pavement, and the world went black.
She faded in and out of reality. Sometimes, she was in a blurry memory of skies and flowers, then she was in the backseat of a car, unable to force herself to move. No muscle. Then a river. Then in the arms of someone, being carried up a flight of stairs. Then her mind couldn't handle being awake anymore, and it just faded back into the darkness.
She awoke what seemed like days later. In a soft bed, with sunlight streaming in through the windows.
She tried to speak. She couldn't. Mouth too dry. She fumbled to get up, tangled in the many blankets piled on the end of the bed. She tripped and went tumbling to the floor with a loud thump. Wendy cursed, and didn't feel like getting up.
Then the door opened.
Eric Cartman, now twenty, was at the door.
"You're up, I see," he said, a smirk on his face.
"No," she said, and she gestured to her helpless body, defeated by the blankets. "I'm obviously down here." He rolled his eyes, and extended an arm. With one heave, Wendy was on her feet.
"Lost weight, fatass," Wendy commented.
"Five years, and that's what you say to me?" Eric shakes his head mockingly. "I thought you knew better, Testaburger."
"I was the smarter one." She brought a hand up to wipe a stray black hair from her face, when she felt the scar. A long gash, now healed, down her temple. "Wha…"
"Do you remember?"
It was a question that Wndy could not answer. Cartman sighed.
"Two days ago. I was out buying cheesy poofs-" he looked up- "still have cravings-and I happened to walk by a particular alleyway. Didn't expect to see an innocent girl being mugged. He would've pulled down you're skirt if I hadn't given him my steel look. But he did drop you. You hit the ground. Hard."
Wendy delicately touched the scar again. "And then?"
"I brought you to my apartment." Wendy nodded distantly.
"I don't buy it. You're still the same asshole from middle school."
"Of course I am. I took your wallet and bought some snacks." From Cartman's enormous grin, Wendy knew he was joking. Wendy tilted her head.
"Well, thanks Cartman," she said. He took one step closer to her. Their faces a whisper length apart.
"Anytime." It was an octave above a whisper. Then he turned around, went out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Wendy was alone.
And she couldn't make the buzzing feeling in her chest go away.