Ooooh! What happened to Stan? What was the freak accident he was in? -gasp- You'll see!
I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed! I was surprised to get any at all. o-o And for them to all come in less then one day, well, I freaked out.
Thank you all!

This chapter is short. Not as short as the last one, but I'm just now getting back into writing. My ideas and plots don't come out quite as fast as they used to. Poo.

Read and enjoy!

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21 Voices
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Chapter One
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Elegant fingers twisted and pulled at the furry wires, creating twirls, knots, and little ears. The detail on each little thing brought out such a delight in the creator that he laughed and pulled more wire out to create yet another. Kyle smiled and held up the small frog in his hand. It was a gift from Stan. A whole army of small pip cleaner animals covered the dining room table, along with pompoms, googly eyes, and empty or full bottles of craft glue. Who would have thought that a screwy, still burnt, boy would be able to make these with no memory or experience of even seeing them!

He still didn't remember much of what he initially forgot. He was working on his ridicules fake accent too. But to find out that he felt himself a gay English man had scared the shit out of all three of them. That little tick had not lessened at all. He was hitting on them. Constantly. The doctor said with patience, surveillance, and twenty four seven exposure to the three boys, Stan would be just the way he was before the accident. So far, it seemed hopeless. Kenny was near the point of tossing Stan out the window after he'd hit on him, Eric had already punched him for rubbing his knee, and even Kyle was on his last nerve when he'd slipped into bed with him in the middle of the night. There had been little progress showing. The only thing was that he recognized Eric's old toy, Clyde Frog. There had been flashes of the old Stan, but that was all they were. Flashes.

It seemed that even with all the things going on, Stan was determined to stay in his own little world.

His gay little world.

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Two weeks earlier
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"Your friend is going to be alright. Once he wakes up, we'll see the extent of any problems he might have."

Kyle blinked once, twice, thrice, and let out a groan. The doctor just shook his head and patted the boy's shoulder. The contact made him flinch. "Thank you. How late am I allowed to stay?" he mumbled, glancing up from his seat.

"Visiting hours are until seven o' clock, but since his family is away, you may stay as long as you need. Here's a badge," the doctor said, handing Kyle a plastic VISITORs badge, "It will let you get around. Just ask the lady over there if you want to find anything and I'll stop by Stanley's room if we find anything wrong from the tests." Kyle nodded his head, pinning the badge on. "I'm sure your friend will be just fine." And with that, the doctor hurried off.

After all this, the running around, the panic, the paper work, the screaming and twitching, Stan still wasn't in the safe zone just yet. They had no idea if anything might have happened it his mind. It was known for victims to loose brain functions, lose of feeling anywhere, un controllable twitching or speaking, even just complete brain dead. Kyle was out of his mind with worry. Nothing like this had ever happened before! Sure, you heard about it on the news in places like Kansas where there were little to no trees. But it was only once or twice every few years!

Stan had been struck my lightning. No one had seen it happen, where he'd been at the time, or even known he hadn't gone straight home after school. The red head drew in a shaky breath and shook his head to try and clear his mind. He had to go and see Stan. His best friend had been struck by lightning and he was chickening out. He sighed, put his glasses into his pocket, and stood up slowly. Now would be best.

The halls were bustling with people as he shuffled nervously to Stan's room. Most were dressed in the blue or printed medic vests of sorts and some were moaning patients. A lump formed in Kyle throat as he swallowed several times, twisting his wet coat sleeve in his hands. He hoped to god his friend didn't end up like that. Moaning all the time.

Room 2021. That was Stan's room. Kyle glanced at the numbers on the doors trying to find the right one. There seemed to be hundreds of doors! He finally found it and stretched his fingers before putting them on the door handle. His hurt friend was in here. What would he do? Don't be a pussy, Kyle! He thought to himself. Just open the door and comfort him. "Just open the door and comfort him," he repeated out loud to himself. The handle was cold. Hospitals were cold too. Ugh!

He shoved the door open at last and glanced around quickly before focusing on Stan. The room was small with a rolling side table, a even smaller sink, a few random doors, and a TV mounted on the wall. And there was Stan, spread out on a huge white bed, looking like he was a sheet minus his deep black hair. Kyle choked and hurried over to the chair beside the bed. He fumbled for his friends hand and held tight to it. It was cool and limp, but the monitor showed he was alive. He didn't look it.

His hair had once been longer and Stan had taken very good care of it. Now the ends were singed or burnt in places and part of his eyebrows were gone. Kyle bit his lip and took his friend's hand in his two. He hoped nothing was permanent. The boy was looked up to at school. If he went back with missing hair, people would start to talk. Wait. What was he thinking?! Kyle frowned to himself. He should just be happy that Stan is alive! What was he going to do?

Rain was still falling steadily outside, the thunder growing louder with each passing minute. If only it would stop and this whole thing, this accident, would have not happened. "Stan, hey buddy. I know you can't really hear me," he whispered hesitantly, "I just want you to know that I really love you, man. You're the best friend a guy could have. I don't want anymore bad things to happen to you. So, I'm going to do my best to protect you from now on. Even if it's from me or yourself." He stopped and looked over Stan's pale face. He looked peaceful. That almost never happened when Stan slept. He was always smiling or frowning depending on his dream. Kyle could always tell how he would be in the morning if he payed attention to how he slept.

He stared for a few moments until the sudden vibration of his phone made him jump and scramble for it. He flipped it open, not looking at the name. "Hello?"

"Kyle! Oh, dude! I just heard what happened! Is Stan okay?" Kenny's worried voice filled the small room, the sound of a party behind him.

"Yeah, Kenny. He's okay for now. They're not sure exactly what happened. Just that it was lightning for sure." A crash and several yells echoed from the other line. "What was that?" Kyle asked.

Kenny let out a nervous chuckle. "Just some idiot throwing a vase. Look, I'm going to come and see him. Are the visiting hours over?"

"Nah. They aren't over until seven."

"Great. I'll be there in a little bit. Meet me in the front entrance?" But Kenny hung up before Kyle could reply. He sighed and put his phone back in his pocket. Seemed his blond friend had been at another party. It seemed like he was at one almost every night these days. Kenny had been talking with some college kids and had ended up getting into their love of the nightlife, running around smoking joints and downing alcohol. But he was still a good friend, even if he had horrible taste in fun.

Pealing his wet jacket off, Kyle did his best to try and dry out some of his clothes. The jacket was hung up along with his scarf and hat. His pants were just going to have to stay wet and his t-shirt wasn't to bad. He glanced at Stan one last time and slipped out the door. Knowing Kenny, he would be here in minutes. His driving looked like something out of Speed Racer sometimes.

The hall was emptying out a bit as it grew later. Even the nurses seemed to take their time. Was no one hurt here? Kyle frowned and stepped through a pair of security doors, turning to put the code in on the other side. It had been written on his pass. Many of the doors here needed to be code activated to keep in or out any patients that may be unstable. It seemed South Park was filled with mental cases...

"'ey, Jew!" And here was one of them. Eric Cartman came around the corner near by in his usual rolling stride, red from exercise. Kenny followed behind while shaking his wet hair out. Kyle gave them both a small smile.

"Hey. I didn't think you'd get here so fast or bring Cartman, Kenny." Kenny shrugged and stuck his pinky in his ear, wiggling it.

Eric huffed and gave Kyle's shoulder a shove. "What the hell happened to Stan?" he demanded, eye brows pulled low in anger. "Kenny won't tell me anything so you had better. Or there's going to be hell to pay!"

"Calm down, fatass!" Kyle leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "There isn't much to know. I kind of found him, our by the warehouse. He came out of no where, looking all crazy and then he just fainted. The doctor said that he'd been struck by lightning." Kenny let out a low whistle and nudged Eric with his elbow before he said anything. "They took some tests and I'm waiting to see exactly what might be wrong. He could be brain dead for all we know."

The light ping of the elevator next to the door signaled the doors opening and then closing as no one came out. The three boys stayed silent for a moment. "This is gay." Eric scratched his head and looked at the other two. "Let's go check on him." Kyle nodded and put the code in for the doors again. As they swung open, the sound of singing drifted out.

"Doctor, oh doctor...!" Suddenly, a bed pan went flying out of a room joined by wild laughter. Nurses came rushing by, shoving past the three and down the hall. To where Stan's room was. Kyle took off after them, skidding to a stop in front of the door. There were three nurses, male ones, and the doctor, surrounding Stan as he jumped on the bed, giggling like a mad man. "Today is such a pretty day!" Stan sang, landing on his knees. "I want some tea now!"

Kyle blinked. What was going on? The doctor gave straps to one of the nurses and held another out himself. "On the count of three, I want you two," he pointed to the empty handed ones, "to pin him down. We'll tie his arms. One, two, th-" Before they could do anything, Stan jumped out of the bed and made for the door. Kyle made a dive and grabbed the crazy boy around the waist before he could go any farther though taking them both to the ground. Stan thrashed and yelled out in a British accent, "Let me go, you barbarian! Get your hands off me!"

Kenny and Eric reached down and each took one of his arms, hoisting him up. Stan struggled, landing a kick on Kyle's leg as he got off the ground. The two got Stan back into the room and with the help of the nurses, they managed to get him tied down on the bed, still yelling.

So that was what the coded doors were for...

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Pfft! I have no need to say anything!
Just tell me what you think.