This chapter's just going to be a short one... Kind of just to 'fill up the gaps' I suppose.
Thanks for reading.

Chapter three
I woke to the occasional beep of a machine and the buzz only hospital wards can emit. My side ached; as if my muscles had been stretched and manipulated, and my insides prodded around. Wake up. I blinked a few times to clear my sight, and a blurred figure came into my vision. I suddenly became aware of the tentative hand gripping my shoulder. Must be Stan.
"Hey, how are you?" he asked softly. I groggily touched the oxygen mask around my mouth, and tried to cough the tickle out of my throat.
"You're in hospital." Stan stated the obvious, and my eyes widened when I realised that the police would surely have been alerted. He must have read my expression; his hold on me tightened slightly, and his voice was firmer when he spoke.
"It's okay. We'll talk about it later." I nodded, and closed my eyes. I was just drifting off to the surreal land of sleep when I heard another voice.
"Mr. Broflovski? How are you feeling?"I coughed again.
"Okay." I think the doctor was expecting me to say more; but there wasn't really anything to say.
"You broken rib punctured your lung, resulting in something called pneumothorax. We inserted a chest drain, but it wasn't enough considering the size of the air leak. We had to operate to close the tear." I tried to digest all this information, but it was all jargon to my ears.
"Your nurse will come round and see you in a little bit, but you should try and rest for a bit." I croaked out my thanks.
Stan sighed heavily and flopped into the chair beside me. He looked absolutely terrible; his eyes were red-rimmed and he was pale. It's all your fault. I closed my eyes, but I could feel his gaze on me.
"You have to tell the police." he said at last. I lazily opened one eye and pulled the mask down to my chin. He put a hand on my chest, feeling it rise and fall, as if he was scared I'd stop breathing again. Neither of us said anything until Anna, a big, bustling nurse, came over to us. She reminded me of my mother, cosy and protective.
"Hey, how you feeling?" I didn't answer. I'd had enough of people asking me questions that should have obvious answers. She took my pulse and checked my stitches, and asked me how it happened. Tell her! I remained silent and eventually she moved on to her next patient. Coward.

I stayed in hospital for four days in all. I was relieved when Stan told me he hadn't said anything- I'd expected him to have blurted it out as soon as the paramedics arrived.
The journey back to his house was uncomfortable to say the least. Neither one of us spoke a word, but tension hung heavily in the air like fog over a horror scene. Wendy made a huge fuss over me, making sure I was always comfortable, and cooking all my favourite foods. I was grateful, but at the same time I wished she would stop. I wasn't used to being the centre of attention, and it made me uncomfortable to be so much trouble. I started helping her with the chores, which made me feel a little better.
One evening, I went into Stan's study. Pictures of him and Wendy hung all over the room, and I settled my gaze on one particular photo of him and me, our arms clasped around each other. We looked happy and normal. You'll never be normal, you freak.
"Stan?" he looked up from his desk.
"Yeah?" I nervously fiddled with the hem of my sweater.
"Listen, I... I really appreciate what you've done, and I'm really grateful and all but..." he stood up so we were face to face.
"But what, Kyle?" I sighed.
"But I don't want to be a burden, and-." a smile turned up the corners of Stan's mouth.
"Stop right there. You Kyle, are not a burden. You are my best friend, and the day you become one will be the day I kick you out on your ass. And I honestly don't ever see that happening.
"You help around the house, you've said you'll go back to work and help pay the rent when you're better, and Wendy loves having you around. So do I. So believe me Kyle, you are anything but a burden." I smiled, my heart glowing with his praise. He opened his arms out, and I happily stepped into his embrace.