Ok guys is this seriously worth reading at the moment? It seems to me like every chapter (including this one) is basically the same shit. Maybe i'm just getting my typical "next idea is shit" syndrome which may or may not fuck off by the end of this. Either that or I'll just hit a major lull soon. Either way, does this thing seem to be going anywhere?
Kyle woke with a start. The nightmares hadn't stopped all night, and he was getting tired of them. He glanced over at the clock and decided it was best to get on with the day. He gently eased himself out of bed, taking care not to rouse Stan. Glancing quickly at his friend, he smiled softly. Stan looked so peaceful, so calm. Kyle pulled the blanket back over his friend and made his way to the door
Kyle made his way downstairs, making sure to avoid the few steps he knew would creek under his weight, and crossed the living room past the two sleeping children. Ike was kind of half propped up against the couch, still holding Karen's hand tightly, and the blanket had rolled off of her onto the floor. Kyle gently laid it back over her and continued to the kitchen. Rustling through the cupboards he pulled out a loaf of bread and some instant coffee and set to making a quick breakfast. Just as he slid the bread in the toaster he heard a faint rustling behind him, and he turned his head to see Karen standing shyly by the door.
"You ok hun?"
Karen stayed silent, instead clinging desperately to her teddy. Her face was still filled with a terrible sadness and slight terror, as though she didn't want to interrupt.
"It's ok Karen, you can talk to me. Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
The silence was deafening to Kyle. He didn't know what to do or how to handle this.
"Come sit at the table Karen, I'll fix you some breakfast."
He walked slowly over to her and offered his hand out. She flinched slightly and held her breath, not knowing what to expect. Kyle changed tact quickly, retracting his hand and pulling out a seat for her instead while keeping a light smile on his face. Karen waited until Kyle made his way back to the counter before approaching the chair and sitting. He placed a plate full of toast on the table and collected some butter and other spreads to set beside them. He poured Karen a glass of juice and took a seat next to her, helping her butter the bread.
Kyle sighed as he watched her slowly eat. He placed a hand on her head and slowly stroked her hair, trying to offer some reassurance. She kept her gaze focused forward.
"You don't have to worry about anything Karen. You stay here as long as you want; you don't have to be scared of anything here. If you want something then just ask. If you don't want to ask my parents then ask me or Ike, we're more human than the adults heh."
The small joke earned Kyle a quick smile from her and he felt a sense of achievement. Just then Stan entered the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge.
"Thanks for waking me dude! How long have you been up?"
"Only a half hour or so, keep your hair on! You looked so peaceful lying there, I didn't want to disturb the little angel"
Kyle screwed his face into a baby pout as he said the last words, earning another giggle from Karen as Stan launched a screwed up paper towel into Kyle's face. Stan grabbed an apple out of the fridge and took a bite. Kyle looked back over to Karen as she finished up.
"See Karen, you're just like Stan when you're here. Just grab whatever you want ok?"
"Thanks Kyle"
She smiled as she got down from the table and slowly made her way back into the living room.
Stan let a sigh go, and Kyle turned to face him.
"I don't know what the fuck happened yesterday, but I'm damn sure she didn't deserve to be any part of it."
Kyle crossed his arms in front of him as he leant up against the counter and dove into his thoughts.
"Whatever it was it scared her into silence for a while. The cops yesterday asked to speak to her soon, but I can't see her saying much any time soon. And Kenny… well…"
Kyle cast his mind back to the image of Kenny lying in that bed. All those hoses and wires. It reminded him of 4th grade when Kenny was in the hospital for months. They still didn't know what was wrong with him then, but he was so sick for so long. It didn't seem fair that he's back there now. Kyle gripped the counter tighter as he held back a wave of emotions. Stan picked up on it and moved in closer, resting a hand on top of Kyle's clenched fist.
"You need to let anything out dude? You know you can vent if you need to."
"I'll be fine. It'll all be fine. I'll be going to the hospital later if you want to join me. I can't do anything with Karen around anyway, but I just need to know it's going to be ok."
Stan smiled and patted him on the shoulder as the pair left the kitchen.
"KYLE! WHERE ARE THE TOWELS?!"
"SIDE CUPBOARD IKE, SECOND SHELF!"
"THANKS!"
Kyle quickly jogged up the stairs as Ike made his way back to his room, preferring to talk to his brother as opposed to shouting up and down the stairs.
"Ike, Stan and I are popping out for a bit, are you two ok here until either mum or dad gets back?"
"Yeah we're good, I don't think we'll be doing much other than maybe watching tv. Is it ok if Karen has a shower too?"
"You don't need to ask Ike, she's living here now. See if you can convince her to treat this like her home."
Kyle left his brother to enter the bathroom as he made his way back downstairs and out the door with Stan. They remained in silence all the way to the bus stop, on the journey, all the way to the front desk.
"Excuse me, has Kenny McCormick been moved at all since last night?"
The nurse looked up at Stan and smiled quickly before bringing up the records on the computer.
"No, he's still in ICU, he hasn't woken yet but by the looks of this he's making progress."
"Thanks"
They made their way round to the ICU unit, again in silence, but both boys were stopped in their tracks as they approached that window. The same window that had separated their friend the previous night. The same window that watched over the frail being through the night. They held their breath as the door was pushed open and they stood at the foot of the bed. Stan held strong, but Kyle let forward a few tears as he made his way round to the side to gaze down on his friend.
Once Kyle looked past the bundle of tubes curling from his mouth and nose, Kenny looked peaceful and comfortable. You'd have never guessed why he was here. He brushed Kenny's hair out of his face, and the evidence of last night became apparent. The ends of his hair were lightly charred, and a few clumps were shaded grey from the smoke and ash. His face remained fairly untouched, but fairly raw skin was noticeable on top of his should and running back into the sheets between him and the bed. The IV let off small drips every few seconds, and the steady beat of the heart monitor filled the otherwise silent room. Neither boy knew what to say, but Stan approached from the other side to stand shoulder to shoulder with Kyle. Without thinking or worrying about anything, hle slipped his hand into Kyle's whilst resting the other on Kenny's forearm. Kyle stayed stroking Kenny's head.
As if the circuit had been complete, Kenny opened his eyes…
"You're really cool Ike, thanks for all this"
"You don't have to keep thanking me, that's what friends are for!"
Ike smiled and pulled Karen into a hug as they curled up on the couch. Ike was flicking through the channels, grunting at the utter shit that was put on tv. Karen was content just to sit and cuddle. She fiddled slowly with her teddy as Ike settled on a light sitcom and lowered the remote, allowing him to wrap his now free hand over Karen's hands and stop her fidgeting. She responded by snuggling in closer.
Ike may have only been 12, but he knew what he was feeling. It wasn't so much love, and definitely not desire, but he had such an overwhelming feeling of responsibility towards her. He'd made it her mission to keep her happy and smiling. He felt so sad when she was, and he just wanted to make her smile. He wanted to keep her optimistic. Even for her age she had no self-esteem and now after this she had nothing to really look forward to.
"I really like spending time with you Karen."
"Me too Ike. You're so nice to me, I don't deserve you as a friend…"
"Well we know that's a lie! I'll always be your friend and I'll always be here to make you smile."
If it was even possible, the two curled even deeper into each other's arms just as the front door opened.
"…ok I'm home now I'll tell them then we'll be on our way!"
Sheila quickly dumped the shopping at the door as she saved the phone from falling from her ear.
"OK you two, we need to get this shopping away now because we've got to get to the hospital"
"KENNY!"
Karen arched up in fear of bad news. Ike took the initiative and asked instead
"It's ok, Kenny's woken up. He's going to be ok and he's asked to see you Karen. Let's get this away and then we can head down."
Kenny cast his eyes slowly as the door opened and smiled warmly as Sheila stepped to one side to reveal Ike and Karen. Ike slowly walked Karen towards the bed and stepped back towards Kyle to give her some room. Kyle ruffled his hair and winked at him as he looked up at his older brother.
"Hey kiddo!"
"Hey you…"
"Everything's going to be ok now Karen. I'm not going anywhere ok?"
"What about mom and dad? And where are we going to live?"
"Let's worry about this one thing at a time ok? I'm sorry I couldn't help mom and dad but you know you're the most important thing to me don't you? I wish I could have been there earlier, maybe I could have stopped it from happening at all. But the most important thing is that you and me… we're safe and sound, and we're gonna get back on track yeah?"
Karen softly wrapped her arms around Kenny's neck, being careful not to jerk any wires or hurt Kenny's back. She didn't know exactly what was wrong or where he was hurt, but she knew that last night he was on fire.
"Kyle, I've got to get back and start making room for Kenny and Karen to stay on a more permanent basis. Are you ok to organise everyone home?"
"Wait, you're ok with the being home?"
She forgave her son's surprise, considering normally she never allowed friends round except on weekends.
"We'll talk about it more when you get home ok? I hope you feel better soon Kenny"
"Thanks Mrs Broff!"
A comfortable silence fell on the room. Karen had shifted slightly onto the bed with Kenny, Ike had picked up her now forgotten teddy and sat on the stool behind her, and Stan and Kyle had settled at the foot of the bed. There were so many questions to ask, but no-one wanted to make the first move. Everyone understood that bombarding Kenny with memories of that night wasn't what was needed or wanted right now. They instead engaged in idle chit chat for about half an hour, making sure that everyone could join in and start smiling again. Just then the door opened.
"Mr McCormick?"
Everyone turned to face the man standing in the door. Kenny remained emotionless, while Stan and Kyle exchanged puzzled looks. The man flashed his badge
"We need to ask you a few questions about last night…"
