Emily was off her shift. She sat back, waiting for the car. She and her wife Katie had different shifts and planned to trade the car off.

Emily had gone to Katie's crying closet over little Stan Marsh, her angel. She had been asking around if he was okay, and got word back from Alexandra, a friend of hers who worked in the PICU. Emily had put Stan's little puppy in her car. As soon as Katie showed up, she would go visit.

Finally, Katie came. Emily kissed her and gave her a hug. Katie handed her the little black and white puppy sealed in a bag, sterile and safe; then, Emily headed over to the third floor to put her name down on the list for permission to visit.

Randy was sitting at Stan's bedside. He held his hand, in awe of Stan's swollen little sausage fingers. The doctor said the bruising would go away eventually, Stan's eyes weren't as puffy as before and Randy was able to fully close them. He just looked sleeping and not dead, an improvement. "Get better soon." He told Stan, rubbing his thumb on the back of his son's hand.

Randy jumped once more as the door to his son's room opened, what were the doctors and nurses going to do to Stan now? He was relieved to see Sharon appear.

Sharon rushed past Randy to Stan's bedside, not even telling her husband hello. "Stanley baby, Mommy is right here." She grabbed hold of his little hand. She hated seeing her child hooked up like this but is relieved to be at his side again. Tears dropped from her eyes and landed on his forehead. She finally acknowledged her husband. "Have there been any changes?"

"He can close his eyes now." Randy pointed. "But something with blood pressure, for it to be normal without medicine before they do other stuff." Randy looked over at his wife, putting his hand on top of hers that was on top of Stan's. "He's getting better. He is. Tell me please Sharon, you're the smart one. You and him." He nodded to Stan.

Sharon signs as she sits down. "You're smart too, Randy."

"No, I mean... I just need to hear from you that he will get well."

"He does look a little better. I just wish I could feel more relieved, but this doctor isn't making it easy to believe. He doesn't seem to care. I want to believe that, but nothing has gone right so far." Sharon shook her head.

"I think he's a dick. He should go be a standup comedian. Randy ashamed for cracking a joke. "Sorry..."

Sharon grinned slightly. "Maybe you should go tell him that, Randy. He definitely picked the wrong field to be in."

"No way...what if Stan... I mean this guy won't let him." Randy put his hand again on his son's forehead.

"Stan, Stan sweetie Mommy and Daddy are right here. Just a little while longer and you'll be home. Just wake up, baby." Sharon broke down, hopelessness overwhelming her.

Stan gave up asking for anything from Kenny. His friend didn't seem to be in a playful mood or want to talk. He gave up mimicking Kenny's solemn pose and bounced up and down. Fear making him restless.

There was not much to look at, some rocky cliffs, above resembling a dark sky on a snowy cold night, a weird crackling and popping sound that reminded Stan of a campfire. Just the smell of burning and ash. The feeling of sadness and despair.

If Kenny was stuck on the sad side, Stan decided to bounce over to the other side. It was equally enveloped in thick darkness, but the feelings were a little more comfortable even if it was colder. Stan could feel a familiar presence and he looked up as something dropped onto his face. Rain or snow, but a heavier feeling on it.

Sharon realized her tears were dropping on her son's face. She carefully wiped them away as the doctor and nurse entered again.

Dr Dave Ross examined Stan one more time, trying not to shake his head in front of the boy's parents. Still completely under and no effort to breathe on his own. It hadn't even been 24 hours since his shock, so his condition was still iffy. Some of his swelling had gone down and the rash was clearing up thanks to the antihistamine and ephedrine. Dr Ross dare not take the boy off it just yet. He still needed recovery time.

"Any questions? He asked Sharon and Randy.

Sharon looked at the Doctor with a suspicious eye, wiping away more of her tears that had dropped on her son's face. "He still hasn't woken and it's scaring me. How long before you need to maybe...find another opinion?" Doesn't want to insult the man but she wants her baby awake already!

"So right now, he's on a slow constant drip of a medication called epinephrine. It's the gold standard for severe allergy treatment and what is given in epi pen. Right now, he's had it slowly and constantly to bring down his swelling. Once he shows improvement with his blood pressure and breathing, in simple terms he doesn't need medication or machines to regulate it, we'll go from there to see how soon he will wake up." Doctor Ross' expression remained neutral. "In cases like this it's between 24 to 72 hours. We're watching him around the clock very carefully."

Sharon was not liking these words but trying to remain calm. A buzz came from the front desk. "You have a visitor, Emily Volaire."

"Emily?" Sharon asked. "isn't that the same nurse that Stan really took a liking to?"

"The hot one? Stan had a crush on her?" Randy asked. "Let her in."

Alexandra looked up from taking Stan's vitals. "I know Emily, she was asking around the department for info. I think it's the same one, from pediatrics?"

"Yes, there was a nurse named Emily that has been looking after our son. She was so patient and kind to him, he seemed to take a liking to her. She has to be a special lady since our son is usually so difficult around a hospital setting." Sharon sat down again holding Stan's hand. "You want the nurse to visit you, baby?"

"Do you want me to call her in?" Alexandra asked. "One of you has to leave if she's here as a visitor."

"I'll go." Randy spoke up. "I've been up for almost 24 hours. I need to go get some sleep."

Sharon gave Randy a weary smile as she kissed him. "Get some rest, you've done a good job looking after him so far. I'll tell you if anything changes."

He kissed her back and hugged her, lifting her off the ground, being met with some protest. "Love you Sharon, make sure you eat something." Randy bent down and planted a kiss on Stan's forehead. "Keep fighting, Stan. We have a football game to play."

Alexandra escorts Randy out, "Do you want me to bring Emily here Mrs. Marsh?"

"Yes please." Sharon said, not taking her eyes off Stan.

A moment later Emily appeared, she had something behind her back. "Hi, Alex." She was saying. "What is he on the Glasgow Scale?" "One." Alexandra said sadly. "Too bad." Emily said before she noticed Sharon. "Hi there." She held back while Alexandra finished Stan's vitals."

Sharon cracked a weary smile at her. "Emily, hello, I'm so glad to see you again."

"Hi, how are you holding up? I have something for Stan. But I think you should give it to him." Emily approached slowly.

Sharon's curiosity peaked. "For him? What is it?"

"Ta daa." Emily produced Ruffy in the plastic bag from her purse.

Sharon gasped and stood up. "Ruffy! His Ruffy! Oh, my goodness where was he? I thought I was going crazy, not knowing where he went."

"Somehow ended up in my intubation kit." Emily shrugged. She glanced at her former patient once again.

Sharon grabbed Ruffy and hugged him to herself. "Oh, Stan will be so happy to have him again. He hardly goes anywhere without it. His grandmother gave him it for his second birthday. He loves that little dog."

"Give it to him." Emily said gently.

Sharon takes hold of the dog and gently places him under Stan's left arm. "Stanley sweetie, a special little friend is here to say hello."

"May I?" Emily asked as she approached Stan's bed. She went to grab his hand, squeezing it. Nope, still no response. Alex had told her this, but Emily still hoped she'd have a magic touch. She bent down to his ear. "Hello Stanley, sweet angel. We're all here for you and hope you know how much you're loved. Please, I hope you start responding soon." Her trained nurse's eye went to scan the vital machine, but no change. "Get well soon, sweetheart." She brushed the hair from his face, still looking for any retraction or dilation from his pretty eyes. "We're thinking of you."

She turned to Sharon. "How are you?"

Sharon sat down and sighs sadly again. "Truthfully, this has been really hard. It was all supposed to be routine, an allergy test. He's had one before. Now my son is hooked up to all kinds of things and not responding. I can't help but go back to the other night. He was acting normally. But then when we were trying to brush his teeth, he...he complained his tongue felt fuzzy. Then he." Sharon started to cry again. "How did I miss it? How did I not know my own child was sick?"

Emily takes Sharon's hand now. "With allergies the effect can happen within minutes. Don't beat yourself up. It doesn't look like it now but he's very lucky. If I hadn't been in the right place at the right time..."

Sharon squeezes her hand back. "Thank you. I can't help but feel mom guilt with almost anything in regards with my children. I know a lot is out of my control, but I wish I had a better grip on things. Do you have children? Sorry, I don't mean to pry."

"No...Veronica, the other nurse who worked his code has three children, one his age." She put her hands on his toes, grabbing each one and tickling. "If he had his secondary reaction outside the hospital…. he's extremely lucky." She bent to his ear once again. "You're very lucky, and very special." She straightened up again. "It may look weird, but lots of stimuli is good for the condition he's in, eventually he'll start responding back the more you 'play' and talk to him. Especially if it's another familiar child. Has his sister come to see him?"

"She briefly did but was taken aback with his condition. She didn't feel very comfortable being around him and I don't want to force her. I know it sounds bad, but my children aren't very close. As soon as Stan is out of here, she's going to want to bonk him on the head again." Sharon thought for a moment. "But you mention another child... his best friend Kyle. Those two are very close."

"If his best friend can handle it, I suggest he comes and talks to him. You can do stuff too, move his hands and legs around, talk to him, read him stories or sing to him. Just make him know you're there, if all goes well, he'll start looking back at you and moving his hands back at you."

"I guess I can go call Kyle's mother. I know they're young but maybe his best friend's presence might do him some good." Sharon was willing to try anything to help her son get better. Sharon rubs his little hands then kisses his cheek.

Emily continued to talk to Stan. "You have such nice hair, you're such a good smart brave boy. Your family and friends love you very much. You're everyone's sweet little angel. You just need to let us know you're ok and respond back." She squeezed his hand one more time.

Sharon reached for her phone. "I'll be right back; I'm going to call Kyle's mother." She touched Stan's face again. "I'll be right back sweetheart. I need to make a phone call, but your favorite nurse, Emily, will look after you, okay? I'll be right back."

Sharon kissed him one more time before she left the room to phone Sheila Broflovski.

Since she heard the bad news, Sheila had been texting back and forth with Randy for any information. Her son Kyle, her pride and joy, kept asking questions about his best friend. She had been honest this was a very serious illness his friend had and the texts and info she was getting from Stan's father kept getting worse.

Her phone lit up with Sharon's number. Hopefully good news. "Hello, Sharon? How's Stanley?"

"Sheila, hello." Sharon started. "I'm sorry I don't know if you've heard, I'm losing track of time and who knows what lately. Stanley has been in the hospital the past couple days; he suffered a pretty serious allergic reaction."

"Go on." Sheila watched her own son through the window, playing in the backyard.

"He's currently hooked up to monitors, IVs, everything to keep him stable. He crashed last night, and they had to intubate him." Sharon's voice trembles slightly. "He's been unresponsive, but they said familiar family and friends might help wake him. I was wondering, do you think Kyle might want to see him? I understand if not, they are so little, and Stanley looks nothing like himself."

"Of course. I told Randy anything you needed from us we would do. I'll go talk to Kyle to prepare him, but we'll be there in an hour. Do you need anything else from us?"

"Maybe Kyle can bring a few books along, they said reading might help and I know Kyle loves showing off his books even though he can't really 'read' yet."

"Of course, do you need anything, Sharon? Have you eaten? I was making dinner and could bring you a plate."

"Well, if it's not too much trouble. Honestly, I haven't eaten much, I've been so preoccupied. Thank you." Sharon hung up before she started to cry hard.

Sheila walked out to the backyard. Her son was out playing, she felt bad how hard it must be for Sharon to be watching over her own sick son. "Kyle bubbe, please come over here we need to talk about your friend Stan."

Kyle looks up from his green football. He had been lonely without Stan to play with, but all his mom had told him was that his friend was sick. "Yes Mama?"

"This is very serious." She sat on a bench in the backyard, patting a spot for Kyle. "Please come and sit down."

Kyle clutched the football as he went to sit. "What is it Mama? Stan home yet? Can we play now?"

"No bubbe. Stan got sicker last night. He's not sick like he has a cold or flu. He got so sick he couldn't breathe. To make him better he's asleep right now so a machine can help him. Does that make sense?" Sheila held back a bit, wondering if her son would get upset or if this information would go over his head.

Kyle's little face scrunched in confusion. "I thought he already can't breathe. Asthma? I wanna play with him, Mom. He likes my football!"

Sheila picks up her son to sit him on her lap, looking him in the eye. "Kyle honey this is serious. Please pay attention. Ok?"

Kyle started to cry. "No! No! Where's Stan? We gotta play!"

Sheila sighed and tried again. "Listen bubbe, Stan is sick in the hospital and he's asleep. Right now, he can't wake up because he can't breathe. But his mommy called for you to do a special favor. It's a little bit like you'll get to play with him."

Kyle stopped crying and perks up. "We get to play? Football? Tag? Hide and seek?"

Sheila hugged her son close "Something like that. What Stan needs from us is a bedtime story. We need to go visit him while he's asleep and read to him and talk to him. He's very sick, he has a tube in his mouth to help him breathe and he has some boo boos on his face and body. But he will get better soon if we go and read to him and talk to him."

Kyle nods and smiles up at his mother. "I got good books. I make boos boos go 'way with band aids. I give him- two hundred band aids Mama!"

Sheila takes his hand and leads him back into the house. "Ok Kyle. I need to prepare you. Go get your teddy bear. The big one. Get some yarn and scotch tape. We're going to learn something."

Kyle runs up the stairs to his room, Sheila smiles as she rummages through the junk drawer in the kitchen to grab a few supplies. Kyle returns hugging his big teddy bear, a pack of band aids, and a few of his favorite books. Sheila shakes her head and has him sit in the living room with her.

"Ok baby, we're going to pretend this bear is Stan while he's sick in the hospital. Ok? Can you hug the bear?"

Kyle hugs the bear. "Stan isn't a bear."

"I know sweetie but we're learning something. Ok, so why do we breathe?"

Kyle thinks for a moment. "To- to play."

"Ok, do you know what happens when you can't breathe?"

Kyle thinks. "Asthma. Stan has asthma?"

"Yes, so Stan got very sick with asthma and allergies. He couldn't breathe anymore so to save him they did this." Sheila took some of the yarn and tapes it to the bear's mouth. "This is to help Stan breathe while he gets better. Understand so far?"

Kyle touches yarn. "String help Stan breathe?"

"Sort of. But since Stan is a boy and not a bear, they use a plastic tube. But it's the same thing, it's to help him breathe. When you actually see Stan don't touch any of his strings. Got it."

Kyle nods. "Yes, Mama."

"Ok Kyle when you're sick with a flu what does mommy give you?"

"Ummm, medicine!"

"Yes, good boy. So normally you take medicine with your mouth. But if there's a tube in your mouth to help you breathe, do you know another way to take medicine?"

"Um, needles. Doctor gives you a shot."

"Yes, very good. So smart."

"Stan doesn't like shots, they hurt."

Sheila nods and gets two more pieces of string and tapes them to the bear's arm. "You're right, Kyle. Stanley is very sick, and he needs lots of shots. So, they put these tubes in his arms to give him medicine like shots. It helps him get better. Understand?"

"Ohhh." Nods and holds up a finger. "Like this?"

Sheila pulls up Kyle's sleeve and walks her fingers up to Kyle's inner elbow. "They give Stan the shot right here. Both arms. Poor thing."

"Ohh. Poke poke. Stan poke?" Laughs as his mom tickles his arm. "It tickles, Mama! It tickles!"

"Ok so what is in your chest?"

Kyle smiles big and puts his hands to his chest. "Your heart! Tummy!"

"Ok so when you can't breathe and need a tube, they worry about your heart also getting sick. So, they have a stethoscope on you at all times. But you get three of them." Sheila tapes three strings to the bear's chest.

"Step-scope! Step-scope for heart!"

"Yes bubbe. So smart. So, all these machines are important to make sure Stan gets better and he can breathe again. More important than band aids. Understand?"

"Oh wow." Machines that worked better than band aids. That really piqued his interest. "Why he sleepin' Mom?"

"Because he's sick. Remember when you had the flu? What did you want to do?"

"I take naps, lotsa naps, Naps with Blue da Bear!"

"So, Stanley is even sicker, so he has to sleep all the time. He sleeps with his puppy and teddy bear."

"Wake up? He gotta wake so we play Mom. Wake up Stan!"

"So, we're having this talk because that is the most important thing of all. When we go visit Stan and you talk to him, he moves his hands and toes. It's helping him get better and slowly wake up. We have to wake up Stan very slowly because he's very sick."

Kyle is starting to understand. He knows his buddy is sick and needs to sleep to get better. He wishes he could play like normal, but he knows all the medicines and machines are helping. "I touch him Mama?" Points to teddy bear.

"Yes. You will see mommy and the doctor telling you to touch Stan's hands. All this is helping him get better. The more you talk and touch him the better he feels so he gets well faster. That's why it's important we visit him all we can." Sheila wiped a tear away as she got up to start getting ready. "Now Kyle, are you ready to go visit Stan?"

"Ohhh. Okay Mama." He felt braver but still didn't know what to expect.

Sheila hugged her son. "You're so sweet and such a good friend. We will get ready to visit Stan soon. Can you pick out at least ten books so we can go read to him?"

"I know ten Mom!" Runs go to his room, excited to count out ten whole books!

"Ok honey, be ready in 10 minutes." Sheila called after him.

Sharon sat by Stan's bedside, in and out of sleep now, holding onto Stan's hand. She doesn't mind if Emily is there, it's comforting to know she's not alone. Unlike the doctor that was rather cold, this lady cares.

Sharon bent down to talk to him again. "Mommy loves you, Stanley. We can't wait until you wake up. We'll have such a fun day. We'll have ice cream and go to the park; we can also go to the pet store and see all the kitties and puppies. We'll have such a good day." She started to cry again.

Nurse Alexandra came in. "There's a Sheila and Kyle Broflovski here to visit. Do you give them permission to visit?"

Sharon yawned and got to her feet, "Yes, of course."

Emily stood up as well. "Do you want me to wait with you outside, because of the two-visitor max rule? We could get you some coffee."

Sharon smiled, surprised the nurse was still here. "That would be fine, thank you. She hated to admit she needs coffee to stay awake at this point but knew it's not possible to be there every second.

A few minutes later Sheila and Kyle entered the room escorted by nurse Alexandra. They had left a healthy meal out for Sharon at the front desk.

Sheila carried her son as they walked into Stan's room. When she saw Stan, she couldn't help but burst into tears. He was so still, more machines than the boy himself. She didn't know what scared her more, memories of this little boy playing and laughing with her son just a few days ago, or the horrible thought if it were Kyle in that bed instead.

Kyle is cautious and hides his face in his mom's shirt. He knows his best buddy is sick and is sleeping. He needs to sleep to get better. He also knows he has a special job to do to read to his buddy. It's all up to him to make his boos boos better. He knows Stan doesn't like the doctors. He doesn't mind them though. Doctors make people better. So, he has to be brave for both of them.

Looks up as he clutches his mother's shirt, and he looks over with a frown.

"... Stan?" Kyle asks.

Sheila sniffs as a tear falls. She goes and puts her hand on Stan's forehead, her other arm a tight grip on Kyle. She says a prayer in Hebrew over the boy. Sure, the Marshes didn't practice the same faith, but it was all she could think of.

"Mama, dat make boo boos go away?" Kyle asks again.

"It helps make boo boo go away. It makes mommy less scared so she can be brave for Stan and his parents." She sniffs again and gathers herself. "Stanley bubbe, we're here. I brought Kyle to come visit you." Her hand still on his forehead, thick black hair across his forehead, imagining if it were her son's own wisps of curly light hair.

"You're like another son to me and Kyle's very best friend. Please get well soon." She looked at her own son. "Did you want to touch him? Be careful of his tubes, don't want to disturb his medicine."

Kyle nods vigorously, he has to make Stan feel better! He reaches down to grab his hand. "Stan? Hi Stan, it's Kyle!" He points to Sheila's purse. "Mama- Mama bag!"

Sheila thought for a moment, she put her own son on the foot of Stan's bed praying the squirmy little boy wouldn't unplug something. She rummaged through her bag pulling out a series of books. "Which story do you and Stan want to hear?"

"No Mama! Nooo!" Kyle grabs at her purse and begins to go through her bag himself, looking for something.

"What are you looking for bubbe? Please be careful around Stan, all this equipment is delicate."

After rummaging around Kyle finds what he wants- band aids! Begins to unwrap a couple to place on Stan.

"Sweetie no!" Sheila starts, before she looks over at Alexandra again. "He wants to put a band aid on him."

Alexanda smiles. "I'll supervise. What's your name, sweetie? Do you have any questions about your friend?"

He smiles up at the nurse. "Kyle. I make boo boos go bye bye Here!" He puts one on Stan's right foot.

"Ok. You can put band aids below your friend's knee, anything above that, leave for the doctor to take care of." Alexandra smiles as she bends over to supervise the little boy.

"'Kay Stan likes blue ones. Blue go... here." Kyle unwraps another band aid and puts it on Stan's right ankle. He sings a little song to himself. "Making boo boos go way, making boo boos go way."

Sheila got out the books Kyle and picked out and placed them in a neat pile by the bed. She had also brought him a little bear and a few magazines and crossword puzzles for Sharon along with some door dash gift certificates.

Stan shivers, he looks to Kenny again. It seems like hours since the other boy has moved. "Kenny. I don't like this."

"I know, you're not meant to be here. I'm trying."

"You keep saying that. Try harder." Stan looks down, his hand goes to his right foot. "I don't feel so cold on my foot."

Kenny looks up, interested for the first time.

Stan reaches down and finds a blue string around his foot. He pulls it and starts to see a flicker of light from the cold side. He bounces off a rock and continues to follow the string. Suddenly more appear at his feet, Stan picks up the bundle, all multiple colors with fun patterns.

He follows the bundles of strings, wrapping them around his hand. He feels something he forgot he could feel, a warm comfort. He follows the strings to a thick sheet of ice. He peers through and tugs the strings. "Hello?" He calls out.

Nurse Alexandra supervised. "You're doing so well, Kyle. I think Stan appreciates these band aids very much. Do you want to be a doctor when you grow up?"

Kyle gets to feet on Stan's bed. "Yeah, I want to be Dr Kyle. I help Stan with his boo boos."

"Kyle no!" Sheila ran over to grab her son before he fell. Alexandra looked at something off Stan's blood pressure monitor.

She pulled out a stethoscope to listen to the boy's heart and lungs. Sheila is terrified for a moment Kyle had hurt his friend.

"Stan! Stan, I make your boo boos go away!" Kyle called out.

Alexandra looked into Stan's eyes with a light. She reached over to call Dr Ross.

"Hey Kyle, can you come back over here and maybe hold your friend's hand again?"

"Yeah mama, I hold Stan's hand." Sheila looks a little nervous but takes her son over who grabs Stan's hand. Shaking it vigorously.

Dr Ross entered, slightly annoyed because he's a dick. "What's going on?"

"Hi Stan. You, my buddy. We are good buddies. I gots books! We read books together." Kyle plays with Stan's hand.

"This is Stanley's best friend, he was visiting and singing to him, and I saw his blood pressure rise by itself. I checked his pupils and they dilated and reacted!" Nurse Alexandra says excitedly.

Kyle sees Stan's doctor. "Hi doctor man! I'm Kyle. I'm a doctor too and making boo boos go away. Points to Stan's band aid covered foot.

Dr Ross ignores Kyle as he does an exam on Stan. Stan's eyes open and blink, he shifts in response. "He just jumped from a one to a two."

"Call his mom?" Nurse Alexandra says excitedly.

"What's going on?" Sheila asked terrified, trying to control her hyper little son.

"This is the first response we've gotten from him." The doctor said with a rare smile.

Emily was sitting across from Sharon, she had gotten her coffee and put the food in front of her to try and let the poor woman eat. Emily felt her phone go off and saw she got a text from Alexandra and heard a page over the intercom. Fearing the worst and waiting for a code to be called she looked over at Sharon. "Take another bite?"

Sharon held her fork uselessly. "I'm trying. I just haven't been apart from Stanley for this long even though I'm still at the hospital with him. I hope Kyle isn't afraid of him. His own sister was and she's tough as nails!"

"Are you afraid of him?" Emily asked. Avoiding looking at her phone, ear tuned to the intercom, hopefully no code in front of Stan's best friend and his mom.

Sharon's eyes tear up again. "It's hard to see him like that. I don't want to be afraid; he is my son and needs me. But it's not the boy I know. I don't want to injure him or disrupt any of the machines or IVs. I want to scoop him in my arms, but I can't."

"Maybe with Dave's permission Alex can arrange that for you." Emily was torn between looking at her phone or not. "You can't hurt him any worse than what happened. Those tubes are securely in. They're in there to return him to the boy he was."

Fuck. Don't say was, goddammit.

A page went over the intercom "Sharon Marsh to the pediatric ICU."

Emily's stomach dropped as she looked at her phone. His Glasgow's scale is now a two.

Emily texted quickly back "That's great news!"

Sharon shoots to her feet. "Oh no."

"No, it's a good thing. Come on." Emily helped Sharon to the PICU.

"What is it? How is he?" Sharon cries.

"He's on the road to waking up." She grabbed Sharon's hand and led her into the ward. "I knew he would respond to another child."

"What?" Sharon asks as she spots Kyle who is currently drawing on Stan's foot with a paintbrush, of course no paint is on the brush. He's laughing and talking to his sick friend.

"Wait, wash your hands and put on your smock." Emily called after her.

Sharon hurriedly does so, anxious to get to her son.

"Kyle sweetie, are you making Stan feel better?" She asks carefully.

"Yeah! Band-Aids made him feel better. He says he's good and we play football today." Kyle says excitedly.

Alexandra gently reminded Sharon of the two at a time rule and Sheila stepped out to the waiting room.

Dr Ross looked over Stan's results. "He was totally unresponsive. But in the last ten minutes he's jumped from a one to a two on the Glasgow Coma Scale. He responds and blinks to pain stimuli. His next step is to respond to voices and push back."

Dr. Ross picked up Stan's hand and pushed it, no push back yet. "Not yet but on the way. This is excellent news. He's responding back a little over twenty-four hours after, he's on his way to recovery."

Sharon's heart lifts, this is the first real good news she has gotten. She hugs little Kyle. "Oh, Kyle honey, I think you are doing such a good job being a doctor. I think Stan hears you."

Dr Ross continues "I think our next steps are to keep monitoring his blood pressure for improvement and lessen his sedatives to see if he can start breathing on his own. Hopefully soon."

Sharon didn't want to be too optimistic. "Is there any particular reason he's waking up now? Obviously, I'm ecstatic but still."

"Dr Kyle." Alexandra said.

Dr Ross laughed; he was capable of laughing with his depressing ass job. "He found the right stimuli to respond to."

Kyle looks up, smiling at being referred to as a doctor.

Stan's toes slightly curled at Kyle tickling him.

Stan ignored Kenny; he went to explore closer to the sheet of ice. He tugged at the strings around his ankle and now his hands. Stan looked down at his hands as the warmth spread to them, he craved more of it. He put his foot to the opening and felt a slight brush. His lips curled up and he almost forgot that thing was a smile, a laugh, a feeling of happiness and comfort. He wiggled his toes trying to get more of the good feelings.

"Dr. Kyle!" Nurse Alexandra told him happily. The nurse noticed a slight twitch to Stan's lips, she put the stethoscope on his chest again. "I'm getting some small breath sounds. Small but he's trying."

"Stan!" Kyle called to him. "I get books. I get farm book. Mama-book!"

"Dr. Kyle, maybe you can help read to Stan. Do you want to go back to your mommy so you can get a book?" The nurse takes him off the bed.

Kyle hurries out of the room before anyone can escort him out. "Mom? Mama?" He calls.

"Kyle bubbe, are you done?" Sheila knew he was making a racket; she scooped her son before he ran down the hall. She held Kyle close as she knocked on the door to Stan's room. "How is he, Sharon?"

"You'll never believe Sheila, but Stanley is finally responding!"

"What what what?" Sheila starts to cry again. "That's wonderful news, Sharon."

Sharon hugged her and also started to cry. "The doctor thinks Kyle might be playing a big part in it. Stan's showing signs he hears him. He's trying to breathe and just now he twitched his foot when Kyle was ticking him!"

Stan felt a whoosh of air through his mouth, like a puzzle piece that had been missing all along. He wanted this feeling to continue so bad. To leave behind him, pain, sadness, uncertainty. He wanted more of this good feeling, he leaned against the sheet of ice, hoping he would break through soon.

But would that mean Kenny would be left behind?