Sheila Broflovski continued to point the gun at Cartman though her hands shook and sweat was dripping down her angry expression didn't waver in the least.
"Kyle step away from him so you don't get hurt."
"Mom! You can't. You're not really going to-. How is this happening?" Kyle was panicking. His mother was holding his boyfriend at gunpoint. His dad was probably still at work. Ike was God only knows where. He had to try and talk her out of it.
Kyle took a deep breath and looked at Cartman making sure not to move away from him in hopes his mom wouldn't shoot if he stayed close. "Let's just talk about this. Put the gun down." Cartman attempted to reason with her despite the fact he was freaking out also.
She shook her head. "It's too late to talk things out. What's done is done and I have to do what I have to do to set things right."
Kyle stuttered, "B-b-but this won't make anything right! If you shoot him, you'll go to prison! You can't change me either way! This is just the way I am."
A look of realization crossed Sheila's face as she saw how close her son was standing to her target. She would have to trick Kyle into stepping far enough away from him so that there was no way she would hit her son.
She turned the gun on herself. "You're right. I'll just have to kill myself so I won't be around to see it." She said solemnly.
Cartman realized a moment too late what the crazy woman was doing. She cocked the gun and acted like she was going to pull the trigger on herself.
Kyle ran a few steps towards his mom, thinking she was genuinely about to end her life. 'I can't let this happen either.' That was all the distance she needed before she spun the gun around and pulled the trigger on Cartman.
Kyle turned around in horror at what had just transpired. Sheila screamed at her handiwork dropping the gun and sinking to the floor.
Cartman was lying on the ground bleeding heavily from his chest area. "No-" Kyle rushed over towards him.
"Eric-Eric, listen to me."
The boy's eyes were slightly glazed over as he coughed weakly. He said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Kyle, get away from her. I-" He coughed again, closing his eyes as Kyle dialed 911, trying to keep an eye on his mother and Cartman at the same time.
He relayed the situation and the address and hung up by the time Cartman spoke again.
He grabbed Kyle's jacket with a surprising amount of strength. His gorgeous brown eyes locked with Kyle's iridescent green ones intimately. "I love you." And Eric Cartman lost consciousness.
Kyle had a hard time remembering the sequence of events the rest of the day. The ambulance personnel came and took Cartman away shaking their heads as they rushed to try and stabilize his condition. Kyle begged to be taken on the ambulance with him but was turned away due to the seriousness of his condition. Stan came over at some point, trying to comfort the zombified Kyle as Kyle's dad drove
Stan and Kyle to the hospital before going to pick up Ike who had been at an after school math meeting fortunately. Sheila Broflovski was arrested on the scene and questioned later at the local jailhouse before being booked.
"Kyle, bro please at least look at me." Stan tried desperately to get Kyle's attention to focus anywhere but on Cartman and the tragic events that had unfolded. 'Yeah no easy feat.'
He waved a hand once again in front of Kyle's face unsuccessfully before pulling him into a hug. "I'm here for you man and trust me Cartman will pull through."
Kyle spoke the first words Stan had heard him say since the accident. "He told me he loved me, Stan."
Stan was thunderstruck. "He- dude."
"Before I could say anything back, he passed out. What if-" Kyle covered his face trying to hide the fact that he was on the verge of tears.
"The doctors are doing everything they can, trust me. All we can do is wait."
"They've had him back there for going on 2 hours." Kyle said flatly. "And from my knowledge of the profession that can go either way."
Stan looked sympathetically at his best friend. 'We really are fucked this time. Poor Kyle. Poor Cartman.'
Cartman's mom was sitting far enough away from Kyle and Stan that she couldn't overhear any of the conversation. She looked as distraught as Kyle. Her well-applied makeup had long since smeared and ran down her face where it was now a caked mess. Her normally pretty brown eyes were puffy and bloodshot from crying and she continuously dabbed her eyes and nose with a handkerchief.
A few doctors came out of the operating room door and made a beeline for her. When she realized what was happening, she stood up expectantly.
"Liane Cartman. I have news about your son."
Kyle moved as close as he dared in order to overhear as much of the conversation as he could.
"What is it doctor?" Liane dreaded the news, but she would have to find out sooner or later. Now she had to be strong for her son.
"Your son is still in critical condition. He was extremely lucky that the bullet missed his heart or he would be dead right now. As it stands right now, he's breathing on his own but we are closely monitoring him for the time being."
Liane let out a small relieved breath. "So he's going to be alright, then?"
The female doctor hesitantly glanced at the one who had been doing the talking before.
"Mrs. Cartman you have to understand, your son was shot through the chest, major arteries were severed. He lost a lot of blood."
"What are they saying?" Stan asked quietly.
Kyle shook his head. "Not quite sure yet." He motioned for Stan to remain silent.
"But what you said earlier made it seem like he would recover. What exactly are you saying?"
The doctor cleared his throat looking uncomfortable. "I'm saying it depends entirely on him. We've done our part. But I wouldn't get my hopes up ma'am." The second doctor looked extremely apologetic.
"Can't you do a blood transfusion? Are you not fucking doctors? Can't you imbeciles do something?!" She raised her voice, losing all awareness of where she was and the fact she wasn't speaking in an appropriate manner. Her voice broke slightly.
"We're trying to locate someone with the same blood type as him. It's a fairly rare one as you're probably aware."
Mrs. Cartman bit her lip as she murmured. "And I'm not a match. I can't even help my baby." She covered her face and sobbed quietly. "Can I at least see him?" The doctor nodded.
Kyle looked horrified as he turned to Stan. "Did you hear the way they talked to her? Did you hear what they said?!"
Stan shook his head. "Your hearing is way better than mine. I didn't hear much other than when she started yelling."
"He needs a blood transfusion and they're looking for a match." Kyle stood up.
Stan looked questioningly at his friend. "Where are you going?"
Kyle laughed in a crazed way. "To talk to that doctor. Or have you forgotten? I'm the same blood type as him. I'm the only match in this town." He barely caught the doctor before he and Mrs. Cartman walked through the double doors.
"You can't be back here, kid." He said as he gestured for Kyle to go away.
Liane smiled weakly at Kyle.
"I overheard your conversation and I'm a match. I'll donate my blood."
The doctor raised an eyebrow. "I'm not supposed to use a donor that's under 18 and under 110 pounds. We'll have to find another one."
Kyle was desperate now. "There's not one. I-Look. I consent to it. It's my fault this happened to him, well mostly anyway. If it could help, I'll do it."
The doctor was going to respond with his normal 'against his code of ethics response' but the way Kyle spoke arrested him. 'This kid is really serious about his friend. What the hell I'm retiring soon anyway.'
"I'll let his mother see him and then we'll get you ready for the procedure if you're still up to it."
Kyle nodded. "I'm sure."
The process was painless for the most part. The most painful part about it was that the doctor still wouldn't let him see Cartman. Liane probably would have pushed for Kyle to be given visiting rights if it wasn't for the fact that seeing her son in such a fragile condition caused her to become nearly catatonic as she alternated between sobbing and staring off into space in the waiting room. She was inconsolable.
Kyle walked back into the waiting room to rejoin Stan looking a bit melancholy. "How was it?" The dark haired boy asked.
"It wasn't bad. But I still didn't get to see him. What if he still dies, even after all this without me getting to give him my response?"
Stan said nothing even though the redhead was in obvious pain. 'Maybe he needs to get this out of his system. I'll just be his listener this time.'
Kyle turned to Stan somberly. "I love him, Stan. I really really do. And maybe in a way, I always have. At first, I thought it was just a phase and then when I realized it wasn't-I just, I thought he didn't feel the same way. I thought he could never feel the same way. But then when he became concerned about me when I was ill, I figured maybe we could at least be friends. And well, now I can't imagine my life without him. This sounds dumb as hell to you I'm sure."
Stan shook his head feeling ashamed. 'To think not long ago I thought you and him were the worst possible couple.' "It doesn't sound dumb. You both need each other. Kenny was talking about something like this ages ago. How even though you hate his insults and he loves pissing you off that you both were two sides to the same coin and that without one, the other would be incomplete. And I'm sure you'll get to tell him. He needs us now more than ever to have faith in him, you especially as his boyfriend. Don't give up on him Kyle."
A/N: *Dodges flying objects* So….that happened. Yeah. Read and review. And try not to freak out too much.