Chapter 4

Kyle's POV

A few more months have passed and Stan has made a lot of progress. His speech and mobility has improved a lot. He's almost back to his old self. We just have to work on his maturity, which shouldn't take long once he's home. We got word from his doctor that he's finally being released. Thank goodness, I only like being here when I have to work. Heidi and I head into Stan's room to tell him the good news. "Hi guys!" He greets us.

"Great news Stan!" I smile.

"What?"

"You finally get to go home!"

I can see his eyes light up. "I can see my mom and dad?"

Heidi and I look at each other, then back at Stan. "Well, no. You're actually going to be living with me and Heidi."

He raises his eyebrow. "You and Heidi?"

I nod. "Yes, and our son Henry."

Stan's jaw drops. "You have a son?"

Heidi smiles and nods. "We do! He's four, and he's looking forward to meeting you!"

"Oh…I have another question."

"Sure, what is it?" I ask.

"Why am I going to your house instead of mine? Where are my parents?"

"Umm…" I look at Heidi again.

"What?"

"I think it's time for me to tell you about your parents…"

"I'll leave you two alone…" Heidi tells me, but I stop her.

"Please stay."

"If you really want me to."

I nod. "Yes, you're better with handling the emotional stuff better than I am." I whisper to her.

"Can someone please tell me where my parents are?" Stan begs.

"Stan, it's rude to interrupt!"

Stan looks down. "Sorry…"

Heidi nudges me. "Just go on and tell him." She whispers.

I let out a sigh. "Stan…remember how I told you about the car accident that put you in a coma?"

He nods. "Yes…"

"I also told you that your parents were in the car as well. That accident has left your mom paralyzed."

He starts tearing up. "What do you mean?" Heidi sits down on the bed next to him and puts her arm around him.

"She's a quadriplegic now, which means she can't use her arms and legs."

"How?" I hear his voice crack.

"From the accident. She was ejected from the car and it caused severe damage to her spinal cord, which is here." I point to where his spinal cord is located.

"Is she okay?"

I nod. "She's fine now, but like I said, she's paralyzed." I hear him sniffle and Heidi rubs his back. "She hasn't come to see you because of that. She's bed ridden as has care around the clock that your sister provides."

He wipes his eyes. "What about my dad?"

"I don't think you're ready to hear that…"

"Please!" He begs.

"You're too upset right now. Maybe another time." I turn away from him.

"Nooooo! I'm begging you Kyle! Please!" He gets on his knees in front of me.

I frown. "Don't beg, it makes you sound really juvenile and pathetic."

"Kyle!" Heidi gives me a warning look.

"He does!"

Stan stands up. "I'm sorry, I just really want to know." He sits back down on the bed.

"Your dad is dead!"

His eyes widen. "What?"

"He died. He didn't sustain any injuries from the accident, but he felt guilty about what he did to you and your mom so he…he took his own life."

"No…" He starts tearing up again.

"Sorry dude."

"My dad's dead…?" He buries his head on Heidi's shoulders and sobs loudly. "I didn't even get to say goodbye!"

I roll my eyes. "Well of course you didn't, you've been in a-"

"Kyle…" Heidi cuts me off again, shooting me another warning look as she consoles Stan.

I shrug. "I'm just saying."

"That's not helpful right now."

I roll my eyes. "Fine." I pull Stan away from Heidi. "Stan, yes your dad is gone. He couldn't live with the guilt. It was a selfish decision, but it was his decision to make. It was also selfish of him to drink and drive, but that's another story." Stan begins sobbing again.

"This isn't helping…" Heidi says through gritted teeth.

"He wanted the truth!"

"Yes, but you didn't have to be so harsh!"

Stan wipes his eyes and nose and looks at me. "When did this happen? I mean, when did he kill himself?"

"After you flatlined the second time. Yeah, the doctors brought you back, but your dad thought it was only a matter of time before you died for good."

"Oh my God!"

"You know your dad always reacted without thinking things through! He was a selfish ass-"

"No!" Stan stands up. "Don't say anything bad about my dad!"

"I agree with Stan. You're going too far!" Heidi adds in.

"I'm sorry, but it was selfish!" I tell them.

"Not now…"

"Can I ask a favor?" Stan asks.

"What?"

"Can you take me to see my mom? I miss her so much and I want to see her!"

"I don't know Stan…"

"Please Kyle." He starts crying again. I really hate it when he cries.

I roll my eyes and look at Heidi. "Can you call Shelly and see if it's okay?"

She nods. "Sure. I'll get some more tissues too."

"Thanks." She leaves the room and I focus my attention on Stan. "You do need something to take away your pain…" I pull out a syringe.

"Not this again." He slowly starts to back away.

"Yes this again. I don't like it when you're upset." I grab his arm and pull him closer to me.

"I just found out that my mom is paralyzed and my dad is dead. Why wouldn't I be upset?"

"But you're not handling this in an adult manner." I sit him down on the bed.

"How am I supposed to handle it?" He raises his voice.

"Don't yell! This is exactly why you need this medicine. You're out of pocket!"

"What does that even mean?"

I roll up his sleeve. "It means you need to relax and let me do my job…" I tell him gently as I inject the syringe in his arm.

"Ow! OW!" He cries out.

"Shhhhh! None of that! Just rest." I sit down next to him and lay his head on my shoulder.

"Kyle…why?" I can tell his eyes are getting heavy,

"Relax dude, just relax and close your eyes…"

"Don't do this…anymore…" Within seconds, he's out. I kiss him on the lips, tastes so good. I put one hand up his shirt and begin caressing his nipples. I'm getting aroused by this. I move my hand from under his shirt. I'm getting ready to put my hand down my pants, when Heidi decides to come back in the room. Great timing.

"Kyle? What are you doing?" She looks at me suspiciously.

"Oh," I clear my throat, "Stan cried himself to sleep. I was just trying to comfort him."

"That was nice of you." She smiles. "I got ahold of Shelly."

"And?"

"She said we can bring him by, but he can't stay long."

"No problem, wasn't planning on that anyway."

She hands me some papers. "I also got his discharge papers. So he's free to go."

This day is just getting better. "Good. Can you get a wheelchair? You can push him out and I'll go bring the car up front."

She nods in agreement. "Sure, no problem."

Stan's POV

"Stan? Stan, wake up." I feel someone nudging my leg.

"Huh?" I open my eyes and see Kyle and Heidi looking back at me. I realize I'm in the back seat of a car. I start to panic a bit as it's bringing up painful memories.

"Shh! Calm down!" Kyle tells me as he puts his hand on my knee. "We're here!" I take a deep breath to calm myself. The last thing I need is Kyle trying to stick another needle in me. Heidi gets out of car and opens the door for me.

I step out of the car and look at the house in front of me. It brings a smile to my face. "It's my home!"

"Old home…" Kyle states as he gets out of the car.

I turn towards him. "So I get to see my mom?"

He nods. "Yes, that's why we're here."

"Let's go!" I exclaims as I run towards the door.

"Stan, wait!" Kyle calls out after me. He catches up to me and grabs hold of my arm tightly. He rings the doorbell and I guess it's Shelly that answers. She definitely looks a lot older than I remember. She kind of looks like my mom…but nowhere near as pretty.

"Hello Kyle. I thought you would've been here sooner." She greets him.

"Sorry, we were waiting for Stan's discharge papers." He informs her.

Shelly glares at me. "So the turd finally woke up."

"Hi Shelly! Where's mom?"

"She's in her room. You have 5 minutes!"

I look at her in shock. "5 minutes?"

She nods. "You're lucky I'm giving you that." She looks at her watch. "Now go, you just lost 45 seconds." She gestures for me to go inside. As I'm walking around, I notice the house still looks the same as I remember it. That's very comforting. I stand outside my mom's door and see that it's closed. I let out a sigh before opening it slowly.

"Mom?" I whisper as I see her lying in the bed.

She turns towards me. "Stanley, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Oh honey! Come give me a hug!"

"Mommy!" I run over to her and hug her. At this point, we're both in tears.

"Oh sweetheart, I missed you so much! I'm so glad you're finally awake!"

"Me too!" I pull away from her and frown. "I heard about dad…"

"I'm sorry honey. I wish he could be here for this reunion."

"I feel like it's all my fault." I look down.

"It's not. Please don't blame yourself."

I look at her. "But dad-"

"Time's up!" Shelly comes in the room interrupting our visit.

"Come on Shelly, he can stay." Mom pleads with her.

"No he can't! It's time for you to rest. The nurse will be here in the morning."

"So why can't he stay? His room is the way we left it, right?"

Shelly shakes her head. "I got rid of his stuff ages ago."

"Why would you do that?" I ask her nearly in tears.

"It was taking up space. No one expected you to ever come out of that coma." She gestures towards mom. "Now say your goodbyes and go!" She demands.

"Bye mommy!" I hug her.

"Bye sweetheart! Come back soon, okay? I love you!"

"Of course! I love you too." Shelly escorts me out of the room and closes the door. "Why can't I stay here?"

"I have enough on my plate trying to care for mom. I don't need an extra burden."

"I won't be! Maybe I can help!"

She starts laughing. "What a joke! You're still the same child you were before the accident. Besides, Kyle is legally your guardian now, so you have somewhere to stay."

"I would like to stay here!" I whine. "Why did you get rid of my stuff?"

"I thought you were going to die! We all thought that!"

"Oh…"

"Sorry, I probably shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine…" I tell her as I quickly wipe my eyes.

"I did find something of yours when I was cleaning up last week."

"What?"

She goes into my room and comes out with a doll and hands it to me. "My Terrence doll! Thank you Shelly!" I hug her.

"You're welcome turd! Now go so I can get mom ready for bed."