How We Heal

Hospital Beds

AN: This is based off of a picture by kyuubikun. Also, this fic will have short chapters, but many of them. I'll be putting them up quickly so there's not much wait for this one. :P

As for Water, I'm not sure if I'm going to discontinue that or not, but I might. Sorry guys. :)

South Park (c) Matt Stone & Trey Parker

Kyle sighed and rubbed his face warily, hesitantly mumbling, "I…I have to go soon."

Blue eyes made their way to Kyle's face from the screen in the corner of the room, and Kyle bit his lip, looking down at his lap to avoid the gaze. Stan turned onto his side slowly in the white bed and gave a tired smile, scooting over slightly to make some room. Kyle got the hint and slipped in beside him, wrapping his arms cautiously around his middle. Stan hated to be alone and would more often than not request this much from the Jew when their parents weren't around. Kyle always complied eagerly because it was exactly what he needed too.

"I'll miss you," Stan mumbled softly as he sluggishly wrapped his arms around the redhead. Kyle reached up and removed the oxygen mask from Stan's face. He licked his dried lips quickly before leaning in to kiss Stan's bottom lip tenderly. The risk of him being infected this way was definitely high, but he stopped caring so long ago. He lingered there for a moment and pulled away only slightly to trail his tongue along the ebony haired teen's chapped lips as well. He kissed them once more and smiled softly, letting out a more content sigh.

"I'll be here tomorrow after school, you know. I always am, dude."

"Can't you stay the night…?" For some reason, saying this much without pausing made Stan need to cough. He lowered his head in between their bodies and tried to hold it in, but he couldn't help it. A fit ensued, and Kyle waited patiently for it to subside while rubbing Stan's back soothingly. Once it did, Stan scooted even closer and pressed his face into Kyle's chest, tears welling up in his eyes. Kyle started to feel it through his shirt and swallowed the lump in his throat. He never knew how bad it really was to be alone in a place like this. Hospitals are where people are born, treated and cured, and die. The only in between of life and death was the condition Stan remained in now.

"Seriously, my mom hates it when I stay during the weekend. She always says that I'm testing my luck by being with you all the time and that I'll be sorry when I catch it." Kyle rolled his eyes at the last part and shifted slightly, trying to look over at what time it was. 9:40 P.M. His mom would call soon to make sure he was heading home. He knew she would.

"C'mon…Please?"

"I'll convince my mom to let me stay tomorrow night, but she'll kill me if I pull it on her out of the blue tonight. Dude, I swear I'll be here tomorrow as soon as school's out."

Stan's grip tightened slightly around him, and the readhead glanced over at the clock again. He didn't want to leave either. There was no where else he would rather be than there.

"I'll stay here until you fall asleep, okay? Then I have to go."

Stan nodded slightly, closing his eyes. He felt like shit. His body was failing him. He was stuck in a hospital bed all day every day unless he had to pee or something, but even then he was almost too weak to do that. It hurt to laugh, it hurt to cry. Hell, there was no escape in sleep either. His parents and Kyle were the most important people to him. Of course, Kyle was at the very top. Always was. Being with Kyle was his only salvation. Kyle should know. He should always know how much it means to be this close to his heart.

"I love you."

Kyle reiterated the fact in reply and kissed Stan's head affectionately. He nuzzled into the dark hair and closed his eyes, letting the sounds of the machines surrounding them fill his ears.