Con Te Partiro

Chapter 4

Stanley Marsh and Kyle Broflovski sat silently in the car, unsure of what to say. The principal had decided to give the boys the rest of the day off. Once they had calmed down, Stan and Kyle told their parents they wanted to use that time to see their friend, and Kyle's mother agreed to take them and Eric to visit Kenny at the hospital.

Kyle glanced at his best friend, who seemed even more shaken up then he was. He reached over and squeezed Stan's shoulder. He wanted to be able to tell Stan that everything would be fine, that Kenny wasn't going to die, but he couldn't be sure that was true. Would it be worse to lie to his friend or to let him be so sad? He didn't have any more time to think about that though, because the car had just stopped in front of Cartman's house.

It took Cartman awhile to come downstairs. He'd probably been on the phone, trying to sell his stupid fetuses or something. When he came down, Kyle explained what was going on.

“Cartman.” Kyle's serious tone caught his attention. “Kenny's in the hospital.”

Shock and worry flashed across his expression. “In the...hospital? Why?”

Stan looked at the ground and shuffled his feet a little as Kyle continued, stammering a little. “They told us he has a m-muscular disease, an-and that...and that he-he might die.”

“Die?” Cartman asked. “Kenny?” That just didn't make sense.

Stan looked up at Kyle, tears starting to well up. “Don't you say that! Kenny's not gonna die!”

Mrs. Broflovski patted his head reassuringly, but didn't say anything to Stan. Instead, she addressed Eric. “I'm going to go take the boys to go see him at the hospital, Eric. We thought you might want to come?”

Still stunned, Cartman nodded slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. Let me get my coat.” He turned around and trudged back upstairs. In his room, Butters was placing cold calls. Cartman was just stepping through the door as Butters finished up a call. “Oh, hey Eric. You done with what you were doing?” Then he noticed the look on Cartman's face. “Uh, w-what's wrong Eric?”

“Kenny's in the hospital. I'm going with the guys to see him,” he replied flatly.

“Wuh-what's wrong with him?”

“I don't know, Butters.” Eric sighed. “I don't know. It sounds pretty bad though.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

“I just told you, I don't fucking know. Get back on the phone and I'll tell you about it when I get back, asshole.”

“Oh. Uh, okay.” Butters glanced worriedly at the larger boy. Eric was, generally speaking, kind of a jerk, but that didn't stop Butters from feeling bad that Cartman was upset. As far as he could tell, Kenny was the closest thing to a friend Cartman would ever have. They yelled at each other a lot, but then again, Cartman yelled the most at people who were important to him. Namely, his mother, his three closest friends, his pets, and his toys.

Cartman noticed the blond boy watching him. “Ay! I told you to get your ass back on that goddamn phone!”

“A-all right, Eric.” Butters picked up the phone and dialed the next number on the list as Cartman walked out and slammed the door behind him.

Downstairs, Kyle was doing his best not to break down. One of his closets friends was dying, and his best friend was ready to have an emotional breakdown at the merest provocation. Kyle realized then that he needed to be strong, not just for Kenny, but for Stanley too.

Between the two of them, Stan was just a little more sensitive, and tended to get more emotional than Kyle. That wasn't to say that Kyle didn't feel things as strongly as the other boy did, just that he was more mature and better at working through his own emotions. Because of this, Kyle often found himself being “the strong one” when they were both upset.

Now that he thought about it, Stan and Kyle were awfully dependant on one another. A while back, when Kyle's kidneys had been failing, Stan had been completely distraught. Furthermore, Kyle hadn't been in a position to reassure him, and from what he'd heard, Stan ended up sobbing all over a rather annoyed Kenny. He understood the feeling – Kyle had no idea what he'd do if he were to lose Stan. Kyle was, to be honest, more intelligent, but he was also rather gullible. He'd lost count of how many times Stan cynicism and level-headedness had gotten him out of trouble. They'd been best friends for longer than he could remember. They completed and complimented each other, what one lacked, the other made up for. Stan knew Kyle better than Kyle knew himself, and vice versa.

Now, seeing Stan so shaken, Kyle was at a loss. He had no idea how to comfort his best friend. It frustrated him that he didn't know what to do, and he focused on that frustration and the knowledge that he had to be strong for everyone's sake. Better to think about that than to think about Kenny. This, at least, he could do something about.

End Chapter 4