Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Outsiders.

This chapter is VERY confusing, so if you need a little help just comment or message me. I'll do what I can do to help everyone understand. It might be a while before I post the second chapter. Hope everyone enjoys.

Life Goes On

Distraught Discoveries.

My body was in a laying position. There was a pillow behind my head, propping it up slightly. An ache from my neck shot down all the way to my toes, causing my face to cringe. On the back sides of my knees, I felt a slight sting when I tried to move myself. With another small heave, I made an effort to shift my shoulders. In protest with the movement, large cracking sounds came to my ears. Through my nose, I breathed in a heavy gust of air. My lungs expanded against my ribs, all the while with my eyes still closed. When I tried to open them, my eye lids only half lifted. Again I made the effort to open them again, I was unsuccessful. Fearing that I wouldn't be able to see things around me, I got more tense than before. Suddenly, a strange sound came to my ears. It was getting louder as it approached to where ever I was.

The clicking of shoes and humming is what it sounded like, a woman perhaps. Again I tried to see what was going on, this time they opened. I was in a dimmed room, with a little light showing through the blinds. My eyes trailed the room as I still listened to the humming woman. It wasn't a large room, but it did contain furniture. About ten feet from the end of the bed I was in, there was a mint green couch that rested against the far left wall. Light pink and white pillows rested against the cushions. To the left of it sat a wood table with a flower arrangement of white carnations. Behind the couch about five feet away was a door, it was closed though.

Sighing slightly, I became confused with myself. My tired, heavy eyes trialed the bed I was in. It looked like a hospital bed, but this room didn't feel like a hospital. My shoulders cracked as I moved the blanket up to observe my body. Quickly, I shoved the blanket back down. I was in hospital attire, an ugly white gown that put a frown to my face. My legs under the blanket were disgustingly skinny and pale. In-between my legs rested a catheter, I shook my head at the thought of it being there. Moving my hands in front of my face, I gasped at their ugliness. So thin, bone like they were. I moved them to my face, touching it light. Closing my eyes I moved them to my hair. My mind continued to become more confused as I realized that my hair was in a messy bun on the top of my head. Furiously, I ripped my hair out of the bun and it fell all around me. Taking a few locks in my hands, I examined it. My hair was long, thick, and overgrown. Shakily, I let my hair go and covered my eyes with my hands. After a moment of composure, I looked up.

Humming and clicking approached the opening of the room to my right. Suddenly a woman with a tray walked in. Setting the tray down on the table next to the couch, she moved to the window. My eyes squinted at her as she fully opened the blinds. She turned to me and gasped putting a hand on her heart. The humming subsided as she did so. Closing her eyes with a shocked face, she opened them with a smile. I studied her, trying to recall who she was. Her face was young with lovely blue eyes that looked at me with care. Short blond hair trailed out of her small white hat on her head. Her skin was a creamy color, so beautiful it made me jealous. The nurse's face was full of freckles but it fit her. She was so lovely, her voice was divine.

"I didn't know you had waken." she said it but didn't really seem like she was talking to me. The short woman walked back to the tray and picked it up. To my right she placed it on the table, I looked up at her. She looked surprised to see that I was looking at her, but she shrugged it off. Leaning to the tray, she picked up a small cup of pills.

"Time for your medication and breakfast, Miss. Curtis." she said leaning to put the pills in my mouth. With her free hand she cupped the back of my head. The nurse leaned me back as she tried to place the pills in my lips. I shook my head and leaned away from her.

"What the hell are you doing to me?" my voice was barely understandable as I harshly tried to get away from her. She jumped slightly and backed away from me.

"Miss. Curtis!" she gasped as she placed the small pill cup on the tray. The young nurse turned back to me, looking frightened slightly. Than she leaned forward with a hand outstretched as I slightly glared at her.

"Did you just speak?" she asked in a hushed voice that sounded astonished and surprised.

"Umm…Yeah." I said like it was the most obvious thing to happen that morning. My face looked at her confused and annoyed.

"So you are awake? I mean really awake?" she said to herself more than to me."Well I'm not sleeping." I said with an annoyed chuckle. "What's going on? Where am I? Where are my brothers?"

"You really are!" she said again, jumping once with glee. "Oh this is quiet fascinating."

"Hello?" I said with a wave of my skinny hand. "What's going on?"

"My apologies!" she bowed her head slightly, composing herself. "I'll go get Dr. Ruth. She will want to speak with you, explain everything. You're brothers need to be contacted. Gosh, this is extraordinary." she clapped her hands together slightly.

"Ruth? Ruth is here?" finally someone I know. The young nurse left the room before she even heard my question. As calm and tired as I felt, a sick scared feeling lingered in my stomach. Dizziness set into my eyes and rattled my brain as I waited impatiently for Ruth to enter the room. Clicking heels again approached the door. The blond nurse walked in with a smile plastered on her face as she motioned for her companion to enter, a clip board clenched in her arms. I swallowed hard and closed my eyes at the new person.

Opening my eyes, she came closer with a victorious looking expression. Again I swallowed and looked her over, not happy with what I was seeing. She leaned forward, looking in my eyes. "Miss. Curtis? My name is Dr. Ruth Walters. Can you hear me?"

"Wait a second…" I said shaking my head. "You are not Ruth Walters."

Ruth Walters is a young, tall, skinny woman. Her brown hair is always placed at the top of her head in a tight bun. She has glasses that rest on the tip of her nose and continue to slide down as she talks. Ruth has green eyes that look at you as though she already knows what you are to say to her, very observant eyes. This woman has an old, crinkled face. She has white hair in a loose braid that runs down her shoulder. Her eyes of light blue look at me with curiosity and fascination.

"I assure you Miss. Curtis that I am in fact, Ruth Walters. I am your neurologist who has taken care of you for a while now. First I will explain a few things to you, to let you know what is going on…" I interrupted her."Yes, that would be nice." my voice was shaky and frightened. My body took a defensive stance on the bed as I sat up more. Both my hands clenched the blanket for support as she smiled at me."I'm so happy that you are awake." she whispered to herself and than turned to the young nurse with a smile.

"Why don't you take your medication and eat some breakfast while I explain everything. " she handed me the water cup on the tray along with the pill cup. I took the pills quickly, looking at her and handing both cups. Ruth motioned to the plate of food but I shook my head.

"Not hungry." she frowned but than smiled again after taking a moment.

"Very well then. First off, you are being held at The OK Neurological Center in Oklahoma City." my hands clenched the blankets tightly.

"Why am I here?" I asked with my husky voice that didn't even sound like it belong to me.

"It's hard to explain to you because it is a very sensitive issue, I'm not sure where to begin." she admitted. Ruth swallowed, pulling a chair from the right over to sit next to me. The young nurse handed Ruth the clipboard excitedly as she shifted to her spot by the door.

"This is probably very confusing for you, I'm sorry for that. In a moment it will probably get a lot more confusing as I go on with the information." I nodded, bracing myself.

She coughed and looked at the nurse. "Go call the Curtis family. I'm sure they will be happy to know that Lucy is awake at last." the nurse nodded and reluctantly left the room.

Ruth turned back to me with a gentle smile on her face. "Alright, shall we begin?" I nodded hastily, even if I did feel dizzy.

"Miss. Curtis…." I stopped her.

"Call me Lucy." It wasn't harsh but my voice was so scratchy, I sounded very rude. Ruth didn't look at all taken back by it though, she just smiled.

"Lucy, you have a brain condition. There is no right name for it and your case is very unique compared to rest that I've studied. It is caused from; traumatic experiences, stress, long term exposure to pain to the nervous system, loss of blood, over exertion of the body, and depression. I believe from what your brothers have informed me of is that you went through a lot of traumatic experiences in a short amount of time. What happens is that your mind coils into itself, putting you into a dream state of mind. So your body is fully functioning, with a little help from nurses, while your mind is elsewhere." I shook my head, still not believing my ears.

"How long have I been like this? I don't understand." I chocked on my composure, but kept it as best I could.

"Sixteen months. We are not sure what you think that you've experienced, but soon we shall help you sort through what is real and what your mind was telling you were going through."

"Sixteen!" I gasped. What was real to me? Nothing! I don't even know if my parents really dies. Or if Dally and I really had a thing. Or if I ran away. Oh my God.

"I know this is overwhelming, but it's the truth." She paused. "For the last sixteen months, you're body has been on auto pilot. Once in a while some of your experiences in your mind would show through to our reality. You would call out for someone, usually your mother or your brother. Sometimes you would out of no where be in terrible pain, even though your body was fine. But it wasn't all bad, you would also laugh or smile. It was fascinating to say the least. As I've said before, your case is so unique compared to others that I've researched across the country. No one has ever reacted openly to the things that is going on in their mind, to somewhat show us what they were experiencing. They are just like zombies, but you weren't all in that state of mind I think. I'm sorry, this is so confusing."

I nodded, not knowing what to say. I put my head in my hands, causing my hair to fall over my body.

"Everything is going to be fine, dear." she put a hand on my leg that was covered by the blanket. I looked up at the voice of the nurse as she entered the room.

"Your brothers are on their way. Shouldn't be more than a few hours now. Mr. Curtis said that he must pick up your younger brothers at work and school." she informed us.

"So my parents did die." I whispered the statement to myself.

"Yes dear. I'm sure that your brothers will be able to tell you what is and isn't true." she frowned slightly. "But we must make sure that you are truly awake before you can see them. Seeing them might alter everything." I felt anger rush to my throat as tears entered my eyes.

"I will see my brothers." she nodded."Please calm yourself, I hope to speak with you. Answer your question, ask my own first." I nodded apologizing with a deep breath.

"Paige, give us some privacy please. Inform us when the Curtis family arrives." she nodded turning to leave the room. I called after her.

"Wait!" she looked at me with a smile. "What's your full name?"

"Paige Laurens, miss." I put a hand on my forehead, letting my back rest against the bed.

"What is it, dear?" Ruth asked, ready to write something down. I looked over at the two women.

"It's just, I knew a Paige Laurens and Ruth Walters. Well at least I thought I did…." Ruth looked intrigued.

"Are you serious?"

"Well yeah, she was my therapist. Paige was our social worker." they both looked at each other and than smiled at the same time.

"Extraordinary." I don't know about anyone else but it was getting pretty annoying the way they kept saying how excellent everything was. Nothing was going well, nothing. I just found out that I'm insane. It's getting really hard not to bust out of here and just go ape shit.

"That's something else that has never happened. Nothing from this reality has ever really leaked into the patients minds." Ruth looked at Paige. "This is so…there's not even words.

"Do you guys mind?" I said politely but with annoyance. They both looked at me concerned. "I don't think this is extraordinary at all. I just found out that I'm crazy and nothing I know is true. All that I've been through has been for nothing, BECAUSE IT NEVER HAPPENED!" I shouted, causing them both to jump. Since I haven't really used my voice much, it still sounded harsh and strained but scary nun the least.

Ruth coughed and looked at Paige, who quickly left the room and shut the door. Again she looked at me gently and caring, all excitement leaving her eyes.

"I'm sorry for my out bursts. It's just that there has only been a hand full of people who have recovered from this illness. Most of them are in their own reality forever. Most are severe, like comas. I'm just so happy that you have over come you mind." she smiled at me.

"I don't know if I'm happy or not. Everything is…upside-down." I admitted, feeling very tried and dizzy.

"Yes, well it is up to me to turn you right side up. Now lets begin with you, any questions?"

"What's the date?" I asked shakily.

"March 17th, nineteen sixty-six." she answered.

"That would make Soda and I seventeen." I said to myself with a frown.

"Correct." she said writing something down on the clipboard.

"When did I get here?" I asked.

"You were registered here after some time in the hospital in nineteen sixty-four. It was in November of that year I believe. From what police and hospital records state, you were found in an old abandoned house…frozen with pneumonia. Almost died out there. Doctors didn't know what was wrong with you when you didn't respond to their actions, that's why they brought you here."

"Oh." was all that I managed to say before I cringed at myself. I wonder what would of happened if I had just stayed home and been taken away. I supposed that I should dwell on the matter. The two of us were quiet for a while, until she came up with a question.

"For you, what date was it?" swallowing hard, I searched the room for nothing but a place to hide. This was embarrassing to say the least, to have an alternate reality.

"July fifth, five days before my seventeenth birthday." I frowned keeping all other emotions inside. Than it made me think, but none of my thoughts made sense.

"What was the last thing you experienced? Last night seemed to be very upsetting to you. Most of the night you were screaming and cursing very loudly. None stop crying as well, I'm curious."

I looked at her baffled, gripping the blanket. "Umm…" my mouth was very dry as I tried to put the memory together. "My pregnant friend had been forced to go into labor, putting her into a coma. I attacked the doctor when he told me and her mother, they put me out with something though. I was expecting to wake up in handcuffs, not in a hospital bed."

"Interesting." she wrote something down. "I wonder…"

"You are so composed…I would have expected for you to be falling apart. The way you reacted to things in your…dreams…if you will." she said to herself more than to me.

"I've always been a pretty composed person. But the last few months that I had run away and com back, I've just been a wreck." I paused. "I mean…Damn, I don't know what I mean."

My teeth clenched to keep my composure that I so desperately wanted to keep. This mask that I put up was a lot easier than it had been before. It's hard to explain it, but before I was so vulnerable. I remember that I would cry at little things, but not I feel like myself. Like I had before this whole alternate reality thing was even existent.

"What has been happening with my brothers since I've been here?"

"Do you mean to ask, did they visit?" I nodded.

"That and you know…other stuff." she smiled sweetly.

"I don't know about the other stuff, but they came every few weeks. It was mostly when the three of them could come together is what Darrel told me. Sometimes your other brother would come and stay the night on that very couch. He'd always be such the sweetheart to you and the nurses, very charming boy for his age. I just wish I could of done something for him, he always seemed so distraught to be here but so willing as well."

"Sodapop." my twin has been with me, just like he said he would be. Now and forever. Now and forever! I lifted the blanket and tried to ignore the catheter sticking from my legs as peeked under my gown. The scares for my parents till remain, but the tattoo was gone. With a little effort, I held the blanket up higher so I could see my boney feet. There was no tattoo on them as well. Placing the blanket back over myself, I check my thumb. No football was rested on my skin. Shaking my head, I leaned back again.

"What is it?" she asked again, pen at the ready.

"When I ran away, I ended up in New York. I would get drunk a lot while I was there, I would do rash things. One night I was drunk and missed my family so much that I got tattoo's to represent them. They are no longer there. It's just a sign that…everything you've been telling me is…true." I said in a small voice.

"Oh." her face told me that she really wanted to say something like 'interesting' or 'fascinating', but held herself back from saying it. I changed the subject.

"Did any of my friends come?" I asked closing my eyes as they continued to become heavy.

"Sometimes a few boys or a certain girl would come with your brothers, but not as often as you would of liked." she laughed at her joke."What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Well it's hard to explain, but when ever they would visit…it was like you could tell they were in the room. Especially that one fellow, oh what's his name?" she pondered out loud. "I'm surprised I can't remember, you could never stop saying his name when he was here…"

"Dallas Winston?" I offered."Yes that's it…" she trailed off after a moment. "He always seemed very satisfied with himself when you would say his name. How did you know that I was talking about him?"

I smiled slightly. "Oh, just a guess."

"Please Lucy, any information you give me helps not only you but others with your condition." she said causing my smile to fade.

"Well, I have a bond with Dallas. I'm not sure what of it was really true or not but we do or did or…whatever… we have a bond. It's a long story. A story that I will hopefully like the outcome to." she smiled.

"Okay, we still have a lot to discuss dear…but right now I want to get you a nice cleaning and some lunch." she looked at the clock on her wrist. "My! It's already eleven. I will arrange Paige to come back in here to assist you with a cleansing. She will also take the catheter off and see how you will be able to function."

"Function?" I asked."It's been over a year since you've last walked on your own. You're body might not be able to hold you very well. Anyway, Paige will record how you do and I will return with some lunch for the both of us and we will continue our conversation." I nodded to her, feeling relieved to be left alone with my thought.