Hi everyone! I haven't written anything for The Outsiders in a long time but this idea came to mind and I thought I'd give it a shot. I hope you guys like it (and hopefully my writing skills are not too rusty). Also, since English is not my first language, feel free to point out any mistakes :) 'Gimme Shelter' is one of my favorite songs by The Rolling Stones, give it a listen if you've never heard it before.
Gimme Shelter
Oh, a storm is threatening
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away
He didn't know when the days started looking all the same. He couldn't remember the last time he'd spent a whole day not feeling afraid for his life. The one thing he knew for certain, the one thing that was always on his mind other than his family and friends back home, was that he only had one month left to go and then he'd go back. Eleven months in Vietnam, eleven months of training, fighting, running, hiding - eleven months without good food, nice showers, Pony's and Darry's hugs…
"Curtis, watch out!"
He wasn't fast enough and when he tried jumping out of harm's way he was propelled backwards by an explosion.
xxxxxx
The emergency room of the small hospital had been going at full speed for several hours and all the doctors and nurses were starting to feel exhausted, but stopping to get some rest was simply not an option. Too many soldiers' lives depended on them.
When Soda was ushered in he was still half conscious, even if hanging by a thread. He knew he was in pretty bad shape and he was trying to stay awake with all the strength he had left - not much, admittedly. He was so scared if he closed his eyes he wouldn't open them anymore.
"Private Curtis, can you hear me?"
A voice that seemed to come from a far away land echoed in his mind. He tried to reply, but he couldn't. His lips barely moved, but apparently that was good enough for the people checking on him because someone smiled. A nurse. He couldn't see her face well, his eyesight was getting fuzzy.
"Curtis? Curtis, stay with me, come on!"
Soda blinked a few times before he felt his eyelids become way too heavy and drifted off into sleep.
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For the umpteenth time, she found herself wondering what the hell those poor, young men had done to deserve ending up in an emergency room bleeding like crazy, some of them burned or missing a limb or horribly mangled. The sight of blood had never really been an issue for her, but since she'd been sent to 'Nam that had gradually changed. She was finding it so hard to stomach such sights, and yet, she'd grown used to it and she'd never falter nor feel sick. She knew she must stay focused, in check. There was simply too much at stake.
Sometimes she felt too young to be witnessing all those horrors, though. She was only twenty. She was the youngest nurse there, and she had realized that applying to go to the other side of the world because of a dumb, nationalistic whim had been such a stupid decision.
But at least she was useful there. She helped save lives. The first time a soldier had died in the operating room - he looked no older than nineteen - she'd had the instinct to rush out and bawl like a baby, but she knew she couldn't. She had tried to stay strong, even if she was pretty sure the doctor and the other nurses had seen right through her, and later, while she lay in her bed at the end of the long day, she'd finally gave in to all the overwhelming feelings and had cried her heart out.
The only thing that kept her going and helped maintain a bit of sanity was the thought that soon she'd go back home. Her time in Vietnam was almost over.
That day, as another soldier was rushed in, she took a good look at him, checking his wounds and blood loss. She was surprised to notice that, despite being caked with blood and dirt, he was very handsome. Young, as well, probably eighteen or nineteen. She read his name tag and called out his name. "Private Curtis, can you hear me?"
The young man's lips moved but he made no sound. She smiled encouragingly, a reaction was still better than none, considering how much blood he'd lost already. But, unsurprisingly, he looked on the verge of passing out.
"Curtis? Curtis, stay with me, come on!"
All the people in the room started moving frantically around the table and she heard one of the other nurses, Meg, curse under her breath.
"What's wrong?" she asked, only lifting her gaze from Curtis for a moment. He looked awful and she was afraid he wouldn't make it.
"We've almost run out of B+ blood, there's only a small amount and this boy here definitely needs a lot." She noticed he was wearing a tag with his blood type engraved on it. "What to do, what to do…"
"B+?"
Meg nodded.
"My blood type is the same." She quickly sat down on a nearby chair, rolling up her sleeve. "Come on, get some. I don't know if it will be enough but there's no other way around it, right?"
Meg hesitated. "I'd need to get more than the usual quantity and I'm not sure you'd feel so well working after this…"
She rolled her eyes. "It's not like we have a hell of a lot of options!" She was starting to feel impatient. "Hurry!"
The doctor also gave his approval and after that the rest of the day went by in a blur.
XXXXXXXXX
Soda slowly opened his eyes, feeling as tired as he'd rarely felt before. He didn't know that room, but he could see out of the corner of his eye a soldier lying on a bed next to his. He tried to move, but he found he had zero energy to do that.
He'd only been awake for a few minutes, trying to make sense of everything that had happened that day and that he was finding so hard to remember, when a soft voice shook him out of his thoughts.
"Good, you're awake! How do you feel?"
Soda looked up. A young nurse was standing by his side and was filling a glass with water. She gently brought it to his lips and he managed to swallow some. It felt cool and pleasant to his dry throat. "Where… am I?"
She smiled and Soda, even in his state, couldn't help but notice that she was very pretty. "You're safe now, don't worry. You only need to rest. Can you tell me your name?"
He tried to smile back but it probably came out as a grimace. "Sodapop… Curtis."
She seemed confused at first, then, after checking a folder nearby, she smiled again. "Right, Sodapop. I'm Sophia. How do you feel?"
He let out a soft sigh. "Tired. But… if I'd known that… nurses are so pretty 'round here… I'd have checked myself in earlier."
She looked at him in disbelief and chuckled. "Well, looks like you'll be fine if you have the energy to flirt. You'll be on bed rest for a while and I'll be around, so if you need anything at all - just ask."
Soda tried to nod. "I feel… tired." He tried blinking back sleep, but he wasn't sure how long he could do that for.
"It's normal. Go back to sleep, Sodapop. You'll be fine." She smiled, feeling relieved. She wasn't sugarcoating it, she believed every word. "You will be fine."
"Hmm…"
For the first time in God knows how many endless months Soda had nice dreams. He dreamt of Pony, Darry, Steve, Two-Bit. He dreamt of home. And of a nice smile and a pretty girl.
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Thoughts? I'm considering writing more (maybe only a second part) but I'm not sure. Any suggestions are welcome!
