Full Summary:

When Ponyboy gets sick, his fever spikes to 104.5 and his brothers rush him to the hospital. But nobody is ready for the news that the doctors give to the young Curtis family. What happens when Pony meets someone just like him? Will she show him that there is always a way to find happiness? Will he show her what it feels like to have family around? And how does a holiday excursion out of the hospital become something more for the two friends?

Unwanted Disturbing News:

Pony had been sick for nearly the whole weekend. Darry called in sick to work on Monday while Soda went to work, though he didn't want to. Darry also called the school to let them know that Pony wouldn't be attending school on Monday and probably not Tuesday as well seeing as he had the flu. The school understood and said that Pony's school work would be sent home with Two-Bit. Darry thanked them and then hung up the phone. Pony was asleep on the couch, a trash bin next to his head just in case he needed to throw up. Darry went into the kitchen to make some breakfast for himself as well as Pony, though Pony could only keep down chicken broth at the moment.

It wasn't unusual for Pony to get sick. Since losing Johnny and then Dally over eight months ago, Pony had been sick a lot, though the kid sometimes faked sick so he didn't have to go to school. Cherry did her best to keep the other kids from picking on Pony and Randy helped as well. No one wanted a repeat of what had happened to Bob. The Socs and Greasers were doing their best to get along; it was hard though when new kids who didn't know what had happened started to pick on Pony and the rest of the Greasers. The new kids were put in their place real quick by both Socs and Greasers. And then the new kids would always learn what had happened and shut up almost within the same week of starting school. But Pony still got sick more often than not and nobody seemed to understand why he was getting sick so frequently.

So when Pony got sick this time, Steve figured it was to get attention yet again. He told Soda that he believed Pony to be faking his sickness but Soda just shrugged that statement off. Typical Steve to think Pony was faking; he never believed it when Pony was sick. So, Soda took one last look at his younger brother and walked out the door with Steve behind him and they headed to work. Two-Bit offered them a ride and asked about Ponyboy. Soda told him that the fever had spiked but it was still within normal range. Darry would take him to the hospital if it got any higher and would call the DX as well.

As Darry watched Soda and the rest of the gang leave the house for work and school, he wondered just why Ponyboy was getting sick so frequently. They didn't have the money to keep going to the hospital every time Pony got sick. So when the flu hit, Darry had made sure to give Pony enough liquids to keep him out of the hospital. But it wasn't doing any good. Pony's fever was still high and he wondered why it wasn't going down this time. He moved back into the kitchen and was pouring pony a cup of broth when he heard his little brother getting sick. He went into the living room and over to the coffee table. He set the broth down and soothed Pony as much as he could. When Pony was done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and nearly passed out when he saw blood. He looked at Darry and then both brothers looked into the trash bin.

Pony hadn't puked up the broth Darry kept shoving down his throat. He had puked up blood, and a lot of it. The cup of broth was forgotten about as Darry picked Pony up in the blanket that was wrapped around his legs, grabbed his keys and headed out the door. He put Pony in the passenger seat and then got in, heading for the hospital. Pony needed to see a doctor and immediately. He would call Soda from the hospital, once he knew Pony was going to be okay. For now, he kept looking over at Pony, who had thankfully fallen into a fitful sleep.

Once at the hospital, Darry parked the truck, picked his little brother up and headed into the ER. He rushed to the nurse's desk and asked for help. He was handed a clipboard with some paperwork on it and told to fill it out. He put Pony in some chairs and set to filling out the paperwork. When he was done filling them out, he went back to the nurse's desk and handed them over. She looked them over and was concerned when she read that the 'patient' had been vomiting blood. She let Darry know that a doctor would be right out to see them.

Darry waited about ten minutes before a doctor and some nurses came out with a gurney. The doctor allowed Darry to place Pony on the gurney before moving to the back. He was asked to wait in the waiting room while they assessed his little brother. And while he waited, he put a call into the DX and got ahold of Soda, who was immediately off the phone and getting a ride to the hospital. Steve couldn't stay since he had to get back to work, but he told Soda that he would send Two-Bit over as soon as he got out of school. Two-Bit was due to pick up Soda and Steve after school anyways.

When Soda walked into the waiting room, he immediately saw Darry sitting in one of the chairs facing the ER. Darry was staring intently at the door as if wishing for it to open and have Pony's doctor walk out. Soda went and sat next to him, putting his hand on Darry's back as if in comfort. Darry looked over and nodded his head, he saw Soda but he refused to budge from the spot he'd been in since calling the DX. He continued to look at the door to the ER, where family was not allowed until a doctor came out to speak with them. People went in and out those double doors for nearly an hour before anyone came out to speak with Darry and Soda about Pony. And then when they did come out, the look on their face told the brothers that something was definitely wrong with their baby brother.

As the doctor stopped in front of Darry, the oldest Curtis stood from his seat and looked at the doctor for the longest time before Soda broke the silence and asked how Ponyboy was doing. The doctor said that Pony was resting in his own room, but that a specialist was being brought over from the Children's Hospital. Some abnormalities had been found in Pony's blood and it needed a doctor that could read the abnormalities to look at the findings. For now, Pony was resting and his fever had come down with some fluids. The brothers were allowed in to see Pony, who had an oxygen mask over his face to help him breathe and give him some much needed oxygen, which according to the doctor was something Ponyboy needed as he had been having a hard time breathing without help from the mask. The doctor said he would bring the specialist in after he'd had time to look at Pony's tests.

Darry and Soda sat on opposite sides of Pony, with Soda grabbing Pony's hand in the process to let him know that they were there with him and that he wasn't alone. Pony stirred a little but didn't open his eyes. The nurse that came in said that the doctor had him on some pretty heavy sedatives so that he wouldn't move too much and that he could recuperate from the fever. The brothers had been sitting by Pony's side for nearly four hours when his doctor came in with another doctor. By this time, Pony's fever had gone back down to normal and the doctor was confident enough to take him off of the sedatives.

The doctor called in a nurse and she helped ween Pony off the sedatives. According to his doctor, Pony needed to be awake for the information that was about to be given. The specialist left the room for a little bit while Pony came off of the sedatives. His first question was that he wanted to know why he wasn't on the couch at home and why he was instead in the hospital. This brought a light chuckle from Darry and Soda. Darry explained what had happened and then looked at the doctor who had signaled the specialist to come back into the room.

When the specialist was standing at the end of Pony's bed with the doctor that had treated him, he began to speak. Abnormalities had been found in Pony's blood tests that needed a special doctor to take a look. Abnormalities that shouldn't be found in a healthy person's blood test. The specialist then asked if Pony had been sick more frequently than other kids he went to school with and the answer was a resounded yes from all three brothers. The specialist nodded his head and proceeded to tell the three brothers why that was. Pony got lost half way through and was about to ask a question when he heard the word: CANCER. It hit like a ton of bricks. Like everything that he had gone through in the last eight months to get back to a life of normalcy just went out the window and nothing would ever be the same again.

The Curtis brothers were stunned. They just believed Pony had the flu, not this. The specialist was still speaking. He was saying that he wanted to transfer Ponyboy to the Children's Hospital, some twenty miles away. St. Jude had a surprising number of wins with cancer lately and it would help Pony to be near so many doctors that could treat him. Darry spoke up then. He asked about the money and that neither he nor Soda had much insurance to keep Pony at the Children's Hospital for long. The specialist said that the Children's Hospital had just received a large donation and that at the moment; the cancer ward was very sparse as there weren't many patients that were staying in the hospital. Most of the kids had been sent home and would be seen in the outpatient clinics set up for them. Pony's care was completely covered by the donation.

Again all 3 brothers looked at each other. Pony was on the verge of tears but he would not cry. The specialist wanted to move Ponyboy over to the Children's Hospital immediately to assess his treatment plan and to get him started on Chemotherapy as soon as possible. They would also learn how advanced Pony's cancer was and if it was treatable at all. The Curtis brother's prayed that Pony's cancer was treatable and Darry agreed to the transfer. The specialist gave Darry a list of items that could be brought so Pony would stay as sane as possible. He also suggested that any school work be faxed to the hospital so that Pony would still be able to keep up in school. He mentioned that tutors do sometimes show up at the Ward to help with whatever a kid still in school might need.

With that, the doctors left Pony's room to let the information set a little more. It was then that Pony broke down crying. Soda climbed onto the bed and held his little brother, rubbing his back. Darry would have also done so if Steve and Two-Bit hadn't walked in the door at the same moment. Two-Bit asked how Pony was and the two Greasers got a sore surprise. Pony was actually crying and Soda and Darry looked like they had just had all the blood drawn out of their bodies. Steve asked what they missed and Darry took the two Greasers out into the hall and told them what had just been discussed. Darry sent Steve and Two-Bit to the Curtis house with a list of items that they were to grab.

Books for Pony, all the school books as well; clothes for Darry and Soda, some sweatpants for Pony as he would be wearing a hospital gown most of the time; some writing material that might be good for Pony. There wasn't much that could be brought in, but at least they were trying to keep it as normal as possible for the young Greaser. Steve and Two-Bit nodded their heads and left the hospital. Soda and Darry would follow the ambulance to the Children's Hospital and wait while Pony got settled into his room. They knew that they wouldn't be able to make the journey out to see Pony every day but hoped he would be okay if they just came on the weekends when neither worked. They knew that he would miss them, but they hoped that he would find a friend in the hospital that would help him through it.

How does Pony cope with the news when he is finally left alone in his new room at Children's Hospital? How does Pony cope with not being able to see his brothers until the weekend? And who is the girl that seems to keep passing by his room?

More to come in next chapter…

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