Darry's POV

I'm on top of a roof of a real nice house nailing in some boards when all of I sudden I feel dizzy. I set my hammer down and steady myself on top of the slightly slanted roof. I have both knees and hands leaning on the roof's steady parts. One of my coworker's looks over at me and inquires, "Hey, you feeling okay, buddy?"

"Just a little dizzy I think," I say trying to not make a big deal, but also not lying to my friend.

"Well on top of a roof ain't no place to be dizzy. Why don't you spend the rest of your shift doing some of the paperwork?"

Most of the workers, including Darry, aren't exactly thrilled to do the tedious paperwork, but today it seems very appealing to Darry. "That'd be great, Dave," I say carefully heading to the ladder.

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Two-Bit's POV

I'm walking around in an almost Soc part of town. Not to start something, but I honesty just went on a walk and ended up here. I smile breathing in the fall air. Observing the nice houses around me, I see one whose roof is being worked on and think of Darry. Just as I think of him, I see him standing next to the driver's side door of his truck, resting his head on the truck.

"Hi there, Darry! Fancy meeting you here!" I call towards him and shifting my steps to approach him.

He turns towards me and looks like his normal Superman self until I see his expression. He seems flustered, which is not a typical Darry emotion. Softening my voice I ask, "Everything alright?"

Darry looks at the ground before regaining his composure and responding, "I think I'm fine. I just feel a little tired and dizzy and was thinking I might not oughta be driving."

I smile like this is normal of Darry and skip up to his driver's seat. "Well, I guess I'll just have to drive then. I didn't feel like walking back to our neighborhood anyway. Get on in," I say to Darry.

"Thanks, Two-Bit."

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At first, I was taken aback at Darry indirectly asking me to drive. After thinking about it though, I suppose it makes sense. If he had gotten into a crash he would've felt terrible if he hurt someone. Secondly, if he hurt himself or got pulled over for bad driving he could always lose custody of Soda and Pony. So maybe he was just feeling a little off and was being sensible.

Pulling into the Curtis's drive I look over at Darry and see that he looks worse. I reach over to feel his forehead and notice it's unusually warm before Darry yanks his head away. He looks at me and I notice he seems younger with his eyes being big and seeming surprised at me feeling his forehead. His youthful look quickly disappears and he shoots me a rare smile reassuring, "Don't worry about me. Thanks for the ride."

He hops out of his truck and so do I and we both head into the Curtis' family house. Before opening the door, Darry turns his head and coughs into his elbow, but returns looking fine. Inside, Soda and Steve are sitting on the floor playing cards while Pony sits on the couch immersed in a book. Pony looks up slightly greeting, "Hey, Two-Bit, hey, Darry."

"Hey," responds Darry in a voice that was a little weak, but no one seems to notice except for me.

"Two-Bit, Darry!" shouts Soda in his usual warm and excited voice before continuing, "Should I deal you guys in?"

"No thanks, I'm gonna head soon. Well, after I have some cake of course," I say heading to the fridge. I wasn't going to stay, but I decided I should find a way to tell Ponyboy or Sodapop that Darry wasn't looking too hot. I knew Darry would try to be his Superman self as long as possible and might not treat himself the way he should.

"What about you, Dar?" asks Soda with his eyes shining.

"Nah, not today," says Darry sitting at the opposite side of the couch of Pony and opening the newspaper.

I look at him and see he's not really reading the newspaper, just looking at it blankly. The cake distracts me temporarily from my mission to tell of Darry not feeling well. I finish the chocolate cake only leaving a little on my shirt and rinse my plate in the sink. "Hey, Pony, walk me out will 'ya?"

Pony looks up from his book to me and responds casually, "Yeah sure."

When the door closes behind us I say to him quietly as if Darry could hear me from inside, "Listen, I'm not sure, but Darry might be sick."

"Really? I don't know if I can remember Darry ever being sick."

"Yeah, I was walking past a house he was working on and he asked me to drive him home because he was dizzy and I figured that was reasonable, but then we got here and he looked real tired and cold. I felt his forehead before he jerked away and it seemed kinda warm. He also coughed. I don't know if it's real bad, but I figured I should tell 'ya in case Darry tries to hide it. Tell Soda for me, kay."

"Yeah, sure thing, Two-Bit. See 'ya later."

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Ponyboy's POV

I figure Darry's fine. He always seems to be. Walking in and sitting back down I lift my book back up, but take a moment to study Darry. I notice he's sweating a bit, though it's not hot. I guess he has bags under his eyes, too. Turning back to my book, I wait for Steve to leave before telling Soda about Darry.

Almost on cue Steve puts his cards down announcing, "I'm gonna get going. See y'all later."

"Bye, Steve," we all say together though Soda was definitely the loudest.

Soda cleans the cards up and heads to the kitchen to make dinner. I try to follow him without gaining attention from Darry. I stand next to Soda and grab various ingredients out of the cupboards and tell Soda, "So, when I walked Two-Bit out he told me Darry might not be feeling too hot."

Soda stopped dropping droplets of blue food-coloring into rice and looks at me seriously and then glances at Darry. "I guess we'll see. I don't wanna jump on him too quick about it. You know how tough he tries to be."

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Darry's POV

I stare at the newspaper and am only thinking about the thumping in my head. And the soreness of my body. And how bright the lights are. And how much my stomach hurts. And how cold I am. And- "Darry, dinner time, honey," calles Soda lightly.

I walk in a bit put off by my lack of appetite, but try to ignore it so they don't think anything is up. I crack a smile seeing blue rice spotted with black beans and a glass of chocolate milk. Usually I would eat up after smiling at Soda's meals, but then my stomach pains kicked in again.

"Um, Darry, you okay?" asks a small voice.

I look to Ponyboy and notice I'm the only one standing. I almost make an excuse, but don't. I don't want to lie about being okay in case I'm not. I just sit down and thank Soda for cooking. Soda and Pony are finishing their plates where I manage a few bites when I see them looking at me, but besides that just pick at my food and move it around.

"You done, Darry?" Pony asks standing and collecting plates.

"Yeah, I'm not too hungry tonight," I respond trying to sound casual and am grateful Pony didn't question me further. He just grabs my plate and walks to the sink. I stand and feel dizzy so I balance myself on the chair.

Soda notices me struggling and is walking over when I suddenly feel my dinner coming up. I run to the bathroom and shut the door.

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Soda's POV

I really didn't like seeing Darry sick. He tries so hard to always be strong for us and I think he doesn't understand that he's still strong even if he's sick. I lean my head against the bathroom door and wait for him to finish. A moment later, I open up the door and see him sitting on the bathtub wall with his head in his hands. He looks up when he sees me come in and weakly tries to talk saying, "Don't worry, Soda. I just gotta little sick."

I help him up and lead him into the living room and sit him down on the couch. His skin is warm and clammy, yet he shivers. Pony sits on the arm of the couch and rubs Darry's back gently. Darry sits there looking sick and I know he feels awkward. He likes taking care of us, not us taking care of him. I grab the thermometer and have Darry take his temperature. Taking it out of his mouth it reads 101.3. Tenderly I say to Darry, "Looks like someone's running a fever there, honey. Come on, why don't you hop in bed?"

I try to help him up, but Darry stands on his own pretending he's more okay than he is and walks into his room, shutting the door behind him.

"Should we call a doctor?" Pony asks thoughtfully.

A moment of silence passes before I agree saying, "Yeah, I'll call him real quick."

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I shuffle back into the living room and share with Pony the doctor's news. "Well, Doc says Darry needs to stay hydrated and that he most likely isn't contagious. If he seem better by tomorrow night, Doc says he'll come over and take a look."

"I hope he gets better," whispers Pony.