A/N: Hi everybody! Thanks so much for all the reviews, follows, favorites, and views! :) You guys (and girls) are wonderful! Here's chapter 2! I've written up to 5, so updates will be pretty consistent up until then.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders. I promise! I just like to throw them in very angst-y situations!
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"Hey Sleeping Beauty." Two-Bit grins from the floor.
Blinking I look around confused. Why was I sleeping on the couch? A growl of thunder reminds me of earlier and also, unfortunately, makes me flinch.
"What's wrong Pone?" his eyes get serious for a second.
I shake my head in fake disbelief as lightning illuminates the sky. I flinch again, pulling the blankets over my head.
An engine rumbles in the drive and I know its Darry. Can't really roof houses in the rain. He enters with a slam of the door.
"Hey Superman, you're a little wet." I hear Two-Bit laugh. Knowing my brother, he glared.
"Ponyboy." His hand rests on my shoulder.
I grip the hem of the blankets harder as the storm continues outside.
The couch dips under his weight. "C'mere." Darry reaches around my shoulders and pulls me into his chest comfortingly. The TV changes voices and I know Two-Bit is looking for Mickey.
There's a crack of lightning followed immediately by a massive rumble of thunder. My stomach makes a violent jump and I feel sick. Bolting up off the couch, I have a replay of the other day. Groaning, I lean back onto the cold, hard wall. Dare magically appears in the doorway and looks down at me. I glance up at him.
"Make it go away Darry. Please." I plead, feeling tears well in my eyes.
He comes toward me and bends down, kissing my head gently. "I will little buddy, I will."
Dare carefully lifts me off the ground and carries me in his room. I scramble underneath the blankets and trap myself inside them. Warmth emanates from my brother as he lays next to me. He throws his arm around my shoulder and lets me curl into his broad chest.
"Shh, it's okay Pony. You're okay, Darry's here." He rubs my back as I shiver next to him trying to keep the sobs from overtaking me.
I wrap my arms around his bare stomach as the storm rages on, squeezing him tightly. There's a slam from the living room and I hear the happy-go-lucky voice of my brother. Two-Bit mumbles something and Soda's voice quiets.
A moment later, the door creaks open and light fills the bedroom. I hide deeper under the blankets and Darry's arm.
"Hey." He whispers to Dare.
"Hi little buddy." I feel his chest vibrate as he talks.
"Hey Pony." Soda runs his hand through my hair and kisses the back of my head. "What's wrong baby?"
I open my mouth to speak just as more thunder storms around in the clouds. I shudder and grip Dare as tight as possible. He rubs small circles on my back comfortingly.
"Pone, can you look at me?" Sodapop rubs my shoulder softly. I obey and peek up at him. "I won't let anything hurt you, okay?" the corners of his lips lift up slightly as he smiles lightly.
I nod and hide back into Darry. Soda leaves, slowly closing the door. Dare's chest vibrates as he sings quietly, lulling me to sleep.
A nightmare breaks me out of my sleep. I wake up in a cold sweat and feeling sick, but my brother is like a hibernating bear. I push closer to him and lay there, shivering under his arm for a little before giving up.
"Darry?" I shake him awake.
"Hmm?" his deep voice rumbles loudly in the quiet room as his eyes flutter open.
With one look at me, he sighs and pats my head, getting up and walking away. I hear rustling in the other room and he reappears with a trash can and thermometer. Darry sits next to me on the edge of the bed and holds out the thermometer. I obediently stick it under my tongue, too exhausted to protest. He rubs my back as we wait for the beep. When it goes off, he takes the thing out of my mouth and looks at it.
"How 'bout we take you to the doctor in the morning, huh little buddy?" he asks quietly, a quick flash of fear passing through his eyes.
I shrug and lay back down, making sure the waste basket is beside me. Darry sits awake with me all early morning until dawn breaks. The nausea hasn't gone away, if anything, I feel worse. The sheet sticks to my chest and sweat droplets run down the sides of my face. With a groan, I curl into a small ball. I'm still not sure what my temperature was, but by the small look of shock, I guess it's not good. When the alarm goes off, Darry quiets it and leaves. I can hear talking through the wall. Mainly Dare's voice, but I also can barely make out Soda's "morning grumpies" as Mom would have said.
I hear a groan- from Soda- and rustling across the hall. A few minutes later, he pokes his head in and smiles weakly at me, clad in a pair of plaid pajama bottoms.
"Hey Pone. How ya feelin'?" he walks in and sits beside me.
"Bad." I mutter- amazed with how weak my voice sounds.
I hear the shower start running and my brother goes out into the hall.
I float in and out of sleep for the next hour or so as my brothers run around the house.
"Ready to go little man?" Dare's quiet voice pokes me out of sleep.
I yawn and nod, struggling out of bed. The small burn rages through my stomach as I move and I fold over, crumpling to the floor with a yelp. Darry groans before coming to me and helping me stand. He somehow knows I won't ask for help when he silently lifts me up into his arms and carries me out to the truck. Sodapop is already sitting there waiting for us, a concerned look plastered on his face. Dare sets me down on the seat and I slide down into a laying position, head in Soda's lap. He plays with my hair absent-mindedly.
"Pony, baby, c'mon, wake up." I blink awake and look around. We're in some room. There's a small child there with his parents. The room is filled with toys and books. In my sleepy state, it takes me a while to register that we're at the pediatrician's. Darry is standing already and Soda is stuck underneath my head. There's a nurse standing in the doorway with light pink scrubs.
I put on a brave-face and stand up, inwardly groaning at the burn. My brothers help me down the hall to the office.
"Just sit tight, the doctor will be right with you." She gives a small, fake smile before leaving the room with a small click of the door. There is nothing I hate more than fake sympathy. Well, maybe bologna.
"How ya feelin' Ponyboy?" Sodapop hops up on the bed with me.
Yawning, I shrug.
Darry fiddles with his thumbs in a chair in the corner of the room. He's worried. I feel bad for making him do all this. I'm about to apologize to them when I hear the door creak slightly. Soda gets down and sits by Dare, patting his shoulder. In walks our doctor, smiling. I doubt there's been a time I haven't seen him smile during an appointment.
"Hello Ponyboy." He smiles at me and pats my knee.
"Hello Doctor Brooks." Darry gives a slight nod.
Doctor Brooks has been our family doctor for as long as I can remember.
This one time when we were little, Dare broke his wrist while playing football. He screamed so loud it basically echoed throughout the city. Dad bolted up and before I knew it we were in the car, following an ambulance to the hospital. Doctor Brooks kept us all calm and even snuck me and Sodapop a sticker- all the while smiling at how 'boys will be boys.' It wasn't a mocking smile, just a goofy grin. He somehow managed to still stay serious in what he was doing though. It's been an unspoken pact between the three of us since then to respect him and be as nice as possible.
He was also the last one to see Mom and Dad before the autopsy. As soon as word spread that it was our parents that were killed, Doctor Brooks drove out there- at three in the morning- to go see them. He was the only person that would tell us anything about how they died. Well, he told Darry, but its close enough. Throughout this whole mess, he's been by our side the whole time. But unlike the others, he respects the fact that he'll never be our parents and doesn't try to interfere. Doctor Brooks is probably the first adult I would go to if I needed help with something.
He's a short old man with almost no hair and he's nice. Really nice. In a way, Sodapop resembles him. Not in the looks bit- but in the attitude and way of living life. I bet Doctor Brooks was just like Soda when he was young. Normally he can be a really funny guy, but I guess people just aren't the same at 6:30 in the morning.
He asks me some questions- mainly just things like, "Do you smoke? Do you drink? Are you allergic to anything?" Stuff like that- and then goes on as if it was a regular check-up.
"Okay, well, Ponyboy." He starts, looking over his papers. "I hear you have been nauseous and vomiting. Correct?"
I nod, not in the mood to talk.
"You also have a loss of appetite and had stomach pain?"
I hide a grimace as he says stomach pain. It feels like it just ignited the burn. I nod and glance at my brothers. Soda is staring at Doctor Brooks intently whereas Darry is more focused on his lap. Both have worried expressions on their faces. None of us like the doctors. Especially since Dally and Johnny died. We refused to talk to even Doctor Brooks unless one of us was sick.
"Okay, just as precaution, we're going to send you to the hospital." He says, a sad, sideways smile on his face. The expression on his face is pure sympathy. Pure, true sympathy. I'm instantly thankful for having such an amazing man as our doctor.
My throat makes a strangled sound. I look at Soda and Darry. They both have the same worried looks plastered on their face. I turn my attention back to Doctor Brooks.
"T-thank you doctor." Darry gives a grim nod.
"Of course. Floor Three, Oncology."
I slowly turn my head to look at Dare. Tears prick at my eyes and my attempts to stop the tears fail. With a final goodbye, he leaves the room- head down and sniffling slightly. I didn't realize how much we're like his kids. Doctor Brooks never got married, so he never had kids. I guess us three kind of took that place as his children. Even more so since Mom and Dad died. Like he felt the need to take us under his wing and protect us, but still knew that we weren't his family and we had to do this on our own.
As soon as the door clicks closed, Darry rushes over, engulfing me in a hug. I feel the sobs silently rack through his body, it's as if they're in time with mine.
"W-what does Oncology mean?" Soda asks hesitantly. He walks toward us and rubs both our backs. He dropped out, he wouldn't know. I open my mouth to speak, but I can't make a sound.
Darry releases me slightly and looks at Sodapop. His eyes are glassy and shimmering with unshed tears. His chest rises with a shaky breath.
"Cancer, Soda. It means cancer." His voice breaks and a steady flow of tears course down his face.
Soda has a blank, scared expression on his face and is staring into space.
"S-Soda?" I whisper, trying to break him out of the trance. He whips his head to look at me.
"Oh, Pony." His dam of tears is broken as well and he too starts crying.
Darry pulls me close again and Sodapop flings his arms around the two of us. To anyone who might've heard us it would've sounded like someone just died, but it was close enough. Dare keeps trying to pull himself together and quit, but we can both feel the sobs still racking through him even when the tears stop. Soda is bawling like he did the day Mom and Dad died, only this time, there's more tears. And me? I'm crying myself dry, scared of dying, scared of the fight ahead, but most of all, scared of losing my brothers.
Johnny? Dally? I thought you guys were going to try and keep us together.
A/N: I was kind of iffy on keeping that ending. I'm not sure if I made them overreact...if so, I'm sorry! But...y'know...I can always improve...but only if you tell me what you think! :) Reviews are always welcome! Thanks for reading, hope you liked it!
-TheOutsidersFanatic