Chapter 4:

When we arrived at the hospital, we ran straight for the waiting room where Ponyboy was. I just about crushed Pony when I saw him. But when I let go, I saw his hair had been bleached to a blonde lighter than Dally's. I pushed it back. It wasn't greased like it usually was, but I didn't expect it to be. "Oh, Ponyboy, your hair… your tuff, tuff hair…"

I looked back over my shoulder, following Pony's gaze to Darry. His fists were jammed deep into his pockets and I could see tears, actual tears, in my tough big brother's eyes. "Ponyboy…"

Ponyboy suddenly screamed, "Darry!" And ran to him. I heard him whisper, "Darry, I'm so sorry…"

"Oh, Pony," he responded, "I thought we'd lost you… like we did Mom and Dad…"

We gathered in a group hug right there in the hospital waiting room, not caring that we were causing a scene.

Ponyboy told us his story. Some reporters came in while we were waiting. The were all yelling at Ponyboy, asking him a million questions at a time, until Darry told them to knock it off. I tried to lighten the mood by taking one of the reporter's hat and putting it on. When he looked at me, I grinned and he chuckled. Then I fell asleep, stretched out over a few chairs, using Darry's legs as a pillow. Darry woke me up before we left, and when we got in the car, I felt bad that I had fallen asleep, because Ponyboy had probably gotten less sleep than I had and a bumpy car ride ain't exactly the most comfortable place to sleep.

When we pulled into our driveway, I tried waking up Ponyboy, but he just moaned and laid down on the seats. "C'mon, Pony, we're tired, too."

Darry must've been tired of fooling around, because he came over and scooped up our kid brother.

"Ain't he a little big to be carried?" I asked sleepily.

"Well, he's sure lost a lot of weight." Darry replied.

I pulled off Ponyboy's shirt and shoes before I climbing into bed next to him.

Later, I was sound asleep, when something woke me up. At first, I wasn't sure what it was, then I realized Ponyboy was tossing and turning and kicking at the sheets. I shook him and he gasped, opening his eyes.

"Did you have a nightmare?" I wanted him to say no, but what else would it have been.

He swallowed and nodded.

"Jeez, Ponyboy, I thought those stopped. Well I guess..." I trailed off. "You gonna tell Darry?"

"I don't know."

There was a long pause. "Soda?" Pony asked out of the darkness.

"Yeah, Pone?"

He took a deep breath. "I don't think I can ever go to church again."

x*x*x*x~ Ugh! I'm sorry the chapters are so short! I can't help it! Mrrrrph...