Chapter four- Going home

Johnny's doctor was amazed at what he could do. He was amazed that he could walk again, and that good, too! I was a little amazed myself, but it was true. Within two weeks of his walking for the first time since the accident, Johnny was ready to come home. Darry and Soda were stressing out.

"I gotta go to work. Tell Johnny hi for me!" Soda yelled as he ran out the door, almost forgetting his shoes. I laughed as I yelled an "OK!" back to him. Darry had gotten the day off to get Johnny home.

"Everythin's gonna be back to normal." I said, but it was mainly to myself.

"As normal as it's gonna get." Darry said.

"Whatcha mean by that?" I asked.

"Johnny's still scared to death of Socs. And I think he's a little afraid of fire now, too." Darry said, not taking his eyes off of the newspaper. I knew what he meant. After all we've been through; I think both of us will steer clear of anything on fire.

"I think both of us'll steer clear of any burning churches from now on." I said. Darry nodded a nod that told me "you better".

"Anyway, the jumpiness in Johnny'll never go completely away. He'll always be afraid of Socs. That's just Johnny." I said and Darry nodded again, but this time it was a nod of agreement. Just then, Two-Bit walked into the living room with some of Darry's chocolate cake and a Pepsi.

"What ya'll talkin' 'bout?" Two-Bit asked. I shook my head.

"Nothin'."

"Well, 'nothin'' sure sounded like 'somethin''" Two-Bit said. He looked me over.

"Glory hallelujah, Ponyboy! Don't ya think ya need to do somethin' with that head of blonde hair ya got there?" He asked me.

"Shut up, Two-Bit. I ain't greased or combed it yet so lay off." I said as I walked towards the bathroom. My hair was still bleached blonde. We had only been away from the church for a month and two weeks. It hadn't worn off that much and it hadn't grown out that much, neither. Boy was I disappointed.

"Shut up, yourself." Two-Bit said cockily and I wanted to hit him. "Hey, any of ya'll seen Dally?" He asked.

"Nope. I ain't seen him since yesterday when he was up at the hospital with Johnny." I said.

"Darry, you seen him?" Two-Bit asked.

"Nope." Darry said, his eyes never leaving the paper. "Why?"

"Nothin'. It's just that Tim Shepard was lookin' for 'im the other night and I wanted to know if had been in a fight or somethin'." Two-Bit said, his eyes never leaving the TV.

"That's Dally for ya." I said, walking into the living room after I'd greased my hair back. Darry put down his paper and looked at the clock.

"Alright, guys, everbody load up!" He said and I then realized it was time to go get Johnny. Two-Bit immediately put down the cake and Pepsi and jumped up. I climbed into the cab next to Darry and Two-Bit jumped in the back of Darry's truck. After a few minutes, we drove up into the hospital parking lot.

"Ready?" Darry asked me. I nodded.

"Yep." I said. We found Johnny waiting for us in his room. There were crutches leaning up against the wall.

"What are those for?" I asked.

"Doc says to walk on these for two weeks." Johnny said.

"Boy, that stinks." I said.

"Yeah I know. I don't wanna do it." Johnny said.

"Yeah, but you are, little buddy." Darry said. Johnny didn't look too thrilled.

"Cheer up, Johnny. You's goin' home!" Two-Bit said and Johnny grinned.

"Yeah and boy will it feel good to be back home." Johnny agreed. Just then, Dallas walked into the room.

"Johnny, man, I hear you're goin' home." He said and Johnny nodded.

"Yep." He said.

"Great! Pretty soon, you'll be back comin' to the movies with me and Pony." He said. Johnny's eyes widened and I knew he was remembering what happened last time we went and saw a movie.

"Alright, maybe not that." Dally said, realizing what he had said.

"Don't worry, we'll find somethin' to do." I assured him and Johnny gave me a grateful look.

"Alright, Mr. Cade, you're free to go." The doctor said, coming into the room.

"Thanks, doc. For everything." Johnny said, and I handed him his crutches.

"C'mon, Johnnycake, let's go home." I said and Johnny nodded as he followed us outside. Two-Bit took his crutches and threw them in the back of the truck and he and Dally climbed into the back. We drove home and Johnny climbed out of the truck. He wasn't quite ready to jump yet and that was something I was both relieved about and hoping he would do so he could jump down and run places again. Johnny had Dally toss down his crutches and we walked into the house. We had decided that Soda's old bedroom would be Johnny's. We showed him to it and he put his crutches down on the bed.

"It's good to have ya back, Johnnycake." Two-Bit said.

"Thanks, Two-Bit. It's good to be back." Johnny said. I knew he was as happy to be home as much as we were to have him home.

A/N- Well, he's home! I've got something planned and it'll come up about chapter six!