"Well, there isn't much else I can do, boys," the doctor said as he rose from his place beside Kat. She was bandaged up, most of her bloody cuts covered and now on their way to healing. But the poor girl still looked awful; bruises still stained her flesh bright blue. She was still sweating and heaving, but her temprature had gone down a bit. She still looked like she was having a nightmare, but she didn't move.
"Is there anything we can do?" Darry shook the doctor's hand in thanks. "To make sure she heals quickly?"
"I'd think a bed is better than this couch," he said, "she needs to be as comfortable as possible. Her comma shouldn't last too long; mabey a week or two."
"A week?" Johnny repeated. "You call that not very long?"
"Look, some people never wake up from a comma," the doctor replied, looking deadly serious. "Consider her lucky."
After everyone thanked the doctor, Darry picked Kat up like she was a priceless porcline doll and put her in Pony and Soda's bed. There wasn't any other bed to put her in besides his own, which wasn't very comfortable. The house was still heavy, but the tension was replaced with greif. Kat wouldn't be awake for a week or so? Why her? What did she ever do? These questions ran through everyone's head as the realization of what had happened to Kat slowly set in on Ponyboy and Johnny, the youngest ones. They thought the Socs had just tortured and embarrassed her by exposing her body, but soon, they knew what had really happened.
"Sodapop," Ponyboy asked, "was Kat... rap-"
"Don't say it!" Johnny's voice exploded from his throat, filled with anger and sadness. He didn't want to hear that word. Rape. Not Kat. She couldn't have been. But Johnny knew it was true. His heart told him so, but his mind said otherwise.
"S-sorry," Ponyboy mumbled, " I didn't..."
"Nah, I'm sorry,"Johnny said, "I just... need to get out."
He headed for the door, but bumped into something as he opened the door. A massive figure that loomed over him like a giant shadow. Johnny's eyes looked up reluctantly.
"Woah, woah," Dally said, "where's the fire, John?"
"Move," the young greaser growled, pushing his way past his mentor. He slammed the door so hard, it made even Darry jump.
"Wise-ass," Dally grumbled, "Gee, Darry, thanks for 'calling' me."
"Look, Dallas, none of us are in the mood." Darry walked over and sat down in his rocker. "It's worse than we thought. A lot worse."
"What'd they do?" Dally cocked his eyebrow.
"They..." Darry couldn't force himself to say it. Sodapop pulled Dallas over and whispered what happened. As he did so, Dally's face turned a mix of things: furious, sad, reliefe, and... sympathy? No, no. Not Dally. He couldn't feel such a thing.
"Damn..." Dally fell onto the couch, running his finger through his hair. He didn't do anything after that, he just sat there. Kat meant a lot to him; almost as much as Johnny. For something like this to happen so suddenly, he didn't know what to do.
Ponyboy got up from his place up against the wall and walked back to his room. He thought someone might say something to stop him, but the uneasy silence remained. Shrugging it off, he entered the room and shut the door. His eyes took a minute to get used to the darkness; then he saw Kat. She was lying there on his side of the bed, curled up in the corner. She seemed to be frightened, seemed to be wanting to get away from something. Her breathing was lighter now, almost normal. Ponyboy felt tears welling up in his eyes, but for some reason, didn't wipe them away. He walkedover and sat next to the girl, then began to do something very, very unusual: he began to talk to her. Usually, Kat and Pony didn't talk too much. They just kind of chit-chatted, nothing big. But Ponyboy was about to get deep, and he knew she couldn't hear him.
"Kat," he began, his voice shaking, "I... don't know if you can hear me right now, but if you can, please listen. I... I've been ignoring you for a while. I mean, not like, not payin' attention to ya or somethin', but I ignore the feelings I get when I'm around you. I always feel all funny and stuff; I don't know what it is..."
Kat gave a light sigh. Ponyboy wiped one tear from his eye, trying to look tuff for someone who couldn't see him. Why?
"Kat, I think..." Pony stroked her face gentley. "I love you."
Johnny felt his heart stop. He'd been listening from outside the window, to see if Kat would wake before the doctor's predictions. Instead, he found his best friend loved the same girl he did. He sank onto the ground, clutching his chest. He let his tears flow freely and silently. He felt sad, because he imagined Kat picking Ponyboy over himself. The thought killed him. He didn't want this.
"Ponyboy," Sodapop came into the room, "let's go to bed. C'mon, I made the couch into the bed for ya."
"Mhm." Ponyboy's footsteps grew softer as he walked away. Soon, Johnny heard the door shut. Then he let out a loud whimper and began to cry. He loved Ponyboy like a brother, but he also loved Kat. What was he to do?