Okay, here is Chapter 3!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything in this story except for my characters. The Outsiders belongs to S.E. Hinton
Dallas' POV
Chapter 3
Shit. That's all there is to say. I can't believe how I found Lexis there. When I get my hands on who did this I will kill 'em.
After Lexis ran out all the guys in the gang were giving a mix of looks from shocked to anger. I couldn't blame them really, I'm still not really sure as to why I cut in on her. I've never done that before and it's not as if she hasn't been with guys while I've been in love with her. Hell, she's been with so many over the years this one shouldn't have made a difference.
Deciding it probably wasn't smart to leave a pissed off Lexis alone on the streets for too long I decided to chase after. Looking behind me I noticed the gang had the same idea. Figuring she was heading home I started in the direction of the Curtis' home.
About half way to the house I noticed a group of socs over a body that was screaming, which sounded a lot like a girl. In fact...
"Hey! What are you socs doing off your turf!" I yelled at them. When they saw the gang and I coming they fled to their car and left laughing and yelling names at us the whole way. While everyone else was chasing the car away Darry and I went over to the body, both thinking the same thing. When we approached the body I realized our suspicions were right.
"Lexis..." Darry whispered. He sounded broken. I could understand why. Lexis was bleeding from various places all over her body but the scary one was on her head. From where I was I could make out the remains of a bottle.
"Darry, look," I pointed it out to him as the gang crowded around us.
"What did they do?" I could hear someone howl. Sounded like Sodapop but I couldn't tell for sure.
"Dally, can you pick her up and bring her to your house. It's closer. From there can you -" I cut Darry off.
"No problem Dar. I got her."
I ran as fast as I could to my house without jostling her and climbed into a car I was borrowing from Buck for the week. Man, how was I going to explain the blood in the car?
After I got to the hospital they took her from me and made me stay in the waiting room while they took her to the emergency rooms. Not long after I had gotten there Darry and the gang arrived and sat down beside me. All but Darry that is. He went to see if he could get any information on Lexis.
"Any news?" We all asked when he got back. Sadly he shook his head no.
"Not until she gets out of surgery for the glass in her head. All they would tell me is that if she lives through this she could have serious head trauma for the rest of her life, a month of concussion after shocks at the very least."
Not what any of us were hoping to hear. What did he mean by "if" she lives. Clearly the gang was of the same impression.
"What do you mean 'if' Darry? Shouldn't it be when? I mean, she's gonna make it through, right? Right?" Man, did Soda sound freaked out. I couldn't blame him though.
"It means guys that the doctors aren't sure if she'll make it. There was a lot of glass in her head. You saw that when we found her. They're trying to be hopeful but..."
The next few hours of waiting in the hospital were silent except for the occasional sob from Soda. Two – Bit and Steve went home but the three of us stayed until we got word of her condition.
Around Midnight the doctor looking after Lexis came out into the waiting room.
"How is she, will she be okay?" Darry asked the doctor. We were all thinking the same thing but only Darry would get a response since he was her twin.
"Ms. Curtis should be fine as long as she wakes up within two days of first receiving her injury." The doctor stated.
"Wait, what happens after the two days?" I asked. I couldn't be the only one thinking it I mean, he made it clear, if she wakes up within two days. Why two?
"Well, if she does not wake up within the two days, every hour after then decreases her chances for survival. The glass in her skull has punctured in to the brain severely and was extremely hard and tricky to remove so the healing process is a delicate process. The reason for the two day time allowance is that if her brain does not fix itself after two days, the hope of it ever doing so is close to impossible." The doctor answered my question with a sympathetic look on his face. I could hear Sodapop sobbing beside me and Darry trying to hold in his. Me, I think my usual facade was crumbling. I couldn't think about what life would be like without her, that smile, her laugh...
I need to get out of there. And that is just what I did. I left the brothers in the hospital and headed over to my house. My old man had just left with his newest girlfriend so he wouldn't be back for a while. Which was fine with me. I really didn't want to have to deal with him right now.
Everything seems to have settled a little since Ponyboy and Johnnycakes left, well, at least to do with them so I decided to visit them the next day. Maybe I could subtly convince at least Ponyboy to come back. His brothers have enough worry about with Lexis and don't need to be worrying about him anymore.
Waking up the next morning I figured I would head over to the Curtis' house and see if there had been any change last night after I left. When I got there I found no Curtis brothers but I did find Two – Bit and Steve.
"Hey, did you hear anything about Lexis after we left last night?" Two – Bit asked.
"Yeah, the doctor said that she is in critical condition but if she wakes up by tomorrow night that she will be fine. Else, he makes no promises and doesn't think that after tomorrow night she will survive."
"I hope Ponyboy and Johnny show up then man, 'cause if not this is gonna be a hard two days." I was starting to feel real guilty 'bout shipping the two of them off to the church. If I hadn't Lexis wouldn't have come back, which would have been bad too but better than her ending up in the hospital in critical condition.
As I was having my internal debate about my portion of fault with Lexis being in the hospital who should burst through the door? Angela and Tim Sheppard, Aliah Godridge, and Anne Smith. Lexis' best friends. This should be an interesting conversation.
"Where is Lexis?"
"Why are you here Dally?"
"Hey Dal."
"How dare you show your face here after last night!"
What a welcoming response from the girls. They just love me don't they? Note the sarcasm dripping from my voice.
"Slow down! Okay I am here because I was hoping to see Darry or Sodapop, I dare show my face because I am worried about Lexis, and I am worried about Lexis because she is in the Hospital!" I exclaimed. "Oh, and hey Tim."
"Why is Lexis in the hospital?" Anne asked me. Now here comes the hard part. All of them were looking at me expectantly.
"As I just told Two – Bit and Steve, Lexis is in the hospital 'cause after she left last night she was jumped by a large group of socs. She knocked a bunch of them out but before we all got there one of them knocked her over the head with a beer bottle. Doctor says she'll be fine if she wakes up by tomorrow night. Otherwise she's not likely to live." The looks of fear and pain on their faces were hard to handle. I couldn't handle it so I bailed and decided to go check up on Lexis before going to see the boys.
When I got there I saw Darry and Sodapop sleeping in the chairs next to Lexis' bed. She looked so peaceful sleeping there. I hope she wakes up soon. For everyone's sake.
"Dally, is that you?" Darry asked when I closed the door. I guess he wasn't asleep like I thought.
"Yeah Darry. I went by your house to see if anyone was there and caught everyone else up on Lexis. Her friends all know too. They had showed up looking for her." Darry nodded. "Any change?"
"None so far, but we have just under two days so I'm hopeful."
"Alright. I gotta go do some shit but I will be back later to check on her."
"Okay, see you later Dally."
I walked over to Bucks and borrowed his car for the day before heading over to the church in Windrixville. Hopefully the two of them have been fine while out there. The drive there was long and left me too much time to think about Lexis and what happened to her because of me. I guess thinking can waste a lot of time though because before I knew it I was at the church.
Walking in the place looks worse than anything I've seen. The boards on the ground were broken and in spots missing, the entire church looked like it could collapse at any moment. Not good. Looking at the boys I had to do a double take, both have bleached their hair so it was hard to recognize them at first. Smart though. That way the fuzz wouldn't be able to recognize them right away. I saw both of them were sleeping so I decided to wake them up so we could go get something to eat. I'm sure they are hungry and I haven't eaten yet with the worry over Lexis.
"Hey Dally? Is that you?" Looks Ponyboy and sounds like him, but the hair's throwing me off.
"Yeah, Ponyboy? What the hell did you two do to your hair?" After hearing Pony and I talking Johnny got up as well. The two of them explained what they have been doing here and why they dyed and cut their hair I told them to get in the car.
"Why? You're not taking us back are you Dal?" Pony asked me.
"Na, I'm not. I just figured you would like some food and I haven't eaten since yesterday so I am starving. Now get in." They obeyed without another complaint and got in the car.
On the way to Dairy Queen I answered all of their questions about home without giving away that Lexis was back. It would have to be their choice to go back and I know the fact of Lexis being back would sway Ponyboy's opinion on the topic in an instant. I know it annoyed the two of them that I was avoiding some of their questions but I had to ensure that Lexis stayed out of the conversation.
When we got there we went through the drive through and the boys both got lots of food. Something tells me that they have barely eaten at all.
"Slow down you two! You're going to choke the rate you're going!" After I said this they started to slow down, but only a little. They were still eating faster than me and were almost done. Johnny was thirsty so I gave him a couple quarters to go get all three of us some drinks. As soon as he left Pony pounced on me.
"What aren't you telling me Dally? It can't be true that they have just been sitting around doing nothing. Why are you hiding this from us? We deserve to know don't we? I mean -"
"Shut up kid! Everyone has just been sitting around. Legit. What else would there be to do? Everyone is worried sick about the two of you and now they have Lexis to worry about on top of -" Oh crap.
"Lexis? Is Lexis back in town? Why is she back? Why didn't you tell us? And why did you say worried about her?"
"Damn. I wasn't planning on telling you guys, but yeah. Lexis is back in town 'cause Darry called her when you left."
"That doesn't explain why everyone's worried about her?"
"Her who?" Johnnycakes, who just came back from getting our drink to hear the end of our conversation.
"Lexis is back in town and Dally said that everyone's worried about her." Pony replied.
"So why are is everyone worried then Dal? Lexis can handle herself as far as I remember." I guess I'm stuck telling the two of them.
"Well, I really didn't want to tell you but Lexis was jumped by a bunch of socs last night and before she could get away or knock them all out one of them broke a beer bottle over her head. She's in critical condition in the hospital with a slim chance of survival unless she wakes up by tomorrow night." I hate repeating this story. It makes me sick to my stomach every time I repeat it.
"What! Why didn't you tell us right away? I mean -"
"'Cause it wouldn't have made a difference Ponyboy! You're out here. And even if you were there with her you couldn't do nothin' to help her!" I started pulling out of the parking lot to bring them back to the church. I have had enough of that conversation and Ponyboy got the message and shut up. The drive was silent for a while until Johnny spoke up.
"Hey Dal? I was thinking 'bout turning myself in." What in the world? I gave him a quizzical stare and stopped on the side of the rode so I could concentrate on the coversation at hand.
"It's just that," he continued, "it's not fair to Ponyboy to be away from his family, especially now that Lexis is back and in the hospital. I haven't been in trouble before and it was in defense so I might be able to get off easier. You're not mad are you, Dally?"
"Na kid, I ain't mad. Just frustrated that you couldn't have thought of this before I hid you guys. Lets head back to the church and grab your stuff then we will head back to Tulsa." The rest of the ride back was silent as we were all lost in our own thoughts. When we were close to the church I could make out smoke over the next hill, where the church is.
"Guys, look!" I guess Ponyboy noticed it too. I pulled up and stopped at the base of the hill and could hear a bunch of people screaming. Sounded like kids and a few adults. Before I could say anything Ponyboy and Johnny were out of the car running towards the crowd. I screamed at them to get back to the car but they didn't listen so I went after them.
When I got to the church I was just in time to see the two of them climb through a window into the church. What the hell were they up to?
"Dally, help us get the kids out!" Ponyboy yelled back to me.
"Get yourselves out! Forget the kids!" I yelled back but the two of them were already out of sight. I ran around the outside of the building until I saw them through one of the windows. I stood there yelling at them to get out when I saw Ponyboy struggling to get one of the kids out. Figuring I could get them out faster if I helped. I grabbed the kid from him and pulled the kid out into the open and dropped him onto the ground. Ponyboy gave me a quizzical stare.
"If I help get the kids out then you get out faster right?" I answered to the stare. He smiled at me and continued to grab the kids. Just as we were finishing getting the kids out the roof started to cave so I told the boys to get out of there. Ponyboy heard me and started heading to the window but Johnny didn't hear me over the roar of the flames. I told Ponyboy to go back and tell Johnny to come get out. When he got back I pulled him out of the window. I saw flames on his back and knocked on his back to get them off but I must have hit too hard 'cause he dropped to the ground like a ton of lead. I didn't have enough time to worry about him though as I saw the roof starting to collapse and Johnnycakes was still inside the church.
"Johnny! Get out of there now! The roof is going to cave." Trying to hurry, Johnny tripped and landed on all fours. As he was getting up the beam I had been watching carefully broke free of the ceiling and landed straight on top of where Johnny was. I heard him scream and rushed into the church to try and get the beam off of his back before it did anymore damage. One of the teachers that was with the school came in after me and helped me lift the still burning beam away from Johnny's broken frame. I grabbed him and pulled him out of the building just as the entire church came down.
I waited there trying to get Johnnycakes to wake up for what felt like forever before the ambulances finally showed up. The paramedics put Ponyboy in one and Johnny and I in the other one. On the way to the hospital I fell into unconsciousness while praying that Johnnycakes and Pony would wake up and be okay.
I awoke to looking at a white ceiling. Looking to my left I had the feeling that I had been in this room not that long ago, but that wasn't right. The only time lately that I have been near a hospital was when...
"Dally, good to see you're up." I heard a voice from my right. Looking over I saw Darry sitting in a chair next to Lexis' bed. What was I doing in the same room as Lexis? I voiced my question to Darry.
"They were overloaded with patients and since the two of you have been close for years they put you two in the same room. I'm not exactly pleased, but it's better than a stranger." He replied sending a pointed look towards me.
"Relax, I wouldn't do anything to her. She's my best friend for fuck sakes!"
"I know, but that doesn't mean that I trust you. After all you did hide the fact that you knew the whereabouts of Ponyboy and Johnny until all three of you ended up in the hospital!" Darry had gotten up during his tirade to stand right in front of me by the bed.
"How are the two of them doing anyway?" I asked. If Lexis was still out beside me I pray that Ponyboy is at least getting out the hospital soon.
"Ponyboy's fine, which you are lucky for. Be glad you're not responsible for Pony being in the hospital otherwise you would have an issue getting out of here."
"I know, I'm sorry Darry. I didn't mean for anyone to end up here. Why would I want to hurt either of them?" I retorted back. I wasn't in the mood for Darry's anger right now.
"Well, considering how you've been acting towards Lexis since she got back I figured that your friendship with her was over so why would you care how she is? You're the one that landed her in here! Why did you suddenly care about her and not want her to head upstairs with another g-." Darry froze mid sentence and something dawned on his face. "You love her don't you." It was more a statement than a question but I answered anyway. No point hiding it from one of my best friends and her brother.
"Yeah, I do Darry. I have for years, even before I took her virginity when we were 14. I don't know why but something snapped in me that night I didn't want to see her with another guy. The thought even now bugs me. But I wish I hadn't. I'm always gonna live with this Darry. This and what happened to Johnny and Ponyboy." I looked up at Darry to see him giving me a sympathetic look.
"Sorry I snapped at you Dally. It's just that this week has been a roller-coaster of emotions with Ponyboy disappearing and Lexis showing up then ending up in the hospital so I've been on edge lately. Why haven't you just told Lexis how you feel Dally? What's the worst that could happen?" Is he that dense on his own sister right now? Oh right, he doesn't know what she and Angela were talking about.
"I can't Darry. When she went over to the Sheppard's on her first day back I followed her over and Tim and I listened to the girls conversation. She said that she's in love with someone! And Angela said that whoever her crush is and her are perfect for each other. I have no chance with her. You know how Angela's always right 'bout this kinda stuff."
"I don't know what to say. You make a point about Angela though. She does have a knack for those things. Don't give up though Dally. When she wakes up you have to tell her. Promise me that."
"When she wakes up? Did they give her a better statistic while I was gone?"
"No, but I refuse to give up. She has a day left and you know Lexis, she loves to leave things to the last moment. So do you promise?" I thought about it. I don't want to lose her friendship over this, but I also want a chance to say what's been on my mind for years. What do I do?
"... Yeah Darry, I promise."
Dun dun dun! Do you think Lexis will wake up? If she does do you think Dally will tell Lexis how he feels? Vote on my poll to have your say. Vote by January 10 then the new chapter will go up soon after that. One chapter will go up inbetween since it has to do with the poll sorta.