*I don't own The Outsiders.

(DPOV)

She looks so small in the bed; her face matches the coloring of the bleach white hospital sheets. Due to the good part of the week spent indoors, she already lost some of her golden tan. I can't help but wonder who would do this to a little girl.

Pony hasn't been handling the situation with the grace I wish he would. He's angrier than ever. When he comes to visit, a hate burns in the back of his eyes that I'm not use to.

I don't like it. All of this shit it getting out of hand. I want nothing more than to press charges against those Socs, but we don't have the money for a lawyer…even if we did, our lawyer probably wouldn't have anything on the Socs' lawyer, they'd get off easy, while we'd be scrapping the piggy bank for pennies.

I blinked a few times to focus my bleary eyes on the clock. I still have some time before I have to get me and Soda back to work. Soda was holding her hand, humming a lullaby Lyn loved. She opened those warm hazel eyes and glanced at Soda when it ended. "You'll be home soon enough," he murmured, "Then, you won't be bored all the time."

She smiled a little, but I could tell she was tired and in pain. "Does it hurt as bad as it did?" I asked.

"Not as much, it hurt a lot the first two days, but now it just aches when I breathe," Lyn answered. She hadn't been able to talk the first few days, something that freaked me out completely. I was used to Lyn talking on and on about anything she felt like, to see her lay there still and quiet, it just broke my heart.

"Well it'll only feel better from now on," Soda grinned, optimistically. The first couple days, she was in so much pain, that most of the time the doctors just kept her sedated so she wouldn't have to suffer.

She nodded, "Where's Pony?"

"School, darling, Pony can't be missing school, he has to keep bringing home those good grades," Soda explained.

"Did someone say my name?" Pony asked from the doorway, shocking me. Lyn positively beamed as he avoided mine and Soda's gazes and walked to her side. "There's my girl, I hope you aren't giving them nurses too much grief," he brushed his fingers through her hair.

Two-Bit, Steve, and Johnny stepped through the doorway as well, "Hey, kiddy!" Two-Bit exclaimed, happily.

"What are you all doing here? Pony, you're supposed to be at school," I scowled, glaring at him.

"Lunch break, Dar," he sounded annoyed, further igniting my own temper. Why is he being so difficult this past week? I understand he's upset over everything, but Jesus, can't he listen to me? I told him Lyn would be fine, yet he wasn't able to listen to me for more than a couple days. He was being overly difficult about almost everything. Johnny told me that he thinks its Pony's way of dealing, which I don't understand. Soda thinks Pony is just trying to look out for Lyn after he wasn't able to last Friday night.

Two-Bit, surprisingly, came up with a plausible theory of his own. He thinks Pony is trying to control everything around him after he was in a situation where he didn't have any control on what was going on. Two-Bit claims it is Ponyboy's way of coping with the traumatizing event. To say the least, me and Soda were speechless after that little speech from old Two-Bit, but I think he was shocked with himself too because, he left saying something about passing a psychology test.

I'm not sure why Pony is acting, well, like a bratty teenager. He usually isn't that bad, but maybe the hormones are finally catching up to him. Ugh, that's a scary idea. Or, he could just be dealing with everything the only way he can, by being a complete wiseass brat. No matter what the motives, I do not like his behavior.

"I told you, me and Soda would come during lunch, Pone," I frowned at him.

He glanced at me, "I heard you, but I wanted to come, so I did." See what I mean when I say 'wiseass brat?'

Lyn glances between us, used to our bickering. I was slightly surprised when she started glaring at me though, "I wanted him to come, I asked him if he could come during lunch like you and Soda," she defended him. I sighed; I was between a rock and a hard place: what I wanted for Ponyboy, and what Evelyn wanted.

"She made The Face, Darry, I can't say no to that. You can't even say no to that," Pony smiled, gesturing to Lyn. She was pouting, her bottom lip trembled slightly, her hazel eyes widening, ugh! No brother can say no to that, even though you know she knows what she's pulling on you.

"That ain't fair," I sighed, looking at her.

"It ain't my fault you weren't born cute, Dar," she smiled a little, causing everyone to snicker. She could probably single handedly stop a war with that look. All the U.S. would have to do is send her to the leader of the enemy and let her work her magic, talk them into her ideas, pout a little and wham, everything is fine.

"How you feeling today, squirt?" Steve grinned, he was taking advantage of the fact she couldn't punch him in balls for calling her short. I don't usually promote the use of violence around her, but when she punches Steve for calling her names, I can't help but get a kick out of it.

Evelyn scowled, "Why don't you say that a little bit closer, Randle?" She suggested. Laughing, he shook his head no, the only problem was he was still close to Pony who swung his arm back and hit him square in the nuts. Steve doubled over making an, "oof," sound.

Without turning around to look at Steve, Pony asked Lyn, "How'd I do?"

"Perfect," she beamed, trying not to laugh too hard because it hurt her side.

Steve glared, to which Pony replied, "We had this conversation a day ago, I got to watch out for my sister, which means keeping hoods, like yourself, from hurting her," his smile was full of mischief.

"Anyway," I said, "Lyn will be able to go home tomorrow," I grinned proudly; the doctors thought she'd be in here for a while longer, but Evelyn was healing up nicely and could go home tomorrow. I was real glad since that would be less money spent on hospital bills. In addition to the emergency surgery, Lyn had been here for five days already, I'm sure that may cost quite a bit.

I'd talked to the doctor about the cost, and we were trying to work a few things out, but I'm not sure if it'll happen or not. They doctor was real nice to us-after the initial abuse accusation-and wanted to help us out.

"Can I stay home tomorrow then," Pony asked hopefully, Lyn turned to me too. The two had to be the closest siblings ever, despite their age difference. Maybe it had to do with how much time I force them to spend with one another. Pone is always watching her, something I feel guilty for. A teenager as young as him shouldn't be playing parent for his little sister, but there really isn't anything I can do about it. Their bond was thick though, even when Mom first brought Lyn home, Pony was hooked.

"You'll see her after school," I told him.

"Darry," the two whined, causing the gang to snicker, though, I was not amused.

"No."

"Dar, I've been in school all week like you told me, right now is lunch, so it's not like I missing anything. I haven't missed any school this year, it's the third quarter for God's sake, I can afford to miss one day."

"Please, please, please, Darry, with chocolate on top," Evelyn pleaded.

I groaned, her pleading pushing me over the edge, "Fine," I spat, "Only tomorrow, you're going back to school on Friday, no argument," I said, sternly. I scowled as Pony and Lyn lit up in victory at one another, sharing a fist bump.

"Why can't I go home now?" Lyn demanded. I was taken off guard by the fierceness in her expression, "I don't like it here at all. There are all these strange people who poke at me, and I ain't some teddy bear you can do whatever you want to. Then there's that nurse that talks to me all the time, like I want to listen to her problems. Does it look like I care about her son's broken arm?"

"We don't like you here either, but we got to listen to the doctor, he knows what's good for you," I told her, trying to sooth her now flaring anger. Her moods had been swinging left and right all week. I was pretty sure she was upset about getting jumped and being here, but I haven't tried to talk to her, every time the subject is brought up, she just shuts down.

I was going to have to ask Pony to talk to her. Glancing once more at the clock, I realized we all had to get going. "Come on guys, say bye and let's go before we're all late."

Walking down the corridor, I turned, "Hey, Pone?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you try to talk to Evelyn about the other night? I tried a couple times, but she just shuts down and refuses to say anything about it. She's still real uptight about the whole thing and I'm not sure what to do about it. You two are close; I figure if anyone can get to her it's got to be you."

"I could try tomorrow when we get home. I brought it up once, and she just said she was scared and started crying. I didn't want her to get upset so I dropped it, plus I knew it would've hurt bad if she started crying any harder," he said. "I was thinking, maybe we should give her more time, though. I know she was terrified, and you know Lyn doesn't deal with stuff like this easily, it takes time for her to digest it."

He was right. Evelyn lived in her own world, full of rainbows and sunlight, when something traumatizing happens to her, like when our parents died, it hits her hard and she loses it. Sometimes, it takes her a while to get over her denial, but either way, I know Lyn is going to have a hard time getting over this.

"Do what you think needs to be done," I responded.

"I will, don't worry, Lyn is tough," he smiled.

Yes she is, but she's a kid who got jumped by a bunch of angry Socs triple her size. How well would anyone deal with that?

So, some people have mentioned that Lyn doesn't act like a nine year old. Well, first off, Lyn is growing up in the sixties, so from what I know, they still played with dolls and stuff at the age of nine. Secondly, you can blame my parents for my lack of knowledge about nine year olds. I am an only child, I am the youngest cousin in my family except for the toddlers and like one other cousin I never see. Whenever I do see said cousins, it's once maybe every few months, give or take a month. So, giving the time period I'm writing in, and my lack of exposure to children, you may find her acting a different age. If you want, imagine her younger…

Yay! Lyn is going home. So how do you think she's going to deal with getting jumped, good or bad? I'd love to hear your opinions, so please review. Maybe we can get to 35?