Hi everyone! Thank you so much for the continued reviews! I really appreciate them. :) Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I had a lot more trouble writing it then I thought I would. But, here it is now!

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I groaned as my alarm clock started beeping. It couldn't be time to get up yet; it felt like I had just fallen asleep. I turned over, shut it off, and got out of bed. I silently padded down the hall to my brothers' room, but I hesitated when I opened the door. They were both asleep still; Soda had his arm draped over Ponyboy, who had curled up and nestled against Soda. I felt guilty waking them up, but I knew we had to get goin'. It was 7:00 and we had to be at the hospital in an hour. I sat on the bed and gently shook both of them. "Pony, Soda, time to get up," I whispered. I was rewarded with a moan before Pony opened his eyes.

"I'm up, Dar," he slurred. Soda was starting to stir, too, so I left to get breakfast started.

While I was cooking, I heard both my brothers get up and start movin' around. Eventually, they stumbled into the kitchen. We were all quiet while we ate, thinking about the day ahead. Soda still hadn't had much of an appetite lately, but now he was barely eating anything. He was mostly just pushing his food around his plate. "Soda, I know you're nervous, but you gotta eat somethin' to keep your strength up. You're gonna need it." He frowned, but took a few bites anyway.

Once we were done eating, Soda and Pony did the dishes while I finished putting Soda's things together for the hospital. I'd already packed some clothes, magazines, and a pack of cards into an overnight bag, and now I added his toothbrush, razor, and a few other necessities. As I was finishing up, I heard the front door open and slam shut: Steve and Two-Bit had come over. I hoped seeing them would cheer Soda up some. I came out to the living room in time to see Two-Bit passing him a beer. "It'll make ya feel better!"

Soda, who was sitting on the couch with Pony, looked at our friend dubiously. "Uh, Two-Bit, I don't think I'm supposed to be drinkin'…" I laughed to myself. Soda never drank anyway. He glanced up at me as I came in the room. When he saw the bag in my hand, his eyes flashed for just a second before returning to normal. I didn't push him; I knew he wouldn't talk when everyone was here.

"Good luck today, buddy," Steve said, clappin' him on the shoulder. "We'll swing by after school to see ya."

"Thanks." Soda smiled at him, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Two-Bit, can you and Steve get Ponyboy's homework and bring it with ya tonight?" I asked.

"Darry! I can catch up tomorrow!" Pony protested.

"You're already missin' school, kid. You can do your homework at the hospital tonight and still stay with Soda."

"Fine," he grumbled, crossing his arms and sinking back into the couch.

"Don't worry, we'll grab the kid's work. See y'all tonight," Two-Bit said, leaving.

"See ya later, Soda," Steve said, shooting a concerned look at him before following Two-Bit out the door. I didn't know how Steve would handle it if Soda didn't make it through this.

I shook off my thoughts about Steve. Right now I had to focus on us. "You two ready to go? We've gotta be there in twenty minutes."

"Sure, Dar," Pony said, gettin' off the couch and heading out to the truck.

Soda was a little slower gettin' up. I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him before he made it to the door. "It's gonna be okay, Soda. We'll get through this." He didn't say anything, but from the look he gave me I could tell he didn't believe me. He just nodded and headed outside. I sighed and followed him out the door.

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When we pulled up to the hospital, I didn't want to get out of the truck. I don't think any of us did cause none of us moved. Finally, Darry unbuckled his seatbelt and got out, grabbin' the overnight bag on his way. Pony and I silently followed him into the building. When we made it inside, Darry was already getting directions from the receptionist at the front doors. He led us to the elevator and pushed the button for the fifth floor. It was the longest elevator ride of my life. When the doors opened, we saw Dr. Sheldon at the counter in the lobby, looking at some files. I liked him—he was a nice guy and I could tell he knew what he was doin'—but he was also the last person in the world I wanted to see. Anything to put this off for a bit longer. He smiled when he saw us. "Good morning. Are you ready to get started?"

Darry looked at me, but I didn't say anythin'. Of course I wasn't ready. Darry figured out I wasn't gonna answer, so he did it for me. "Yeah, we're ready. What do we do first?"

"First we'll get you settled in and then I'll talk with you about what will happen." He said it like he was checking us into a hotel or somethin'. I guess he was used to this. He led us to a small room down the hall. I was thankful that there was only one bed in it. There was also a table beside the bed and a cupboard across the room. "Soda, do you want to change into something more comfortable before we start? You might not feel up to doing it later." Well, that made me feel lots better. I didn't say anything, though, and took some pajamas from my bag into the bathroom. When I came back out Darry and Pony had settled into a couple of chairs. I climbed onto the bed and tried to brace myself for Dr. Sheldon's explanation of what was gonna happen.

"I'm afraid the results of your tests on Friday weren't good," he started. "The leukemia has spread to both your bone marrow and your spinal fluid."

Pony looked about as shocked as I felt. "How could that happen so fast?" he asked. "He just got sick."

"He just started showing symptoms," Dr. Sheldon explained, "but it's impossible to know how long the cancer was present before the symptoms started. Also, this type of leukemia spreads very quickly." He turned back to me. "Soda, this means we're going to have to be very aggressive with the treatment."

I swallowed hard and finally spoke up. "What exactly does that mean?"

"It means that the chemotherapy drugs we give you will be very strong and will therefore give you more severe side effects."

"What are the side effects?" Darry asked.

"Everyone reacts differently, so there's no way to know for sure what yours will be exactly, Soda. Generally, people experience fatigue, nausea, a lack of appetite, headaches, and muscle soreness. Also, I'm sorry, but you will likely lose your hair." I looked down. I knew that was coming, but it was still hard to hear. "We'll start treatment orally, meaning we'll try using pills first. If you can keep them down, then we'll continue using them."

"And if I can't?" I asked. I had a bad feelin' I already knew the answer.

"Then we'll have to administer the drugs intravenously."

More needles. Great. "Don't think about it, Soda," Pony reassured me. "It might not happen."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Pone." I sighed inwardly. There was no point puttin' this off any longer. I turned to the doctor. "Let's get started."

"Good." He turned to the cupboard and opened it up. "I have the pills here. Since you're in the hospital, either a nurse or I will give them to you when you need them, which will be every four hours. You likely won't feel any effects for an hour or two."

As he got the pills ready, I thought of another question that worried me. "Doctor, if the pills don't work and I have to get somethin' else, will I have to stay in the hospital every time?" I could deal with one hospital stay, but I didn't think I could stand being in here all the time.

"Probably not. If we need to move to injections you'll need to receive them here, but you should be able to go home again each day." Well, that was a relief, anyway. Darry and Ponyboy smiled at that news, too. Dr. Sheldon handed me a couple of large blue pills and a glass of water. They looked harmless enough. I swallowed them and sat back to wait. "Alright, I'll be back to check on you in a while."

As Doctor Sheldon left the room, I looked over at my brothers. They were both watching me, like they were waiting for somethin' to happen, too. Darry's face was hard to read, but I could see the concern in his eyes. Pony, on the other hand, was lousy at hiding his worry. They were makin' me more nervous than I already was. "Stop watchin' me," I told them. "He said it would be a while before anythin' happened."

"Sorry," Darry said, looking a bit sheepish. "What do ya wanna do?"

"Umm…you said you packed cards, right? Let's play poker." Time started to pass a bit faster while we were playing and I even managed to forget about where we were. Pony was kicking both our asses. "When did you get to be such a good poker player, anyway?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "Just lucky today, I guess," he joked, but I saw him smile to himself.

As we kept playin', I slowly noticed my stomach start turnin' summersaults. I was gettin' a headache, too. Darry must've noticed cause he put his cards down. "You okay, Soda? You're lookin' pale." I nodded, but I put my cards down, too. My stomach was gettin' worse fast. Finally, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop it and I grabbed the container that had been put on the table beside my bed. I was just in time. When I'd finished gettin' sick, I put the container on the table and leaned back against the pillow, closing my eyes. I felt someone take my hand—Pony—and I squeezed it. My stomach felt a bit better, but it was still real unsettled. My headache was gettin' worse, too. "You want me to get the doctor, Soda?" Darry asked.

"No, there's no point. I'm just gonna sleep for a while." I was startin' to feel tired. I wasn't sure if it was from gettin' sick or if it was the chemo, but I guess it didn't really matter. I felt Darry put his hand around mine and Pony's, then I was out.

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I watched my older brother as he slept. He looked peaceful now, but a few minutes ago his face had been twisted up as he'd tried to fight the nausea. I was worried that he was already sick after just the first dose. I looked over at Darry, who was watching Soda, too. "Dar, do you think it'll get worse?"

He sighed and turned to me; his face looked grim. "Yeah, I think it will, Pone. I hope I'm wrong, though."

I looked back at Soda. I didn't think Darry was gonna be wrong. I had a feelin' this was only the beginning.

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Well…how was it? Reviews make me smile!

I do have one piece of bad news, though—I'm sorry to say that updates are going to be slow and sporadic till mid-June. Next week I'm starting a third job (again) and two online English courses. I know, I'm crazy. I'll try and update as much as I can, though!