Chapter Nine – Rumble and a Broken Heart
Dally's POV
I stood up and slipped into my clothes from a couple days ago, the ones I had worn in to Windrexville. They were dirty with ashes and smelled smoky, but I didn't really care. I left my room, this time without having to sneak out, and headed for Johnny's room. One of the nurses saw me in the hallway and tried to stop me, without blinking an eye I whipped out Two-Bit's blade and dared her to even try. I knew what I had to do, and I was going to do it.
The door to Johnny's room was closed, but I walked in anyways. There was another nurse in there. I still had the blade out, so I pointed it loosely towards her then motioned for her to leave. She hurriedly left, fear and worry written plain on her face.
"Johnnycake?" I asked softly, as soon as we were alone. He opened his eyes slowly and tried to smile at me, but it took too much effort for him and he gave up on it. I swallowed the lump in my throat. This can't be happening. "I... I'm going to the rumble," I told him quietly, slowly walking towards him. He didn't reply, so I went on. "Johnny, we're going to win, we'll beat them. They did this to you," I heard the rage creep into my voice, but couldn't control it, "This is their fault. We're going to stomp them Johnny. They deserve it."
"Dal," his voice was so weak when he spoke, it stunned me. "Dal, come back afterwards, okay? Bring Pony too. Please, Dal," he was so quiet, and his voice kept breaking. I didn't say anything for a little bit, still surprised at the horrible sound of his voice.
"Of course, Johnny! Of course I'll be back!" How could he think I wouldn't? "Just... hang in there, buddy. I'll be back soon." I could see it took him a lot of effort to smile in reply. I licked my lips, unwilling to leave, but left anyways. Here would be here when I got back. He had to be.
As I left the hospital, I felt my anger building inside of me. The rage pumped through me, pushing me to run faster towards the lot.
Things were already starting once I get there, but I was there in time for the first punch. I jumped on the first soc I saw and started beating the hell out of him. My arm stung badly, but I ignored it. Every punch was revenge for Johnny. Every soc there was the reason Johnny was the way he was right now. I fought harder than I ever had. I wanted to win; I wanted them to feel the pain they were causing Johnny. I wanted more than that, though. I wanted my own pain to go away. I wanted to make Johnny better. I thought, somehow, beating the sense out of this soc would accomplish that.
Ponyboy helped me out a bit, seeing how I had only one good arm. I didn't want his help, but didn't complain since he obviously needed mine. Everything was blurry; people were everywhere getting hit and kicked. I couldn't see the things around me, only the soc in front of me that I continued to beat.
I started to hear cheering, but didn't pay it any attention. Then Two-Bit's voice cut into my mind screaming "They're running." The socs were running. We won. They were running. Even after I heard the screams I was hitting the guy under me, but eventually let up enough for him to squirm away and run off with his friends. I watched for a moment, triumphantly staring after them. Then I stopped my silent celebration and turned to Ponyboy.
I yanked him to his feet and forced him towards my car. He was in bad shape, but I hardly noticed. I had to get back to see Johnny. I promised him I would be back. The adrenaline from the fight still pumped through me, so I didn't feel any pain. All I felt was an invisible force dragging me to Johnny.
We beat the socs, but that didn't seem to matter to me all of a sudden. Beating them didn't help me, didn't help Johnny. It was their fault, it's all their fault. Not really though. It's my fault. I should have been there to protect him, I should have been watching out for him. I was foolish to try to keep him from becoming like me. If he were like me he wouldn't have gotten into this. If you're tough you don't get hurt.
After getting pulled over and what seemed like the longest drive of my life, I finally got to the hospital. I ran straight to Johnny's room, ignoring the shouts around me. I didn't even care if Pony was behind me anymore. All that mattered was that I see Johnny.
I finally got to the door and the doctor stopped me. I pressed my blade to his chest and told him I was getting in. He thought before he said anything, and if he had told me no, I would've stabbed him right there. I didn't care; I was ready to kill him. He was standing between me and Johnny. But he didn't say no, he let me in.
I burst into the room, afraid I was too late. "Johnnycake?" Oh, god, please answer! He opened his eyes when I called his name.
"Hey," he managed to say. I didn't think it would be possible, but he sounded even worse than he did earlier.
"We won. We beat the socs, stomped 'em good, Johnny," I told him, out of breath.
"Fighting's no good," he choked out quietly. What does that mean? We beat them, we won.
"They're still writing about you in the paper, calling you a hero. We're real proud of you, Johnny," I told him. The way his eyes glowed then made me so happy I couldn't even describe it. It made me feel, through this horrible, messed-up situation, like things were perfect.
"Ponyboy," he called out. Pony went close to him and I heard Johnny whisper to him.
"Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold."
I watched as Johnny's eyes closed and he relaxed into the pillow. No. No. No. He's isn't dead. He can't be dead. He is though. I pushed his hair back out of his face, they way I had done so many times while he was alive. It felt like I wasn't really there, wasn't really doing it. I felt like I was watching myself as I moved.
Then, I slammed back into my own body, and everything hurt at once. I slammed against the wall and yelled out in agony. "Damnit Johnny! Don't die! Don't die Johnny, please don't die!"
I felt all the physical pain of the rumble and my arm throbbed from my burn. But the worst pain was inside. I felt as if I was exploding, I ached everywhere and wanted to hurl and scream and curl up and die. I had to get out of that room, away from that scene, those feelings. I turned and ran as fast and hard as I could away from that place.
Author's Note:
Thank you for the reviews! I know this is a short chapter, but It's really all I could do with this part. Thanks for your honest feedback on the last chapter, loved hearing it!
Steff Malfoy1, thanks again for such a great review, I honestly look forward to reading what you have to say every time I post a chapter. And I will be re-writing my first chapter, but I have to finish the story first. I really should have made Dally more reluctant to open up, I was thinking of making him pause and stuff more often while he talked to Johnny, I just didn't really want it to break up his story... you know, like wreak the flow of it. 'Cause I was making it like a flashback, but without it being a flashback (if that makes sense). Now that I've slept then read it over though, I realize I probably should have added in more of his hesitation. Thanks for your honesty, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Landyn, if you're reading this (Which I hope you are) Thank you for the compliments, I'm glad you're enjoying it. I want to let you know I will definitely be doing another OC story after this one, it may be a sister-fic or cousin, or something like that, but I will do another one. I think writing this is a lot more challenging for me than doing an OC, and that's why I wanted to try it, for something different. But I enjoyed the OC story more, so I know I'll be doing another one. Probably either a Dally/OC, Darry/OC or Johnny/OC.
I'll update again soon, keep reviewing people, I love to hear what you think!
