When I woke up, I was on the Curtis family's couch. The television was on, and when I opened my eyes wide enough, I could see that it was advertising a cooking brand. The radio was blaring so loud it made me want to cover my ears.
Then the pain came. It throbbed, everywhere. My ribs, head, and surprisingly my wrist was the worst of it.
"Hey, Johnnycake!" A happy voice rang out, causing me to jump. Ouch- bad mistake.
I craned my neck to see Two-Bit, sitting on the floor with a beer in his hand. I could see that he was probably watching T.V., but now he was grinning up at me crazily.
"Sorry if I scared 'ya, but your awake... Yay!" He said, throwing his free hand in the air childishly. I would roll my eyes, but it hurt too much to even move them so much. Instead, I weakly smiled.
"Hey, Two-Bit," I said. He kept grinning widely.
"Boy, I thought you'd never wake up, the way you were sleeping!" He exclaimed, then added, "You were out for- hmm... Two full days, I think?"
Two days? I must have gotten some drugs, I couldn't of slept like that by myself, with this pain.
"Was I in the hospital?" I asked feebly. He nodded.
"Yeah, Darry took 'ya sometime after you passed out. The doc stitched up your head, and taped your wrist-" He caught my surprised expression- "Your wrist was broken pretty badly, the doc had to set it and everything. They wanted to plaster it, but we refused. We thought it would be a pain in the ass, don't you? Anyway, he taped it up instead. Most of your ribs are broken, but there ain't much he could do about that. Your 'sposed to stay in bed for a week or somethin'- Darry said your more then welcome to stay here for the next week. The doc also gave you some stuff to knock you out for a few days... I suppose Dally was stealin' some, 'cause there ain't too much left. I guess the guy needs his sleep, doin' what he does."
Two-Bit then put a cigarette in his mouth, and popped his collar- the action was eerily familiar to someone else I knew.
"Ey Johnny, can I borrow some of your, pills? That bastard Buck's music is killin' me." He said, in a perfect Dallas Winston imitation. He then spit out the cigarette and gave his famous chortle.
I laughed, and a flash of pain jumped up my neck and head. I flinched at it. Two-Bit patted my knee sympathetically.
"Take it easy, bud. I can get anything you need," He said, then paused for a chuckle. "I'm not that much of a lazy bum."
I laughed and flinched again, at the pain. Note to self, do not move at all costs. Two-Bit casually got up and went to the kitchen to get himself another beer, and on his way turned off the radio and lowered the volume of the television for me. When he got to the kitchen, there was some rattling around and I heard the icebox door slam.
"Shoot!"
Two-Bit came back into the room. He was holding a glass of water and had his other palm open. I could see a white pill in it.
"There's no beer!" He shouted, with the same drama-queen voice he used to imitate Soda. He came over and handed me the water and pill. I took it with a shaky hand, popped it in my mouth, then took a drink to swallow it. My arm ached like hell when I lifted it.
"I'm going out to get more beer... This should put you out at least 'till Ponyboy's home. He's at school now," He checked his pockets for his prized switch, (he didn't go anywhere without it) and fiddled with his leather jacket.
"Bye, Johnny," He said, and began to walk in the direction of the door. Just as he turned the knob I asked something.
"Why aren't you at school?"
He grinned.
"Everyone else is at either school or work, Darry wanted someone to be your babysitter and I was first in line! Hell, I love vacation days- beer, beer and more beer!" He snorted, in a silly manner. After all, he was probably drunk. I could start to feel the pill kicking in, I was feeling more and more sleepy. Two-Bit said one final goodbye, and left. It took a few minutes, then I drifted into a painless sleep.
*****
"Johnny? Johnny, love, are you awake?" A soft voice asked. It sounded broken- hurt. I opened my swollen and black eyes to see Ramona looking at me, kneeling beside the couch. She was still her pretty self, except for some minor adjustments. She had dark, sleepless circles under her eyes, and her hair was messy, like she hadn't bothered to style it. I secretly liked it. It was carefree, like nothing could bother her. But, I knew she was bothered by many things. Especially the Socs.
"Hey, baby," I said, in a hoarse voice. I then wondered why she was in the Curtis house. Did something bad happen?
"Oh Johnny," She said, and bit her lip. She stroked my face, and her cool hands soothed the cuts on it.
"How..." I started, but a flicker of pain in my ribs cut me off.
"I met up with Ponyboy at school. He had a surprise track meeting, but he was supposed to look after you, so I offered to." She said, as if reading my mind. I was so glad. Glad to see the Socs hadn't beaten her to a pulp, glad she was with me. I also felt a bit of shame- I needed people to look after me?
"I'm happy," I blurted out, and immediately felt embarrassed. That sounded like something a two year old would say. I thought Ramona would laugh at my stupidity, but instead I could see tears beggining to streak her face.
"Don't cry..." I said weakly. She started to stroke my hair.
"Why did -they do-this to-you?" She said, between sniffles. "Why, Johnny?"
"I don't know. It's just the way things are around here." I said. She took her hands away from my head and slammed her fist on the armrest of the couch.
"It shouldn't be like that. It's so..." - She paused to think- "pointless." She wiped away her tears, wearily.
"When was the last time you got any sleep?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
"Do I really look that awful?"
I laughed. "No, your just as pretty as you are everyday. Seriously though, when?"
She looked at the ground.
"The two days I didn't see you, I couldn't sleep. I worried quite a bit."
"You don't have to worry about me..." I said.
"Well, it's quite blatant that I do have to, if you have bones broken by Socs." She stated. A wave of pain shot through my wrist and I cringed.
Noticing it, Ramona said softly, "I'll get you your medicine."
"No," I stopped her. "I want to be awake. I want to be with you."
"That's no fair, Johnny. You're in pain," She said, in a soothing tone. I tried to respond, but instead I coughed harshly. Gotta lay off the cigarettes, I told myself.
"If you take the medicine, I promise I won't leave your side, love. I don't like seeing you hurt like this." She smoothed out my hair.
"Okay," I said. I couldn't disagree with her. She was the type of girl you couldn't really argue with. Either that, or the argument was very short lived. She took my empty glass I had used before, and headed to the kitchen. She came back with a pill and my glass filled with water.
"Bottoms up," She said, as she handed me the pill and glass. I swallowed it with a gulp of water. She took the glass from me, and a seat beside me. She took my hand and gently squeezed it.
"Ramona," I said suddenly, "What did you think of me when we first met?"
I was curious to know. Was it love at first sight? Did she think bad of me like everyone else?
"Well, first of all, I couldn't get over how attractive you are. But once you spoke, I got an odd feeling. One I never felt before. I think it was love at first sight, I'm not too sure. What about you? What was your first impression of me?" She asked. Gosh, that is strange. She thought the same thing that I did.
"Basically everything you just said," I answered. She smiled, then leaned over and kissed me on the forehead.
"Maybe we were meant to be," She whispered, after.
"Agreed," I said, and my eyelids began to droop.
"Goodnight, Johnny," She said, smiling.
"Goodnight, Ramona," I repeated, and I could feel myself fading out of consciousness, once again.
