Um, hello? You readers still out there? Or is everyone on summer break? Hint, hint.... Calla....

Summer Adventures

Chapter 10

Uncle Billy

XXX

The streets of Oklahoma blur past in the window. My head screamed in agony from how badly I wanted to go home- and from how poorly I felt. I flat out wasn't feeling good, hot and sweaty with my head swimming, like I just wanted to lay down bare ass naked on a cold floor and not move. If I were home, I probably would. My arm hurt, really hurt, and I wondered if that was the main problem. However, I definitely didn't want another alcohol bath on it, that hurt so bad I nearly blacked out. I wished I had my aspirin, but not only didn't I have time to get them, I figured the guy watching me pack would never have allowed it. So now I had a pounding headache to go along with my agonizing arm. What a day.

"...gonna be fine..... "

The woman, Mrs. O' Donovan, droned on and on, but I didn't pay her any attention. There were four of us kids in the car, three boys and one girl. The girl looked like she was eight or so and cried the whole time, the rest of us guys just looked bored. One kid, the oldest, looked like if he was given the chance and no one would stop him, he'd toss her out of the car at the next curb - slowing down being optional. I had to admit the girl was annoying the heck out of me too.

On top of all my other problems, half way down to Oklahoma City, I felt my stomach tighten, and prayed the feeling would go away. I hugged my stomach, hoping to ease the queasy feeling. Another few miles went by without it getting better. I lay my head against the warm window pane which also gave me no relief, then rolled the window down hoping to dissuade the sickening, wrenching knot in my stomach.

"Hey, I think he's gonna hurl," the guy sitting next to me said, instantly moving over as far away from me as he could get.

"Are you okay, Ponyboy?" Mrs. O' Donovan called back to me, but I was too busy concentrating on not being sick to answer. "Hold on, honey."

I wanted to tell her I wasn't anyone's 'honey', and she could shove it up her....never mind, my stomach unloaded then.

"Ewwww, that's gross!" … "Way to go, kid!"..... "I want to go hommmmmeeee!" came the assorted cries from the other inmates in the car. The car swerved as she pulled over, not helping me one bit.

"Come on," she gently said as she half lifted me out of the car and walked me over a little ways to the side of the road, where I finished off the deed I had started. When I was done, she sat me down on the gravel safely off the highway, and I leaned against the car's tire. I was as woozy as could be, and was just thankful to be sitting down somewhere outside of that moving vehicle for a while.

"Lordy have mercy you're hot. Ponyboy, are you sick, or just carsick?... Ponyboy?"

I didn't know. I had never been carsick before in my life that I could remember, and Dad used to take us all over the place when we were little.

"I dunno, call my dad and ask him," I said without opening my eyes. There was a silence that persisted longer than really necessary.

Dad should be back from work by now. I thought. Really, just give him a call and ask him. He'd know.

"Stay here, Ponyboy. We're almost to the Capitol. I'm gonna clean the car and get the others dispersed, then I'm gonna take you to a doctor."

Fine, whatever. I leaned back against the side of the car and breathed in the warm air. There was a breeze here, and it felt good. Just when I was about to lay down on the gravel, she came around and helped lift me up, walked me around to my seat in the car and sat me down. The engine started up, and I thought about the sound, needs an adjustment on the starter belt, Soda could do that easily. The car moved on down the road.

An eternity later, as I blearily watched the other three inmates get dropped off from one house to another along the way, Mrs O' Donovan pulled up to a small building with a white picket fence around it and cut the engine. Nice, I thought. I'm home.

"Ponyboy, come on, I want you to see a doctor," Mrs. O' Donovan said as she opened the door. I nearly fell out I was so tired.

She took me inside, sat me in a chair and went to chat with the receptionist. A few minutes later, I was being escorted back to a room by a nice young nurse. Darry would like you, I thought.

She sat me on a table and I laid down without asking, too tired to sit up. The table was cool, and felt good to lay on. She stuck something in my mouth and told me to keep my mouth shut, which I did. I didn't want to talk anyway. Soon enough, she pulled it out and glanced at it, then stared at it longer. She looked at me, felt my forehead, then went on doing whatever else she needed to do. I didn't really fight anything she did till she took my arm for the blood pressure.. then I choked out a protest and pulled my arm back, shielding it from further prodding.

"What is this?" the nurse asked, carefully prying my hand away. "Come on now, sweety, I won't hurt you. Let me see."

I ain't ten, and I hated being talked down to like that by someone I didn't know. However, she was persistent in what she was doing, and before long, the bandage Soda had put on it hours ago was removed, and I heard her gasp under her breath.

"Come on, I need to get this shirt off," she said a little more forcefully, tugging at my clothes.

Uh uh. I ain't that easy, no matter what the guys say. My clothes stay on! I gave a good fight, adamantly refusing to budge on the whole 'clothes off' issue. She got frustrated with me, and pulled out some scissors. You wanna play that game, I can play too, I thought. I was gonna pull out my switchblade I knew was still hidden in my back pocket, but thought better of it. Ultimately, I gave a good loud "NO" and that sent her out of the room.

Finally, I thought as I lay back down, weary from the struggle. That gal sure is used to getting her way. Darry'd set her straight, though, if they ever hooked up. Then the door opened again, and I thought, round two, but I was wrong. It was some man in a white coat. The Doctor. I had a sinking feeling he would win.

"Ponyboy, how are you? I'm Dr. Cannady. The nurse tells me you have a fever of 104.6, and your social worker said that you're talking somewhat out of the ordinary. The nurse also said you have a bad cut on your arm that appears to have been stitched in a rather unusual manner, and that it may be infected. I have to look at it, son. I won't hurt you, but I do have to look at it. Take off your shirt for me, please."

Well, since you put it that way. I took off the shirt, making my shoulder scream in pain as I lifted my arm over my head. Then I lay back down, the effort to just take off my shirt wearing me out. I felt him touching my arm gingerly, and appreciated that he was at least being true to his promise - gentle and not hurting me.

"Yep, that looks pretty bad. Tell me, son, what happened to you?" He looked at me with concerned eyes.

"Tornado," I mumbled. "Got cut. Steve stitched it. Please, no alcohol. I don't want anymore alcohol."

"Alcohol? Were you drinking?" he asked, tone being one of curiosity.

"No, I don't drink. Darry'd skin me."

I wasn't sure why I was so out of it. It was just a cut, after all.

"Well, I need to take some blood and give you some medicine. I'm gonna send my nurse in to do that for me but she won't mess with that arm, so don't go fighting her, alright?"

"Sure," I say, not caring much anymore. However, she even looks my pants, and I was gonna pull out my switch. No foolin. Ain't no girl got any business messin' with my pants.

The doc left, and I nearly fell asleep laying on that cold table. It felt good against my hot skin. A few ticks of the clock later and the door opened again. The nurse had returned.

"Hold still, I gotta get some blood." She said, nicely enough.

This time there was no protest. She only manipulated my good arm, and when she poked me for blood, she was so quick about it, I barely noticed it. "Ouch..." I mumbled, but by the time I had the whole word out, she was done and I had stopped feeling it.

"There you go. Now, leave that alone. I'm gonna get you some medicine so you'll start feeling better. Hold still."

The nurse was in and out for the next while. I wasn't able to keep up with time anymore, just really wanting to sleep. At one point, she'd given me some pills, which I swallowed with the cup of cold water she brought. Eventually, the doctor came back in.

"Okay, now that I've got some medicine in you to drop that fever and some strong antibiotics moving through your system, lets fix the obvious source of the problem." He turned the table I was laying on so he could get to my shoulder without me having to move, then poked me with a needle. The first time he did it, I thought I would explode. Then it hurt less and less and I was too out of it to protest much. I gave the obligatory "ouch," but that was about it. He poked me four or five more times, injecting me with something each time, then when he was satisfied with what he was doing, he started cutting Steve's handiwork off.

I watched for a moment, since it wasn't hurting anymore, curious as to what he was doing. Once all the stitches Steve had put in were out, he cut the wound opened again and poured a bottle of watery looking stuff over it. Unlike the alcohol, this didn't sting a bit. I never even felt it. Then I stupidly realized he'd numbed me up. Pus oozed out of it like a massive nasty zit. Gross, I know, but I'm a guy and guy's love gross stuff. So, he kept pouring bottle after bottle of that water over it until he was happy with what it looked like, then he had his turn at sewing me up. Granted, his stitches looked a whole lot better than Steve's, but don't tell Steve that.

"Okay, Ponyboy, I think the worst is over. I want you to stay here and rest for a while, I'm going to go talk to Mrs. O' Donovan now. Leave the IV's alone, and you just get some sleep."

"Sure. Thanks," I said, grateful when he turned out the light as he left the room, leaving me in the dark. Finally, I could sleep. I never noticed it when someone came in to lay a sheet over me.

XXX

Floating, I was floating. No, I was being carried. Darry? I opened my eyes, but it was the doctor. Where was I going? I tried to look, but I didn't recognize anything. He took me to a room and lay me down on a bed, then covered me up with the sheet. The IV was still in my arm, and a bottle of fluid dangled above me.

"Where.." I tried to ask.

"Shh. Go to sleep, son. You're safe, you're at my house."

Looking over, I saw Mrs. O' Donovan sitting in a chair, watching me. Just take me home, I thought. My eyes closed, and I felt the pull of sleep calling me. This was a soft bed with comfy pillows and cool sheets. It didn't take long before I was asleep again.

XXX

The morning light woke me. I sat up with a start, not recognizing where I was. It was someone's room, there were trophies and footballs on some shelves, novels laying end to end on others. Pennants from various teams hung on the wall. I tried to remember what happened last night, and it began to come back to me. I looked at my arm where the IV had been, but it was gone. A simple band-aid covered the spot now. On my other shoulder, a thick bandage covered my cut, but my arm wasn't anywhere near as sore as it had been. My arm was stiff, but didn't hurt as much. I pulled the covers back, and groaned. My denim shorts were gone, and I lay here in just my underwear. That part I don't remember. My clothes lay on a chair next to the bed, and I carefully stood up and dressed. I was a little woozy, but able to keep my balance. Now, where was I?

I opened the door and heard laughter coming from down the stairs. The smell of bacon lofted up, making my stomach rumble viciously. Carefully, I followed the sounds and smells, and before long I found myself at the entryway to someone's kitchen. Mrs. O' Donovan and the doctor were there, and both turned to me and smiled when I came in.

"Good morning, Ponyboy! Feeling better?" she asked.

"Um, yes ma'am. Sorry about yesterday... I, um, I wasn't feeling well."

"And how are you feeling this morning?" The doctor came over and had me sit in one of his kitchen chairs, feeling my forehead and smiling.

"Better, sir. Thank you."

"Uncle Billy, better let me take over the cooking."

"Yeah, that's a good idea, Anna. Come on, Ponyboy, let's go to my office, give you a checkup."

He led me down a hall and into a room filled with medical stuff. It wasn't the same room I was in yesterday, but had lots of the same things.

"You're probably trying to figure all this out, huh? Well, that's understandable. I'm Dr. Cannady, Anna... I mean Mrs. O' Donovan's uncle. She brought you to me yesterday when you were sick." While he talked, he looked in my ears, eyes, throat... all the usual places that doctors look at you when you go for a checkup. He also listened to my chest and checked my reflexes too.

"She said you had been in that tornado that hit Tulsa the day before yesterday. Do you remember everything that happened? Black out or anything?"

"Yes sir, I mean no sir.... I mean, I didn't black out. I remember everything."

He untaped the bandage from my arm and looked at it, looking pleased.

"Well, you got cut by something sharp. I don't know if it was the thing that cut you, or the stitch job you had, but one or the other more than likely gave you that infection. I also gave you a tetanus shot, just in case. She doesn't have your medical records, and having a second one early wont hurt you anyway. Best to be on the safe side. By the way, who stitched you up?"

I grinned some. "A friend. He cleaned it with alcohol really good before he sewed it up though. Guess he needed to clean the cut a little more, huh?"

The doctor smiled. "Well, I don't know if it was the cleaning job or the stitching job, but I have a feeling your friend wasn't a doctor."

"No sir, just a mechanic. But a real good mechanic."

"I'm sure he is, but uh, best to have your friend stick to cars, and let the medical folks stick to medicine." He smiled as he rebandaged my arm. "Ready to eat?"

I nodded, starved, but something else besides hunger pain was gnawing at me too.

"Can I use your phone first?"

He looked at me, unsure.

"I know I have to go with her, I just want to see if my brother managed to make it back yet from the storm. He was out in it, and we … my other brother and I, haven't heard from him since."

He looked at me closer, then nodded. "Two minutes, that's all. Then come on and eat. Don't make me regret this."

He got up and left, and I picked up the phone, dialing my number. It gave a funny signal, then the recorded message about the phone being out of service started. I hung up, lines in my area were still down. Be okay, Darry, please be alright. I opened the door and returned to the kitchen.

Mrs. O' Donovan was laughing and talking with the doctor, making it look very obvious that they were family. Someone had made me a plate to eat, and I dug in. Warm food and cold milk, just like breakfast should be. There were even homemade biscuits and real apple butter. We don't get that fancy unless it's the holidays. She smiled while watching me eat, then when I was almost done, cleared her throat.

"When you are done, Ponyboy, go take a shower. Your bag is at the end of the hall, bathroom is on the right. Then, we'll have to go. The foster family that has agreed to take you is expecting us in two hours."

My heart sunk. I wasn't going home. "Can't I go home? Darry's a great guardian, really, he is. It wasn't our fault the tornado hit, but I'm sure Darry's gonna get the whole house like it should be real fast. And I can help. Without me, it's only gonna take longer."

"I'm sorry, no. When the judge reconvenes for your hearing in a month, then Darry will have a chance at regaining custody. Provided, of course, he does as the courts ask."

I looked down, knowing I had no choice but to go. It was great food - best I'd tasted in a long time, but I wasn't hungry anymore. I took my plate and cup to the sink, scraping what was left of my breakfast into the trash and began to clean my dishes.

"Son, I'll take care of that. You just go on and take a shower. If the bandage gets wet, that's okay. I'll put another bandage on it before you leave."

I looked at the doctor. He had a caring voice to go with those sincere eyes; and I nodded, leaving my plate and stuff in the sink. I headed off towards the bathroom, wishing I were back at home.

After my shower, I packed my stuff and came back down the hall.

"Come with me, Ponyboy, let me check that arm one more time before you go."

He led me back into his office, and changed the bandages. "Now, you need to keep this dry for today. Tonight, take some Tylenol and smear some of this medicated cream on the stitches. Don't cover it up unless you are gonna be getting dirty. No lifting stuff over your head, you'll only make the stitches pull apart. In about ten days, have the foster family you'll be staying with take you to have the stitches removed. If you start getting feverish again, go straight to a doctor. Okay?" he finished re-bandaging my arm, then looked at me, waiting for an answer. I simply nodded.

"Hey, Anna's the best social worker you could have on your side. She told me some things about your family, and you seem to be a good kid. That's rare, considering the kids she usually deals with in Tulsa. Keep your spirits up, things will work out. Okay, Ponyboy?"

"Yeah, thanks. How much do I owe you?" Why I asked I had no idea, I had no money. Even the money I'd made from Max was left behind at home. I hoped Soda would let Max know I wasn't gonna be back for a while, and briefly wondered if Max would even take me back whenever this nightmare ended.

He smiled, then shook his head. "You just be one of the success stories, that'll be payment enough." He clapped my back, and he led me outside where Mrs. O' Donovan was waiting at her car.

I put my bag in the backseat, then got in the passenger side while she said her goodbye's. A few minutes later, we were cruising back down the road.

"That's your uncle?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's my Uncle Billy. He's a character, he is. Was in the Navy for a few years, then went into medicine. Hard to believe we have a doctor in the family. Just goes to show, you can do anything - and become anything, as long as you put your mind to it. What are your dreams, Ponyboy? What do you want to do with your life?"

I thought about it and shrugged. When my shoulder gave me a tingle, I knew I'd better not shrug anymore – at least not for a while. "Dunno yet."

"Well, you still have a while to think on it."

We rode in silence for a while, then she turned on the radio. Her taste in music and mine were very different, but I wasn't about to start complaining. As long as Hank Williams didn't come on, I could endure just about anything. I just watched out my window trying to figure out where we were by the terrain. It was somewhere between flat and hilly, and very open. Not like Windrixville, that was more hilly to mountainy. An hour more, and we pulled up to some house out in the middle of a pasture.

"Well, we're here. Come on, it won't be so bad. You'll see." She gave me a smile then got out. I got out too, not knowing what to do. She headed to the door, but before she could get there it opened and another lady stepped out. I heard their voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Finally, Mrs. O' Donovan called out to me.

"Come here, Ponyboy. I want you to meet Mrs. Nixon. She's going to be caring for you for the next month or two."

Two? I thought. I knew I wasn't going back.

XXXX

Calla Lilly Rose