Here's chapter twelve of Alternate. Sorry, it's kind of short.
Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Outsiders'
Dallas POV
I ran as fast as I could from that hospital room. I couldn't handle this right now. The kid had to get through this but, it didn't look good. Damnit! The doc said he probably wouldn't survive this week!
I fell against the side of a building and sank to my knees. No . . . that doctor didn't know anything. He didn't know Johnny. He didn't know what the kid had to put up with or what he lived with for the past sixteen years. I never did thank Darry for getting him out of there. But, Johnny was strong. He would get through this, just like he's gotten through everything else. The kid took a beating with a fucking two by four and lived through it! He would survive this. This wouldn't beat him.
There was an unfamiliar burning behind my eyes. I wiped angrily at my eyes. I didn't cry. I refused to cry. I don't know how long I sat there but, when I finally looked up from that spot on the sidewalk that was suddenly so interesting, the sky was dark and the streetlights were on. People were running around and laughing and having fun. I couldn't help but feel angry at them for being so happy and cheerful while Johnny was on the verge of dying in the hospital.
I shook my head viciously. No! He wasn't dying. He was just resting. He was only resting. Though, there was still the possibility that he wouldn't wake up. He would be okay. He would be okay. . .
I stood up. I couldn't seem to get the doubts about this out of my mind. He had to be okay, though. The kid had to live. He had to. I looked up and found myself at Buck Merril's. I went inside and sat at the bar. Buck walked up to me. He might have been talking but, it didn't matter. I didn't give a shit about what he was saying. I told him to get me a drink and he came back with a beer.
After about six beers the room started to blur a bit, the music pulsed loudly, the people looked like blobs and I forgot. My mind was a blank. All there was was the beers that kept appearing in my hand and the pulsing blobs of color all around me. Maybe, five beers later I started to feel sick and those pulsing blobs started spinning really fast. Then, it all went black.
Pain. That's all that I felt. A horrible throbbing pain in my head and all over my body. There was something on my arm or something. I withheld a groan and slowly opened my eyes, squinting at the lights glaring overhead. Once my eyes adjusted I realized I was in a hospital room.
I sat up, regretting it immediately when the throbbing in my head increased. I laid down slowly and looked for my jeans. They were laying next to the bed. I dug through the pockets for my lighter and Kools. I lit a cigarette then put the pack and the lighter on the side table, breathing in the smoke and closing my eyes.
Tim POV
I saw Dallas collapse and cursed under my breath before pushing through the crowd and pulling him to his feet. He staggered along and I was supporting most of his weight. I put him in the back seat of my car and drove him to the hospital. The guy was going to get himself killed one day. I went home once the doctor took him.
I went back the next day to see him. When I got to his room, he was laying down on the bed with his eyes closed, smoking.
"Toss me one, will ya?" I said.
"Get it yourself." Was his mumbled reply.
I sat on the seat next to his bed. I took a cigarette, lit it, then blew out the smoke. "You can't keep doing this." I stated.
"What the hell are you talking about"
"Damnit, Dallas, you know what I'm talking about." I said, my voice rising slightly. "It happens every single time. Every fucking time that kid is hurt, you lose your head." I knew from the way that he clenched his teeth, that he knew this too. "You can't do it anymore. It makes you weak"
"You do the same fucking thing with Curly and Angel. Don't act all high and mighty, like you ain't never done it"
I shook my head. "It ain't the same thing. 'Cause when something happens to them, I take it out on the person who hurt them. I don't go around poisoning myself 'cause I know that ain't gonna do 'em any good. 'Sides, Dallas, that kid ain't even your brother"
He shot up from the bed and glared at me. "Of course he's my brother! My brother who's in this hospital in a fucking coma 'cause of those damn Socs!" He yelled. He sank back onto the bed and put a hand over his eyes. "Get out." He said evenly, his voice cold.
"Dallas . . . "
"I said get out!" He yelled.
I sighed and left the room. I was going to leave the hospital, but instead hit the button to the fourth floor in the elevator. I walked over to the nurses' station and asked where I could find the kid's room. As soon as I found it, I went inside and sat down in one of the visitor's chairs next to the bed. That was the first time I had gotten a good look at the kid. I understood then why Dallas blew up. The kid, Johnny, looked real bad off . . .
"Hey, kid." I said to him. "Look, um, I know we haven't really talked all that much over the years but . . . you mean a lot to Dallas kid. And, if you were to die, it would kill him. Hell, he landed himself in the hospital just last night 'cause of what those Socs did to you . . ." The heart monitor seemed to stop for half a second before the steady beating resumed. Maybe he could hear me . . . "Hey, kid. You know who I am. Tough hood. I got that rep to keep up so, when you get better, I can't have you telling anyone that I told you this . . . Thank you." I swallowed. "If it hadn't been for you I probably would have lost my little sister. She may not have died but, they--they could have done some horrible things to her and . . . she just wouldn't have been her anymore if that happened . . . So, thanks Johnny"
Having finished with what I wanted to tell him, I got up and left. I could have sworn I heard the heart beat pick up for another second before slowing down again . . .
Dallas POV Two weeks later
I woke up to the sound of a door opening. I had been spending the night at the hospital some nights, staying by Johnny's bed, talking with him, threatening that he had better stay alive or else . . . but, he never responded, aside from his heartbeat changing . . . I thought that maybe that meant he could hear what I was saying . . . I looked up at the opening door and quickly leapt from my seat.
Those Socs were standing in the doorway, about to come inside. They stopped dead when they saw me and one of them put their hands up in a sign of surrender.
"We wasn't gonna try nothing, honest." He said. I'm pretty sure that was the one Ponyboy called Randy . . . "We just wanted to see how he was doing"
"How he's doing?" I snarled. "How do you think he's doing? You tell me, since you're the ones that put him here!" . . . I glanced back at Johnny. The kid couldn't even breathe on his own . . .
With that thought, I quickly advanced on the other, black haired, Soc. I noticed, feeling satisfied, that the injuries that Tim and Curly had given him hadn't healed yet. The skin around his eye was still a purplish tint and I noticed that he seemed to favor his left side. With that in mind, I punched him in the gut. He doubled over in pain, gasping for air, and I hit him in the back, hard. He fell to the ground, still gasping. His friend, Randy, helped him up, supporting his weight and slowly started bringing him out of the room. He said one last thing.
"We was only coming to apologize. Things got way out of hand. We just . . ." His voice faded, and he looked back at Johnny.
I noticed Johnny's heartbeat quicken rapidly, like when the kid was nervous. I glared at Randy and he struggled out the door, still supporting his friend. I went back over to the chairs beside the bed and sat down, watching my kid brother.
"It's alright, now, Johnny. They're gone."
Johnny POV
There was darkness. All I could see was darkness. I didn't feel anything, really. No pain. No anger. No fear. Nothing . . . Then, I heard their voices. Those Socs. They were coming back for me. Searching through the darkness I couldn't see them but I could hear them . . . I could hear everything . . .
"We was only coming to apologize . . . "Apologize? "Things just got way out of hand. . ." Randy's voice said distantly. That didn't even begin to cover what they did. I wondered where Bob was. I hadn't heard his voice yet . . . I was getting nervous. Where was Bob? Was he waiting for Randy to distract Dally then get to me? . . . as my heartbeat quickened, I heard the door close and someone sat close to me, so close I could hear them breathing.
"It's alright, now, Johnny." Dally's voice said. "They're gone"
I tried to calm myself and, slowly, I relaxed. The calm darkness around me was back and the only thing I could hear was Dally telling me over and over again that I would be fine. I would be fine and everything would be back to how it used to be. But, he was lying. I knew he was lying but, I still wasn't sure that he knew it . . .
Yeah, I missed Johnny. Now, I'm not really sure whether or not people can actually hear people speaking when in a coma so, don't flame, please. I just need to have Johnny in here a few more times before he . . . well, that would be giving away a bit too much. Flames are for bonfires, campfires, and to warm my soul, so, don't bother. R&R!! The next chapter should be up . . . later. Not one of those "next year" laters, I mean, like, probably next month . . . sry for the slow updates but, between school, homework, and uncooperative muses, I haven't had much time to write decent chappies.
