Darry's hand was on my arm, shaking gently to wake me up. I sat up stiffly and peered around at my surroundings, trying to figure out where in the hell I was. I was in a large, plain, chair filled room that smelled way too sanitary for my liking. It was completely empty except for the gang and myself. And then I remembered: we were at the hospital.

Two Bit grinned when I caught his eye.

"Man, I never expected you to be the snoring type," he chuckled, and the rest of the gang laughed with him. Despite my efforts, my face turned fire-engine red.

"Oh shut up," I snapped. "It's only when I sleep sitting up."

"Oh no it's not," Mike grinned. I flipped him off, and Two Bit laughed even harder.

"How long have I been asleep for?" I asked, looking around for a clock.

Darry glanced down at his watch. "It's almost seven, now. So about two hours."

"Holy crap!" I cried. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

"You looked tired," Soda shrugged. Then he grinned and arched one eyebrow suggestively. "Mike told us that you weren't getting much sleep lately."

My mouth dropped open and I glared at my cousin, who flushed and grinned sheepishly at me.

"Guys, are we going to see Dally, or what?" Pony said impatiently.

I felt a little bad for the kid; he looked really worried. It didn't really make sense to me, because he never seemed to really like Dally very much, but I guess he was still worried about him.

I jumped to my feet and stretched hugely, leaning back with my arms in the air to crack my back. My shirt lifted up a little bit, and, grinning like a maniac, Two Bit poked my showing stomach. Not expecting this, I let out a little shriek and giggled. A giggle. I didn't giggle; I glared at him, but smirked when he did nothing but smile widely back.

"Okay, guys," the nurse named Maggie said, stopping us before we all crowded into Dally's room. "I know you all want to see Dallas, but there are only allowed two at a time; those are doctor's orders."

Steve glared at her and opened his mouth to argue, but I slapped his arm and interrupted. The poor woman looked terrified, and little wonder; she was trying to stop a group of people containing seven large, tough-looking men. If I'd been her, I wouldn't have even attempted it.

"Yeah, that's fine," I told her. "Why don't you two go first?" I nodded to Ponyboy and Johnny. They both nodded, and the rest of us returned to our seats in the waiting room.

The other guys were talking and laughing now that they knew that Dallas was alright, but I didn't feel like joining in on the jokes. Instead, I picked up an outdated magazine and moved to the other side of the waiting room. After a moment, Mike joined me.

"What's going on?" he asked quietly, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "You're awfully quiet."

"I'm just tired," I shrugged. "I'll be fine once I get home and get into bed."

"Yeah, I bet," he agreed. "Do you mind telling me why you walked here? Didn't you leave with Tim?"

"Yes," I growled. I turned the page of the magazine so forcefully that it ripped. "He's an ass, though."

"Well I could have told you that," Mike said in an I-told-you-so-voice. "In fact, I think I did tell you that, if I remember correctly. I think all of the guys told you that he was an ass."

I glared at him, but didn't say a word. Finally, he sighed and removed his arm from around me. He got up to walk away, but turned back and looked down at me.

"You can do better than that, Katie," he said softly. "You know you can."

"Why do you hate Tim so much?" I asked, leaning back in my chair and glaring up at him. "Is it just because I like him?"

Mike shook his head slowly. "I don't know, Kate. I just have this really bad feeling about the guy, alright? There's something not right about him."

"Oh, go away," I snapped, turning back to my magazine.

Mike continued to look at me for a minute, but he eventually went back to sit beside Soda.

I read and re-read every article in the magazine while the guys took their turns visiting Dally. Every one of them came back out of the room grinning and shaking their heads in amusement. I smirked, but didn't move from my chair.

"Alright, you guys," the doctor said, coming out to the waiting room. "Visiting hours are over. I'm going to have to ask you all to leave now; you all can come back tomorrow."

"But Kate didn't get to go see Dal!" Everyone looked at Johnny, surprised that he had said anything. He usually didn't speak in front of strangers unless it was absolutely necessary.

I saw Nurse Maggie looking at me with interest from behind the nurse's desk. "It's fine," I said quickly, looking away from her. "I can come and see him tomorrow."

"But Katie -" Soda started, and I turned on him.

"I said I'll come tomorrow, okay?" I snapped. "Jesus, I'm tired and want to go to bed. Is that okay with everyone?"

The room was silent for a moment as everyone looked at me in shock, and then Two Bit let out a low whistle.

"Someone's cranky."

I glared at him, and he looked away quickly, not saying another word.

"Are you sure, Katie?" Darry asked. "I'm sure we could convince him to let you in for a minute, if you wanted to see Dal."

"No, I'm fine." I smiled up at him tiredly. "I really just want to go to bed."

He nodded. "Alright, let's get out of here." He turned to the doctor. "Tell him goodnight from all of us." I noticed that he stressed the 'all', and so did the doctor; he glanced at me, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'll do that," he said.

We walked back to the cars, and I crawled into the back with Soda. He put his arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into his chest, slipping into a light doze as Mike drove us home.