Author's Note: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but I felt it was best for Darry to have this part. Thank you for all your reviews and all of your advice, I do take it all into great consideration.
Darry:
Sitting in the waiting room for three hours, I watched Ponyboy go from pacing around the room, to outside for a smoke and back again. At one point, Sodapop asked if I thought she would be okay and when I didn't answer, he too went outside for a smoke. Two-bit was quiet; his bright, excited face wore a mask of confusion. Even Steve seemed rather shook up, staring out the window in disbelief.
I sat there wondering, why did we all care so much? This girl, who showed up on the front porch half drowned and beaten, had affected us all. I relived moments that I had shared with Riley over and over again in my mind.
That night in the kitchen, she was hesitant and jittery. Her blue eyes wore this cloak of distrust and were darken like a skyline as a storm would roll in. In contrast, earlier that day at the beach, she was different. Her eyes shown with the clarity of the sun, she was elated and she was safe. If we have just gone inside with her, we could have protected her from such hate. We would be at the drive-inn right now, laughing and enjoying the night. I could picture her and Ponyboy curled up in the backseat, with Riley's head rest on his chest and sleeping serenely.
I realized at that moment, that all of us had fallen for Riley's captivating personality, we all loved her. I put my hands together and said a silent prayer, begging God to spare such a naïve and impeccable, young girl.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the officer I had spoken to talking to the nurse at the help desk. I shout out of my chair and raced over to them.
"Officer…" I said as I walked up. "How's Riley?"
"I'm sorry sir…" The nurse said, standing up. "Family only…"
"But I am family!" I struggle not to bellow. "Her father did this to her and her mother abandoned her, we're all she's got!"
The nurse opened her mouth, ready to recite a monologue I'm sure she had given a thousand times. The officer coughed, making her turn her head to him.
He tried to whisper to her, but I was still able to make it out. "We haven't been able to locate either of her parents yet…let them see her."
The nurse sighed. "Let me get a doctor."
I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the officer over and over. I ran back to where Steve sat and told him to bring the others inside. As they all walked in, a doctor walked up.
"You're here for Riley Adams?" He said, folding his hands in front of him.
"How is she?" Ponyboy asked in a panic.
The doctor sighed lightly, a professional at giving bad news. "She's in a coma…" He paused for a moment, letting us all soak it in. When none of us replied, he continued. "At this moment, she's stable. She had some trauma to her head and loss a lot of blood."
"When will she wake up?" Steve asked in defeated tone.
"We're not sure…For right now we're monitoring her and all we can do is pray."