When Ponyboy and Darry arrived at the hospital the following morning, Two-Bit was fast asleep in the armchair by Steve's bed. Steve was also asleep; a nurse was tending to him, washing him down with a cool cloth.

She greeted them warmly, but had some bad news. "It's been a rough night," she told them softly. "Steve is very restless and he's not very lucid. We were able to get his temperature down to 102, but we haven't been able to lower it any further than that."

Darry let out a heavy sigh. "Has he eaten?"

The nurse echoed his sigh. "We've tried, hon. He keeps refusing."

Darry slung an arm around Ponyboy's shoulders. Ponyboy had a feeling Darry was making parallels between Steve's condition and two months prior when Ponyboy had been so ill. He knew he'd given his brothers – and the rest of the gang – quite a scare. Just like Steve was doing now.

The nurse smiled sadly at them. "Your friend there" – she nodded at Two-Bit – "he needs to go home and get some rest. I think he needs a break from this place." She finished washing Steve and then set the cloth in the basin on the table beside the bed. "In fact, I think you all need a break from this place. I know who you lot are, you know."

"You do?" Darry asked.

The nurse nodded. "You're friends of that boy. The one who was burned in that church fire. The one who passed away."

Ponyboy felt his insides turn to ice. Johnny.

"Yeah," he confirmed softly. Darry pulled him closer.

"I was one of Johnny's nurses," she lamented. "He was such a sweet boy. Shame what happened to him." She glanced at Ponyboy. "You helped saved those kids too, didn't you?"

Ponyboy nodded shyly.

The nurse smiled sweetly. "I thought I recognized you from the paper. Your hair's not as blond as it was in the picture, though."

Ponyboy's cheeks reddened. His bleached hair was starting to fade and the brown was growing back in its place, much to his relief. He'd hated that dreadful blond. "I guess s'not."

"There was another boy," the nurse went on. "He was a little rough around the edges, but he helped save those kids too. I heard he died as well."

Ponyboy closed his eyes, wishing the nurse would stop talking. His knees felt weak as memories of two months prior came washing back over him like a wave. He turned his head into Darry's shoulder and Darry tightened his grip around him.

"Miss?" Darry said, giving Ponyboy a gentle squeeze. "If you don't mind, we'd rather not talk about all that."

Now it was the nurse's turn to feel embarrassed. "Oh my goodness," she breathed, a hand flying up to palm her forehead. "Of course, dear. You'll have to forgive me. Sometimes I just talk and talk without thinking about the consequences. I'm truly sorry if I've upset you."

"It's all right," Darry said quickly, hearing that the apology was genuine. "Really, don't sweat it."

Ponyboy looked back up to see the nurse smile and nod gratefully. "I've got to go tend to another patient," she said, making her way over to the sink to wash her hands. "Promise me you'll take a break today. Get some fresh air in you. Hospitals are too sad to stay cooped up in them all day."

"We promise," Darry acknowledged as the nurse exited the room. He led Ponyboy over to a folding chair and told him to sit. Ponyboy obeyed, grateful for his brother.

"You okay, Pone?" Darry asked lowly, crouching down in front of him.

Ponyboy nodded, even though he wasn't. He didn't feel like he was on an emotional rollercoaster; he felt like he'd been hit by one. He didn't know if he wanted to scream or cry or both.

But he couldn't. He remembered what he had Darry had discussed the night before: it was their turn to be the strong ones, and that meant that Ponyboy couldn't let sorrow and grief get in the way. He couldn't let himself feel so much. He had to change.

Darry squeezed his knee. "Take some deep breaths, okay kid? And sit tight. I'm going to wake Two-Bit up."

Ponyboy nodded because he didn't trust himself to speak. He did as he was told, knowing that "deep breaths" was Darry's way of telling him to clear his mind; to go back to forgetting.

He watched as Darry gently roused Two-Bit from his doze. "Mathews? Wake up for me, man."

Two-Bit opened his bleary eyes. "Hey, Curtis," he mumbled sleepily, sitting up and rubbing the back of his hand across his eyes. "When'd you guys get here?"

"Couple of minutes ago," Darry answered. "How'd it go last night?"

Two-Bit yawned. "It was rough, man. We couldn't get him comfortable and his fever was so high that it was makin' him confused. Once we got it down, he was able to fall asleep, but he was still restless."

As if to prove Two-Bit's point, Steve moaned in his sleep and he shifted slightly in the bed. Instinctively, Two-Bit reached out to grab his hand, rubbing a soothing thumb against his skin. But Steve just moaned again and turned his head the other way.

Two-Bit let go and shrugged helplessly. "I think you guys are in for a long day," he sighed. "Is his uncle planning on stopping by?"

Darry looked down at his watch. "Yeah, he should be here within the next hour or so."

"Wish I could stay and meet him," Two-Bit said. "But you probably want me to head back to your place to check on Soda, huh?"

Darry nodded. "Yeah. Although he's doing better. He wasn't running a fever this morning. He'd probably be okay on his own for a while if you want to hang around."

Two-Bit stretched and stood up. "Nah. I'm gettin' cabin fever," he said. "I'm sure I'll meet Gerry some other time."

"Yeah, probably," Darry agreed.

Two-Bit gathered his belongings and took off shortly after, tapping Ponyboy, good-naturedly, on the back of the head on his way out.

Gerry Randle truly was almost too good to be true.

He arrived at the hospital shortly after Two-Bit had gone, clad in a business suit and tie. He was stopping by on his way to interview for a teaching position at the University of Tulsa, so he was dressed sharp.

Ponyboy could tell from just one look at him that he was one smooth dude. If it hadn't been for the uncanny facial resemblance, Ponyboy never would have believed he was related to Steve's father.

Both he and Darry stood up to greet the visitor, shaking his hand firmly. Ponyboy made sure to make eye contact even though he was intimidated by the man.

"Ponyboy Curtis," he introduced himself when prompted.

"Nice to meet you, champ. I'm Gerry Randle, Steve's uncle."

"I'm afraid you didn't come at the best time," Darry said, leading Gerry over to the seat by Steve's bed. "He had a rough night and this morning ain't much better."

Steve's leg was squirming as they spoke, accompanied by moans and grimaces of pain.

"He's restless, huh?" Gerry breathed, sinking into the chair and taking in the sight of the boy he hadn't seen in over ten years.

"Yeah. We've tried everything to make him comfortable… nothing is working."

Gerry smiled sadly as he took his nephew's hand in his. Darry stepped back and pulled up a chair next to Ponyboy, giving Gerry the illusion of privacy with Steve.

Ponyboy went back to sketching. He was still working on that picture of a wolf. He'd been trying to get the shading just right.

Darry watched him, seemingly taking interest in Ponyboy's drawing for the first time.

But it was just a show. For both of them.

What they were really doing was listening to Gerry as he talked quietly to Steve.

"This wasn't exactly how I pictured our reunion, kiddo," the man said lowly, reaching up to brush Steve's hair off of his fevered brow. "You've gotten big, squirt."

Steve's legs kicked and he wriggled away from Gerry's voice. He let out a low keening noise that made the hair on the back of Ponyboy's neck stick up.

"Shh," Gerry whispered calmly. He lowered his hand to rub Steve's sternum, making soft, counter-clockwise circles. "You always were a fussy kid, you know that?"

And then Gerry did a funny thing. He started to hum a melody.

Ponyboy recognized the song almost immediately. It was Glenn Miller's Elmer's Tune. Gerry hummed the entire intro so naturally that Ponyboy was in awe of the man. And then, sure enough, quietly and delicately he began to sing:

Why are the stars always winkin' and blinkin' above?
 What makes a fellow start thinkin' of fallin' in love?
 It's not the season, the reason is plain as the moon
 It's just *Stevie's* tune

As he sang, Steve gradually became calmer. Gerry took his time singing the song in its entirety, replacing all the "Elmers" with "Stevies."

Ponyboy and Darry exchanged a look while all of this was going on. They'd been trying so hard to settle Steve down that morning, and this man – who Steve hadn't seen in an entire decade – was able to do it in less than five minutes.

Steve was completely quiet and still by the time Gerry let his voice fade out. When Gerry was finished with the song, he looked up with unshed tears in his eyes but a sense of triumph on his face.

Ponyboy just raised his eyebrows.

Gerry let out a quiet chuckle. "I used to sing that song to him when he was a baby," he explained, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back. "Works like charm, doesn't it?"

TBC…