Summer Adventures
Chapter 28
Dallas
XXX
The wailing of the siren was killing my head, so after an eternity of hearing it, I was surprised when it suddenly stopped. I opened my eyes after having had them shut for most of the duration of the trip, only to see a hospital maybe one forth the size of the one in Tulsa. I groaned inwardly, wondering how backwards these people were gonna be. Did they get paid in pastries too?
"Come on, Alex, Mommy's gonna carry you." Mrs. Nixon was very concerned, worry lines were all over her face, and I wished I had some words of comfort for her. I got out and followed them in, surprised at how wobbly I still felt.
"She'll be fine, Mrs. Nixon, she's a tough kid," I said, reaching out to brush Alex's hair back but missing, again. My hand landed on Mrs. Nixon's shoulder, and she reached out to pet my hand, not realizing it was a mistake my having touched her in the first place. Since she didn't seem upset by it, I said nothing.
Alex also wasn't saying much of anything, which was concerning to me. I expected her to be crying, protesting being here, maybe even talking her head off like she usually did; but she kept quiet and didn't fuss at all. I didn't either. My head was killing me, and the lights in here were too bright. I wondered what wattage bulbs they used.
The receptionist handed Mrs. Nixon a single clipboard, and at first I was happy about it. I was hoping I could just be forgotten about during this visit.... but the cop wouldn't have it.
"The young man needs to be seen as well. Both he and the girl have been injured."
"Oh, sorry officer, I didn't realize," the receptionist apologized and handed him a clipboard too.
I went to sit down, tired for some reason, and everyone else followed me over to the seats as well. Mrs. Nixon filled out the forms for Alex while the cop handed me the clipboard for me to fill out. Made sense, he didn't really know me from Adam, and Mrs. Nixon didn't know about my medical history either. For once, I got to do the paperwork. This could be interesting.
The first part was easy enough... name. Then the silly stuff... gender, age, birth date, blah blah blah. Address. Now that was a toughie. Darry's address? Mrs. Nixon's address? I sighed. It sucks to not know where you belong. I skipped it and went to the fun stuff.
Reason for Visit: I had to write in this part. Hit by speeding tree? Nah, but it sounded funny. Tire swing collapse? No, that made no sense. Assault and Battery? That sounded like something that would happen to me, but not quite what really happened. What did happen, anyway? I forgot. I looked up as Mrs. Nixon took her clipboard back to the receptionist and came back. Oh yeah... that tree and me had a meeting, and I lost.
"Let me help you with that, Ponyboy," she said, taking the clipboard from me. I was glad to give it up, my head hurt too much to try to explain what I had already forgotten the fine details to. A tree hit me. As weird as that sounded, that's what happened. Score one for the tree! The Arbor Day people should be thrilled.
Mrs. Nixon obviously had better answers, as she was done with it in no time and took it up.
"Agnes, do you need anything from me?" the cop asked.
"No, thanks, Robert. Thank you for all your help."
"Call me when you're ready for a ride home. If I can't come get you, I'll send someone for you. You take care now. Bye, Alex." he brushed Alex's hair out of her eyes, and she just looked at him and nodded. "Bye to you too, young man. That was a real brave thing you did, saving Alex like that. Lord knows a small child wouldn't have been able to take a large tree limb falling on her like that. How you made it without a scratch is beyond me."
"Thank you, sir," was all I could muster. He was still looking in my eyes, like he was searching for something but couldn't find it. Finally, he blinked and clapped my sore shoulder some, then walked out back to his cruiser and drove away.
Silence filled the waiting room. There was another person here waiting over in the corner, and considering he had a garbage pail between his knees, I sort of figured out what his problem was. Sure enough, a few moments later.... the lovely sound of vomit being brought up filled the room.
Ah, Two-Bit, where are ya when I need ya, buddy?
"Alexandra Nixon?" the triage nurse called out from a room.
"Will you be okay here for a moment, Ponyboy?" Mrs. Nixon asked me as she gathered Alex up in her arms to take inside.
"Yes ma'am," I said.
Mrs. Nixon carried Alex into the room and the door closed, leaving me and Mr. Upchuck behind.
A while later, another door opened, and my own name was called.
"Ponyboy.... Curtis?" This nurse said, but more asking it than just calling it. I, unfortunately, was used to that being the way my name was called on by strangers. Yet another reasons why I hated hospitals. I got up and headed for the room, working hard to make sure I got my feet pointed in the same direction my eyes were going. I must need rest, that had to be it.
"So, um... Ponyboy, is it? What happened?"
She put the blood pressure cuff around my arm and did her stuff, while I told her a tree limb fell on me and Alex. She seemed interested... I guess my story beat out some of the other typical mess they got out here.... at least it had to beat out "puke boy" still in the waiting room.
"Uh huh. Were you hurt anywhere?" she continued, listening to my chest and feeling my neck and back.
"Just sore. I'm fine. How's Alice?"
"Who?" she asked, looking at me questioningly then checking her papers again. I realized my mistake.
"I meant Alex. How's Alex, Mrs. Nixon's daughter. She was hit by the tree too."
"I'm not sure. Hold still and don't blink." She shined a small flashlight in my eyes, burning my eyes again. As if the lights out in the hallway and in here weren't bright enough!
"Okay, Ponyboy... I'm gonna have you come with me to room six. We're gonna get some of your blood first and have you slip into a gown... you can leave your underwear and pants on for now, just remove your shirt and shoes. The doctor'll come along and check you out, and I'm pretty sure he's gonna want an x-ray just to be on the safe side. Follow me...."
"How about Mrs. Nixon?" I asked, thinking I had to stay with her and Alex. Being in the hospital was bad enough... being separated wasn't helping matters for me at all.
"We'll let her know where you are. Come along, Mr. Curtis."
I followed the nurse to a room and went inside. It was a small room, made smaller by the exam table and assorted hospital stuff in it. On the table was the gown which, as soon as the nurse left, I shucked off my shirt and put on. Then I let my shoes fall to the floor and let the waiting game begin.
About five minutes or so later, a knock was heard. "Come in, " I called, and Mrs. Nixon slipped inside.
"Are you okay, Ponyboy? They told me you were in here, but I've been tied up with Alex, making sure she wasn't scared. I'm sorry I couldn't get in to see you sooner."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. How's Alex?"
She smiled, rubbing her forehead. "They think she sprained her wrist. Other than that and a couple of scratches, they can't find anything. Has the doctor been in to see you yet?"
She came over closer to me, running her fingers softly against the sides of my throbbing head. It felt nice; soothing like. The right side was sore, but the left less painful.
"No, but that's okay. I don't need anything. Maybe some of those leftover pain pills from Dr. Cannady in the cabinet, and my bed to lay out on." I said with a smile. "Other than that, I'm good."
"I just can't believe you're not hurt. I saw that tree hit you, hit you square on your side while a part of it hit your head..."
She didn't get to finish, as the door opened and some nurse came in.
"I need to get some of his blood. Are you his mother?"
I looked at Mrs. Nixon, then down at my feet, smiling a little.
"No, I'm just taking care of him for a while." She turned back to me. "Ponyboy, do you need me to stay for a bit?"
I shook my head. "No, go check on Alex. Tell her I'm doing okay and hope she doesn't feel bad. Mrs. Nixon...?" I called to her as the vampire nurse wrapped a big elastic band around my arm, poised with a needle pointing at the inside of my elbow.
"Yes, honey?"
"I'm sorry," groan as the needle stabbed my arm, "this happened to her. I tried to stop her..." another groan - the first needle was removed and another one poked my skin, "from being hurt."
"Ponyboy, without you... this would have been so much worse. I can't thank you enough. Really, I can't."
The blood sucker was finished and wrapped my elbow in a bandage, leaving me. Mrs. Nixon left too. Finally, I was alone, which lasted all of three minutes or so. I had just laid down across the cold impersonal table, sweating some from the heat in the room, when the door opened again, and a man in a white coat came in.
"Ponyboy.... Curtis?" he looked at me skeptically.
"Yes sir," I said, sitting back up. The resulting dizziness as I sat up made me nauseous, but I held it better than that poor sap out in the lobby. "That's me."
"Hmmmm," he said, looking over the chart. "Take off the gown for me. Hit by a falling tree.... where exactly were you hit?" He put the chart down and started looking at me, just like everyone else had. I suddenly felt cold... being exposed like this, even though I still had my jeans on. I crossed my arms over me... but it didn't help.
"Against my side, I think. It happened too fast."
He shined a light in my eyes... burning my retinas more and I'm sure seeing all the way to the back of my eye sockets - considering how long he was taking. Then he felt around my head, my neck and once again.. my back got probed.
"Anything hurt?"
Well now that's a stupid question. A tree fell on me, ain't it supposed to hurt?
"I'm just real sore."
"How about headaches?"
"I always have headaches."
He looked at me, picked up the chart and wrote some stuff down.
"I'm sending you for some x-rays of your head, neck and chest. How's your pelvis? Did the tree hit your hips or anything lower?"
"I don't think so." I was getting real tired of talking with him. Agitated with his barrage of questions and also just plain tired. That and the room wouldn't stay constant in temperature. It was hot one second, cold the next.
"Can you walk for me? I need to make sure your hips weren't broken."
I edged off the table and had to steady myself, fighting off the nausea and dizziness. Finally I took a few steps out and returned, and the doc nodded his head.
"Good, no broken hips or legs. Okay, Ponyboy, wait here for the nurse to take you to radiology. Shouldn't be long."
And with that, he left the room. Just in time... cause I couldn't hold it any longer and puked in the garbage can by the table. Shit, what was wrong with me? When I was done heaving, I covered the mess with a couple paper towels by the sink, rinsed my mouth with some water and lay back down, pulling my shirt over me first then following that with the gown for some added warmth. Eventually the door opened again, and some other nurse with a wheelchair was outside my door. I was gonna protest, then as I stood up... changed my mind. I pulled the gown tighter around me and slid my shoes back on, then sat down in the wheelchair, letting her push me to where we were going.
"'Ponyboy' really your name?" She asked as she pushed me down some hallways.
"Yup," I said. She didn't ask further, and I gave no details. Eventually she wheeled me into a room with what was obviously x-ray equipment and left me there.
"How ya doing, young man?" called out a chipper voice. I looked around as a man around Darry's age came out from behind some screen and came over. "I need you to come lay on this table, I'm gonna get a shot of your chest and your head, so no dirty thoughts, okay?"
Christ, how the fuck old does he think I am? Twelve? I didn't bother saying anything, just lay where he told me, holding my head this way and that way, while he took the shots. Finally, he was finished and had me get back in the wheelchair and pushed me back outside the door to his own waiting area.
"Now you stay here, the nurse will be back soon. Okay, little man?" he held out his hand for a high five, and I wanted to slug him. Idiot. I just nodded my head and waved him off. He took the hint and returned to his room.
Outside the x-ray waiting area was a door that led outside where some people were smoking. My lungs ached for just a whiff... but I stayed put. Then, a loud buzzer sounded.... and things picked up as the staff seemed to pause a moment, then scattered in a calm but quick order, like roaches in slow motion when the light got turned on.
"Code Gray! Code Gray!" the announcer said on the loudspeaker.
"Hey, what's that mean?" I asked as someone went by me. No one was running, but they were all headed off in different directions with a determined look in their eyes.
"Hey!" I said louder, raising my voice over the alarm and the newly re-established ringing in my ears. Someone in a white outfit finally looked at me. "What does that mean? Is the building on fire?" Whatever was going on, I wanted to make sure it wasn't gonna further screw up my otherwise fine day.
"It's nothing, kid. Just an accident on the freeway. The injured are being sent here. I have to go now, you stay put and wait for your nurse to take you back to your room."
He walked off and I relaxed some, wondering how one accident could make the whole hospital turn upside down. I was getting hot in the hospital gown and my clothes, and needed to go use the facilities too. I saw the men's room and walked to it, stumbling some as I tried to walk in a straight line. Once inside, I slipped off the now hot hospital gown. I finished tending to business and went back to the x-ray waiting room, which by now was getting a little busier. I didn't think I was in the restroom that long!
"Hey, what happened?" I asked some woman who obviously wasn't an employee.
"The bus I was on hit the curb then overturned. Real mess. God, what a mess."
She had an icepack on her forehead, and I wasn't feeling quite so hot either. My wheelchair was gone, too. I'd left it where that x-ray idiot parked me in it, but now it wasn't there. I tried to find my way back to the ER, but couldn't remember the trip here, and therefore couldn't remember the way back. People rushed by me in all directions the closer I think I got to the ER, and things spun out of control again. Yet another random trash can welcomed what little was left of my insides. Rubbing my head, I needed everything to stop. Stop moving, stop talking, stop being bright.
I found a door that led outside and followed it, hoping some cool air in a less busy environment would settle me some. Once outside, the heat reminded me this was summer, but as I tried to go back inside... the door was locked. I needed a key to get back in, a key I obviously didn't have. I'd have tried my switch to pry the door open, but it was safely under the mattress back at Mrs.... Mrs.... shit..... oh yeah... Mrs. Nixon's place.
I wanted to go home. This was bullshit, and I was tired of it. I hurt all over. My head hurt worse, my eyes were tired of the bright lights, and my thoughts weren't all that clear. I still felt nauseous, but had nothing left to upchuck. I thought I would just walk around the building until I came to an entrance I could actually enter by, but ended up by some pay phones out by the curb instead.
I wanted to go home. My real home. That was the only clear thought I had. I wanted Soda to hold me and rub my back, making my aches go away. I wanted Darry to keep everyone else at bay. I picked up the phone and dialed the only number I could remember. More than being able to remember it, in fact. It was instinct.
It rang, and rang... and finally someone answered.
"Hello?"
"Darry?" It didn't sound like Darry.
"No, it's Steve. Pony... that you, kid?"
"I wanna come home." I said, feeling so tired. "Please... can I come home?"
"Kid ... Darry and Sodapop are already on their way. You must not have heard ... Kid?" I didn't notice his voice changed from light to serious.... but I wasn't really listening to the conversation anyway. "Hey Ponyboy... you okay?"
"I just … I just wanna...." I hung up the phone, not sure what was going on; but neither Darry nor Soda were home, and I was too tired to talk to anyone else. Steve said they were on their way. I had to get back to Mrs. ….Mrs.... damn!, why couldn't I think straight? In the distance a bus was coming and I felt I had to go. I had to get back to that house for them to get me. I stumbled over to the bus stop across the street, pulled out some dimes from my pocket and as the bus pulled up, got on.
"Where ya going, kid?"
I couldn't even think of the town's name. I scratched my head, not sure. There were a few others on the bus, looking at me, anticipating my answer too. I guess the driver was picking up on my "lost" vibes.
"Look kid, this bus makes stops in Gould, Eldorado, and then Quanah, Texas. From there you can get a ticket to Lubbock, Abilene, or Dallas, Texas. What's your pleasure?"
My head was spinning. Dallas sounded familiar. It didn't sound right...just... familiar. It was the only thing that sounded familiar. The guy was getting impatient.
"Dallas. I need Dallas." I didn't even recognize my voice.
"Fine. Deposit seventy cents more and take a seat. I'll get you to the transfer station in about two hours."
I gave him the money and went to the back of the bus to an empty seat behind everyone else and sat down. Sweat began to bead on my forehead. As the bus pulled away, I closed my eyes, letting the small breeze from the half-open window cool me some. Sleep was calling me, and knowing I was gonna be on the bus for a while, I let it take me; blissfully unaware of the massive mistake I had just made.
XXX
Calla Lilly Rose
