Soda walked all the way to Steve's house. He hadn't noticed he made it there until it was staring him in the face. Terrence's truck was in the driveway next to Steve's car. Soda just stood at the end of the driveway. There was an opportunity staring him in the face. He just looked at the house for a while. The last time he came to this house was to rescue his best friend. He drove here that night and saw his best friend beaten and weak, unable to support his own weight. Soda would never be able to walk by the Randle house the same after that night. And now things have taken other turns. Soda imagined what he could do in that moment. Walking through the door, Soda could just grab Terrence and do the same things he did to Steve. He could smack Terrence around, he could slap his face into the table, and he could take a belt to his back. Or Soda could do worse things. The amount of anger Soda had boiled up in him, he could do a lot to Terrence to even the score. Soda could do a lot to make up for the pain he was causing Steve right now.
"The shit I could do to you right now," Soda said to himself. He spun around and began pacing. The idea of hurting Terrence was overwhelming him. It didn't seem as if anything else would get this urge to leave him. He had to let his rage out on Terrence. Any other time, against anyone else, Steve would gladly stand up for himself. He'd rather get his chance to get back at someone. But this time he couldn't, he had been physically and mentally scarred into cowering away instead. That's what was giving Soda that urge. Like he had to take care of it for Steve. Soda began looking around to see if anyone was around. When no one seemed to be watching him, he began putting a plan together to really see if he could get away with it.
"Fuck it," Soda said as he marched up the driveway. He felt his pace get faster as he walked up the porch steps. As his hand reached for the doorknob, he froze. Before he could continue, Steve popped into his mind. What would Steve think if Soda beat the shit out of his father? Maybe at some point, Steve could be grateful. Right now, if Soda pissed Terrence off, Steve would be living in more fear that something was going to happen to him from it. Soda's hand dropped to his side. He couldn't cause more pain or more anxiety to Steve. No matter how much Soda was ready to end this, he knew he couldn't cause that to his best friend while he was already suffering. He couldn't do this to him. Not like this.
"Damnit," Soda muttered. He walked back down the porch and kicked at a couple rocks. He made it back down to the street and turned to look at the house again. "I guess I have to trust karma at this point." He was beginning to feel the rage settle as tears formed in his eyes. Soda was beginning to feel lost in how to fix this for Steve.
"How are you doing?" Darry asked. Steve had been sitting on the back porch having a cigarette. He wasn't sure where Soda had went, but he didn't blame him for needing some time to himself. He didn't like causing Soda all this anger and worry, but he didn't know how to fix it either. In the moment, he figured all he could do was get better and not go home.
"Good," Steve replied as he exhaled the smoke, "That pill is really helping the pain actually."
"Good to hear, but you do know that's just a temporary help."
Steve sighed, knowing what Darry was getting at, "Yes, I know it won't heal everything."
"So, I really think we should take the doctor's advice and go get you scanned. We should really make sure you're okay. The doctor said if your kidney is badly bruised, it can lead to serious things. You could be bleeding inside," Darry said.
Steve nodded, "I know. I just don't want to end up having to stay there."
"I think it's safer to assume that's a good possibility," Darry said, "But it's all for good. You'll feel back to normal."
Steve looked up at Darry, "You're not going to let me say no."
Darry grinned, "Not really."
"Fine," Steve tossed his cigarette to the ground.
"Do you want to wait for Soda to come back?"
Steve shook his head as he stood up, "I think he's been through enough. Let's just go before he gets back."
Soda took a long walk to get back home. He didn't want to seem heated when he returned to Steve, so he took all the time he needed to cool off. During the walk, his emotions would go back and forth between wanting to go back to take care of Terrence and knowing that wasn't the right way. He didn't want Terrence to just get away with it though.
When Soda finally came to terms that he wasn't going to get it figured out at that moment, he made it back home. He noticed Darry's truck was gone, but he didn't feel upset about it. If Steve had gone to get further help, Soda could only be grateful for it.
A couple hours passed and a card game had begun in the kitchen. Soda, Ponyboy, Two-Bit, Dally, and Johnny were all playing. They were betting cigarettes, cookies, chips, and eventually slices of cake as Two-Bit and Soda got more competitive.
"No, no, no," Two-Bit protested as Soda slid two slices of cake his way, "You cheated that one!"
"Not my fault you can't win," Soda grinned as he had four slices of cake in front of him at that point.
"Fine, I'm eating the rest of the cake," Two-Bit got up from his chair and grabbed the rest of the cake sitting on the counter.
"Sore loser!" Soda called out, "If you eat the rest, you have to bake more."
"I don't know who I'd rather make a cake between you two," Dally commented.
"I'm hurt," Two-Bit whined, "My mommy has showed me a thing or two in the kitchen."
Soda smirked, "How to make a mess." At that moment, the front door opened. "They're home," Soda said as he got up and left the kitchen. Only Darry was at the door.
"What...where's Steve?" Soda asked, feeling the fun he was just having subside.
"It's okay, Soda," Darry responded, "They are going to keep an eye on him tonight. They are giving him fluids for now."
Soda crossed his arms, "So it's pretty bad huh?"
"It didn't look like there was any internal bleeding, but he does need to take it easy. They want to pump him with fluids to get a good urine sample," Darry explained, "You can go see him tomorrow, okay?"
Soda sighed, "I should have gone with him. He had to deal with that scan and get hooked up to fluids alone. The last time he saw me I was mad and just left. That's not fair to him."
"Soda, he wasn't alone. I was there. And trust me, he is okay. No one likes staying at the hospital, but he's going to feel better." As Soda continued to look down, Darry kept going, "Besides, I'd still be at the hospital if you had come with. It'd taken forever to separate you two."
Soda couldn't keep the smile off his face with that comment, "Yeah, you'd be stuck there for the night."
"I wouldn't expect any different from either of you. We'll go see him tomorrow, and he might be able to leave."
"Thanks Darry."
The brothers walked back into the kitchen to find chocolate cake spread around the table.
"You lost your cake," Pony said as he took bites of a slice.
"That's what you get you cheating ass," Two-Bit smirked.
Later that night, Soda and Pony were laying in bed getting ready to go to sleep.
"Soda? Are you worried about Steve?" Pony asked.
"Yeah. I'm trying not to, because I know the doctors will only make it better. But I'm worried we could go visit tomorrow and we hear something really bad is going on with him."
Pony was silent for a moment before asking, "Did he really hurt himself when he fell out of the bed?"
"No. I mean, yeah kind of. But he wouldn't have hurt himself like that if his dad didn't do what he did first," Soda explained. He pulled the covers closer to himself.
Ponyboy put a hand on Soda's shoulder, "I'm here if you need anything, Soda."
Soda felt his little brother snuggle closer to him. "Thanks Ponyboy," Soda slightly smiled as he drifted off to sleep.
Steve woke up very early the next morning. It wasn't easy getting a restful sleep in the hospital, especially as nurses would go in every couple hours to check vitals. He looked out the window and saw the sun starting to come over the horizon. He hoped that meant he would get to leave soon.
The room door opened and the nurse walked in. "Oh good, you're awake," she said, "Well, your urine sample came back. The good news is there wasn't any blood, but there is a little infection. The best thing you'll be able to do is drink lots of water and get a lot of rest. Don't overdo any physical activity. You can keep taking the pills you got for pain, and I'll give you another prescription for the infection."
"Sounds good," Steve said, "So I can leave today?"
"Yes, in fact your ride is already here. I'll be back to get you ready," the nurse said leaving the room.
"Gees Soda, you didn't have to rush here this early," Steve said to himself. The nurse returned and began taking the IV's out of his arm. "Thanks," Steve said as he sat up to get changed.
"I'll send him in," the nurse said leaving the room.
"Thank God. I am ready to get out of here," Steve finished pulling his jeans up and getting them done. The door reopened and Steve's mouth dropped open.
"Steve, let's go home," Terrence said.
Steve felt stuck. He was frozen in his spot. He was alone with his father. What was he suppose to do right now? Terrence walked closer to Steve, which made him jump. "Shhh, you need to take it easy remember?" Terrence said placing a hand on Steve's shoulder, "Let's get home. We need to get you better and fix things up."
There it was. The tone that was saying he was the loving dad taking his son home to heal. The tone that was going to fool anyone. Even if Steve said anything to anyone, his father's tone would tell them to ignore. Steve knew the truth behind the tone. His mouth was stuck shut and his voice felt as if it had disappeared. He couldn't argue. With each step he took, his heart got faster and his back got more cramped up. He could already feel the pain he may have to endure once he got back home.
"Now, we need to take care of some serious business at home," Terrence began saying, "Your mom's anniversary is in 2 days." Steve felt himself slowly nod. He began praying to himself that Darry and Soda would show up. He wanted them to walk up to the hospital and see what was happening and stop it. He wanted someone to save him.
"We are going to visit her grave that day and spend some time together," Terrence said in a calm tone, "And then we are going to be with her again."
Steve felt his feet stop. "Wh-What?" he managed to ask.
"Steve, we don't have to go through this anymore," Terrence said in a quiet voice, "I won't have to feel the pain of her being gone and you won't have to feel anymore pain. We are going to end this pain and go be with her again, forever." He was being horrifyingly calm.
Steve couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was his father saying what he thought he was saying? How could they be with her again without being...?
Steve wasn't sure how it happened, but before his father could push the door open to leave, he swung his elbow into his father's side. Terrence yelled and dropped to his knees from surprise. Steve took off down the nearest hallway he could find.