Steve hurried as he pushed through the nearest door. Through it was a long hallway and he immediately took off. Steve had no idea where it was going to lead to, but he didn't care. He just had to lose his father. He still couldn't run at his fastest, but he was pushing himself to keep going. Thinking about his father was pushing the adrenaline through his body. Was there a possibility he was overthinking what Terrence had just told him?

"And then we are going to be with her again."

Steve just knew he wasn't willing to find out. At that moment, he would do anything to get away from Terrence. How did Terrence know he was in the hospital anyway? How long had he been secretly watching him? Steve would have to figure that out later. Right now, he just had to defend himself. Even though he should have done it a long time ago, it was better late than never, for him to fight back.

"Come on Darry, let's go see how he's doing," Soda begged. He was becoming impatient to go check on his best friend, and hopefully get to bring him back to the house. The anger in Soda had subsided through the night and he only became more anxious. He barely slept waiting for the next morning.

Ponyboy yawned from the couch, "We should hurry Darry. Soda would not stop tossing around the bed last night. I could use a nap later."

"You can stay home and sleep if you want," Darry offered.

"No, I want to come," Pony said, "I want to see if Steve's okay."

"See Darry? Everyone wants to go, so let's go!" Soda quickly slipped his shoes on, "What are you even doing? Stop cleaning in here, Steve doesn't care if the family room is clean."

"Soda, relax," Darry chuckled, "You know he might not be able to come back home yet right? We don't know if they found anything, and we don't know how he's feeling. We could be rushing there for nothing."

Soda snapped his fingers, "Not for nothing." Darry had confusion on his face as Soda rushed into the kitchen.

"I just cleaned in there, Soda!" Darry called out. He rolled his eyes as he heard his little brother begin to rustle around in there.

"You know he's making a mess in there," Pony commented.

Darry shook his head, "Unfortunately."

Soda ran back into the living room and held up a deck of cards, "Alright, let's go!"

Steve kept wandering the hallway. He entered any doors he could find that continued down more hallways. He couldn't find anyone, but he was okay with that. He was aware that he may be going in circles, but wasn't worried about that in the moment. He just needed to go anywhere he could to make it more difficult for Terrence to track him. The fear continued to rise in him as he wasn't sure where his father exactly was. The thought came to him that Terrence could be asking the staff or security for help in finding him, and then what could Steve do? Would they make him go home with him?

As Steve began to feel his back ache, he began slowing down his speed, hoping he may have lost his father.

His next move was to wait things out until Darry and Soda got there.

"Soda, would you stop fidgeting, please?" Darry asked with annoyance in his tone. He was ready to tie Soda down into his seat.

"Sorry, Darry," Soda said placing his hands on his knees to keep them still.

"You are way too excited to go to the hospital," Ponyboy laughed from the backseat, "No one should be this excited to go to the hospital."

"I don't want to keep him waiting. I guess I do feel a little bad I hadn't come here with him yesterday," Soda admitted.

"You know he didn't care," Pony said.

"He was more concerned of you blowing off steam," Darry added in.

"Which you needed," Pony said.

"I know guys," Soda sighed, "When I think about him having to get checked out, poked with needles or IV's, getting the scan done, and then being told he has to stay...I just wish I could have been there with him through it all. I'm glad you were there Darry, at least he had someone."

"He did good," Darry nodded, "He handled it all just fine."

"Wouldn't have expected any different. He's plenty tough," Ponyboy said.

Soda smiled, "He is. He can get through anything, even what Terrence has done to him."

Steve walked through another door and found a flight of stairs and an exit door. He knew this was the time to take advantage. He thought enough time had passed that Terrence may have given up, at least for now. Steve thought he could try to leave. Feeling short of breath, he leaned and put pressure against the door to slowly open it. Peeking outside, he was at the side of the hospital. Slowly walking out, Steve looked from left to right, but didn't see anyone. He quietly closed the door, not wanting to draw any attention. A chill went up Steve's neck knowing once the door was closed, it was probably locked from the outside. Upon hearing the handle click shut, he knew it was time to try and leave.

"Alright, just about there," Darry said as he stopped at a red light, "You ready?"

"I am," Soda replied, "But I am getting kind of nervous."

"Now he calms down," Pony smirked.

"Why are you getting nervous?" Darry asked.

"To hear what Steve's results are. What if his kidneys are really bad? What if there was more wrong than we thought?"

"Well then it's good he went here," Darry said, "Because now we'll find out and we'll get it fixed."

"I'm also nervous to hear anything wrong, because I don't want to get mad again."

"Is that what happened yesterday?" Darry asked.

Soda nodded, "I got so mad from what the doctor said. I was mad at Terrence for all he had done to Steve, but I wouldn't have guessed anything happened to his kidneys. It seems so bad, and knowing Terrence caused that to him made me so mad. Knowing Terrence caused him to have a nightmare that made him so scared he fell out of bed...I just can't deal with more bad news we weren't expecting."

"It's okay to feel that way, Soda," Darry assured him, "I was mad too. Trust me. I just try to push it down for Steve's sake right now." He patted Soda's leg as the traffic light turned green, and he made the turn to get to the hospital parking lot.

Steve started making his way around the hospital towards the front parking lot. He kept checking behind him. Each step he took, his mind seemed to become more in a fuzz. Like he may not be sure where he is or what was going on.

As Steve turned the corner, he heard someone yell, "Steve!"

He jumped frantically, getting ready to run again. As he looked up though, he saw Soda running towards him.

"Steve!" Soda caught up to his best friend and could see nothing but horror in his eyes, "Steve, oh my God what the hell happened?"

"Steve?" Darry said hurrying over, "Hey, are you alright? What are you doing out here?"

Steve couldn't speak. The rush of relief came over him knowing he was safe now. He became weak as he collapsed into Soda's arms and cried into his shoulder.

"Steve, talk to me," Soda begged with his own fear, "What happened?"

Darry turned towards Ponyboy, who was slowly making his way over, "Hey Pony, let's get back in the truck and get it closer to here." Steve was thankful for that, as he heard Darry walking away.

Soda pulled Steve off his shoulder and looked at him, "Steve, please tell me. What happened?"

"Ju-Just get me out of here, please," Steve looked at Soda with pleading eyes. Soda wanted to cry at the sight of his best friend, but remembering what Darry had said about pushing the emotions down for Steve's sake right now, Soda blinked his emotions away. He took some breaths to calm his nerves. Something had happened, Soda could tell that, and he was scared to find out. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Steve like this, if ever.

"Did they release you? Do they know you're gone?" Steve nodded in response. Before he could speak anymore, he keeled over and vomited onto the building. "Steve, relax buddy. You don't have to tell me anything. Let's just get home, okay? You can tell me there," Soda looked behind him as Darry's truck was parked next to the curb, "Whenever you're ready." A few more heaves passed and Steve was able to calm his stomach. Both boys stood up and walked over to Darry's truck. Soda climbed into the back with Steve.

It was silent as the truck pulled out of the hospital parking lot. Darry peeked through the rear view mirror and saw Steve leaning up against Soda. "What did the doctor say?" Darry asked.

"Um, there is a little infection they gave me a prescription for. I have to take it easy," Steve explained.

"Good deal," Darry replied. He was aware something more had happened, but knowing Steve didn't want to talk, Darry left the conversation at that.

"Here you go," Soda said handing Steve a glass of water.

"Thank you," Steve took the glass and took a long drink.

Soda sat at the end of the bed, "How are you feeling?"

"I mean, I feel a little better. The fluids they gave me helped."

"Can you take the other pills still? To help with the pain?"

Steve nodded, "Yeah. Thank God." Soda was glad to have Steve back at the house to heal up. He could tell Steve wasn't fully relaxed yet. Whatever had happened at the hospital was clearly still bothering him.

"So," Soda began, "Do you want to tell me what happened at the hospital?" Steve didn't answer right away as he looked own at the bed. "Steve, I saw the scare in your eyes. You were terrified about something. I don't think you'll be able to relax until you tell me. Unless you want to tell Darry?"

Steve swallowed, "I'll tell you. While the nurse was telling me about my results and that I could go home to get better, she told me my ride was already there. I figured it was you, it wouldn't have surprised me if you rushed there so early. But...my dad walked in..."

Soda's eyes widened, "Oh my God, Steve...I am so sorry I wasn't there. Did he try to take you home?"

Steve nodded, "We got all the way to the entrance, but he...he said something." Steve paused as the words of a calm tone still echoed in his head. "He said something that made me fight back. I hit him and just took off, I ran down a hall. I can tell I overdid the running though, because I'm hurting bad. After a while, I found a different exit to get outside and that's when I walked out to you."

Soda scooted closer to his best friend, "What did he say, Steve?"

"He said that me and him," Steve took a deep breath, "Will be with my mom again, on her anniversary."

"What?" Soda asked confused, "Like go to the cemetery?"

"I don't think so," Steve shook his head and repeated, "he said we were going to be with her again."

"What does that mean?" Soda asked, having trouble putting it together.

"That's what is terrifying me."

Soda shuffled around uneasily, "I don't...I don't get it. Maybe I don't want to. Damn. Her anniversary is in two days huh?" He didn't want to let on any ideas from Terrence's statement. He couldn't scare Steve like that.

Steve nodded, "I don't want to be near him then. Soda, I can't be, I just..."

"We won't let you," Soda interrupted, "You're safe here. Why don't you go ahead and take a nap? I'll go talk to Darry."

"Yeah, okay. I probably need it," Steve agreed.

"Darry, you don't think Terrence would..." Soda began saying after relaying what Steve had just told him.

Darry shook his head, "Maybe he was trying to scare him. Maybe he was even trying to scare us, and that's why he didn't try going back for Steve at the hospital. Maybe he's hoping we just bring Steve home out of fear or threats."

Soda's leg began jumping, "I thought I was scared of all this before, but now...I'm not going to be able to sleep."

"It's going to be okay, Pepsi-Cola. I promise."

It was a quiet night at the Curtis household. Everyone was able to get in a deep sleep from the exhaustion of the day. Darry never talked to Steve about what happened at the hospital. He already knew how he wanted to keep Steve safe the next couple days, but he didn't want to worry Steve over it. He figured Steve would worry anyway.

It was the middle of the night when Steve awoke. He was surprised to find he had fallen asleep at all. Needing the reassurance, he sat himself up and looked around the room. He was relieved to find he was still at Soda's. As much as he wanted to stay in bed and go back to sleep, he felt the urge to go for a smoke.

"Damn nicotine," Steve muttered to himself. He knew he would toss and turn the rest of the night if he didn't calm the urge. Getting himself up, Steve first went to the bathroom. As he stood over the toilet, he slightly flinched from the pain of the infection. He finished up and walked down the hall. Peeking in Soda and Pony's room, Steve found them fast asleep.

At the bottom of the stairs, Steve walked to the window and looked outside the front yard. No one was out there and Steve couldn't see any vehicles that resembled his father's. Still not wanting to take a chance, Steve slipped his jacket on and went out to the backyard. He lit a cigarette and took a big drag, wanting to finish it fast.

The cigarette helped relax him. He hadn't felt relaxed since the hospital. A lot of emotions were sitting at the pit of his stomach. Although he was scared of what his father said, and anxious to figure out what he meant by it, he felt sadness trying to make a breakthrough. His mom's anniversary was only hours away. Steve always missed his mom, but the circumstances recently made him miss her terribly.

Steve looked up at the stars in the cloudless sky, "Mom, I need you here. I'm sorry to say, but I don't think I can ever go back home to dad. Something is wrong with him, and I'm in so much pain. I'm sick of hurting, I'm sick of being mad, I'm sick of being scared. I've never missed you as bad as I do now. You would have never let this happened." Steve looked down to the porch as his eyes fill with tears. He began quietly crying as the tears slipped down and hit the porch. "I don't know what to do. I just want to be left alone. Please, just leave me alone."

Steve calmed himself to take the last small puffs of his cigarette. As he tossed it down, a rustle in the bushes made Steve jump.