A/N: This is a story off an old account I had, it was titled Haunted. I didn't finish it, so I'm re-writing it on this account (for the life of me, I can't figure out the login for the old one). So bear with me on that, I hope you all enjoy the story.
It started off as an ordinary day. Ponyboy Curtis woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and went to school. He had felt fine until science class came along. It was his third class and after that he had lunch. He didn't eat at lunch though, he felt rather sick. He was feeling worse as the day went on. He was able to tolerate it most of the day, but when school let out, he was ready to get out of there. Pony thought walking home in the fresh air would help, but it didn't. The second he got home, he rushed to the bathroom to try to vomit anything, but nothing came out.
"Probably the flu," Pony mumbled to himself, "And wouldn't that be just great." He got himself a glass of water. While he still had some strength, he figured he'd start making himself some soup. Track was going to be starting soon, so Pony was not in the mood to be sick. That would be a major setback in his competing. Pony sat on the couch with his soup and water when Soda walked in.
"Hey Pony, what are you doing?" Soda asked kicking his shoes off across the living room.
"I don't feel too good," Pony said sipping some soup.
Soda placed a hand on Pony's cheek, "Wow you are freezing." Soda picked up a blanket off the floor and wrapped Pony in it. "I can't even tell if you have a fever you're so cold. You will have to take a hot bath when you're done eating."
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Pony agreed, although there wasn't much motivation to take a bath. He felt his strength slowly getting lower and lower.
"When did you start feeling sick?" Soda asked.
"Before lunch, I was in science class and..." Pony trailed off.
"What?" Soda asked, "What's wrong?"
"I think..." Pony began, "I think I know what may have happened."
"What's that?" Soda asked walking into the kitchen, "I wonder if we have any cold medicine in the cabinet."
"Well we were doing experiments, and I was being curious with all the mixes and trying things out on my own," Pony explained.
"Yeah?" Soda asked walking back in and sitting in the armchair, "No medicine buddy, Darry will have to go to the store later. So was it anything dangerous?"
"No," Pony shook his head, "I don't know, maybe I whiffed something too much and am just feeling off now. I thought the fresh air would help when I walked home, but it didn't really."
"Just sleep it off tonight and I'm sure you will be fine in the morning."
When he got home from work, Darry walked in to the smell of chicken and potatoes. He got a little nervous, considering one brother didn't really know how to cook and the other brother used cooking as experimenting opportunities. He peered into the kitchen, surprised that it actually smelled nice. "Hey," Darry greeted Soda, "You're cooking?"
Soda nodded, "Just getting dinner ready as soon as I can."
"Why?" Darry asked, "Where's Pony?"
"He's taking a bath. He doesn't feel well, so I made dinner so he could eat and go to bed. Speaking of, you need to go to the store and get some medicine. We are out."
"Is it that bad?" Darry asked.
Soda shrugged, "I really don't know. It was kind of weird actually. He didn't have a fever, I think he didn't anyway. He was just freezing cold. So I had him go take a hot bath. But I've gone to check on him twice now and when the water got cooler, he would be freezing again so I changed out the water."
Darry went to the cabinet, "I'm going to check his temperature."
Upstairs, Darry knocked on the bathroom door and walked in. Pony was in his swimming trunks in a water-filled tub. He held his legs close to him and his face looked pale. "Hey little buddy. Soda said you weren't doing well. How are you feeling?"
"Not good," Pony simply said.
"Let me check your temperature," Darry said placing the thermometer in Pony's mouth. He placed his hand on Pony's cheek and forehead, "Wow you are cold." When the thermometer beeped, Darry removed it and read it. He just stared at it though.
"What does it say?" Pony asked.
"It says ninety-six," Darry said tapping at it.
"Is that bad?" Pony asked.
Darry just shrugged and shook his head, "This thing is old. I should get a new one when I go get medicine. Why don't you get out and get into some thick clothes to keep you warm."
He left the bathroom, closing the door behind him. At the top of the stairs he continued to look at the thermometer. Sure Pony felt cold, but that couldn't be accurate.
"Was there a fever?" Soda asked as Darry returned to the kitchen.
"It said ninety-six," Darry said placing the thermometer back in the cabinet.
"Ninety-six?" Soda repeated, "That's rather low ain't it?"
Darry nodded, "I'm going to get a new one, I think it's too old. If he feels this bad tomorrow I'll take him to the doctor."
"No, I have the day off, I can take him," Soda offered.
"Well," Darry thought for a minute. They really couldn't afford to ever miss work. "Alright, you take him." Darry peered into the living room as Pony placed himself on the couch. He laid down and hugged himself with his legs bent to his chest. Pony was wearing one of Darry's over-sized hoodies with a pair of his own sweats. "Pony," Darry walked in, "Why don't you wear one of your sweaters so it's closer to your skin to keep you warm."
"No, I'm okay," Pony said. Darry let it go and went upstairs. He grabbed a pillow and blanket and brought it to the couch. He situated the pillow and helped Pony get comfortable.
Pony ended up falling asleep on the couch, so Darry and Soda ate dinner without him. It was a quiet evening, as they didn't want to disturb Pony's slumber. They kept expecting him to start sweating from the hoodie and blanket, but he stayed cold and pale. Darry was trying not to seem worried, so Soda wouldn't worry, but Darry did feel puzzled.
In the middle of the night Soda awoke and needed some water. He went downstairs and quietly walked past the couch where Pony slept. The older two couldn't get Pony to move up to the bed, so they left him alone. After getting himself some water, Soda curiously felt Pony's face. It was still ice cold. Soda shook his head. He was getting frustrated over this chill Pony was having and couldn't seem to shake off. Soda took the blanket off Pony already had, thinking he would bring down the comforter from the bed.
As he looked down at his little brother, Soda noticed something. Pony seemed...thicker. Soda pressed slightly on Darry's hoodie. He felt thicker. "What the hell?" Soda said to himself. He peeked inside the hoodie. Pony was wearing a second hoodie under Darry's extra-large hoodie on him. Soda looked around. None of the windows were open. There wasn't a fan going. Soda felt stuck in whether or not to remove one of the hoodies. It seemed to be too much, but he still felt cold.
Soda went upstairs and shook Darry awake. "Soda? What's going on?" Darry rubbed his eyes and sat up.
"Can you come downstairs?" Soda asked. Darry lifted the sheets off of him and followed Soda down to the living room.
"What's wrong?" Darry asked.
"Look," Soda said pulling on the hoodie, "He put another one on. He still had this blanket on too. He's still freezing to the touch. There isn't any sweat on him or anything."
Darry scratched his head, "Okay, early in the morning, you are taking him straight to the doctor's. Something isn't right at all."
Soda nodded in agreement, "Are you sure you don't want to take him to the hospital right now?"
"No, he's sleeping at least. He seems comfortable. I'd rather him get as much rest as he can. Maybe that's what he needs. It's just too bizarre to ignore though."
"I was going to switch this blanket for the comforter on our bed. That was before I found the extra hoodie though. Do you think I should?"
Darry sighed, "I really don't want to risk overheating him. No, let's just get back to bed."
The older brothers went back to their beds. Neither of them were getting any sleep though. They both worried about Pony deeply, unsure of what was going on or how to fix it. If it was a flu-type thing, they were confused what kind it was and the route to go for it. Every hour or so, Darry would sneak down to feel Pony, and each time he was still freezing. Darry almost believed he was getting colder each time. He wish he could take Pony to the doctor's, but he couldn't risk missing a day of work without knowing the severity. Even if it turned out to be serious, he'd still have to work for upcoming bills. He prayed the rest of the night, hoping for the best.