Pony opened his eyes and saw a tray with oatmeal and tea next to his bed. They must've brought it earlier, but he was still asleep. He spooned the oatmeal and wrinkled his nose in disgust, it was too thick and uneatable. He took a few sips of tea and left it at that.
In about 15 minutes a nurse walked in. "Well good morning Ponyboy, ready for your physical therapy?" She said in a cheery voice. Pony didn't feel that cheery. "I guess so," he croaked, trying to sit up in bed. She pulled up a wheelchair next to his bed. He looked at her confused, then remembered what had happened the day before when he tried to walk. He carefully slid into the wheelchair. He felt bewildered.
The nurse wheeled him into a spacious room with large windows, with curtains pulled to the sides. He could see a sunray enter the room. That was the only reason he knew it was supposed to be bright in the room, but to him it seemed as if the lights were dimmed, he saw pretty dark.
In the middle of the room there was what looked like, the exam chair in a doctor's office. There was also a desk and a chair and along the walls there were some sorts of horizontal metal bars. The nurse wheeled Pony next to the exam chair, - "they will be with you shortly," she said and started walking away.
Pony was feeling really lousy. In a few minutes a woman walked in. She looked to be about 25 or 26. She was wearing a doctor's coat and a hat. "Hi, Ponyboy, I am Nelly. Ready for your massage?" Pony just blinked, saying nothing.
"C'mon," she patted the seat of the exam chair, "let me help you." She helped Pony lie down in the exam chair, and started the massage. It lasted about 10 minutes and she was done. Pony was glad - he was not in the mood for this.
"Now," she looked up at Pony, "I need you to try walking holding on to those," she pointed to the horizontal bars along the walls. Pony just nodded. She wheeled him to the wall and he got up holding on to the bar. He took a few steps while holding on to the bar. He felt so helpless and humiliated. The fact that he couldn't see right was not helping.
This is ridiculous, he thought, and let go of the bar. The minute he tried to make a step he crashed into the floor. "Oh my god," Nelly yelled, running up to him. "Ponyboy, why did you let go of the bar?" She wheeled the chair next to him and helped him in. Then she noticed his check was bleeding. She ran to the cabinet and took out some rubbing alcohol and a bandage. "Are you hurting anywhere else?" she kneeled down to his level and looked him straight in the eyes. Pony just shook his head unable to speak. She put the bandage on the scratch on his cheek, then started wheeling him back to his room, clearly shook up "we'll continue tomorrow. Please get some rest." Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. She started walking away, then turned around by the door – "It will be ok, Ponyboy. I promise you." Pony didn't say anything, and she just left.
Pony lay on his back and closed his eyes. He replayed the scenario of what happened at the rock climbing again and again. If only he hadn't looked at the stupid bird. Why did he have to be so stupid, he thought. At this moment the door opened and the guys walked in.
"Hi Pone," Johnny smiled, walking into the room. Dally, Steve, Soda, two- bit and Sophia followed him.
"How are you holding up?" Soda said softly, Pony was silent. Dally's gaze fell on Pony's bandaged cheek. "What happened to your cheek?" Pony was silent. "Did someone…," Dally paused, "hit you?" Pony pressed his lips together as tightly as he could not to start crying, but his eyes welled up with tears. "Nobody hit me," he said bitterly, "I fell alright. I was stupid … again! And I fell. I'm just stupid and I ruined ya alls road trip."
He was going to say something else, but at this moment Johnny stepped forward. "Shut up," he said not exactly yelling, but raising his voice quite a bit. "You ain't stupid and you didn't ruin anything. Shit happens alright. You'll be fine, the doc said so, and we can still go to Miami just as we planned to." Everybody including Ponyboy was staring at Johnny in shock. That was quite a speech for him. "We are here for you," Johnny added a little calmer.
"Ya sure have a funny way of showing it," Pony smiled a little, wiping his eyes where the tears were forming.
"That's better," Soda walked up closer and ruffled Pony's hair, "seriously don't beat yourself up. You didn't ruin anything." Pony just sobbed, unable to keep the tears at bay.
Soda was thoughtful a minute then patted Pony on the shoulder, "thank god you didn't hurt your back, that would've been a real problem. This - the doc said one or two weeks and you'll be fine so just hang in there 'k?"
"Ok," Pony nodded and smiled a little, "so you are not… mad?" he said barely audibly.
"Not at all," Soda said affectionately, meeting Pony's gaze. Pony sighed in relief. He waited for a rude remark from Steve, but Steve didn't say anything. He was just standing next to Soda and the expression on his face was concern. Pony almost chuckled.
After the guys left, Pony felt a little better. He was finally able to fall asleep and slept for most of the day. After dinner, which he didn't eat either because it was disgusting, the nurse brought the wheel chair once again. "What's that for?" He asked confused, since he'd been to the physical therapy already.
"For your eye exercises the nurse replied.
The nurse wheeled Pony to another room, smaller this time. An older guy walked in "Hi I am Mr. Jackson, you can call me Sam," He proceeded to take a seat opposite Pony. He took out a small flash light out of his pocket and turned it on. "What do you see?" he looked expectantly at Pony. Pony thought this was stupid, "a light," he replied reluctantly, rocking a little bit in his chair.
"Is it bright?" Sam asked.
"No," Pony frowned, "it looks dimmed." He was staring into the distance, avoiding Sam's gaze.
Then Sam took a pen out of his pocket. "Please follow with your eyes." He kept moving the pen back and forth until Pony's eyes got tired. Then Sam brought a big cardboard with different letters. Similar to the one they have at eye doctor if you need glasses. He had Pony focus his eyes on different letters while he held it up closer to and further from his eyes. Pony felt his eyes really strained. Then he felt dizzy. "Sorry sir… Sam," he managed, leaning back into his seat, "but I am getting dizzy, can we stop now?"
"Sure thing," Sam replied. He must've seen Pony's deflated facial expression because he added, "cheer up son, you'll be ok." Pony felt even worse then, realizing his feelings must be written on his face so that now even strangers could see how miserable he was.
Pony continued with physical therapy, eye exercises, as well as speech therapy every day. By the end of the week he was able to make a few steps without holding on to the bar, but he still had issues with balance. He was a bit disappointed he was hoping to be recovered by the end of the week, but the doc said one OR two weeks so he tried not to feel defeated. The guys visited every day and cheered him up.
It was a Saturday, and it was a really sunny, nice day, but Pony was in a hospital bed feeling bummed out. The door opened a crack and Soda stuck his head in. "Hey Pone," he walked in, closing the door behind him. He seemed to be alone. "I let the guys sleep in a little and I thought it's really nice out and you are cooped up in here. I asked the doc he said I can take you outside." Soda grinned.
"What do you mean take me?" Pony said unenthusiastically, pulling the blanket up to his chin.
"I mean," Soda mumbled, looking down, "in a wheel chair."
"Oh," Pony bit his lower lip.
"C'mon you need a little time in the sun." Soda started to pull the blanket off of Pony.
"Alright, you win," Pony sighed, pulling himself into a sitting position and then sliding down into the wheelchair.
Soda wheeled Pony outside. The sun was bright, and Pony squinted, but he felt good that he was actually able to see that it's bright and not dark as he had before. Soda started wheeling Pony along the alley and into the nearby park. There were a bunch of kids playing in the bushes. It seemed to Pony they were playing hide and seek. They looked to be 9 or 10. Pony smiled, remembering when he was that age. They saw him too.
Then one of them pointed a finger at Pony, and whispered something into the other one's ear. Then they started laughing. The other two joined them and again they were pointing fingers at Pony and laughing. Pony felt his face get red. Soda also realized what was happening. "Let's go back," Pony said bitterly, his eyes wide. Soda realized how upset Pony was. "Hey Pone, they are just stupid kids, you know." He stopped wheeling the chair, and went and stood opposite Pony trying to meet his eyes, but Pony averted his eyes.
"I just want to go back," Pony snapped.
So Soda started wheeling him back, in silence. Once inside, Pony climbed back into the bed, refusing Soda's help, and closed his eyes.
"Pony you really shouldn't be upset over that…," Soda started, trying to ruffle Pony's hair. Pony shook his head and swatted Soda's hand away.
"I just want to be alone." He swallowed hard, he was paler than a sheet. Soda hung his head - disappointment written all over his face. "Ok, I am going to go. Just know you'll get better… soon." With that he left. Pony turned to the side, facing the wall and swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat.
During the next week the guys visited Pony every day. He still felt guilty for ruining the trip and in addition they had to spend money to stay at the hotel for all this time that he was in the hospital, and not to mention the hospital bill itself. He didn't dare to bring the subject up though, and only kept thinking self destructive thoughts. By the middle of the week he was finally able to walk on his own, even though it was still difficult to keep balance.
By the end of the 2nd week Pony was finally discharged from the hospital. He still couldn't bend over without holding on to something, but that was about it. His eyesight recovered fully and he no longer felt that he was in a dark room all the time. The speech was fine too.
The guys asked him if he just wanted to go home, telling him they didn't really need to go to Miami, but Pony insisted that they go. He felt bad as it was. So on a Sunday afternoon they started their drive to their final destination – Miami. Everyone was excited, and Pony seemed to cheer up a little, especially after talking to Johnny, who once again explained to him that he shouldn't feel guilty.