The Scent
Dally was still there when I woke up the next morning. Soda's jacket was lying on the chair across the room, so I figured he'd spent the night as well, but Dally was the one snoring next to me, lying on top of my covers. I nearly burst out laughing at the nasal quality to his tired breathing, his chest moving up and down in a rhythmic fashion. After watching him for a moment, one of his eyes pried open, his pupil shifting to peer in my direction. I grinned.
"Morning, sleepy head," I greeted him contentedly.
He groaned. To say the least, Dallas was not a morning person. "Damn, is it mornin' already? I ain't got all my beauty sleep yet."
"Yeah, I can tell."
"Shut up," he replied warmly, mussing up my already muddled hair. "Coffee?"
"Always."
"Back in five," Dally responded, disappearing quickly into the hallway in search of a coffee machine.
I sat up, stretching, realizing my headache had lessened to a low dullness around my brain. In other words, everything was hazy, but I would be able to deal better without the constant pounding in my head. I wondered where Sodapop and Darry had run off to, before realizing they must have brought Ponyboy home at some point so he could go to school. Maybe my brothers had gone off to work, too, leaving me with good old Dal until they returned.
As if reading my mind (something I'm positive he does from time to time), Soda appeared in the doorway.
"Mornin', shorty," Sodapop said happily, bounding on the bed and nearly flipping himself into the wall. "What's hangin'? Dally run off already?"
"Mornin' to you, too.and Dal went for coffee. I thought you'd abandoned me."
"Me? Nah, kid, I'm always here. Dontcha know I love hospitals?" Soda joked, socking me a punch in my shoulder. Brothers.
I laughed. "Did Superman head home?"
"Darry? Yeah, he had to take Pony to school, but he's comin' back. He refuses to go to work, but he probably should, ya know, cuz it's that time of month.ya know, for bills and stuff." Sodapop trailed off as he mentioned his least favorite subject-money.
"Yeah, I dig. Listen, he isn't upset about all this, huh? He looked kinda nervous the last I saw of him."
Soda shook his head. "Naw. Darry, he's tough. But you got him worried, kid, ya know? The shit the doc was talkin' about, damn."
I looked him right in the eye. "Soda, the doc said somethin'? What?"
"Whaddaya mean, what?"
"I mean, the doc tells me nothin'. Nothin', Soda. What's goin' on?" I asked insistently.
"Well, damn, kiddo, I dunno. You gotta ask Darry. He ain't told me nothin', just to act extra careful around ya.I dunno why, you seem okay to me. You feel fine, dontcha?" Soda winked.
"Hell, yeah. I just wanna go home!"
"Can't blame ya. This place gives me the creeps. It's too.I dunno, clean."
I laughed. "It's a novelty, huh?"
"Sure, why not?" Soda always brushed me off whenever I tried some new vocabulary on him. "Now where'd Dally go? Maybe he'll go grab me some chocolate milk, I can't stand that coffee shit you and Darry love so much."
"Couldn't survive without it!"
"Yeah, like Pony couldn't survive without his cigs," Soda commented.
A few minutes later, Dally reappeared, with two mugs of coffee in his hands. "Stole these from the nurses station. Can you believe it? Some doc wanted me to buy some from a machine. Don't they know that machine crap is hazardous to your health? Fuckers."
"Thanks," I said, taking one of the mugs and sipping it slowly. Just how I liked it.
"Hey, listen, you two be good.I need to go remind Darry to bring along my deck of cards. This place's got nothin' good to do while you're asleep," Soda said, standing up and heading to the door. "Need anythin'?"
"Nah, I'm fine."
"All righty," Sodapop replied before heading out to the phone booth.
"Scooch," Dally instructed when Soda left. "I'm tired as hell, maybe I'll sleep a little more."
I moved over, granting him half the bed to stretch out on. "Yeah, yeah, from all that schoolwork you do, no wonder you're tired!"
He grinned. "You'd better believe it. Hey, kiddo, hand me my jacket, it's fuckin' cold in this joint."
"Sure," I replied, grabbing it from the bedside table. As it passed my face, I smelled something.familiar. My head beat quickly as my mind rushed to trace the scent to a person. No, maybe it wasn't a person.the smell was just too familiar. It frightened me, though I don't know why.
"Kid? Hey, Robs, give it here."
The jacket remained clutched in my hands. It was that scent, I couldn't understand why it scared me so.it didn't smell like Dally, it smelled like.like some expensive cologne. Cologne a greaser couldn't afford.
"Robin? Robin, what's wrong? Robin?"
I was close to figuring it out.my heart raced, my hands shook, as my mind fought my memory to discover the origin of the scent. It was bad, I knew that. It was dangerous.
Then I knew.
"Jesus Christ, she's going into shock."
A/N: I love suspense, don't you? Hope everybody's enjoying it! And thanks a million to the reviewers, I really love reading them, especially when I'm feeling unmotivated. You guys push me to write this!! I love ya'll!
Much love, Ash
Dally was still there when I woke up the next morning. Soda's jacket was lying on the chair across the room, so I figured he'd spent the night as well, but Dally was the one snoring next to me, lying on top of my covers. I nearly burst out laughing at the nasal quality to his tired breathing, his chest moving up and down in a rhythmic fashion. After watching him for a moment, one of his eyes pried open, his pupil shifting to peer in my direction. I grinned.
"Morning, sleepy head," I greeted him contentedly.
He groaned. To say the least, Dallas was not a morning person. "Damn, is it mornin' already? I ain't got all my beauty sleep yet."
"Yeah, I can tell."
"Shut up," he replied warmly, mussing up my already muddled hair. "Coffee?"
"Always."
"Back in five," Dally responded, disappearing quickly into the hallway in search of a coffee machine.
I sat up, stretching, realizing my headache had lessened to a low dullness around my brain. In other words, everything was hazy, but I would be able to deal better without the constant pounding in my head. I wondered where Sodapop and Darry had run off to, before realizing they must have brought Ponyboy home at some point so he could go to school. Maybe my brothers had gone off to work, too, leaving me with good old Dal until they returned.
As if reading my mind (something I'm positive he does from time to time), Soda appeared in the doorway.
"Mornin', shorty," Sodapop said happily, bounding on the bed and nearly flipping himself into the wall. "What's hangin'? Dally run off already?"
"Mornin' to you, too.and Dal went for coffee. I thought you'd abandoned me."
"Me? Nah, kid, I'm always here. Dontcha know I love hospitals?" Soda joked, socking me a punch in my shoulder. Brothers.
I laughed. "Did Superman head home?"
"Darry? Yeah, he had to take Pony to school, but he's comin' back. He refuses to go to work, but he probably should, ya know, cuz it's that time of month.ya know, for bills and stuff." Sodapop trailed off as he mentioned his least favorite subject-money.
"Yeah, I dig. Listen, he isn't upset about all this, huh? He looked kinda nervous the last I saw of him."
Soda shook his head. "Naw. Darry, he's tough. But you got him worried, kid, ya know? The shit the doc was talkin' about, damn."
I looked him right in the eye. "Soda, the doc said somethin'? What?"
"Whaddaya mean, what?"
"I mean, the doc tells me nothin'. Nothin', Soda. What's goin' on?" I asked insistently.
"Well, damn, kiddo, I dunno. You gotta ask Darry. He ain't told me nothin', just to act extra careful around ya.I dunno why, you seem okay to me. You feel fine, dontcha?" Soda winked.
"Hell, yeah. I just wanna go home!"
"Can't blame ya. This place gives me the creeps. It's too.I dunno, clean."
I laughed. "It's a novelty, huh?"
"Sure, why not?" Soda always brushed me off whenever I tried some new vocabulary on him. "Now where'd Dally go? Maybe he'll go grab me some chocolate milk, I can't stand that coffee shit you and Darry love so much."
"Couldn't survive without it!"
"Yeah, like Pony couldn't survive without his cigs," Soda commented.
A few minutes later, Dally reappeared, with two mugs of coffee in his hands. "Stole these from the nurses station. Can you believe it? Some doc wanted me to buy some from a machine. Don't they know that machine crap is hazardous to your health? Fuckers."
"Thanks," I said, taking one of the mugs and sipping it slowly. Just how I liked it.
"Hey, listen, you two be good.I need to go remind Darry to bring along my deck of cards. This place's got nothin' good to do while you're asleep," Soda said, standing up and heading to the door. "Need anythin'?"
"Nah, I'm fine."
"All righty," Sodapop replied before heading out to the phone booth.
"Scooch," Dally instructed when Soda left. "I'm tired as hell, maybe I'll sleep a little more."
I moved over, granting him half the bed to stretch out on. "Yeah, yeah, from all that schoolwork you do, no wonder you're tired!"
He grinned. "You'd better believe it. Hey, kiddo, hand me my jacket, it's fuckin' cold in this joint."
"Sure," I replied, grabbing it from the bedside table. As it passed my face, I smelled something.familiar. My head beat quickly as my mind rushed to trace the scent to a person. No, maybe it wasn't a person.the smell was just too familiar. It frightened me, though I don't know why.
"Kid? Hey, Robs, give it here."
The jacket remained clutched in my hands. It was that scent, I couldn't understand why it scared me so.it didn't smell like Dally, it smelled like.like some expensive cologne. Cologne a greaser couldn't afford.
"Robin? Robin, what's wrong? Robin?"
I was close to figuring it out.my heart raced, my hands shook, as my mind fought my memory to discover the origin of the scent. It was bad, I knew that. It was dangerous.
Then I knew.
"Jesus Christ, she's going into shock."
A/N: I love suspense, don't you? Hope everybody's enjoying it! And thanks a million to the reviewers, I really love reading them, especially when I'm feeling unmotivated. You guys push me to write this!! I love ya'll!
Much love, Ash