Chapter 7
My heart froze. He can't be actually paralyzed, I thought. That was the kind of stuff that always happens in the movies I watch, but never happens to actual people with feelings and emotions. I just stared at Darry for a second, waiting for him to say "joking!" but I knew Darry and he doesn't do that kind of stuff. Even if he did, I could see the melancholy look on his tired face and no one looks like that when they're joking, no matter how good an actor you are. I took a good look around at the guys and knew this was no joke. Steve's face was whiter than Johnny's the night he killed that Soc, and that's saying something. Two-bit wasn't himself at all, his hair was tussled, unlike his regular greased-back hair with every strand in place and a comb in his pocket waiting to brush any piece that got out of line. And Darry, well I had seen him mad as hell before, so I knew well that icy-cold look he sometimes got in his eyes. Who was he mad at this time? I guessed it was probably just the world for all the bad luck that's been thrown our way. Mind you, this is just a guess.
We all just waited there for a couple minutes without saying anything; there was nothing to say. I let my eyes wander around the waiting girl and they fell onto a little girl coloring in her princess coloring book. Every couple moments she'd stop and cough the worst cough I'd ever heard in my life from inside her chest. It was so bad that my ribs and lungs hurt just listening to her. Even though she was obviously very sick, the amazing thing to me was that she looked happy. Her father was with her and I could see the tired, anxious, scared look on his face as he put on an obviously fake smile as his daughter showed him her drawings. While I was watching them and wondering about their life, what was wrong with the little girl, where the mother was, and what they were thinking, I completely forgot about Soda. Just then a 20-year-old looking nurse with short blond hair that flipped out to the side came out with a clipboard in her hand and a smile on her pretty face. She looked down at the papers she was holding as we all held our breath and waited for her to say something.
"You're, umm ..." She started as her eyebrows crinkled together as she looked down at her papers, "Soda-pop Curtis is it?" Darry just nodded slightly, "Yes, well, you're his legal guardian are you?" Darry nodded once more.
"How's he doin' nurse? Is he going to be alright?" She smiled and tilted her hair toward some of the rooms down the hall
"He's ready to see you all. Now, you can't stay for too long. He needs his rest. But come along," She lead us to room 142. It was the last room at the very end of the long hall and looked almost to be shoved aside where no one would notice it. She opened the door and there was Soda lying down with a beige-colored wrap around his left leg. As we softly entered the room the nurse exited and Soda opened his eyes. We all put on the best smiles we could but I knew Soda too well to think that he didn't know we were worried sick.
"Hey, buddy!" Two-bit exclaimed in a kind of whispered excitement. Soda just looked at him then smiled.
"I know you guys aren't as happy as you're makin' out. I heard the doctor talking about me ... I'm paralyzed from the waist down," he announced, as if we didn't already know. Of course I knew, Darry had just told me outside on the waiting area. But to see Soda lying there, helpless, with a black eye and a large gash from his temple to half-way down his cheek, and to hear him say it himself killed me. He was one of the most happy and optimistic people I knew and to see him admit that he might not be able to walk made it that much worse. "But, hell, who knows? They said they don't know if it's temporary or not." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. He wasn't alright, I knew he was hurting but, along with the rest of the guys, I faked a smile for him. Anything to make him feel better.
After a while of just talking in his room about nothing at actually mattered, we were forced to leave until tomorrow when they were supposed to have the test results. The boys all went their separate ways except me and Darry who walked alone with only the light of the moon for us to see. We were pretty quiet most of the way, until Darry, to my surprised, broke the silence. He cleared his throat a couple times before he actually started talking.
"Pony ... who's this Meg girl?" I was expecting him to say something to me about how Soda was going to be okay when I knew he knew he wasn't. How did he know about Meg anyway? Soda must have told him, I thought.
"She's just a girl I know, that's all." I replied plainly. I really didn't want to have to deal with Darry now, not when Soda was in the hospital. If he knew that she was a Soc, I could be up all night with a lecture on how I should stay away from her. But, once again Darry surprised me. He didn't say anything about where she was from or how she acted, he only winked at me and we continued walking. Darry had never given me the brotherly advice like he was doing now. That was always Soda's job.
My heart froze. He can't be actually paralyzed, I thought. That was the kind of stuff that always happens in the movies I watch, but never happens to actual people with feelings and emotions. I just stared at Darry for a second, waiting for him to say "joking!" but I knew Darry and he doesn't do that kind of stuff. Even if he did, I could see the melancholy look on his tired face and no one looks like that when they're joking, no matter how good an actor you are. I took a good look around at the guys and knew this was no joke. Steve's face was whiter than Johnny's the night he killed that Soc, and that's saying something. Two-bit wasn't himself at all, his hair was tussled, unlike his regular greased-back hair with every strand in place and a comb in his pocket waiting to brush any piece that got out of line. And Darry, well I had seen him mad as hell before, so I knew well that icy-cold look he sometimes got in his eyes. Who was he mad at this time? I guessed it was probably just the world for all the bad luck that's been thrown our way. Mind you, this is just a guess.
We all just waited there for a couple minutes without saying anything; there was nothing to say. I let my eyes wander around the waiting girl and they fell onto a little girl coloring in her princess coloring book. Every couple moments she'd stop and cough the worst cough I'd ever heard in my life from inside her chest. It was so bad that my ribs and lungs hurt just listening to her. Even though she was obviously very sick, the amazing thing to me was that she looked happy. Her father was with her and I could see the tired, anxious, scared look on his face as he put on an obviously fake smile as his daughter showed him her drawings. While I was watching them and wondering about their life, what was wrong with the little girl, where the mother was, and what they were thinking, I completely forgot about Soda. Just then a 20-year-old looking nurse with short blond hair that flipped out to the side came out with a clipboard in her hand and a smile on her pretty face. She looked down at the papers she was holding as we all held our breath and waited for her to say something.
"You're, umm ..." She started as her eyebrows crinkled together as she looked down at her papers, "Soda-pop Curtis is it?" Darry just nodded slightly, "Yes, well, you're his legal guardian are you?" Darry nodded once more.
"How's he doin' nurse? Is he going to be alright?" She smiled and tilted her hair toward some of the rooms down the hall
"He's ready to see you all. Now, you can't stay for too long. He needs his rest. But come along," She lead us to room 142. It was the last room at the very end of the long hall and looked almost to be shoved aside where no one would notice it. She opened the door and there was Soda lying down with a beige-colored wrap around his left leg. As we softly entered the room the nurse exited and Soda opened his eyes. We all put on the best smiles we could but I knew Soda too well to think that he didn't know we were worried sick.
"Hey, buddy!" Two-bit exclaimed in a kind of whispered excitement. Soda just looked at him then smiled.
"I know you guys aren't as happy as you're makin' out. I heard the doctor talking about me ... I'm paralyzed from the waist down," he announced, as if we didn't already know. Of course I knew, Darry had just told me outside on the waiting area. But to see Soda lying there, helpless, with a black eye and a large gash from his temple to half-way down his cheek, and to hear him say it himself killed me. He was one of the most happy and optimistic people I knew and to see him admit that he might not be able to walk made it that much worse. "But, hell, who knows? They said they don't know if it's temporary or not." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. He wasn't alright, I knew he was hurting but, along with the rest of the guys, I faked a smile for him. Anything to make him feel better.
After a while of just talking in his room about nothing at actually mattered, we were forced to leave until tomorrow when they were supposed to have the test results. The boys all went their separate ways except me and Darry who walked alone with only the light of the moon for us to see. We were pretty quiet most of the way, until Darry, to my surprised, broke the silence. He cleared his throat a couple times before he actually started talking.
"Pony ... who's this Meg girl?" I was expecting him to say something to me about how Soda was going to be okay when I knew he knew he wasn't. How did he know about Meg anyway? Soda must have told him, I thought.
"She's just a girl I know, that's all." I replied plainly. I really didn't want to have to deal with Darry now, not when Soda was in the hospital. If he knew that she was a Soc, I could be up all night with a lecture on how I should stay away from her. But, once again Darry surprised me. He didn't say anything about where she was from or how she acted, he only winked at me and we continued walking. Darry had never given me the brotherly advice like he was doing now. That was always Soda's job.