Hey thanks for the reviews! I am really happy to find that you all enjoy
this story, I sure do. Hey, sorry it took so long to get this chapter up,
well maybe it wasn't soo long, but it sure felt like it too me. But I know
I left you all on a cliff hanger and I sure hate when that happens and then
it takes a lifetime for the author to update.so I really am sorry, I didn't
have any time considering that it was semester finals at school.
Anyway.here goes.
sodapop'll-be-mine: Thank you, it was one of the harder chapters to write, but it was a lot of fun.sorry! I cant help that I am so evil! *whimpers innocently*.I hope that I updated quickly enough. Just read on.
Oblivious Misconception: Wow, love the name! And the review, of course. I really appreciate you taking your time to write all that! I loved it! You really made me feel better about this whole posting such a story thing, I was really apprehensive and worried it would be the same as all the Outsiders story, so thanks! Oh.and yeah, I think that Reesa and Skye fit in great, then again, I would wouldn't I? I know that Darry is on the milder side, but you are right, he has to be with Rees and Skye living under his roof. Later it will make even more sense, but I wont give it away.just keep reading. For now, just know that Darry deals with everyone a little differently, but he has to be mild in this story. Between Reesa being as stubborn as him and Skye being as wild as she is, things wouldn't work any other way. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter. Thanks again!
Two-BitGortez: Thanks! Here's another chapter for ya! Sorry it took soo long.
Well, I think that's about it for this round. Have a ball reading! Thanks.
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Chapter 9 (Pony's POV)
My body ached all over and I couldn't move to save my life, at least not that I could tell by the pain. There wasn't much sound around me, and I wondered where I was until I realized I was on a nice soft bed. But the bed didn't help much, I still felt like road kill.
I wanted to see what was going on around me, but I couldn't open my eyes. I thought that was weird. But, no really, I could Inot/I open my eyes, okay, in slits. But I still couldn't see much. They were stuck shut for some reason, I didn't know why and I had no idea what had happened to me. How did I get like that?
Well, I had to do something. I decided, that despite the pain, I had to get up and find someone. I didn't know that anyone was in the room, or even if I was home, but I had to do something. I tried my hardest to roll over, but didn't get to far. A stab of pain shot through my entire body, and I half groaned, barely getting anything out. What the hell?
"Whoa. Stop! Don't move." A hand pushed my shoulder down gently.
Darry? Was that Darry?
"What? Darry? Uh." I whispered.
"Just relax, buddy. Your hurt, don't move around."
Wait, hurt? I was in a weird state of mind, and when he said it all came together in my head. Well, not really, but kind of. I knew I was hurt, but then it really hit me. I made the connection, and the I jumped thinking of Skye. I didn't know why at the time, but I just couldn't shake it. Skye had something to do with it, something I couldn't place.
I opened my eyes a slit trying to move my head around to find Skye. Where was she? It hurt to move so I stopped my attempt at it, but asked Darry instead.
"Darry?.Skye."
Darry moved a little in his seat, but asked, "What? What about Skye?"
"Skye.Skye! Skye." I was staring to freak a little at that point. Where was she? I had to know. I didn't know why, but I Ihad/I to know no matter what.
Darry grabbed my hand, clutching it a little tighter than necessary, and then moved one hand up my forearm, "Pony, calm down. She's fine, she's just fine. Relax."
I couldn't, not until I saw her, knew she was okay. I didn't know why I was so freaked out about it, I didn't even remember how I had gotten like that, but I was freaked.
Darry cut into my thoughts, "Pony, just calm down.concentrate on me."
I did, tried, I pushed the panic down, knowing that Darry was right in all things whether he really was or not.
"Do you know what happened, Pon?"
I searched through my mind for anything, but couldn't sort out the confusion that rattled through it. I had no idea what had gone on that day. I didn't know anything.
"Um.remember what? No. What?"
"Do you remember what happened to you?"
"I remember something about steak and potatoes. Er.no."
"Okay, you don't know Ianything/I?"
"I-I know stuff, just not what you want. I don't think I can give you the information you need. It isn't available at this time."
"Um.right. Pony, how about we try and get some medication into you. It might help you out a little."
"Uh-okay."
Darry put his hand under my back and lifted my head up just a little. But the sudden movement made the room spin out of control. The next thing I knew, it was all black.again.
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(Darry's POV)
This was really irritating me. I was starting to get so annoyed that it was hard to care about him anymore. Okay, not really, it was irritating because the longer time went on the more worried I became. Obviously he had a concussion and I didn't want him sleeping with one, but I couldn't do much about him passing out cold not a minute after he woke up.
I debated taking him to the hospital, but wasn't too excited to do that just yet, so instead I sat fidgeting next to the bed. There really was nothing else for me to do, besides, I didn't want to leave him in case he did wake up. If he moved around he would just hurt himself more.
Soda walked in the room, "So, anything?"
"Nope, not yet."
"IDang/I.okay. Are you hungry? Cause I am.want some.food?"
"Um, not particularly but." I motioned to Skye who sat motionless and blank in the corner of the room, "You might want to ask her."
Soda followed my hand over to look at Skye, then looked back at me apprehensively. So he didn't want to go there either, huh? I couldn't blame him.
He turned and walked over to Skye, "Hey, honey. You want some food? You gotta be hungry, you haven't eaten all night." He said gently.
She moved her head from the floor to Soda, "Um, not really."
"Your not hungry? You wont eat even if I bring you whatever you want?"
"No."
"Alright, have it your way. Just means more food for me!" he said light heartedly, and turned walking out of the room. He had a confused expression on his face, but whatever.
"So.how was your day at.out on the town?"
She looked up at me, giving an annoyed look. What? I guess she thought I was just being stupid or something, but I returned a questioning look to her.
"How do you think, Darry?"
"I don't know, I guess bad with the whole.thing. But I meant before that."
"It was good.boring and cold, but hey.I wasn't.it wasn't too bad."
"Good.I guess."
Some time passed in silence as no one had anything to say. I was at a loss of words and Skye wasn't carrying the conversation. Then we were interupted by Soda, who came prancing in the door, a big proud grin across his face. He was carrying three bags from the Dingo. He got halfway into the room, and tossed a bag to Skye and one to me.
"Eat up!" He said.
"Thanks," I said, putting it aside.
Skye opened her bag looking into it and getting a look of disgust.
"What?" Soda asked.
"That's gross, it soo greasy."
"Nice observation, Skye."
She looked up at him with a warning expression, telling him to not push her right then.
I noticed then that Soda actually had two bags in his hands.
"Soda, why do you have Itwo/I bags?" I asked skeptically, "Please don't tell me you got extra food for yourself.unless you paid for it."
"No, it was for Rees, but she just threw it at me when I gave it to her.so I guess I'll eat it."
"You woke Reesa up to give her food?"
"Well, yeah. Its not like its three in the morning or anything. Besides, she hasn't eaten in.forever."
"And for good reason." Reesa was standing in the doorway, her eyes still sleepy.
"Rees, maybe you should eat a little something. He is right that you haven't eaten in two days and-"
"I ain't eating nothing, Darry. I ain't hungry, you can have it, or Skye. I don't care."
"Uh, I don't want it." Skye sounded like it was the worst thought in the world to eat the food Soda had brought to her. Weird, she always liked greasy food, well, usually. Whatever.
"Fine, leave it in here. If I get hungry, I'll eat it." I said.
Reesa came over to the bed looking to Pony, "How is he?"
"Asleep."
"Yup." She let her eyes droop a little and turned, sluggishly walking out of the room. "Rees, you alright?"
"G'night."
"Wait." I got up going over to her, but she just glanced at me and went out into the hallway and into her room, shutting the door. I let it go for the time being, if she wanted to be left alone she got it. At least at that time. I figured she was just real tired, but I would check on her later when she wouldn't fight back.
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It had been a few hours since Reesa had gone to bed and I still sat in Pony's room trying to keep myself occupied by reading. It was getting harder to do that by the minute. Pony wasn't waking up, he hadn't even moved in the last two and a half hours. I was starting to think he might not wake up, but kept pushing it to the back of my head. He was fine, just fine. A little beat up, but fine. Its not like he hadn't had this before and he had pulled through then.
The house was quiet then, Soda was in my bed asleep and Skye sat slouched in the corner against the wall opposite me. She had dozed off and looked like a rag-doll of sorts. I was really the only one awake in the house, which would have been kinda nice if it wasn't three in the morning and I wasn't up for the reason I was. The quiet was nice, but maybe to unusual to be comfortable with.
I looked down to Pony, focusing again. He looked bad. He had been asleep too long and I knew he had a concussion, it was pretty obvious. I started thinking about taking him to the hospital, I didn't want to, but he needed help. I was so scared at that point that he wouldn't ever wake up that I was becoming frantic.
I leaned over him to shake his arm, seeing as I couldn't do a whole lot of other things to try and get him up. I didn't want to further any injuries, but at the same time, I had to wake him up. He didn't respond to.anything. I tried everything from slapping his cheeks to shaking his shoulders and causing pain, but he didn't so much as move. At that point I couldn't really tell if he was just in a deep sleep, which could very well be, or if something was really wrong with him. I wanted to tell myself that it was the first and not the last, but I couldn't shake it.
After a few minutes of trying to wake Pony with no success, I decided that I had to take him to the hospital. The thought had run threw my mind many times in the last few hours, even when he first got home, but I didn't want to take him in unless it was for something pretty serious. In my mind, this was now serious.
I got up and went back into my room, switching on the light to wake Soda, "Soda, get up. We gotta go."
Soda turned over in bed and groaned "I'll be out in a second."
I left the door open but made my way back to sit next to Pony. I was desperate to do something to help him, but I knew the only thing I could do was wait for Soda to be ready.
I walked back into the room, glancing at Skye who was slumped in the corner asleep. It was a cool night, and I thought she would be cold by then, so I got a blanket and spread it over her. I didn't need her getting sick along with everyone else. Especially not if we had Pony in the hospital. Then I went and sat down in the chair next to the bed, sighing. I rubbed my hand over my face and looked down to Pony for the millionth time that night, studying him for any signs of true life.
For some odd reason, he looked.different. I couldn't place it but.he looked better than he did before. Then I noticed that one of his eyes was open just a slit.
"Pony? Ponyboy?" I reached out and touched his hand.
"Uhmm." He got out.
"Soda! Soda, get in here!" I yelled over my shoulder, "Pony, Pony, don't go to sleep. Stay awake."
"Darry, don't yell. I'm awake and I have the worst headache on the face of the planet."
Soda walked in a little confused like, but heard Pony and came over, "How ya feelin, Ponyboy?"
"Is shit a feeling?"
I bit my lip, trying no to say anything to that. He didn't need to go around cussing, but I guess in this situation it was.okay.
"Uh, um.yeah. Yeah, I guess it does, I've felt that way.a few hundred times in my life. Thanks to Darry here."
"Shut your mouth." I told him, giving him a look for encouraging Pony. Then I looked back down to Pony, "Pony, I know your in a lot of pain, but I need you to tell me how you're in pain."
"Everywhere."
"Really, Pony. I need to know."
"Darry, how about you tell me how I got to be in this much pain in the first place. Then I'll answer your question if its even possible to narrow the pain in my body down."
By this time, Soda was by the side of me, and had his hand on Pony's shoulder, "We were hoping you could tell us, kiddo." He said gently.
"You don't know? Then how did I get home? Where's Skye? I think I was with her."
"She's asleep in the corner, don't wake her up, she just barely got to sleep. Dally and Two-Bit found you with Skye this afternoon. That's all we know."
"Oh. Wait, doesn't she know? She was there.wasn't she?"
"Yeah, but." I started, but then lost the thought.
"Well, she didn't exactly stick around for long." Soda piped in.
"Why?"
"Maybe cause you told her to leave."
"Oh, I did?"
"Yup, I guess you had a reason. But that's all I know, Skye won't talk, she's pretty upset about the whole thing."
Pony stayed quiet for a minute, and his eyes started to droop closed again.
"Pony, stay awake! You haven't answered my question yet." I jumped.
He didn't answer me, "Yo! You cant go to sleep. Keep talking to me."
"Fine, I'm awake. What was your question?"
"Where do you hurt?"
"Oh, yeah that one.I don't know."
"C'mon, Pony. You gotta have some idea. You definitely felt it earlier when you woke up."
"I didn't say I wasn't feeling it now."
"Then you can answer my question."
"Okay, so it hurts.everywhere.where there are bruises and crap and anything else."
"Yeah, how bad? Like, do you think you have broken ribs or anything? You gotta give me something to work with here, Pony."
"Darry, what do you think?"
"Pony, stop being a pain in the ass and-"
"Yeah, it hurts there too."
By this time I was having a hard time keeping my temper. Why didn't he just answer the stupid question? It was a simple thing to answer.
"Uh, okay. What about in your stomach?"
"Yeah, that hurts like hell."
"How do your ribs feel? I know you know what I'm asking, so don't play dumb."
"Uh.yeah..they kill."
"Okay, I'll accept that.do they feel broken?"
"How would I know? Do I look like a doctor to you?"
"Okay, Ponyboy this is not a game. This is a matter of you going to the hospital or not. Do you.If there is something wrong with you that we should be concerned about, then we need to know."
"I don't.I really cant tell. Stop yelling at me, it really hurts my head and I'm giving you the best answer that I can."
"Darry, maybe we should. I mean he's obviously hurt and." Soda looked over to me.
"Okay, lets go then."
"Wait, no! I don't want to go! I never said I wanted to go." Pony started whining.
"Yeah, well you don't really have a choice."
"But, Darry! I don't think I have anything that wrong with me.it just hurts like hell and if you make me move."
"Well, if we don't go then we wont know and I aint taking any chances. We'll be as careful as we can, Im sure you'll be fine. You gotta trust us on this one."
"Why didn't you go earlier then? I mean if you were going to go anyway, why didn't you do it when I wouldn't feel anything?"
"First, we were being stupid and should have a long time ago, and second cause it didn't seem necessary at the time, but if your feeling this bad then I don't want to chance it. Besides, before you woke up we were about to take you because you were freaking us out."
I went over and grabbed a blanket while Soda went and finished getting ready. I threw it on Pony, "I'll be back in a minute, don't move."
"Where would I go?" he asked as I walked out of the room and into the kitchen. I searched though the drawers and finally found some paper and a pen. I wrote a note to the girls so they wouldn't freak and put it on the door to the bathroom where I knew they would find it. Then I went through the rest the house, making sure all the windows were locked.
"Soda! Are you ready?" I hurried over to the laundry room where he was pulling on some of his shoes that were half dried.
"Yeah, just about." He pulled the last squishy shoe over his sock and followed me out. I could tell he was tired at this point. It was early in the morning and I couldn't blame him. He kept rubbing his eyes and stifling yawns, but it didn't matter because there were more important things going on.
As we rounded into his room where Pony was still half awake, I decided to impose a question on him. "How do you want to do this?"
He looked from Pony to me, and as if he had already thought this out gave me an answer. "You take him, I'll drive."
".'Kay, but I'll need your help."
"You did it just fine earlier, so I heard."
"Yeah, but earlier I wasn't thinking straight. I -"
"How about you support me between you guys and that way I'll make it out of here one way or another?" Pony asked, starting to sit up, grimacing as he did so.
Soda and I looked at each other to get the others' opinion on this. "Sound good?" I asked.
"Sure." He shrugged. "Let's just do it and get it over with."
"Please," Pony added, sounding very desperate to 'get it over with.' You'd think he was uncomfortable or something.
With a little difficulty and a lot of help from Soda, we got him out to the truck. Pony said he felt fine sitting up on the way. So, with him in the middle and Soda driving we started to the ER.
"What do you think they'll do to me?" Pony asked.
"Um. I dunno, probably do a few tests, like take X-rays and see what all is wrong." Like I knew what to expect. I just gave him the typical answer.
"So, normal stuff?"
"I suppose."
Soda was clearly desperate to get to the hospital before he fell asleep, so we made it there in record time. He pulled up to the doors and stopped extremely fast, causing us to jerk forward.
"Soda! We're trying to prevent further injury. He's not in labor, slow down."
"I did. Now get out and I'll go park."
I pushed the door open and climbed out. I reached back in and helped Pony scoot over to the edge of the seat and helped him down. He was obviously in a lot of pain. He barely made the effort to move on his own, let alone hold in whatever he wasn't expressing, which was a good thing because I didn't want to take a screaming, crying, cussing kid into the emergency room.
I supported Pony under his arms and turned my head to face Soda before he took off. "Soda, go home. I got it."
"Why? I just got here."
".Do I have to spell everything out for you?"
"Um. yes?" He sounded unsure.
"Think about whose at home who shouldn't be alone?"
It dawned on him quicker than I expected. I was preparing to make a full blown speech right then and there if he wasn't ready to catch on.
"Ahhh..But how will you get home?"
"I'll call you. Don't worry. You will be hearing from me. We ain't gonna walk home, now are we?"
"Well, duh. I'm not stupid, I just was thinking. never mind. I'll go."
"Thank. You."
sodapop'll-be-mine: Thank you, it was one of the harder chapters to write, but it was a lot of fun.sorry! I cant help that I am so evil! *whimpers innocently*.I hope that I updated quickly enough. Just read on.
Oblivious Misconception: Wow, love the name! And the review, of course. I really appreciate you taking your time to write all that! I loved it! You really made me feel better about this whole posting such a story thing, I was really apprehensive and worried it would be the same as all the Outsiders story, so thanks! Oh.and yeah, I think that Reesa and Skye fit in great, then again, I would wouldn't I? I know that Darry is on the milder side, but you are right, he has to be with Rees and Skye living under his roof. Later it will make even more sense, but I wont give it away.just keep reading. For now, just know that Darry deals with everyone a little differently, but he has to be mild in this story. Between Reesa being as stubborn as him and Skye being as wild as she is, things wouldn't work any other way. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter. Thanks again!
Two-BitGortez: Thanks! Here's another chapter for ya! Sorry it took soo long.
Well, I think that's about it for this round. Have a ball reading! Thanks.
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Chapter 9 (Pony's POV)
My body ached all over and I couldn't move to save my life, at least not that I could tell by the pain. There wasn't much sound around me, and I wondered where I was until I realized I was on a nice soft bed. But the bed didn't help much, I still felt like road kill.
I wanted to see what was going on around me, but I couldn't open my eyes. I thought that was weird. But, no really, I could Inot/I open my eyes, okay, in slits. But I still couldn't see much. They were stuck shut for some reason, I didn't know why and I had no idea what had happened to me. How did I get like that?
Well, I had to do something. I decided, that despite the pain, I had to get up and find someone. I didn't know that anyone was in the room, or even if I was home, but I had to do something. I tried my hardest to roll over, but didn't get to far. A stab of pain shot through my entire body, and I half groaned, barely getting anything out. What the hell?
"Whoa. Stop! Don't move." A hand pushed my shoulder down gently.
Darry? Was that Darry?
"What? Darry? Uh." I whispered.
"Just relax, buddy. Your hurt, don't move around."
Wait, hurt? I was in a weird state of mind, and when he said it all came together in my head. Well, not really, but kind of. I knew I was hurt, but then it really hit me. I made the connection, and the I jumped thinking of Skye. I didn't know why at the time, but I just couldn't shake it. Skye had something to do with it, something I couldn't place.
I opened my eyes a slit trying to move my head around to find Skye. Where was she? It hurt to move so I stopped my attempt at it, but asked Darry instead.
"Darry?.Skye."
Darry moved a little in his seat, but asked, "What? What about Skye?"
"Skye.Skye! Skye." I was staring to freak a little at that point. Where was she? I had to know. I didn't know why, but I Ihad/I to know no matter what.
Darry grabbed my hand, clutching it a little tighter than necessary, and then moved one hand up my forearm, "Pony, calm down. She's fine, she's just fine. Relax."
I couldn't, not until I saw her, knew she was okay. I didn't know why I was so freaked out about it, I didn't even remember how I had gotten like that, but I was freaked.
Darry cut into my thoughts, "Pony, just calm down.concentrate on me."
I did, tried, I pushed the panic down, knowing that Darry was right in all things whether he really was or not.
"Do you know what happened, Pon?"
I searched through my mind for anything, but couldn't sort out the confusion that rattled through it. I had no idea what had gone on that day. I didn't know anything.
"Um.remember what? No. What?"
"Do you remember what happened to you?"
"I remember something about steak and potatoes. Er.no."
"Okay, you don't know Ianything/I?"
"I-I know stuff, just not what you want. I don't think I can give you the information you need. It isn't available at this time."
"Um.right. Pony, how about we try and get some medication into you. It might help you out a little."
"Uh-okay."
Darry put his hand under my back and lifted my head up just a little. But the sudden movement made the room spin out of control. The next thing I knew, it was all black.again.
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(Darry's POV)
This was really irritating me. I was starting to get so annoyed that it was hard to care about him anymore. Okay, not really, it was irritating because the longer time went on the more worried I became. Obviously he had a concussion and I didn't want him sleeping with one, but I couldn't do much about him passing out cold not a minute after he woke up.
I debated taking him to the hospital, but wasn't too excited to do that just yet, so instead I sat fidgeting next to the bed. There really was nothing else for me to do, besides, I didn't want to leave him in case he did wake up. If he moved around he would just hurt himself more.
Soda walked in the room, "So, anything?"
"Nope, not yet."
"IDang/I.okay. Are you hungry? Cause I am.want some.food?"
"Um, not particularly but." I motioned to Skye who sat motionless and blank in the corner of the room, "You might want to ask her."
Soda followed my hand over to look at Skye, then looked back at me apprehensively. So he didn't want to go there either, huh? I couldn't blame him.
He turned and walked over to Skye, "Hey, honey. You want some food? You gotta be hungry, you haven't eaten all night." He said gently.
She moved her head from the floor to Soda, "Um, not really."
"Your not hungry? You wont eat even if I bring you whatever you want?"
"No."
"Alright, have it your way. Just means more food for me!" he said light heartedly, and turned walking out of the room. He had a confused expression on his face, but whatever.
"So.how was your day at.out on the town?"
She looked up at me, giving an annoyed look. What? I guess she thought I was just being stupid or something, but I returned a questioning look to her.
"How do you think, Darry?"
"I don't know, I guess bad with the whole.thing. But I meant before that."
"It was good.boring and cold, but hey.I wasn't.it wasn't too bad."
"Good.I guess."
Some time passed in silence as no one had anything to say. I was at a loss of words and Skye wasn't carrying the conversation. Then we were interupted by Soda, who came prancing in the door, a big proud grin across his face. He was carrying three bags from the Dingo. He got halfway into the room, and tossed a bag to Skye and one to me.
"Eat up!" He said.
"Thanks," I said, putting it aside.
Skye opened her bag looking into it and getting a look of disgust.
"What?" Soda asked.
"That's gross, it soo greasy."
"Nice observation, Skye."
She looked up at him with a warning expression, telling him to not push her right then.
I noticed then that Soda actually had two bags in his hands.
"Soda, why do you have Itwo/I bags?" I asked skeptically, "Please don't tell me you got extra food for yourself.unless you paid for it."
"No, it was for Rees, but she just threw it at me when I gave it to her.so I guess I'll eat it."
"You woke Reesa up to give her food?"
"Well, yeah. Its not like its three in the morning or anything. Besides, she hasn't eaten in.forever."
"And for good reason." Reesa was standing in the doorway, her eyes still sleepy.
"Rees, maybe you should eat a little something. He is right that you haven't eaten in two days and-"
"I ain't eating nothing, Darry. I ain't hungry, you can have it, or Skye. I don't care."
"Uh, I don't want it." Skye sounded like it was the worst thought in the world to eat the food Soda had brought to her. Weird, she always liked greasy food, well, usually. Whatever.
"Fine, leave it in here. If I get hungry, I'll eat it." I said.
Reesa came over to the bed looking to Pony, "How is he?"
"Asleep."
"Yup." She let her eyes droop a little and turned, sluggishly walking out of the room. "Rees, you alright?"
"G'night."
"Wait." I got up going over to her, but she just glanced at me and went out into the hallway and into her room, shutting the door. I let it go for the time being, if she wanted to be left alone she got it. At least at that time. I figured she was just real tired, but I would check on her later when she wouldn't fight back.
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It had been a few hours since Reesa had gone to bed and I still sat in Pony's room trying to keep myself occupied by reading. It was getting harder to do that by the minute. Pony wasn't waking up, he hadn't even moved in the last two and a half hours. I was starting to think he might not wake up, but kept pushing it to the back of my head. He was fine, just fine. A little beat up, but fine. Its not like he hadn't had this before and he had pulled through then.
The house was quiet then, Soda was in my bed asleep and Skye sat slouched in the corner against the wall opposite me. She had dozed off and looked like a rag-doll of sorts. I was really the only one awake in the house, which would have been kinda nice if it wasn't three in the morning and I wasn't up for the reason I was. The quiet was nice, but maybe to unusual to be comfortable with.
I looked down to Pony, focusing again. He looked bad. He had been asleep too long and I knew he had a concussion, it was pretty obvious. I started thinking about taking him to the hospital, I didn't want to, but he needed help. I was so scared at that point that he wouldn't ever wake up that I was becoming frantic.
I leaned over him to shake his arm, seeing as I couldn't do a whole lot of other things to try and get him up. I didn't want to further any injuries, but at the same time, I had to wake him up. He didn't respond to.anything. I tried everything from slapping his cheeks to shaking his shoulders and causing pain, but he didn't so much as move. At that point I couldn't really tell if he was just in a deep sleep, which could very well be, or if something was really wrong with him. I wanted to tell myself that it was the first and not the last, but I couldn't shake it.
After a few minutes of trying to wake Pony with no success, I decided that I had to take him to the hospital. The thought had run threw my mind many times in the last few hours, even when he first got home, but I didn't want to take him in unless it was for something pretty serious. In my mind, this was now serious.
I got up and went back into my room, switching on the light to wake Soda, "Soda, get up. We gotta go."
Soda turned over in bed and groaned "I'll be out in a second."
I left the door open but made my way back to sit next to Pony. I was desperate to do something to help him, but I knew the only thing I could do was wait for Soda to be ready.
I walked back into the room, glancing at Skye who was slumped in the corner asleep. It was a cool night, and I thought she would be cold by then, so I got a blanket and spread it over her. I didn't need her getting sick along with everyone else. Especially not if we had Pony in the hospital. Then I went and sat down in the chair next to the bed, sighing. I rubbed my hand over my face and looked down to Pony for the millionth time that night, studying him for any signs of true life.
For some odd reason, he looked.different. I couldn't place it but.he looked better than he did before. Then I noticed that one of his eyes was open just a slit.
"Pony? Ponyboy?" I reached out and touched his hand.
"Uhmm." He got out.
"Soda! Soda, get in here!" I yelled over my shoulder, "Pony, Pony, don't go to sleep. Stay awake."
"Darry, don't yell. I'm awake and I have the worst headache on the face of the planet."
Soda walked in a little confused like, but heard Pony and came over, "How ya feelin, Ponyboy?"
"Is shit a feeling?"
I bit my lip, trying no to say anything to that. He didn't need to go around cussing, but I guess in this situation it was.okay.
"Uh, um.yeah. Yeah, I guess it does, I've felt that way.a few hundred times in my life. Thanks to Darry here."
"Shut your mouth." I told him, giving him a look for encouraging Pony. Then I looked back down to Pony, "Pony, I know your in a lot of pain, but I need you to tell me how you're in pain."
"Everywhere."
"Really, Pony. I need to know."
"Darry, how about you tell me how I got to be in this much pain in the first place. Then I'll answer your question if its even possible to narrow the pain in my body down."
By this time, Soda was by the side of me, and had his hand on Pony's shoulder, "We were hoping you could tell us, kiddo." He said gently.
"You don't know? Then how did I get home? Where's Skye? I think I was with her."
"She's asleep in the corner, don't wake her up, she just barely got to sleep. Dally and Two-Bit found you with Skye this afternoon. That's all we know."
"Oh. Wait, doesn't she know? She was there.wasn't she?"
"Yeah, but." I started, but then lost the thought.
"Well, she didn't exactly stick around for long." Soda piped in.
"Why?"
"Maybe cause you told her to leave."
"Oh, I did?"
"Yup, I guess you had a reason. But that's all I know, Skye won't talk, she's pretty upset about the whole thing."
Pony stayed quiet for a minute, and his eyes started to droop closed again.
"Pony, stay awake! You haven't answered my question yet." I jumped.
He didn't answer me, "Yo! You cant go to sleep. Keep talking to me."
"Fine, I'm awake. What was your question?"
"Where do you hurt?"
"Oh, yeah that one.I don't know."
"C'mon, Pony. You gotta have some idea. You definitely felt it earlier when you woke up."
"I didn't say I wasn't feeling it now."
"Then you can answer my question."
"Okay, so it hurts.everywhere.where there are bruises and crap and anything else."
"Yeah, how bad? Like, do you think you have broken ribs or anything? You gotta give me something to work with here, Pony."
"Darry, what do you think?"
"Pony, stop being a pain in the ass and-"
"Yeah, it hurts there too."
By this time I was having a hard time keeping my temper. Why didn't he just answer the stupid question? It was a simple thing to answer.
"Uh, okay. What about in your stomach?"
"Yeah, that hurts like hell."
"How do your ribs feel? I know you know what I'm asking, so don't play dumb."
"Uh.yeah..they kill."
"Okay, I'll accept that.do they feel broken?"
"How would I know? Do I look like a doctor to you?"
"Okay, Ponyboy this is not a game. This is a matter of you going to the hospital or not. Do you.If there is something wrong with you that we should be concerned about, then we need to know."
"I don't.I really cant tell. Stop yelling at me, it really hurts my head and I'm giving you the best answer that I can."
"Darry, maybe we should. I mean he's obviously hurt and." Soda looked over to me.
"Okay, lets go then."
"Wait, no! I don't want to go! I never said I wanted to go." Pony started whining.
"Yeah, well you don't really have a choice."
"But, Darry! I don't think I have anything that wrong with me.it just hurts like hell and if you make me move."
"Well, if we don't go then we wont know and I aint taking any chances. We'll be as careful as we can, Im sure you'll be fine. You gotta trust us on this one."
"Why didn't you go earlier then? I mean if you were going to go anyway, why didn't you do it when I wouldn't feel anything?"
"First, we were being stupid and should have a long time ago, and second cause it didn't seem necessary at the time, but if your feeling this bad then I don't want to chance it. Besides, before you woke up we were about to take you because you were freaking us out."
I went over and grabbed a blanket while Soda went and finished getting ready. I threw it on Pony, "I'll be back in a minute, don't move."
"Where would I go?" he asked as I walked out of the room and into the kitchen. I searched though the drawers and finally found some paper and a pen. I wrote a note to the girls so they wouldn't freak and put it on the door to the bathroom where I knew they would find it. Then I went through the rest the house, making sure all the windows were locked.
"Soda! Are you ready?" I hurried over to the laundry room where he was pulling on some of his shoes that were half dried.
"Yeah, just about." He pulled the last squishy shoe over his sock and followed me out. I could tell he was tired at this point. It was early in the morning and I couldn't blame him. He kept rubbing his eyes and stifling yawns, but it didn't matter because there were more important things going on.
As we rounded into his room where Pony was still half awake, I decided to impose a question on him. "How do you want to do this?"
He looked from Pony to me, and as if he had already thought this out gave me an answer. "You take him, I'll drive."
".'Kay, but I'll need your help."
"You did it just fine earlier, so I heard."
"Yeah, but earlier I wasn't thinking straight. I -"
"How about you support me between you guys and that way I'll make it out of here one way or another?" Pony asked, starting to sit up, grimacing as he did so.
Soda and I looked at each other to get the others' opinion on this. "Sound good?" I asked.
"Sure." He shrugged. "Let's just do it and get it over with."
"Please," Pony added, sounding very desperate to 'get it over with.' You'd think he was uncomfortable or something.
With a little difficulty and a lot of help from Soda, we got him out to the truck. Pony said he felt fine sitting up on the way. So, with him in the middle and Soda driving we started to the ER.
"What do you think they'll do to me?" Pony asked.
"Um. I dunno, probably do a few tests, like take X-rays and see what all is wrong." Like I knew what to expect. I just gave him the typical answer.
"So, normal stuff?"
"I suppose."
Soda was clearly desperate to get to the hospital before he fell asleep, so we made it there in record time. He pulled up to the doors and stopped extremely fast, causing us to jerk forward.
"Soda! We're trying to prevent further injury. He's not in labor, slow down."
"I did. Now get out and I'll go park."
I pushed the door open and climbed out. I reached back in and helped Pony scoot over to the edge of the seat and helped him down. He was obviously in a lot of pain. He barely made the effort to move on his own, let alone hold in whatever he wasn't expressing, which was a good thing because I didn't want to take a screaming, crying, cussing kid into the emergency room.
I supported Pony under his arms and turned my head to face Soda before he took off. "Soda, go home. I got it."
"Why? I just got here."
".Do I have to spell everything out for you?"
"Um. yes?" He sounded unsure.
"Think about whose at home who shouldn't be alone?"
It dawned on him quicker than I expected. I was preparing to make a full blown speech right then and there if he wasn't ready to catch on.
"Ahhh..But how will you get home?"
"I'll call you. Don't worry. You will be hearing from me. We ain't gonna walk home, now are we?"
"Well, duh. I'm not stupid, I just was thinking. never mind. I'll go."
"Thank. You."