Soda and I didn't get a wink of sleep the rest of the night. I think he was in too much pain to relax, and I was afraid the second I fell asleep he'd need something. Darry checked on us a couple of times, but I made sure that he thought I was asleep. Whenever I heard his footsteps, I'd kind of slump over and close my eyes to make it look like I had fallen asleep while sitting next to Soda. I don't think he really believed I was sleeping, but he figured that everything was as good as could be expected.
We all went to the hospital as soon as Darry was up. He had to carry Soda to get him out the door. I don't think he would have moved if he could. Soda was pretty stubborn, and he had made it clear that he didn't want to go see a doctor. Darry, though, was more stubborn than Soda, and he also had the strength to back up his stubbornness. If the situation hadn't involved my brothers, I may have laughed about the battle of wills.
After waiting an eternity in the Emergency Room, they finally looked Soda pop over. It turned out he had broken two ribs clear in half and bruised some of his other ribs. He got eleven stitches in his head where a glass bottle had sliced him open. The doc said that if it was a little deeper we'd be dealing with a chipped skull.
I found out that Soda had gotten sick because his side had swelled up so much it put pressure on his stomach. It sounded horribly dangerous to me, but the doc said that it didn't cause any damage to his organs. They sent us home with a bottle of painkillers and instructions to put ice on, well, everything, if you got down to it.
I was relieved when the jolting of the Ford ceased as we pulled in the driveway. I was beat, and I imagined Soda was even more exhausted than me. Darry helped Soda lie down on the couch. They would have gone to our room, but the couch was as far as Soda could get. He fell asleep almost instantly. Those pain pills sure kicked in fast.
"I never thought I'd see this day..." Darry muttered as he put a blanket over Soda.
I would have asked what he meant, but I already knew. I never thought I would see the day that Soda got beat this badly in a fight, either. I just stood there zoning out for a minute when the thought of school brought me back to reality. Shaking my head, I wondered how in the world I would make it through the whole day without falling asleep in class.
"Pony, I want you to stay home today," Darry's voice was music to my ears.
"Why?" I yawned, trying to at least pretend I wanted to go to school.
Darry gave me that look that says he know exactly what I'm thinking. "Come on, kid, you expect me to buy that? You get some sleep and take care of Sodapop, you hear?"
"Okay," I relented. Of course I listened to him. I had stayed up the whole night before.
I slept away the rest of the morning, only getting up to check on Soda and get him some more pain killers. Around noon I awoke to my growling stomach. Brilliant me, I had forgotten to eat breakfast. Again. I always was forgetting the most essential things like eating or putting on shoes. (Yes, I still forget my shoes everywhere. I walked to school one morning, only to show up at the track in my stocking feet. Everyone had a laugh out of that.)
There wasn't any chocolate cake, for once. I grabbed some eggs and started up the griddle. I almost made some with the yokes not hard for Soda, but then remembered that he wasn't going to be able to eat. It was lonely at the table, so I quickly ate my hard eggs and moseyed back into the living room. Soda was up, and for once looked like he was comfortable.
"Hey, how ya feeling?" I plopped down on the floor beside the couch.
"Hmm, better," he sighed. "I sure could use something to drink."
"Sure, want some water?"
"We got any chocolate milk?"
I looked at him funny. "Uh, yeah, I think so. You sure you want that?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Now, do I have to get it, or were you planning to?" He cracked a grin, which let me know that he really was feeling better. I was thinking it was the painkillers they gave him, but you never know with Soda.
I heard him rustling around as I poured the milk, and when I got back he was sitting up, breathing heavily.
"Take it easy there," I said, "You've still got broken ribs and stitches, no matter what those pain pills did."
"You know, kid, you're starting to sound too much like Darry." Soda took a swig of his
milk, too quickly. He choked and sputtered, which aggravated his ribs. If I hadn't
grabbed the glass it would have spilled everywhere. Soda winced and held his side,
taking deep breaths.
I wanted to make a smart remark, but I knew it just wasn't what Soda could use right
then.
"I think you should lie back down," I suggested. Soda didn't argue. I knew his head was
giving him some trouble, too. The look on his face said it all.
"Man..." he said in disbelief, "I never thought someone would beat me up this bad."
"Neither did I," I said honestly. There was silence for a few minutes, both of us thinking
our own thoughts. "What happened, Soda?" I asked, sounding almost like an 8 year old,
even to myself.
Soda thought a while, and then answered. "I don't rightly know. I was walkin' home
from DX. Darry had picked up the car earlier because he had needed it after his lunch
break. As I was walking, I started to get the sense that someone was following me. I kind
of prepared myself, expecting a fight. But I never expected what was coming. I looked
behind me once, and no one was there. Then, the next think I knew, there were six guys
surrounding me. I didn't know what the heck to do, Pony. They smelled like beer, and
were staggering. One of them slurred somethin' about trying to steal his girlfriend. Dang
socs, I didn't do nothing to their girlfriends. You were there yesterday. You saw all them
girls. The dumb broads that were dressed like they were wearin' their little sister's
clothes, and the okay ones who were decent. I never tried to pick any of those girls up!
What the heck did I do wrong, Pony?
"I tried to find a way out of the middle of their circle. I punched the one guy to
make an opening, but they all grabbed me. Gosh, Ponyboy, I kicked and punched as hard
as I could. The one guy still had his beer bottle. When I tried to grab it, he smashed it
against the wall and sliced me with it. I think he was aiming for my eyes. Man, that glass
hurt so bad I couldn't even think straight..... Then they punched me. I don't remember
anything else...." Soda trailed off, and we both drifted to sleep after the exhausting day
before.
Someone was knocking on the door. I rolled over, realizing I had fallen asleep on the
hard wood floor. Everything was kind of stiff. I looked at the clock. Glory! I thought,
I slept for three hours straight. Soda was still out cold on the couch. I heard someone at
the door again, and realized that that was what had woke me up. Rolling to my feet, I
plodded to the door, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Who could possibly have been
knocking? Everyone knows they can just walk right in.
"Sarah!" I was shocked to see the brown-eyed beauty standing at the door.
"Hey, Ponyboy," she started to get a little red, like she was embarrassed.
"What's up?" I used the new phrase I had heard someone use somewhere recently.
She smirked. "The sky, of course. Take a look for yourself."
"Well yeah, I meant, what's going on? What do you need?"
"I know, Pony, I was just kidding. I was wondering why you weren't in school today. It's
not like you to miss school. Is something wrong? Are you alright?"
"I'm okay. Do you want to come in?"
She looked at the sun. "Sure, but why did you miss school?"
"Soda got beat up yesterday. I was up all night with him. Darry told me to stay home to
catch up on sleep and take care of Soda. So that's what I did." I wasn't meaning to come
across so matter of fact. The truth was, I wasn't looking forward to catching up on the
work I missed. Sarah's face sunk.
"Is he alright? Did I wake you guys up? I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"Hey, don't sweat it. The doc said he'll be fine. See, Soda's still out like a light on the
couch. Do you want something to drink?"
"No, thanks. Gosh, what happened? He looks pretty bad," her eyes bugged out when she
saw the bandage over Soda's forehead. I thought it was pretty cute when they bugged out,
but I forced myself to stay cool and push those thoughts away.
"Yeah, he got eleven stitches from a glass bottle slicing him, and broke two ribs clean in
half."
"Oh." There was a long paused as she digested this. "Do you guys need anything? I'm
sure my mom could bring dinner over for you or something."
I was really tempted to say yes to the dinner. Her mom was always cooking something
that smelled heavenly. But, we were independent boys. "We'll manage," I said.
She eyed me conspicuously. That always meant she was plotting something. "Nope, I
think you could use a break from cooking. I also thing that you want to say yes, but are
too stubborn."
Glory, this girl knew me too well, and I'd only known her a little while. "Okay," I gave
in. Soda taught me that when a girl puts her foot down, it's best not to argue.
She grinned. "That's better."
I couldn't help but laugh. I loved the way her eyes danced when she laid down the law. Soda stirred just then, and hollered for me.
"What's wrong, Soda?" I walked over to the couch.
"My head's killing me..." he moaned. I could tell he couldn't think straight.
Sarah's face was the perfect picture of genuine concern. Her face clearly pleaded to let her help.
"Hey," I said softly, "can you grab the medicine bottle on the counter in the kitchen?"
She nodded wordlessly and was there and back to the couch in two seconds flat.
"Who's here?" Soda mumbled, not opening his eyes.
"It's me, Sarah," she spoke gently, "You alright?"
"It's just a scratch," he claimed, though he still wouldn't open his eyes.
The screen door slammed as Steve and Two-bit paraded in, as was their normal after school ritual.
"What's happening?" Two-bit was using his normal, loud voice. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed Sodapop on the couch.
"Could you keep it down in here?" Soda scolded irritably.
"Whoa, Soda's down. What in the state of Oklahoma happened?" I was surprised there was less sarcasm. Steve just stood there. He knew, and so did Two-bit. They knew the score and how things went down. But Two-bit was the kind of person to ignore that. They'd get the scoop later, and Steve would get so burning mad we wouldn't see him until the next afternoon.
Right then, I had to get Soda to swallow the painkillers, make sure the guys weren't bouncing all over the house, and wish that I could just go for a walk and talk to Sarah.
"I'd better get home," Sarah headed for the door. "I'll come by later with dinner for you guys. Bye." She bounded out the door, and I didn't have much time to so much as call goodbye and thank her. I sighed and got back to Soda, the boys, and my life as a 15 year old greaser.
A/N: Sorry, once again, for the delay. You all know how it goes, so I don't think I need to explain myself too much. I got past the hard part, and right now I'm free of writer's block, so I might have another chapter up before next week. Let's just pray that I get the time!