Chapter Sixteen
Ponyboy and Sodapop ran across the street and scampered over the chain link fence that surrounded our yard. Ponyboy, being the fastest, was the first one through the back door and past my bedroom. Suddenly he stopped and did an about face turn. The change in direction caused a collision with Sodapop and both boys flew backwards onto the hallway floor.
Sodapop had no idea what Pony was doing so he snapped. "Where the hell are you going Ponyboy?" The rest of the gang came to a stop in the hall behind Soda. Steve reached down and pulled his friend from the floor.
Ponyboy pulled himself up and rubbed the pain in his head caused by the collision. "Don't you think we outta bring Scout some clean clothes?" Ponyboy walked into my room.
"Good point!" Soda slapped Pony on the back as he walked into my room, "I'll get Darry's keys and meet you in the truck."
Soda, Steve, Two-Bit and Dallas finished the journey down the hall while Johnny stepped in to the bedroom to offer assistance. "Need any help Pony?"
"Yeah," Pony said as he rapidly dug through my dresser drawers. "Why don't you grab her some shoes from the closet." In less than a minute the two had gathered undergarments, a t-shirt, shorts and my black loafers. They ran down the hall and out the front door where Sodapop had the truck running and Steve's car was waiting behind it.
Johnny and Ponyboy jumped into the cab of the truck. Soda was in such a hurry he didn't wait for Johnny to shut the truck door before he hit the gas, squealed the tires and sped off to the emergency room.
Inside the ambulance the sound of the sirens worsened the ever growing pain in my head. As the adrenaline in my body began to fade away I could feel the throbbing pain in my neck and every one of my muscles ached due to my trembling, which continued.
Officer Rosen sat near my shoulder and Darry sat at the back of the ambulance. I couldn't see him very well through my tears, but I knew he was there because I could feel his strong hand wrapped around my ankle.
Officer Rosen pulled out his note pad. "Scout? I am going to need a description of what Mr. Dobbins looks like. Can you do that for me?"
I thought about the man and stammered. "Long black mus… mustache … dark eyes. He was wearing a bla… black cowboy hat."
"Was he tall or short?"
I looked up at the officer. "Tall?" I really wasn't sure of the correct answer. "Taller … than Mary Lynn."
Officer Rosen could sense my stress. "Your doing good! How about his weight?"
"Thin …. strong." I added and became more anxious as we got closer to the hospital. I was afraid of going there, afraid of being separated from Darry and afraid I wouldn't ever see my friend alive again.
"I need you to tell me why Mr. Dobbins came into the house." The officer continued with the questioning.
I sniffled and tried to spit out a complete sentence. "I don't know… he was … we ….. we were just sitting there and …. he … he….." I reached up and wiped my eyes.
"It's ok Scout," The officer cued me. "Just take your time. Why was he there?"
I breathed in a shaky breath. "He just … just… showed up."
"Was Ms. Dobbins expecting him?"
I shook my head no and thought about how thirsty I was feeling. I looked up at the headliner in the ambulance and could see the entire incident running through my head like a movie I couldn't stop. Even though the images were in my head I couldn't seem to speak about it.
Darry rubbed my leg a little and looked over at the medic who sat next to him at my hip, hurriedly removing the nail polish from my fingers and toes. "She sure does feel cold." The medic flashed a look of concern back to Darry, but didn't share his thoughts
"Scout?" Officer Rosen spoke for my attention. "Did Mr. Dobbins shoot Mary Lynn?"
I shook my head no. I really did prefer the yes no questions. They didn't cloud my mind as much as the recollection questions. "Did Mr. Dobbins shoot his daughter Casey?" I recalled the moment in my mind. I heard the shot go off, my body flinched and jumped about an inch off the stretcher.
"You ok Scout?" Darry called out concerned. He leaned forward to look me over. Images of Casey bleeding flashed through my mind and I didn't answer my brother or the officer. I squeezed my hands together thinking I was holding onto my friend, wishing I could stop the blood from oozing out of the wounds.
The ambulance pulled to a stop underneath the emergency room canopy. Outside the car the hospital staff pulled the rear door open and pulled the gurney out. Darry, the medic and Officer Rosen followed behind into the hospital. The paramedic prepped the staff about my condition while a nurse stopped my brother.
"Sir you can't go in there." She held tightly to his arm and tugged a little in the direction of the nurse's station. "Do you know the patient?"
Darry watched helplessly as the medical staff wheeled me into a trauma room. Once I was out of view Darry realized that he had been asked a question. "Pardon me?"
"Do you know the patient?"
"Yes Mam', she's my sister."
The nurse smiled pleasantly and had Darry come to the nurse's station so she could write down my personal information.
As I laid in the trauma room the unwanted images in my head grew stronger while reality drifted in and out. The bright lights blurred my vision through my tears and trembling. My hearing was one of my only available senses.
A female voice spoke. "….her breathing is shallow, and she complained of nausea before arriving."
There were a few more hazy reports before a loud commanding male entered my senses. "… she's going into shock! Let's get her up … warm blankets..." Then I heard nothing more as my mind went blank for a length of time unknown to me.
Darry worked on completing the medical forms for me as the nurse asked questions. "Sir, would you like to use the phone to call your parents?"
Darry looked over at the lady dressed in her bright white uniform. "No," he cleared his throat. "They are both dead."
The woman face frowned as she thought about what to say next. "Is there a relative we should be contacting that your sister lives with… perhaps and aunt or a grandmother?"
Darry's blue eyes turned a little icy as he thought about how so many people didn't believe he was capable of raising his little sister. "No, I am her guardian."
"Oh." The nurse simply said and handed him two additional forms to complete. When Darry was through the nurse asked him to go to the ER waiting room. My brother walked down the corridor to the waiting area and was quickly mobbed by Ponyboy and Sodapop. "Darry? Is she alright, what did the doctors say?" The boys watched their brother as he took in a heavy breath.
"I don't know anything. They just took down some information and told me they would send the doctor out when he was ready."
Sodapop looked defeated. He wasn't interested in sitting and waiting, so he began to pace instead. Darry stayed standing against the wall with Dally while the other boys sat down in the chairs. While the minutes past Ponyboy chewed nervously on his fingernails. From time to time he wished he could just cry, but he knew better to do so in front of the gang.
When I opened my eyes again I heard the woman standing next to me asking if I could feel anything in my neck. I just stared at her, pupils slightly dilated. I didn't answer because the room began to sway and the colors seemed to turn to vapors and drift around in my head. Then in the mist a black haired doctor looked down at me. "Scout we are going to give you something to help you calm down and relax."
I remember closing my eyes. When I opened them again my vision seemed clearer and I could see the doctor sitting by my side. He noticed me silently watching him and smiled. "Well you know the good thing about this scar?" I stared blankly at the man as he spoke. "It's going to be hidden in your hairline. That will be nice, won't it?" A second nurse stepped into my view and smiled down at me.
"Scout?" She had a pleasant voice. "Your brothers are here waiting for you. Doctor Furlong will go out and talk to them as soon as he finishes with you." I shook my head slightly and my eyes fell heavy again.
The wait had grown long and everyone had retired to a chair. Between them they had smoked every last cigarette they had. Dallas was collecting money to go the cigarette machine to purchase more when a doctor came into the room.
"Family for Mary Lynn?" The blond doctor looked around the room while the boys all looked at each other. Suddenly Two-Bit cleared this thought and stood up.
"I'm family… uh… Mary Lynn is my cousin." Two-Bit walked over to the doctor and stared at him with his honest looking green eyes.
"Perhaps we should step out into the hall?" The doctor suggested making everyone worry a bit more.
"No," Two-Bit looked around him at the boys in the room. "It's ok, we are all really close." Then Two-Bit shoved his hands into his muddy pants pockets and waited for the report.
"Well the good news is Mary Lynn is going to be just fine. She has some cuts, bruises, and a major head concussion. We are going to keep her here for a few days for observation and then she can go home." A tiny smile of relief formed at the corner of Two-Bit's lips as the doctor continued. "When she does go home she is going to need someone there with her for a few days."
Two-Bit shook his head in agreement as if he was really family. "How'bout Casey?"
The doctor's face frowned a little. "Well she has been shot, twice and she went into surgery about thirty minutes ago, we'll no more when she comes out." The doctor patted Two-Bit on the shoulder and returned to the emergency room. Two-Bit looked to the ground unhappy about the uncertain news.
Another hour past before a second doctor came to speak with my brothers. "Family for Scout?" Without hesitation the three boys jumped to their feet.
The black haired doctor smiled and invited the boys to sit back down in their seats. Then the doc pulled a chair over for himself. "I want you to know Scout is doing just fine and she isn't going to need to stay here tonight." Wide smiles filled Pony and Soda's faces as they heard the news. Darry remained focused and wanted to know more as the doctor explained the situation. "She has some stitches on her neck where a bullet apparently grazed her skin, but that is going to heal nicely. Now…. when she arrived here she had gone into shock due to the trauma of the situation. This is our biggest concern at the moment so we are going to let her rest a little longer before we let you go and see her."
Darry shook his head to agree with the decision.
"As you may know the police are going to need to question her and they have the right too." The doctor sat back in his chair and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his white lab coat. "Now I really don't think she needs to be talking to them right away, it's just too soon, but …." The doctor gave my brothers an empathic look. "They really do need to get a lot of information in order to capture the who did this ."
"Yes sir." Darry let him know he would be sure to comply.
The doc stood up and finished his directions. "When she goes home I want you to keep a close eye on her. If she is drinking too much, her skin gets pale and cold, anything like that I want you to wrap her in some warm blankets and get her back here right away, ok?"
The boys all agreed to watch out for their little sister. Ponyboy handed the doctor the pile of clothes he had been clutching to. The doctor told them he would be sure I got my clothes and the nurse would be back to give them further directions for my care and to let them know when they could visit.
As I woke again the torturing images had left my head and I noticed I wasn't shaking any longer. My stomach had calmed and my muscles felt strong. I looked over at the corner of the room and noticed Officer Rosen talking with the police captain. Instantly I realized they weren't going to forget about me and I would have to tell them.
"Hi there!" The pleasant sounding nurse was back again. "Your brother's are still waiting on you so if you are ready to get dressed I'll go and get them for you."
I looked at my clean clothes piled in her arm. "Where did you get my clothes from?"
She smiled. "Your family brought them for you. Why don't you sit up and I'll help you get dressed." Without waiting for an answer she pushed the officers out of the room and pulled the privacy curtain shut.
After I was dressed I laid on the clean sheet, alone in the room. I looked around, frightened by the unknown then I heard the sound of feet outside the room. When the nurse pulled the curtain back Sodapop and Ponyboy darted to my side. Both of them smiled and wrapped their arms around me. I could feel stress and tension leave my body as they told me how relieved they were that I was alive.
Before Darry could say hello the police captain called him out to the hall for a long chat.
