Disclaimer: I, no matter how much I wish, am NOT the great S.E. Hinton. I do not own The Outsiders or any related characters blah blah blah. If I were Miss Hinton I probably would not be writing here, now would I. I DO however own Matt and any other people you don't recognize.
A/N: Bob's eighteen Matt are sixteen; Nate is eighteen, about to head off to college.
Chapter
Two
All A Blur
I'm not sure how long it took to get to Bob's house. It could have been seconds, minutes, hours, days, or years. But nothing made sense to me anymore. Time knew no number. Everything was a blur. My brain could not process all of the information at once. All I knew was that there was nothing left.
Then, one thought hit me like a ton of bricks. Nate and I still had something. Dad was still alive…he may not have been doing too well… but he was still alive. So there was at least a chance that he would live, that everything would be okay.
"Nate," I said suddenly, surprising him, as we got out of Bob's car. "We got to get to the hospital to see Dad!"
Nate scowled. "You REALLY think that those doctors would let us into the intensive care unit at two o'clock in the morning!" he yelled, his voice betraying the rage and sadness he was trying not to let me see.
"Shut up, guys," said Bob. "You're gonna wake up the whole neighborhood at this rate."
Nate, still glaring at me, shut his mouth. He did not like taking orders from a "kid", but he had to admit that Bob was speaking sense.
Bob slipped a key out of his pocket and quietly turned it in the lock.
Instantly, we heard his mom shout, "Robert! What's going on out there! Who's yelling?"
"Y'all go on upstairs," Bob whispered. "I'll explain to mom."
Obediently, Nate and I made our way up the long spiral staircase. Nate picked one out of the scores of rooms and shut himself in it. I heard the click of the lock behind him. I truly did not blame him. I felt like doing the same thing myself. I felt so miserable.
I too picked one of the guest rooms and shut myself in. Sick and confused, I passed out on the bed. There was nothing left for me to do.
I was awoken the next morning by someone banging loudly on my door.
"Shut up," I croaked, stuffing my head under my pillow.
"Well fine," came Bob's voice, "I guess you don't want to go see your Dad."
Immediately, I jumped out of the bed and opened the door. I almost ran into Bob, but he dodged in time before any damage was done. I sprinted towards the stairs and was half way down when Bob shouted, "Hold up! Where do you think you're goin'?"
"To see my Dad!" I shouted, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world to do.
"Not looking like that you're not," he said. He thrust some of his own clothes into my arms.
I realized that I must have looked a sight, my hair uncombed, my clothes from yesterday wrinkled from where I had slept in them.
In record time, I changed and made myself presentable, and ushered Nate out the door.
We borrowed Bob's car and sped to the hospital. I realized later that it was a miracle that we were not pulled over by the police.
We ran into the hospital, and after talking with a nurse, found Dad's room.
As we made our way through the maze of halls and passageways, I began to feel nervous. I mean, what do you say to a man who is in the hospital and possibly could die?
He's not gonna die, I told myself firmly, and pushed the thought from my mind.
Finally, Nate stopped in front of a door and said, "This is it." Quietly, he pushed open the door.
Dad looked a site. Blotchy burns covered his body, and what skin was left was charred black by flame and ash. It made me sick to look at it. And I wondered how anyone in his condition could survive. But though he was now asleep, he was still alive.
I sat down in one of the chairs beside the bed and listened to the bleeping of the heart monitor. With every burst of sound, it meant Dad lived for another second.
Bleep.
Bleep.
Bleep.
Listening to the comforting sound of the heart monitor, I fell asleep.
I woke up a few hours later.
I heard Nate and Dad talking softly.
"Wow," said Nate. "You've been asleep for nearly six hours. Did you get any sleep at all last night?"
I didn't answer. Sure I had slept, but it hadn't been a sleep of exhaustion, but a sleep of worry and habit. At least now I felt like I had a little bit of energy to spare.
"Hi Dad," I said.
"Come here, Matthew," he said quietly, in a voice that was not his own. I noticed his eyes were glazed and his skin was taking on a grayish tint. He put his hand on my head and said. "Matthew, you know I'm… I'm… dying."
That sole word rang out through the hospital room.
"No Dad," I said, trying to sound reassuring, though my voice was quaking too much to do any good. "You're gonna be okay."
But he took no heed. "I want you to be good, alright? Obey Nathaniel. And promise me one thing."
"Anything, Dad."
"Promise me that you won't cry at my funeral."
After that, his hand fell from where it had been resting at my brow, and the heart monitor went flat.
"Nooooooooo!" I yelled. I ran out of the hospital room yelling for a doctor, a nurse, for anybody to make my dad better again.
"Shhh, Matt," said Nate. "There's nothing you can do. He's gone."
I wrenched myself out of his grasp and started running.
I don't know how I did it, but somehow in my rage of pain and agony, I made it to Bob's house.
I found the whole gang sitting, talking in Bob's living room, waiting for me.
"He's dead," I bellowed. "And someone's gonna pay."
No one questioned what I had just said. They knew what I was gonna do. The next person who crossed my path was gonna pay dearly for it. And I didn't care. Like a wolf searching for the kill, I led the gang to the park, where I saw my next victims.
- - - - -
Okay, so what did you think. I'll bring Pony and the gang into the next chapter for sure. And A special thanks to the reviewers… who so kindly didn't flame me:
Steves-girl – Thanks! I have big things planned for this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading.
WenWen – Thanks for the encouragement!
Babygurl33 – Yep. It was poor Johnny, but Matt didn't know who he was so I couldn't just say it right out. I tried to give hints though. I always wondered what Bob's gang went through during the story and what happened afterwards with them.
Darkdestiny2000 – Thanks! Yep, it was poor little Johnny they attempted to kill. I hope this update was soon enough for ya. I was on a trip so I couldn't get on it right away. Hope this is okay.
Thanks for reading and review please. They are what keeps me goin'
Bookworm
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