Author's note: I know this chapter may sound like it's the last one, but it's not. There's more to the story. Hopefully, in the end this story will work out the way I want it to.
Soda's POV
I had been sleeping soundly on the couch when the phone woke me up. Darry usually keeps the volume up on the phone because we all can get pretty loud. But in a quiet house, the sound of the phone startled me. Especially since I had just been sleeping.
"Hello?" Darry answered the phone. He looked at me expectantly as I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Yes, this is Darrel Curtis Jr."
I stood up and walked over to where Darry stood. I wanted to know if it was about Pony and knew that Darry was wondering the same thing as he listened to the person on the other line.
After a minute Darry hung and turned to me. A look of relief on his face. "Soda, get in the truck. They've found Ponyboy and we need to pick him up at the hospital."
Darry didn't have to ask me twice. In fact, I ran to the truck and yelled for him to hurry up. After a week, Pony was finally home. Well, sort of. I couldn't wait to see him.
Darry's POV
Soda talked excitedly all the way to the hospital. But I was too busy thinking to pay attention. I knew that even though Johnny killed the soc, I was the one who had hit Ponyboy, and if I hadn't hit him, he wouldn't have ran out of the house and the events that followed wouldn't have happened. I was looking forward to being reunited with my youngest brother, but at the same time, I was scared. I didn't know how he would respond to me after I had hit him.
"Darry, are you listening to me?" Soda asked. He was looking at me with a serious expression on his face.
"Sorry little buddy. I was just thinking." I appologized.
"About Pony?" Soda asked.
"Yeah." I admitted.
"Me too. Do you think he'll be just as excited to see us as we are to see him?" Soda asked.
I had to grin. "I hope so."
The rest of the ride was quiet. I guess Soda was thinking about Pony, too. Neither one of us knew what to expect when we arrived at the hospital. All I knew was that there had been some fire at a church, and I didn't want to tell Soda because I didn't want him to worry. Especially since I didn't know if Pony was hurt or not.
Finally, I pulled into the parking lot at the hospital and I followed Soda inside. He barely stopped when I asked a nurse where our brother was. By the time she said that Pony was in the waiting room, Soda was already half way there.
"Soda, wait up!" I called after him.
"Hurry up, slow poke!" Soda replied. He walked around a corner and through a pair of doors.
Soda's POV
As soon as I walked through the doors, I saw Ponyboy running towards me. Before I knew it, I was hugging him and swinging him around.
"Oh, Pony. Look at your tuff hair!" Was all I could say as I pushed back his hair which was now blonde. I wanted to say more, but Pony took a step back and was looking at Darry.
I knew he was thinking about how Darry had hit him. He had to have been. But then, his expression changed and it was then that I saw that Darry was crying. Darry never cries. I've been known to cry. Ponyboy has been known to cry. But not Darry. He was supposed to be the strong one. And now, I was seeing a side of him that I wasn't aware of.
Darry's POV
I could see my brothers both staring at me as tears flowed down my cheeks. I quickly turned away, embarrassed. But then I heard Ponyboy scream my name and before I knew it, he was hugging me.
"Darry, I'm sorry." Was all he said.
I hugged him back, and told him , "Pony, I thought that we had lost you. Like we did mom and dad."
With that, Soda joined in the hug. I think all three of us had an unspoken fear of losing each other. Now, we were together again and I hoped that it would stay that way.