I woke inside another hospital. Oh, good, I thought, we must be here for Pony. But when I looked around, I noticed that it was me who was in bed. I looked around, confused and dazed. What was going on?
A nurse walked into my room, and I asked her, panicking, "Where's Pony?"
She didn't respond. "Please!" I pleaded with her. "Tell me where my brother is! Is he okay! Tell me!"
Some doctors came in and I asked them all the same question. By now I was in hysterics, wondering with fear what had happened to my baby brother. Why did he collapse like that? What was wrong with him?
The doctors surrounded me, and the last thing I remember was saying, "ouch," and then I passed out.
When I came to, there was something different about my room. I looked over at the other side of the bed, and there was Ponyboy. He was okay! He was sleeping peacefully in the crook of my arm, so I tried not to disturb him. I laid my head back and closed my eyes. Everything was a lot better now. All I needed was Soda to make this a perfect day.
I noticed Pony started to stir, and so I let go of him. But when he got up, like he was about to leave, I grabbed him by the wrist.
"Ponyboy?" I said.
Pony's eyes filled with tears and he jumped back onto the bed, hugging me tightly.
"Yeah," he said, his voice choked, "it's me."
I hugged him close, as though he would go away if I ever let go. We stopped hugging, only when we noticed some one was at the door. It was Soda.
He was standing in the door way, tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.
"Come here, little buddy. You might as well join the group." I said.
And he did. We all lay in the tiny hospital bed, hugging and laughing together. We fell asleep that way, and it was the best sleep I'd had in a long time.
Don't worry. This is not the end!