The short pause, in which the uncertainties became ever nearer, seemed the longest time ever.
Sodapop was young, handsome, caring, and he was going to be a father, he didn't deserve to die.
"I'm pleased to tell you that Sodapop has survived the operations and is conscious."
"Yippee!" Ponyboy exclaimed. A smile was smeared across his face.
Darry and Steve were beaming.
"However, he is lucky to have survived." The doctor continued. "He has several injuries. He has a fracture to his left humorous in his upper arm. A clear break in his right tibia; the lower of his leg, and has hairline fractures in three of his ribs. A large gash on his forehead, we've stitched it up. Seven stitches in total. His stomach was punctured, and we have had to remove his spleen as it was causing severe internal bleeding. Obviously we have stitched and bandaged him up, but he is on high doses of morphine at the moment and is drowsy off the operation. He will come round." The doctor explained.
"Thank you doctor. Thank you so much for saving my brother." Darry beamed shaking the doctors hand. "Can we see him?"
"It's not me you wish to be thanking. It's the young lady who found him. If he had been left any longer, and it may have been too late." The doctor paused. "He will have to stay in here for a few days and when he goes home he will be in a wheelchair for a few weeks, just until he can walk, you see with him having a cast on both his arm and leg and having broken ribs, his balance will be off. Also, we will be giving him an oxygen supply as he may find it hard to breath, as well as painkillers etc…but yes you can see him…although he will be sleeping."
Pony smiled. I knew you could make it Soda, he thought to himself. You had to. Now I just hope baby Soda does too…
"While we're here… Do you know if, if Tori Jameson is okay? She's pregnant, she got rushed away, and her baby… she hurt." Steve asked, even though he and Soda had fell out. His anger and disappointment in Soda had been replaced by fear and worry. And even though Steve blamed the baby for them drifting apart, he didn't mean it. This kid was Soda's, and if it meant something to Soda it meant something to Steve.
"I'm sorry I don't. I'll try and find out for you though. You may go in and see Sodapop now. But I warn you he is in a mess." The doctor said as he led the way to Soda's room.
Darry and Ponyboy slowly walked in. Pony shed a tear when he saw his brother laying there, a drip in his arm, and his other arm in a cast. His leg in a cast and his face badly bruised.
"Hey little man." Darry said smiling. "So glad you're okay. Thought we'd lost you. How you feeling?"
Soda's eyes were small slits; he looked tired and could hardly talk. "I'm okay." Soda attempted to smile, but it didn't turn out too good. "Hey Pony."
"Hey." Pony smiled. He knew everything was going to be okay. "Steve's here. Soda, he's real sorry. And Tori…"
Soda was beat, "Yeah? Can you just tell Kirst I said thanks?"
"Yeah. I'll let her know." Darry smiled.
Soda yawned.
"Yeah not a problem." Pony beamed.
Soda struggled as he fought a battle to keep his eyes open.
"Sodapop, we'll leave you to go to sleep okay? We'll be here when you wake up, I promise." Darry motioned for Ponyboy to stand up.
"Okay. Thanks. Night." Soda mumbled as he was defeated and his eyes closed.
Darry and Pony met Steve outside.
"Shoot, he don't look so good huh?" Steve questioned concerned.
"Nope, but he's alive that's the main thing." Darry smiled.
"Yeah. Do you think, do you think it would be okay for me to talk to him in the morning? When he's not so tired. I wanna apologise." Steve asked Darry scared of the reaction.
"Yeah sure. I'm just hoping Tori's okay now, and the baby."
As she lay there still she felt as if she was floating. She could hear the sound of a bleep coming from what she guessed was some sort of a machine. Tori slowly opened her eyes, to a bright white, sterile room. She was lying on a bed, and was attached to a monitor…what had happened? Panic stricken she sat bolt upright in her bed; she felt her stomach…the bump was still there. As she felt her bump, she noticed her forearms and legs were bandaged where she had cut.
The white painted door opened and a woman wearing a white jacket walked in.
"Good morning Tori." The doctor said as she approached the bed. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm, I feel okay." Tori spoke cautiously. " What happened? Is my baby okay?"
"Yes your baby is fine. What happened is that, obviously you have been rather stressed lately, your baby had moved place in your uterus and the oxygen supply had been shortened due to a change in position of the umbilical cord. It is a good job you were in the hospital at the time, or your baby could have run out of oxygen. We gave you a few shots, which encouraged your baby to move back to the foetal position, allowing it to retrieve more oxygen. We also had to monitor you, because your blood pressure increased. But your baby is safe." The doctor stopped while Tori took it in.
"So, I could have killed my baby because I was stressed?" Tori's mind was spinning.
"No, Tori stress added to it. It is not your fault. You didn't nearly kill your baby. Don't blame yourself. If its okay with you, I'm going to ask a psychologist to come along and talk to you about your…cuts."
Tori blushed. "I, I can explain. Please, don't take my baby away." Tori pleaded. "I'll talk to whoever you want, but please, let me keep my baby."
"Tori, you have got to understand that no one wants to take your baby away from you. We just want to help you to get better. Talking can help. I understand your friend has been helping you. That's good. Support is the key." The doctor explained.
"Yeah. Is Kirsten still here?" Tori asked, her mind drifted to Soda- her heart sunk. "Do you mind if I speak to her?"
"No of course not. I'll send her in."
"Kirsten. How's Soda?" Tori blurted out before she had even stepped through the door.
Kirsten smiled. "He's okay! He's in a bad way with broken bones and that but he's gonna be okay."
Tori heaved a sigh of relief. "Do you think they'll let me see him? Just to let him know that I'm here for him…if he wants me."
"Yeah I think so. Good news about the baby huh." Kirsten grinned touching Tori's bump.
"Yeah. I think so. They want me to talk to a psychologist . What if they think I'm a wako?" Tori urged.
"Girl listen, they wont. You're not. Everything will be fine." Kirsten smiled as her friend slumped down on the bed.
The hours passed and Soda slept. He woke up late the next afternoon. He had been pestered with visitors. Darry, Ponyboy, Two-Bit, Johnny, and Dally, had all visited, all worried and all relieved that Sodapop had made it.
Soda lay in his bed, his left arm, and right leg in casts. His body ached. He was uncomfortable, and he had a stinging sensation arising from his forehead and he felt sick.
The door opened Steve walked in.
"Hey buddy." Steve said smiling as he approached Soda's bed. "Listen Soda, I'm sorry. For everything that's happened. I'm glad you're okay."
"It's fine. We're friends. If you wanna be." Soda rasped.
"Yeah. You know, Tori came down too Soda. She was real upset when they said what happened."
"She okay?" Soda asked.
"Yeah, she's okay. She's with Kirsten." Steve didn't want to lie to him, but he didn't know if Tori or the baby were okay. He thought that telling him the truth would upset him; he didn't need to be upset he was lucky to be alive.
"Do you think she would come and see me? I've been thinking… Steve I could have died… I know I could have, then the last memories Tori would have is of me being a complete cock." Soda explained.
"Yeah, probably. But Soda, I'm confused, I thought you were pissed off cause she kissed Dally?" Steve puzzled.
"Yeah I was. I was upset. Geez , Steve I love her. She's carrying my baby- I need to be apart of that. I need her back in my life, just like I need you back in my life. I've had a chance to think, its not the way I want things to be. I don't want them to be awkward."
"Soda, she probably feels the same. Just talk to her. And as for me, I'm here for you. What happened before, it's nothing, just forget about it." Steve smiled. He was so happy Sodapop had pulled through.
"Steve could you get Tori to come in please?" Soda asked as he lay still, a throbbing sensation was building in his head.
"Yeah I will. Take care of yourself, and I'll be back later, after work." Steve stated as he stood up.
Steve approached the waiting room, knowing that Tori wasn't there, knowing that he didn't know where she was or what was happening. As he stepped into the waiting room, Darry was stood up smiling, Ponyboy was slouched in the chair with a can of soda, and Kirsten was standing facing Darry moving her hands as she spoke.
Steve ran over to his friends, "What's happened? Soda, he's asking to see Tori. Is she okay?"
"Steve, Tori and the baby are okay." Steve sighed with relief as Darry continued, "but she has been self harming."
"What?" Steve blurted out. "She's been trying to kill herself?"
"She's been cutting her wrists. Just as a coping strategy, she wasn't intending to kill herself, just escape. I'm gonna tell Soda, he's got to know, that's what I was going to tell him when I found him, I think Tori's gonna come down n speak to him herself, she's just got to talk to someone first." Kirsten explained.
Steve was astonished, how had no one realised?
Kirsten opened the white door to Soda's room. She braced herself for what she would see. Although she had been the one to find him she knew that he would look somewhat worse to what she had remembered, after all now he was attached to machines and drips, never mind the obvious physical injuries.
Soda looked up to see his rescuer enter the room. A smile, a vague shadow of his former movie star grin, shone over his pale face and lit his excited eyes up.
"Hi Kirsten, you know, if it wasn't for you…" Soda started but became cut off.
"Yeah I know, and you don't have to say thanks, anyone in that position would have done the same. I'm just glad your okay. But there's something I need to tell you. Something you need to know." Kirsten said, her face somewhat serious. She was unsure how she was to tell Sodapop, but it needed to be done.
"Okay. I thought Tori came, Steve said he would send her in…" Soda paused; something told him there was something going on. "What's up Kirst?"
"Tori did come. But… right Soda I'm gonna tell you something which might upset you but don't jump to any conclusions until I finish. Okay. So when Tori found out what had happened, she got pains in her stomach, she got rushed away," Soda's eyes started to fill up as he listened intently. "but don't worry everything's okay now. Just your baby, it had moved and was cutting its own oxygen supply off. It's fine now though. Both Tori and your baby are fine." Kirsten paused before telling Soda about Tori's self harm.
"Thank God. Shoot, Kirsten I thought you were gonna say I had lost one of them." Soda heaved a sigh of relief as a few tears fell from his eyes.
"Sodapop there's something you got to understand. Tori's been lonely, she's been under a lot of stress…"
"I know, but when I get out of here, Kirsten, I'm gonna be there for her. I promise." Soda cut in.
"Good. I'm glad. But Soda you're gonna have to support her good, emotionally. Tori's… she's… Soda Tori's been self-harming. Cutting her wrists and legs."
Soda's eyes began to fill once more as guilt and regret flooded through him.
"Oh, God. Kirsten what have I done?" Soda asked.
"Soda calm down. It's not your fault. It's happened and now we need to think for the future. Tori's now speaking to a psychologist. Don't worry though. Everything will be okay. She's gonna come and see you." Kirsten positively stated.
"If I hadn't been so hard on her about Dally, and if I hadn't got scared maybe non of this would have happened. I feel bad." Soda took a deep breath; he squinted in pain as pressure was exerted on his ribs.
"Don't be silly. Tori's had a hard time. She used to do it when her dad died, and a few times when John started. But she's been really strong. She's stopped. Don't blame yourself." Kirsten sighed.
Tori slowly walked towards Soda's room, after having one hundred questions thrown at her by everyone else. She took a deep breath as thoughts whizzed over and over in her mind. How was she going to explain everything to Soda without sounding pathetic? It had been hard talking to the psychologist, but it would be harder talking to Soda.
Author's Note; "Hey, just writing a quick note to apologise for the late update. The past few weeks have been a bit stressful trying to sort stuff out. So I'm sorry. Anyway, hope I don't disappoint anyone with this chapter. I'll try and update soon. Please read and review because it makes me feel more confident about my writing and thanks for my previous reviews. Enjoy!"