Soda's POV

"What does it say, Darry?" I asked, stepping closer.

I read over his shoulder. This isn't over.

A chill ran through my body. Not over? But we beat them. We won the rumble. Why can't it be over?

"What is it?" Pony's quiet voice spoke out.

"Nothing, baby." I said, stepping back over to him.

"Let me see." He said, as his eyes began to droop.

"It's nothing. Go back to sleep." I pushed the hair out of his eyes.

"I wanna...I want to see..."

I looked over at Darry who was watching Pony with a worried look. He didn't want him to see it either.

"It's about me, isn't it?" His groggy voice spoke again.

"No. No, baby. Stop worrying about it. Just sleep." Darry said, turning away.

Pony shifted uncomfortably. Dallas stepped out of the room.

"You feel okay, honey?" I asked, touching his forehead. It was warm, but not to the point of fever.

"No. Let me see the note." His voice turned pleading, and I could hardly deny him of what he wanted.

I looked back at Darry, but he wouldn't look at us. He was staring at the paper in his hands.

I was worried, because Darry looked worried. And if he was worried, then I'd better be worried.

"Darry?" Pony said.

Darry turned from out of his daze.

"Yeah, Pony?" Darry replied, looking him in the eye.

"Let me see it." Ponyboy said.

Darry looked at me, and I nodded. He'd need to know.

Darry slowly stepped forward and handed it to Pony. He took it from him and read that one sentence. That one sentence that meant so much.

Pony made a quiet whimpering sound, which I know we weren't supposed to hear. But we did.

"It's okay, baby. No one will hurt you. We're all here, okay? You're fine, Pony. No one will get you." Darry said, sitting down on the bed by him.

"I know. I'm fine." Pony said, though I knew he wasn't.

"Go to sleep, baby." I said again, noticing how he could hardly keep his eyes open.

"Okay." He turned over, but not before I could see the flash of fear in his eyes.

Pony's POV

I'm so cold. Why is so cold in here? It's the summer time. Why isn't it warm enough?

I looked over and saw Soda laying in bed with no covers over him. How can he stand it?

I began shivering and my teeth were chattering. I pulled at all the blankets, and covered up. I made my own little cocoon out of the blankets, but I still wasn't very warm.

I soon began to fall asleep, only to dream of living in a frigid area, and feeling all the more cold.

I opened my eyes. The room was spinning. What's going on?

Darry walked in with only his jeans on(drools).

"Pony?" He said.

I couldn't answer through my chattering teeth.

Darry placed one of his large hands on my forehead, testing my temperature.

"God, Pony. You're burning up. Let me go get the thermometer."

Thermometer? What does he need that for? I'm freezing. I can't be burning up.

Before Darry returned, I had fallen back into my dizzy, cold, state.

I don't remember much after that point. Only these bits and pieces.

I woke up, barely opening my eyes, and someone place a glass of juice to my lips. I drank heavily. I couldn't seem to get enough of it. But all too soon, someone took it away.

I whimpered, wanting more.

"Sorry, baby. I don't want you getting sick from only having fluids in you." Someone with a deep voice said, brushing my hair back.

"D-dad?" I said, my voice hoarse and weak.

I heard a sharp intake of breath, but then I fell asleep again.

Steve's POV

This has got to stop. First, they beat up Pony a hundred times, and now he's sick with fever. When will this end? I'm just surprised they haven't been back yet. It's been a week. It'll come sooner or later. I know that much.

Soda has been worried sick. Pony's been in and out of consciousness for the past four days. He's been asleep more than awake and they've been having a horrible time trying to keep his fever down. They can't get him to take any medicine, since he's been asleep. All he does is sleep, and when he's awake, he's always drinking something. Poor kid hasn't even had a decent meal in forever.

I walked down to the DX to see Soda. He'd taken over his usual jobs finally. I wouldn't complain to him, but it was kind of getting on my nerves how I was the only one working all the time. Well, he had a good excuse.

"Hey, Soda." I said as I came up to him.

"Hey." He said quietly, rubbing his eyes.

"What's the matter, man?" I said, noting the bags under his eyes.

"I haven't gotten a chance to sleep much. Pony was having a nightmare last night. We couldn't break him out of it. Darry took the day off today to take care of him. I guess he doesn't trust the gang as much. He's taken off less than me anyway. Sorry about that, by the way."

"No problem, man." I replied.

"Why don't you go home and take a nap? I'll close for you."

"It'd be nice, but I can't afford it."

"Man, I'm doing it for free."

Soda looked at me quickly, and when he realized I was serious, a few tears shone in his eyes.

"Thanks, man." He said coming up and clapping me on the back.

"It's nothing. You'll be closing up soon anyway. Now, don't let me catch you taking care of Pony instead of sleeping. If I come over there, you better be asleep, or I'll beat the tar out of you."

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks again, man."

I was glad to help Soda out. I didn't have any reason for the money anyway. It was just another excuse to be away from home.

Darry's POV

Soda walked in the door, and I was surprised to see him home. I was almost asleep in the arm chair when he came in.

"Hey, how's Pony?" He said first thing.

"I don't know. I got him to drink some more, but there hasn't been any improvement, really. His temperature went down a little. Now it's 102."

"Dang, that's still awfully hot."

"What are you doing home so early anyway?" I asked.

"Steve made me go home since I was dead on my feet." He chuckled, then went to the couch and stretched out.

I watched Soda. How come he could always relax under these circumstances when I couldn't? I envied him.

He must have felt my eyes on him, because he looked over at me.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" He said.

"No."

"Don't lie to me, Darry. I know you. When something's bothering you, you try to hide it, but you're not very good at it."

"Okay, okay. Pony. . .he. . .he thought I was Dad." I said.

"So do a lot of people. What's wrong with that?" Soda asked, confused.

"I just. . . I hate the thought that he's so out of it that he doesn't even remember they're gone. And if he doesn't. . .I just don't want to have to tell him that again."

Soda watched me a second, reading my thoughts. It was strange how he did that. He could just look at someone and feel what they were feeling, and know what they're thinking.

"Darry, he'll remember. It's something that we all can never forget. He's just sick right now. He'll get better soon, though." He reassured me.

"I hope so, Soda."

I got up and went to check on Pony. He was sleeping, or unconscious, and he started shivering all over again.

I climbed into the bed with him, and wrapped my arms around him, trying to warm my sick and cold brother.