(Wednesday, March 16, 1966, 3:13 PM)
Upon opening the front door of the house, both Ponyboy and Sodapop saw the balled-up form of Bexley sleeping comfortably next to Darry with a comforter wrapped around her.
"Darry?" Ponyboy whispered as to not wake Bex up. Darry, who had dozed off on the couch, lifted his head and rubbed his face at the sound of his kid brother's voice.
"Yeah?" he said with a tired groan, looking at the two of us. "Where's Steve and Two-Bit?" Soda asked.
"Steve went home for the evening, said he'll be around tomorrow. As for Two-Bit, he fell asleep in the recliner." Darry replied in a whisper. "How come Bexley is in here?" Pony asked, setting the bags on the kitchen counter.
"She came in here because she didn't want to stay in the bedroom. Her stomach was bothering her again and she couldn't sleep because of that nightmare she had last night. I let her sleep on the couch. So far not a single nightmare." Darry yawned, rubbing his tired face.
Soda began rummaging through the bag that carried a few cans of soup, some juice, and some more medicine to help Bex get better.
The sound of the rustling of the bag ended up waking Two-Bit from his heavy slumber. "Huh? Wha...?" he rusty-haired groaned, stretching his sore body from being balled up in that chair. Soda apologizes in advance for waking him up.
All Two-Bit did was grumble and he readjusted himself on the recliner and went back to sleep. As carefully as he could, Darry slipped out from beside Bex so she could lay down.
"How is she?" Ponyboy asked, kneeling down next to our sister and he took her hand, which was cold. Darry went to get the medicine that I had bought, turning on the kitchen light.
"Not so good. Her stomach is still giving her trouble." Darry replied, coming back into the living room with the medicine. "Here, give a spoonful to her, alright? But, you know she's gonna be stubborn with it." Darry said, giving the spoon and medicine to me.
"Alright, Dar. I'll get her to comply." Soda replied, taking the medicine and spoon. Two-Bit had fallen back asleep, his mouth hanging open a little bit. Ever since finding Bex in those frigid waters, he had told us that he wanted to stay close to her until she was better again.
Soda kneeled down in front of Bex and gently patted her shoulder.
"Bex? Bexley, you awake?" Soda said softly, watching as she stirred around with a tired groan. "Hmm? Soda?" she groaned, blinking away sleep from her eyes, seeing Soda knelt down beside her.
Her voice sounds scratchy like her throat was replaced with sandpaper. "Yeah, it's me, baby girl. I need you to sit up for me so I can give you this medicine." Soda said, starting to open the bottle.
For a moment, she thought it was cough medicine so she shook her head with a moan, "No... I don't want that..." "Bex, it's not cough medicine. It's a different one to help you get better." Soda said, pouring some into the spoon.
"What if I get sick again?" she whined feebly. "You won't. I promise you." Soda assured. Bexley only sighed, having no energy left to fight him.
Soda managed to give her the medicine, which was much more sweet tasting than the dreadful cough medicine. "There, that better?" Soda asked, putting the cap back on the bottle.
"Yeah... I guess." she sighed, shifting uncomfortably on the couch, "I wanna go back to my room. This couch is too lumpy for me." It had grown so lumpy, and her only pillow decided to get up from the couch.
Soda cracked a smile at what his little sister said and complied, "Sure thing, baby girl. Let me help you up." Soda helped her sit up on the couch after setting the medicine and spoon on the coffee table.
She swung my legs over the edge, feeling more exhausted than before. The minute she did stand up, she felt one of her dizzy spells taking over. She began seeing stars in front of her vision, her breath was caught in her throat.
Soda was getting worried, "You okay, Bex? Do you want me to carry you?" "No... No, I can walk there," she said, not realizing just how dizzy she really felt.
Bexley didn't want to worry her brothers any more than they already were. "Whoa there, Bex. Let me help you." Soda said, grabbing a hold of her to help her stay balanced.
They were almost to our shared bedroom when Soda stopped, "Hold on, Bex. I gotta get the medicine from the coffee table. Can you hang in there until I get it?"
"Y-Yeah... I think so." Bexley groaned, using the wall as support. She rubbed her face with her hand, trying to fight against the dizziness. She heard something but she was too light-headed to make out who it was.
She felt a hand on her back. But she couldn't hear whoever was talking to me, the dizziness was too overbearing.
Before she knew it, the ground quickly met her as her vision blackened. "Bex!" Ponyboy yelped, from the living room. Darry saw that Bexley had passed out, laying on the floor with Soda and Ponyboy next to her.
He ran from the kitchen and over to them. "What happened?" he asked in concern.
"I was helping her back to bed, but I forgot to grab the medicine. She said that she could make it back on her own. But... looks like we were both wrong." Soda said, hanging his head in guilt.
Ponyboy then put one of his small hands on Soda's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Soda." my youngest brother said, smiling gently at him.
Darry picked Bex up bridal style with one arm under her back and the other under her knees. Instead of going back to their bedroom, Darry took her to his own bedroom.
Their bedroom felt too warm for her to stay in, and he couldn't risk her fever spiking up again. I tucked her into my bed and made sure that she was comfortable.
Ponyboy and Soda watched from the doorway as Darry helped Bexley settle in. "Why'd you put her in here, Darry?" Soda asked.
"It's much cooler in here than it is in y'all's room. I don't need her temperature raising up anymore." Darry replied, quietly closing the door behind me.
(6:36 PM)
Bexley woke up about a few hours later, hearing the sound of chairs from the living room. When she regained her sight, she saw that she was in Darry's bedroom.
For a minute, she wondered why She was in Darry's room and not in Soda, Pony, and her's room; But that mattered little. She also wondered how long she'd been out as she sat up on Darry's bed.
After the last two days, she found the aching in her body was starting to wane; that medicine Soda gave her was starting to kick in.
During my unconscious state, I dreamt of the time she, Ponyboy, and Johnny were in Windrixville for those five days, to Johnny and Dallas dying. She also dreamt about all the trauma she'd been through over the last few months.
Her entire body shook at the thought. She found that to be afraid of them now, they've given her every reason to be afraid. Tears started to flow down her face but she quickly wiped them away.
Getting up from the bed, she made her way over to Darry's dresser to find a new shirt. She found an old white-colored shirt that was big on her and slipped it on, her body shivering from the lighter piece of clothing, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
She even slipped on a pair of socks because her feet were freezing. Walking towards the door, she could hear voices on the other side of the door; her brother's voices.
Although she couldn't really make out what they were saying other than Darry saying that she should be hungry when she wakes up. As if on cue, my stomach growled at the mention of food.
Instead of feeling nauseated, her mouth started to water; she was more than just hungry. She walked out into the living room and saw Soda and Ponyboy playing cards with Steve and Two-Bit.
Darry was reading the newspaper, as he usually does. "What's for dinner, Darry?" Bexley announced as she entered the living room, grabbing the attention of all the occupants in the living room.
Soda was the first one to jump up, dropping his cards to hug her. "Thank god you're awake, baby girl. You had us scared to death." Soda said, his arms wrapped around her body.
"Let go of me, Soda. My body's still sore." she said, pushing my brother off of me. "Oh, sorry..." Soda apologized, letting me go.
Darry sets the paper down on the coffee table and walks over to her, putting a hand on her forehead and the side of her neck. "Are you feeling okay?" the oldest brother asked. "A little sore, really. But I'm just really hungry," she replied, pushing his hand back.
"You're still a bit warm though." Darry said, still worried about her well-being. "Feed the girl would ya, Superman? She looks like she hasn't eaten in weeks." Two-Bit interjected from the dining table.
Ponyboy was about to start laughing at that as Soda nodded in agreement. "Aw, okay. I'll feed myself." she said with a smile, walking to the kitchen to get some soup.
She assumed that this soup is what Soda bought. "Here, let me help you with that." Darry offered, taking the can from me to open it, "I still want you to take it easy on your stomach if it's still bothering you."
Bexley went to sit down at the dining table, with the help of Ponyboy and Soda, of course. Darry brought her the soup and a small glass of juice to keep her hydrated.
She started to eat it and drink some of the juice, savoring each swallow. For a little while, her stomach didn't give her any trouble with what was being put in it.
She was happy to finally eat something and not have it come back up an hour later. After she was done, she puts the bowl, spoon, and glass in the sink.
Afterward, she went to the living room to watch a Donald Duck cartoon with Ponyboy. For the rest of that evening, things seemed to turn out to be alright for the time being.