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Ponyboys POV

I woke up this morning and the first thing I felt was empty. My body seemed drained almost like hollow. It made me feel weak and tired and I didnt know what was wrong with me.

"Ponyboy? You awake?"Dr. Chambers asked, a surprised tone in his voice

I nodded.

"You've been asleep for several days now"he said

"I have?"I asked, my voice was very hoarse

"yes, listen Pony you are very sick right now"he continued

I am? When did this happen.

"Do you remember anything?"he asked

"I remember that kid.. And the knife"I answered

"alright, well after that we needed to give you more blood transfusion and medicines so you got very ill, and you still are. But you have made an improvement the few days you've been unconscious, how are you feeling now?"

"Lousy, kinda like empty inside"

"quite understandable"he said nodding his head

"doc, im tired"

"yes you should be getting some more rest"he said

I didnt understand how I could possibly be tired, especially after sleeping the past couple of days. But then Dr. Chambers told me that Soda and Darry were coming by later to check on me, so I decided to get some sleep, so I could be awake for them.

Later

Dr. Chambers woke me up and told me that my brothers were here to see me, and that they were very glade that I had finally woken up. Then he exited the room and Soda and Darry walked in with smiles on their faces.

"Were awful glade your awake Pony"Soda said with a wide grin on his face

"yeah you had us scared, something awful"Darry added

"im glade im awake too"I said regaining some of my strength

"you better take it easy tho, you hear?"Darry ordered

"I hear"

Then Sodas face went from happy to mournful and I cautiously asked what was wrong, he gave me a sad frown.

"Hey Pony you know you friend Joey"Soda began

"yeah! How's he been.. Wow I haven't seen im in a while.. Is he here now?"I asked happily

"no.. um Pony, we've been hanging out with Joey these last few days. He kept saying that he was awful sorry that he got you drunk and to tell you that you better get better"Soda said

"he even tried several times to come visit you, been things kept interfering with his plans"Darry added

"well.. Is he coming today or something?"I asked

"Pony.. Joey was killed yesterday"Soda said carefully

"what?"I asked

I didnt believe him, he couldn't be dead. No, now Joey. Not all of them! Johnny, Dally, mom, dad, and now Joey?

"he was in a drug store and this guy came in with a gun he told the man behind the counter to give him the money. The man refused and the guy shot him then saw Joey standing in the corner of the room, and shot him too"Soda said with tears in his eyes

"no"I said hoarsely

"we shouldn't have told him"Dally said to Soda

"he needed to know Dar"Soda answered back

They both looked at me and I felt weak and tired, the room suddenly started spinning, I was sitting up in bed. I reached out for Sodas arm trying to steady myself and make the room stop spinning.

"Pony?"was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

A Week and a half later

I was feeling much better now and the doctors said that I made a 'miracle recovery'. But I was starting to get depressed again, since I didnt like hospitals and it was annoying me spending so much time in them. So the doctors came to the decision that I can go home tomorrow morning, and this I am truly grateful. I couldn't wait to get out of that hospital, even thought they said I was still a little ill and should take it slow. Now I am sitting here practically jumping off the bed, I had been drawing to kill the time in the hospital. Dr. Chambers found my drawings beside my bed and he said he was kind of disturbed and worried about them. One of the drawings was of Joeys murder, the other was of Johnnys death, the other of Dallas' and another one of me cutting. Their was one other one of me looking at a pink, orange and gold sunset on one side of the page. Then on the other side it showed me painting the sky black, I only drew how I felt but Dr. Chambers considered these calls for help. But I assured him that it was nothing then to prove my point I ripped them up infront of his face and threw them in the garbage. He said that he sure hoped that I was right, and once again I assured him I was. I waited for the sun to rise, I couldn't sleep I was so tired of being cooped up in this place, I thought I would go crazy if I stayed here any longer. When my brothers arrived Dr. Chambers gave them medication for me and told me that he would stop by once a week to check on me. I would have been doing no handed cartwheels is I wasn't still sick, instead I walked out of the hospital grinning from ear to ear. As soon as I got home I ate a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate milk, the medication I was on made me not hungry but I didnt care. I hadn't eaten something this good in a long long time and practically inhaled it of the plate.

"Take it easy"Soda said also grabbing a slice

"you'd be eating this fast if you've been living off of nutrients being transported through your body"I said with my mouth full

"when's the last time you ate an actual meal?"Darry asked me

"im not sure"I answered after swallowing

""I've been either not hungry, or I was sick or something so I couldn't eat"

"golly, no wonder your so skinny"Soda said comparing his arms width to mine

"look! Look how skinny his arms have gotten"he said

"well your bigger than me"I said not really thinking that I had lost that much weight, I mean they made it seem like I was anorexic or something

I got up from the table and walked into the bathroom and took a nice long hot shower, then went right to bed. My bed. With Sodas arm around me. It was the most comfortable I have felt in a long while.

I woke up the next morning to Two-Bits face staring wildly at me and I almost jumped out of my skin. Two-Bit started laughing.

"How bout I shove my face at you in the mornin and see how you like it"I said

"aw, you wouldn't scare me none"he said

"yeah your right.. Maybe I should hold up a mirror instead"I said laughing

Soda and Steve who were also in the room started cracking up and Two-Bit punched me playfully and jumped on me.

"Hey Two-Bit, get off of him.. He's still sick and weak an all"Soda said as soon as Two-Bit got on me

"alright alright, you got off easy this time but I'll get you another time"he said to me and I smiled

It felt great to be back home, in mine and Sodas room, with the gangs company surrounding me.

I remembered about school and how much I have missed, I asked Soda about it and he told me that I was going to be assigned an assignment from each teacher, and if I did good on it, it would determine if I failed or passed that subject. Since it was the ending of the year I wouldn't be going back so Two-Bit was going to pick up my assignments and bring them to me.

"Oh, here I almost forgot, this is a letter from Joey, he wrote it a while ago but you were still asleep from being sick"Soda said as he left the room with Two-Bit and Steve and handed me a letter

Dear Ponyboy,

I heard that you were doing lousy and everything, but I hope

that you feel better soon. I miss you a lot and I am awful

sorry that I got you drunk that night, but I didnt know what

else to do. I heard about that kid stabbing you too, golly

you've sure been through a lot huh? If I was you I think I

would have been dead already, and im not joking. I've

been hanging out with your brothers a lot lately, it was sorta

funny spending time with them, since I mainly only talked

to you but they're alright. I wish I had a family as caring as

yours Pony, you should be grateful for your brothers. They

sure do care about you an awful lot. It's hurting them, you

in the asylum and all I mean. So I hope you get better soon

for you and your brothers sake. I miss you man and cant

wait to see you!

Your friend,

Joey

I felt a single tear escape from my eye and folded up the letter and put it in my desk drawer, right next to Johnnys note.