(2:30 AM)

When Ponyboy woke up again, it was still dark outside. He was covered in sweat from Soda's body heat. He blinked feverishly and let his eyes adjust to the darkness.

He waited for a moment to see what had woke him up. It didn't take him long to hear what woke him up. Soda let out a quiet whimper as he moved in his sleep. He had hugged the blanket to himself.

His pale face was made even more palpable through the light of the moon. He was crying in his sleep, tears running down his cheeks. Ponyboy was able to put two-to-two together. Soda was in the midst of a nightmare.

Ponyboy felt a shiver run up his spine. There wasn't ever a time where Soda was the one having a nightmare. The roles were switched over.

Soda was trapped in his own mind, seeing something that Ponyboy couldn't. Ponyboy remained on the outside, feeling completely helpless. Soda started to sob, his face twisted up as if he was in pain.

Ponyboy wanted to wake Darry and Bexley up, but they were tired enough from taking care of the two of them. So he took the task of waking his brother up himself. "Soda? Soda, wake up," he said, but no such luck on waking Soda up.

Ponyboy shook his shoulder a little bit harder but it didn't do anything either. Placing a hand to his forehead, he felt that it was boiling. Maybe the fever is making Soda have a nightmare.

Ponyboy gets out of bed and went to go get a few washcloths, his legs shaky. As he walked, the hallway seemed to tilt as he walked to the bathroom. When he made it in there, he got a few washcloths and got them in some cool water.

He had been standing for a few minutes before his legs began to weaken. Dizziness overwhelmed him, making him sit down on the toilet seat. He shoved his head between his legs and shut both of his eyes, concentrating on making the dizzy feeling go away. He started to feel nauseous and felt like he was going to pass out at any moment.

When it faded, he pushed himself up to his feet and made his way to Darry's room. The ground started to move. So he had no choice but to tell Darry about Soda.

"D-Darry?" Pony weakly called from outside of the bedroom, waking both Bexley and Darry up. Bexley sat up and looked around for the sound of the voice. "Huh?" she said, her voice croaky.

Darry's eyes open, hearing his brother's voice. "Pony?" he said. Bexley's eyes adjusted to the darkness and she saw her twin brother kneeling on the floor. "Pony, are you alright? What're you doin' up?" she asked, kneeling down next to him.

"I'm... dizzy," he moaned in a raspy voice. Darry felt his anger boil, but he had to hold it back. "Why're you out of bed?" he asked as softly as he could.

"It's... Soda... Fever's bad..." Pony said. Darry inwardly cursed; he should've known it'd get worse. Whenever one of them gets sick, their fevers are always bad. Darry gets out of bed, swinging his legs over. "Bex, help me get Pony back in bed. I'll go check on Soda," Darry replied.

"Okay," Bexley nodded, getting down to Ponyboy's level. Bexley took Pony's arm and threw it over her shoulders. "C'mon, Pony," she said, pulling him to his feet. She took note of how light Ponyboy felt, so she'd need to inform Darry about this.

She knew Ponyboy was dizzy and could barely hold himself up as she helped him back to their bedroom. Just when things start looking up for them, both Soda and Pony's sickness becomes worse than before.

"Pony, your fever is getting bad again," Bexley said, knowing that his fever was getting bad again. There was no way he would be dizzy without a fever.

Bexley managed to get Ponyboy back to their bedroom. She sat him down on the bed. "Darry, his fever is coming back I think. He was really light when I carried him in here," Bexley said.

Darry listened attentively to what she said and put a hand against Pony's forehead. "Stay with them, I'll get the thermometer," Darry instructed. She nodded and watched as Darry left the bedroom.

Ponyboy was growing dizzier by the second, and he let his body lean against Bexley's. She wrapped both arms around him, gently rocking him. Bexley looked back at Sodapop, seeing just how pale he is.

Bexley could feel her heart break. It fairly hurt her to see her two brothers this vulnerable. She reached behind her to take his hand. He gently squeezed back, showing that he wasn't fully asleep. "You guys are gonna be okay..." she whispered, having tears in her eyes.

Darry soon returned with the thermometer and sat on the bed. He gently shook Soda by the shoulder to wake him up.

"I'm... wake..." Soda moaned, trying to open his heavy eyelids but wasn't able to. "Your fever is too high, little buddy. You think you can help me get it down?" Darry said, brushing his younger brother's hair back from his boiling forehead.

Soda nodded but groaned from the pain in his head. He also lightly held his dry throat. "Is your throat and head hurting?" Darry asked. Soda nodded gently.

"Do you want some aspirin?" Darry asked. Soda gave another nod, causing him to moan in pain. Darry grabbed the medicine bottle and the glass of water from the side table and gave them to his younger brother.

Soda opened his feverish brown eyes and sat up, wincing as he swallowed the pills. It irritated his throat based on the look on his face. At least he was taking medicine. When Darry offered them to Pony, he gave him a funny look.

Bexley helped him sit up, keeping an arm around him. "What's wrong, Ponyboy? Don't you want aspirin to help you feel better?" she asked him, looking at him worriedly. "My throat... it hurts when I swallow," he muttered quietly.

"It's your choice, honey. I won't make you take it if the headache is tolerable," Darry quietly said. Pony gave a nod and gave the medicine back to Darry, who put it back on the side table.

Both Bexley and Darry put a cool washcloth on their siblings' forehead. Soda relaxed when Darry put the cool washcloth on his forehead. Bexley put the other washcloth on Ponyboy's head, who winced at it. "It's too cold," he whimpered, trying to push Bexley's hand away.

"This is gonna help you feel better, Pone. You just gotta get used to the temperature," Bexley said, trying to convince him to relax. After everything was settled down, Darry pushed Soda closer to Ponyboy.

There was enough room for the four siblings to stay in. Darry didn't want Bexley to stay by herself in another room. He knew that she would be afraid to stay by herself especially after all that she's been through.

Soda turned to his side and curled up to Darry with Ponyboy in between them. Bexley was on the other side of him. Darry would need to stay with them to monitor his frail brothers. Everybody soon relaxed to drift off to sleep soundly.