Darry's POV

I had dozed off on the couch when I heard the phone ring.

I got up and ran to the phone. Maybe it was Pony!

"Hello?" I said expectantly into the receiver.

"Hey, Darry? Is that you?" I heard Dallas' voice say.

"Yeah, Dally it's me. What's going on?" I asked. We hadn't seen him all day, which was weird for Dallas.

"Um, I found Pony."

"You did!" I exclaimed and danced around in a circle, very out of character for me.

"Yeah. He's hurt." Dallas said, his voice sad.

"What!" I nearly screamed.

"It's okay, Darry. He and Johnny were hiding out in this church and it caught on fire, and he went in to save these little kids, but he didn't get out soon enough. He's at the hospital here in town. The doctors won't tell us anything, but you'd better get down here."

"I'll be there." I said, my words harsh.

"Darry-"

"We'll be there." I said and hung up.

I ran into Soda's room. He was sound asleep, and I hated waking him, but we had to go see Pony.

"Soda? Soda, wake up, honey." I said, shaking him.

"What?" He said drowsily, looking around the room.

"Come on. We've found Pony." I said.

"Where is he!" Soda exclaimed, fully awake now.

"He's at the hospital. Come on, I'll tell you about it on the way."

He looked worried, but he complied. We ran to the truck and got in and sped off.

On the way to the hospital, I explained what had happened, or at least what I knew. Soda took it all in, but I saw the sad look in his eyes.

When we got into the waiting room, I saw Dallas and Johnny.

I walked up to Dallas and he stood.

"Darry, I-" He wasn't able to finish because I punched him in the face.

"You should have taken care of him! You should have done something!" I screamed as Soda pulled me back. Johnny stood between me and Dallas, who was laying on the floor now.

"Yeah, well you shouldn'thave hit him, you hateful son of a bitch." Dallas barked back, but I could see that he immediately regretted it.

I stopped in my tracks. It was my fault. I hit Pony. I made him run away. If it hadn't been for me, nothing would have happened to him. It was all my fault.

I sank down in one of the chairs, barely able to hold my own weight. Soda sat down by me and put an arm around my shoulders.

Dallas sat down beside me.

"Look, Darry, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to say that. You're a great brother. We all know you are. I should never have said that." I was shocked to hear Dallas apologize for anything.

"But you're right. I should never have hit Pony." I said, my voice robotic.

"Are any of you related to a Ponyboy Curits?" A dotor said from the head of the waiting room.

I stood up, along with Soda.

"I am, sir. I'm Darrel Curtis, Pony's brother."

"I'm Dr. Reardon." He said, holding out his hand. I shook it, and he began to explain Pony's condition.

"We're not sure how extensive the damage on his legs are.They werebadly burned and he may not have much control over them. If that's the case, he will have to go through some physical therapy, and maybe then he can have full use of them again. We believe he suffers from asphyxia, which may lead to hypoxia."

"Excuse me?" Soda said, completely confused.

"Asphyxia is basically just when the body lacks the sufficient oxygen it needs to sruvive. His wasa worst case due to the smoke inhalation. Many times asphyxia leads to hypoxia, which can be more serious. Hypoxia is a more serious case of lack of oxygen. Because of this, we have him on a breathing machine. We won't know the extent of the damage until he wakes up."

"Can we see him?" I asked, my heart breaking.

"Yes, you may." The doctor said, and then led us to Pony's room.

I gasped when I saw Pony. Soda reached for my arm and clutched it tightly. His nails dug into my flesh, but I couldn't feel it.

Pony's face had many burns on it. His lower legs were wrapped in bandages. He had a breathing mask over his face so he could breath. Even through the burns he looked pale and I noticed how much thinner he had turned.

I choked back a sob as I stepped beside him. He looked so lifeless and I was the one who caused his pain.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so sorry." I sobbed. Pony lay unmoving. I grabbed his hand, and held it up to my face.

Johnny and Dallas stood in the doorway. I could see the fear on Johnny's face and the anger on Dallas'.

Soda crumpled on the floor beside Pony's bed. He sobbed into the bed sheets and took Pony's other hand and kissed it.

I felt when Johnny and Dallas walked away, and I sensed when the doctor came in. But I was so numb to it all.

The doctor sat in the chair beside Pony's bed while Soda and I sat on the floor, refusing to let go of Pony's hands.

Within an hour, Pony awoke.

Pony's POV

I opened my eyes. Why did I ache so bad? Where am I? Am I still in the church? Am I home? Where am I?

I looked around and realized that I was in neither of those places. I was in a hospital.

I looked over and saw Darry. I began to struggle to breathe, and began to wheeze.

"Just breathe, Pony." A man I didn't know said. I figured he was a doctor, judging by his clothes.

Darry began to cry, and I wondered why. When I controlled my breathing, I looked at him with a question in my eyes.

"I'm so sorry, baby." Darry said and buried his face in the bed.

I reached out to touch him, and he looked up when I did.

I also saw Soda, who was crying too. I wished I could talk, but the mask on my face prevented it.

"I thought we lost you, like we did Mom and Dad." Darry said, and reached over to hug my arm.

I nodded my understanding, feeling a few tears prick my eyes, too.

"Do you think you could talk for me, Pony?" The doctor asked. I nodded and he took the mask off my face.

I couldn't breathe, and he put it back. I breathed deeply.

"Pony, what do you feel?" The doctor asked, and then took the mask off again.

"I...hurt." I gasped out, my voice was hoarse and scratchy.

He put the mask back on.

"What hurts?" He asked.

"Everything...but..." I needed to breathe.

He placed the mask back on and I breathed in.

"But what?"

"My legs...I can't...feel them."

Well, that didn't take too long, did it? LOL. I wanted to give you a little more than that skimpy first chapter. I figured you'd be waiting in suspense, so I wanted to give you something to quench your curiosity.