Darry's POV

The gang walked off and I felt a tightening in my stomach. We had to tell Pony. He'd only get mad if we waited too long.

I turned to Soda.

"We have to tell him." I said, my voice strained.

Soda's eyes were wet with unshed tears.

"It'll kill him." He choked out, and then began to cry.

"I know, little buddy. But he has to know."

I held Soda and waited for his cries to stop. When he stepped away from me, I smiled slightly at him.

"Let's do this." Soda said, shaking himself to keep from crying.

We opened up the door and Pony opened his eyes. He still looked tired, but we had to get it over with.

"Pony...we need to talk." I said and got on the bed with him and Soda got on on the other side.

Pony looked at me funny, but he nodded his head so I'd continue.

"Your legs got burned really bad, baby." I started.

He nodded in agreement.

"And, um, the burns...they killed some of the nerve endings in your legs."

Soda grabbed Pony's hand and squeezed it tightly.

"What...does that mean?" Pony asked breathlessly.

"Pony...the doctors...they don't think you'll...be able to walk again." There, I got it out.

Pony's eyes widened, and I took Pony's other hand in mine and squeezed.

He sat there, staring ahead, lost in thought.

Finally, he looked up at me, and his eyes were wet.

"You mean...I won't...be able to walk again?" He asked, the idea finally setting in.

"I'm so sorry, baby." I said and hugged him close to me. Soda did the same.

"What...about...track?" He sobbed.

It broke my heart. I had never thought about that. Track was Pony's life. What would he do without it?

Pony's body began to shake with sobs. I held him close against me and Soda wrapped his arms around him from the other side.

"It's...not fair." He cried.

"It's okay, buddy. You'll be okay." Soda said, as he stroked Pony's hair.

"No, no I won't." He said, clutching my shirt with what little strength he had.

Soda looked up at me with tear-filled eyes. I looked back, my eyes just as damp. There was a pleading look in his eyes, but there was nothing I could do to change what was happening to us.

Pony's POV

I buried my face in Darry's shirt. I didn't want to believe this. It couldn't be happening! It couldn't! But, somehow, it was.

I squeezed Darry's waist as tightly as I could. I tried to stop the sobs because they were hurting me, but I couldn't. I was too emotionally stressed. What would I do if I couldn't walk? I'd never get to run track again. I didn't know what I'd do without it.

Soda continued to stroke my hair and rub my back. I was so emotionally drained that I began to weaken and I was beginning to drift to sleep.

"Sh." Darry said, as he rocked me back and forth.

Every now and then, I'd let out another whimper or begin to cry again. But Darry and Soda were always there and they'd always take care of me.

Soon I fell asleep in the arms of my big brothers.

Soda's POV

Soon Pony's shivering body went limp and he fell asleep.

I continued to stroke his back, and Darry held him just as tightly as before.

"What are we going to do about this?" I asked Darry.

"I don't know. We'll have to think of something."

He looked down at Pony's sleeping form.

"He's lost a lot of weight." Darry said.

"Yeah. I noticed that, too."

"Did you notice his hair?" Darry asked, smiling at me.

"How could you miss it? I'm surprised Two-Bit didn't have a few things to say about it." I chuckled softly.

Darry ran his fingers through Pony's hair and smiled down at Pony's sleeping figure.

"I was so worried about him. I wish it didn't take something like this to bring him home." Darry's eyes were sad and I felt bad for him.

"Pony would have come home. Trust me."

"Damn that Dallas. I knew he knew where they were. Why didn't he tell us? Why didn't he make them stay?"

"Because Johnny would have gotten jailed. You know he couldn't let that happen."

"Well, he still might get jailed now."

"I know. But he would have for sure if he stayed."

We both looked down at Pony because he had started whimpering again.

"Sh, sh. It's okay, honey." I said, rubbing his back in a circular motion.

He shivered under my touch. I took the blanket and pulled it up over the three of us.

Pony's head lay on Darry's chest and I knew Darry was happy about it. Darry always was afraid Pony loved me more, but I knew it wasn't true. It could never be true.

Pony began to turn in his sleep. He had trouble though, since from the knee down he couldn't move. I felt bad for him, and reached over to turn him on his side.

Darry still kept his arms wrapped around Pony. I could see from the look on his face that he was wanting to protect Ponyboy from all the dangers he was facing.

I had missed Pony so much. No one could describe how much I had worried about him. It was bad enough that I had been dumped by my girlfriend, for reasons I didn't want to discuss.

But none of that mattered now. All that mattered was Pony getting better. Darry and I would have to take care of him. He was going to have a hard time dealing with this.