Pony's POV

It was the day that Rose was to leave the hospital. It made me even more miserable than before. Sure, I'd be leaving soon, too, but this was different. I may never see her after this.

Rose stepped into the room, wearing her street clothes. It was the first time I'd seen her out of the hospital gown, and she looked good. She looked a lot better in her street clothes.

"Pony, I wanted to talk to you alone before I left." She said, coming over and sitting on my bed.

"What about?" I asked, my voice a reflection of how miserable I felt.

"About my illness."

"What? Your appendix? No offense, but I really don't care about that."

She smiled at me.

"No. No, I actually lied about that. There was nothing wrong with my appendix. I was hear for a check-up."

"For what?"

"For cancer." She said, as though it was something as simple as the flu.

"What?" I asked, barely audible.

"I have bone cancer. I came in for one of my monthly check-ups to make sure the cancer hadn't come back. Luckily, it hasn't. They were concerned though, and that's why I had to stay so long. I hadn't been feeling well lately and my arm was bothering me."

"You mean... you have...cancer?"

"Yes, cancer. Don't let it freak you out. I've been in remission for the past year."

"But you're only fourteen!" I exclaimed.

"Yes. I found out i had cancer when I was eleven."

"So, why did you want to tell me about this?"

"Because I had to go through something similar to what you'll be going through."

"I doubt that."

"I don't." She said, smiling as though she knew a secret.

"Pony, you've been so wrapped up in your own grief that you haven't even taken the time to notice what's right in front of your face. Heck, I don't think your friends or your brothers have figured it out either. Sure, I've had my robe on the whole time you've been here and it hides it pretty well. But you never noticed, did you?"

"Notice what?" I asked, the curiosity building.

She smiled again, and then leaned down and rolled up her pant leg ... where she had a fake leg.

It fit her like a glove. There were straps that led up her leg, where they must have tied. It was skin-colored so it looked pretty realistic.

"I had to have my leg amputated when I first found out I had cancer. The cancer was mainly in my leg. I had been having difficulty walking before I found out, and that was why I went to the hospital in the first place. I could hardly walk at times it was so bad. It hurt, too. And so, to help slow the cancer, beside chemo, the had to amputate my leg. I went through the same thing you're going through. I was depressed, I was miserable. No one could help me. Until I met a man by the name of Charlie Gunner. He had had his leg amputated, too, but his was in the war. I owe him my life, because at the time, I was really considering suicide."

Suicide? Some how I couldn't see this beautiful, happy person contemplating taking her own life.

Rose took my hand in hers and squeezed.

"Pony, don't think this is the end of your life. Trust me, it isn't. I've done fine since then. Sure, it took some time before I actually opened up to the people I love, but I did. And it helps, Pony. It really helps."

She reached into her pocket and gave me a slip of paper.

"It has my address, phone number, and a little message inside to help you out. Read it after I leave. Okay?"

"I will."

"Take care of yourself, Pony."

"I'm sorry about what happened to you, Rose." I said.

"Don't be. It was the best thing that ever happened to me." She said, and reached down and hugged me tight. I hugged her back. She was the first I had hugged in a while.

"Call me, write me, any time you need to talk or vent. Bye, Ponyboy."

"Bye, Rose."

And, with that, she left.

I sat back against the pillows, tears swimming in my eyes. I looked down at the piece of paper she had slipped me. I unfolded it and found written in pretty cursive her phone number address, and the words No one is punishing you. That's not why this is happening. So don't punish yourself.

I covered my face with my hands and cried for the first time in several weeks.

Dallas' POV

I reached out and took the drugs from his hand. I had tried drugs before. They were never my style, but I'd try just about anything now.

The guy who gave them to me ran away. I figured he got stuck with them and was afraid to get caught. I wouldn't need to worry about that. I'd get rid of it quickly.

I stumbled back to Buck's place and went to the spare room upstairs. Surprisingly, it was empty. I sank down on the bed and reached into my pocket. I withdrew the drugs and took them.

And then I felt happier than I had in a long time.

Darry's POV

I walked into Pony's hospital room. Luckily, I was here to pick him up. Soda was at work again. We had our schedules changed so that we could each get time with Pony, and time to work. One of us was with him almost all the time.

"Hey, Pony. You got a letter from Johnny today." I hoped that would cheer him up. Lord knows he hasn't had any of that lately.

"Okay." He said as I handed it to him.

"I already signed you out, so you don't have to worry about it. It's time to go. You ready?" I asked.

He nodded and I helped him into his wheel chair. He still had his bandage on his leg, and would need to for a few more weeks.

Pony wheeled himself to the truck and I followed close behind. Scaring me half to death, he took a corner too fast and his wheel chair tipped over, knocking him out of the chair.

"Pony!" I exclaimed, reaching down for him.

He rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face in his arms. But he wasn't crying.

I reached out and lifted him gently from the floor. I set him down in his wheel chair and looked in the eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked, not breaking my gaze with him.

He nodded, but I noticed how he turned his gaze away from mine.

I didn't broach the subject anymore.

When we got home, I went into the kitchen to make some turkey sandwiches.

"Pony, you hungry?" I asked when he wheeled himself into the living room.

"No." He said simply.

"Pony." I said, my voice stern.

"I'm not hungry." He said, just as calmly as before.

I looked at him from the kitchen window. I noticed how his cheeks were sunken in and how his bones seemed more noticeable. He needed to eat.

I decided to give it a rest for the time being. Pony was dealing with enough right now.

When I turned back around after making the sandwiches, I saw that Pony was still in his chair. But he was shaking like a leaf. But still, he wasn't crying.

I rushed to his side and just sat there by him, waiting to see him open up and tell me what was wrong.

"Darry?" He finally said, his voice quiet and hoarse.

"Yeah?"

"Why is this happening to me?" He asked, finally looking at me.

I shook my head. I had no idea.

"I don't know, baby. I know there is a reason, though. And don't you dare think you're being punished, because you're not."

Something about that sentence affected him in a way like no other. It was with that sentence that he broke down for the first time I'd seen in weeks, and cry.

I scooped him into my arms, taking him out of his wheel chair, and held him close to me. He buried his face in my shirt, and cried for a long time. So long that when Soda came home from work, he was still crying.

Soda just looked at me with a question in his eye. I smiled a little, just over the fact that Pony was actually showing some emotion. It wasn't much. But it was a start.

I know these last few chapters have been really boring, so I'm going to try to remedy that. I'll probably be adding the trial in the next few chapters some time. As you can probably tell, this will be a rather long story. It'll get within the 30 chapter range for sure.

I hope you like it so far. Thank you to all my lovely readers and reviewers. We made it past 100!