FOREVER CHANGED

CHAPTER 8

RENOVATIONS

Ponyboy looked around the room, everything that belonged to Johnny, which wasn't much, was still there. He turned to find Maggie, in the doorway, wiping her eyes.

"What happened", he asked, his eyes widening with concern.

She sniffled. "Oh this? I was cleaning the room next door, and some of the ammonia splashed into my eye. I washed it out, I'll be fine".

The group took a collective sigh of relief.

Maggie looked at their ashen faces, then at Johnny's empty bed. "I am so sorry…..you boys thought somethin' happened to Johnny. No, no he's doin'...alright", she said with a shrug. "A specialist came to see him today, he took Johnny down to have some tests done...Ooh, and they were going to have him fitted for a back brace, I think.", she explained.

Darry stepped up and asked in a bewildered voice, "Specialist, tests? How much is this gonna cost us"?

Maggie was bustling around the room, trying to get it ready for Johnny. She shook her head, "From what I understand, an anonymous donor was paying for the specialist and all tests."

Ponyboy was starting to get suspicious, first there was a person who paid for Johnny to stay in the hospital for another month, instead of being transferred to Lawndale, now somebody was paying for a specialist to see Johnny.

The boys didn't stay long, just enough to tell Johnny about the outcome of the trial. He was in a great deal of pain and very tired from being poked and prodded all morning.

Dr. Franklin explained what the neurologist had said; that the fractures in Johnny's back were healing nicely, however, the damage that had been done, was permanent.

He also said there was a burn specialist coming in later that day to asess Johnny's burns. Dr. Franklin was pretty sure that, once he saw how well Johnny had been healing, the burn specialist would release him, right on schedule.

Ponyboy was about to ask Dr. Franklin who this annonymous person was, when the doctor told the boys,"Enjoy the rest of your day, come back in the morning. I don't think Johnny's going to be up for visitors at all today".

As they were leaving, Pony recognized Randy Anderson, getting into a car with his dad. As they pulled away, Ponyboy noticed the sign in front of the parking spot that they were in. It read; PHYSICIAN PARKING ONLY.

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The next morning, Darry woke his brothers up bright and early, to the smell of bacon and eggs.

"Hey Darry what are we celebratin'?", Soda asked, sneaking a piece of buttered toast from a plate on the table.

Ponyboy shuffled, blearily, from his bedroom off the kitchen. He sat down at the table and held his heavy head in his hands.

Darry placed a plate in front of him. "Eat up little brother, your gonna need all your strength today".

"Why Dar? I'm just gonna go to the hospital and sit with Johnny all day", he answered with a yawn.

"Oh no you're not", Darry chuckled. "I've already called the hospital, they're gonna tell Johnny that we'll be by later, so he's not expectin' no one.

Soda swallowed the bacon he was chewing, " So then what are we doin'?"

"We, my dear brothers, are going to put an addition on this rickety old house of ours", Darry revealed. The boys looked at him with wide eyes.

"Addition?", they both asked in unison.

"Yeah", Darry nodded. "Where do you think you boys are gonna sleep when Johnny comes home? The garage?"

He smiled at his brothers. "Mr. Williams, down at work, is a contractor, he gonna bring the architect over to draw up the plans. Then we're gonna get busy, Two-bit, Steve and Tim and his gang are gonna help us".

"Darry how are we gonna pay for this?", Soda asked.

"Mr. Williams and the architect are waiving their fees because I'm such a good employee", Darry said, laughing through the last half of the sentence. But it was true, he was Williams construction best employee.

"He said we can use the tools , but we have to take care of them. If something breaks, it comes outta my paycheck…..and the materials are all left-overs from other jobs".

Pony looked up at his brother, "Just when are we supposed to do this?"

"Everyday day after summer school and work. We'll come home and work until dark, we only have about three or four weeks to finish".

Ponyboy thought about it for a minute, "What about Johnny"?

Darry sat across the table from his brother. "Johnny'll understand if you cant visit him everyday, Pony. We're doin' this for him".

"But…"

"Pony, Johnny'll be fine. There's a hospital full of people takin' care of him", Soda stated, patting Pony's back.

" 'Sides, what good is bringing Johnny to this house, if it ain't ready for him?", Darry, explained.

Pony nodded, disappointingly and went about eating his breakfast.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the shortie. I needed something to build up for what's to come. My loyal reviewers, WhoaaReally53, Blondie 24-7, SamSammySamantha, and iheartponyboy33, thank you so much for the reviews. Since I've been threatened with bodily harm (I know you're kidding), and SamSammySamantha will be gone, I will try to get one or two more chapters up by Monday.