FOREVER CHANGED

CHAPTER 14

MAGGIE TO THE RESCUE

Darry slowly opened his eyes, a soft ring filled his ears. He stiffly stood up from the chair next to Johnny's bed, the chair he had slept in all night, and stretched, trying to work the kinks out.

The ringing was heard again, Darry yawned. "You gonna.…answer the door, Dar…..or do I have to?", Johnny joked from the bed.

Darry laughed, "Yeah Kiddo, I'll be right back".

He had just turned toward the doorway, when Ponyboy yelled from the stairs, "I got it".

Darry walked back over to Johnny and smiled. "How'd ya sleep?", he asked, gently turning Johnny from his side to his back.

"Fine, I guess", Johnny grunted from the pain. Darry gave him an apologetic smile. "Better than you I suppose", he added, glancing at the chair Darry had just risen from.

Johnny looked away, ashamed; feeling like his living there added to his friends hardships."Listen Dar….I'm sorry 'bout….last night.…I". Darry was about to protest, when a loud voice made him turn.

"You Darrel Curtis?", a large, older woman asked from the doorway. "I'm Doris", she added, walking past Darry and placing her large bag on the foot of Johnny's bed.

Darry gave Ponyboy a confused look. "She's Johnny's home nurse", Pony shrugged then looked over at Johnny.

Johnny nervously watched as Doris bustled around the room, collecting supplies needed to get him ready for the day. He wasn't happy about having a new nurse, especially one that didn't look all that friendly; but there were some things that needed to be done, that Johnny could never expect his friends to do for him.

Doris came out of the a-joining bathroom and glanced at Pony and Darry, "Looks like I have everythin' I need, you boys best leave now, and let me tend to my duties", she ordered sternly.

Darry placed his arm around a reluctant Ponyboy and guided him out of the room.

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Ponboy sat at the kitchen table, dunking his spoon into his now cold oatmeal. Soda walked in, sleepily. "Darry's in our shower", he greeted, scratching his head.

Pony nodded. "I now, the state appointed nurse is here…", he started, but never finished his sentence.

"What time is it anyway?", Soda interrupted, grabbing a bowl and walking over to the stove to get some oatmeal.

"Six something'", Pony answered, not even bothering to look at the clock. "Save some for Johnny", he added.

Soda nodded and sat down at the table. Ponyboy could swear he heard something through the walls.

The boys ate breakfast in silence, until Soda raise his head and listened, a small childlike whimper could be heard from the bedroom.

Soda looked over at Ponyboy. "You heard that too", Pony stated, jumping up from his seat. Soda let out an uneasy breath. Just then Darry walked into the kitchen, followed by Doris.

"I'm done for the day, see y'all tomorrow", she stated, turning to leave.

Darry snapped around. "What'da you mean, 'done for the day'? Who's gonna take care of Johnny while were at work?", he asked, uneasily.

Doris smirked. "I dunno what you thought Son, but I ain't no babysitter. I got five more patients to see today", she answered, bitterly and walked out of the house.

Maggie had just entered through the gate when Doris bounded down the front stairs. To avoid being tackled by a oblivious Doris, Maggie ran up the side ramp and into the house.

"Who was that?", she asked shockingly.

"That was Johnny's new nurse", Pony replied.

Maggie noticeably stiffened, her steps quickening to Johnny's room. She was appalled by what she saw, Johnny laid on the bed awkwardly, his head resting on just a corner of the pillow. His bandages, hastily applied; some parts exposing his wounds, others covering parts that didn't need bandaging any more. He was dressed in only a thin pair of boxer shorts, without so much as a sheet covering him; his back brace and oxygen mask were tossed to the side like they weren't even needed.

She walked over to the bed. "Hey Johnny", she greeted quietly, placing the oxygen tube into his nose. "Ma-ggie", he gasped, his voice filled with emotion, but his eyes remained closed.

Maggie was worried now.… no matter what, Johnny always tried to give her a small smile when she called his name; today there was no such reaction.

She turned to Darry ,who had followed her in, along with Soda and Pony. "I've never seen anything like this", she whispered, fumbling to properly reapply the bandages.

"Johnny, did the nurse give you your morning meds?", Maggie asked, checking his blank chart.

"No", he whispered, his eyes cracking open a bit.

Maggie looked over at the brothers and shook her head. She gently slid his back brace around him, a small whimper escaped from his mouth.

She moved down to his feet, they were cold. "Did she massage your legs?", she asked, knowing how important it was to keep the blood flowing in Johnny's immobile limbs.

"No", came another small reply.

"Okay", she said, covering him up with a blanket, while she got a clean pair of pajamas to dress him in.

Maggie laid the pajamas on the bed then when into the bathroom to get Johnny a cup of water. When she came out, she was as white as her uniform. She walked right over to the bottles of medication and checked the levels. She walked back over to check Johnny, he was pale and clammy.

"Johnny?", Maggie's voice cracked. "She did give you pain medication before your bath .…right?", she asked hopefully.

Johnny's dark, agony filled, eyes opened and he looked at Maggie. "No", his lip quivered.

Maggie bit down on her lower lip to keep from crying. She forced a small smile and patted Johnny's arm. "We'll take care of that right now….You'll feelbetter soon, Okay," she said reassuringly and a bit of calm came over him.

Maggie went back to measure Johnny's medication, Darry noticed her hands shake. "What happened here?", he asked concernedly.

"She gave him a bath", Maggie gasped. Darry nodded and shrugged, not sure why that was a bad thing.

Maggie gave Johnny a dose of pain medication then returned to where the brothers were standing. "When you give a burn patient a bath, you have to use a special solution and sponge to scrub off the dead skin.…it's extremely painful even after pain medication is given….she did it without giving him anything for pain" , she explained.

Darry turned away. "What kind of nurse was she?", Maggie asked rhetorically.

"A state appointed one", Pony replied, angrily. Everyone looked questionably at Ponyboy. "Who's gonna take care of Johnny today?", he added.

"I've got a meeting with my superiors, followed by a seminar on new treatments….I could probably skip the seminar and come back here, but that wont be until after noon", Maggie stated.

"I'm already late for work, and it's a real important job.…", Darry started to say.

"I'll stay home today", Soda offered. "I'll call Two-bit and see if he and his mom can come over".

"You sure Soda?", Darry asked.

Soda nodded. "Yeah, they wont miss me….I'll work extra hours this weekend to make up for lost time", he replied, heading out to call his boss.

"Thanks little brother", Darry called out after him, before rushing out the door, for work.

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Darry and Maggie arrived back at the house around the same time. Mrs. Mathews had just left, and Two-bit was taking a quick nap on the couch so he would be well rested for work.

"How'd he do today?", Darry asked his brothers.

Soda shrugged. "He slept an awful lot", he answered. Pony stepped up. "And hardly ate anything", he added.

Maggie peeked into Johnny's room, then waived for the boys to follow her into the kitchen.

"I talked to my supervisor and changed my hours, I'll be working afternoons now. I can come first thing in the morning, before work and come back after work to get Johnny ready for bed", she offered.

"Maggie you don't have to do that….this is not your responsibility", Darry argued.

Maggie put her hands on her hips. "Johnny's been my patient for four months now, I'm not just going to desert him when he needs me most", she responded defensively.

"We cant afford to pay for a private nurse, that's why we had to go with a state appointed one", Darry replied bitterly.

"I don't want any money, I just want to help", she stated.

Darry's pride was getting in the way. "We wont take charity…..now I'm not gonna let you work for nothing'", he argued.

"And I'm not gonna let some overworked, underpaid , miserable old hag take care of Johnny", Maggie shouted. The boys smirked at her outburst. She took a deep breath and smoothed out her uniform skirt.

Darry smiled. "I'll call my boss and see if I can change my schedule around a little, maybe start earlier and leave earlier", Darry offered.

"I don't got back to school for two more months, so I'll be home all day", Pony reminded everyone.

"Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it", Soda added.

Maggie smiled. "Well since that's settled.….I have a patient to check on", she stated calmly and walked out of the room.

Darry turned to his brothers and chuckled, "That is one helluva woman".

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, I know I promised lighter chapters, and that will happen soon. I actually had another chapter ready to go, but this idea came to me last night and since I needed an explanation for Maggie becoming Johnny's full-time nurse, I decided to post this one first.

I have extreme respect for all those who work in the medical field. So no offense was intended to reflect upon nurses in any way, ...this was just a storyline.

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