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Stevies POV

I was making my way over to Sodas house, even though I knew that he had work, I just wanted to check on Ponyboy. I heard rumors that Ponyboy got his memory back, their sure has been a lot of rumors going around. This one I hoped was true, so far I heard things like he's dead, lost his mind, going to a mental hospital, anorexic, and a lot more.

"Hello?"I called into the door, no one answered so I let myself in

"anyone home? Ponyboy?"I called louder this time

"oh hey Stevie!"I saw Two-bit run around the corner that led to Ponyboy and Sodas room

"hi Two-bit, nice to see you again. How's Ponyboy?"I asked

"um.. He's in the back"he answered

"Did he get his memory back?"I asked hoping the answer was what I wanted to hear

"what? Oh yeah! Soda didnt tell you?"

"We haven't gotten the time to talk, and I understand with everything going on"

"yeah"

"you think it's too busy a time for him to have a girlfriend? I feel like im in the way"I said out loud what's been on my mind for a while now

"oh no, don't think that! Soda loves you. You're not breaking up with him are you? It'll break his heart, he'll never go out with anyone again!"Two-bit yelled excited but then realized what he was saying and immediately stopped

"that's not it, I love Soda too and I don't wanna break up with him, I was just hoping that he wasn't too stressed to be going out with me"

"oh, no don't worry about anything"Two-bit said giving out a sigh of relief

Then we walked over to Ponyboys room, he was laying under the covers, he was soaked with sweat and shivering.

"What happened to you?"I whispered

"im actually really glade you came Stevie. I don't know how to take care of a sick kid, watching em im not even that good at!"Two-bit looked nervous

"it's alright, ill see what I can do"

I looked down at Ponyboy and pushed his dampened hair out of his eyes, he was burning up and shivering at the same time. I was awfully worried and had no clue what might be wrong with him.

"Do they know he's like this?"I asked

"well before Soda left Pony looked sick, but not nearly as bad as right now, so I don't think he knows what he looks like now"Two-bit said nervously pulling at his sideburns

Ponys eyes had dark circles around them and his face had a hollow look to it, I pulled the covers off of him and pulled up his shirt. His stomach was all caved in and you could count his ribs, I quickly pulled his shirt back down.

"I-I- I had no idea it was that bad"Two-bit said backing into a corner

"neither did I, he lost a lot more weight since I last saw him"

"what should we do Stevie, this kids real sick, and we cant let him die!"after Two-bit realized what he said he looked sick and shocked

"Stevie, he aint gonna die, is he?"

"Two-bit call an ambulance"

he immediately followed orders

I lifted Pony up so he was now in a sitting position on the bed, his breathing was light and I allowed him to lean on me until Two-bit came back.

Pony let out a whimpering noise and opened his eyes, I don't think he remembered who I was but it didnt seem like I surprised him.

"Yeah Pony?"I asked my arms shaking

"I-I think im dying"his voice was weak and what came out of his mouth shocked me

he passed out after that.

Two-bit came back and I told him to take Ponyboy and bring him into the livingroom, I hoped that the ambulance would get here soon. Two-bit picked Pony up without difficulty and laid him on the couch in the livingroom. Soon enough we heard sirens outside and paramedics rushed in, taking Ponyboy from us.

"Can I ride with him?"I asked one of the men as I followed them to the ambulance

"only family"the man answered

"im his sister"I lied

"alright hop in"he said as they lifted Pony stretcher into the truck

"go tell Soda!"I yelled as the doors closed on Two-bits face

Sodas POV

All day the only thing I could think about was Ponyboy, I know that there has been a lot of rumors going around about him. He seems to be the talk of the town, I hear some people talking about it as they get their cars filled up with gas, but the conversation soon dies when I go to the window to get the money.Then right before they drive away I can hear a quiet "that's his older brother". I was working on a car out front when a couple of socs walked by, I thought they were gonna try and get on my nerves, boy was I right.

"Hey aren't you sick boys brother?"one asked

I just ignored them and continued working

"you're the older brother to that looney?"another asked sounding shocked

I just tried to concentrate on the damaged car in front of me but I could feel my neck hairs stand on end

"tell me"one said as he leaned in close to my face

"how does it feel living with a lunatic"my fists clenched tight and I felt my jaw start to ache and I realized that I had been keeping my jaw shut tight

"no, no I hear that he snapped out of it, now he's just gonna die slowly, since he's pretty much a bag of bones"

"oh, what a great older brother you are, and aren't you like his guardian now?"he chuckled "don't you deserve the award for best parenting"

I felt tears start to trickle down my face

"hey max"one said to the other

"2 bucks says he doesn't last till the end of the week"

I couldn't take it anymore and I punched the guy in the jaw, he flew backwards and stayed in his position on the floor

"oh, did we make you angry"I was crying a lot more now

Steve was next to me suddenly asking if I was alright

"looney, looney, looney"another said and I jumped on him

Their was 3 all together, but the one I punched before was still out and on the floor, so now the odds were even and Steve got a hold of the other one. I was getting my guy good, but he got me a couple of times too.

"Hey Soda! Sodapop Curtis"I heard someone yell and looked up, it was Two-bit in his truck

"Soda! Ponys in the hospital!"I looked at Steve then the guy on the ground, he seemed worn out so I got up and ran for Two-bit

"Steve!"I called back

"yeah, yeah, I know, ill cover for ya!"he called back and I saw him give his guy one last kick and those two got up and walked away taking their unconscious friend with them.

I jumped in the car with Two-bit and he explained what happened on the way to the hospital. Tears were practically pouring down my face as Two-bit told me what happened.

"I thought it was all over"I said between sobs

"yeah after the whole memory thing, I guess we had forgotten about his immune system, I never have understood the human body"Two-bit said and he flew around a corner

"was he real bad Two-bit?"I asked, my voice shaken as an earthquake

"hey, I aint no doc Soda but he looked awfully sick to me"with Two-bit driving we were soon out in front of the hospital and we both ran for the doors

"Ponyboy Curtis?"I asked the lady at the desk

"he's on the third floor in intensive care"I ran for the elevator

"I don't think there are any visitors allowed in there!"the lady called after me but the elevator doors were already closing on her voice

"Jesus, I hope the kids alright"Two-bit said as he pressed the button for third floor

The doors opened and I walked past the lady at the desk and decided to look for Ponyboy myself, since if I asked she might tell me that I couldn't see him. Surprisingly she didnt ask any questions, I guess if you look like you know where your going, people allow you to go there. I peeked into each room until I found the right one, but the only way I knew It was Pony was from the mop of brown hair on his head.

"Ponyboy?"but there was no answer, I don't think I was expecting much of one anyway

"Stevie was suppose to be here"Two-bit said from the doorway

"what?"

"She came with Pony in the ambulance, you think she might be in the waiting room up here?"Two-bit asked nervously like he wanted to get out of that room

"sure, why don't you go look for her?"Two-bit put a shy smile on his face like he was extremely relieved to be somewhere other than in view of Ponyboy

When I looked down at Ponyboy I was surprised to find him awake, he had tubes going into his arms and breathing tubes up his nose.

"Hey baby"I said to him quietly

"hey brother"he said back, his voice was barley above a whisper

"how you feeling"I asked taking a seat next to him and placing my hand on his

"not so good Sodapop, I feel like something is eating at my insides"

I wanted to ignore that statement but I knew I couldn't, I cant ignore reality anymore. My brother is sick, deathly ill and I had to start coming to the sense that he might not make it out of this alive.

"Your going to be alright buddy"I said to Pony in a soothing voice

"its getting harder and harder to believe that Sodapop"I was shocked to hear things like that come out of my brothers mouth

I could tell he was exhausted and he was slipping in and out of consciousness, he started to mumble things that didnt make sense and then he would try to be having a conversation with me the next. I was worried, real worried, and I had to find a phone, I had to call Darry.

I found a pay phone in the third floor waiting room and dialed Darrys work number, I went through a few people until Darry finally picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Darry!"

"Sodapop? What's wrong?"Darry asked

"its Ponyboy, im at the hospital, he's in intensive care and I don't know what to do anymore! I don't know what to think!"

"Soda, honey, calm down, im on my way"my ears were greeted with a dial tone

I hung up and looked around the waiting room, some people were staring at me like I had lost my mind but I ignored their nervous stares.

"What happened Soda?"I saw Two-bit and Stevie walking up to me

"I called Darry, he's on his way"I answered

Stevie ran into my arms and cried softly into my chest

"Im sorry this is happening to you Soda"she said through quiet sobs that only my heart could hear

I just held her tight as we walked back to Ponys room

"Soda?"Pony said when I entered the room

"yeah baby?"

"Im sorry to cause you so much pain, all of you. But you wont have to worry any more"

"what are you talking about Pony!"I asked walking to his side

"I've never felt this much pain before Soda, I don't know how to explain it and I don't know what's wrong with me"he was weak and I rushed to find a doctor

"woah there buddy"a doctor said as I nearly knocked him over trying to get out of the room

"my brother, what's wrong with him?"I asked, I wanted answers and I wanted them now

"may I speak with you outside Mr. Curtis"he asked

I nodded and followed him into the hall

"we think your brother may have cancer, stomach cancer"he said looking into my eyes

I felt tears burn my cheeks

"what's that mean? Is he going to die?"I asked rubbing my arms

"Were going to start him on chemotherapy"he said softly

I couldn't speak so the doctor did

"we'll let you know what's going on with your brother as soon as possible

I nodded and slipped back into Ponyboys room Stevie and Two-bit looked up at me but I blocked them both out of my mind and focused on Ponyboy. He was so small, so young, I've known a lot of people whose family has had cancer and most of them didnt survive. You had to be strong to fight of such a deadly disease and truthfully I don't know if Pony had enough.

"Soda?"I looked behind me and saw Darry walking up to me

"Darry!"I threw myself into him and bawled my eyes out

"what's wrong with him Soda"he asked softly

I took a quivering breath and whispered into his ear "he has cancer Dar"

I felt Darrys body go stiff against mine and we cried together with our younger brother lying unconscious next to us, we were the only people in that room, in that hospital, in the world and we were dying.