Hey everyone! This chapter should have come out on the weekend, but I got tired...and sick...and well, you know how fun that is.
Anyway, here's a long one for you. I had a hard time deciding whether to make this two chapters or one long one and finally settled on the long one. Did I make the right decision? Let me know what you think.
I want to thank SE Hinton for letting me borrow her characters, which you all know I don't own.
And as always, thank you Indianagreaser for your insight. I'm still reeling from your last horrifyingly magnifcent story.
XX
It had been a difficult night for the boys in room 302 and it wasn't even half over yet. Pony had been waking up delirious in one way or another every couple of hours and his fever was constantly up and down. This sepsis infection was taking its toll on him and on his brothers too - they were drained and could barely keep their eyes open despite wanting to fully be there for Ponyboy.
"What are we gonna do, Darry?" Soda asked when Pony had gone back to sleep after his second episode that night. "I can't go to sleep now. Not after THAT. I need to be here for him,"
"Soda,"Darry said in a calm voice that betrayed the worry he was really feeling, "You're not gonna be able to help him if you don't take care of yourself. Stay by the bed if it helps, little buddy. You'll hear Pony if he starts hollerin'," he looked down at his sleeping brother and sighed. "It looks like the nurse gave him a pretty strong dose of whatever it was and I pray to God he sleeps the rest of the night. He sure needs it."
Soda nodded, his eyes heavy. That last delirious moment, when Pony had reimagined Johnny and the night that Soc was killed at the fountain, had scared the livin' daylights out of everyone.
But the medicine had seemed to kick in a bit better now and Pony hadn't woken up for at least an hour already.
The gang sure were exhausted. Steve had even asked one of the nurses if there was an empty room somewhere in the vicinity where he could take a nap. He'd sleep on the floor if he had to. The kind nurse found one for him but told him he'd probably have to be out early morning and he said, "Sure, wake me up when it's needed," he told her, "even if it's 5am."
Two-Bit went back to sleep against the wall. Darry picked up a chair and carried it to a corner of the room, then he sat down in it heavily and tried to fall asleep the same way he had before, arms crossed.
Only Soda sat by the bed, forcing himself to stay awake and keep vigil though he was ready to pass out. His eyes scanned the room and then he watched his brother's chest rise and fall. Eventually he took Pony's right hand and held it, intertwining their fingers. He cupped both of his hands around it and held it close to his mouth as if he was praying.
The wind howled outside, like a new storm was close by. Soda hadn't been outside much today to see him for himself - he had gone outdoors exactly one time with Steve to have a cigarette and calm his nerves with some fresh air - but he had been relieved to notice that the weather was starting to simmer down. Roads looked a little more cleared up. It wasn't like he was going home to stay - he had a little brother in the hospital to take care of - but it would be nice to get a fresh change of he knew he and Darry couldn't take many more days off work. Their finances depended on it.
So he hoped the wind howling outside was just that. The wind and nothing more. But it sure was loud...
Soda watched Pony breathing. It was a little off, but he didn't think much of it. Pony was still sick, after all. He figured it would be that way the next couple of nights. Eventually Soda sat back in his chair and his lazy position made his eyes droop. He started nodding off. When he realized he was doing that, though, he sat up straight, rubbed his eyes, and shook himself hoping he could somehow keep himself awake.
It was no use. Keeping a firm grip on Pony's limp hand, he eventually laid his head down in a small space on the mattress and fell asleep.
XXX
In the next moment, he was inside the church, watching as the flaming beams collapsed around him. He felt the flames burning his cheeks like he was laying out in the full sun. He ran to the window to see if Dally could get him out.
The glass was fogged up and when Pony rubbed through it, Darry was there, his hands in his pockets, a look of pain in his eyes. He wasn't yelling - he was just standing there, looking upset.
"Darry!" Pony cried as the window's glass started to crack. And then suddenly he fell backwards, shielding himself as there was a loud explosion from somewhere around him and Darry's form shot up in flames. He didn't know how it happened, as Darry was outside and he was the one inside the church. Darry was over 6 feet and the flames just towered over him. He didn't fall, he didn't brush them off, he just stood there, letting them consume him.
"Noooooooooooo!" Pony screamed, trying to get to him, but he was thrown backwards and he felt like he was suffocating. Like that giant quilted blanket was overwhelming him…
Suddenly he was deep in the snow. The flames had disappeared, replaced by sharp pieces of slush and mounds of ice that were so cold it made his head hurt. Lying there, the snow covering him, he put his hands in front of his face - they were red and shaking.
His body felt heavy, but he somehow found the strength to push himself out of the snow. He sat up. There was Darry, in the distance, plodding forward in the snow, walking away from him.
Pony sat there, in the snow, sinking slowly. "Darry!" he screamed, "Darry!"
Darry turned around from a distance, stared at him for a moment, then turned back and continued forward, without a last look
"Darry!" Pony screamed.
XXX
"Darry…" Pony called in his sleep, his eyes fluttering. "Darry…"
It was only when Soda felt Pony's hand trying to find a way out of his that he woke up with a start. He looked at the bed and saw that Pony was shifting around some and that he was awake and calling for Darry.
Pony's eyes were suddenly open, watery and clouded and frantically searching for something.
"Pony," Soda said, his voice soft, so as not to wake anyone else. He hands hovered, in case Pony would try to sit up when he shouldn't. He stroked his hair, "You ok, baby? Were you dreamin'?"
Pony tried to sit up but he didn't get very far. He felt like he was hyperventilating and took quick short breaths as fear coursed through his veins.
"Pony, relax...what's going on, honey?" he asked gently, a hand on Pony's shoulder trying to push him back towards the pillows.
Pony laid back, a stressed look on his face. "Soda?" he called out, trying to make sense of his predicament.
"I'm right here, sweetheart." Soda called out from his side.
"Where's Darry?" Pony asked and there was a catch in his throat, "Is he still outside?"
Soda gave him a funny look. "He's not...outside," he said, "Darry's right over there, Pone," and he pointed over to where Darry was still sleeping, arms crossed, head lolling to the side in what looked like the most uncomfortable position in the world.
"He left…" Pony sounded like he was close to tears. "He went out into the snow. I woke up and he wasn't there," he sounded mixed up.
"Pony," Soda started, "You know where you are right, baby?"
"I want Darry," Pony said, his voice trembling.
"Ok...ok," Soda swallowed thickly, putting a hand on Pony's shoulder. 'Relax, kiddo. I'll get him."
Soda went over to the corner where Darry was sleeping and shook him awake. He hated doing it but Pony wouldn't rest otherwise. Darry jerked awake immediately, like someone had set his chair on fire.
"What's going on, Soda?"
"Pony's asking for you," Soda said in a low voice, and Darry immediately saw the distressed look on his face. He followed Soda back to the bed and sat on Pony's left side. Pony had closed his eyes and Darry wondered for a moment if he was sleeping again.
"Pony?" he asked, and Pony's eyes opened.
"Darry," Pony said, swallowing hard, "Where were you?"
"I was sleeping over there, Pone," Darry said and he put his hand on Pony's shoulder and squeezed.
"Don't go anywhere," Pony said stubbornly, "Don't go...There's a storm…"
Darry and Soda exchanged a look.
"I'm not going anywhere," Darry said. "I promise."
"Don't leave…" Pony said and that was when he grabbed Darry's arm and held on, almost shaking away the IV, "Darry, don't leave me! PLEASE!" He was beginning to cry.
Darry sighed wearily, but his eyes were sad. "Pony...I'm right here, kiddo," Darry replied, "I'm staying right here. I'm not going anywhere, ok? Don't worry."
"Don't go outside," Pony said, his eyes watering. "It's cold," Pony said, "It's cold." He repeated. He was shaking again.
"Pony, are YOU cold?" Darry got up immediately and fixed the blanket that was haphazardly laying in a heap at Pony's feet. He pulled it higher hoping it would help. At the same time, Soda found another blanket and also wrapped their brother in it.
Darry noticed Pony wasn't closing his eyes, he was just staring at them.
"I'll stay right here," Darry told him, "But you need to go back to sleep, kiddo. Ok?" Only when Darry took Pony's hand and squeezed it did he start to act sleepy again. Soda took the other hand.
"Everything is gonna be ok," Darry said.
Pony closed his eyes. He was awful tired.
XXX
It was something about sleeping in a strange and unfamiliar room that caused Steve to wake up way before any nurse would come in to shoo him out of the room. He just didn't feel comfortable being there, and so he slept fitfully all night - although he was sure it was better than sleeping on a cold, hard floor. And he was definitely sure that it was better than the sleep that Soda, Darry, and Ponyboy were getting that night - if the first half of the evening were any indication. Steve knew that, in his condition, it was more than likely that Ponyboy wouldn't sleep through the night. And, in that regard, neither would Darry and Soda. He felt a little selfish leaving them to sleep but at the same time, he had to be at his best, when they were so obviously collapsing around him.
And it's not like his sleep was that great, either.
When he walked into the room, a nurse had just finished taking Pony's blood pressure and was unraveling the cuff. "It's a little bit on the low side," Steve saw her tell Darry.
Darry and Soda were both awake and they looked BAD. Besides the fact that their hair and clothes were disheveled, Steve noticed swollen eyes and hanging eyelids. Darry's eyes were red, and Soda's had dark circles. And the corners of their mouth permanent frowns drooped and had no intention of going away.
Steve made a mental note to tell Darry and Soda he would watch the damn kid on condition that they both take a long nap. He knew he would have to wait until Pony stabilized, though. Damn kid, he was always ducking the Socs and running into walls without a scratch. Why couldn't his nine lives kick in now?
Steve came up behind Soda and clapped him on the shoulder, effectively scaring the living crap out of him.
"Jesus Steve, you mind warning me next time?" he said aloud, his voice a loud whisper. But he wasn't mad.
"Sorry, Soda," Steve said, "Hey Darry." Darry nodded, looking exhausted and distraught. "How was your night?"
"Could've been better," Darry grunted.
"How's the kid?" Steve asked. It was like no one wanted to tell him anything. They just wanted to forget about what was going on and move on with their lives. Finally Soda, the patient one, filled him in.
"He woke up again, asking for Darry. It was like he had some kind of dream - or he was remembering how Darry left him in the car to go look for help. I don't know, he wasn't - right," Soda sighed. No one spoke for a minute and the uncomfortable silence hung damp in the air like wet sheets on a clothesline.
"I shouldn't have left him," Darry broke the tension, looking angry and distraught.
"Darry," Soda said then realized they were talking over the bed and made his voice lower. "Darry, he's just sick. Mixed up. I don't even think he knows what he's saying really. 'Sides if you hadn't gone out of the truck you wouldn't have found us,"
Darry sighed. "Guess you're right. Just feel like this whole thing is my fault," he grumbled.
"Oh come on, Darry," Steve said, uncharacteristically bursting out in defense of someone. "The kid was sick anyway. If he hadn't collapsed in the snow, he would have collapsed at home. And he wasn't in the snow that long, it's not like he got hypothermia or nothin,"
Two-Bit had woken up from the conversation. He stood up off the floor and rubbed his face as he walked over. "What's going on, y'all?"
"Hey Two-Bit," Soda said.
"Two-Bit," Darry started, "Did you sleep through all that happened last night?" he asked.
"Nah, I heard it," he said, eyes dark and serious. "Just didn't want to be in the way is all."
Darry nodded. He looked over at Pony. "Poor kid," he said aloud, putting a hand on his forehead and wincing, "His fever's STILL not down."
Pony didn't stir, but no one could say he was sleeping peacefully.
"Maybe he needs stronger meds," Steve said, "Maybe the meds he's on just aren't enough."
"The doctor told me what kind of meds he's on," Darry said, "They're strong enough. Could just be the infection is that bad. Doc told me it was attacking his immune system."
"Darry, look," Soda said, pointing to Pony whose eyebrows had furrowed, lips pursed and moving and fingers flexing at his sides like he was trying to grip something that wasn't there. "I think he's dreamin' again."
XXX
Suddenly he was deep in the snow. The sharp pieces of slush and mounds of ice next to his ears were so cold, they made his head hurt. Lying there, the snow covering him, he put his hands in front of his face - and they were red and shaking.
His body felt heavy, but somehow Pony found the strength to push himself out of the snow. He sat up. There was Darry, in the distance, trudging away from him through the snow.
Pony sat there, sinking slowly, "Darry!" he screamed, "Darry!"
Darry turned around from a distance, stared at him for a moment, then turned back and continued plodding forward, without a last look.
"Darry!" Pony screamed.
Darry wouldn't turn around so Pony decided to follow him.. He realized he wasn't feeling too hot, but somehow had the strength to pull himself out of the snow pit and start his own trek forward, eyes on his brother.
His head spinning and his stomach doing somersaults, he didn't know how he had the power to keep going, but something beyond his means - something he couldn't even describe - was pushing him forward.
He didn't even feel as cold as he expected to - it might have been the burning of his cheeks, so hot you could fry eggs on them. Sadly, it was a feeling he had grown accustomed to.
For a second he thought he lost Darry around a winding path, everything covered in snow so that he couldn't recognize anything. But then he saw him again, standing in front of the house.
There it was, their house- in all its run-down glory. The wood was crumbling and the paint was peeling but Pony realized suddenly that he hadn't been there in a while and he missed it.
Darry had the heavy feet of someone who worked too much and Pony watched him saunter up the front steps and onto the front porch. He didn't turn back for a second as he pulled the screen door open and uncharacteristically let it slam behind him. The house wasn't locked, of course.
He didn't know what had made him stop and watch, but now it was time to go after him. He had the overwhelming sense that he didn't want to lose Darry this time, not like he had when they had been stuck in the truck during the blizzard.
He entered the house and stepped into the living room where he was immediately hit with the overpowering smell of...chocolate cake. Soda must be baking one, he thought.
That was when he stopped short. His face grew hot - well hotter than it had already been - and the shock that ran through him was like nothing he had ever felt before.
"Ponyboy," a deep, familiar voice said, "Where do you think you're going?" he asked.
Then he winked.
Pony's father - Darrel Curtis Sr. sat at the head of the small dining room table, wearing his signature flannel and cowlicked hair and reading the newspaper, his head cocked slightly to the side. On his left side, Dallas Winston sat lazily on a wooden chair, one long leg up and bent in front of him, the other out laying out like he wanted to take a nap. He wore his black leather jacket and looked bored. Across from him, Johnny Cade, with his puppy dog eyes and tuff scar, sat unassumingly on his father's right side. His eyes were black as always, but for once they looked...peaceful.
"Well, you found us," Darrel Curtis said.
"Glory kid, took you look enough," Dally quipped.
"Leave 'im alone, Dal," that was Johnny, "He needs to get used to seeing us again."
"How much time could the dimwit possibly need?" Dally shot back.
"Boys...boys! I will not have you arguing at my kitchen table," Darrel Curtis said, holding his hands out in a stop motion. He put them back down on the table, palm flat on the surface.
Ponyboy's eyes darted back and forth.. He was shook and didn't know what to make of this situation. Darry had disappeared and was nowhere to be found. And here, sitting in front of him was his dead father and his dead friends.
"Am I...dead?" he asked the group and his voice trembled.
"Haha good one," Dally replied with a laugh.
"You're not," Johnny reassured him.
"Let's just say you're...taking a vacation," Darrel Curtis said.
Pony looked at them hard. He wondered if he rubbed his eyes if they would disappear. Then suddenly he realized there was still someone else in the kitchen. The smell of chocolate cake wafting through was stronger now, and it lingered at his nostrils like the nicotine he had been craving for days.
Something made Pony look past his father and Johnny and Dally and slowly make his way to the kitchen.
She was fully focused on the chocolate cake on the counter in front of her. Her back was turned and Pony gazed at her blonde hair - still golden and beautiful - and the pang in his heart hit sharper than ever before.
He came closer.
Laura Curtis went to turn around and almost bumped into her boy, grinning as she stepped back, a hand over her heart. "Oh Ponyboy," she said, in her beautiful sing-song voice, and Ponyboy thought he felt his heart flutter, "You scared me."
"Mom?" he whispered, and he felt like he was a little boy again.
They were face to face and Ponyboy's mother wrapped her arms around him in the protective and loving embrace that she had always been known for. Ponyboy sighed. There's nothing like a mother's arms, he thought, and wished he could stay in her hold forever.
"Oh honey," she said, "I've missed you so much."
Pony could feel the tears prickling behind his eyes, but he kept them back. He also noticed that the nausea had started the churn inside of him, but he pushed that aside too. This wasn't a time to get sick. He wasn't going to waste this moment.
Pony's mom kept her arm around his neck.
"What are you all doing here?" Pony asked her, "How did I get here?"
"What do you mean?" she asked him kindly, "You walked didn't you?"
"Yeah," Pony said, "I followed Darry in the snow. Where did he go?" he asked.
"He went out the back door," Laura said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Hey Pony, get in here!" Dally called. Regretfully, Pony let go of his mother and went back to table, where Dally and Johnny had started a game of gin rummy, while his father continued to read the newspaper.
Pony had no idea how Dally and Johnny had acquired the playing cards.
"They're waiting for you back at the hospital," Dally said nonchalantly, as he and Johnny continued the game.
"Who is?" Pony asked, and his head throbbed with the information.
"Everyone," Dally said, as he dealt the cards, "The boys, man. You weren't supposed to leave."
"I have no idea how I got here!" Pony said in a huff.
"You followed your brother," Darrel Curtis said, looking up from his newspaper.
Nobody was making any sense. And they weren't answering the question at hand - what were they all doing here?
"Am I supposed to go back?" Pony asked.
"Not yet," his mother said, coming out of the kitchen. Pony noticed that she shot his father a look but no one said anything about it so he pretended like he hadn't noticed it either.
His head suddenly gave a throb again and he put a hand to his forehead.
"Hey Pony, you alright man?" Johnny asked, looking at him with concern.
"Johnny, I had some weird dreams about you while I've been sick," Pony suddenly blurted out. He didn't know why he confessed this, but he felt like he needed to. "I was remembering that you killed the Soc…"
Johnny just looked at him.
"Son, let's not talk about that now," Darrel said from his seat, and he clapped Pony on the back, which actually did more harm then good because he felt like he was going to hurl. ""Pony here's a little bit mixed up," he said. "That damn infection," he said, shaking his head.
"I'm fine, dad," Pony said though he struggled to feel normal. "I'm talking to you, ain't I?"
"Who wants chocolate cake?" Laura called out in her sing-song voice and she practically floated into the room, carrying the chocolate cake with soft fingers and easing it down onto the table, in front of her grinning husband.
The smell of the cake was starting to make Pony's stomach turn, but he loved watching his parents and the love they had between them.
Anything to hang on to this moment with his buddies and his parents just a little bit longer.
Standing next to her husband, she heard him laugh softly and then she felt him wrap his warm arms around her petite waist. He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her cheek. Then Darrel looked at Pony and winked again.
Pony loved watching his parents in moments like this. This is what he had always remembered about them - the love that they shared. It was one of the many things he missed.
"Thanks for the cake, Mrs. C," Dally said and Laura's brown eyes danced, knowing it was uncharacteristic for Dally to actually thank somebody.
Laura could even make Dallas Winston smile. She would talk to him and make him grin in spite of himself. "You've got quite a mom," Dally used to say. "She knows the score."
Dally reached into his pocket and pulled out a worn pack of Kools. He took out a lighter and was about to light up when -
""Son, there's no smoking at my kitchen table," Darrel bellowed.
Dally made a face but he put the cigarette down.
"We're dead, Mr. C. Remember? No one's gonna careif I light up or not," Dally sneered, though he wasn't mad.
"Not all of us are, honey," Laura said, nodding in Pony's direction.
"Can I have one too?" Pony asked, a cheeky grin on his face. His parents had never actually seen him with a cigarette - he had started smoking after their deaths - but he knew they had probably already known.
Laura frowned, the corners of her mouth turning down "You're sick," she said.
"I'm not dead, though am I?" Pony asked again, in a concerned voice, "'Sides I don't feel that bad right now," he said. Little did he know he was going to regret those words.
"You're going to start feeling bad in a minute," his mother said quietly.
"If I'm not gonna let Dallas I sure as hell won't let you," Darrel said, meaning argument over.
Ponyboy turned to Johnny, who was smiling but really into the game.
"Johnnycake," he asked, "What's it like up there?"
"Up where?" he asked looking at Pony.
"You know, on the other side," Pony asked.
"Don't get him started," Dally blurted out.
Pony suddenly realized that Johnny's eyes, as black as they were, were shining.
"Plain ordinary people, Pone. Plain ordinary people."
He was grinning broadly.
"He's just happy cause he's no longer getting hit with a two-by-four," Dally said.
"No Socs, no Greasers," Johnny explained, "It's like the country. Dally and I ride horses all day long. We eat tons of food. We get to eat whatever we want."
"I had chocolate cake for dinner the other night," Dally said proudly.
"Mrs. C takes good care of us," Johnny said. Pony was happy for him, really happy, but he couldn't help but feel the pang in his heart. He was jealous.
Laura saw it and put her hands on Pony's shoulders, "I take care of you too, baby, don't worry," she said. "You just don't see it."
Sadly, it didn't make the hole in his heart go away.
"Ponyboy," Darrel said, "Your brothers are looking for you."
And suddenly, they all heard it. Soda's voice, in the air. "Ponyboy… Darry I think he's having a nightmare."
"I'm not lost," Pony said out loud. "I was looking for Darry. He was walking towards the house. That's how I got here. Where did he go?"
The back door flew open as the wind howled. Everyone looked at it knowingly.
"Darry was here," Dally spoke up, "You didn't lose him. He went back to the hospital,"
"I-I don't understand," Pony said, the room suddenly spinning. He felt all mixed up. Something was happening and it didn't make any sense. He suddenly had the feeling that he didn't have much time left with his parents and friends.
Laura came over and put her hand on Pony's forehead. "You better get back to the hospital, honey," she said, "You're burning up."
"Am I going to get better?" he asked, fighting the dizziness.
"You know you're strong right?" Laura answered, "You need to take care of yourself."
"Darry, he feels hot again," came Soda's voice in the distance.
Pony's head throbbed. His neck and back hurt. His cheeks burned with a fever that had suddenly come back with intensity. His stomach flip flopped.
Nonononononono, he thought. He didn't want to lose his parents. He didn't want to lose Johnny and Dally. He didn't want to lose this moment.
"I don't have much longer here, do I?" he asked dejectedly. Tears filled his eyes but he tried to keep them from falling. You don't cry in front of Dallas Winston, after all.
Johnny stood up, throwing the cards down, the card game forgotten. "You don't want to stay here with us, do you Pone? I know you and this...this isn't what you want," Johnny sounded more confident then he ever had in his life and Pony couldn't help but be so proud. And sad. He wondered how he would change if he died.
"I-I," Pony stumbled as he looked around the room. His heart was starting to beat faster and he couldn't control it.
He didn't know what he wanted.
"Pony," his mother said firmly, "You're not lost. Darry found you." Pony realized in that moment that she was talking about the blizzard - when Darry had disappeared and he had tried to find him, only to collapse in the snow. He remembered that Darry had eventually come back and found him. And somehow, Soda had been there, too.
"You're not lost," she repeated. "And you won't lose us, either. Even if you go back," she paused. "Your brothers need you...and you need them."
He knew she was right, but Pony looked at his father for approval. "Listen to your mother," was all he said, from his seat at the table. "She knows what she's talking about."
"Pony," Johnny said, his eyes serious, "You need to take care of yourself. Really," he added for emphasis. What in the world was he talking about?
Then he came over, and threw his arm across Pony's shoulder. "You won't lose us. Maybe you won't see us. But we'll be here."
"Yeah," Dally added, trying to act nonchalant. "What he said."
It was when his mother came over and wrapped her baby boy in a deep hug that Ponyboy totally lost it. His eyes blurred and the tears ran down, his breathing became rapid, and his heart thumped like it was going to fall out of his chest. The world tipped.
"I guess I'll go back to the hospital now," he said, and then he dropped to the floor.
XX
"Pony...Pony…" Someone's hands were on his face and his shoulders, trying to keep him from moving from around too much. "Pony…" the comforting voice was saying, "You need to go back to sleep." Was it his mom?
His head throbbed and his body was in pain, but he still forced his eyes open and they darted across the room. Everything was blurry, including the faces that were near him, and he felt dizzy even though he wasn't sitting up.
Your brothers need you...and you need them. His mother's last words.
"Darry!" he called out, his voice hoarse, "Soda!" He felt something that could only be described as chaos around him, a lot of movement from faces that he couldn't see well.
His eyes darted back and forth like a pendulum swing. He needed to find his brothers - to hold on to them - but it was hard to see in the swirling haze that enveloped him, so he reached out, hoping he could grab hold of an arm. "Soda…" his voice trailed off.
Before he knew what was happening, Pony flung himself forward, almost tearing his tubes out in the process. Luckily, he didn't have a chance to hurt himself as a thick, muscular arm came out at his stomach to stop him from pitching forward and another arm came around his waist. He knew who it was immediately.
"Pony," the voice said and it was connected to the arms around him. "Did you have a nightmare?" It was Darry.
"Darry," he gulped in air, turning to the sound of the voice and gripped at the muscular arm at his stomach with weak fingers. "Darry...I thought I lost you. I thought I lost you... W-where did you go?"
"Kiddo," Darry said, his throat closing up, "I've been right here."
"I followed you," Pony continued, as if he hadn't heard anything Darry had just said, "You went out the back door."
"Pony," Soda suddenly called out, gingerly touching him on the shoulder. It made Pony jump and he turned to his right, where Soda was standing. "You're not making any sense."
His vision was foggy, like watery clouds bobbing onto the horizon. He couldn't see well, but he leaned forward, using his hands to find Soda's upper arms and make him understand. "Soda...mom said you need me...I need you too…"
Pony clung to him, afraid to let go.
Soda couldn't understand what Pony was talking about, but at the mention of their mother, his expression became pained.
"Pony," he said, "Mom - It was just a dream. Darry, he's shaking."
Things were happening so fast. Pony had a feeling in his body that he couldn't explain - it was like his heart was beating too quickly. He was lightheaded and woozy. His breaths were coming out faster and faster.
He looked in Soda's direction, his vision hazy. Soda was giving him a quizzical look. "Soda," he croaked, "I - I'm dizzy." he put his chin on Soda's shoulder and wrapped his arms around his neck and Soda put his own arms around Pony's back, to steady him, but he was shaking so badly that Soda pulled him back to look at him.
His eyes were bloodshot and cloudy. His color was changing. Soda was starting to get really frightened by Pony's appearance.
"He don't look good," Soda said out loud, "Does he look gray to you?" Who was he talking to? Why did everything he was hearing sound so far away? Pony wondered. He didn't have time to think about it though, as he was starting to wobble. He felt claustrophobic, like the room was starting to close in. Like he would keel over any second. The world was swirling and spinning and turning into a mass of colors. But especially disturbing was that his vision was starting to go black around the edges and he couldn't control it.
There was a sharp pain at the back of his neck and Pony cupped a hand to his forehead, not fully understanding what was happening. "I-I don't - I don't…" he sounded like he was hyperventilating.
"Take deep breaths, Pony. Breathe!" Soda's voice was high and tense.
He couldn't. His hands were tingling.
Someone came up next to Soda, and Pony couldn't make out who it was. "Glory, Soda, catch him! He's going to pass out!"
Pony was teetering unsteadily and starting to fade. Those watery clouds and faces in his sight were turning into blobs and ripples and sliding off the edge of the Earth. Pony couldn't keep up with them. He was scared and being knocked off his axis and holding on to Soda for dear life. Nobody - not Johnny nor his mother - had warned him about this.
"I'm getting a nurse!" another voice called out.
And then Pony's eyes rolled back in his head and he flopped backwards, crumpling like a discarded puppet.
XX
Another cliffie!
Reviews please!
~ Simona