After years on this site working up the nerve to publish my own story, I appreciate everyone's support so much. Special shoutout to Indianagreaser, ShinyLane 2.1, PandaGirl2019, Shakes003, RandleGreaserGirl, .jem, Writingfan27...your words of wisdom, assistance, and advice have helped make the transition smooth for me.
I enjoy supporting others, too, so recently I signed up to be a beta reader on the site. If anyone wants to send me their stories before they are published, I'd be happy to give them a look .
Now on with the story. Reviews please!
Darry froze. Was he supposed to go after Soda? Stay with Pony? What was he supposed to do?
"Steve…"he choked out, looking at his brother's best buddy. Steve nodded and went after his best friend.
He didn't have to go far. Soda was just outside the room, backed up against the wall. The look on his face was one of sheer terror.
Pony is dying. Pony is dying. They can't help him.
"Soda?" Steve questioned, standing in front of him and looking at him hard. In the next moment, Soda's knees were buckling and he was sliding down against the wall. Steve grabbed his elbow, sinking down with him, or at least supporting him and breaking his fall.
"Soda, what's going on? Soda!"
Why won't he wake up?
Soda was hyperventilating. His face was white. He looked right at Steve, but couldn't see anything at all. Everything was foggy.
The world was tilting on its axis.
They can't help him. They can't help him. They can't help him. He's dying.
Steve crouched down in front of him, called out his name again and tapped his cheek to get his attention. Soda didn't answer him. He was wheezing and panting rapidly like he couldn't catch his breath. Tears were starting to slide down his cheeks.
Don't die, Ponyboy, don't die!
"Soda!" Steve was kneeling and calling out his name frantically, but Soda couldn't see him - the black spots were clouding his vision. He couldn't breathe.
"I - I - I can't -" he panted. His whole body was trembling.
My parents died. My friends died. My baby brother is dying.
"Soda, you need to breathe!" Steve yelled, cupping his hand behind Soda's neck. "Just breathe, Soda!"
Dally. Johnny. Ponyboy.
Soda was choking and trying to fill his lungs, but it was no use. The air just wouldn't go in.
The snow. Pony wanted to play in the snow. We found him in the snow. Help him! He's dying!
Everything was so mixed up and Soda couldn't breathe.
With his hand around his neck, Steve brought Soda's head forward between his knees. "Soda, breathe dammit!"
Am I dying?
"I can't, Steve...I can't…"
"Yes you can!"
Soda's hands and feet were tingling. His face was hot. He was dizzy, and he felt like he was going to pass out. The world was shrinking around him.
"Soda, you need to calm down. Breathe, Soda, breathe!" Steve shouted.
Soda shuddered as he fought the urge to throw up.
Is this what a heart attack feels like?
Soda's head was lifted and rough hands were on the back of his neck, rubbing out the tense muscles there.
"Soda, you need to relax, little buddy," a deep, soothing voice said as Soda wheezed.
Soda opened his eyes. Darry's forehead was pressed against his own.
"Pony is ok, Soda. You need to breathe with me," Darry said. He began taking deep, long breaths, hoping Soda would imitate him. "Do it with me."
Soda groaned and tried to match the breaths. He shook hard, but finally, FINALLY he was able to get air into his lungs.
"There you go, little brother. You're doing great." Darry was saying. They continued to breathe together until Soda had calmed down. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal.
Soda felt Darry kneeling in front of him, his right hand squeezing Soda's left shoulder, and Steve sat on his right side, his arm draped over Soda's neck.
Soda kept his head down and eyes closed, embarrassed he had broken down and not kept himself in check.
"I'm sorry," he finally said out loud, wet eyes opening and staring back at Darry's troubled look. "I - I don't know what happened,"
"I'll tell you what happened," Steve said gruffly and he sounded almost irritated, "You had a panic attack."
"Steve…" Darry warned, telling the greaser to be careful about getting angry.
"A panic attack?" Soda questioned, rubbing his eyes.
"Yea," Darry replied, "One of the guys I work with had one once. Yours wasn't so bad - try calming down a bulky middle-age guy on the top of a roof," he smiled kindly and squeezed his brother's shoulder. "You ok now, Sodapop?"
Soda was still a bit shaken up but he didn't want anyone to baby him. Darry, at least, had bigger problems.
"I think so," Soda said, "Guess I just got spooked is all. I just kept thinking, 'What if he stopped breathing? What if he never woke up?'" his breath hitched, but he kept the tears from starting up again.
Darry was nodding. "Makes sense," he said. "Pony's in a scary situation. He's still not 100%. But when you left they were telling us his blood pressure was going back up. That's a good sign, Soda. And his color is coming back."
"Seriously, kid's got more lives than a cat, Soda," Steve added, shaking his head in disbelief and maybe even in awe. "I don't know how he does it."
Darry smiled.
"I need to go back in there, make sure he's ok," Soda said, starting to get up too fast, until Darry pushed him back down.
"Take a minute, Soda," he said sternly. "I had Two-Bit stay in the room to make sure everything is ok as they stabilize him. He would come out and tell us if something was wrong."
"Get your breath back," Darry added. "I don't need another brother of mine passing out. Pony's bad off as it is."
Soda noticed the way Darry's ice blue eyes softened when he looked at him. Darry had enough to worry about and Soda was sorry for doing this to him.
"I want you to take a break from the hospital room, Pepsi," Darry was telling him, "You need a break."
"I'm not leaving Pony," Soda said, his face serious. "You need a break too, Darry."
"I know," Darry mumbled, more to himself, "We're gonna go in there so you can see that Pony is ok and then Steve is gonna take you downstairs for a Coke. Alright?"
"I'm a hot date," Steve joked, wagging his eyebrows.
Soda looked at him. "You sound like Two-Bit," he said.
"Is everything alright out here?" a female voice suddenly called out. One of the ICU nurses stood above them, looking down at Soda, who was trying to relax.
Darry looked up, "Everything's fine now," he said, a tad too rough. Even from the ground he imposed an intimidating figure.
"The doctor wants to update you on Ponyboy's condition," she said.
Darry lifted Soda to a standing position with a firm grip and Steve was there when he just swayed jud a bit. "You ok?" Darry asked him quietly and Soda nodded.
The nurse didn't follow them back into the room. They filed back in where Two-Bit was waiting for them, anxious as he waited for word on Ponyboy and wringing his hands.
Soda and Darry looked over at the bed where a nurse was tending to Ponyboy, while the doctor looked on. Pony was still completely still, and its was hard to believe how many tubes were crisscrossing him, but he looked like the color was back in his cheeks.
"Hey guys," Two-Bit said, looking and Soda and feeling more anxious. He kept it in though. "All good?"
Darry nodded.
Soda came over to Two-Bit, who clapped him on the back and then leaned over, whispering to him in a low voice, "I think Pony's ok," he said.
Finally, the doctor came over to talk to them. He looked at Darry. "I was told you were his legal guardian," he said.
Darry nodded, "Darry Curtis," he said, shaking the doctor's hand.
"Hi Darry," the doctor said, "I didn't introduce myself earlier. Dr. Williams."
"How is he?" Darry asked quickly, forgoing the pleasantries. "Is everything ok now?" He stole a quick glance at Soda, and wondered if he should tell his brother to take a seat.
"Ponyboy went into septic shock. It's a more serious version of what he's already going through. His blood pressure dropped too quickly. He became extremely hypotensive and was tachycardic - his heart rate became very fast," Dr. Williams explained when he saw the boys were confused.
"Because of the low blood pressure, we were worried his organs would have a reduced amount of blood flow, so we tried to combat that with fluid boluses," he continued, "But when the blood pressure kept falling, we moved to something called a vasopressor. Its a medication that constricts the veins and arteries and increases the cardiac self-contraction of the heart. In other words, it brings up his blood pressure. It seems to be working, we got his blood pressure back up but we are going to continue this medication for a while. His breathing was also fast and shallow- but now that his blood pressure has stabilized, the breathing is -"
"Wait, wait wait," Darry interrupted, trying to wrap his head around everything the doctor just said, "You said you have to continue the medication...Can this happen again? Is he still in danger?"
The doctor thought for a moment before answering, "I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you. Sepsis alone is serious - but once a patient goes into septic shock, the situation becomes dire. The likelihood of mortality increases..."
Darry looked over at Soda, immediately worried he was going to collapse again. Soda's face was white again, but Steve already had his hand on his shoulder and was squeezing hard.
"Look," the doctor spoke up, realizing he had scared everyone, but not necessarily deterred by it, "We handled the situation. Pony is stablized for now and his blood pressure is going up again. I believe with a proper medication regimen and constant monitoring, he will continue to improve."
Darry chewed on the inside of his lip pensively but nodded.
"When will he wake up?" he asked.
"His blood pressure is more stable now, so he could wake up at any time. But I don't anticipate it being for a while," the doctor told the group, "The reason he passed out was because of the rapidly falling blood pressure. When he sat up, he had a syncopal episode," he could see the boys were confused, so he continued with explanation, "Normally, when you sit or stand, your blood pressure automatically increases. In Pony's case, his body couldn't respond to bring up the blood pressure. Anyway, we acted fast and have since stabilized him."
Darry's head whipped around when Soda spoke up out of nowhere.
"Is there anything we can do for him?" he asked softly.
The doctor nodded, his lips forming a hard line, though he didn't seem grim, just serious. "Let the staff know you notice any changes. Changes in skin color, moisture. Bruising. Anything like that is a sign that something may be off," he said, "As I mentioned before, we'll be monitoring him closely anyway."
For the time being, there were no more questions. Darry thanked the doctor for his quick action. Dr. Williams shook his hand and then patted Soda's shoulder, an uncharacteristic move for the typically stone-faced man, but it was as if he knew what had happened outside of the room. Then, he left.
The boys looked on as a nurse checked Ponyboy's tubes and IV bags. "He's doing better," she said softly, giving them a brief smile before leaving the room.
Steve was the one that spoke up first. "You hear that, Soda?" he told his buddy. Tears were forming in Soda's eyes but he wouldn't let them fall.
Darry looked at Pony, then over at his brother. "Soda, you need a break," he said.
"I know, Darry," Soda said, not taking his gaze away from Ponyboy, "Let me see my brother first."
Soda came closer to the bed. Leaning over, he tentatively put his warm hand over the top of Pony's limp, colder one, before weaving it through his brother's bony fingers. There was no response from Pony, not even a twitch or a flutter, even as Soda gently stroked his hand.
Still, Soda noticed that the color had come back to his brother's cheeks and he was happy about that.
Soda leaned over further and whispered in Pony's ear, so softly that not even the other boys heard what he said.
Come back to us, Pony. Please come back to us.
Worried that his breath was going to catch again, he pulled back slightly, eyes still wet. Then he leaned over again to gently kiss his brother on the forehead.
Standing up again, he wiped a few tears and sighed. "Come on, Steve," he said, and the two boys left the room.