I was hoping to get this up before Christmas but alas...
Well, here's a Christmas present from me to you! It's not a Christmas-focused in the slightest but it IS the latest chapter.
Hope you all are enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying your reviews. A special thank you as always to Indianagreaser for your friendship.
Merry Christmas!
XX
Darry pressed his hand on Pony's forehead. He certainly felt warmer than normal, but also not as bad as he had been in the past. Still, Darry made a face.
"Maybe we should get the nurse," he said out loud.
Pony flopped back against the bed. "I'm not warm," he mumbled, "I'm cold." he paused. Soda pulled the blankets up tighter around his frame as he started shivering. "I'm dizzy." He aid, hi eyes glassy.
And then his brothers noticed him do something strange and pull at one of his ears. "Pony, what's wrong? You ok?" Soda asked.
"I don't know," he said. He began to gaze around the room, his eyes not able to focus on one person or object for long. "Do you guys hear that? That ringing sound? It's strange."
Darry and Soda looked at each other again, silently hoping that this wasn't the start of something bad.
"We don't hear anything, Pone," Soda said, gently, but his face serious, "Let me get the nurse," he said and he left the room.
Pony's head turned to the right aimlessly and he looked at Darry tiredly. Darry smoothed the pillow behind his head, not sure what else to do.
"You need your rest, kiddo. Maybe we should ask the nurses to give you something that would help you sleep," he told Pony, "And if your head hurts it might mean it's time for your medicine again." He looked up at the bags of liquid hanging above Pony's head wishing he knew better what they were.
"M'sorry," Pony said, a hopeless look on his face as he shivered slightly.
"What are you sorry for, kiddo?" Darry asked, "You have nothing to be sorry for. This is not your fault. You know that."
Soda appeared with a nurse right behind him. Darry recognized her as one of the nurses that had been in the room when Pony's blood pressure had dropped.
"He says he has a headache again," Darry told her, "And he's dizzy. And he feels a bit warm," he added.
Though he wasn't sleeping, Pony basically kept his eyes closed while the nurse got to work checking the bags of liquid that hung over him and trying to make him more comfortable. "The doctor is going to be in any minute to check on him," she told them, then got our thermometer to take Pony's temperature. It was at 102. Higher than it had been but not as severe as in the past. Still, she frowned when she announced it.
"He's hurting," Soda said worriedly, "Is it it time for his pain medicine again?"
"Let me go check with the doctor since he's on the floor. He may want to hold off before he checks Ponyboy himself."
She scurried out of the room. "I hope she doesn't take too long," Darry said under his breath.
Pony made what seemed like a gagging sound and snapped his eyes open again. His brothers could see that his eyes were watering.
"Pony?" Darry asked.
"I just feel - my head is making my stomach sick," he managed to choke out.
"You need to throw up?" Soda asked, frantically looking for something around the room that Pony could puke in.
"How about some water?" Darry said, trying to be more calm. "Maybe that will make you feel better." Without waiting for an answer, he took the pitcher that was filled with ice water and poured it into a cup.
"There's ice in here," he said, looking into the container. "You can chew on it, maybe it will help."
Pony barely drank any of the water, but he crunched the ice in his mouth slowly. Luckily, there was no vomiting before the doctor entered the room just a few minutes later.
It was Dr. Williams, the doctor who had led the team of doctors and nurses in the Rapid Response that essentially saved Pony's life. Darry felt indebted to him and shook his hand warmly when he entered the room followed by the nurse.
"Hi, how are you two?" he said to Soda and Darry, never having officially heard their names. Then he looked over at Pony who's eyes were open. "Ponyboy, good to see you awake."
Pony didn't lift his head from the pillow which proved to his brothers how worn out and sick he was.
"You saw me when I was asleep?" he asked, confused.
"Something like that," Dr. Williams said, glancing at Darry and giving him a look. He didn't want to stress out the patient.
Dr. Williams went to stand closer to the bed on Pony's right side. Soda stood on the other side, close to Pony's head.
"How are you feeling, Ponyboy?" the doctor asked, "I can see that your color has come back. That's a good sign."
"I'm fine," Pony answered abruptly. He didn't know this doctor and he was worn out but also tired of being out of it all the time. And tired of everyone asking him how he was feeling.
"Pony…" Darry warned.
"Don't lie to him, kiddo," Soda urged, but he spoke up before Pony had a chance to answer, "He said his head hurts and it's making him nauseous."
Dr. Williams looked at him. "Ponyboy? Is that true?" he questioned.
"Yeah," Pony grumbled, "And my back hurts," he added, "I'm dizzy. And tired."
Darry frowned, once again feeling bad for his brother in pain.
"Alright Ponyboy, I'm going to check you over now," Dr. Williams told Pony as he pulled out his stethoscope. He listened to Pony's heartbeat and checked other vital signs, then told the nurse he would like another blood sample. After he was done, he looked up at Darry and Soda.
"Well all of his symptoms sound about right," the doctor said.
"It's normal?" Darry asked.
"For someone in his condition, yes," the doctor answered. "Actually, that's part of the reason I'm here. We've received the lab results of your lumbar puncture and the other tests to help us diagnose your illness. Just as we suspected, you have bacterial meningitis," he said.
Darry and Soda were both stunned, although they should have expected it. "What happens now, doctor?" Darry asked.
"It basically confirms our suspicions. It means we've been taking the right course of action and will continue with aggressive antibiotics and steroids. We caught the illness early enough to be able to treat it appropriately. The sepsis is a bump in the road, but Pony seems to be improving. We just need to monitor him closely for symptoms and side effects."
"You hear that, Pone?" Soda said with a smile, "You're improving."
"But when can I go home?" Pony asked tiredly, barely listening to the conversation.
Darry and Soda both chuckled nervously.
"Not quite so fast," Dr Williams said, "We still need to monitor you for a few days and get you past the sepsis. And you need to start eating and eventually get somewhat mobile before we can send you home," he said. There was a pause. "And your temperature needs to be down. Nurse Cindy here said you have a fever of 102?"
"Should we be worried he's still having fevers?" Darry asked.
"I'm not particularly concerned for now," Dr. Williams responded, "It's normal for body temperature to go up and down as he fights this infection. But it is something for us to keep a close eye on..we'll keep monitoring him to be sure."
Pony had lifted his head and was pulling at one of his ears again. The doctor noticed it first and was looking at him curiously.
"Ponyboy?" he called out, "Is something else bothering you?"
Pony looked at Dr. Williams, his eyes a bit wild.
"I keep hearing this weird sound in my ears," he said, "Nobody else hears that? Am I going crazy?"
"You're not crazy, Pony," Soda said, almost angrily, putting on hand on his brother's shoulder.
"No, you're not crazy," Dr. Williams said, his lips forming a thin line, "What does it sound like?" he asked.
Darry thought that was strange, but the doctor must have a reason for asking.
"It's like...a long beep. Like things get quiet - like when my ears pop - then there's this long beep," Ponyboy said, frowning, "And sometimes there's this ringing sound."
"Let's check your ears for a moment, Ponyboy," Dr. Williams said. The nurse handed him an otoscope and the doctor used it to check one ear and then the other.
After a moment, he stepped back. "I don't see anything wrong," he began, "It sounds like tinnitus - ringing in the ears. It's actually quite a common effect of meningitis."
Darry frowned, "Is there anything we can do about it?" he asked.
"Unfortunately there's not much we can do about it for now," the doctor continued, "We're already taking proper course of action on the meningitis. We just have to wait and see. It's been known to resolve itself," he said, "This is a fairly common side effect...Sometimes it can turn into a permanent recurring issue. But it's different for everyone, so let's just keep monitoring it and hope that it won't get to that point."
He looked at Pony, who scowled and laid back heavily against the pillows, exhausted.
Soda gave him a sympathetic look, but it didn't help.
The doctor stepped closer to the bed. "So now I am going to have a look at your incision and see how it's doing," he said, "Then we can talk about what we can do for the pain. Cindy, can you help me out here?"
"Of course, doctor, let me just get some of the supplies," Cindy said. It was only then that Darry noticed that she had brought in scissors, disposable gloves, medical tape, and soft cloths.
Cindy stepped forward ready to assist. "I'm gonna need you to sit up for me, hon," she told Ponyboy in a soft Southern twang, "If you start getting tired, we can lay you back down but it's going to help me take off the bandage,"
"We can do that, right Pone?" Soda said, trying to be helpful.
The nurse helped raise the bed to a more upright position. As Pony lifted himself up a bit, Soda squashed a pillow against his back so he was sitting up more.
With careful fingers, the nurse began to peel off the bandage little by little. It was sticky, and she continuously asked Ponyboy if something was hurting as she did it. At one point, in the middle, some of his hair had got stuck in the bandage's adhesive and she had to cut some of it away in order to peel off the dressing more easily. Then it came off more easily to reveal Pony's incision, held together by surgical staples. It wasn't a long incision, running along the left side of his head and curving down slightly before it stopped parallel to middle of his left year. But the lack of hair on the left side of his head and dark black staples that protuded along the scar made it that much more prominent.
"How does it look?" Ponyboy asked softly, look directly at Darry for answers. But it was Soda who answered, peering over his head from where he stood on the other side of the bed.
"It looks a little bit scary. Not gonna lie," Soda responded, "But also really cool. Like a battle wound!"
"Soda…" Darry warned.
"That's ok," Pony said, taking a deep breath. "I probably look like Frankenstein's monster, right?"
"You mean the one from that tv show where the grandfather is Dracula and the kid is a werewolf?" Soda asked.
"I think he meant the one from the book, Soda," Darry replied, "Don't worry, Pone, you DON'T look like that." He made sure to emphasize the word don't.
"I can imagine it probably feels a whole lot better," the nurse spoke up.
"Yeah," Pony replied, "It does feel lighter."
"Great," the doctor said, coming closer and inspecting the incision, "I think we can keep it off from now on. Let it get some air. It looks like all is good. It's healing nicely."
"We should count how many staples there are!" Soda said, acting more like the 16-year old that Darry had missed in the last few days.
"I don't want to know how many staples there are," Pony grumbled, hating his predicament.
Darry didn't either. He didn't want to admit it, but it was hard for him to look at the scar without feeling a bit of a nauseous twinge in his stomach.
"Ok," Soda said, immediately sensing that his little brother was still not feeling all that well, "When you're feeling better, then," he said.
Pony didn't say anything, not wanting to disappoint Soda. But he wasn't sure if he'd be able to deal with looking at a mirror jut yet. There was a momentary silence in the room.
"How's your head, Ponyboy?" Dr. Williams asked.
"Still...hurts," Pony said softly, almost afraid to admit he still felt bad.
"Alright," the doctor said, "Well, we're decreasing your vasopressor dose, because you don't need the high dose anymore. Overall, you're doing well Ponyboy. As well as can be expected. About the pain - I did notice on your chart that you were given your regular pain medicine not too long ago, so I don't want to give you anymore of that just yet. I would recommend 2mg Valium, Promethazine, a cool rag to the forehead, and lights out," he told the nurse directly.
The nurse nodded. "Ok, Ponyboy, get some rest," the doctor said, "A doctor will be back tomorrow to see that things are progressing."
The doctor shook Darry's hand and left the room. He was followed by the nurse who told Pony, "I"ll be back in a minute, hon."
"Looks like the doctor wants you to get some sleep, Pone," Soda said, after the nurse returned. She carried the Valium, the anti-nausea medication, and a small bucket with a rag.
"That's exactly what valium is supposed to help with," she told the boys. She handed the small bucket and rag to Darry, who went into the bathroom for a moment to fill it up with water. When he came back, the nurse was injecting the valium and anti-nausea medicine into the IVs.
After Darry had dipped in the rag in the cool water, he rung it out and placed it on Pony's forehead after Soda had helped him lay back down.
"But I'm not...tired," Pony said, before letting out a long and exaggerated yawn as the medicine kicked in. Soda looked at Darry with a knowing smirk, then brushed his fingers along his brother's hair, "Sure you're not," he said soothingly.
Pony closed his eyes and fell asleep within seconds, even before the nurse had put away all of the medical supplies.
She let Darry and Soda know that the valium would last for at least 4 hours and that they should go eat or have some coffee, or maybe even go home and rest for a while if they can, because the room would be dark and Pony would be sleeping for a while.
Darry insisted that they'd figure it out and was thankful she didn't push the issue.
The nurse flicked off the light switch and left the room.
XX
After the nurse had left, Darry and Soda were unsure of what to do. The room was dark and there was obviously not much that could be done with no light. Darry was adamant they not turn it on, not even a side light, not even a little bit, and risk ruining Pony's sleep, although they knew that the valium was probably strong anyway.
Pony desperately needed his rest and there was no way that Darry would dare let anyone interrupt it.
Soda thought about going down to the cafeteria, but he didn't want to leave Pony's side. Regardless, it would be boring without Steve there. He wondered vaguely if Steve and Two-Bit were managing with Darry's truck.
Eventually, Darry convinced Nurse Cindy to let them borrow a cot to take back into the room so at least one of them could sleep comfortably. Soda insisted that Darry take the cot - he wanted to be close to Pony - and Darry didn't put up much of an argument. He lay down on the thin mattress and quickly fell asleep. Soda took the chair at Pony's bedside and sat down in it wearily. It was definitely not the most comfortable position but he found himself drooping immediately, his head forward on the bed again and his eyes closing. He fell asleep quickly that way, next to Pony's hand.
In what felt like the next minute, Darry jolted himself out of his sleep. After getting used to the darkness (though there was that eerie glow coming from the doorway,), he immediately looked up at Pony, who was sleeping peacefully and at Soda, who had found some weird position to lay his head down on the bed next to this brother. Then he looked at the clock and couldn't believe it.
Five hours had passed! They had all been sleeping for a whopping five hours.
In some ways it made sense...neither Darry or Soda had had a good night's sleep the night before when Pony had had episodes of delirium and gone into septic shock. Almost died, Darry thought. How could he have possibly slept?
And the nights spent in the ICU had made them all exhausted beyond belief. These past few hours had been the best sleep he had had in days, since Pony had first become sick.
Darry rubbed at his face and tried to get his eyes used to the darkness in the room. He got up slowly, his limbs aching and heavy, and walked to the window. He didn't know exactly what time it was, but it looked like late afternoon, that period where the sun isn't that strong but the sky was still vibrant, all purple and orange and gold. Pony would love to see this, Darry thought, but he looked over at his brother and saw that he didn't stir. And he was happy for that. Neither, for that matter, did Soda. Anyway, the snow still blanketed the streets, adding a sharp, crystalline gleam to the otherwise soft colors of late day Tulsa.
Steve and Two-Bit weren't back yet, or if they were, they weren't anywhere near the room. Darry wondered if he should try to figure out a way to locate them, make sure they had made it in the snow, but he had no idea how he would do that. Would Two-Bit's mom know of his whereabouts? Maybe they had holed up in his house and he should call home? That was an idea.
He suddenly realized he had more important matters to attend to than thinking about his truck, or the weather. He needed to call Charlie, his boss. As much as he loathed the idea, it was time to get back to work. His brothers, especially Ponyboy, depended on it. And since Pony and Soda were both out like a light, now was the perfect time to do it.
Darry's bones ached from sleeping so deeply but he wearily lifted himself into a standing position and left to go find a payphone.
XX
It was like Ponyboy sensed that Darry had left the room. After he did, his eyes began to dart back and forth beneath his closed lids.
The faces swirled around him, blending into each other like a psychedelic watercolor, but he could still see each profile so clearly. There was the elfish face with high cheekbones and small, sharp animal teeth that sneered at him. The little dark puppy dog that was kicked one too many times. He looked impatient and his eyes burned holes into the soul. The older figure with the cowlicked hair and the cowboy grin. The petite woman with the perm, that smelled like lilacs. Her smile was soft when she looked at him.
They beckoned from the nearby sunset, all purple and orange and gold, and he wanted to follow them but something was holding him back.
Behind him, the muscular, broad-shouldered "Superman" with two pieces of pale blue-green ice. And the movie star Greek God come to Earth. They pulled at Pony to come with them instead - and when he turned, the movie star's eyes were laughing.
He opened his mouth to scream and on both sides the faces came closer…
Happy Holidays!
~ Simona