And the story continues. Thank you for your support!
A special thank you to the meaningful friendships I've made with my fellow writers Indianagreaser, ShinyLane 1.2, and a little jem.
XX
Soda felt Pony's forehead and then the back of his neck. He was shocked by how hot Pony was, but tried not to let his kid brother see his panic.
"I'm c-cold," Pony whispered, his lips trembling. "Soda, I can't get up…"
"You don't have to," Soda said, somehow remaining levelheaded "Shh, calm down. Let me get Darry," he said, pulling the blanket tighter around Pony's quivering shoulders.
"Darry!" he called, the minute he whirled his head around. When Darry didn't stir, Soda quickly went over and shook him awake. Darry opened his eyes immediately like he hadn't slept a wink."It's Pony…" Soda told him and Darry shook himself awake and then followed Soda to his brother's bedside.
"Pony?" he called out, watching his brother shake, Pony's cheek pressed to the bed. Darry carefully placed his hand on Pony's forehead like Soda had just moments earlier.
"Wow, your fever is up!" he said, his eyes getting big. "How do you feel, Pony? Anything hurt?"
"I feel like I got hit by a fire truck," Pony said, and if he hadn't been so sick, Darry and Soda would have chuckled at the detail.
"Let's page the nurse," Darry said to Soda.
"No…" Pony said, trying to lift his head as the tears began to leak out of his eyes, "I don't want the nurse," he said suddenly, "I - I'm ok."
While Pony's head was up for a brief moment, Soda got close. "Hey! Hey Pony, look at me," he said, "Don't you dare try to make this no big deal. We're paging a nurse!"
Pony couldn't hold it up any longer.
"M'sorry," he mumbled, as it crashed back down and he blinked back the tears. He was sorry for causing so much trouble, for not making it easy for his brothers to sleep, for not healing fast enough...
"Pony, you have got to stop apologizing for this," Darry said as he pressed the nurse call button, "It's not your fault, kiddo. We know that."
"I don't need any help," Pony sniffed.
Soda took a Kleenex and wiped at the tears under his eyes. "Calm down, honey," he said.
"I don't know why I'm crying…" Pony faltered, "Not very tough, huh, Soda?"
Soda patted him on the shoulder, "You're sick, kiddo. No need to be tough."
Darry was about to go to the nurse's station himself when a familiar figure entered the room. He couldn't remember if her name was Linda or Cindy, but it didn't matter. As long as it wasn't the mean nurse from earlier.
"Hi boys," she said, friendly enough, "How can I help?" She looked over at Pony on his side on the bed, and became concerned.
"He has a fever," Darry explained quickly, "He's shivering, but feels really hot. He's had a fever all day, but it's gone up."
"Ponyboy?" the nurse asked, coming around to the side where Darry and Soda stood by the bed. Pony's eyes fluttered open. "Ponyboy, how are you feeling?" she asked him gently.
"I feel - cold," he answered bluntly.
"Any headaches? Neck pain? Back pain?" she asked.
Pony made some kind of garbled sound but didn't really answer the question.
"Pony?" Darry asked, hand on his shoulder, getting closer. "Does anything hurt? The nurse wants to know if you're in any pain so she can help."
"No," Pony responded.
"No as in no pain? What do you feel?" Darry asked.
"I'm cold. I feel sick...nothing hurts," Pony answered.
"Well that's good to hear," the nurse replied lightly, more to Darry and Soda. She took a glass thermometer out of her pocket. "Let's measure your temperature."
"He's hardly moving, though," Soda told the nurse. In fact, except for the shivering, Pony, still half on his belly, head down on its side, had barely moved since Soda had first woken up.
"That's ok. We can try to do this without having him lift his head," the nurse said kindly, "Ponyboy," she continued, "I'm not going to make you sit up, but you have to keep the thermometer under your tongue, ok? And try not to move."
Somehow, Pony managed to do just that. His eyes were like slits, and he looked out of it, but the thermometer stuck out of the side of his mouth and didn't move. Soda put a hand on his head, careful of the bandage, to soothe him a bit.
After about 3 minutes, the nurse took the thermometer out. "103.2," she said aloud and Soda and Darry's eyes went wide. "Well, that's not nothing. Let me go get the doctor," she said and left the room.
"Soda…" Pony whimpered when she had left. Soda ended up bending down so that he was at Pony's eye level on the bed. And he rubbed at his hair.
"I know, kiddo," Soda answered softly without waiting for Pony to finish his sentence, "I know. I wish I could make it better."
"Pony, your fever is high," Darry said, more for himself than anyone else, "No wonder you feel so miserable."
The nurse came back with Dr. Wexler who exchanged pleasantries and then got to work, checking Pony over. The nurse took his blood pressure, which was normal. She also drew samples from his IV.
"Well, I have good news and bad news," Dr. Wexler said.
"What the bad news?" Darry asked, fearing the worst.
"The bad news is that he has a high fever. The good news is that that's all it seems to be. I don't see signs of sepsis anymore. He isn't complaining of any pain, his BP is good, and so far, I don't notice anything else out of the ordinary. It just seems to be the infection, running its course. We just need to get that fever down."
"What can we do?" Darry asked him.
"Well, Linda here will give him some ibuprofen," Dr. Wexler said, referring to the nurse, "And I recommend cold, damp cloths to bring the fever down. That's all we can do for now. He needs rest. I can order something to help him sleep, but you should probably try to see if you can get him to do it on his own first."
Darry nodded. He wished there was something more that could be done to keep Pony from suffering, but it would have to do.
"Ponyboy," Dr. Wexler said, putting his hand on the sick boy's shoulder. Pony's eyes fluttered again, "I want you to try to sleep, ok? That's the best way to get over this," he said, "And make sure to tell your brothers if you are in pain. Alright?"
Pony's lifted his head and sort of bobbed it in the affirmative.
"We'll monitor him more frequently...make sure that fever gets down," Dr. Wexler said, looking at the nurse. He shook Darry's hand and left the room.
"You hear that, Pone?" Soda said, sitting in the chair at Pony's bedside and putting his hand on Pony's back as his eyes fluttered again. "We need to get that fever down."
"I don't want it either," Pony replied innocently, his voice slightly muffled from the awkward position on his stomach. Soda couldn't help but grin.
"You're an okay kid, Pony," Soda said, running a hand through the hair on the side of his head.
"Watch the hair," Pony joked in a hoarse voice that caught his brothers off guard. Soda smirked when he looked up at Darry.
"Our little brother's sick and he's still got better jokes than Two-Bit," Soda said and thought he heard Pony let out a small laugh from the bed.
Darry tried to smile but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
The nurse came back and Soda helped Pony lift his head so he could swallow the ibuprofen with a cup of water that Darry had poured for him. The nurse then began to place a bandage over the scar. "We don't want it to get wet," she told the boys. Darry and Soda nodded in agreement.
Leaving a bucket of cold water and some cloths near the bed, Nurse Linda gave the boys a kind smile and told them not to hesitate to get her if something seems out of the ordinary. She would be working the night shift until about 7 in the morning (It was already close to 1am.) Before she left, she told them she would be in every hour or so to check on Pony.
Soda took a cloth, dipped it in the cold water, and wiped what he could see of Pony's face. Pony was laying on his stomach his face turned to the left so that one cheek was pressed to the bed and the other was looking up at Soda. Soda pressed the damp cloth against his forehead, and wiped down his cheek. Then he pulled the hospital gown down to rub his shoulder, and pressed it along the back of his neck.
"Feels good, doesn't it?" he asked.
"Mmmhmm," Pony sighed as his shoulders visibly sagged and his face relaxed. Soda was relieved to see that it was working - except that 15 minutes later, Pony was calm, but not asleep.
Despite his calm demeanor, his face seemed tense. His eyes were closed and it looked like he was resting, but his brothers could tell he wasn't sleeping.
"Pony," Dary called out, standing next to Soda, "You ok, kiddo?" Pony was known to downplay his pain levels and Darry was worried that there was something he wasn't telling them.
Ponyboy opened his eyes. "I can't sleep," he murmured, without lifting his head. Still shaking slightly, his eyes looked up and met theirs reluctantly.
"You sure it's not something else you're not telling us?" Darry asked to be sure, "We need to know how you're feeling."
Pony moaned. "I don't know what it is. I'm tired. I'm cold. My head hurts a little. But the cloth feels good," he sighed, "I just can't sleep. I want to…" he trailed off.
"It's alright," Soda said, trying to appease their little brother, "We'll stay up with you," he smoothed his hair, "Just try to relax, buddy. Let me see if I can help."
Pony felt the mattress sag under Soda's weight as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to Pony's limp figure. Pony opened his eyes a bit and moved his weak hand slightly and Soda got the hint and caught them, squeezing his hand, and running his thumb over it.
Darry felt Pony's head. He wasn't sure what the ibuprofen had done as his fever was still there.
Soda had an idea and touched Pony's back, close to his hip. "If I put my hand on your back, does it hurt, Pone?" he asked.
"No," Pony breathed out.
"Ok, you let me know if it does, kiddo." he said, still worried about the back and neck pain that Ponyboy had had in the past few days.
Using the famous skills he was known for, Soda began to rub Pony's back up to his neck and down to his hip, but not in the rough way that Darry always asked him to when he came home with sore muscles from a long day carrying two bundles of roofing up the ladder. This time Soda actually hoped he would put Pony to sleep.
It took about 10 more minutes - a surprisingly long time by Sodapop standards - but it worked.
XX
"Hey Darry," a familiar voice bellowed from above, "You get stomped by a bull or something last night? You guys look beat!"
"Good morning to you too, Two-Bit," Darry growled from his uncomfortable position, hunkered down in a chair at the foot of the bed. He had only been trying to sleep for the last hour or so after staying up all night and hadn't got very far when Two-Bit and Steve had walked in. It Looked like Soda hadn't either, judging from the deep purple under his eyes.
"Glory, you guys get busted up in a rodeo or something?" Two-Bit quipped just before he was elbowed hard by Steve. "Hey! That hurt, man!" he cried and rubbed his chest.
"Something happen here last night?" Steve asked warily, peering at Soda's under eye circles before jerking his head at Ponyboy, who had changed positions during the night and was now laying on his back.
"Yeah, Pony spiked a fever," Soda replied, rubbing his face tiredly, "We were worried, so we stayed up even after he went to sleep. He's still runnin' real hot, actually."
"Poor kid," Two-Bit said genuinely, looking over at him.
"Y'all didn't sleep a wink did ya?" Steve pressed.
"Nope," Darry answered, "The doctor didn't seem real worried about him, though. Said it had to do with the infection, not sepsis. But after all the things that have happened in the past few days, we can't be too careful…" he paused, "What time is it anyway?" Darry looked down at his wrist sleepily, realizing he didn't actually have a watch on.
"It's about 8 in the morning," Steve answered. He noticed Darry looked distressed. "Did we come too late?" he asked.
"It's not that," Darry said, "I told the warehouse today I would come in for a few hours today around 2. Now I'm not so sure I should go," he looked over at Pony, whose flushed cheeks betrayed the peaceful look on his face. "I don't want to...but we really need the money," he said and no one could argue.
"Yea, I gotta work today, too," Steve said, his eyes wandering the room to try and hide the pained look on his face, "But Soda isn't working. And Two-Bit will be here, too, ain't that right, Two?"
"Yeah, sure," Two-Bit responded.
Soda wasn't paying attention to the conversation. He stood at Pony's bedide and watched how his little brother's breath quivered in short gasps every time he inhaled, like it was painful to take in air and the fever wouldn't let him breathe right. Soda laid his hand lightly across Pony's forehead.
"He's still pretty hot," he said out loud, his voice worried. Soda looked up, eyes shooting to Darry. "Shouldn't the fever have gone down at least a little bit by now?" he asked in a sad voice. Darry shrugged.
Suddenly Ponyboy gave a violent start. It was quick, like he had to calm an invisible, unsettling chill that ran down his spine - and it forced him awake.
Soda practically jumped back as Pony's eyes opened. They had a glazed look to them, and scanned the room wildly as he shot up focusing on Soda. Pony's face looked pained.
"Ponyboy?" Soda put a hand on his shoulder to try to calm him, "I'm sorry I woke you…Why don't you lay back down," he said pushing him softly against the bed.
Pony sighed. "You didn't wake me, Soda," he said, "I woke up on my own. I just feel bad,"
Darry came forward when he heard that and stood closer to bed. "What do you feel, Pony?" he asked, getting concerned.
"My head hurts," he admitted, "I just ache all over," Pony answered tiredly and he closed his eyes for a moment.
"Yeah, kiddo, you still have a fever," Soda said sitting down in the chair by his bed and taking Pony's hand. He felt Pony's hot fingers curl into his soft grip.
"Make it go away," Pony mumbled, eyes closing. He was half-serious, half-joking and his bottom lip twitched upwards in a small grin.
"Maybe I should get the nurse?" Two-Bit called out and Pony's eyes fluttered open hearing that his pal was there.
"Hey Two-Bit…"
"We can just page one from the room," Darry said and he pressed the call button.
"Hey kid," Two-Bit said, cocking an eyebrow, "Fancy on putting out any fires with that head of yours?"
"Yeah yeah," Pony responded. He touched his throat. "W-water please?" he asked weakly. Fortunately, the nurse had filled up the pitcher next to Pony's bed just a little bit earlier. Soda poured him a couple and added a straw.
Pony sipped greedily. The room was quiet, and he looked up and suddenly realized that everyone was watching him. Giving the cup back to Soda, he sank back against the pillows exhausted.
"What?" he asked, surveying the room moodily, "Why's everyone looking at me?" he mumbled, cracking his eyes open. He could practically feel Steve throwing his hands up in the air.
"I'm going for a smoke," Steve huffed, and left the room just as the nurse came in.
"Ponyboy," the nurse asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Not great," he said and Soda looked at him with compassion.
The nurse took his temperature again...and his blood pressure. BP was normal - temperature was down to 102.7.
"Well, it's still high," the nurse said out loud to no one in particular, "But at least it isn't 103. Pony," she asked, "Do you feel like the medicine I gave you last night helped you at all?"
"A little," Pony mumbled.
"How about we add some Tylenol?" she said matter-of-factly, "It's ok to give ibuprofen and Tylenol at the same time. If I bring you some pills, do you think you can swallow them orally?"
Pony nodded.
"Alright, then, I'll be back in a minute."
A few minutes later, Pony had swallowed the pills with some effort.
"Try to get some rest, Ponyboy. Otherwise, I'll have to ask your brothers to try to get you to eat something," she teased.
Ponyboy's face turned green.
"I'm not in the mood to go to sleep," Pony muttered when the nurse had left, although he looked exhausted.
"Not in the mood to sleep huh kid?" Two-Bit said, coming over, "Well how 'bout I tell you a little story? Get up,Superman," he said motioning to Darry to vacate the chair he was sitting in on the right side of Pony's bed, near his IV. If Steve was there, he would have laughed watching Two-Bit get beaten to a pulp by the big guy, but Darry must have been exhausted, too. He just grunted, rolled his eyes and got up.
"Oh, that'll for sure put him to sleep," Soda quipped, "I hear Two-Bit's stories are big snorers!" he winked at Pony.
"Whatever you say. Sodapop," Two-Bit said. You could see the familiar gleam in his eyes, the one he always got when he was about to get everyone's attention.
As he sat, Ponyboy gave him a tired look that said, "This better be good." Darry crossed his arms. And Sodapop's lips twitched upwards with impatience.
"Remember that football game we all went to where I disappeared during halftime?" Two-Bit began, "You know that mid-season one? Everyone was there…"
"Yea," Pony replied softly, "I think so."
"Didn't you come back covered in dirt?" Soda asked, "I remember that...You said something about getting into it with some Soc…"
Two-Bit smile was so bright it could light up the main street. "Yea, well, that's not exactly what happened…"
He flipped up his collar of the black leather jacket he had yet to take off. Pony sank back against the pillow again and looked at Soda, who rolled his eyes, getting Pony to smile even though his cheeks were burning and his head hurt.
"Remember that nice little broad I took to the Dingo a coupla times?" Two-Bit asked. "You know the nice blonde with the big…"
"Two-Bit!" Darry interrupted loudly, making Pony jump. "Sorry Pone," he said, a guilty look on his face.
"The big...well it's not important. We had already flirted a bit over by where they were selling the cokes. Nobody knew, they were too busy cheering Mr. Quarterback over here on to yet another win. And then, she offered to go under the bleachers. Imagine that, Pone! I wasn't the one who asked. She asked ME! And then I spent the rest of the night filling that -"
"That's enough!" Darry's voice boomed. It wasn't loud enough to alert the nurses but it sure made Two-Bit shut his mouth.
It was awkwardly quiet in the room for a moment.
"Well," Two-Bit said, as he got out of the seat, "I tried. Darry, this boy needs a history lesson in…"
"Not today he doesn't," Darry retorted gruffly.
"Well, Ponyboy, you heard the big guy" Two-Bit shrugged, obviously not actually mad. He put his hand on Pony's left shoulder. Pony's ears were red and it wasn't from the fever. Soda couldn't hold back his laughter.
"How about you tell him a story about Mickey Mouse next time?" Darry said, swooping down into the chair that Two-Bit had vacated like a bald-headed eagle that was looking for supper.
"The whole story's a lie, Ponyboy," he said quickly, "I saw that girl later on after the game. And I can assure you -"
"I beg your pardon..." Two-Bit cut in, with a fake British accent "There is no way that I would ever get with a grizzly chicken...I'm the best lookin' greaser at Will Rogers High" he joked, "And you didn't even see her, you were too busy getting pizza with the other players after you guys won the game..."
"Can it, Two-Bit," Darry said abruptly, "Pony needs to rest and this isn't helping matters."
"I'm fine, Darry," Pony said quietly. He looked at Two-Bit giving him a half-hearted grin.
"I'll tell you when you're older," Two-Bit said as an aside.
"How about I tell you what really happened at that game?" Darry said. Pony's eyes were already drooping in anticipation of what his older brother was going to say.
Darry didn't notice. Instead, he scooted to the edge of the chair and leaned forward eagerly, hands cupped in front of him holding an imaginary football ready to be thrown.
"Okay, kiddo, picture this," his eyes were wide and bright with sudden excitement, the corners of his mouth turned up just a little, "There's twenty seconds left in the game. The score is 21-21 and we've got the ball on the 40-yard line. Paul snaps it to me…" Darry raised his hands like he was holding the football and was suddenly turning from side to side, like he was back in the game. "I look downfield. Left. Right. They've got all my receivers covered. The defense is rushing me, so I pivot and step out of the pocket…"
Darry closed his eyes as he spoke, so he didn't see Two-Bit yawning or Soda rolling his eyes. Darry didn't see any of this. He was too busy remembering how bright the lights were against the dark skies. The crowd cheering. The smell of the grass. The way the cool air flowed through the facemask as he ran.
"I tucked the ball and took off. You probably were too young to really remember this, Pone, but if you saw me today you would have been so proud...I ran so fast that night…like you… all the way to the endzone for the touchdown. We won 28-21."
Still caught in the memories of the screaming crowd and cowbells and how the other players hollered and lifted him up, Darry dropped his eyes back to his baby brother.
Pony's eyes were closed and he was breathing lightly- finally asleep.
"By golly, you've done it, Darry Curtis!" Two-Bit quipped, "You've knocked the poor kid senseless!"
XX
Darry had lost himself for a minute remembering his high school football years through the story he had told...but once Pony had fallen asleep, it was back to business. He snapped out of it like it had been someone else's story and not his own.
"Soda, you haven't eaten yet this morning have you?" Darry asked aloud, once again putting someone else's needs in front of his own.
"I'm not that hungry, Dar," he replied, "I'll wait for Steve to get back," he added, which he knew would be enough for Darry to leave it alone.
Soda went over to a corner of the room to look out the window. Darry decided to walk over and join him so he could say what was on his mind. He passed Two-Bit who had taken the seat again, legs out, eyes closed, and head tilted back. He clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't snore," he said in a low voice, with a smile.
"I'll try not to," Two-Bit shot back.
Soda looked out the window at the great expanse of white still covering the ground, but his mind was somewhere else. He wasn't particularly anxious or anything, but still figured when he felt Darry's presence near him that he would feel more calm. This time though, something was up with Darry. He was fidgeting and when Soda looked at him, there was a cloudy look in his eyes.
"What's going on, Darry?" Soda asked, figuring he would have to do the comforting this time. "Remembering the one time you couldn't complete a pass?" he joked.
For a minute, Darry's eyes brightened again, "Haha, very funny, Soda," he said, but then went back to being serious. "I'm supposed to go into the warehouse today, remember? But Pony's still got a fever - he's still pretty sick. I'm thinking maybe to call in and say I can't make it."
Soda looked at Darry with some pity. "Aw come on, Darry," he said, "He'll be ok. You heard the doctor, it's just a fever, nothing more. And I'm here, and the guys are here. I'm sure we can hold down the fort."
"And what if things take a turn for the worst while I'm gone?" he asked thinking out loud, "You know it's just my luck that something like that would happen while I'm away."
"Darry…" Soda began, looking at him hard, "We're in a hospital. I think if he took a turn for the worst, we're in the best place we could possibly be…'Sides we need the money...and you know as well as I do that Pony will feel really bad if he finds out you skipped work because of him."
"Yea, I know," Darry said. Revealing his true emotions was awkward, but Soda always made it easier. "Just that - I hate leaving him. I haven't left him since we were stuck in the car…" It had only been a few days, but it felt like a lifetime had passed. And Darry hated that Pony was suffering through it.
"You're not leaving him, Dar, you're just going away for a few hours," Soda said. "Pony knows you'll be back. He might even sleep the whole time you're gone."
"When did you get so smart?" Darry asked with a laugh.
"That's what happens when you stop reading textbooks," Soda wisecracked.
"Guys, would you mind?" Two-Bit whispered loudly from the chair. "Some of us are trying to get our beauty sleep."
Soda smirked and couldn't stop laughing after that. Fortunately, Steve came back at that time and Darry booted them out of the room for a while, with Soda grabbing his jacket so that he could join Steve outside to check out the truck and hang out a bit in the snow.
Ron came by to say hello after a little while but when he saw that Pony was sleeping, Darry motioned for them to talk in the figured if anything Two-Bit would come out and get had heard about the fever, but assured Darry that Dr. Wexler had told him he really did think that things were improving.
Darry tried to keep his hopes up, but told Ron he would probably have to go to work in a few hours and he was worried about it.
"I can come check on him after my shift is over, if that helps," Ron told him.
"Yeah, that would help," Darry replied, although he knew nothing would stop him from worrying at the job.
Hours passed and Pony slept on, which was probably the best thing that they could hope for, even though there was no obvious sign of change, even as Darry felt Pony's forehead and draped a blanket over his bony frame.
Around noon, Darry went to go find Ron and ask him for the use of the shower, although he was still not certain if he would go to work or not. He had about two hours left to decide.
Soda was getting antsy, but he didn't want to leave the room either. He asked Steve to go down and get him a hot chocolate and when he came back, the three guys stood around the window, mouthing off, and shoving each other.
Well, it was mostly Steve and Two-Bit shoving each other and Soda standing there laughing and pointing and sipping his cocoa. Then it was Steve staring out at the window, pointing and laughing at some guy who wore an oversize puff coat and hoodie and looking overdressed. It had begun to snow again.
"What a marshmallow!" Two-Bit blurted out and Soda almost spit out his drink. Then he had to shush him.
Too late. "Soda?" a small voice called out and Soda hurried over to the bed like he was trying to win a race. "Yeah, buddy," he called out. Something weird was going on. Pony was laying on his right side, curled up, his scar protruding. The blanket had been pushed away. His skin glistened and his lips were puffy. His hair (or what was left of it) was matted to his forehead.
And the strangest thing of all - the bedding underneath him was damp. He had soaked through the sheets.
XX
Reviews are appreciated!