A/N: I know I'm crazy to publish this with how many stories I have going on, but I couldn't wait! Sequel to A Fatal Mishap

One week. It had felt like a year already, but it was only seven days. Seven long days since the funeral for Ponyboy Curtis. Seven long days since the burial of the youngest greaser, the youngest Curtis brother. Darry had to constantly check the calendar to see if he was on the right day, because there was no way it had only been days. He was suppose to return to work tomorrow. His boss insisted he take as much time as he needed, but Darry needed to get back to life as soon as possible. His raise couldn't really officially start until he was back working. He couldn't sit around and sulk anyway. He had to stay busy. The doctor gave the okay to start slowly getting back into work. Darry was healing just fine, physically at least, so he wanted to take advantage of it.

Walking around the house wasn't getting any easier. There was the bedroom that used to hold his parents, but now there was only memories of his parents. There was the bedroom that used to hold both of his younger brothers, but now it only contained his youngest brother's belongings. All of Soda's things had made their way across the hall where Soda used to sleep. He hadn't gone back into Pony's bedroom. He had only gone back into his parent's bedroom once since their passing, so Darry didn't expect Soda to ever go into Pony's room again. Darry had gone in there once, and it was to try and organize some things, but he couldn't do it. Not yet.

Steve was sleeping in Soda's bed with him. It made Soda feel comforted. It made Darry feel comforted to knowing Soda had his person next to him, just like when Ponyboy needed it. Darry felt bad Steve was still staying with them, but Steve insisted on staying as long as Darry needed him. He couldn't be any more thankful for the friends they had, and the support they gave.

Soda had yet to return to the DX again. Thankfully Mr. Huffman was beyond understanding of the circumstances, and let Soda take as much time off as needed. Steve was working some extra shifts to keep things smooth at the DX, but was giving Soda some of the money to help get by. Soda insisted they didn't need it with Darry's raise, but Steve didn't listen. Soda felt the need to keep busy, but work just wasn't the right kind of busy he needed. Instead, he cleaned the house a lot. He'd find things to clean or organize, anything except the upstairs. After a week, it was getting to the point where Soda was having a difficult time finding something else to clean. Darry wouldn't mind it so much if Soda wasn't being so quiet. He simply wasn't talking about anything. Darry tried asking Steve about it, but Soda was being short with Steve too about his thoughts and feelings. As much as Darry expected it, he was feeling his heart ache with concern and worry.

The gang hadn't seen Dally or Johnny during the first week. Two-Bit ran into Dally once, and he let Two-Bit know that he was helping Johnny through it. Johnny just wasn't ready to be around the gang again yet. Everyone understood, and wasn't trying to force Johnny to come around. Two-Bit could tell Dally needed an outlet too, but he wasn't going to use one until Johnny was okay. Darry was actually thankful Dally was being there for Johnny, he just didn't know if he could take seeing someone else hurting as much as him and Soda were.

Darry sat on the floor upstairs that late morning. He was in the hallway and looking between each bedroom door. He didn't like thinking of it, but half of the bedrooms were haunting, depressing memories, while the other half were being used. There was a long, deep thought going through his mind. He had to talk about it out loud to make sure he wasn't being crazy, but he didn't know if he was ready to talk to Soda about it yet.

Soda finished up the dishes when the phone rang. He didn't see Darry around, so he grabbed the receiver.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Sodapop, it's Two-Bit."

"Hey, what's going on?" Soda asked.

"I'm just at the hospital right now."

Soda felt his heart sink at the words. He had no idea why Two-Bit was there, but his last experience at the hospital was Ponyboy...

"It's Steve," Two-Bit interrupted Soda's flashback.

"Wh-What? Steve? What happened?"

"I was at the DX visiting, and he just collapsed out of nowhere. He was only out for a minute, but your boss was worried if it was heat exhaustion or something, so I drove him here to the hospital. He's just getting checked out right now."

Soda swallowed the lump forming in his throat, "Is he okay? Should-Should I come down there?"

"If you want to," Two-Bit answered, "He's awake and they're giving him some fluids. I think he's fine though. They're just giving him a check to make sure it isn't anything serious."

"He's been doing a lot for me," Soda sighed, "I should be there for him. I should come down there. I'll borrow Darry's truck."

"Okay buddy, I'll see you soon."

Soda hung up the phone and walked upstairs. He saw his older brother sitting on the floor, looking deep in thought. "Hey, can I borrow the truck?"

Darry slowly nodded, "Yeah, go ahead."

Before Soda turned to leave, he asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"Hmm?" Darry looked up at Soda, "Oh nothing. Just stuff. Where are you going?"

"I guess Steve collapsed at work, so I'm just going to the hospital to check on him."

"Oh, is he okay?" Darry asked.

"Seems to be fine. Just going to be there for him. I'll be back later."

"Okay, see ya." Darry watched as Soda went downstairs and listened for the door to shut. He let out a deep breath. "I just can't bring it up to him yet. It's too soon."

Soda arrived at the hospital and found Two-Bit outside smoking. He did not look happy at all.

"Two-Bit what's going on?" Soda asked with some confusion, "Is Steve okay?"

"He's fine," Two-Bit said with a short tone.

"Are you okay? You seem pissed off."

Two-Bit tossed his cigarette to the side out of frustration, "Just go talk to him yourself."

Soda had no idea what was going on. Two-Bit sounded concerned on the phone, but now he looked angry. It wasn't a comforting feeling to see Two-Bit actually pissed off about something. Soda hurried inside and found his way to Steve's examining room. Thankfully it was nowhere near where Pony and Darry had stayed. That helped Soda's anxiety some.

Knocking on the door, Soda opened the door slightly and saw Steve sitting up in a bed.

"Hey Steve," Soda entered the room all the way and closed the door behind him.

"Oh, hey Soda," Steve said, "Two-Bit said you were coming. You didn't have to."

"I was worried. What happened at work?"

"I'm not sure. Two-Bit was talking to me, but I wasn't really hearing him. I just wasn't feeling good. He sounded really fuzzy, and my eyes got blurry. Next thing I know I was waking up on the ground with Two-Bit over me. He brought me here to get checked out," Steve explained.

"Well what did the doctor say?"

Steve looked down towards his lap, not saying a word. Soda got concerned that Steve didn't want to tell him, and Two-Bit being mad about something.

"It must not be good," Soda sighed, "Come on, just tell me. Why is Two-Bit mad?"

"He's mad because of why I passed out," Steve said, still avoiding eye contact.

"What do you mean?"

Steve bit his lip, "I didn't mean for it to get this bad, but...I wasn't taking my medicine right."

"How?"

"I was skipping it too much," Steve admitted, "I was taking it some, and then not taking it some. My body went into shock."

"Oh my God..." Soda said in a low tone.

"It's okay Soda, I promise I'm okay," Steve reassured his best friend, "I just have to slowly get back on track with my medicine. It's all my fault, I know it is, but I'll be just fine."

Soda forced his tears to stay back. He didn't like being extra emotional, but it was difficult not to be. First he has his brother's funeral, and now his best friend was in the hospital. Soda couldn't help but feel some guilt to that since it was him that asked for Steve's pills in the first place. "When can you leave?"

"I'll be able to check out soon. They just want me to go home and take it easy for the rest of the day though."

"Okay, good."

"Since you're here, you should probably take me back to your place if you can wait. I don't want to ride with Two-Bit."

"Yeah, sure I can wait. What is going on with him? What is he mad about with you going into shock? If anything, it's more of my fault of why you weren't on track with your pills," Soda said.

"Don't even start Soda. It's not your damn fault."

Soda shook his head, "Fine. Then what is going on with Two-Bit?"

"I promised him I'd be taking my medicine like I'm suppose to. He was trying to keep me on track, but I lied a couple times about actually taking them."

"Oh," Soda looked down.

"I don't blame him for being mad," Steve said, "I know he was trying to help me while I helped you and Darry."

"Yeah, well can you promise me you'll start taking them every night again? Promise me you'll get yourself healthy again?"

Steve felt his heart stop for a second. He made that promise to Two-Bit last time and failed. Soda didn't know how much deeper the promise went though. Steve stopped taking his pills, because he couldn't stop having flashbacks to Soda wanting to take his own life with those pills. It wasn't like Steve was forgetting to take his pills. He just couldn't stop seeing the horrible image of Soda holding the bottle...

"Steve? Please promise me," Soda said grabbing his best friend's hand.

Steve squeezed Soda's hand and muttered, "I promise."