I'm sorry this update took so long. I hope you enjoy!
(Ponyboy's POV)
After my initial return to consciousness, I woke up several times, but only for a few minutes each time.
The first time, there wasn't much light behind my eyelids, so I figured my room was mostly dark. I could hear my brothers talking to someone about my condition. Then someone moved my head a little, which caused what was initially discomfort to turn into agony. I groaned, and immediately I heard Soda's voice beside me.
"Shhhh, you'll be okay, honey." Then I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder gently. "Go back to sleep."
I drifted off before I could tell him that I certainly didn't feel okay with how warm and uncomfortable I was.
The next time I woke up, the amount of light behind my eyes seemed similar to before, which I was thankful for. I slowly opened my eyes, and in the dim light, I found Darry sleeping in the chair next to me. I was surprised Soda wasn't there, but I couldn't expect both of my brothers to practically live in the hospital, so I pushed that thought away. Part of me wanted to let Darry sleep since I knew he needed it, but another part of me wanted to talk to him.
"Darry?" I whispered.
My brother immediately opened his eyes, and within seconds, he realized it was me that woke up him. He didn't look mad though; he actually seemed happy to be woken up. "Hey, Pone. How are you feeling?"
I thought about the question. How do I feel? I was still in pain, but everything seemed dulled, so I couldn't complain too much. There was one feeling that stood out, though. "Cold."
A look crossed Darry's unshaven face, then he extended his hand to feel my forehead. Within seconds, he smiled. "I think your fever broke, kiddo." Then he retracted his hand and made a move like he was about to stand up. "I should get your doctor-"
"Wait," I said, stopping him from moving. I felt overwhelmingly tired, so I knew I would only be awake for a couple of minutes, and I didn't want to spend that time dealing with a doctor. "I'm fine… just want blankets."
Darry nodded. He pulled my covers up to my chin, then he gave me a blanket that was on the chair next to him. "Better?"
"Yeah… thanks," I managed to mutter. Darry sat back in his chair. Even though everything seemed weird and I was tired, I wanted to talk with Darry, but I didn't know how to start. He looked about as tired as I felt, so I said the first thing that came to my mind. "You okay, Darry?"
He gave me a strange look, then nodded slightly. "Yeah Pony, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."
Something seemed wrong with what he said. But last time I saw you, you were crying. You never cry. Now you're tired. You haven't shaved. You're not okay. "But you cried… and you're tired."
He looked at me, then spoke softly and carefully. "I cried because I was worried about you. Soda and I were both scared…" he trailed off. He bent forward to brush my hair off my forehead, then he continued with an even softer voice. "I'm just glad you're better now."
"Me too." Then I reached forward and put my arms around Darry, pulling him closer to me. After a moment, he returned the embrace as carefully as he could. "Sorry for scarin' ya."
Darry let out what was a mixture of a laugh and sob. "It's okay, Pone." A few seconds later, he pulled away from me. "Just focus on getting better, you hear? Don't worry about me or Soda."
I nodded, not able to come up with enough energy to verbally respond.
"Get some rest, kiddo. It's helping you heal," Darry said.
I closed my eyes, and before I fell asleep again, I managed to say one more thing. "You need sleep too."
Darry's soft chuckle was the last sound I heard before I returned to the land of slumber.
I woke up, but I wasn't feeling up for talking or even opening my eyes in case it meant I had to deal with a doctor. I was tired, felt sore all over, and there was slight throbbing in my head and stomach, so the last thing I wanted to do was answer questions while I was being poked and prodded by a stranger. I could tell that the oxygen mask wasn't on my face anymore, but there was something strange under my nose. I wanted to take it off and go back to sleep, but then I heard familiar voices, causing me to stay awake and silently listen.
"If you even think about lightin' up in here," Steve said, apparently about to threaten someone. "Forget about the doctors, Soda and Darry-"
"Calm down, Stevie," Two-Bit replied. "I'm just grabbin' a smoke before I take a walk, and I'll wait to light it 'til I'm far away from the kid's room. I'm just gettin' antsy."
After a pause, Steve replied. "I'll join ya."
Then I heard footsteps getting softer, so they were obviously walking away. I heard Two-Bit's loud, distinct voice as he and Steve walked down the hall.
I felt bad about not talking with Two-Bit and Steve while they were in my room, but I was looking forward to falling asleep again. Then Dally's voice suddenly appeared. "You gonna be alright in here while I go take a leak?"
Dally's here too? And who's he talking to? Does he know I'm awake?
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Johnny said from somewhere on my right. He sounded pretty close, so I figured he was sitting next to me.
The whole gang's here. Well, besides my brothers apparently.
I heard more footsteps walk away, so I guessed it was just me and Johnny left in the room. As tired as I was, I figured the least I could do was talk with my best friend and hopefully let him know I was not only alive, but awake.
"Hey Johnny," I muttered as I forced my eyes open.
Next to me, Johnny whipped his head around and looked down at me with wide eyes. "Hey man, you're awake!"
I scoffed. "Yeah, guess so."
I tried to push myself up into a sitting position with my bandages hands, but it hurt to move anything and everything. Seeing my struggle, Johnny moved the pillows behind me so I was bent at the waist just a little bit. It felt like there was more of a strain on some of my muscles, but I didn't care; I preferred being able to look around the room more than just staring at the ceiling.
"It's good to see you, Pony. You've had us all pretty worried," Johnny said when I was settled. "Darry and Soda told us you've woken up a couple times over the past few days, but the rest of us haven't been around to talk with ya."
"Sorry," was my automatic response. Johnny seemed like he wanted to say something, but my mind was finally working quick enough for me to cut him off. "I'm sorry for being late… that night, I was late… missed drive-in." For some reason, even though my mind seemed to work a little better, it was still hard for me to speak using full sentences.
"Don't worry about it, Pony. We'll go once you're outta here," Johnny said with a sad expression on his face. "Two-Bit and Cassie told us what happened. How are y-"
"Jesus, it's about time you're awake," Dally said as he entered the room. Johnny and I both looked at him as he walked towards us, then he stopped and put a hand roughly on me knee, apparently trying to comfort me. "How ya feelin' kid?"
Is Dally being nice to me? Sure, Dally wasn't usually mean to me, but he was only outwardly nice to Johnny, and that was still using the word "nice" loosely. Dally had his own brand of nice, and it took a trained eye to spot it. It threw me completely off-guard to be on the receiving end of Dally's kindness.
"Kinda lousy," I said. I tried to use a tough tone in front of Dallas Winston, but I also couldn't force myself to lie; it would take too much effort.
Dally scoffed, then he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms in front of his chest, not unlike Darry. "Yeah, well that's what happens when you take on four Socs by yourself." Then a dark look crossed his face, and I had a feeling he was done being nice. He pointed a finger at me and scowled. "If you ever do somethin' stupid like that again, I'm gonna pummel you."
I pictured Dally beating me up, but before I could get too worried about it, I knew my brothers wouldn't let it happen. If they heard Dally threatening me, he'd be in a world of trouble. Since I knew I wasn't in immediate physical danger, I felt like I had to defend myself and my actions. "I had to… Cassie, and those Socs… they were… four of them…" the more I wanted to say, the more my words were eluding me. I'm starting to get real frustrated about this talking thing. "I had to."
Dally lowered his arm so he wasn't pointing at me anymore. He still looked like he was mad, and he sounded like it too. "I get it, it was Two-Bit's kid sister, but you shouldn't have-"
"It was Cassie!" I tried to interrupt Dally by shouting, but it came out quieter than I expected, and it made me cough, causing my torso to erupt in pain. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to quit coughing.
I felt Johnny give my shoulder a squeeze. "It's okay, Pony. Just breathe." I tried to listen to him and control my breathing, but it was hard.
After the coughing and pain subsided, I opened my eyes and found that my vision was blurry from tears. I blinked my eyes until I could see clearly, and what I saw was Johnny looking at me with pity, and Dally wearing a slightly softer expression than he had before.
"Look kid," Dally started, speaking a little calmer and nicer than before. "You're what, thirteen? And you decided to try to fight off four Socs by yourself? Christ, I thought you were smart."
I took a breath before I responded so I could think of words before I said them. "She's family… couldn't let 'em hurt her… didn't need to win… wanted the girls to get outta there."
Dally stood there, almost looking dumbfounded at what I said. After a short moment of silence, he sighed a little. "I get it, alright? I get it, but it was four against one. If you were your big brother or Tim, that'd be one thing, but you shouldn't be gettin' in those kinda fights because you ain't gonna win."
"You sound like Darry," I muttered. Why can't he understand me? I didn't care about winning a fight, I was protecting Cassie and her friends.
Dally gave me a slight grin. "Not sure your big brother would like hearing that you're comparing me to him." Johnny chuckled a little at that, and I gave Dally a smirk.
Suddenly, two more people strode into the room, and they brought the fresh scent of cigarette smoke with them.
"I'm tellin' ya, she was giving ol' Two-Bit here a look that said-" Two-Bit cut himself off when he met my eyes. He froze, causing Steve to run into him.
"Dammit Two-Bit, why did you just stop in the middle of the room?" Steve asked as he rubbed his nose.
"Ponykid, you're awake!" Two-Bit exclaimed. His sudden outburst caused the pain in my head to instantly spike. He walked over and sat down in the chair on my left, while Steve followed and stood next to him.
"Finally decided to wake up?" Steve asked sarcastically. "No offense, but you look like shit."
I smirked and tried to match his tone. "Thanks, so do you."
Steve snickered, then he genuinely replied. "Well, it's good to see you, kid. You've had us all worried, especially your brothers."
If Steve's being nice to me, things must've been serious. I pushed that thought aside. "Where are they?"
"Work," Two-Bit said in a thankfully normal and quieter tone. "They ain't happy about it, but they've been working a little, and when they are, one of us is always here."
I knew he said that for my comfort, but I felt guilty that my brothers were apparently always at work or with me in the hospital. "They sleep at all?"
"Hardly," Dally muttered. "That's what happens when your kid brother dies though."
What did he just say?
"Dally…" Two-Bit started with a warning tone, but then he didn't say anything else.
"You couldn't wait a bit longer before you said that?" Steve asked bitterly. "His brothers want-"
"Well they ain't here, are they?" Dally asked, making everyone else quiet. Then he looked at me. "Yeah, turns out you died twice during surgery right when you got here, and that infection almost did you in too. Not sure when they were plannin' on telling you, but now you know."
I didn't know what to do, so I glanced at Johnny, who just looked at me and nodded his head a little. So it's true. I died, and that infection was worse than I thought. I got stabbed. I actually died.
I felt myself start breathing heavier and faster, and even though I wanted to calm down, the same thoughts kept swirling in my head: I died. I should be dead. What would've happened if I didn't survive? What would my brothers do?
"Hey, calm down Ponyboy. Just take a couple deep breaths," Two-Bit encouraged next to me.
I took a deep breath, but then the pain in my torso spiked again, so I gingerly wrapped an arm around my ribcage and closed my eyes. I heard Johnny said something about getting a doctor, but then Steve and Dally started arguing about something. One minute, there was a lot of commotion surrounding me, the next, it was almost silent.
Once breathing got easier, Two-Bit squeezed my shoulder. "There you go kid. Feelin' better?"
I nodded, and once I opened my eyes, I looked around the room. It was just me and Two-Bit; the other guys were gone. "Where'd they go?"
"Steve's yellin' at Dally for telling you all that… he'll probably get a punch to the jaw or somethin' for it; we all know Dally don't like bein' yelled at by his own gang, but I wouldn't be surprised if Steve hit him back," Two-Bit said. "Johnny wanted to get a doctor for you, but I think he might be tryin' to keep the other two from getting kicked outta the hospital."
Dally told me the truth, and Steve's mad at him for it. Is Steve, dare I say, protecting me?
"Look, Dal was right. They brought you back from the dead twice during your surgery. It freaked us out," Two-Bit said somberly. "The doc said it was some type of miracle that you came back, and you recovering from your stab wound and infection was another miracle. You sure are a tough sonofagun. A real greaser."
I was surprised and proud that Two-Bit called me tough, but there was so much new information swirling in my head, that it made thinking and speaking even harder than before. "Where's… now… what…" I involuntarily shook my head as I tried to sort out my thoughts. Finally, I could put words together. "How's Cassie?"
Two-Bit looked shocked by my question, but he quickly replied. "She's alright, Ponyboy. She's a little shaken. She has a couple of bruises and a black eye, but she's okay."
I sighed in relief. Finally, some positive news. "Good."
"Listen Ponyboy, I want to thank you for lookin' out for Cass. I don't know why those guys started messin' with her and her friends, and I don't want to know," Two-Bit said seriously. I could tell that he had already thought about the answer to that, and it probably scared him more than he would ever admit. "I wish you didn't end up gettin' hurt, let alone needin' a hospital. I wish I was there and it was me, not you."
I felt bad that Two-Bit felt guilty about me getting hurt. I took a few extra seconds and spoke slowly so my words would hopefully string together correctly. "It's alright. I'm fine. I'm just glad Cassie's okay."
Two-Bit gave me a strange look, like he wasn't sure how to respond. After a moment, he finally spoke. "Look, I just want to let you know how awful Cassie feels. She's real upset with herself about not stickin' around to back you up or going back for you after. She thought your brothers would hate her, and she's terrified to know what you think about her." I stared at him, not truly comprehending what he was saying or why he was saying it to me. "Your brothers aren't mad at her, but I'd understand if you were-"
"Stop," I said. I finally figured out where Two-Bit was going, and I had to set things straight. "I ain't mad at Cassie. I told her… I wanted…" my words were getting mixed up again, and I exhaled an angry breath as I gathered my thoughts. "I ain't mad. I wanted her to leave. It didn't matter… it wouldn't matter if she came back… was hidden… bushes."
Two-Bit looked confused for a moment, but then he must've figured out what I was trying to say, because then it looked like he was pitying me before he got real angry. "You were hidden in bushes after you fought them? Glory, if I ever find those assholes…"
"But Cassie's okay?" I asked, trying to get Two-Bit to focus on the important stuff.
He looked at me with a surprised expression again. "Yeah Ponyboy, she's okay."
"Then everything's fine," I said.
Two-Bit looked conflicted. "It's not fine. I'm glad you protected Cassie and all, but man… you shouldn't have been fightin' for your life because of it."
I was getting real tired, and we were talking in circles, so I decided just to explain myself one more time so we could be done discussing the topic of me getting pummeled by four Socs. "They were in trouble. I wanted them to be safe. They were safe. I'm alive. It's okay."
Two-Bit looked like he wanted to argue, but for once, he kept quiet. In the silence, I could hear voices coming from the hallway, and I wondered if Dally and Steve were still arguing or fighting outside of my room. I looked at the doorway, but I couldn't identify anyone specifically.
"Alright kid, I just want you to know that I appreciate you lookin' out for my sister," Two-Bit said carefully. I looked back at him, and he wore a strange expression again. Why does he keep looking at me like that? "Now you gotta focus on getting better, alright?"
"Yeah, alright," I muttered.
He grinned a little and squeezed my shoulder. "Good. Now get some sleep. Steve was right; you look like shit."
I scoffed at that, but I didn't respond. Within seconds, I let my eyes close, and as I listened to familiar voices in the hallway, I quickly fell asleep.
