Thanks to Steph36 and alovelypear118 for the reviews! ^_^ I will work harder on this story. =) Hope everyone likes the third chapter! =D

"Hey, I thought I told you to stay home," Dally said firmly. I looked up in time to see that he was looking over at Johnny. Johnny shrugged. "How'd you get here, anyway, Johnny?" Darry asked.

"Yeah, Darry picked me up at my house earlier and we both headed here in his truck," Two-Bit said. "We didn't know where you were." "Wait," I said suddenly. "So you guys didn't bring Johnny here?" Darry and Two-Bit shook their heads. "Then how'd you get here, Johnnycake?" I asked. "Climbed in the back of the truck as you guys were driving off," Johnny answered quietly. "Oh! So that's the noise I heard!" Steve exclaimed.

Dally rolled his eyes and turned back to Johnny. "That was dangerous, Johnny! You can't just go and do stupid stuff like that! You could've gotten hurt!" he yelled. Johnny looked sad and stared down at his shoes. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's fine," Dally said angrily. "Just make sure it don't happen again." I knew that he was only fussing at Johnny because he was worried about him, but to Johnny, it was his hero yelling at him. It was really sad.

Johnny didn't say anything else after that. That's when the doctor came out of the room. He looked at Darry. "You must be Darrel Curtis," he said, holding out his hand for Darry to shake. "My name is Dr. Carson." Darry shook his hand and then asked, "How is Sodapop? Are you done giving him stitches? Can we go home now?" Dr. Carson chuckled. "Mr. Curtis, Sodapop cannot go home right now. We will have to keep him here for a few more days until he is healthy and healed enough to go home," he explained. "How many days will he have to stay here?" Darry asked.

"Anywhere from three to five days. But even then, he won't be fully recovered. I don't know whose dog bit him, but it was obviously a big dog with sharp teeth. Plus, his cold will take him weeks to get over. There sure is someone up there watching over him, though, because he could be much worse off than he is," Dr. Carson explained.

Darry nodded. "Would it be okay for Ponyboy and I to stay here, too, while Sodapop is here?" he asked. "That would be more than okay," Dr. Carson replied with a smile. "Thanks," Darry and I said in unison. Dr. Carson nodded and walked away.

Darry turned to the gang. "Would you guys be willing to do us a favor?" he asked. Everyone nodded. "Two-Bit, I'll put you in charge of looking after the house. You can stay there as long as you want, whenever you want. You can even fix yourself some food while you're there as long as you wash your dishes when you're done. Dally and Johnny are both staying with us at the moment, so, you won't at all be lonely," Darry explained. He looked at Dallas. "Dally, it'll be your responsibility to take care of Johnny."

Johnny looked away, either mad at Dallas or just upset. Dally nodded and said, "Okay, Darry. I'll do it." Darry turned to Steve. "You'll have to be the one to come here and look after Sodapop if both Ponyboy and I aren't here," he explained. Steve nodded, probably grateful that he'd get to spend some quality time with his best friend. "Also, if you don't mind, please give your boss a note that says Soda's hurt and will not be able to come to work for a while," Darry added. Steve nodded once again.

Darry looked at me. "Ponyboy, Steve works from 8am to 5:30pm every night. I'll stay here with Soda while you're at school, but as soon as school's over, you've gotta come back here so that I can go to work. If you can't, Steve will have to," he explained. I nodded and he looked around at everyone. "All that okay?" he asked. Everyone nodded except Johnny. "What is it, Johnny-cake?" Darry asked. "Well... it's just..." Johnny sighed. "You put everyone else in charge of something, but you didn't give me anything to do while you and Pony are here." Darry smiled warmly at him. "While we're gone, I want you to get some rest and try to stay off those legs." Johnny sighed shortly again, but didn't argue. He knew as well as anyone else that he'd only get better quicker if he rested.

The next day, school went by slower than usual. I eagerly waited the whole day to hear the ring of the bell that meant we were free to go. It took a whole day almost, but I finally heard it. As soon as school was over, Steve picked me up and drove me to the hospital. "How come you weren't at work?" I asked him, on the way to see Soda.

"Boss said I could have a day off," Steve explained shortly. "How's Sodapop?" "Dunno. Haven't seen 'im all day," I replied. "Oh," Steve said. That's when we stopped at a stoplight. It felt like time had turned red and stopped just as the stoplight had. It felt as though time had paused itself. Neither Steve or I said a word. I was in deep thought about Sodapop getting better and I was sure he was, too.

Then my mind wandered to everything that had been going on before we knew that Soda was hurt and sick. I remembered Two-Bit not coming over as much and being kind of distant, quiet, and serious whenever he did. I remembered me staying up for half a night one night thinking about him. Thinking about what must have been going on in his life to make him so unlike himself. I remembered feeling sad for him. I remembered saying a prayer for him even though he wasn't there.

Then I thought about Darry and how he had been working too hard in the freezing weather. If it was Sodapop or me who was working in weather that was too cold, Darry would tell us that we should go home and take a few days off from work until the weather got better, but for some reason, he won't do that. He'd been more anxious lately to get to work, more rushed to work. I had no idea why, but that was another mystery to be solved.

Then, I remembered how bad off Johnnycake was. If he kept trying to walk instead of rest he'd be worse off than ever. Plus, the cold weather couldn't be good for him either. I had to make sure Dally took good care of him while I wasn't there.

So, that obviously brought my thoughts to Dallas. He was acting so different. Ever since Johnny almost died and he got shot, he'd been acting different. More protective. I didn't know why and was almost afraid to ask him. Hmm, I thought. What was one of the first things Dally did after he got out of the hospital? Let's see... after he got out of the hospital he went to jail, but as far as I know, that was something he was used to, not something that would make him all of a sudden over-protective of Johnny and I. After that... oh! I remember! After Dally got out of jail, he went to hang out with some buddies of his. Some good friends of Buck's. Yeeeah, so, that was when he started acting weird.

Now that I had that figured out, I thought about Sodapop. I had known that he was feeling sick, but I still had no idea when he'd gotten hurt. He had looked like he was feeling sick for a day and a half; but when had he gotten hurt? It had to have been earlier the day we found out he was hurt, because the day before he hadn't looked as in pain as he had the day we found out that he'd gotten bit by that dog. We still didn't know how it all happened, though.

Then I thought about Steve. Why had he been acting so weird lately also? Why was he being nice to me? That was exactly the question I was about to ask him.

But before I did... I couldn't help but think about my ninth mystery. Cherry. I was beginning to get frustrated with that subject and decided to let it go. She was the least of my worries. I had to worry about my family and friends before I could a girl.

Heh, I know it seems like that stoplight had to have been red for a looooooooong time for me to think all that, but a lot of things can go through my mind in just a few seconds. The light was still red when I looked at Steve and asked, "How come you've been actin' so nice to me lately, like you want me around?" Steve looked surprised by the question. After a long pause, he said, "Because I've realized what's important in life. I've realized that the most important thing is my friends. You all mean the world to me. And after almost losing Johnny and Dally, I've realized that I need to find more value in what I have instead of wishing for something else.

"You guys are my best friends. And even though sometimes some of you get on my last nerve, I've still realized that I need to appreciate y'all no matter what. Plus, I know that life has been hard for you lately. It wouldn't help for me to add to it." After saying all that, Steve immediately shut up. I knew it was because he was regretting saying all that. Greasers didn't talk about their feelings too much. Most of us thought it made us seem weak, soft. But I, for one, was glad that he'd told me that. I figured I'd actually needed to hear it. I smiled and the light turned green. I was still digesting what he'd said even as we drove into the parking lot of the hospital.