Sorry about the wait! I'm trying to rap this story up, there's not much more to tell. Just need to figure out how to write this chapter, and maybe one more… Please review! Hope you enjoy!

Oh, and I don't own the Outsiders or the italicized paragraph from Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.

I don't think this house has ever been so quiet.

The boys came back from church about a half hour after Two-Bit and I finished cleaning up the glass from my tantrum. I was wearing one of Darry's old sweatshirts so they couldn't see the bandages on my hands. I had a feeling Two-Bit wouldn't tell them about the incident. For that, I was grateful.

Anyway, they all came walking in single file, the most somber looking bunch I ever saw. No one said a word. Darry didn't even bother to make lunch; no one would be able to eat it. Everyone sort of scattered around the house. Steve and Soda took their usual positions at the table for some poker, Two-Bit was flipping channels and drinking beer, Darry was showering, and I was reading Poe on the porch, trying to distract myself from… well, everything.

"…At length, it ceased. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His eye would --"

So much for distracting myself.

I dropped the book, freeing my hands to catch my face. Stone dead. I knew exactly what he was talking about. I saw it in Heather every day.

I sat like that for God-knows-how-long. I couldn't take the constant uncertainty, the constant fighting, the constant hate anymore. I was getting a pretty bad crick in my neck from constantly looking over my shoulder. And I was so tired. Tired of worrying, of waiting, of hurting. Tired of seeing nothing but hate and flaws in world.

What ever happened to the stars?

I didn't lift my head when the door creaked open. Whoever it was just stood there for a while. I wished they would leave. I didn't think I could even try to talk to anyone right then.

"Pony?" It was Soda.

I didn't reply.

He put a hand on my shoulder. His touch felt cold, foreign; I flinched away. He stayed quiet for a while, then sighed. "You dropped your book."

"Don't care."

"Look, Pony…"

"Don't." I cut him off and got to my feet. He looked drained, eyes dull. "Just don't."

"Isn't there anything --"

"No."

"Where're you going?"

"The hospital. I need to say goodbye."

-0-0-0-

That too-clean bleachy smell seemed stronger than usual, and I sneezed. The secretary opened her mouth to say something to me, but I walked past her without a second glance. I knew the way to the room by heart now. Without breaking stride, I slipped into the elevator and pressed the two button.

I stared at my shoes. There were holes on the sides, and I had a blister or two. I really needed new ones, but I hated to ask Soda and Darry for things. Besides, shoe shopping was always uncomfortable, since the stores were always filled with Socs.

My stomach dropped just slightly as the floor came to a halt with a soft ding! The doors pulled open, revealing another blindingly white hall. I took the last left, then a right, then paused at the second door. Every day, I got this same feeling. Out of breath, inexplicably shaky, racing pulse… I guess it was because I was afraid of how much worse she'd be.

Trying to swallow, I turned the knob.

Silence greeted me. No beeping, dripping, whooshing machines. Just silence. I felt myself go white.

The bed was empty.

Emotions washed through me, bleeding together like watercolors. Disbelief, rage, loss… there was so much I couldn't move, couldn't think straight. I wanted to scream, to break something.

But all that came out was a strangled, "No."

Numbly, I staggered over to a chair and collapsed into it. There wasn't a single wrinkle in the blankets, nothing to show she had been there not a day ago. Like she'd been erased from this world.

Like she never even existed.

"You came early."

I turned. A nurse had just come in, scribbling something on her clipboard. "You usually don't come here for another few hours." She frowned. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

I cleared my throat. "C-came to say goodbye. Guess I was too late."

Her chocolate eyes widened. "Didn't the doctor call you? They moved her to the fourth floor."

I came out of my numbness with a jolt, flying to my feet. "What?!"

"Yeah, she woke up this morning. Room 476. She's been asking for you."

My heart leapt. "Thanks!" I called over my shoulder as I darted down the hall. The elevator wasn't there yet, so I took the stairs two at a time. My lungs couldn't take in enough air, but I didn't care. She was alive!

Not soon enough I burst through the stairwell and flew past several nurses. They called after me, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. 474... 475...

476.

I flung open the door, and a pair of gold-green eyes locked on mine.

Heather smiled.

I raced to her side, breathing hard. She was really here, really looking back at me… I hugged her with as much gentleness as I could manage, being so happy. I buried my face in her hair. "Oh, Heather…"

She squeezed me weakly. "I've missed you so much."

"You took the words right out of my mouth." I sighed. "Never, ever do that to me again."

She laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Sorry it's so short… does it sound too cheesy? Please review, constructive criticism is deeply encouraged.