Chapter Twelve: Sport
Soda POV
We'd pulled up to the stables with Darry, Two-bit, and Ponyboy right behind us and hopped out.
"There's your truck!"
I ran into the stables an went to Sport's stall. It was open.
"Shit! Sport's gone!"
The owner was there.
"Hey, Sodapop."
"Have you seen Cam? I think she took out Sport."
"No, I haven't been here long. You need to find her?"
I nodded. The rest of the gang had come up behind me.
"You can use my horses, but I've only got two."
Steve walked up.
"I know how to ride."
We saddled them quickly and went out on the trail.
"Cam! Cam! Where are you?!"
We rode for a few minutes when I saw Sport come around a curve. Alone with a saddle. Steve looked at me.
"Where is she?"
Sport reared up, grabbing our attention, and bolted.
"Come on!"
We followed him for a good ten minutes before he came to a stop, putting his nose into a bushy area. I hopped down.
"What is it, Sport?"
I walked up to the bushes, and my heart sank.
"Oh, no..."
I knelt down beside her and felt for a pulse. She had one.
"Soda...?"
I looked up to see Steve standing next to me with wide eyes.
"Go back and call and ambulance!"
"If we take her, it'd be faster!"
"She could've broke her neck or back! We can't move her! Just go!"
He nodded and got back on his horse and rode away. I just looked at her and held her hand.
"Please be okay... Dammit, Cameron Elizabeth Mercer, don't leave me! Don't leave me! Please..."
Sport walked up to me and started chewing on my sleeve.
"Dammit, Sport! Why'd you have to hurt her, huh? Why?"
I pushed him away.
Darry POV
"Where are they?!"
Two-bit was pacing, Pony was staring at the trail, and I was leaning against the wall.
"They'll come back, Two-bit."
About that time, we saw Steve bolting out of the woods. The owner looked at me worried. When he got to us, he didn't get off.
"We found her! Something happened, we need help!"
The owner ran inside the barn. There was a phone in there and he called 911. He came back out and looked at Steve.
"You gotta stay here until they get here so you can show them where to go. What happened?"
"We don't know. We found Sport first, he led us to her. She's out cold."
Th owner cursed under his breathe.
"Why'd she take out that damn horse in the first place? She knows the only person that horse likes is Sodapop!"
We waited for a while, finally, we heard sirens.
Soda POV
"Dammit, where are they?!"
I was getting impatient. Finally, I heard something and saw Darry's truck with paramedics in the back. They hopped out before the truck even stopped.
"Step back, son."
I listened. I walked over to Darry.
"Why are y'all in your truck?"
"The ambulance was too big to fit down the trail. My truck barely did."
We watched them look over her. They moved her head slowly, and put a neck brace around it. They then loaded her up on a backboard and put her in the back of Darry's truck.
"She's stable, so we need to take it nice and slow back to the stables."
He looked at me.
"The owner said he'd come get the horses later."
We nodded and hopped in the front of the truck. It felt like forever before we were able to get back. They loaded her onto the ambulance.
"We can't let anyone ride because we have to assess her injuries further. You can follow behind, though."
Darry POV
We were in the waiting room, and had been for hours.
"What happened, Darry?"
I turned to see Brenda.
"She fell off her horse."
She sighed in relief. I glared.
"Oh, no! I didn't! It's just something that..."
"It means she won't be taken away, Darry."
I turned to see Soda. Brenda nodded.
"Exactly. I was just happy that it was something like that..."
I nodded. I didn't know what to think. Ponyboy hadn't said one word since she'd left the house. I saw Soda sit next to him, talking to him calmly.
"They need to work out their issues..."
"I know, Steve. I know..."
Soda POV
I looked over and saw Pony with his head in his hands. Had he talked since we'd been here? I couldn't remember. I walked over to him and sat down.
"Ponyboy..."
"Don't..."
"Hey, it's gonna be okay..."
"I should've just told you... If I'd just told you what you freaking wanted to know, then we'd all be back at the house right now..."
"No, Pony, don't talk like that."
"Why does this always happen? I fall asleep in the lot, Darry hits me. I talk back to the Socs, Johnny kills one saving me. I run into a burning building cause I can't live with those kids dying if we started it, and Johnny dies from helping. Johnny dies from helping, and Dally kills himself cause he can't take it. I tell Cam instead of you about Windrixville, you both blow up and she's hurt. Do you see a patter here? I can't do anything right, dammit!"
He was rambling on and on. I finally put my arms around him.
"Shut up! None of that was your fault. This isn't your fault. This is my fault cause I thought she was taking you away from me..."
He looked at me.
"I didn't tell you everything that happened, because it would've hit you hard like it did me. I'm still suffering from it, I don't need you suffering from it, too! I just want you to be there for me! Especially at night..."
"But, why did you tell her?"
"Because she wasn't here... She didn't know Johnny and Dally... Of course it made her sad and she cried with me, but it didn't destroy her because she didn't have to live through it. We all had to live through it in one way or another. You guys were on this side and I never asked how hard it was... I don't need to know..."
I was starting to get it. Pony needed me, and if he'd told me, it would've killed me and neither of us would've done the other any good. I wrapped my arms around him.
"I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry... It's all my fault."
"Stop it. It's no one's fault."
We both looked up to see Two-bit.
"Everyone's made mistakes in this. We could all take the blame one way or another. Steve could've let Pony go with y'all, I could have stayed with you guys that night instead of leaving you at the lot, Darry could've controlled his temper when you got home late, Soda could've chased after you, Johnny could've made you go home the second you told him what happened, Dally could've convinced you guys to turn yourselves in and tell the truth. Every single one of us did something, that doesn't mean it's anyone's fault. It's life."
He sat next to Ponyboy.
"Listen Pony, I do think it's time you talk about it. With all of us, but it's your choice. I just know it's eating you alive. And Soda, if he doesn't tell us, you gotta get over it. If he wants to tell Cam, let him tell her. At least then he's told someone."
I thought about that for a minute. Pony hadn't been running into things or having as many nightmares lately. Instead of looking at that and being happy with it, I was mad that he'd told someone else instead of me. I felt ashamed of that.
Darry POV
Around 3:00 in the morning, all the guys were asleep. Although, I wouldn't call it a peaceful sleep.
"Darrel Curtis?"
I jumped up.
"That's me."
"I'm Dr. Anderson."
"Is Cam alright?"
He smiled.
"She'll be fine. She has a major concussion, a broken arm, a few broken ribs, and a sprained ankle. With so many injuries, I'd say she was bucked into a tree and twisted her ankle when she landed. She's lucky."
"Lucky?"
"I've seen that happen before and people come out paralyzed. She's lucky because she didn't hurt her spine."
"Is she awake?"
"No, and I doubt she will be for a couple of days, but she will be okay. You and your friends can go to her room, but only for a few minutes. Then go home, you all look like you could use some sleep yourselves."
He chuckled at the sight of the boys sprawled across the living room. I nodded and went to wake everyone up.
"Dar?"
"Yeah, little buddy. You wanna see Cam?"
Soda hopped up, hitting Pony in the head with his foot.
"Ow!"
That woke up the other two.
"Come on, you guys. We can see her for a few minutes."
"Is she awake?"
"No, Soda. But she'll wake up, soon."
We all followed the doctor to her room.
"Five minutes, guys."
We walked in, but no one moved for a minute. Finally, Pony took a step forward.
"You'll be okay, Cam... We're all here. We all care about you."
That was Soda's cue.
"Yeah. We all care about you... We'll... We'll see you, soon..."
We left after a few minutes. Everyone stayed at our house, it was almost 5:00 in the morning anyway.
"Darry?"
"Yeah, Pone?"
"Do I... Do I have to go to school today?"
"No, go get some sleep."
He nodded and went to his room with Soda. I poke my head in, and they were both sleeping with Soda's arm around Pony. That made me smile.