Ponyboy's POV
My eyes flutter open. At first I can't remember where I am, but then I hear breathing next to me. Turning on my side I see Darry sleeping fitfully and Soda snoring. I notice the sunlight and force myself out of bed to get ready for school. As I fall out of bed I notice the sound of teeth chattering. I examine Darry more closely and see he's shivering, grimacing, and sweating buckets. Poor guy, I think to myself.
After I take a shower and put on clothes for school, I walk into the kitchen and see Soda practically sleep walk into the bathroom. "Mornin', Soda," I say quietly so I don't disturb Darry.
Sodapop smiles at me responding, "Morning, hey do you think I should take the day off to take care of Darry?"
"Wow, I don't know. Darry wouldn't want you to, but he probably could use you around."
"Go to work, I'll be okay," comes Darry's voice from inside his room.
"Dar, you're sick. You'd stay home if I was in your place," Soda came back with.
I think for a moment and add, "You could work a half day, Soda." I was going to offer to skip school, but I knew they wouldn't let me.
Soda thinks for a moment and calls, "Yeah, Darry, come on- it's a happy medium."
"Okay," Darry manages weakly.
"Go back to sleep now, Dar."
We hear a snore erupt from his room. "Well, that sure was fast," I comment.
Since Soda and I got up earlier than we usually do, I decide to make pancakes. Getting so caught up in my cooking I don't even hear Steve and Two-Bit enter.
"Morning, Curtis's! Something smells great! And-"
"Be quiet, Two-Bit, Darry's sick!" I harshly whisper.
That stops them both. "I didn't know Darry got sick," Steve wonders aloud.
"Wow, I didn't think he'd actually get sick. Sorry, I yelled coming in," Two-Bit apologizes.
"It's fine. Sit down, you two, pancakes are ready." I serve them two pancakes each and sit down to eat myself.
Soda comes out of the bathroom in his work clothes with his hair wet and combed back. "Hi, Soda!" Two-Bit whispers.
"Two-Bit, how can you whisper so loud it sounds like you're yelling?" Sodapop playfully kids as he sits down next to Two-Bit and grabs pancakes for himself.
We all turn our heads when we see Darry rush out of his room and into the bathroom holding his mouth and then slamming the door behind him.
Steve's POV
This is so weird, I think. Darry kind of seems like an older brother to me, considering me and Soda have hung out almost all the time since as long as I can remember. Something else that throws me off is what he was wearing. I don't know if I've ever seen him in anything besides jeans and the kinds of plain t-shirts that he wears to work. Now, I see him in sweats, no shoes just socks, and a highschool football t-shirt that had all the players' names on the back. He seemed so much younger.
Soda stands up and cracks open the door to the bathroom. "Don't look at me," I hear Darry plead in a higher voice than usual.
"Oh please, Darry, you've seen me puke plenty of times," Soda retaliates walking into the bathroom.
"Thanks for the pancakes," I grunt at Pony.
Ponyboy looks slightly surprised at me thanking him, but goes back to normal responding, "No problem."
I've been trying to get better at being nicer to Pony, lately. It's getting easier, too. He's been maturing. The bathroom door opens and Darry walks out with Soda behind him. Darry's shaking, but looks over to us and greets, "Mornin', guys."
I smile and Two-Bit waves grinning. They both walk back into Darry's room.
"Ready to go to school, Pony?" Two-Bit asks.
"Yeah, just about," Ponyboy says standing up and washing dishes.
Soda's voice travels from Darry's room asking, "Hey, will one of you bring a pancake and some water back here for Darry?"
Pony goes to dries his hands so he can bring him a pancake, but I try to keep my nice streak going and offer, "I'll take it."
"Alright," says Pony going back to doing the dishes.
I pick up a plate with a pancake and fill up a glass of water. Walking into Darry's room I see Soda taking his temperature. "Darry, your temperature went up. You're at 102.5 now. I can't leave you alone," Soda explains.
"Don't worry so much, Soda. You'll be back in the afternoon" Darry says.
I walk in further and am still feeling real nice so I say, "Why don't I take the morning off and then you take the afternoon off, Soda?"
"That'd be great. Let's do that," Soda finalizes and either Soda's reassuring voice convinces Darry or he secretly was hoping someone would stay home because he shrugs in agreement and lays back down pulling the covers up. I give the pancake to Soda who sets it aside and wipes Darry's forehead with a wet washcloth and Darry just looks so frail. I walk away thinking of all the times Superman took care of me growing up- from getting sick while I'm at their house to when I was real little and scraped my knees on the concrete- and hope I can take care of Superman.