Oh my gosh *taps screen* is there anyone out there still reading this? I'm so sorry it took so long for an update. I'm horrible and terrible I know.

This chapter is in 3rd POV because it wouldn't make sense from Pony's and it didn't really seem to fit Soda's voice.

So I would really appreciate reviews like all authors on here.

"Darry…." Soda whispered in a hushed tone, worry evident in his voice. "Dar, he's really burning up."

Leaning over the bed, Darry pressed his hand to Pony's forehead, alarmed at how warm his flesh felt against his skin. You could tell something wasn't right just by looking at him. His face was flushed and his breathing was shallow and uneven.

"Pony, wake up." Darry gently shook his shoulder and was met with nothing but a groan.

"Go call the hospital and tell them we're coming in." Darry glanced over his shoulder at Soda, who was obviously a bit anxious. Not that Darry could blame him. "And then go start the truck up."

Sodapop's eyes widened slightly at the mention of the hospital; frightened that whatever Darry thought was wrong required a trip to the emergency room.

Darry carefully lifted Pony from his bed, trying not to disturb him too much. Despite the heat that was coming from his body, he was trembling ever so slightly and Darry held him closer, carrying him through the house and out the front door into the cool night air.

Soda hopped out of the truck and jogged around to the passenger side to help get Pony into the cab. Pony was thinner than ever but he was mostly dead weight at the moment so it was still a challenge getting him in. Soda quickly climbed in next to him when they got him situated and Darry slid behind the steering wheel.

For once Darry didn't pay any mind to the speed limits and muttered a curse when he ran a stop sign. He slowed down a bit after that. All they needed was to get into an accident on the way to the hospital.

Ponyboy was startled awake when Darry came to an abrupt stop at a red light. His eyes bright with fever darted around frantically, reminding Soda of a spooked horse. "Ssshh its okay Pone," Soda pushed his hair back, talking in a low soothing voice. "Go back to sleep."

x*x*x*x*x*x*x*x*

Soda sat in the chair next to Pony's bed, watching him carefully. He looked so small and helpless with the needles and IV. The nurse's and doctor assured him that he was going to be fine and it wasn't anything serious. But if it wasn't anything serious why the hell were they planning on keeping him another night? That seemed pretty damn serious to him.

"Don't you ever go home?" Valarie, the nurse that worked the morning shift asked with a smile, walking into the room.

"I'll go when he goes," He answered, nodding towards Pony. Darry left early that morning, having to take care of a few things at work and there was no way in hell Soda was going to leave Ponyboy here by himself.

Valarie hummed softly as she switched out his IV.

"When is he gonna be able to go home?" Soda prompted, straightening up in the chair.

"Hard to say….hopefully in a few days…we're still trying to find the right combination of antibiotics."

Soda sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "He's gonna be stuck here a few more days?"

"It's possible…we need to knock this infection out." Valarie patted Sodapop on the shoulder. "Don't look so down, the time will go by pretty quickly; I'm covering the night-shift so I'll see you later tonight."

*x*x*x*x*x*x*

"How ya feeling?" Soda asked a still groggy Ponyboy.

"Alright, I guess." Ponyboy yawned.

Soda was using Ponyboy's food tray to shuffle the deck of cards that Steve brought by earlier. Darry had went home about an hour ago after Soda convinced him that it would be a good idea for him to go to work tomorrow.

"Hey…did we miss the game?" Pony suddenly asked.

"What game?" Soda didn't look up from the cards.

"Darry's football game…did I miss it?"

Sodapop blinked in confusion and set the cards down, raising his head to meet Ponyboy's gaze. Was he messing with him?

"Maybe we can still make it." Ponyboy went on not waiting for an answer.

Sodapop wasn't sure how to respond. "Pony, you can't go anywhere," he told him slowly.

"Yes, I can." Ponyboy struggled to sit up and Soda gently pushed him back down.

"No, honey, you can't. Just stay in bed."

"No…get mom and dad…please Sodapop….I just wanna go home." Ponyboy attempted to yank the needle out of his hand and Soda grasped his wrists.

"Can I get some help in here?" Soda called out desperately, trying to keep Ponyboy from ripping out his IV.

"What's going on in here?" Valarie demanded, striding into the room.

"He's not making any sense and he was trying to take out his IV's." Sodapop explained, but the struggle must have been to exhausting for him because he had stopped fighting and was lying back staring up at the ceiling.

"He was talking about going to see Darry's football game…Darry hasn't played football since highschool." Soda hoped his voice didn't come out as panicky as he felt.

"He must be having a bad reaction to the medication….that can sometimes cause hallucinations." Valarie mused, checking his vitals.

Suddenly Ponyboy began to gasp for air like a fish out of water than just as quickly he seemed to not be breathing at all and before Soda could even react the machine that the doctor explained to them the first day was to monitor his heart, went from the regular beeping he had gotten used to and stretched into one long beep.

If you clicked on it and read it thank you! I'd love to know your thoughts? :D