Disclaimer: S.E. Hinton owns all rights and creative genius in The Outsiders and I do not profit from anything. I just get to have fun and pure enjoyment from her writing. No money is made from my writing.
Research from
Ponyboy's POV
Today was the big day. Today we had to go to the hospital and get my first round of chemo. Darry and Sodapop both took off work. We were in the car after I packed my bag and we were headed off to the hospital. I was scared to death but so I wouldn't dare show it or admit it.
We walked into the hospital and a nurse led us to the room. Soda and Darry took a seat as another nurse came in.
"Hello Ponyboy, my name is Nurse Shelly and I'll be your nurse for today." She said. She had long brown hair with slight curls at the end. She was really pretty, probably in her mid-twenties. Too bad, I wanted to set her up with Darry.
She took out a long needle and I tensed. She smiled reassuringly before sticking me with the needle.
The chemo was already pumping through me, making me sick. It took only a minute or two before my I started to feel like I was going to be sick, and I was going to be sick now. My stomach gave a violent and unpleasant jolt and Darry put the garbage can under me as I puked my guts out. Soda held my hand and squeezed it in comfort as I flopped back down on the bed, sweaty and exhausted from the effort of puking.
My eyelids dropped, too exhausted to stay open. I tried to open then and tried to stay awake.
"Go to sleep, little buddy." Darry whispered to me. I silently agreed and let my eyelids close and let Soda's humming lull me into a restful slumber.
Soda's POV
It was so hard for me to watch Ponyboy suffer like this. Almost immediately he puked his guts out while I tried to comfort him. His pale sweaty figure flopped back down and fell asleep almost on contact with the pillow.
I was heartbroken that I had to go to work tomorrow. I know he wouldn't say anything, but he wanted one of us to stay with him, not the gang. He loved them to death but they weren't his brothers. I loved to be able to comfort and understand him the way I do. That special bond had been their since I saw him in that little cubical. They thought he was going to die, he was too small.
Flashback
I was a happy three year old, excited for my new sibling and the chance to be a big brother like Darry. Dad came out with a worried look. He attempted to mask if for us.
"Daddy, the baby okay?" I ask innocently.
"Yeah, he's just small." He lied.
Pony was nine weeks early. He was five and a half pounds.
They didn't think he would live through the night.
Dad took us to the cubical. For being so small he had a strong heartbeat.
"His name is Ponyboy Michael." Dad told us.
"Ponyboy?" Darry asked in his awed six year old voice. "It fits, his heartbeat sounds like a horse." Darry talked real good for six, mom and dad already knew he was going to be real smart. I could only say short sentences.
I looked down at the small baby. He reached his hand up towards me. I smiled and stuck my finger down the hole in the cubical. Dad smiled at both of us and led us to go see mom.
End Flashback
I smiled at my first memory of Ponyboy. He was always stubborn a fighter and he always would be. That's where he and Darry are a lot alike. I wish they could see it.
Maybe if they could they wouldn't argue so much. They both do the best they can, they just can't get along in this Parent-Brother role they have to play.
Two-Bit's POV
Today I was taking Johnny and myself to go see Ponyboy at the hospital. I was suppose to "babysit the kid."
What trouble could he get into in a hospital? Knowing him, anything and everything. I knew he just wanted someone with him.
Darry said the chemotherapy made him really sick and tired. That just wasn't Pony, him taking something sitting down. He was a fighter, always active and moving around unless he was fading or watching a movie.
I walked I and winced at the sight of the pale sick kid in front of me, looking so small lying in that hospital bed. It was Ponyboy.
A/N: A bit of a cliff hanger, but not too much.