Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders
The ride to the hospital was uncomfortably silent. Soda bounced his leg up and down in a nervous fidget. Every few seconds he glanced out the window. I just stared straight ahead. My mouth was dry but my eyes felt wet. I squeezed them scooping back the tears. I couldn't lose my cool, not now.
I took a deep breath and turned to get a better look at Soda. His face was deathly pale. I stifled the urge to sigh. The last time I sat in a cop car was that January day I was rushed to identify my parents. The idea that I might be doing the same thing with Pony made me sick.
If he was perfectly fine then we wouldn't be in this car. A cop would have brought him home or we'd been called by the hospital. I recalled yesterday easily felt my stomach churn. Five minutes later and my brother could have been, could have been, I didn't want to think about it. I couldn't think about it.
"We're here." The cop said pulling to the curb. Soda and I got out. Soda was shivering all over. I couldn't help but shake the feeling that I had done this to him. I flinched but stopped when Soda turned to look at me. I had to be strong. I had to be stable; I had to be tough. Soda needed me.
"Just follow me. We are going to the pediatric ward. There is a waiting room there." Oh lordie, pediatrics. Pony's still a kid, a little kid.
Sodapop and I wordlessly followed the cop. Into the hospital, to the elevator and up three floors we went. The Pediatrics ward was a stark contrast to any of the other floors I had seen. The nurse's station was filled with stuffed animals and toys. The walls were lined with teddy bear wallpaper. Glory teddy bears, this whole hall was filled with little kids. My stomach did a summersault.
The cop led us into an empty waiting room. There were quite a few chairs, a bench, some vending machines and some books. It too had toys and games. This had dinosaur wallpaper; the same Soda and I had when we were kids. I couldn't stand to look at it.
I took a deep breath and looked at Soda. He looked like he could cry any moment. He's as tough as the next guy but Soda can be real emotional. I wanted to cry but I couldn't right now. I had to be strong. I had to be in control, for Soda and Pony.
"The doctor will be here soon. I have to go back on duty. I am so sorry I couldn't tell you more." I nodded my head leaned against the wall. and sat down. I kept my head low and glanced at my watch, six A.M.
It had been four hours, twelve minutes since I had hit him. My parents never ever hit us. I didn't even get smacked when I got plum wasted that night after a football game. Soda didn't even get a whipping when he wrecked mom and dad's car last summer.
But I hit Pony. I was always, always nagging at him and yelling at him. I don't think I've said anything good to him in eight months. I wouldn't blame him if he hated my guts. I hated myself for sure. Sighing a just stared at the ground.
* * * * * * * * * *
Sodapop's Pov
I don't know how long we were waiting there. It could have been minutes or hours. I don't have a great grasp on time and worrying about Pony didn't help much, not much at all. I love him so much. He's my little brother and we have always been really close. Even when we were little kids we were always together. After we lost our folks we became even closer.
Darry sat down beside me. He looked awful. His eyes had circles around them from lack of sleep and if you looked closely you could see he had lost weight. He felt just awful for hitting Ponyboy. Nobody in our family has ever hit him not really. There was the occasional wrestling max but my parents never beat us. They certainly never allowed us to hit one another.
Darry would never ever intentionally hurt our baby brother. I get mad sometimes because he nags and yells so much but he doesn't mean to come off that way. Darry is nuts about Ponyboy. He's just never been good with showing it. Yelling is all he knows to do.
He worries about Ponyboy so much. I mean Pony's still just a kid, he's the baby. Darry doesn't know what else to do. He's just so scared something's going to happen to him. Only now it has.
I sighed. Darry looked over at me and tried to smile. "Come here Pepsi- Cola." he patted the bench beside him. I walked over and sat down. Darry ran his hand threw my hair and messed it up. It's his own way of showing affection, usually reserved for Ponyboy.
"Darry?"
"Yeha little buddy?"
"Is Pony going to be okay?" I felt like a baby for asking it. I mean I didn't sound tough at all. I didn't care though. I'm not completely ashamed to admit that I'm a bit of a bawl baby and sometimes need reassurance. Darry didn't have any to give.
"I don't know Pepsi- Cola, I just don't know. We'll have to wait and see." I nodded and lay my head on Darry's shoulder. He gave a tiny smile then. "Stretch out and get yourself some rest Soda. It could be awhile before we know anything. I bet you haven't slept for more than two hours since last night."
That was the typical Darry these days. He always has to be the adult, the mother hen. I nodded. Things were bad enough without him having to worry about me. I didn't want to add my being sick from lack of sleep onto his already very hefty plate.
So I lifted my head from his shoulder and stretched out and lay my head in his lap. "Wake me when a doctor comes?" I asked yawning.
"Promise." Darry said mussing up my hair once more. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.