In The Park

Johnny looked down at his hands, stained red with blood, human blood.

I killed him. He thought over and over again.

He had taken a life. He did it deliberately. No matter how much he tried to justify it, say that he was saving his friend, it would not change the fact that he had just committed murder.

"Johnny?" he heard Pony say as he woke from unconsciousness.

"I k-killed him," he stammered, still looking at his hands. "I killed that boy."

Pony looked at his friend and then at the body draped over the side of the fountain, still dripping blood onto the ground.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," said Pony.

"Go ahead man, I won't look." Johnny leaned over and, with shaky hands, cleaned his switchblade on the grass.

"I guess you really did kill him, huh Johnny?" said Pony, tears pouring down his young face.

What are we going to do? He couldn't go to prison. He'd never survive there. Even if he did, he'd end up like Dally. That was no way to go through life.

What about Paradise? His mother had offered for him to come live with her…

"Mom?"

"Huh, Johnny?"

He didn't answer. I'm a killer, a bad kid, a no good low-down greaser. How could someone as kind and pure as Diana ever love him now? He had a chance at a mother's love and he threw it away. He'd never get it back.

"Come on, Johnny, we gotta get out of here," said Ponyboy, tugging on his sleeve. "Come on."

Johnny stood up slowly, his head spinning. He was in a daze.

"Come on, man, let's find Dally. He'll know what to do," said Pony in a cracked voice.

"Yeah…" said Johnny, "What would Dally do?"

"Are we there yet?" asked Drusilla, looking out over the land stretched out underneath them.

"Dru, we're close, so will you please stop asking me?" said Diana.

Ever since they left Paradise Island, the feeling that her child was in trouble kept growing. Now she was dreading what she would find when she returned to Tulsa. She was already wearing her Wonder Woman outfit, while Drusilla had her own suit on. It consisted of blue pants and red blouse decorated with stars and red boots. She also had her own tiara, bracelets and belt.

After a few more minutes, she flew the plane down until they came to a steady landing in the field near the park.

"Let's hurry."

"You never told me what's wrong," said Drusilla as the neared the park on foot.

"I just had a terrible feeling that something is wrong with Johnny."

They stepped through the trees into the park and spotted the fountain in the middle.

"What's that?" asked Drusilla.

"Oh no," said Diana, seeing the human form draped over the side of the fountain, blood seeping onto the ground.

Both women rushed over to the figure and pulled him onto the ground and laid him on his back.

"Who did this to him?" Drusilla asked.

"I don't know," said Diana, checking the boy's pulse. "He's still alive, but barely."

"What should we do?"

Diana didn't answer at first. She scooped him up into her arms, careful of his wounds.

"Follow me," she began running as fast as she could in the direction of the plane.

She put him down on the medical table once inside.

"We need to work fast. He's already lost a lot of blood."

"Tell me what I should do," said Drusilla.

Diana grabbed onto the collar of the boys shirt and ripped it open. "Help me get this off of him."

They pulled his arms out of the sleeves and threw the bloody rags onto the floor of the plane. Diana turned him over onto his side to examine his wounds. There were several stab wounds on his back. They were small, as if from a small, thin blade. Blood was still pouring out.

"Get me some gauze to stop the bleeding," said Diana, covering the wounds with her hand and pressing on them. Drusilla looked around the small compartment until she saw a box of medical supplies. She opened it and began looking for the gauze.

"Hurry!"

"Here it is," said Dru, pulling it out and handing it to her sister. Diana took it and pressed it into his wounds.

"We'll need to cauterize it. Go outside and start a fire."

"Yes, Diana," Drusilla left the plan and quickly gathered some wood and dry leaves. Once she had them in a pile and cleared the surrounding area, she struck her bracelets together. This created a small spark. She did it several times over the pile of leaves and wood until the sparks caught the leaves and they began to burn.

Next, she looked around the field until she saw a fallen tree branch. She checked it for its thickness and stability. "This one won't work." She threw it down and began her search again.

"This'll do," she said when she found a more sturdy branch. She removed her tiara and used its sharp edges to begin scraping off the bark and carving the end into a point.

"I found a branch outside. I formed it into a poker and set it in the fire," said Drusilla.

"Thank you," said Diana, looking to see if the bleeding had stopped.

"How long had he been out there?" Drusilla asked.

"It couldn't have been long. Maybe less than an hour… maybe two."

"If we had gotten there sooner, we may have been able to stop this from happening," said Dru.

"We can't think about that now. Bring me the poker." Drusilla rushed back outside and retrieved the poker. The tip was glowing red. She brought it inside.

"Here," she handed it to Diana.

"Hold him down in case he reacts." Drusilla put her hands on both of his shoulders and pressed firm but gently.

Diana held the poker up near his wounds and without hesitating, she shoved it in. Drusilla grimaced at the unpleasant task and the smell of burnt flesh. Though it must've been very painful though, the boy didn't even twitch.

"There," said Diana when she was done.

"Will he be alright?" asked Drusilla.

Diana threw down the stick and sighed. "I don't know if there is any internal damage done. He may need a blood transfusion, too. But he should be fine, at least for now."

Drusilla nodded, "What should we do now?"

Diana stood up and began walking to the front of the plane, "We need to get him to the nearest hospital."