Disclaimer: I don't own it. Stop hassling me or I'll tell my mom. D:

At an all time low you don't think can get any worse. It can always get worse. Remember that. Because sometimes you forget. And once you forget, that's when it gets worse.

"Uhhhh," I groaned.

"He's waking up."

"You sure? He could be just mumbling."

"He sounds like he's waking up."

"Ponyboy?"

"Mmm, stop yelling," I said, "My head hurts too much."

I blinked. I saw a flash of faces around me. I blinked again.

"Hey Darry, Soda."

"Hey baby, how're you feeling?" Soda asked, playing with my hair.

"No too hot," I admitted, "Where are we?"

"The hospital, kiddo," Darry said.

"The hospital? How come? Someone sick?" I asked. I then frowned at the looks on their faces, "I'm sick? I ain't sick. I have a headache, but I fell down. I tripped. I'm okay." I rambled. I started to sit up. I wanted to get out of there. No one got better in hospitals, just worse. People died in hospitals.

"Easy Ponyboy," Darry said, shifting me back down into the bed, "Easy."

"What's going on?"

"Could ask you the same thing," Darry said, "What's going on with you? How come you haven't been eating?"

"I have so been eating," I said, "Two-Bit's lying."

Soda and Darry exchanged worried glances at each other. "Honey, the doctor said-"

"Doctor's are dumb," I snapped, cutting Soda off. "They don't help people."

"Please," Soda pleaded, "Please just take to us Pony. What's happening inside that head of yours?"

"A headache," I said stubbornly.

Soda sighed. He looked quite deflated. I hated to see him like that, but I wasn't going to admit anything.

Someone unfamiliar to me walked into the room. It was a stiff man, wearing a black bowler hat, plain black slacks, and a white button up shirt. His brown mustache was sweeping down over his lips, like he was trying to hide them. He didn't look anything like a doctor, though that's how he introduced himself.

"Hello. My name's Dr. Pyke," he said. His voice was as stiff as his posture. Darry stood up and shook his hand. I started unraveling a small string in the blanket that covered me.

"May I have a private word with you?" Dr. Pyke asked Darry. They both stepped out into the hall.

Soda placed his hand over mine, ruining my string game. We didn't say anything and it felt awkward. I usually would tell Soda everything. But for some reason every time I said to myself that I'd tell Soda how I felt, the words got mixed up in my throat and wouldn't come out of my mouth.

Darry and Dr. Pyke came back into the room. Darry made Soda go out of the room, which made me kind of mad. Even if I wasn't going to talk to Soda, I didn't want him to leave. And then Darry started walking to the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked, not wanting to be alone with Dr. Pyke. He made me uneasy.

"I'll come back," Darry assured me.

I nodded slowly, almost as if I didn't believe him.

He winked at me and closed the door behind him.

Dr. Pyke sat down in the chair that Soda had been and I wanted to tell him he couldn't sit there because it was my brother's chair, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Ponyboy," Dr. Pyke said, and clicked his tongue once before continuing, "You sure scared your brothers. I heard this hasn't been your first time passing out."

At first I thought he was going to talk about when I passed out when Dally died, but then I realized he mean when I passed out during track.

"What kind of doctor are you?" I blurted. I didn't understand what his question had to do with anything.

To my surprise, he smiled, "I'm a child psychiatrist."

"I'm not crazy," I said, trying to assure myself more than anything.

He shook his head, "I know that Ponyboy. I never thought you were. I just think you're…troubled."

Troubled. That was a word that people used to describe hoods most often. They just rob banks and steal cars because they're troubled.

"I'm not troubled either."

"No?" Dr. Pyke raised his eyebrows so they stretched to the limits of his face, "Well, gosh. I think I would be. I mean, if I had gone through everything you had. Losing two of your best friends so tragically. Not to mention already having lost your parents. Ponyboy, I think I'd be more worried if you weren't troubled."

I sure didn't have anything to say to that. What could I say? Of course I was broken up about all of it. That wasn't something that even I could deny.

Dr. Pyke smiled at my stunned expression, "Now then. I heard you get pretty good grades in school."

Man, this guy was crazy. First it seemed like he wanted to talk about what happened, and now he wanted to talk about school? Maybe he needed a shrink more than I did.

"Um, I guess," I said, "Well. Not really recently, I 'spose."

"Not recently, eh?" Dr. Pyke said.

"Yeah. I ain't been doing as good as I normally do in school. Darry's kinda mad about it," I said.

Dr. Pyke nodded, "Why don't you think you haven't been doing as well?"

"I dunno," I said, thinking slowly, "I mean, I'm trying. I'm really trying."

Another nod.

"I guess I've been kind of distracted lately."

"Oh? How so?"

This time I wasn't going to play. I just sat there. And then when he didn't say anything I said, "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Okay. You don't have to talk about it. Is there something you'd like to talk about?"

"Not really."

"Ponyboy, you know, I can't tell anyone anything you say in here unless you say it's okay. I could lose my job. It's called doctor-patient confidentiality. So if there's something you want to talk about, you can. I won't tell anyone."

"Really?" I asked, "You can't tell anyone?"

"Nope," he smiled.

"Well, uh," I stuttered.

"Go on," he urged.

"Before I passed out today, I thought I saw Johnny and Dally."

I was afraid he'd gasp like people usually do when I tell them my name for the first time. Or maybe shake his head and tell me I was so crazy there was nothing he could do for me. But he just nodded.

"Did they say anything?"

"They said I was out of control."

"What do you think they meant by that."

"I dunno," I lied, "Can we stop talking for right now?"

"Sure," he said, "I'll let your brothers come back in. And I think there's two other boys out there for you as well."

I nodded, "Bye."

He stood up, gave me a slight two-fingered wave, and whisked out the door.

Author's Note: I think that was my record update time. D Aren't you proud of me? I almost felt like making this chapter longer, but decided against it. I'll leave you hanging for a little while.

Anyways, I'm leaving on vacation on the 26th. I'm not sure if I'll update by then or not. If I don't (which is probably the most likely. xD) I will be back in around four or five days. So I'll update in about two months. Just kidding. I'm so funny. Hah hah. I know. X.x

Oh man. Just for shits and giggles I have to tell you about how hard a time I had with Dr. Pyke's name. It was like midnight and I get all loopy around that time. So first I wrote Dr. Frankenstein. And then it was Dr. Finker. And then I kept writing the song lyrics I was listening to. Finally I just cheated and looked online for a good name. And it came up with Pike. So yeah. But I had a good time laughing at myself. And now you can, too. Feel blessed!