A/N: Hello and welcome to my last chapter for this story!! I know that it's the same day that I put up my last chapter, but I was just really excited about this chapter!! Just so you know, I know I messed up on some of this near the end and some of it is from the book, not the movie, just so you know.

Song for this chapter: "Lean On Me" by Michael Musso

The next time I woke up, I saw a blinding white roof and I had a breathing tube in my nose. I was all shaken up; I didn't know what was goin' on. Everything was spinning and it was fuzzy and my hearing was muffled.

"Darry?" I asked. I didn't know if he was there, and I was scared to death.

"He'll be here in a minute," a soft voice said. It sounded like a girl, or a guy with a really girlish voice.

"Who are you?" I asked the girl, or girlish guy.

"I'm a nurse," the voice said before I heard footsteps walking out of the room. Nurse? I thought to myself. Am I in a hospital or something? I was still all mixed up by the time Darry came in.

"Hey, Pepsi-Cola, how are you?" he asked in a calm voice that was shaking ever so slightly.

"Hey, Darry," I managed to croak. "I'm okay. What happened?"

"You had severe blood loss," he explained. "You have a scar across your torso," he added.

"That sure explains a lot," I said, thinking about the pain on my body.

"That Soc sure cut you good, huh?" he commented. I nodded in response. "The guys are here," he added.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said as he pulled my blankets up. "I'll get them. Be right back," after a minute of lying there, Darry came back with Dally, Steve, and Two-Bit. I wish I'd seen Ponyboy and Johnny there, too. I nearly bawled at the thought.

"Hey, Soda," Two-Bit said. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I said, surprised he wasn't making a joke out of it.

"I'm gonna beat the tar outta that guy that did this to you!" Dally said through clenched teeth. Yup, I thought. He's still normal. Steve didn't seem to be talking in his usual hatred for the world, though.

"Hey, Dally," I said. "Hey, Steve," I added, trying to get him to talk. His silence was scaring me.

"Hey, Soda," he said as he jammed his hands in his pockets. Awkward silence.

"What's wrong, Steve?" I asked him.

"It's all my fault!" he suddenly bawled.

"How is it your fault?" I asked. I couldn't seem to see how it could be his fault.

"I didn't help you! I just fought," he bawled.

"Look, it's NOT your fault," I said. "It's the Soc's fault! All of them! Now stop blubbering, you're gonna make me cry," I said, chocking on tears.

"Yeah, alright," he said as he stopped crying. He impatiently wiped his tears away. I tried to sit up, but Darry stopped me.

"Whoa, take it easy," he said as he put his hand over me.

"Okay, fine," I said as I lied back down. Then, I held my arms out like a little kid and I got my eyes to ask Darry Can we hug? He smiled.

"Sure, Soda," he answered my eyes as he leaned down to hug me. "You're still a kid at heart, you know?" he told me, breathing into my hair.

"I know," I answered him. We hung out for a while till a doctor came in.

"Hello… Sodapop," he said. I grinned at the sound of my name. "You can go home now,"

"Really?" I asked him, just to be sure.

"Yes," he said as a nurse came in to help me with my breathing tube.

"Thank you," I whispered to her as I got up to get out of my hospital gown. When I was ready, I walked out with the guys. Then, I smelled the cafeteria food and my stomach suddenly felt empty. That's when I realised that's how I felt the whole time I was awake, which lead to my wondering of how long I had been out for. I was gonna ask Darry at home when I couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, Darry," I said to get his attention.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"How long have I been out for?" I asked.

"I nearly forgot to tell you!" he said. "Let's see… you went out at about noon, and it's six now so… you've been out for about thirty hours,"

"So that means…" I said, hinting him that I didn't get it.

"One day and six hours," he said simply. I hate it when he uses math.

"That explains a lot," I said again, thinking about how tired, thirsty and hungry I was.

I rode home with Darry and the others went with Dallas. I nearly fell asleep in the car thinking about Ponyboy again. I was so absorbed in it that I didn't hear Darry asking me to get out. I suddenly saw a hand waving in front of my face. I nearly jumped outta my skin.

"Earth to Sodapop!" he said.

"What?" I asked as I was back in the real world.

"I told you to get out of the car!" Darry said playfully.

"Alright," I said as I got out sleepily.

"I'll get dinner ready. What do you wanna eat?" Darry asked as we were walking into the house.

"Uh… I don't know… maybe chicken?" I said.

"Sure," Darry said as he dug around for one to cook. We had dinner at about 7:00 that night. Darry told me about some stuff that happened, like Two-Bit getting jumped, that there was gonna be a rumble, that we had a spy about the rumble named Cherry, and that Sandy had moved away to Florida.

"Without saying good bye?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he said as if he didn't want me to hear. I stayed quiet. We went to bed early that night and I could hear Darry telling the guys that we weren't going to be joining them, but that they could hang out if they wanted to. I tried to get the sleep I desperately needed that night, but couldn't.

*****

Since I couldn't sleep that night but didn't want to get out of bed, I stayed in bed till about 8:00 the next morning. I had extra chocolate cake that morning for breakfast because I hadn't eaten much since the day before I was knocked out, even the chicken I had the other night; I didn't feel like eating then. In conclusion, I was hungry for chocolate. We talked as we ate.

"So…" Darry started.

"What is it?" I asked, sensing something from him.

"I don't think you should go to work today," he said.

"Darry, I can't skip a day of work!" I said, surprised.

"Sodapop, you're still just getting over being cut like that, and I just want you to be safe while you're still getting over it," Darry explained.

"Alright, fine," I gave in as I finished my second piece of cake.

Darry went to work that day, and I stayed home bored as could be. I called Two-Bit and Dally over, but Dally said that he needed to do something else that day, so only Two-Bit came. We goofed off all day. Even though I don't like going to work all the time, at least it's something to do. By about 5:00 Darry came home and it was time for Two-Bit to go home, so he left. We were having dinner when the phone rang.

"I'll get it," Darry said as he got up. I could hear his side of the conversation; "Hello? Speaking." Then after a few seconds of listening, "Are you sure it's him?" then, after more listening, "Alright. Thank you," then he hung up.

"Who was it?" I asked.

"The hospital. They have Dallas…" he started, making me think he'd stopped. "… and Johnny and Ponyboy," he said about a minute after he paused to fool me. I could feel a scream rushing up my throat, but I kept my mouth shut. Seeing the excitement in my eyes, Darry covered up his ears. "Go ahead," he said. Then, I screamed of happiness. We rushed to the car to greet Ponyboy home.

*****

"Come on!" I told Darry as I ran out the car.

"I'm coming!" he said as he started to walk out. I ran to the doors and waited behind a man talking to the nurse at the desk.

"He wants to know how his friends are," the man explained.

"I'm sorry, but we can only tell that information to family," the nurse told him.

"But Ponyboy Curtis…" the man started before I interrupted.

"Ponyboy Curtis?" I asked him.

"Yeah, that's his name. Why?" he asked.

"That's my brother!" I explained to him. "My brother Darry and I have been worried sick about him!"

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah! Will you please tell him his brothers are here to see him?" I asked him.

"Sure, be right back," he said. By then, Darry had walked in.

"What's goin' on?" he asked.

"That guy's with Ponyboy and he's gonna get him for us!" I explained.

"Really?" he asked, not convinced.

"Yeah!" I nearly screamed.

"Okay then!" Darry said. "Try to calm down then, okay?"

"Fine," I said as he went to cool down at the door. I followed him and he held the door open. Seconds later, Ponyboy came walking, his face black and his hair blonde. He looked up and saw us, his eyes sparkling. "Ponyboy," I said as he started running. I caught him in a bear hug and swung him around. "Your hair… your tuff, tuff hair," I said as I examined his new blonde head. When he let go of me, he turned and noticed Darry.

"Ponyboy," Darry started. Then I noticed that he was crying. He hardly ever cries, not even when Mom and Dad died. After a few seconds of staring, Ponyboy ran to him and hugged him. Darry started crying and saying that he thought we'd lost him like we did Mom and Dad. I joined in the group hug, knowing my brother was now safe.

A/N: Ta-da! Thank you very much for reading this story. And btw, while I was writing this chapter I realised that I forgot to put in Sodapop's letter for Ponyboy, so let's just say that it happened on the first night, okay? You choose whatever you want to think. ;D Hope you read more of my stories!