"The nurse called Ponyboy and Darry for me," Soda said as he sat back down next to his best friend.

Both Soda and Steve had been told to stay in the emergency room waiting area. The two had tried to explain the situation in hopes of being able to go in, but the nurse had said they could make no exceptions to anyone who wanted to get in to know what was going on. The only people who were allowed to a certain point were the patient's parents or legal guardian, and even they had to have some sort of proof that they were the parent of legal guardian of the person.

Even if the two were allowed to go in, they'd still had to wait. But if they were waiting on the inside, they'd be able to be more in the loop of things than they were in the emergency room waiting area. There were no nurses or doctors they could ask about what was going on or how everything was going or how Evie and Cherry were doing. All they could really do in the waiting area was sit and wait, and maybe watch bits and pieces of those god-forsaken "daytime dramas" that were playing on the televisions in the waiting area.

Hell, with those playing on the televisions in the waiting area, the two teenage boys would ever stoop low enough to start reading one of those Cosmopolitan magazines that women were so intrigued by.

"I wish they would tell us how the hell they're doin'," Steve grumbled, not hearing his best friend's words.

"I know," Soda answered with a sigh, "I don't see why they can't at least tell us what's goin' on."

"Yeah, I know. How long have we been waiting now?"

"Long enough, I can tell you that much. It's drivin' me nuts."

Steve let out a slight chuckle. "Sitting still for five minutes drives you nuts."

"You got a point there," Soda admitted with a laugh.

In reality, the two had been waiting for a period of two hours at that point, but neither of them had been keeping track.

-/-/-

Ponyboy and Lily sat in the truck with Darry. One their way toward the hospital, they had stopped by where the oldest Curtis brother worked. When they told him the situation, he was able to take the rest of the day off without getting his pay cut due to the situation.

As Darry drove, he couldn't help but think about the two girls. Cherry still had amnesia- would that affect how she healed and recovered from the accident? How would her memory be? Would she be able to remember everything and her amnesia would be gone? Would she only remember everything before she got amnesia? Would she only be able to remember everything from after the amnesia? Would she be able to even remember anything, or would they be back right where they started?

And what about Evie? She was nearly four and half months pregnant. Darry had heard about women who'd been in car accidents while they were pregnant and the baby died. Would that happened to her? Would she be ok? Would the baby be ok? Would only one of them be ok? Would they both be hurt in some way?

Darry pulled into the parking lot of the emergency room. He got out from his car along with his youngest brother and the younger Mathews sibling and the three practically ran into the lobby and waiting area of the emergency room. He made sure to ask the nurse about Cherry and Evie- using their real names, which were most likely the names on all of their health records, Sherri Valance and Evelyn Smith. The nurse at the desk told the three that they had to wait with the two other boys waiting for news about the two girls, and they did as they were told.

"Are you both alright?" Darry asked as he sat down.

"Yeah," Soda nodded, "Physically, at least. Mentally, we're terrible."

"Just a couple of nervous wrecks," Steve sighed.

"Look," Darry said, "No matter what happens to any of them, we are going to take care of them, alright? And that's gonna go for everyone."

-/-/-

Both Ponyboy and Lily slightly relaxed since arriving at the hospital. Not to say that they weren't worried about Cherry and Evie, but they guess that seeing that Soda and Steve were physically alright was somewhat comforting. It was like there were less people to worry about at that point.

As the two older Curtis brothers and their friend talked, Ponyboy and Lily talked to take their minds off of the situation at hand. She acknowledged the daytime drama that was playing on a local station since it was later than they usually played "Soap Operas"; a local station in town had part of the rights to air the shows on their station at a certain time that was later so the people who wanted to watch those shows who weren't home every day during the early afternoon could still see them.

"My mom watches those," Lily said.

Ponyboy gave a weird look. "She does?" he asked.

"Yeah. Since she's a private nurse, she has this patient during the afternoon that she watches it with. It's called Days of our Lives."

"What kind of title is that?"

"Beats me. I just know women all over the country watch these things every day, five days a week at the same time every day for an hour every day. And there's more than one of these types of shows, and they go on at different times on different stations."

"Why do women watch those?"

Lily shrugged. "No clue, I just know married woman who are housewives usually watch them. Honestly, they don't appeal to me, ya know? I mean, I've tried watching those things on days we don't got school or something before, but I couldn't do it. The plots are so complicated and elaborate, but they're just so ridiculous. Not to mention that the acting ain't so great."

Ponyboy couldn't figure out- based on what Lily was telling him- why people would wanna watch those shows. If the plots were so complicated and ridiculous, what was the point? How could a person follow a show like that? And then he started to think about how the characters might be. Then Lily had said that the acting was bad, and that was a total deal breaker.

"Gosh," Ponyboy breathed out, "That sure is odd."

"Yeah, I know," Lily laughed, "And don't get me started on those Cosmopolitan magazines."

-/-/-

Steve's heart was beating a mile a minute and continued to quicken in pace as he waited. He couldn't help but to begin to think the worst case scenario as they all waited for news on Cherry and Evie's current condition. What the hell is taking them so long? he thought angrily as he got up from his seat and headed toward the front door. He saw his best friend start to follow him in concern from the corner of his eye, but he turned and said to him, "I just need a moment." Soda just nodded and went back to his seat.

Steve walked out the front entrance of the emergency room and sat down on a nearby bench. He debated whether or not he should have a cigarette to ease his nerves, and maybe even to pass the time a little. He wasn't sure if he should or not, considering he was one of those people that believed you shouldn't be smoking around or in a hospital. But for the first time in his life, he would smoke while he was at the hospital. At least I'm not doin' it inside of one, he thought rationally.

Steve lit his cigarette then took a drag. He wasn't really much of a smoker in general, considering it took him two weeks to two months to finish just one pack. He didn't even finish those whole packs on his own cause he'd end up giving a cigarette or two to someone else who wanted one, and it would just empty out. And lately, since his girlfriend had gotten pregnant, he really didn't smoke anymore.

"Aren't you a little young to be smokin' that? Especially 'round here?" a man called.

Steve jumped at the voice and looked up from his spot on the bench. When he did, he saw Angelo Robertson walked up to him, smiling at his joke. He gave an embarrassed smile back at the older man. "Hey, Angel," he greeted, "How's your hand?"

"It's doin' fine, thanks, Steve," Angel greeted happily, "How're you doin'?"

"I'm ok, I guess. What're you doin' here?"

"Well, my daughter just started working here, so I came to visit her here like the embarrassing yet proud father I am. I should be asking you what you asked me, though, if you don't mind? And how's that girlfriend a' yours?"

Steve looked down as he stomped out the barely touched cigarette. "She's actually the reason I'm here again," he sighed, "Cause last time I saw you, we found out she was pregnant."

"Oh, wow. Congratulations, kid."

"Well, thanks. But she was in a car accident right by the DX today, and my best friend's girlfriend was in the car too. We saw it before, and it was pretty bad. And it doesn't help that my girlfriend was about four months, and his girlfriend had temporary amnesia…"

Angel's face fell. "Steve, I'm so sorry that happened. Have the nurses told either of you how they're doin'?"

"Not a thing."

"Alright, what're their names? And not nicknames, their birth names, first and last."

"Sherri Valance and Evelyn Smith."

Angel nodded then went inside the emergency room entrance. Steve watched as the older man went to the front desk and talked to the nurse there. A moment later, a young women came out into the waiting area from the inside of the emergency room. When she saw the older man, she smiled and ran to hug him. The two talked happily for a moment before a serious expression spread across his face. She responded to what he said in an equally serious expression before the two smiled and hugged again before parting ways. The older man then walked back outside.

"Was that your daughter?" Steve asked.

Angel nodded proudly. "Yeah," he smiled, "My little girl, Mackenzie. My only daughter, she's got three brothers. Anyway, you'll be happy to hear that she's the doctor of both Sherri and Evelyn since she was the head doctor in the emergency room at the moment, so that makes them her patients. I asked her how they were doing and she said they're both being moved to their own private rooms in the ICU right now. Their rooms are gonna be right next to each other."

"Will we be able to see them soon?"

"In five to ten minutes, my daughter's gonna go to the waiting area and call for you and your friend, bring you both to their rooms, then get the rest of your friends."

Steve couldn't help but smile at what he'd been told. "Angel, thank you so much. What can I do to thank you?"

Angel smiled. "It wasn't a problem, kid. Look, if you wanna thank me, call my house and tell me how them girls are doin'. You're all too young to be goin' through this kind of pressure."

"Alright, I'll do that."

"And who knows, maybe some time I can meet them."

Steve smiled as Angel wrote down his house number for them all. "They'd like you," the younger man smiled.

Angel handed him the paper with his house number. "Make sure to call and tell me how they're doin', ok? Especially how you're girlfriend and baby are."

Steve nodded and the two men parted ways. He sat back down in his seat and told the four who were waiting for him everything he knew about the two girls.

And just like Angel had said, exactly ten minutes later, his daughter walked into the waiting area and called for Steve and Soda, and told the other three she'd be back for them in a few minutes.

This chapter was very dramatic. I should write plot lines for Days of our Lives, it's so dramatic (I watch Days of our Lives, ok?) and did you like my reference to it? XP

So Angel is pretty much going to become the father figure in their lives, just a heads up. And by the way, my original plans for Steve and Evie changed, cause I can't go through with my original plan. It makes me feel like a terrible person if I went through with my original plans, so it'll be somewhat happy but it won't be.

Anyway, did watch the academy awards this past Sunday? Leo finally won- no more jokes about him never getting one. Plus I'm mad that Sylvester Stallone didn't win best supporting actor for Creed, but I'm happy Dave Grohl was the one chosen to play the memoriam song cause I absolutely love Foo Fighters.

Anyway, I have SAT's this weekend so please wish me luck. I'm scared out of my mind about it, and I have no idea what Trigonometry is. Plus there's a good chance people in my class from my old school with be there, and I'm nervous about that cause none of us have kept in contact really since I left there. So yeah, I'm scared for a number of reasons.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Peace form all the hippies of the world! =^-^=