Wow—thank you so much for all the reviews! I swear, I was like a little kid on Christmas all day. I really appreciate the support. :)

Anyway, I won't keep you waiting for the chapter! I actually got it up a few hours sooner than I'd hoped.

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"Soda? Sodapop?!" Pony was frantically calling to our brother, but the only answer he got was the continued wail of the heart monitor. Within seconds medical staff poured into the room and pushed us both out of the way. I pulled Pony towards the wall and held onto him tight. He buried his face in my shirt, crying and shaking his head back and forth. The doctors and nurses swarmed around Soda, blocking most of my view. Orders were shouted and I saw a doctor rub metal paddles together. When they were put to Soda's chest, his entire body jerked upwards.

Each time the electricity shot through Soda's body, I pulled Pony closer. I knew I was probably hurting the poor kid, but I couldn't make myself let him go. As I watched the scene play out before me, hoping and praying with everything I had, I suddenly felt something lightly brush my cheek.

I'd never been a very spiritual person. I believed there was something out there for us after we died, but I'd never given much thought to ghosts or angels or anything else. Despite that, when I felt that feather light touch on my cheek, I knew without a doubt in my mind that it was Soda, and my heart broke. He couldn't leave us, we couldn't handle that. I was helpless to stop the tears that spilled down my face as I continued to hold a sobbing Pony. Soda couldn't be gone, he couldn't. "Please, Soda," I whispered desperately. "Please fight. Please don't leave us."

Seconds passed like hours as the doctors continued to play God. My cheek burned where Soda had touched it and I found myself looking around the room, trying to see an apparition that wasn't there. Soda's body jerked up again and I closed my eyes, unable to watch any longer. Pony's body shook against mine and I tried to imagine how we'd get through this. I felt another brush against my cheek and my tears turned into full fledged sobs. Then, without warning, the wail of the heart monitor stopped. For one heart wrenching second I thought the doctors had given up and unplugged it and I wanted to scream at them to keep trying. Then it calmly started its steady beeping again. I opened my eyes and saw the relief on everyone's faces.

My knees buckled and I slid to the floor, dragging Pony with me. As I saw the medical staff leave with their equipment, I forced myself to move. I pulled Ponyboy up and together we made our way to two of the chairs beside Soda's bed and grabbed hold of his hand. "Oh God, Soda," I whispered. "Don't ever do that to us again." The only answer I got was the sounds of the heart monitor and ventilator.

The door opened and two quiet sets of footsteps entered. I tore my gaze away from my brother and looked up to find Steve and Two-Bit standing in the doorway, both looking scared. "We saw a bunch of people leave Soda's room a minute ago…" Two-Bit started, but trailed off with the unspoken question. I'm sure the looks on mine and Pony's faces were enough to confirm their suspicions that something had happened.

"His heart stopped," I stated flatly. I was still too shaken to try to soften the blow for them. I should have added a bit more though cause Steve stared at me, horror stricken.

"But, the machine is still beeping…" he faltered, looking back and forth between me and Soda, needing confirmation on what his senses were telling him.

"They got his heart beating again," Pony spoke up from beside me. His voice was barely above a whisper. He still had tears running down his cheeks, but he'd stopped sobbing.

"Are they—are they gonna be able to keep it beating?" Two-Bit asked, crumpling into a chair on the other side of the bed.

I shrugged. "I don't know." I couldn't think of anything else to say. I was still trying to process the fact that Soda had died a few minutes ago. Even after three months of knowing this would probably happen, none of us were prepared for it. I watched Soda's chest rise and fall, controlled by the ventilator. How much longer could he keep fighting like this? How much longer could we ask him to?

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I brushed angrily at the tears running down my face. It'd been a half hour since Soda's heart had stopped but I couldn't stop crying, at least not completely. We'd come so close to losing him and there was no guarantee it wouldn't still happen. Darry wrapped an arm around me and I leaned into his embrace. It was awkward and uncomfortable in the hospital chairs, but it felt good anyway.

After a while, Dr. Sheldon came in to check up on Soda. We all just stared at him, not offering any greetings. We were a room full of zombies, too exhausted to care about much. "I heard what happened," he said softly. "I'm so sorry. We're going to keep doing everything we can to help him fight this infection."

I wanted to laugh, to burst into a hysterical fit right there in the hospital room. What else was there left to do? Soda was already hooked up to a half dozen machines that were controlling everything that went in and out of his body. It seemed to me like they were running out of places to stick things. Fortunately, Darry kept his cool better than me. "Thanks," he said. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but changed his mind. I had a feeling he was going to ask what Soda's chances were and I was glad he didn't. I already knew they were almost zero, but I didn't want to hear it put into words.

Dr. Sheldon checked Soda's vitals and listened carefully to his chest. When he was gone, the only sounds in the room were the humming and beeping of the machines. It amazed me that only four days ago Soda had been awake and moving around. He'd had a couple of IVs in him, but that had been it. Four days ago he'd asked me what classes I was taking this year. He'd smiled when I'd told him auto mechanics was on the list and I'd been naïve enough to believe he might actually be around to help me with it.

Eventually Steve and Two-Bit left. They both looked sadly at Sodapop and I knew they were wondering if this was the last time they'd see him alive. Even when I went to the bathroom I was terrified I'd come back and find him gone. Once we were alone, Darry spoke up. "I felt him," he said quietly, barely more than a whisper.

I looked over at him, confused. "What're you talking about, Dare?"

"When he di—when his heart stopped, I felt something touch my cheek." I had no idea what to say to that. Darry was down to earth and logical. He didn't believe in stuff like that. Hell, I didn't even believe in ghosts. Darry looked over at me and I saw his eyes were deadly serious. "It was Soda, Pony. He's still fighting this."

I wanted to believe him, but it just seemed so ridiculous. "Dare, are you sure you didn't just imagine it?"

He shook his head adamantly. "Pone, you know I don't make stuff like this up." He had a point there, and I had to admit it was nice to think that Soda had been with us during those few minutes. I slowly nodded at him and then turned my gaze to Soda. He still lay silent and pale on the pillow. If he had been aware of anything, there sure wasn't a sign of it now.

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The waiting was starting to get to me. For three days we'd all been sitting on the edge of our seats, wondering if Soda's heart would hold out long enough for him to get better. Or everything else, for that matter. His entire body was exhausted; even if his heart lasted, his liver or kidneys could be next. Ponyboy looked almost like a walking corpse himself but I couldn't get him to eat or sleep more than he already was. I didn't have the energy to fight with him, especially when I knew it would just make me a hypocrite.

I rubbed my eyes and struggled to keep myself awake. Pony had fallen asleep almost an hour ago; he kept his hand tightly clasped around Soda's even in sleep. Dr. Sheldon came in and I gave him a tired smile. "Hello, Darrel." He kept his voice to a whisper in an effort to not wake Ponyboy. He checked each of the machines in the room and then moved around Pony to listen to Soda's chest. This was all routine and by now I only half paid attention. Since he was in such critical condition, Soda was checked every hour and after a hundred reports of "no change," I'd stopped expecting much.

I watched Dr. Sheldon's face out of habit more than anything else. I might've been imagining it, but it seemed like he was listening to Soda's chest for longer than usual. As I kept watching, a guarded look crossed his face. My sense of time may have been playing tricks on me, but I definitely did not imagine his change in expression. "What is it?" I asked. I wondered if this was it, if he would tell me to wake up Pony and say our goodbyes. Would Steve and Two-Bit be able to get here in time?

He took his stethoscope off and turned to me. He'd put his face back into a neutral expression, the one I was sure he used when he had to tell families that he was sorry, but he couldn't do anything more. I tried to brace myself for the news, but I may as well have been trying to defy gravity.

"I don't want you to get your hopes up," he started, and I felt my heart leap into my throat. Could he actually have good news? "I need to send Soda down for X-rays to be sure, but it sounds like the amount of fluid in his lungs has decreased." I stared at him, then turned towards Soda. He looked the same to me, but maybe somehow his body was starting to recover. "Darrel," Dr. Sheldon said, bringing my attention back to him, "you need to understand that I could be wrong about this. I don't have any proof yet; I'm just using my senses."

I nodded. I understood him, but I needed to hope that he was right. "When will you have the X-rays back?" I had to know as soon as possible.

"Soda is a priority patient, so radiology will take him immediately. I should have his films back within an hour. You should wake Ponyboy up," he added gently. I looked at my brother, still sleeping, and smiled. I'd actually have something good to tell him for a change.

When Dr. Sheldon had left the room, I moved to the other side of the bed and had a seat next to Pony. "Pone," I whispered, gently shaking him. "Pony, wake up."

He muttered a few words I wasn't sure I wanted to understand, then slowly raised his head and looked around. His eyes landed on me and I saw fear briefly flash through them. "What happened?" he asked anxiously. "Is Soda okay?" He looked over to our brother and when he couldn't see any obvious change he turned his gaze back to me.

"Pone, it's okay," I quickly reassured him. "Dr. Sheldon's sending Soda down to get more X-rays. He thinks the fluid in Soda's lungs might be going down."

Pony stared at me for a minute, trying to process what I'd said. His eyes widened as my words sunk in and he broke into a tentative grin. "You mean, he's getting better?"

"He might be," I confirmed. "Dr. Sheldon isn't sure yet, though, Pone." Pony nodded at me, but his grin just got bigger. It was infectious and I found a huge smile spreading across my own face. After days of nothing but bad news, even cautious hope was better than nothing.

A pair of nurses came to take Soda out of the room and Pony and I waited impatiently for him to come back. I paced around the room, suddenly filled with nervous energy instead of the exhaustion that had been plaguing me. Pony still sat in his same chair, but he'd pulled his legs up to his chest and was hugging his knees. Every so often we'd catch each others' eyes and I would feel my hope rise. Maybe, just maybe, we'd catch a break for once in our lives.

When Soda was brought back into the room I immediately sat next to him and took his hand. "C'mon, little buddy. Give us some good news." The time crawled by while we waited for Dr. Sheldon to come back with the test results. When he finally showed up we both watched him, trying to read his face. He didn't keep us waiting.

He smiled and I felt relief wash through me. "The X-rays came back positive," he said. "There's still a lot of fluid there, but it's definitely less than before." I reached across the bed with my free hand and took hold of Pony's. He was grinning from ear to ear and I was sure I hadn't seen him this happy since we'd found out I was a match for Soda. "He's not out of the woods yet," Dr. Sheldon cautioned us. "He's still got a long way to go with the pneumonia, and there's still risk of infection after that. But, this is excellent news." He smiled at us again as he said the last part.

I forced myself to come down from my high and start thinking strategically again. "What happens now?" I asked.

"We'll keep him on all the same medications for now. Once the fluid decreases more, we'll start weaning him off the ventilator and then take it out completely. Once it's out, we'll be able to wake him up." I breathed a sigh of relief at that. It would be so good to really be able to talk to him again, to see his eyes open and know for sure he could hear us.

Dr. Sheldon quietly excused himself and left. Ponyboy looked up at me from across the bed. "Is this really happening, Dare?" His eyes were shining with hope, something I hadn't seen in far too long.

"Yeah kiddo, it really is."

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"Are ya done yet?"

I gritted my teeth and tried to restrain myself from reaching across the counter and strangling my friend. "I told you, Two-Bit, I'll be done in a few minutes. Why don't ya go have another smoke?"

Two-Bit ignored me and continued to tap his fingers on the counter. His car had broken down again and I was his ride to the hospital, but I had a few things to finish up before I could punch out for the day. I was as anxious as he was to see Soda, but I could only move so fast. I was counting the money in the cash register from the end of my shift when the phone rang. I quickly finished up with the quarters and put them back in the till just in time to see Two-Bit reach across the counter and grab the phone. "DX, Two-Bit speaking. What can I do for you today?" I glared at him and reached for the phone; he knew he wasn't supposed to answer it. He just flashed a grin and moved out of my reach. I scowled at him and moved back to the register. "Darry? What's wrong?" I dropped the pile of dimes in my hand and they scattered all over the floor. Darry didn't leave Soda's side unless he had to; this wasn't a social call. "Are you serious?" There was a pause then, "Yeah, we'll be right there."

He hung up the phone and stared at it for a minute, clearly surprised by whatever he'd heard. "Well, what the hell happened?" I demanded impatiently.

He looked up at me and a grin slowly started to spread across his face. "Soda's getting better," he blurted. "He's actually getting better!"

Two-Bit Mathews joked about a lot of things, but I knew he would never in his life joke with me about this. "Dave!" I called into the back, where the night shift guy was putting his stuff away. "Finish the till for me, will ya? I gotta go!" I quickly punched out and ran out the door to my truck, Two-Bit right on my heels.

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C'mon, you didn't really think I'd kill Soda, did you? I'll admit I toyed with the idea, but I couldn't do it. I'm pretty sure I made a couple medical mistakes in this chapter, but no one's pointed any out to me so far, so I'm figuring there's no experts reading this. ;)

Please take a minute to review and let me know what you thought!