Cruise Control

"You alright?" Darry asked me as we came up to room 410, Ponyboy's room in the ward.

My ribs were burning, my shoulder was stiff and I could feel a headache coming on, "Yeah, I'm fine." I said instead keeping my eyes focused on the name plate that was on the wall side of the open door to the room.

Curtis, Ponyboy M. It read.

Darry sighed, he knew I was lying and I could tell he was wanting to say something about it. "I'm fine." I insisted, there was no way I was going to let him talk me into going home now or whatever he was thinking.

He kept his mouth shut, for now, I knew later I'd hear something out of him and with one last measured look at me he stepped into the room without hesitation. However with me – even though Ponyboy wasn't even inside the room, I couldn't help pausing there at the doorway for a heartbeat before stepping in.

One side of the room closest to the door, was empty and dim with its overhead lights off, however when I crossed the other side which was divided by a single thick blue curtain, it was like I stepped into another world.

There were flowers and balloons all along the large windowsill, in the distance you could see the Arkansas River that ran through Tulsa County. There were a bunch of balloons in the corner held down with a oversized teddy bear holding a jar of candy and on the walls cards were tacked up.

"Holy..." I shut my mouth and looked at Darry for some kind of explanation. "Don't tell me the guys held up the Gift Shop."

My older brother laughed at that, the first real laugh I had heard from him in what felt like forever. "No, that brother of ours," He picked up a couple of envelopes from the little table that they placed that, God awful, hospital food on. "He has the darndest acquaintances."

I raised a eyebrow when he handed me the envelopes. I flipped though them, my eyebrow creeping higher into my hairline. Some names I didn't recognize at all but others I did.

Valance...Thompson... Adderson...[Angela] Shepard...Spencer...Davis... and the names went on and on. Many were the people we knew, our fellow Greasers – or at least their family or girlfriends, but the others were...

"Socs?"

Darry nodded, "Few even jumped in to help after the...after it happened."

"That guy I was racing?" Thompson, I think his name was.

"Everyone said he was the one pullin' on the doors tryin' to get you and Steve out."

I handed Darry back the empty envelopes and he placed them back down on the little table. I was shocked beyond words right now, I just wasn't expecting that. From Socs of all people...

"They're just people. Like you an' me." Ponyboy had once said to Dally when he and the rest of the guy were mouthing off about some that they had started a fight with.

Everyone had laughed at him and I hate to admit that I did too – Greasers hate Socs and Socs hate Greasers, that's just how it is. Or so I thought.

I looked around for a little bit more and noticed something that looked oddly familiar – an aluminum balloon that read: It's a boy!

I rolled my eyes. Two-Bit.

We then settled in a not-quite-comfortable-but-good-enough silence, I sat down in the chair by the window and Darry pulled in the chair from the other side of the room.

We sat like that, just waiting -

* Clack-clack-clack... *

"I think that's them." Darry said, standing up from his seat. I nervously followed him and stood up myself, groaning slightly at the stiffness and pain my ribs caused me. I felt Darrys eyes on me but it was like someone flipped a switch and everything but that doorway wasn't there anymore.

* Clack-clack-clack-clack... *

That noise was getting louder and with it I could hear voices, "Almost there, Ponyboy." one said, their words coming out loud almost like they were speaking to a nearly deaf person or something.

Ponyboy. Ponyboy.

It was Pony and I'll be seeing him – finally seeing him.

People appeared in the doorway, I could just see the back of a tall orderly dressed in white scrubs as he guided the bed into the room. "Here we are," He said, his voice still loud. "Room 410."

"Choo choooo!" Came a softer voice from the bed followed by a giggle.

A giggle?

The orderly laughed, "Sure kid, choo chooo. The train is pullin' into the station now." He glanced back at Darry and I, jerking his head to the side. Quickly, I moved out of his way as he and another put the bed in its spot.

I kept my eyes on the figure in that bed – Ponyboy. He giggled again, I could tell he was completely out of it but none of that mattered. There was my baby brother, right there – alive.

"Hey kid." Darry went up to him first, the nurses who came into the room worked around us with ease. Setting up his IV and putting some kind of monitors on him.

I heard him gasp, "Darry!" he squealed, his gray-green eyes were glassy and unfocused.

They talked, at least Darry did, in low hushed voices and as each minute passed I took a step forward.

I allowed my eyes to scan over him even thought part of me did not want to, I knew I had to. I had to see what I had done and at the same time have some type of of reassurance that he was okay.

One leg- his only one, I couldn't even look at it for any longer than a glance. It was a swollen mass of purple, black, blue and red that was wrapped tightly in some kind of clear plastic stuff, making it look like a roast we got from the Butcher.

It wasn't just that, that made my stomach flip. No, that was caused by large pins of metal that stuck out of his leg. (1) I tried to look over to see his other...leg, but the nurse had covered him with a blanket, I only caught a glance of tightly wrapped gauze.

Taking a few more steps closer to his bed side, I was scared out of my mind on what he would do when he noticed me.

Would he yell at me, pointing a finger as he blamed me for everything I had done to him?

Would he even speak to me?

I think I would take the yelling over the silence. I know I would.

"Look who's here." I heard Darry say, he reached out his arm and tugged me closer to him, into Ponyboys line of sight.

At first my voice just wouldn't work and finally, after a few tries I managed to croak out a pathetic, "H-hey Pone."

It took him a moment, I just stood there and watched as his eyes tried to focus on me, "Soda?" Then the largest grin I ever seen on him bloomed across his face. "Soda, you're okay." He reached towards me but his arms were nothing more than a pair of limp noodles and just fell back onto the bed, he started to giggle again like it was the funniest thing in the word.

I couldn't help but to smile at that and I took his hands into mine, it felt like that action alone would cause him to break, I know its silly to think that but it's true.

"Yea baby, I'm okay."

He gave me a goofy smile and squeezed my hands, "Me too." He said simply and just those two words started the water works for me. I wondered if he even knew what had happened, what I had did to him - but I wasn't going to ask him.

I couldn't ask him

I just wouldn't.

No, I wasn't going to break this moment of him still loving me.

Horrible and short, I know.

I've just been distracted with Harry Potter and getting ready for the upcoming release (and Halloweeen, I'm going to be Slytherin!Harry and my daughter will be Hedwig rofl hush). Making robes, bags and other things for a couple of people and on top of all that I have school work that I'm rushing to do at the very last second.

Oh, I forgot what else I was going to say!

Hm.

1. I was trying to describe a eternal fixation but I've only seen a handful and I could never stomach looking at them.

Well, still not sure on what I was going to say so...

Thanks again for the reviews they make me smile.