Gone
Chapter 3
I don't own the Outsiders
Soda and Austin came back in the room just as the offical announcement that everyone had been removed from the school came on.
"Nine bodies were recovered, 15 people were rushed to the hospital with critical injuries. 22 suffered lesser injuries and one student was blinded," the newscaster said as she stood in front of what was left of the school. "The bodies have been identified by several students and teachers on-scene. Sherri "Cherry" Valance, Robert Smith, Marcia Martin, Paul Rogers, Alexzander James, Sydney Jacobs, Gregory Mass, Eleisha Brown, and Houston Golden."
"Houston?" Austin said softly, turning towards the screen, where they had put up pictures of the dead.
"I'm so sorry Austin," Soda said softly, putting his hand on Austin's arm.
"Houston...Houston's gone?" Austin said, tears filling his eyes and starting to run down his face.
"Hey, it'll be okay Austin," Soda said, moving to kneel in front of Austin, "Houston wouldn't want you to cry," he added, gently wipping the tears from Austin's face.
Darry began to shift in his seat, trying to look anywhere but the T.V. and his brother. I could tell he felt both extreamly happy and extreamly guilty.
Two-Bit had not been in the death toll, for which he was happy, but people had died, which made him feel gulity that he was so happy.
Suddenly my cell phone rang. A ringtone Two-Bit had set for himself that I hadn't gotten around to changing yet.
"Dally, pick up your phone! I know you can hear me, so pick up!" Two-Bit's voice blared from the speakers.
I quickly dug my phone out of my pocket. "Two-Bit are you okay? Where are you? Darry's worrying himself sick!"
"This is Richard Richardson EMT. I'm in an ambulance with a young man. Who am I speaking to?" a rough male voice said.
"Dallas Winston. How did you get this number?" I asked shortly.
"It was the last dialed number on his cell. Can you tell me the identity of the man here?"
"Keith Matthews-Curtis. Is he alright?" I asked, motioning for Darry to be quiet.
"He's stable, for now. If he had been any closer to the bomb, the death toll would have been one higher. What is your relation to Mr. Matthews-Curtis?"
"I'm his brother. His husband is here if you would rather speak to him," I said, raising an eyebrow at Darry who passed Penny to Johnny and reached for the phone.
"Richard! He's flat-lining!" another male voice yelled.
The line went dead.
I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at the screen. A picture of Johnny, laughing, stared back at me.
"Dally? What happened?" Pony asked, seeing as Darry had lost his voice.
"It was an EMT in the ambulance with Two-Bit. I must have been the last person he called. They said he was stable, but just before he hung up, his partner yelled that Two-Bit was flat-lining. They also said that if Two-Bit had been any closer to the bomb, he would be dead. We're lucky he's alive, lucky he still has a fighting chance," I said, not beleiving what I was saying.
"W-will he be okay?" Darry asked, trembling.
"He'll be fine Darry. Nothing can keep Two-Bit down for long. He'll be up and making wise cracks in no time," Johnny said, holding Penny in one arm and putting the other on Darry's shoulders.
"I hope you're right Johnny," Darry said, gently taking Penny from him.