As soon as they got me in the ambulance, one guy held me down while the other one gave me a shot.

"What's that for?" I yelled, struggling to get free.

"To calm you down. Nobody can help you if you don't calm down."

"I don't need help. Why couldn't I go in the ambulance with my brother?"

"Kid, you do need help. You're bleedin' all over the place." I looked down and saw that the whole left side of my shirt was bloody. I reached up under my hair and my hand came out covered in blood. I was so wet, anyway, from the rain, that I hadn't even noticed.

"You've got a pretty good gash there. You'll need stitches."

"What about my brother? What's wrong with him?" I had started to calm down, partly from whatever they gave me, and partly because I realized that was the only way I would ever get any information out of them.

"A concussion. They'll find out more at the hospital."

"What about our friends?"

"I really don't know, kid."

"Are they gonna die?"

"I can't answer that. First, the doctors have to find out what's wrong with them."

"I need to call my other brother. Will they let me call him, at the hospital?"

"The police will take care of notifying everyone's parents. They found identification on all three of the other victims."

Oh, God, I thought... if getting this call doesn't send Darry over the edge, nothing will.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Scout Curtis."

How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Alright, Scout, here's what's gonna happen. You're going to the Emergency Room. A doctor will come in and check you out there."

"Can I see my brother then?"

"That's not up to us."

We pulled up at the hospital and I was wheeled out of the ambulance and over to a bed. They picked me up by the sheets, and lifted me off the stretcher and onto the bed.

I was immediately surrounded by nurses and doctors, who all poked and prodded at me to no end. Each time that I heard commotion as a new patient was wheeled in, I asked if it was Soda or Two-Bit or Sandy, but they wouldn't tell me anything; they just kept saying that they were "being taken care of." Eventually, they decided they needed to send me for X-rays because of the cut on my head.

I was starting to get really groggy from whatever drug they had given me, and while I had felt fine right after the accident, now that the adrenaline had worn off, I was realizing how sore and bruised I actually was. My head was on fire, where the cut was, and both of my hips felt horribly sore from where the seat belt had dug into me. Little bruises were appearing everywhere on my arms and legs. They had insisted on taking away my clothes, except for my underwear, because they were completely soaked through and bloody, and had given me two hospital gowns to wear, one tying in front, and one in back, to cover me up. Also, the emotional aspect of what had happened was starting to sink in. Panic was starting to rise in me, the longer I had to wait for information on the others.

"Are you sure somebody called my brother?" I asked a nurse

"The police handle that end of it, but I am sure they did, honey," she answered.

"How far away is this place from Tulsa?"

"About an hour."

I did the math. I had seen the clock when we came in, and it had been about an hour since then. I wanted Darry to get there more than anything, because there was no way he'd put up with not knowing what was going on with Soda and the others. He would find out.

They cleaned and stitched my head immediately after the X-ray. I was glad the cut was at the base of my head, so they only had to shave a small area of hair right at the bottom of my skull.

"Well, all patched up," the doctor said when he was done.

"How many?" I asked. Maybe I should get into the boys' game after all.

"Twenty-two." Not too bad. Just then another doctor came into the room.

"Your X-rays look fine," he said. "No fracture. You're gonna have a pretty good headache for a while, though."

"Well, if I am all fixed up, then, can I please see my brother now? Can somebody please tell me if he is okay, at least? And our friends? Please? I really need to see them." I was surprised to feel tears forming. I had been trying to hold it together, at least until Darry got there to handle things, but the stress was definitely getting to me. I guess, as it turned out, the tears were a good thing, because they agreed.

"He's been asking about you, too," the nurse said. "Stand up, we'll see if you can walk okay."

I didn't know what she was talking about until I actually moved to get up and realized how sore I was. It felt like I had pulled every muscle in my body. I made some sort of groan, and the nurse laughed.

"Happens all the time," she said. "People don't realize how much they tense up in an accident. I'll wheel you." She motioned to the wheelchair across the room.

I sat down, begrudgingly. I didn't want Soda to have to see me in a wheelchair, but I didn't want them to change their minds about letting me see him, either. I had to see him. She wheeled me down a long corridor to a room at the end. As we entered, I saw Soda lying in the bed, his head wrapped in gauze to conceal the cut and bruise I knew he must have gotten from hitting the windshield. I looked at what I could see that wasn't under the blanket, and nothing looked too bad. His left hand was wrapped up, and his ribs were taped, and he had some bruises, same as me, but he was still whole, still Soda. I asked the nurse if I could get up, and she nodded. I walked over and brushed his face, gently.

"Hey, Soda," I whispered. He opened his eyes.

"Scout! God, I was worried about you. Nobody would tell me anything. Are you okay?" his eyes were wide with concern.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Mostly. I had to get stitches. What happened to you?"

"Concussion, busted my hand, broken ribs… They won't tell me anything about Sandy or Two-Bit… Just that they're alive. I'm scared, Scout. I mean, Sandy… the baby and everything."

"I know," I said. I remembered how Soda had climbed in my hospital bed with me, after I got lost, and how much it had comforted me. I wanted to climb in with him, and was deciding whether or not to ask when he suggested it.

"C'mon," he said. "Climb in." He patted the bed next to him. I lowered the side bar and slid in next to him.

"Do you hurt?" I asked, snuggling against his chest.

"Everywhere," he said.

"Me too," I agreed. I just was closing my eyes when there was a commotion in the hall, and Darry and Ponyboy came rushing in the door.

"Darry! Pony!" The tears rose in my eyes the second I saw them. Boy, was I ever glad to see them, but they looked horrible. They both looked more worried than I had seen either of them look in a long time. Darry ran over to the bed, sizing us both up, while Pony sat down on the other side of Soda, staring at us.

"Are you two okay? God, they wouldn't say anything on the phone, just that there was an accident and you were in the hospital. Jesus, you scared the hell out of me," Darry said. He leaned over to hug me, looking at my stitches and the bruises on my arms.

"Anything else?" he asked me.

"Just sore, everywhere," I said. "And a big headache. They X-rayed my head but they said I'm okay."

"What about you, Soda?"

"Busted ribs, busted hand, concussion, and what Scout just said. Sore everywhere. Darry, they won't tell us anything about Sandy or Two-Bit. Can you go try to find out?"

Darry had returned to looking like Darry, once he realized that both of us were pretty much okay.

"The nurse said she'd send the doctor in to talk to me in a few minutes," Darry said. "I'll ask then. He might not tell us though, Soda. We're not family."

"They call her folks?"

"I assume so, but I don't know. What happened, anyway? Were you driving too fast?" He sounded a bit accusing.

"No. I had just stopped at a light. I don't know, it happened so fast. I didn't even see anything coming. I don't even know what hit us."

"It wasn't his fault, Darry. The light was green. I saw it. I was looking right at it." I had been.

"So the other person ran the light?"

"I guess so. I didn't see it coming either. I was looking ahead. It didn't hit us on our side."

The doctor came in, just then. Darry introduced himself as our guardian, and he went over what happened to each of us with Darry. He said that they had to keep Soda overnight to monitor his concussion, and to cast his hand in the morning, but I was going to be released. I lay back down next to Soda while Darry and the doctor talked.

Finally, the doctor finished explaining to Darry what to look out for with the two of us that would mean he should take us back to the hospital. He asked if Darry had any questions.

"We were hoping you could tell us about the conditions of the other two passengers in the car. They're good friends of ours," I heard Darry ask, falling asleep again.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Curtis, but confidentiality practices here don't allow us to release information to non-family members. All I can tell you is that both of the other passengers are being treated in the Intensive Care Unit here."

"I'm the father of the baby," Soda suddenly blurted out to the doctor, shocking my eyes back open. "Does that make me family enough?"

Darry and Pony both stared at me, wondering if what he'd said was true. I tried to give them a shrug that said I didn't know, without betraying Soda to the doctor.

He looked at Soda, and I think he was considering whether or not to give him any information.

"Her parents are with her now. I'll speak with them, and if they have no objections, I'll come back and update you on her condition."

"We'd appreciate that," Darry said, before Soda could say anything. Soda shot Darry a glance, and Darry shook his head. He knew arguing wasn't going to get Soda what he wanted. The doctor walked out, closing the door behind him.

"Her parents aren't gonna let him tell me anything," Soda grumbled.

"You don't know that, Soda," Darry said. "Maybe she got to talk to them."

"They hate me, Darry."

"Give them a chance, Soda. Things might have changed." Darry came over and squeezed his shoulder, then shifted his gaze to me.

"I brought you some clothes, baby. They said yours got soaked?"

"Yeah," I said. "And bloody. My head bled all over the place." I could feel dried blood in some of my hair and decided to try to wash it out in the bathroom when I changed. Darry handed me a bag full of clothes and I pried myself painfully off the bed and went into the bathroom to change. I was shocked to see that he had included some… well… feminine supplies. He must have taken them from Mom's stuff at home. Leave it to him to remember, and to think of that. I rinsed my hair as best I could in the sink and tried to dry it off.

"Thanks, Darry." I went over to him as soon as I emerged from the bathroom, and looked him in the eyes. "For everything." He knew what I meant, I could tell.

"You're welcome," he said. "I'm just glad you're okay. You want me to go see if they have a comb down at the gift shop?"

"I guess so." I knew my wet hair looked ridiculous. Darry stood up, and I lay back down next to Soda on the bed.

Pony came around and sat down next to me and rubbed my back. I was getting so tired. I wasn't sure what time it was, but it felt late. I didn't want to go home, though, and leave Soda in the hospital, alone. I wondered if Darry would just let us all stay. The doctor said I probably would be too sore to go to school the next day, anyway.

I heard the door open again, so I opened my eyes and saw Darry coming back in, followed by a familiar-looking woman and a little girl.

"Hello, Sodapop," she said, nodding toward him. "Ponyboy."

"Hi, Mrs. Mathews," they said simultaneously. Right, I knew I had recognized her. It was Two-Bit's mom, and his little sister, Katie. She was younger than me: ten, I think. I hadn't seen her in at least a year. She looked like she had been crying.

"Hi Katie," Soda said, then turned back to Mrs. Mathews. "How's Two-Bit doing?"

"Oh, he's keeping everybody entertained down there. He's got a broken leg and whatever pain medication they gave him is making him even loonier than usual. He sent us down to make sure you were okay."

"That's it? A broken leg?" Soda seemed relieved.

"Well, he's pretty banged up, but that's the only thing that's actually broken. He's going in for surgery tomorrow."

"Well, you tell him that me an' Scout are okay. Did you see my girl, Sandy, down there, by any chance? They said she was in there with him."

"Sorry, hon, but no, I didn't."

"Well, thanks for checking in on us, Mrs. Mathews. They're making me stay overnight, so I'll be around to see about Two-Bit and his surgery tomorrow."

"All right, Sodapop. You take care of yourself. You too, Scout."

"Thanks," I said. I didn't see her very often, but she was always so nice. It made me miss my own mom.

"Nice to see you again, Darry… Ponyboy."

"You too, ma'am," Darry said. I loved how polite he was with parents.

I was just lying back down, trying not to press against Soda's hurt ribs, but liking the warmth of him against me. I remembered the rain pounding against me on the car while I had held his hand. It had been cold, though I hadn't realized it then. I shivered, and Pony rubbed my back again. I felt Soda starting to fall asleep, and my own eyelids became heavy.

I awoke with a start to the door opening and slamming back against the wall. I opened my eyes to see a man I did not recognize coming over to the bed where I lay with Soda.

"How dare you," he said, and was about to reach down and touch Soda until Darry stepped between the two of them. Darry had a good few inches on the guy, and a good thirty pounds of muscle, as well, but I didn't like the situation, regardless.

I scrambled to get out of bed, tripping over the bars, and nearly landing face first on the floor, but Pony caught me on my way down and pulled me up and into his arms. Strange men coming toward me in a bed was not something that was going to go over too well with me or my brothers. Pony pulled me in against him. My heart was just about beating out of my chest. I buried my head in his shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing? Who are you?" There was no way Darry was gonna let this guy touch Soda.

"I'm Cal Carson, and I…"

"It's okay, Darry," Soda said. "He's Sandy's Dad."

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A/N: I'm taking Complexity to 50 chapters then starting over. Can't think of a title for the new one! Sorry about the long wait... was busted!