"I don't care who you are," Darry said, "I won't have you touching my brother."

Darry's stance ensured that this guy would not be laying a hand on Soda. I admit, I was a little scared that there might actually be a fight, considering how angry Mr. Carson appeared.

"I should be having him arrested," Sandy's father yelled. "He had absolutely no right to have her in his car. She's a minor, and last I knew it was illegal to take off across state lines with a minor. I think they call that kidnapping."

"You know as well as I do that this was not kidnapping," Darry said, in his I-really-want-to-yell-but-am-trying-with-all-my-might-not-to voice. "And Soda's just as much a minor as Sandy is."

"This is outrageous. You drive to Florida to kidnap my daughter and then involve her in a serious accident? I hope you realize you'll be paying for this." His glare at Soda was murderous.

That felt like a punch in the stomach to me. There was no way Darry could be responsible for her bill as well as mine and Soda's. He had explained to me after my last hospital stay how the state pays for most of our bills, but still… Holding Darry responsible for her bills was just unfair.

"The accident wasn't Soda's fault," I said, quietly. "The other car hit us."

Mr. Carson turned and stared at me like he hadn't even realized I was in the room, though he had to have seen me in the bed when he first came in. I felt Ponyboy tighten his grip on me.

"Scout..." Darry warned. I shut up quick.

"Well, I think it seems like a pretty convenient way you came up with, to make your little problem go away, Sodapop."

"What?" Soda was confused, and so was I.

"Exactly what are you trying to say?" Darry's tone had gone from protective to confrontational. I guess he knew what her father was talking about.

"I'm trying to say that he had to know, in her state, what would be a likely result of a car accident, her wearing a seat belt and all."

I had no idea what he was talking about but I saw Soda's face take on a terrible mix of fear, anger, and disgust.

"Oh my God…did she… the baby?" Soda looked about to cry.

"Yes, she lost the baby, as I'm sure you expected."

That was all it took for Darry to lose it.

"Are you actually implying that Soda had an accident on purpose? Are you crazy? He had his little sister in the car, for Christ's sake! Any of them could have died! I can't believe you would even think that! God, Soda dated Sandy for almost a year, don't you have any idea what kind of a person he is?" He was no longer refraining from yelling.

"Darry…" I motioned behind him, as the door opened and a nurse peeked in.

"Everything all right in here?" It was pretty obvious that she did not want to mess with Darry.

"Fine, ma'am," Darry lied. "Sorry about the yelling."

"Okay," she said skeptically, and closed the door again.

"You've got some nerve," Darry started in on him again in as close to a yell as he could manage while still maintaining appropriate volume for a hospital. "There is no way Soda would ever intentionally hurt anyone, least of all his sister and your daughter. God, to even suggest it…"

"Well, he didn't seem to have any difficulty hurting her in the past. Maybe you didn't get to see what she looked like, in the light of day, after her last night with you, Sodapop, but I did."

"It wasn't me," Soda broke in, and now he was crying, a little bit. "I never hurt her. I love her, Mr. Carson. And when I found out that somebody had hurt her… That's why I went to get her. I love her. God, the baby… is Sandy okay, I mean, other than that? Can I see her? Please?"

"She'll be fine, eventually. Only family is allowed to visit. And you are not family." His anger seemed to have lessened, somewhat, but he was by no means calm.

"Look, there's more to this story, and I think it would be helpful if we could discuss this as reasonable adults," Darry suggested. "Pony, take Scout down to the cafeteria and get something to eat. I'll come get you when we're done here." His tone implied that arguing was not going to be tolerated. I felt a quick intake of breath as Pony temporarily considered complaining, but wisely thought better of it before any words actually left his mouth. He took my hand and we silently left the room. I was still so sore, but didn't want to deal with the humiliation of the wheelchair.

"This is not good," Pony said once we were in the corridor.

"I know," I said. "Do you think Darry will be okay?" I was worried, a little bit, still, that there might be a fight.

"He'll be okay. But he's not gonna let that guy put down Soda, either."

"Poor Sandy," I said. I was talking about losing the baby, but Pony misunderstood.

"Yeah, I guess having no parents is better than having a mean one like him."

"I guess." I felt horrible for her.

Pony noticed I was falling behind and stopped to wait for me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just real sore. The nurse said it happens all the time to people who have been in car accidents. 'Cause you tense up when you crash, or something."

"Well, you sit, then. I'll get you something and bring it back." He sat me in a chair in the hallway.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Surprise me." He knew what I liked and what I didn't.

I sat there, leaning my head back against the wall and trying to ignore the throbbing headache that the doctor had promised me I'd have. I was surprised, about fifteen minutes later, to see Sandy's father coming down the corridor. He didn't look quite as angry as before.

"Mr. Carson?" He must not have noticed that it was me sitting there, because he seemed startled when I spoke to him.

"Sorry… I didn't mean to scare you."

"What did you want?" he asked, almost nicely. He definitely sounded a little less angry, more…just… worried.

"I just wanted to tell you that Soda really does love Sandy. And he didn't hurt her. He never would. The person that hurt her, well… he hurt me, too. And Soda didn't know about that either."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thanks. But the reason I wanted to tell you that, it's because I didn't have a Mom or Dad to help me get through what happened, but well, Sandy… she does. I'd give anything to have them back, but, Sandy… she still has you. I just… I hope you can work everything out, because it would be sad – for everybody - to not let her come back home… I mean, nothing that happened was her fault."

He just stared at me, and I eventually looked down, embarrassed. I probably shouldn't have said anything.

"I need to get back to Sandy," he said, finally.

"Okay," I said. He turned and headed down the hallway, just as Pony was returning with a hot chocolate and a sandwich for me, and a Pepsi for himself.

"What was that all about?" he asked, watching me watch Sandy's Dad disappear around the corner.

"Nothing…" I said "… just trying to make him see what he's missing out on."

"Oh yeah?" Pony reached down and pulled me up. "Well I think the two of us better get back to Soda and Darry and see just exactly what we missed out on."

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