I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)
"Try not to blink please, Mr Curtis." Dr Orbison said to Darry, and shined a small white light in Darry's eye.
Darry kept his eyes open, but blinked rapidly after the doctor was done with the light. He then looked up at Dr Orbison to see what was wrong.
"Well, you definitely have jaundice, which can be signs of serious illnesses. When did you say the jaundice started?" Dr Orbison asked, and Darry sighed.
"About five days ago." He answered guiltily, looking down at the ground.
"Five?" Ponyboy exclaimed. "But I only saw it about two days…you tried to hide it from me and Soda, didn't you?"
Darry looked up at Ponyboy and nodded.
"What other symptoms have you been having? Any vomiting and nausea? Any back pains and stomach pains?" Dr Orbison questioned, and Darry turned his attention to the doctor.
"Yes, I've been having all these symptoms." Darry replied, and Dr Orbison sighed.
"Any weight loss?" he asked.
"I don't know doctor; the last time I weighed myself was just before I started having these symptoms."
"And what was your weight then?"
"181 pounds." Darry answered.
"Well, do you mind if I weigh you now?" the doctor asked, and Darry nodded.
"I don't mind." Darry said standing up.
Dr Orbison showed Darry over to set of weighing scales, and constructed him to stand on one of them.
Darry did so, and waited for Dr Orbison to check his weight.
"Thank you." Dr Orbison said, and wrote something down on his clipboard.
Darry smiled and got off the scale, and proceeded to ask the doctor his weight.
"Well Darrell, it appears that your weight has dropped to 170 pounds. And how long ago did these symptoms start?"
"About three weeks." Darry answered, biting his lip.
"I think it would be safe if we ran a few blood tests." Dr Orbison stated, and Darry paled.
"How much will that cost?" Darry asked nervously.
"Darry!" Ponyboy and Sodapop screamed at the same time.
"Fine, I'll have them done." Darry muttered, defeated.
"Great! You should be able to get them done as early as tomorrow; not many people need them." The doctor grinned, and Darry rolled his eyes at the doctor's cheeriness.
"That's good…" Darry mumbled dryly.
"I'll see you here at about 10 am tomorrow then?" Dr Orbison said, and Darry nodded with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Okay then, that's your check up over." Dr Orbison smiled, and Darry grumbled a thanks and left the room with Pony and Soda following behind him.
"You need to stop being so concerned about money all the time, Dar. I mean, if the worse happens, I could always get a job." Ponyboy said, and Darry shook his head.
"You're not dropping out of school." He said sternly, and Ponyboy looked up at his brother.
"I'd only get a part-time one. But Darry, if something really bad happens, we're gonna need money, and when you can't get it…"
"Don't talk like that! I don't know why everybody's making a big deal about this! It's not as if I'm dying!" Darry shouted, alarming an old lady in a wheelchair. She quickly wheeled down the hallway, away from the three brothers.
"Darry…me and Soda found you passed out on the floor when we came home!" Ponyboy exclaimed.
"Not to mention when you woke up, your temperature was almost at 103." Sodapop added.
"Alright, I get it! Quit bugging me about it!" Darry ordered, and his two brothers shut their mouths.
Not a word was spoken on the way home from the hospital. Only the soft tune of My Girl was playing from the radio; at least it added a little bit of noise.
Once Darry had shut the engine off, he stormed out of the truck and into the house before either of his brothers had taken their seatbelts off. Ponyboy sighed and Sodapop shrunk in his seat; he didn't like it when Darry was upset.
"Why's he so difficult?" Ponyboy growled, and Soda chuckled.
"You talk about him like he's a little kid, Pony. I'm pretty sure Dar's just worried; you're always the same when you're sick." Sodapop stated.
"Hmmm…" Ponyboy mumbled, then unfastened his seatbelt and climbed out of the truck. Sodapop followed his little brother's actions and slammed the door shut.
The two youngest Curtis's walked into the house where they were greeted with Darry sitting on the couch cracking open a can of beer.
"Strange…Darry never drinks beer." Sodapop thought. It was Pony who spoke his thoughts.
"Darry, why are you drinking beer?" Ponyboy asked his brother, and Darry glared at his little brother.
"Quit acting like my mom, Ponyboy. First you force me to the doctors when I didn't even need to go, and now you're telling me what I can and cannot do? What's gotten into you lately?" Darry grumbled, taking a sip from his beer.
"What's gotten into me? Are you serious?! It's you who you should be concerned about, Darry - you! Why do you never think of yourself? What if it's something serious? Are you just gonna refuse treatment because we need the money? Darry, we need you! And if you're too blind to see that, then I will be concerned about you. Because you're my brother and I love you!" Ponyboy yelled, and Darry started crying.
"That's what I'm scared of, Pony! What if it is something serious? You're only sixteen and Soda works in a goddamned gasoline station! What are you both gonna do if I'm sick?!" Darry sobbed, and threw the can of beer on the floor.
Ponyboy and Sodapop both looked at each other before walking over to the couch and sitting on either side of their big brother.
"Darry, you need to worry about yourself. If you really are sick, me and Pony will worry about that. But right now, the person who you should be concerned about is you. If things really do turn out bad, I'll try and find a higher paying job, or better: I'll get another job as well as the one in the DX. And like Ponyboy said, he could get a part-time job after school; he's old enough to work. We're all gonna be fine…I promise you." Soda explained, and Darry looked at both of his brothers.
He could see determination in their eyes, as well as love, and he knew that whatever happened, he would be okay; they all would be.
"Alright guys. Thanks." Darry said, and ruffled both of his brothers' greasy hair.
"Anyway, I'm probably not sick. I'm probably going through some strange life stage." Darry told his brothers. He hoped that's what it was anyway.
"After all…I am Superman."
AN: Wow, Darry's real stubborn, isn't he? You gotta love him though; who doesn't love any of the Curtis Brothers?
Please review, I'd love it if you did :D
By the way I named the Doc, Dr Orbison, because for some weird reason I was thinking of Pretty Woman while I was writing this chapter… – Dr Orbison is secretly called Roy XD