The next time I woke up I was in a bed, and my breathing was back to normal – at least it was happening through my mouth and nose again, that is. It was raspy and quite a bit more painful than I was used to, however. My neck hurt and my throat and chest ached something awful, but I could breathe. I sucked in a big mouthful of air and coughed, which only made my throat hurt worse. There was something in my nose and I reached up to tug it free, but another hand closed around mine, pulling it away.

"No, Scout," Darry said, firmly. "Leave it."

I groaned and tried to open my eyes, which still felt swollen.

"Darry…" I tried to talk and, again, my throat burned. I opened my eyes to see him leaning over me, Pony and Soda behind him. He put his finger on my lips, which felt terribly dry.

"Shhhh, don't talk. Dr. Bryant doesn't want you talking yet."

I just stared up, through my swollen eyes. I still had no idea what had really happened.

"Do you remember what happened?"

Even though I remembered pieces, I shook my head.

"The tornado…you remember that? We got you out of the cellar?"

I nodded.

"You got spider bites, baby… in the cellar. You were allergic, you got all swollen. You couldn't breathe, so Dr. Bryant had to cut a hole in your throat so you could breathe. Otherwise you would've died."

I certainly believed him about the dying thing. I knew how close I had been. Close enough to feel it.

"Do you hurt?"

I nodded, cringing. Besides my throat, my chest was burning. I remembered how hard I had worked those muscles, trying to force air into my lungs. Now it felt like I had torn them all loose and tied them in knots.

"He wanted us to get him when you woke up… I'm gonna get him, okay? Maybe he can give you something for the pain."

I nodded again. Besides the pain, I felt my heart beating a mile a minute, which was weird since I was so exhausted I didn't even feel like I could move. But I needed to know something. I grabbed Darry's hand and spelled it out on his palm.

Laura?

"She's fine. She only had one bite. You must have sat on their nest or something, that's why your legs were hurting so much. I'll be right back." He turned and went out to the hallway.

I squeezed my eyes shut at the thought, suddenly aware that my legs ached nearly as much as my chest. I struggled to pick my head up and glance at my legs but they were covered by the sheet. Soda come over and gently pushed my head back down.

"Geez, Scout," he said, that's one sure way to get Darry to forgive you, you know - goin' out and almost dyin' on us," Soda said. I knew he was just kidding, but thinking about how horrible I had been to him, I started to cry, and could tell that he immediately felt bad.

"Aw, come on Scout, you know I was just kidding," he said, lying his head down on the pillow next to mine and rubbing my head. "You know how much Darry loves you. He was a wreck until the doctors told him for sure that you were gonna be okay. We all were. We love you, kiddo. We need you."

I tried to pull Soda closer but, frankly, my whole upper body was exhausted and I could hardly find the energy to lift my arms. I noticed the hives were still there, not as ugly as they had been at first, when they appeared, but the moment I noticed them I realized how itchy I still was. I imagined spiders all over me and immediately shivered, wanting nothing more than a shower.

"Are you cold?" Ponyboy asked, having taken my hand as I tried to throw it around Soda.

I shook my head no. It was actually bordering on uncomfortably hot in the room, and a fan off in the corner whirred away but did little to mitigate the heat.

Darry came back in with Dr. Bryant behind him, and both of them looked worried to see me crying.

"What happened?" Darry asked.

"Is she in that much pain?" Dr. Bryant looked at me, concerned, pulling over a chair and taking my hand.

I shook my head and tried to wipe my eyes on the sheet.

"Naw, I was trying to make a joke and I made her cry by accident," Soda admitted, and Darry shot him a glance. I looked up at Darry and mouthed the words:

"I'm sorry."

He sat down on the bed and pulled me up to hug him.

"It's over, Scout, it wasn't a big deal. You think I never mouthed off or got mad like that? Don't worry about it. We love you. Now let's take care of what's hurting you, okay?"

I nodded against him, wanting to fall back to sleep again right there against his shoulder, but he set me back down on the bed for Dr. Bryant to look me over.

"Your chest sore?" he asked, taking my pulse.

I nodded.

"Anywhere else?"

I pointed to my legs, then made a scratching motion to show him how itchy I was, as well as patting at my heart to show how it felt like it was racing.

"So, sore chest, sore legs, itchy all over and your heart's racing. Sore throat, too, I bet?"

I nodded again.

"Well, as unpleasant as all those things are, they're all normal. You gave your chest muscles quite a workout trying to breathe, and your sore legs and itchiness are a reaction to the bites. A side effect of the medication we gave you to open your airway is increased heart rate. That should wear off after a while, once we stop that medication. We just want to be sure that your reaction is over and that it won't repeat itself."

I looked at him, disbelieving. This could happen again? Was he kidding? He knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Don't worry," he laughed, "we're making sure it doesn't."

I wasn't entirely convinced. Soda rubbed my shoulder and I knew he felt bad about making me cry.

I motioned to the IV in my arm, wondering what that was all about.

"That's how you got the medicine to help you breathe," he said, "and we had to put you out for a short time while we closed up your throat. Now we're giving you some antibiotics, since when I cut you it wasn't exactly done with a sterile instrument in a sterile operating room."

I suddenly flashed back to the memory of Two-Bit flicking open his blade, and he and Darry holding me down. It was all making more sense now. I'd have to remember to thank Two-Bit for regularly carrying around a weapon.

"Alright, Scout, here's what we're gonna do," Dr. Bryant said, making notes on his chart. "I'm gonna order you something to help the itching and some muscle relaxants to help with the tightness in your chest. All of that is going to make you real sleepy, though, so I'm going to have them bring you some food first. Only liquids and semi-solids for a couple of days, okay? Jello, soups, stuff like that. I don't want you to irritate your throat. We'll see how you feel after a good rest and maybe you can start whispering and even go home."

Home. I wanted to be there more than anything. I was in no position to complain, though. Being in the hospital was certainly a whole lot better than being dead.

"In the meantime, maybe your brothers here can get a little rest themselves. They've spent all their energy all night worrying about you. I looked past Dr. Bryant to the window and saw that it was morning. I must have been out of it since whenever they'd gotten me out of the cellar the previous day, though I had no idea what time of day that had been. Any concept of time had stopped once I got into that dark cellar.

"Anything else I can get for you?" Dr. Bryant sat down on my bed.

I couldn't think of anything.

"I'm real glad I was there, Scout," he said. "I would have been heartbroken if we'd lost you," he said, and I knew right then that he was my friend every bit as much as my doctor.

"Thank you," I mouthed the words.

"We all thank you," Darry said, "I don't know what we would have done if you weren't there. I don't even want to imagine it," he added, grabbing my hand and squeezing. I squeezed back and he held on, tight.

"Alright, well, I'll have the nurses bring in those meds," he said, "and I'll be back in to check on you later tonight, before I leave, okay Miss Scout?"

I nodded, and Darry stood up.

"Thanks again," Darry said. "I mean it. Thanks for saving her for us."

"I'm just glad I was there," he said, sincerely.

"So are we," Pony said, barely whispering. He had been quiet, and I had a feeling he was not entirely comfortable with the fact that he had just come so close to losing yet another person he cared about. He had been watching me intently since I woke up, making sure I was okay.

Dr. Bryant left, and all three brothers turned to face me.

"That was a long night," Darry said. All three of them looked completely exhausted.

"Go home," I mouthed to them. Darry looked hesitant.

I nodded to him to signify that, really, it was okay. The three of them looked at each other. Darry spoke.

"We'll stay until you fall asleep, then I'm gonna go home and shower and change, then I'll come back and Soda can drive him and Pony home. I'll stay here with you."

I was going to try to tell him that he didn't have to, but I knew I wouldn't change his mind anyway, so I decided not to waste the effort. God, but I was tired.

A few moments later an orderly came in with jello and tomato soup. I wanted nothing to do with any of it, but, to make Darry happy, I ate some of both. The nurse came in to give me the medications Dr. Bryant had ordered, and Soda asked if there was anything else they could give me to eat. They were always worried about me eating. She said she'd see what she could do.

A few minutes later, she was back, popsicles in hand for all of us. I eagerly accepted it, and appreciated the soothing cold against my throat. The last thing I remember was Darry taking it out of my hands, as I drifted off, and him kissing my forehead as I slipped away into a dreamless sleep.

"Sleep tight, baby," he whispered, as he tucked the sheets around me.

………………………………………..

A/N: Rest in Peace, Patrick Swayze. Thank you for bringing Darry to life for us. You will not be forgotten. I hope I am always able to do justice to the character you portrayed. *Sleep tight, Darry.*