A while later, as I lay talking to Darry, Dr. Bryant came in and asked if it would be okay if he talked to me alone for a few minutes. Darry said it would be fine, asking me if I wanted anything from the cafeteria. I asked for a Dingo cheeseburger and he laughed.

"Soon enough," he said. "I'll surprise you with something." My appetite had started to come back with a vengeance, and I was hoping to get the all-clear to go back to regular food. My throat felt a million times better after all the sleep.

Dr. Bryant sat down in the chair and there was silence for a minute or so after Darry left.

"So…" he finally started, "I assume your brother told you about the therapy?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"I really struggled with requiring that of you, Scout, but, in the end, I could see that your brothers are suffering just as much as you because of what happened."

I looked up at him questioningly, not sure what he meant.

"You probably can't see it," he said, "but I'm an older brother, too, and my sister's only a few years older than you, and I know how I would feel… Darry's hurting, too, because he doesn't have the tools he needs to help you get through this, and he wants to be everything for you. It's killing him, to see you hurting."

I was shocked. I hated the thought that I might be part of what had made Darry feel inadequate. He was everything to me.

"You need to talk to somebody else – somebody you're not trying to protect from knowing what you went through."

I was pretty surprised at Dr. Bryant's insight – he was exactly right. I didn't want Darry or Soda or Pony to know how bad it had really been. Even when I'd talked to Soda, I'd kept the worst parts to myself.

"I didn't know… I wouldn't hurt him; never on purpose. I hate it when he feels like he's not good enough," I said.

"I know. You and Darry clearly have a great relationship, and that figured into my decision. I want your relationship to stay great, not be strained by this."

"I guess I never thought about how it was affecting my brothers so much."

"I know. I'm sure it's hard to see it from your perspective."

"Thanks. I mean… for seeing that."

"You're welcome. So, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something else, though."

"Okay…" I wasn't sure what more there was, though I was praying he wouldn't tell me something else was wrong.

"How do you feel about me being your doctor?"

That caught me totally off guard.

"I… uh… I mean, you saved my life. I think you're the best doctor ever."

He smiled.

"Well, thanks, but… you never really picked me to be your doctor. And, well, with you working for Mike and Barbara, and friendly with Linda and me, too, I just want to make sure that you're not uncomfortable talking to me about what's going on with you… with your body."

Suddenly I thought I got what he meant. I had started my period again the day before and had asked to talk to a nurse alone about getting what I needed, not really wanting to bring it up to Darry.

"Oh... I was kinda embarrassed, I mean… I'm the only girl. I try not to make my brothers have to deal with that stuff."

"I know. And your brother is worried about that; he wants to make sure you have somebody you can talk to. And so do I. So, my question is, do you think, if I take you on as an actual patient – which your brother asked me to do – that you can be honest with me about that sort of thing?"

I thought about it. It was true, Dr. Bryant was my friend, but even more than that, I trusted him as a doctor. I didn't feel embarrassed talking about things with him; I trusted him.

"No, I want you to be my doctor. I trust you."

He smiled again.

"I'm glad."

"And you know me, you get it, I mean, my situation, with my brothers. And now you know about... what happened to me."

"I do. And that's all confidential."

"So… now that you're my official doctor, when can I go home?"

"Well, let's not rush things. A few more tests, then we'll see, okay? I feel pretty bad about letting you go home last time and you getting sick right after."

"That wasn't your fault."

"Well, my new motto with Scout Curtis is: Better safe than Sorry."

"Okay, I guess," I said.

Just then the door opened, and Darry came in with a fudgesicle for me.

"Hey, Dr. Bryant?" I asked, as Darry opened the wrapper and handed it to me.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sure you're a good big brother to your sister, but, just so you know, I have the best big brothers in the world."

Darry smiled, and I hoped he believed it, because I truly did.

……………...........................

"You all set?" Darry asked, and I had to laugh. Lord knows, I was more than ready to go home. They'd made me stay an extra day after all my tests came back okay, just to be sure I wasn't going to relapse, and it was late afternoon before I was finally released. I actually felt good; they'd let me shower, finally; I was allowed to talk again and was driving Darry a little bit crazy, talking his ear off.

"Scout, I swear, let's just get home and then we can worry about all this stuff, okay?" I wanted to know when I could go back babysitting, when I could start playing basketball again, and when somebody was going to get me my cheeseburger.

"Okay," I said. I settled back into the seat and closed my eyes. I was so glad to be finally going home and not feeling sick anymore.

We pulled up at the house and I was surprised to see that somebody had been taking care of my plants. The flowers were doing well and the tomato plants Linda had given me were starting to grow a lot – somebody had even staked them up. I looked at Darry.

"Ben did it for you. He wanted to come see you way more than his mom let him; she knew you needed to rest."

I missed Ben something awful.

I walked up to the front porch, surprised that Pony wasn't sitting outside. He usually spent every nice day out on the porch reading. I was even more surprised that our front door was closed. On nice days the door always stayed open, with just the screen closed.

I looked back at Darry, carrying my bag, and he shrugged.

I opened the door and was met with the last thing in the world I expected.

"Welcome Home!!!" Suddenly I was surrounded by friends, brothers, my coach, everyone. Soda picked me up and swung me around, sitting me on the couch. I looked around, amazed at all the faces staring back at me.

"Oh my God," I laughed. "Thanks! This is crazy!"

"We're a crazy bunch, you mean to tell me you didn't already know that?" Two-Bit laughed. "And we all like a good party."

"We're just glad you're back, and healthy," Mrs. Cummings said. "Welcome home, honey."

I had to smile. Ben sat next to me and gave me a hug, whispering in my ear.

"I missed you." He sneaked a kiss on my neck which sent a shiver through my whole body.

Anna and Alison were there, with their Dad, and they had brought what had to be a dozen pizzas, as well as a huge salad and some pasta. Anna cornered me at one point, alone.

"Oh my God, Scout… I was so worried for you." She hugged me, and I wondered if she knew that, despite the fact that she hadn't been in any danger of imminent death, I had, at one point, been just as much worried for her. "I'm so glad you're okay. Dad wouldn't let me come visit you in the hospital; he was afraid I'd be in the way."

"That's okay. Thanks."

"Darry called Ali, every night."

That was interesting news. I wondered how she'd felt about him getting beat up. I was interested in how she felt about his deal with Tim Shepard.

"What does she think about his new work agreement?" I asked.

"She's worried about him, but she likes that there are lots of other guys looking out for him."

"Tim's a good guy," I said. Anna hadn't met him, but she knew of him, from me. "He'll look out for Darry."

"I hope so, 'cause I think Ali's in love with him," Alison whispered, motioning to the two of them across the room.

I didn't want to answer for Darry, though I knew he was pretty hung up on her, too. I was looking around at all the food – wondering where it all came from – in addition to the stuff from Angelo's there was a whole ton of other food, that I guessed people must have brought, since it was all in bowls and casserole dishes, when Darry came over to whisk me away. He pulled me into my bedroom.

"Are you okay? You up for this? It was Ben and Anna's idea, they were so glad to have you coming home, they wanted to celebrate."

"I'm okay," I said. "Just a little overwhelmed."

"Okay, well, you get too tired and you just tell me, okay, and the party's over."

"Okay."

We went back out and I sat back down on the couch. Everyone I could imagine came to sit with me: Anna and Ben, Two-Bit, Kevin, Mrs. Cummings, Alison and her Dad, My coach and his wife, with Laura, Two-Bit's sister Katie, even Dr. Bryant and Linda came by. I'd gotten the all clear to eat real food and the pizza tasted like heaven, after eating hospital food for so long. Eventually, I did get pretty tired, and I lay back against the arm of the couch. Most people had already left, and I could her my brothers talking and laughing out on the porch, when suddenly Ben was there with me.

"Sleepy, huh?" he asked.

"Mmmmm." I pulled him down against me and kissed him on the cheek. He rested his head against my shoulder, his breathing tickling my neck.

"Ben?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for the party."

"Aww… You deserved it. You never deserved any of all the crap that happened to you." I knew he meant more than just getting the spider bites and getting sick – he meant all of it - losing my parents, getting lost in the woods, what happened with Steve – everything, all happening in less than a year. Thinking about it myself, how I was still - for the most part – okay, I started to believe that maybe what Darry had said about me was a little bit true. Maybe I was strong. I sure had been through a lot.

"Still… thanks. What time is it?"

"Nine-thirty."

"Oh. I think I better go to bed. I'm exhausted, and the last thing I want is to get sick again."

"Me neither… want me to get Darry?"

"No…" I heard him laughing outside, something I wished I heard more often. "He's having fun… just leave him." I went to brush my teeth and Ben was still sitting there when I came back out.

"Want me to tuck you in?" he asked, with a smile that just about melted me.

"Okay, just let me get changed." I went into my bedroom and changed into my pajamas, slipping between the covers, having forgotten how good it felt to sleep in my own bed. A moment later there was a knock on my door.

"Come in," I said. "You better leave the door open." I didn't think Darry would yell at me about anything, after what I'd just gone through, but he did tend to err on the side of caution when it came to me and Ben.

Ben came over and sat on my bed, pushing my hair back out of my face.

"I'm glad you're home."

"Me too. Will you stay here 'til I fall asleep?" It just felt nice, having him there.

"Okay. He lay back on top of the sheets. Still rubbing my hair, he threw his other arm loosely over me. I closed my eyes and must have fallen asleep almost immediately. I was jolted awake by a voice.

"Ben?" Darry was there, in the doorway.

"I was just laying with her, Dar. I swear."

"Yeah, I can see that. Time to go home." I felt Ben's arm retract and I grabbed at it.

"Ben?"

"Yeah?"I felt him lean back in to me.

"Thanks. I missed you, too," I whispered.

I felt him kiss my forehead and then my lips; just as I moved to kiss him back, he pulled away.

"Night, Scout," he whispered, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ben…" I called.

"Ben's gotta go, baby," Darry said. "Bedtime, okay? For real." I heard Darry say goodnight to Ben and then the front door slamming as he left.

"We weren't doing anything. I just wanted him to stay 'til I fell asleep."

"I know. You're not in trouble. It's just late. You want me to sleep in here tonight?"

I thought about it. The whole point of us moving around was so he wouldn't have to. I felt too tired to dream anything, anyway.

"No… I'm okay."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, well, you know where I am if you need me."

"Yeah."

"Goodnight." Just as Darry was about to close the door, Pony and Soda appeared behind him.

"Night, Scout," Pony said. "It's good to have you home."

"Sleep tight," Soda added.

"Night guys," I said, as Darry closed the door.

It was good to be home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Thanks, everyone, for so faithfully reviewing my chapters. It makes it a lot easier to find the motivation to write when I feel like I have such a dedicated audience. For those of you who started reading "Hedging Your Bets" back in February, I finally updated that one. Soda just doesn't let me write him as easily as Scout…