They tried to wait patiently. They really did. For some it came naturally. For others ... not so much. If you hadn't seen Ponyboy and Johnny in the room you wouldn't have known they were there. But poor Steve wore a path into the space at the foot of Dally's bed pacing back and forth like crazy, while Soda bounced his knee up and down so violently it eventually made Darry reach over and give his leg a loud, hard swat.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Soda exclaimed, immediately trying to rub the sting out of his thigh.

"Knock it off Pepsi ... you're makin' me nervous." Darry grumbled in return.

While the brothers started bantering back and forth about Darry's temper and Soda's attitude, Dally began to stir under the covers. Before too long his eyes fluttered open.

Sitting up abruptly in his bed, Dally's eyes frantically darted around the room, trying to focus on his surroundings while taking everything in. The look on his face was confusion mixed with panic. He was about to lose it.

Darry flew to the bed, immediately pulling Dally into a strong bear hug. Dally's instincts told him to struggle against the weight of the embrace, but he was no match for the eldest greaser. With his arms wrapped tightly around his friend, Darry kept his voice low and controlled as he spoke into the boy's hair.

"Shhhh Dal. Calm down now. You're okay. It's Darry. You hear me? I've got you and everything is okay, but I need you to relax and quit fighting me so I can let go, alright?"

When Darry felt Dally nod against his chest, he slowly loosened his grip on the boy, pulling him back and holding him at arm's length by the shoulders.

"I'm in the hospital, aren't I?..."

"Yup ... I'm real sorry Dally ... we had no choice."

Darry watched as one lonely tear slipped down Dally's left cheek. It slowly marked a track down his face, but before it could reach his chin, Darry silently thumbed it away.

He sat quietly, giving Dally a chance to pull it together, before asking him gently ...

"You ok, Dal?"

"Yeah man ... I'm ok. I just ... I just thought I was somewhere else." Dally looked away, silently hoping he wasn't as transparent as he felt.

"Can we go home now Darry? Please?" A pleading look in his eyes.

"Sorry kid ... not yet. You're still running a fever. Look, I know you feel better, but you're not outta the woods. Your appendix ruptured and the doc said we got you here just in time. They cut ya open Dal. You had surgery and everything. We'll be able to go home in a day or two. In the meantime, you just gotta hang tight." Darry spoke the words knowing full well he was asking the impossible of the notoriously impatient greaser.

"And one more thing ... you gotta stay calm and keep your cool man. You go off in a fit of rage one more time and they're liable to use restraints on you. I mean it Dally. Just a couple more days and your best behaviour, you hear me?"

They finally got the scowl they'd all been waiting for.

Two-Bit moved forward then, breaking the silence from across the room and Dally seemed to notice for the first time that the other boys were there.

"I'll tell you what Dallas Winston, you gave us one hell of a scare!"

"And you should of seen old Superman here. Who knew he could be such a mother hen?! We might just have to replace his red cape with an apron or somethin'."

Darry slowly turned to look up at Two-Bit. There was warning in his eyes and maybe a slight smirk behind the glare.

"Seriously, man he never left your side. Hardly even once."

"That true?" Dally caught Darry's eye as he asked the question.

"I promised you I wouldn't leave you Dal." Darry's voice sounded embarrassed as he looked at the floor feeling uncomfortable with the attention.

Seeing his brother's discomfort Soda jumped in ... "

"Yeah, and when Darry gives you his word it's as good as gold!"

"Well, it better be ... I don't have much else to my name, now do I?" Darry replied quietly.

"You got us Dar." the small voice piped in for the first time in hours.

Darry felt his heart lighten as he looked around the room.

"Yeah, you're right Pone ... I've got you guys. And you're as good as gold too."

Thanks for reading & please review :)