When I finally got home, nobody was there. It was really odd, and I wasn't sure what was going on. I knew that Darry and Soda were going out to look for Ponyboy, it had been a long time since he had been gone, but they still should have been home now. I waited outside the front door, wishing someone would return. That day Dally had said he was going to go check on them, but he wasn't back either. It was dark out, and I couldn't get back inside. I couldn't stay awake any longer, and the last thing I heard before my restless sleep was sirens far away. I had no idea that I would know the people in the ambulances.
I woke up the second I heard a noise, which turned out to be a car door slamming. I looked up to see Soda opening the car door, and Darry jumping out with, to my delight, Pony tucked safely in his arms. I stood up, and wagged my tail, jumping up on Soda, who opened the front door for Darry.
"Hey girl! Where have you been?" Soda said with a tired smile. I followed him inside, and heard the door to Ponyboy's room being shut, and Darry returned.
"I'm so glad he's home, thank God he wasn't hurt as bad as Johnny was." Darry said with a sigh. I began to get worried, hearing something was wrong with Johnny.
"Yea I know, I've been so worried about Pony. I just really hope Johnny will pull through. Dally'll be fine, he's strong enough for anything." Soda said. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, Dally and Johnny were both hurt! Probably in the hospital too. Soda finally rose, and went off to bed, followed by Darry. I laid awake the whole night, unable to sleep.
The next morning I got up early, after having not slept at all. I walked around the house for awhile, and chewed on my blue ball. I remembered the day I had gotten it with Two-Bit, back when everything was fine in the gang. It seemed so long ago, I wished things would be back to normal. I heard a door creak open down the hall, and saw that Ponyboy trudged down the hall, and headed into the kitchen.
He began making breakfast, when suddenly the front door opened. Steve and Two-Bit crept in, both with sly grins plastered on their faces. I cocked my head, and watched as Two-Bit motioned for Steve to be quiet. They both crept around to opposite sides of the kitchen, and snuck up on Ponyboy.
"Ponyboy! Hey!" Two-Bit exclaimed while wrapping his strong arms around the younger boy and swinging him around, causing him to drop the eggs on the ground. Steve snickered from behind them, and began eating a chocolate cake. The bathroom door opened, and out came typical Soda, with just a towel wrapped around his waist. Everyone fooled around in the morning, as usual. But I missed Johnny and Dally being there, I just wished they would come back.
Soda, Steve, and Darry soon all left for work, leaving me at home with Pony and Two-Bit. A while later we all left the house, heading off to the hospital to go see Johnny and Dally. I wasn't sure if I would be allowed in or not, but I certainly hoped so.
"How are we gonna get Shadow in? I don't want to leave her all alone." Pony asked.
Two-Bit looked at him, one eyebrow raised, and then looked down at me.
"I'm sure I'll be strong enough to carry her, and she's still pretty small." He said with a laugh, while reaching down to pick me up. Now I will say I was still pretty small, small enough to fit in an extra large popcorn barrel (lets just say, I learned to stay away from Two-Bit when he was drunk after that particular incident), but I doubted I could fit under Two-Bit's jacket. But sure enough, he clutched me close to his chest, one arm wrapped under my stomach. It was rather uncomfortable, but I was desperate to see Johnny, so I stayed still when we rode the elevator up to the floor he was on. We finally stepped into his room, which was dark and smelled like chemicals. Two-Bit gently set me down on the floor, and I nervously trotted over to him.