Chapter 44

As Sodapop closed Sara's door he could have sworn he heard her whisper that she "still loved him lots." He leaned his head against her door and let out a sigh. As he stood there he couldn't stop wondering why things were getting so complicated lately. It seemed as more time past after the accident the more things just kept getting harder and harder. He remembered his parent's friends telling him after the funeral that things would soon get easier, but that was definitely not the case here. After he stood there for a few minutes just thinking over everything he could hear soft voices coming from the living room so he ventured out to see Steve, Ponyboy and Johnny watching something on the tube. He moved over to the couch and flopped in between Johnny and Pony.

"What's up with Sara?" Steve could tell by Soda's body language that something had happened between the two and it didn't look good.

"Same ole same ole." Soda said trying to get caught up on the show the boys were watching.

"Oh, you mean being a little shit then?" Steve said brazenly. That caught Soda's attention and he turned and looked at his best friend and even though Steve was right about the way she was acting he wasn't going to let his friend get away with saying that about his little sister.

"She's not a little shit, Steve. She's just having a rough time right now, that's all."

"I don't understand why you're trying so hard to get her to change her mind about this stupid dance. I wouldn't ever beg any girl, not even Natalie Woods to go to a stupid dance with me." Steve mumbled. Soda figured as much but just ignored his friend's comment. Steve wasn't satisfied with the silence from Soda, so he continued with his rant. "Jesus Soda, why's it so important to take her to this thing anyway?"

"I don't know Steve, it just is! Can we just drop it?" Soda tried to pull his attention back to The Munster's, even though it was almost over, but he just needed to concentrate on something else other than Sara and the dance, and when the phone rang he jumped by the sound it made. He watched as Steve picked up the receiver and answered it.

"Hello? Umm, no he isn't. No this is Steve, Sodapop's right here." Steve held out the phone to Soda and just shrugged a shoulder. Soda pulled himself from the couch and took the receiver from Steve's hand.

"Hello? Oh, hi Mrs. Roberts. Ah, no he's not. He's out running an errand. Well, he had to pick up something from the store. Oh, Sara? Yeah, she's doing much better." He said lying through his teeth and wincing as he did so. "The doctor's appointment, umm it went well, yeah I went. The doc said that he believes her behavior is being caused by some events that have triggered memories of our parents, which is just causing her to act out a bit, nothing to be too concern about at this time. Yes, he wants to see her in two weeks. Oh, you want to do another visit before then? I'll tell Darry. He'll probably give you a call tomorrow. Alright Mrs. Roberts. See ya soon." Sodapop slammed the receiver down a bit harder than intended but it sure got a startle out of the boys in the room.

"What did she want Soda?" Pony asked with concern.

"Ah, just wanted to check in on Sara." Soda mumbled.

"Doing much better my ass." Steve shook his head from side to side. "Friggin' kid."

"She's wants to come sometime next week for another visit." Soda confessed to the room.

"Great, what if her wrist is broken? That will surely give her reason to want to take her away, Soda. We can't let her come." Pony's voice was rising in pitch which was a sure sign he was getting scared. Sodapop sat back down on the couch and placed his arm around Pony's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"There's nothing we can do about it Pony. If it is broken it'll be in a cast for at least 6 weeks and you and I both know that Mrs. Roberts would be making her visit before then anyway. No use in worrying about it. We can't change what has been done." And as Sodapop let that slip off his tongue his head started spinning about the last twenty four hours and how he wished that he could change what has been done. For none of this would have ever happened. Sara would of never had walked in on him and Sandy, she would of never of changed her mind about the dance and she would of never been running from him in the parking lot today.

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The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. Everyone was kind of quiet, well Johnny is always quiet and ever since their parents had passed Soda noticed that Ponyboy was becoming more of an introvert than he was before, so he wasn't saying much, and Steve, well he got the picture that Soda wasn't in any mood to be talking. So the boys all zoned out and watched the Perry Mason Show until Darry came home. He walked in a bit passed nine and noticed how quiet things were. "Wow, what's gotten into you guys? You're never this quiet." Darry smirked at the group of boys, but when no on smirked back or even had a smart ass comment he knew something was up. "Soda? Everything alright here? Is it Sara? Has her wrist gotten worse?"

"Nah, it was about the same the last I check. I gave her some pain reliever and sent her off to bed before eight."

"Did you put the ace bandage on?" Darry asked trying to figure out what might be causing these guys to be so mum.

"Yup, even got her in the tub and cleaned out some of those big scrapes and stuff." Soda was making very little eye contact with Darry which was another indicator that something was up.

"Without a fuss? That's pretty amazing." Darry looked surprised as he took his boots off by the door.

"Did he say it was without a fuss?" Steve added into the conversation. Darry looked back and forth between Steve and Soda and noticed that Soda wasn't looking at Steve either and by the coldness that was in Steve's voice it was a dead giveaway that something was going on here.

"Alright you four, what the hell's going on?" Darry demanded. But no one answered. Instead Johnny looked at Ponyboy and then at Darry and shrugged his shoulders. He slowly got up from the couch and spoke really softly.

"I think I better get on home for the night. I'll see ya tomorrow Ponyboy."

"Maybe you shouldn't be walking by your lonesome. You know you can stay here." Pony said getting up from the couch in hope to leave this conversation to be dealt with by just Darry, Soda and Steve, but as Pony started to pass by his big brother, Darry caught him by the arm.

"Not so fast there cowboy." Darry spoke.

"Let him go Dar, he's done nothing wrong." Sodapop said coming to Pony's defense.

"As much as I would love staying around for this tango, I've gotta get home too." Steve got up from the chair and threw his arm over Johnny's shoulder. "Why don't I give you a ride Johnny?"

"Sure thing." Johnny responded softly taking one more quick glance towards Pony and Darry. "See ya guys."

"Bye Johnny." The boys echo. Steve pushed Johnny out the door and before he stepped out himself he sent Sodapop one more message.

"You've gotta let it go Soda, no use in dwelling on something that only she can fix." Soda gave his best friend a weak smiled and a nod of the head. "See ya all tomorrow." Once Steve and Johnny had closed the door behind them, Darry had finally let go of Pony's arm and was just looking between the two boys.

"Well?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Mrs. Roberts called while you were at work, but don't worry I didn't tell her that, I just said you were picking something up at the store." Soda paused to take a breath.

"And?" Darry questioned.

"And she wanted to know how Sara's appointment went. I told her you would call her tomorrow. She wants to come by sometime next week for another visit."

"Ah, shit." Was Darry's initial response, but as he studied his brother some more he got the feeling that it was a bit more than Mrs. Roberts' phone call that had him in such a shitty mood. "What else is going on with you?"

"Nothing Dar, just let it go Man. I'm heading for the shower." Soda pushed passed the two boys and slouched off towards their bathroom. Darry and Ponyboy watched as they noticed that Soda wasn't his typically perky self and that bothered both boys.

"Do you know if he and Sara had a chance to talk tonight?" Darry said putting his lunch box and keys down on the kitchen counter. Ponyboy nodded his head yes and proceeded to move towards his bedroom. "So it didn't go well, or what?"

"You could say that. Sara still doesn't want to go to the dance." It just took that one statement and Darry slammed his hands down against the counter which made Pony paused before he entered the doorway and watched as Darry stood tensely. He didn't seem to notice that Ponyboy was still there until he heard his voice. "Darry?"

Darry spun around to face Pony. "What?" He asked roughly.

"Umm, if Sara has to go to the doctor's tomorrow, why don't you just offer to take her to the dance, she'll probably go with you." Darry pondered the thought for a minute, and the thought had actually ran through his own head earlier in the evening but he didn't let it last longer than a minute though.

"Well, I thought about that, but we should really wait to see if it's broken or not, because if it is she'll probably have to go to the hospital to get a cast on it, and I bet she won't feel up to it after all that. Plus we never picked up a dress for her." Darry paused again and then just added, "Nah, I think its best if we just leave well enough alone, don't you?" Darry gave Ponyboy his all-knowing look and Pony lightly shrugged his shoulders and moved towards his room. He got undressed and grabbed a book and started reading until Sodapop came back from the shower. He sat down on the edge of the bed and towel dried his wheat color hair. Ponyboy pretended to be engaged in the novel he was reading but he kept spying on Soda over the top of the book. After Soda was satisfied with the dryness of his hair he threw the towel across the room and crawled into bed next to Pony.

"How much longer you plan on reading Pon?" Soda asked trying to shield his eyes from the lamps' dim light.

"I can turn it out now if ya that tired." Pony said being considerate of his brother.

"That would be great. I just need a good night's sleep after last night and all." Pony closed his book and placed it on his desk and then turned out the light. The two boys laid in silence for a few minutes before Ponyboy rolled over towards his big brother and quietly spoke.

"Sodapop?"

"Hmm?" Pony heard Sodapop's sleepy voice.

"Soda, why are ya trying so hard to get Sara to change her mind about this stupid dance anyway?"

Sodapop laid quiet for a minute or two before he responded with the simplest of answers. "Because that's what Dad would of wanted. He never gave up on any of us. So I can't give up on her." Even though it was a simple answer, Ponyboy knew that Sodapop was one hundred percent correct. Their father never gave up on anyone of his children. He always made certain that all of his children followed through with what they were set out to do, and Sodapop was just carrying this out with Sara as well.

"Oh." Is all that Ponyboy could respond back with.

"Good night Ponyboy." Soda said while pulling at the covers.

"Good night Soda. Sleep tight." Pony answered back.

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The next morning in the Curtis household was almost as quiet as it was the morning before. The four moved around the house getting ready and not saying too much to each other. The night wasn't as bad as Darry had thought it might have been. Sara had only woken up once, a little after midnight complaining that her wrist was hurting and that she was having trouble sleeping. Darry had given her some more pain reliever and sat with her and stroked her hair with some occasional rubbing of her arm to help get her back sleep. Even though Sara wasn't up for more than thirty minutes she seems groggy this morning. As they were sitting down for breakfast Darry brought up the subject. "So Sara, by the amount of swelling still in that wrist and the amount of pain that it's causing I think we should get you into Dr. Robinson today. I will call and get an appointment, depending on what time he can take you; I might be by school to pick you up." Sara appreciated the warning this time and just shook her head in agreement.

"I can do it too Dar, if you need me to." Soda offered. "I'm sure Frank won't mind me leaving for an hour or so."

"Well, first we need to get an appointment, and then I'll let you know. Hopefully one of us can do it during our lunch break. We really can't afford for either one of us to miss any more time." Darry got up from the table and started cleaning up from breakfast when he heard Soda's voice continuing with the conversation.

"But Dar, I was getting out early today anyway." He paused and looked towards Sara who was now getting up with her cereal bowl in hand. "You know because of the thing tonight." Even though Soda was trying to use code, Sara knew exactly what he was talking about and by the nasty look on her face Darry knew he needed to settle this once and for all, so when he took Sara's bowl from her, he placed a firm hand on her shoulder to stop her from moving any further.

"Sara, are you going to this dance tonight or not?" Sara's eyes slowly moved from Darry over to Soda's and then back to Darry's again. She slowly shook her head no while trying to hold back the tears. "Why the tears then? If you choose not to go than there shouldn't be any tears. This is your decision. No one is telling you that you can't go. It's obvious that you still want to. So instead of biting off your nose to spite your face and getting all upset about it, why don't you just let Sodapop take you?" Sara just froze as she stared between Darry and Soda. There was so much she wanted to say to them both but she just couldn't get her thoughts organized enough to do so, so after a minute of not responding Darry spoke again. "Sara, it's your choice. But I'm telling you right now if you choose not to go with Sodapop than this is a closed subject. I don't want you pouting around here all weekend or complaining about any of it, you got it. So what's it gonna be? I want an answer right now. We are all done playing this game of yours." Sara wasn't so sure if it was the stance that Darry was taking with her, or if it was the tone of voice that he was using but the dam gates had just opened wide and Sara could barely control herself.

"I.. I… do…. want to go." She managed to spit out between gasps and choking on her tears. "I just… can't go with him!" She pointed towards Sodapop. "It…just…hurts too much! Please take me instead Darry?" The instant that Sodapop heard what Sara said about him he tossed his dishes into the sink and slipped passed the two and finished getting ready. Darry read the hurt on Soda's face as he took off towards the bathroom and his heart started breaking for both Soda and his sister.

"Sara, I have to work tonight. I can't take you, you know that. But if you really want to go, than you should try to forgive Sodapop today and go and have a good time tonight." Darry placed his coffee cup down and grabbed at some tissues and handed them to Sara. Sara took them and brushed them across her runny nose. "Just think about it, alright Kiddo?" Darry ruffled Sara's head just as she heard the gang rustling in through their front door.

"Hey Ponyboy, let's get a move on. We're late!" Two-Bit yelled throughout their house.

"Coming!" Pony said stumbling to get his lunch and books from the kitchen table. As he was grabbing his stuff he noticed that Sara was frantically try to wipe at her eyes with the balled up tissues. He had overheard the conversation and couldn't resist but to add his two cents worth. He crouched down and looked his sister in the eyes. "Sara, please just stop being so stubborn about this. You know you want to go, so just forgive Soda, and let him take you. He really wants to. He told me so last night before going to bed. You know how much he loves you and you love him, so just stop being so pig headed and just go." Pony stopped talking and watched as his sister still swiped away tears that were falling down her face like slow rain. When he could tell she wasn't gonna respond he decided to play the card of guilt. "Besides, it's what Dad would want. You think he likes looking down from Heaven right now and seeing this?" Ponyboy finally got a reaction out of Sara, though it was small, it was still a reaction. Sara shook her head real fast from side to side. "That's right. Now by the time I get home today I want to hear that you have changed your mind and I'll see Princess Sara standing in a beautiful dress, and ready to go dancing." Sara was able to give Pony a weak smile and Pony returned it with a wider grin. He quickly pulled his sister into a small hug. Sara willingly accepted and gracefully returned the hug back to her brother. Pony started to get up when he spied Two-Bit and Johnny watching from the entry way from the living room to the kitchen. For the first time in Two-Bit's life he kept all comments to his self and just let these two Curtis siblings have this moment, a moment that Two-Bit knew that Sara needed. Ponyboy was heading towards the living room when he remembered something. "Oh, and by the way Sara, if you do decide to go, I overheard Soda and Sandy talking last night and she told Soda that she would drop off some of Shirley's old dresses for you to choose from. She even mentioned that she would do your hair for you. That's if you decide to go." Sara again just gave a small smirk and watched as Two-Bit, Johnny and Pony rushed towards their front door. "Hey Darry!" Pony was about to yell again when Darry finally poked his head out from the bathroom and answered.

"What is it Pony?"

"Don't forget the swear jar money is on the counter."

"Alright, thanks. Hey, have a good day." Darry yelled back before returning back to brushing his teeth. After the gang ran off for the day it just left Darry, Sodapop and Sara. Sara had managed to get herself together enough to finish her morning routine. Darry was handing out lunches and grabbing for his keys when he remembered the money from the swear jar. He couldn't believe that there was over nine dollars, those boys really did need to watch their language, and God knows how many swears he let slip without making the boys pay for it. It brought a smile to his face as he raced out of the house. The three filed into Darry's old pickup truck and drove in silence to the DX. Once Darry came to a complete stop he turned to Soda. "I'll call you when I hear something from Dr. Robinson's office."

"Sounds good." Even though Sara's words were still ringing in his ears from this morning, he still couldn't start his day without one more attempt. He leaned into her ear and whispered. "Sara, please come to the dance with me tonight. I know your still mad and upset with me, but can you please stop long enough for us to go. And then after the dance you can still continue to be mad?" He gently placed a kiss on the top of her head and waited for a second for a response and when he got none he added, "Have a good day, Babygirl. You know how much I love you?" And it was at that moment that Sara's waterworks started again, for Soda just had to add that last part. It was a little game that their Mother would always play with all her children. She would always ask them do you know how much I love you. And each child would always try to come up with a new and better saying. Many expressions were made up in the Curtis Family, some were; more than anything, more than the world, more than the universe, from here to Mars and back and a billion more. After the death of their parents, Sodapop took it upon himself to continue to play the game with Sara, especially at moments were she was sad, or hurt, or even when she was just having a bad day. When Sara didn't reply Soda decided to answer for her. "Well, I love you to infinity and beyond." He ruffled her head and said good bye to both her and Darry. He jumped out of the truck and waved good bye and headed for the garage bay. As Darry pulled away from the DX he noticed Sara wiping her runny nose and tears with her sleeve of her sweater. He reached across her and flung open the glove compartment and grabbed some napkins that he had learned to keep in there due to many messes that Sara tended to make.

"Here." He said tossing a few at her. "Don't use your clean sweater please." Sara obeyed and wiped her nose and eyes with the napkins. As the two drove in almost complete silence to Cathy's Darry watched as his little sister was being an emotional wreck. As he pulled up to Cathy's curb he turned the truck engine off and the two sat without saying anything for a minute or two, when Darry was about to say something about her needing to pull herself together, Sara surprised him.

"Darry?" Sara small, innocent voice asked.

"Yeah?"

"Have you forgiven Sodapop yet?"

"You mean for the other night?" Darry said with a small frown on his lips.

Sara shook her head up and down and let out a tiny "Yeah."

"I forgave him the next day Sara." He raised a brow at her and then stated, "Sara, don't you think Soda has paid the price by now?" Sara wiped one more time at some straggling tears and slowly shrugged one shoulder. She grabbed at her book bag from the floor and as she was moving it up from the seat Darry grabbed her upper arm to stop her. There was so much he wanted to say to her at that moment but for some reason he couldn't get anything out, so instead he just drew her towards him. Sara snuggled into his chest and Darry wrapped his strong, long arms around his tiny sister. The two sat there for as long as Sara needed it and when she had control of her sobs she looked up to Darry for some reassurance. "All better now?" He asked. She let a small smile pull at her lips and then ducked her head back into his warm chest. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she let the smell of his deodorant and the laundry detergent from his shirt sink in. As she was pulling away she leaned in one more time and swept her runny nose on his shirt which caused Darry to chuckle. "Thanks a lot Kiddo, just what I needed booger snots all over my shirt to start the day off." The genuine smile Darry was wearing was enough for Sara to crack one as well. "Have a good day kiddo. Me or Soda will probably pick you up this afternoon." Sara nodded her head in agreement and slipped out of the truck where Cathy was already waiting for her at the door. Sara turned before entering and gave Darry a small wave before disappearing into Cathy's.

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Darry couldn't help but to think about Sara and Soda and this dance all morning long. It was so bad that a few times the foreman scolded him for not pay attention to what he was doing. Darry managed to get away during his morning break to make that call to Dr. Robinson's office. They told Darry that they could squeeze her in during his lunch break which was great for him. He then called Sodapop to let him know that he could take care of it and not to worry. When Darry was heading back to the sight he was working at he decided to take Puckett Street and stop at the bank, seeing he might not have time now at lunch. As he stop at the crosswalk to let a young Mother and her child cross in the crosswalk something caught Darry's attention. Out of the corner of his eye he turned to see Consider it New. There still on a child mannequin was that dress that Sara had carried on so about a few days ago. As Darry sat and starred at the dress and thought about Sara, he heard a honk from behind him. When he pulled his eyes away he had noticed that the Mother and child were safely across the street and he was now holding up traffic. He waved to the impatient man behind him and pulled into the nearest parking lot to the bank. As he got out he moved down the sidewalk and opened the first door he came to. He felt a bit awkward about entering but he was soon greeted by the friendly lady. "Hello There. How can I help you today?" Darry started feeling his palm clam up and small beads of sweat started forming on his forehead.

"That blue dress in the window? Do you think it would fit a six year old girl?" The Lady gave a sweet smile.

"Well, that depends on the size of your little girl, Sir." She asked.

"She's very slender and kind of petite I guess you would say." The Lady couldn't help but chuckle and moved over to check the dress size.

"Sir, this dress is a 4/5." Darry returned a look of puzzlement. The Lady moved back and kindly explained to Darry. "A 4/5 means that it would fit your average 4 to 5 year old. It could be a bit small on your 6 year old. She would probably be a 6/7." The instant the Lady noticed the frown on his face she quickly added, "But if she is as small as you say than she might fit into it. May I ask what's the occasion is?"

"The Father/ Daughter dance tonight at the High School."

"Oh, yes, very important dances, all little girls around here love attending that. And if I am not mistaken this dress was worn once for that occasion a few years ago I believe." Darry just nodded not really caring to much about the history of the dress.

"How much is it?" That was the next important thing he needed to know.

"Twelve dollars, Sir." Darry opened his wallet and fished around for money. He only had fifteen total and nine of it was from the money from the swear jar, money that he knew that he had to get in the bank. He let out a heavy sigh and thanked the Lady and moved back outside. At least he tried he thought. He moved on towards the bank and when he opened the door he noticed the long line for the tellers and then down at his watch. He only had 5 minutes before his break was up and he was already dreading having to tell Mr. Day that he might be late coming back from his lunch break due to Sara's appointment. Darry trotted back to his truck and sped back to the work site. There he talked with Mr. Day, and again because it was Sara, Mr. Day was understanding and told Darry that if it wasn't broken then he was to come back to work, Darry totally agreed and he worked nonstop until his lunch hour. He raced to go pick Sara up at school. Of course the ladies in the main office were surprised to see Darry so soon but chatted his ear off until Sara arrived. Not much was said between Sara and Darry until they arrived at the doctor's office. Darry parked in his normal parking spot and the two walked side by side, Darry on the outside and Sara on the inside. Sara's nerves were starting to kick in and as she walked with Darry she so badly wanted to grab a hold of his hand to help calm her nerves, but she stopped herself, for Darry wasn't Sodapop. He wasn't one to show public affection so holding Sara's hand wasn't very common, it was a Sodapop kind of thing instead. As Sara and Darry took the short stroll down the sidewalk towards the doctor's office they had to pass by Consider it New and there it was still, her Cinderella dress. Sara stopped dead in her tracks and just looked. Darry didn't even notice that she had stopped until he was at Dr. Robinson's office and was holding the door open for her. When he noticed that she wasn't there his eyes wandered down the sidewalk to where the little girl was standing, open mouthed, practically drooling and just looking all glassy eyed at that dress.

"Sara, stop looking at that dress and come on." Sara picked her head up and noticed that her brother was further down the walkway and was waiting at the doctor's office. She took one more peak at the dress and then hurried her step to meet up with her brother, when she got within reach she offered up a sincere apology.

"Sorry Darry, I just couldn't help myself. That dress is just so beautiful." Sara slipped under his arm and into the office building. Darry just shook his head at his little sister and followed in behind her. He checked her into the receptionist desk and took a seat beside her. He noticed that this time she was doing less fidgeting than she had done a few days ago, so that was a good thing. When the nurse called her name she couldn't help but make a comment.

"Well, Mr. Curtis, I do believe that the two of you are becoming regulars here. I mean I know Dr. Robinsons thinks the world of you, but so soon?" Of course the young nurse was teasing, but Darry needed to make sure he corrected her, again.

"It's just Darry, not Mr. Curtis."

"Oh, yes, of course. I think you corrected me about that the other day. Sorry." She flashed Darry a big smile and led Sara to the scales. "Dr. Robinson would like a weight on her." Darry nodded and eagerly waited, hoping that Sara might have gained a pound or two. "40 and a quarter. That's a quarter up from the other day. Doc will like that." A quarter of a pound that was it, he thought. He had been tougher on her lately with her eating, but then again, he knows that she didn't eat dinner the other night, and god knows what Soda fed her last night. Maybe this night job wasn't working out so great after all. He would have to remember to talk with Sodapop about making sure she eats what's on her plate. The cute little nurse moved them onto the examine room where she took Sara's temperature and blood pressure. The nurse took the ace bandage off and wrote some things down in Sara's file and spoke to Darry. "Dr. Robinson will be just a few minutes. It was good seeing you two again. Hope it isn't broken Sara. That will be a bummer for the summer." Sara's eye got wide, for she hadn't given any thought to having a broken arm for the summer. Darry noticed her tensing up and he moved closer to place his hand on her knee.

"We don't know anything just let, so stop worrying." Just as he was finishing up with his way of comforting, Dr. Robinson knocked and opened the door.

"Well, well, you just couldn't get enough of me now could you Sara?" He gave Sara a wink and a smile which relaxed her some.

"Hi ya Dr. Robinson." She politely greeted the older gentleman.

"Darrel." He shook Darry's hand while placing Sara's chart down on the examine table behind her. "So, who wants to start first and explain how this wrist has been injured?" He looked down at Sara's tiny wrist that was still swollen and a bit bruise.

"There was an accident at the DX station yesterday." Darry started.

"That's where Sodapop works, right?" Dr. Robinson questioned.

"Yes, Sir. See she was getting off the bus and she started to run through the parking lot when a car came flying into the pumps and almost hit Sara. Lucky one of our friends noticed the car coming and pushed her out of the way. When he did she landed on her left side. I didn't think it was broken but just wanted to get your opinion. She has some pain and it is still swollen, but she didn't have any numbness, and her fingers were still pink so that's why I didn't take her to the emergency room last night.

"Well, Dr. Curtis, you sure did a good job examining her last night, and if I was you I probably wouldn't have taken her either. What I do think is that we have a pretty good sprain her. The bruising and the swelling tell me that. But to play it on the safe side, you could take her over and get an x-ray and that will tell us for certain." Dr. Robinson could tell by Darry's facial features that he was concerned about something. "Or we could wait it out a few more days and see if the pain and the swelling goes down, along with the bruising. If it does than we know it was a sprain, if it doesn't than we really must get those x-rays, Darrel." Darry's facial expression relaxed some after the suggestion. "But Darrel, if the pain continues to bother her than you might want to reconsider taking her to get that x-ray sooner."

"I will Doc." Darry assured him.

"Good, now I see an ace bandage. I am assuming that you have already wrapped it. I would like to see it stay that way for the next few days. Though take it off every few hours to check the swelling and discoloring. It also wouldn't be a bad idea to continue to ice it for 20 minutes, then take it off and wait an hour or so and ice again. Is she sleeping alright with it?"

"Not too bad. She woke up about quarter past twelve last night complaining that it hurt; so I gave her some children's pain reliever, with that and me soothing her some she feel back to sleep and slept until morning."

"That's not bad at all." Dr. Robinson smiled and rubbed Sara's arm. "She tough, just like her brothers." Sara returned the same grin that Darry was also wearing at the moment.

"That she is." Darry agreed. Dr. Robinson wrapped Sara's wrist back up in the ace bandage being so ever gentle. After he was done he tapped Sara's knee and whispered, but loud enough for Darry to hear.

"No more running in parking lots you hear?" Sara nodded her head. "Good, now I believe Claire might have a sweet treat for a special little girl, is it alright Darrel?"

"Yes, it's alright." Once Dr. Robinson got the ok, he picked up Sara from the table and plopped her down on the floor and gave her a little love tap on her bottom to get her moving towards the hallway.

"Go on, you heard your brother. Claire should be right out there." Sara took one more glance at Darry to make sure it was alright and when he nodded his head towards the door she made a quick dash down the hall. Once she was out of sight Dr. Robinson turned to Darry. "So you know Darrel, this puts me in a very difficult situation with the state, first fudging the visit from earlier this week and the whole traumatic stress and now this. You know I could lose my license over this." Darry knew as much and he couldn't allow for that to happen.

"You've got to do what you've got to do Doc. I've appreciated everything so far, but I could never live with myself knowing that you could lose your practice and license just because of lack of judgment on my sister's part. I couldn't and never would ask you to do that for us." Darry stood firm, with his hands dug deep down into his front pockets.

"Well, Darrel this is where we need to come to some type of agreement. Now let's start from the beginning again." Darry gave Dr. Robinson a puzzled look. "So Darrel, what happened again to Sara's arm?"

"I've already told you…"

"Ah, that's right she fell." Darry noticed Dr. Robinson give a wink.

"Yeah, she fell." Darry repeated

"Fell off something you say?" Dr. Robinson stood grinning.

"Yeah, fell off her bike." Darry knew this was wrong, but if it worked then hey.

"Good, good." Dr. Robinson took some notes and wrote some things in Sara's file.

"Dr. Robinson, really you don't have to do this." Darry begged.

"I know that, Darrel." He said without making eye contact.

"But what about your practice and your license?" Darry couldn't possible let Dr. Robinson do this.

"Didn't I ever tell you that I am thinking about retiring Son?" Dr. Robinson said was a huge grin on his face from ear to ear. Darry couldn't believe what he was hearing. No one and he'll repeat, no one with any type of social economic status has ever gone to bat for him and his siblings and it was almost too much to take. Dr. Robinson moved over and placed a hand on Darry's shoulder and leaned into his ear. "It's all worth it, Darry, just trust me Son."

"Thanks Doc." Darry went to shake his hand, but Dr. Robinson shooed it away, and squeezed his shoulder instead. He led Darry out to where Claire was entertaining Sara. He noticed the little girl giggling and smiling while listening to a tale that Claire was sharing with her. Darry couldn't resist but to smile as he watch Sara interact with this nurse. Darry hated to interrupt but he knew the clock was ticking and he still had to think of something to do with Sara while he returned back to work. He hated to have to send her back to school and he couldn't ask Soda to leave to watch her, so that only left one other option. He hated to do it, but sometimes you have to do what needs to be done. "Sara, stop bothering Claire, I'm sure she has things to do. Besides we need to get going." Darry stepped up to the window to pay for her visit. He almost cringed as he wrote out another big check from their already low balance. The receptionist reminded Darry of Sara's next appointment and the two moved swiftly towards the sidewalk. Darry guided Sara along with his hand pressed against her shoulder blade with only one main goal; to keep her moving along without her pausing again at Consider it New, but before they got there Sara surprised Darry with asking permission before hand.

"Darry, can I just stop for a second and get one more look at the dress? Please?" Sara begged.

"Why do you insist on torturing yourself like this?" He grumbled. Sara slowly reached for Darry's big calloused hand and slipped hers into it and gave his arm a little tug towards the window.

"It's not torture Darry. It's fun to imagine what it would be like to be a princess for a day." Darry willingly let Sara lead him over to the window display. "Don't you ever use your imagination Darry?" He let out a huff, like there was room for imagining things, being the only adult in a house of four there was no room, or time for imagining things, and what use would it be to anyway.

"You and Ponyboy with your heads up in the clouds." Darry shook his head and took one more look at the dress and then one more at his little sister. Gosh, she was a pretty neat kid. Most other kids her age would probably be pitching a fit right here in the street for that damn dress, but not Sara, all she wanted was to burn the image in her head so that she would always have it there for future days in the clouds. "Come Sara. We've gotta go grab Ponyboy from school, and get you two home, then I need to get back to work." Sara took one quick peak at the dress and obeyed Darry's request of leaving now and moved right up to his side and swung her tiny arm around his waist and gave it a little squeeze. Darry couldn't help but enjoy the small gesture from his sister. Gosh how she had a way into melting his heart.

Darry drove Sara to Ponyboy's school. He hated walking these halls just as much as he did when he went to pick Sara up from her school, but this was a bit different. He remembered what life used to be like, and how important he thought the littlest things used to be compared to now. As he moved to the main office he noticed signs posted up on the wall for the father/daughter dance and that made his heart hurt even more than the small gesture of the hug that Sara just offered up minutes ago. He exchanged pleasantries with the secretaries and some old teachers and waited impatiently for Pony to arrive. When he finally did he couldn't push the two fast enough out the door. Once in the truck Darry explained the situation to Pony who actually seemed fine to be leaving school early on a Friday. Once at home Darry led the two inside and gave orders of what they were to do with their time alone. Just as Big Brother was getting ready to leave the phone rang, it was his boss from the warehouse. Darry chatted with him about something to do with a truckload that was stuck in Texas due to some recent flooding. The two younger Curtis children couldn't really make out what the conversation was really about but by the deep scowl on Darry's face it didn't look good. After the phone call, Darry instructed the kids to behave themselves and that he would see them later tonight. He rushed out of the house and was focused on trying to get to work within seven minutes. He knew he wouldn't make it, but tried anyway. He decided to swing back down Puckett Street and as he did it was like he was reliving the moment from earlier this morning. He stopped for a Mother and child to cross the street, and as he stopped he couldn't help his wandering eyes to the store to his right. As the Mother finished crossing with the child Darry couldn't help what he did next either. "Ah, what the hell." He muttered.