For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 13
Realization of a Life Saved
"Great, now look what happened," Darry groaned, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
They now had Abigail laying on a hospital bed unconscious with an IV in her arm. Basically, she had passed out as a result of dehydration and stress. She'd been pushed to her limits and this is where is got her. Although, it wasn't exactly her fault, especially since Dally had pushed her over the edge with his little stunt. The only good thing was the fact that Darry was allowed to leave if he really wanted too, but he wasn't about to with Abigail in the state that she was in. No, he'd stay and keep an eye on her, watch her like she had watched over him. He wasn't just going to leave her alone in a hospital, not after all that they'd been through.
"Hey, Darry, I've got a question for you," Soda said, turning to his brother.
"What is it?" Darry asked, holding Abigail's hand in his own.
"Has she said anything to you lately? Anything that would explain what she told us earlier about being here one too many times in her life?" he asked slowly, catching the stiff look on his brothers face a moment later.
"The only thing that I can tell you kid is that her mom died, other than that, she'll have to tell you herself," Darry told him, not wanting to be the one to say something.
No, if Abigail wanted anyone else to know, then she'd tell them on her own. He knew that she wouldn't want him going around and spilling her past to everyone. He knew that she definitely wouldn't want him doing something like that. In fact, he'd never hear the end of it if he ever did something as stupid as that, not that he'd do it or anything. Darry wasn't that kind of guy. He respected her above all and would never do anything to disrespect her in such a way.
"She told you…didn't she?" Soda asked, already knowing the answer to his question.
"Like I said, she'll have to tell you herself. If she wants you to know then she'll tell you, if not, then she won't," Darry told him, turning his eyes back toward Abigail.
Soda just nodded his head in understanding, before turning back toward the door.
"Well, I'm gonna get something to eat, you want anything Dar?" Soda asked, leaning against the side of the door.
"It depends on what you're getting."
"Burger and fries," he grinned.
"Sure," Darry nodded.
With that, Soda walked out of the room, a curious look on his face as he noticed Two-Bit's absence.
"Hey Ponyboy, where's Two-Bit," he asked, looking around for a moment.
"I think he went down to Eden's room," Ponyboy said with a shrug, curling up on his seat a bit more, a book in his hands.
"Always reading, huh Ponyboy," Soda teased, before ruffling his brother's hair. "Well, I'm going to get somethin' to eat, you want me to bring ya back something?" he asked.
"Sure."
Soda just blinked and shook his head before letting out a small chuckle.
"You and Darry, I swear," he laughed, before walking off down the hallway for the elevator.
Ponyboy gave him a curious look as he left, not understanding what was going on.
"What's that supposed ta mean?" he muttered, before going back to his book.
T
Half a hour later, Soda was back, dropping a bag in his little brother's lap.
"There yeh go kiddo," Soda said, a smile on his face.
"Thanks Soda," Ponyboy said, setting his book to the side and opening up the bag.
He grinned when he pulled out the hamburger, his mouth watering as he stared at it.
"Eat up kid," Soda chuckled, ruffling his hair before going in and checking on Darry and Abigail.
As he walked in he found them in the same position that they'd been in when he left, only this time, Darry had his head resting on the edge of the bed. Soda had to admit though, Abigail was definitely good for his brother. Things had been hard since their parents had died and somehow, Abigail managed to bring out the old Darry at times, making him smile more like he used to. Soda smiled to himself as he thought about it, after all, he'd never actually seen his brother as happy as he was with Abigail. Even when Darry had a couple of girlfriends back in high school, he'd never really seemed truly happy, but he seemed to be with Abigail. So, if Abigail truly made his brother happy, then he was happy for him. He just hoped that she'd stick around and that their little group wouldn't drive her crazy.
"Hey, Darry, I'm back," Soda said, causing his brother to jump slightly, making him laugh. "Sorry Dar, didn't mean ta scare you," he said, walking over and setting a paper bag down in front of him.
"Thanks kid," Darry said with a small nod, sitting up and opening the bag, reaching in and pulling the food out with ease.
Darry just sat there quietly as he pealed open the wrapper on the sandwich, taking a bite out of the meat inside as his thoughts continued trailing back to Abigail.
T
Everything around was dark, submerged in shadows, invisible to the eye. There wasn't even an ounce of light before I started hearing things and slowly things came to light.
There, I found myself standing in the middle of the house, staring ahead of myself as my dad started yelling. I couldn't quite understand what it was that he was saying, but it didn't matter as I started stepping back away from him.
Once again, he was drunk of his arse, his mind clouded by the alcohol as he raged on. He could never stop once he started, no matter how much I begged and pleaded, he just didn't seem to care. As a result, I was the one hurt in the end, each time adding another scar to my skin.
I took another step back as he raised the bottle above his head, lashing out at me.
T
"No…" Abigail whispered as she started to turn on her bed, her hands clutching the bed sheet.
"Abigail?" Darry called, standing up and leaning over the bed, resting his hand on top of hers.
She just continued, before tossing even more, almost as if struggling against something.
"Stop…," she mumbled, throwing her head to the side.
"What's wrong with her," Soda asked, coming to stand at the other side of the bed.
"I don't know, I think she's…having a nightmare," Darry said, his brows furrowing together as he looked down at her.
She was all but balled up as she cried quietly, tears falling from her eyes as she laid there.
"Abigail, Abigail, wake up," Darry said, shaking her shoulders as the monitor starting beeping from the rate of her I ncreasing heartbeat.
T
"It's her fault that your mother died!" my father yelled.
"No it's not! Mom died because she got sick, it has nothing to do with Eden!" I cried out, clutching my bleeding arm.
I then watched as he started to head for the stairs, broken bottle in hand.
"No, leave her alone!" I yelled, running forward, only to end up on the ground. "Don't touch her," I groaned out as I tried to sit up.
He didn't listen though as he continued forward up the stairs, ignoring me completely.
T
"No!" I cried, gasping as I bolted forward, eyes brimming with wet hot tears.
It wasn't until I was sitting up that I realized the pair of hands on my shoulders and the two pairs of eyes staring at me, soon becoming three.
"Abigail," I heard Darry's voice call out to me softly as a hand came to rest upon my cheek, gently brushing away the tears that started to spill from my eyes.
"Darry…" I whispered, lifting my eyes to meet his.
"It's alright," he told me, bringing his arm around and pulling me to him.
I didn't really know what to do as I sat there, the dream still running through my head and making me shake. It seemed like forever since I had had that dream, one of the haunting memories of my father. Although after a few minutes of sitting there I had to get up, the need to see Eden nearly driving me insane.
"I need to see Eden," I said, pulling away from Darry as I struggled to pull the wires off of me along with the IV and stand up.
"Hey, wait a minute," he said in protest, quickly taking me by the arm and pulling me back. "You just woke up," he reminded me, but I really didn't care about that, I needed to see my sister.
"I need to see her Darry," I told him, managing to pull away and stumbling out the door, leaving him staring after me.
I didn't get very far though before I had a nurse running after me and grabbing me roughly by the arm.
"You're not to be out of bed young lady," she said, gripping my arm tightly and pulling me back toward my room.
I nearly fell as she pulled me back.
"Let go," I said, trying to pull away, but her nails dug into my arm painfully as though to make a point. "I have to see my sister!" I cried, trying to pull away once more, only to end up on my knees as my head started to spin.
"Abigail!" I heard Darry call as he pulled me away from the nurse, pulling me against him.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, my eyes watering once more. "I'm sorry," I choked out.
I didn't even know why I was apologizing to him, I just was. Perhaps I thought that it could fix things or something. Even with that, I still knew that nothing would change, it wouldn't make anything better. I just couldn't help it though, the words just spilled out. Heck, maybe I was trying to apologize to Eden, I really don't know.
T
"Abigail," Darry said softly, placing a hand on her cheek.
She looked up at him for a moment as he wiped her eyes with his thumb. Once again, she looked stricken with pain and unrest. Something was bothering her greatly and he feared that it had to do with whatever had been tormenting her in her sleep.
"Come on," he said softly, holding his hand out for her to take.
She sat there for a moment, still biting back tears as she took his hand, allowing him to lift her up into his arms.
"I'll take you to see her," he told her, keeping his voice low and soft.
She nodded her head quietly and curled up against him in his arms.
In Darry's mind, Abigail still felt so small in his arms, almost like a doll. Compared to Darry, Abigail was tiny. She was like a small child compared to him at times. Although, he didn't spend too much time thinking about that as he walked down the hallway, keeping her close against his chest. Even as he looked down at her though, he saw how tired she truly was. He had been right when he had grabbed hold of her arm back in the room, trying to keep her in bed. She wasn't quite ready to be up yet, her body still needing some much needed rest. He knew though that she wouldn't rest until she saw her sister, that she wouldn't be satisfied until it was done and that's why he agreed to take her.
Once Darry got to Eden's room, he was met by a half dazed Two-Bit sitting there in a chair, his head hung back as he stared at the wall. He only turned his eyes up when Darry let out a cough, his weak attempt at getting Two-Bit's attention. It did the trick though and brought Two-Bit out of his daze, making him look over at his friend, taking in the sight in Darry's arms.
"She okay?" Two-Bit asked, pushing himself out of his chair, curiosity and concern dancing around in his normally laughing eyes.
"She's fine," Darry nodded, walking forward and setting Abigail down in the extra chair, letting her relax a bit.
"Oh yeah, I cleaned things up for ya," Two-Bit said, a grin on his face as he looked over at Abigail, making an attempt to get her to smile.
It didn't really do anything though as she sat there staring down at Eden. Actually, she didn't even seem to register the fact that he'd even spoken at all.
"Abigail?" Darry tried, trying to peak her attention.
Again, she didn't seem to register a word that had been said. This worried him as he placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.
"Abigail," he tried again, causing her to jump slightly as she slowly turned her eyes to look at him. "You okay?" he asked.
"Y-yeah…" she said quietly, rubbing her arm slightly as she looked down at her sister.
"Oh, uh, I hope ya don't mind, but I was bein' a bit nosey," Two-Bit chuckled, scratching the back of his head as he gestured toward the little silver tin on the bed.
T
I stiffened at Two-Bit's words, my hand curling into ball. It's not really the fact that I minded the idea of people looking at my stuff, it was just the fact of the content in the items. I mean there really wasn't much to it, only pictures and a necklace, but it was still a reminder of my past. Perhaps that's what bothered me the most, having others know about that stuff, about my mom and my dad.
"What were you looking at?" I asked slowly, taking in a small breath.
"Just the pictures and stuff, that's all," he said.
Hearing him say that made me realize that he'd likely seen the family photos, like the one with the four of us. What was worse was the fact that I had an old picture of myself in there, one that was taken shortly after one of my accidents. I knew that I should have gotten rid of it a long time ago, but I never did. I even remember how I would go into my closet at times and dig the tin out, pulling that picture out and looking at it. I could never understand why I did it at times, I just did, that's all there was to it.
"Just got one question though," he said, making me close my eyes and hold my breath. "What's the story behind this little thing?" he asked, pulling out a small doll.
I could feel my face going red upon seeing it, thoughts coming into my head.
"W-where did you get that?" I stuttered.
"Well, it fell outta your closet when I pulled that tin out," he chuckled.
"If you really must know…it's the first doll I ever made with my mother," I told him, my face still red as I looked at it.
"Ah, so you made this little thing then," he chuckled.
"Stop it," I said in embarrassment.
"What? I think it looks nice," he grinned.
"Yeah right," I muttered.
"Well, if it's so bad, then why'd ya keep it?" he grinned again, knowing he'd likely get what he was looking for.
"The thing looks about as good as Dallas," I snorted, looking away.
The next thing I heard was Two-Bit cracking up and laughing.
"Oh baby!" he howled with laughter, making my face go red again.
"Two-Bit, knock it off," Darry warned from his spot behind me.
A moment later, I heard what would be a whimper of a groan from the bed.
"Eden," I breathed out, quickly taking hold of her hand.
"Abby?" she whispered, her voice coming out hoarse.
"I'm here sweetie, I'm here," I cried, brushing a bit of hair out of her face.
"W-where am I?" she whispered, her eyes searching around the room tiredly.
My eyes watered even more upon hearing her question.
"You're in the hospital honey," I told her.
Her brows just furrowed, unsure of what I had told her.
"W-what happened?" she asked.
My hand shook as she asked me this and I could feel Darry give my shoulder a small squeeze. I mean, how was I supposed to tell her that a bunch of Socs set our house on fire, how they nearly killed her. How could I go and tell her something like that without falling apart my own self?
"Eden…" I whispered, tears slowly fall from my eyes as I sat there.
I couldn't do it, I just couldn't. I couldn't tell her what really happened because once again it was starting to tear me apart.
"Abby?" she whined softly.
"I'm sorry," I told her, trying my best to stop the tears.
"What happened?" she tried again, hoping to get an answer.
"You almost died kiddo," Darry finally said, earning a glare from Eden.
"You're lying," she said, not wanting to believe it.
"Eden, that's enough, Darry risked his life to save you," I told her, watching as she then came to realization, her glare dropping and her eyes widening slightly.
"Those bastards set your house on fire and my pal here nearly got himself burned to a crisp," Two-Bit said.
She nearly shot up right then and there at Two-Bit's words.
"What! My stuff," she cried.
"Eden, your stuff can be replaced, you can't," I told her. "Besides…I have the most important thing right here," I said softly, carefully pulling my mother's necklace from the tin.
"Wait, that…that's Mom's," she said, recognizing the small trinket in my hand.
Okay everyone, that was chapter 13. I hope that everyone enjoyed it? Please remember to REVIEW and MESSAGE me with your thoughts, opinions and ideas. Thanks everyone! :) Also, check out my PROFILE for other stories that you might like.