For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 27
The Call
As the hours ticked by, so did the days. Like always, nothing really seemed to change or make a difference, we just went on with our lives. Darry would go to work and so would I. As long as he was able, Darry would come and pick me up from work. If he couldn't, I'd just walk home, taking my time to stare at the clouds.
Today was different though as I was still stuck at work, the day coming closer to an end little by little. It was Friday, meaning that we had plenty of business, Soc and Greaser alike. That was the thing with Joe's place. He was a Soc, so others were bound to come, whether I liked it or not. Food was food though, customers were customers, that was the only thing that didn't change. I kept this thought in mind as I continued to serve, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. To say that I was tired was an understatement, but I ignored it, sitting down a couple plates in front of a set of customers.
"Here you go, two burgers and fries. Enjoy," I smiled, bowing my head, before walking off behind the counter.
T
Two hours later, the phone was ringing, leaving me to answer it.
"Joe's Diner, Abigail speaking, how may I help you?" I said automatically.
"Abigail, it's Darry," I heard on the other end.
"Darry? What's wrong?" I asked, my brows furrowing together.
"It's Ponyboy," he said frantically.
"What? What happened?"
"He's at the hospital, the cops just called me," he said.
"What?"I cried.
"Look, I'm coming to get you right now, so get ready," he told me.
"Alright, I'll meet you at the corner," I said quickly, hanging up the phone. "Oh my God," I groaned, pulling at my hair.
Dally had told me that they were safe and here I go getting a call from Darry that Pony's in the hospital. I was going to strangle that guy when I got my hands on him.
"Joe, I have to go, it's an emergency," I said quickly, pulling my apron off and tossing it under the counter.
"Why, what's wrong?" he asked.
"It's Ponyboy. Something happened. I don't know, but I just got a call that he's in the hospital," I said, grabbing my jacket and pulling it on. "I'm really sorry about this, but I have to go," I told him, running out of the diner and down the street.
I nearly tripped over my feet as I ran down the street, dodging a car at the stop sign because the idiot didn't feel like stopping or watching what he was doing.
"This kid is going to be the death of me," I exclaimed, catching myself at the light pole.
I could see Darry's truck flying at the end of the street, pulling to a stop at the corner. I made quick work in getting to the truck. The moment I got to the door, Soda got out and allowed me in next to Darry, getting back in his own self next to me. Eden wasn't here, but I wasn't going to worry about that right now. I'd deal with it later when we were all back at home.
From there, we drove toward the hospital, Darry's nerves on edge as he kept his eyes glued to the rode.
"It'll be alright," I whispered, taking his right hand in my left one, giving it a squeeze.
"I hope so," he sighed.
T
Once we were parked, we all piled out of the truck, making our way inside through the front doors. Darry was the first one to the desk, placing his hands down on the edge.
"How may I help you?" the nurse asked, turning to face us.
"We're lookin for Ponyboy Curtis," Darry said quickly, trying to calm his nerves.
"Ponyboy Curtis," she breathed, looking through her papers.
After a moment, she nodded her head.
"He's upstairs, in the burn unit, third floor," she announced.
"Burn unit?" I choked out.
"Yes," she nodded. "Now, if you just go down that hallway, then you'll find the elevators. They'll take you up to the third floor," she said.
"Come on, Darry, let's go," I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the elevators.
Soda followed right behind us, eyes shifting around the place. Mine were doing the same, but I had a reason for it. I hated hospitals. Even worse, someone I knew was in here.
As soon as we were in front of the elevator, Soda pressed the button, the elevator coming down a few moments later with a ding. We all piled inside after that, Soda moving to press the button once more. I watched as the doors slid closed, my hand interlocked with Darry's. All that I could do was hope and pray that Ponyboy was alright. If not, I wasn't sure what Darry would do. He'd likely fall apart if anything happened to that kid.
"Well, here we go," I said, feeling the elevator come to a tugging stop.
I exchanged glances with the two as the doors opened, Soda stepping out into the hallway. The moment he walked out, Ponyboy was running forward, wrapping his arm around his brother. I could feel myself let out a sigh of relief as I watched this, standing beside Darry.
"Oh, look at your tough hair," Soda said, pulling slightly at Ponyboy's hair, his voice nearly ready to break.
I couldn't help, but to let a small smile form on my face as I watched. We were so worried that he'd been hurt, yet here he was, perfectly safe. Granted, he had black smudges all over him, but still. Ponyboy then turned around to look at Darry, his eyes watering.
"What?" Darry asked, wiping his hands on his pants for a moment in a nervous manner.
"Darry, I'm sorry," Ponyboy cried, running forward and throwing his arms around him.
I just stood there and watched, my eyes watering a bit. I was happy for them, they were back together.
"I thought we'd lost you like we did mom and dad," Darry cried, holding his brother close.
I had to place a hand over my mouth as I stood there, eyes blinking back tears. I'd never seen Darry like this before and if I had to take a guess, it'd been a long time since he'd been this upset. I felt for him, I really did. I knew what it was like to lose someone. If I ever lost Eden, I'd fall apart my own self and I doubted that I'd ever be able to recover.
"You sure look funny," Darry sniffed, ruffling his hair a bit.
He was trying to lighten the mood a bit now and that made me smile. After a few more moments, Ponyboy finally turned toward me, finally taking in the fact that I was there too. I just smiled, my eyes still a bit watery. Before I knew it, his arms were around me, hugging me tightly.
"I'm sorry I didn't listen," he cried quietly.
I just wrapped my arms around him, placing my hand on the back of his head.
"It's alright kid, we all make mistakes," I said softly.
"I never should have run off," he choked out.
I could feel tears wetting my shirt as he cried, his body shaking. Darry then came over, joining me in wrapping his arms around me, same with Soda. It was like we were one big family with me stuck in the middle with Ponyboy.
T
After about a hour, Dally's room was free for one of us to go in, but I was the only one that seemed to want to talk to him. At this point, the others just wanted to get home. Ponyboy was more worried about Johnny though than anything else, still sitting and waiting to hear his current condition.
"Knock, knock," I called, knocking lightly on the door frame as I came to stand in the doorway of Dally's room.
He just sat up on the bed giving me a tired look as though my antics weren't necessary.
"You can come in you know," he scoffed, folding his arms.
I just shook my head at this, walking forward toward the bed.
"You know, I should be smacking you right now," I said flatly, raising an eyebrow at him. "You said that they would be safe."
"Yeah, well, I didn't expect Pony to go play Superman," he snorted. "He just had to go in there and get those kids," he groaned.
"And apparently, you did the same," I pointed out, noticing the wrapped burns on his arm and leg.
"Yeah, and I got all this in return," he grumbled, lifting up the sheet to expose his other burns.
I could feel my cheeks heating up at the sight of him in his underwear, turning my eyes elsewhere.
"I really didn't need to see that," I choked out, placing a hand over my eyes afterward.
He just grinned though, sitting up in his bed.
"Aw, it can't be that bad," he chuckled, teasing me.
I just grew redder at this, trying my best not to look at him.
"Could you please put the sheet back on?" I pleaded.
"It's not like you haven't seen something like this before," he laughed.
I nearly glared at him for that one. The mere fact that he was insinuating something like that. What was worse was the fact I knew he was referring to Darry, making me want to smack him in the back of the head, while at the same time making my face go red.
"You just don't know how to shut up, do you Winston?"
"Nope," he grinned.
I rolled my eyes at him, before walking forward and grabbing the sheet. I then tossed it back over him.
"I'll give you a cigarette just to keep the sheet on," I said, watching as he scrunched his nose up, before tearing the sheet off again. "You just love making me feel uncomfortable, don't you?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.
He easily met my gaze at this, folding his arms over his chest as well.
"Don't you know it Princess."
"You're terrible," I stated, walking back toward the door and glancing down the hallway.
From where I stood, I could see Ponyboy falling asleep in his chair, his head falling against Sodapop's shoulder. The kid did seem to care that much though, merely wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulders.
"Look, if you need me call me, alright?" I asked, turning to look at him.
"Yeah, alright," he nodded, moving to lay back down on the bed.
"I mean it Dallas, don't hesitates."
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, laying his head back.
"I'll see you later Dal," I said, moving to leave.
"Bring me a pack of cigarettes man," he called after me.
"Tomorrow," I promised, walking out of the room and back into the hallway.
I walked back over toward the guys, placing a hand on Darry's shoulder, causing him to look up at me form his seat.
"You ready to go?" I asked, looking over at Ponyboy after a moment.
"Yeah," Darry nodded, standing up from his chair.
At this point, he was looking down at me, a tired smile on his face.
"Pony, let's go," Darry said, kicking the bottom of the kid's foot lightly.
He jumped when Darry did this, shaking himself awake.
"Huh?"
"Let's go kid, you need some sleep," I said, placing a hand on top of his head.
He nodded after a moment, slowly standing up from his seat. I wrapped an arm around him after that, pulling him close as we all walked down the hallway toward the elevator. The poor kid nearly fell asleep standing, leaning his head against my shoulder tiredly. He was exhausted, that much was obvious.
I rubbed his arm as we made our way downstairs, hearing him let out a yawn. Once we were downstairs, we guided him outside to the truck, all of us piling inside like before. Although, this time, I was left sitting in Soda's lap. He had a grin on his face as we pulled out of the parking lot, wrapping his arms around me.
"So this is what I've been missing," he chuckled, holding me close, his chin coming to rest upon my shoulder.
"Don't make me reach over there," Darry warned half heartedly.
I just laughed at this, shaking my head. Boys would be boys I guess, but they were my boys.
T
Once we got home, Darry carried Ponyboy inside, Soda opening the door to the house. I merely closed it behind us as Darry carried him upstairs to his room, Soda following after. It made me smile as I walked up the stairs, pushing the door open to Darry's room.
"Things are finally back to normal," I whispered, slowly walking over the bed and falling down on it.
I crawled up onto one of the pillows, laying my head down. Darry came in a few minutes later, closing the door behind him. He had small smile on his face as he looked over at me, slowly making his way toward me. There was a certain shine in his eyes as slid onto the bed beside me, kicking his shoes off.
"He's back," he whispered.
"I know," I breathed, placing a hand on his cheek.
He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of my touch, before moving just a bit closer. His arms found their way around me, pulling me flush against him, my body pressing against his. He just held me close, finally allowing a few tears to fall. He'd be trying to stay strong the whole night and now he was finally letting it out. I merely ran a hand through his hair as well laid there, trying my best to sooth his nerves.
"I swear, if something had happened to him," he started.
I cut him off though, placing a finger to his lips.
"But it didn't," I said, my hand stroking is cheek softly. "He's fine now," I told him, resting my head beneath his chin.
"I know..." he whispered, reaching his hand up and raking it through my hair, burying it within my dark locks. "What would I do without you?" he asked, nuzzling his cheek lightly against the top of my head.
"I don't know, probably go insane?" I laughed softly, snuggling against him.
I could feel him chuckle, his chest rumbling. This made me smile as I closed my eyes, taking in a steady breath of air.
"I love you," he whispered, his other hand running up and down my back lightly, relaxing me.
"I love you too," I replied, my hand curling around his shirt.
I could feel myself dozing off as I laid there with him, his hand continuing to run up and down the skin of my back, lulling me to sleep. Before I knew it, I fell into a peaceful darkness, my mind exploding into a colorful dream.
Okay, that was chapter 27! I hope that everyone liked it? Please, let me know what you think? Don't forget to REVIEW and MESSAGE me with your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and feelings on this chapter/story. I LOVE hearing FEEDBACK. Thanks everyone! :)