For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 44
Start Talkin'
Off and on, I would wake up, though not opening my eyes. I was tired, exhausted, even after sleeping. I could hear bits and pieces of the conversations around me, the words being spoken. It was almost like something was deliberately keeping me asleep. I wasn't even sure how long I'd been where I was because I'd lost track of time at this point. As I laid there though, I could hear the sound of Darry's voice, the sound itself so soothing to my ears. He wasn't always there by my side, but he was there for a large portion of it. I could even recall Steve coming in to talk to me. He'd mentioned something about Eve I think. That and the question of mine and Darry's relationship. From time to time, Two-Bit would visit, making jokes like always. Then, there was Dally. He never really said too much, merely talking to me about random stuff and how he was going to kick someones head in. Whenever Johnny would come in though, he'd talk about anything really, just something to talk about if it was on his mind. Even parts of that was blurred though to a degree as everything melded together with sleep. As I laid there, that's what Darry's words did to me, melding together into colors and shapes.
T
Bursts of colors, a soft breeze, a warmth that I couldn't quite pin point. The sky above me slowly turned into a rainbow of colors. Purple, pink, orange, red, yellow, gold. I stood there alone though on a small space of earth, my other surroundings fading and blurring into nothing.
As I stood there, I could feel a hand on mine, but when I looked down there was nothing. It felt odd in my opinion, strange. I couldn't explain feeling something that obviously wasn't there. I could even hear a faint melody playing from somewhere around me.
"Darry?" I called out, looking around me for the warmth I'd come to know so well. "Where are you?"
There was no response.
As I took a step forward, I found the land forming around me, appearing with each step that I took. I only now noticed that my feet were bare as I stepped upon the grass, the low cropped blades brushing my ankles. The thin yellow summer dress I was wearing moving with me as I walked, flowing freely like with every movement.
"Guys?" I called. "Steve? Soda?"
A football appeared at my feet and I looked around once more, leaning down to pick it up. I knew that someone must have had to be around somewhere for the football to be there. After all, the guys enjoyed playing football in their spare time with one another.
I looked around again as I started walking forward, taking my time as I went. The further I went though, the more things changed. The colors slowly started fading around me, turning into an endless darkness.
"Ponyboy?" I called out, eyes searching the darkness, the name echoing around me. "Come on, guys, this isn't funny!" I cried out, gripping the football tighter in my arms.
I then heard laughter, my temper flaring along with my fear.
"It's not funny Two-Bit!" I cried, head whipping around in an attempt to pin point the voice.
I could feel my heart pounding in my ears as I took a few steps back. Being in the dark was starting to freak me out because I wasn't sure where I was going or what was around me.
"Darry?" I called out, wishing that he would answer and take me away from here. "Please, say something?"
It was no use. No matter how many times I cried out, there was no answer. At least, until I heard the sound of my father's voice, the sound making my blood run cold. It was echoing around me, slowly becoming louder. It wasn't until I found myself right in front of him that I realized just how truly scared I felt, the look on his face a leering mess of drunk rage.
"Dad," I whispered, flinching as he came toward me.
"I should have gotten rid of you a long time ago," he said evenly, taking a few steps toward me.
At this, I stepped back, inching my way further away from him. I didn't want to be anywhere near the man.
"Perhaps, I should have just dropped you off in a girls home after your mother died," he voiced, his words seeming so familiar.
I was sure that I'd heard that before, but I couldn't quite place it for some reason.
"Leave me alone!" I cried, backing up further, until I found myself against a wall.
Within seconds, he was upon me, choking me as he held tightly to my throat.
"You're nothing," he hissed.
Voices played in my head again as I stood there, sounds echoing around me. In the back of my mind, I saw something similar. I was up against the wall, my father's hand wrapped tightly around my throat. It felt like dejavu. Although, this time, I had nothing to defend myself with. I stood there helpless.
"D-Darry," I choked out, struggling to breathe.
The man before me just chuckled.
"Sorry, but I don't think you'll be seeing him again any time soon," he told me. "And after this, Eden will be long gone from here," he whispered, tightening his grip.
I could feel hot tears falling at his words, hearing them echo around in my head as wetness slowly dripped from my chin.
Darry...
"Abigail..."
Suddenly, the world around me started to fade, until I was left in darkness once more.
"Abigail..." the voice rang out again, a faint warmth running down my cheeks. "Abigail..."
"Darry," I whispered, recognizing the voice.
T
Darry sighed as he sat there. Today was Abigail's fifth day stuck in the hospital. She seemed to be waking up off and on, but never enough to actually get a response out of. Occasionally, she'd mumble in her sleep, but that was about it. Whatever drugs the doctors had her on, it was keeping her under. Even though he was a bit annoyed with this, he knew it was for the best, allowing her body to try and heal itself. It didn't make it any easier though, but he put up with it, staying by her side for as long as he was able.
Although as he sat there reading aloud, he found his eyes wandering toward her every so often, watching as she twitch every now and then. It actually wasn't until he found it becoming more prominent that he began to worry.
"Abigail?" he breathed, getting up to stand beside her, his hand reaching out to touch her cheek.
They were wet, the tears leaking from her eyes sticking to his fingers.
"Abigail," he voiced again, hoping to wake her up.
He was met with a whimper though as she laid there, her hand curling and gripping the bed sheet.
"Darry..." she mumbled, her eyelids slowly fluttering open.
"Abigail," he whispered, mouth hanging open slightly.
T
I could feel myself finally waking up as I laid there, pushing myself to open my eyes. It was hard, but I was finally able to do it, my vision blurry.
"Abigail," I heard someone whisper, the voice close by my side.
It hurt, but I managed to turn my head a bit, blinking a few times in an attempt to clear my vision. The moment I did, I felt a small smile breaking onto my face.
"Darry?" I whispered, wincing slightly as I spoke.
"Finally, you're awake," he breathed a sigh of relief, nearly falling to his knees.
He held back though, easily pulling his chair right next to the bed.
It didn't take long for me to realize how exhausted he looked, his appearance frazzled to say the least. I let out a small giggle of sorts though as I looked up at his face, earning a look of confusion. I just smiled though, reaching my hand out, until it was upon his cheek.
"Looks like someone is growing a beard," I mused softly, allowing my thumb to stroke his cheek, the hairs on his jaw tickling the skin of my finger.
I wasn't used to seeing this too often. Normally, he was clean shaven. Then again, he'd obviously been dealing with a lot. Honestly, I couldn't blame him though, since this was my fault. I was the cause of his pain right now and it was all too obvious.
"I'm sorry, Darry," I whispered, my thumb running over the corner of his lip.
"For what?" he asked, bringing his hand up and placing it on top of mine, keeping me from removing it.
I was quiet for a moment as I laid there watching him, his thumb stroking the back of my hand, before turning his head and kissing the inside of my palm. I felt my face heat up a bit as he did this, watching him smile down at me.
"Darry," I started, trying to sit up, only to wince.
"Don't try to get up," he told me, standing up and gently pressing me back into the bed.
I couldn't help, but to sigh at this. I wanted to sit up, but it hurt. It hurt to move my neck and it hurt to move my right arm. As I sat there longer, I also came to realized a low throbbing pain in the back of my head, slowly lifting my hand to touch it. What I felt shocked me though. Through the pain of toughing it, I felt the smoothness of skin, my eyes widening slightly. My brows furrowed together as I looked over at Darry, a slightly nervous look present on his face.
"Darry?" I spoke hesitantly, licking my lower lip for a moment.
I watched as he bit his lip, trying to think of what to say.
"Um... Well," he paused, trying to find the right words, almost as if he thought I'd bite his head off or something or other. "Uh, they kind of had to shave part of your head," he chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
I just stared at him, blinking as I tried to process his words. They'd cut my hair, shaved it. From what I could feel, I could tell that they'd also chopped the back up pretty badly. Then, after a moment, I finally let out a sigh. Looking toward him, I let a small smile pull at my lips, gripping his hand in mine.
"You know, Two-Bit'll never leave me alone about this," I told him, gazing up into his eyes, a small yawn escaping my lips.
I watched his eyes soften as he stared down at me, moving closer to the bed until he was nearly nose to nose with me, his hot breath tickling my face. How I had missed being this close to him.
"You're still beautiful, no matter what," he assured me, taking the time to press his lips to mine in a soft sweet kiss.
This made me smile, a hand coming up to rest upon his cheek.
"I love you Darry," I whispered.
"I love you too," he smiled, moving to kiss my forehead.
He then met my gaze, before standing up, glancing toward the door.
"I'll be right back, alright?" he said, giving my hand a squeeze, before walking out of the room.
T
Darry closed the door behind him, before allowing himself to lean against the wall, his hand running over his face. His eyes watered as he stood there, a goofy smile on his face, before pinching the bridge of his nose lightly and wiping at his eyes. Leave it to Abigail to pass off a partially shaved head as a joke.
"The things I put up with," he chuckled half heartedly, shaking his head as he pushed off the wall to walk down the hallway.
Now that she was finally awake and coherent, Darry had less to worry about. He only hoped that there wouldn't be any further complications from here on out.
"Um, excuse me, Ma'am?" Darry called, raising his hand hesitantly.
The woman turned around to look at him, giving him a curious look.
"Yes, Mr. Curtis?" she addressed, folding her arms over the clipboard in her arms.
"My fiance just woke up. The doctor said to alert one of the nurses if it happened," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Thank you for letting me know sir," she nodded, before walking off toward Abigail's room, walking inside.
Darry made quick work in following her, walking along behind her.
"I'm sorry dear, fiance or not, he'll have to wait outside for this," the woman informed Abigail, earning a curious look from her.
"Fiance?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, causing the nurse to look between the two.
Darry gave Abigail a nervous look for a moment, silently asking for her cooperation. She seemed to catch on, nodding her head as she put on a smile for the nurse.
"Of course," she nodded, before turning toward Darry. "Darry, honey, be a dear and wait outside?" she asked sweetly, but not before giving him a look that said they'd talk about it later.
"Of course dear," he smiled, bitting back a chuckle.
She played this game good, no doubt about that.
T
I closed my eyes as Darry left the room for a second time, shaking my head. We were definitely going to be having a talk after this about all of this fiance business. The only reason why I hadn't said anything to dispute his words was because of the look that had been on his face, merely pleading for my cooperation. It didn't mean that I wasn't curious about the whole thing though. No doubt, if the guys knew about it they'd likely give him a hard time about it.
"Okay deary, lets get that gown off of you and those bandages changed," the nurse said in a rather chipper voice.
I had to hold back a groan at this, not that eager to actually sit up at the moment. Still, I didn't seem to have much a choice when it came to it.
"Now, I'm going to sit the bed up a bit more, so this may hurt a little," she warned, moving to the back of the bed.
Before I knew it, it was being cranked up, leaving me in a sitting position as I let out a groan. This definitely was not fun.
"Sorry about that dear. Now, lets get that gown off," she said, helping me sit up just a bit more, before undoing the ties in the back.
A moment later, it was laying in my lap, my entire front exposed. As I looked down though, I found bandages wrapped tightly around my chest, all the to my stomach. I also noticed that part of it was stained red with blood. This in itself made me feel sick to my stomach just about.
"Just sit still dear and I'll take care of it," she assured me, moving to undo the bandages.
All I could do was sit there quietly as she removed the bandages, wincing when they pulled away from the tender skin. I grimaced when I saw what was underneath. It was a scabbing mess from the incisions that had been made, the beginnings of an angry scar staring back at me.
"Don't worry, it'll heal," she told me, grabbing a damp rag, before pressing it to my chest.
I winced in pain, trying to pull back, only to hit the back of the bed.
"There we go," she smiled, removing the rag after a minute or two to finally reveal clean skin.
Now, I could really see the damage that had been done.
T
As Darry waited outside, he could hear the hisses of pain from inside the room. It was obvious that Abigail wasn't taking things too well as the nurse tried changing the bandages. If he could, he'd be in there with her, but he didn't want to embarrass either of them. It had already been bad enough that after she'd come home after the attack that she's barely been able to keep her shirt together. Not that most guys would have minded, but he saw himself as a decent man, one with a head on his shoulders. Two-Bit on the other hand, he wasn't so sure at times, but that was Two-Bit.
As he continued to stand there though, his mind went back toward Abigail and the inevitable conversation that he knew was now unavoidable. He was just afraid that he'd gotten himself stuck in a rut with no way out. Not that she wasn't understanding, but he couldn't change how he felt. He hated being stuck in a lie.
"Mr. Curtis?"
The sudden voice caused Darry to jump, whirling around to face it.
"Y-yes?" he asked, blinking for a moment.
The nurse stood before him, a smile on her face.
"You may go back in," she said softly. "I'll fetch the doctor shortly," she informed him, before walking off down the hallway.
"Alright then," he sighed quietly, turning back to the door and walking inside, closing it behind him for privacy. "So..." he began, clasping his fingers together.
"Start talkin'."
Alright everyone, that was chapter 44. I really hope that everyone liked it? I figured that through all the uncertainty, I'd at least add a bit of humor. Anyway, please REVIEW and MESSAGE me with your thoughts, opinions, ideas, and feelings on this chapter/story. I'd love to hear feedback on this one. So far, people are agreeing on him proposing out in the countryside. If ANYONE has ANY ideas to add to that event, I'd LOVE to hear them.
IMPORTANT:
You do NOT have to have and account to REVIEW. I REALLY need feedback to keep you all happy. That way, I know what I can improve on or add to make people enjoy things even more. The more FEEDBACK I get, the BETTER the outcome. Help me with IDEAS people. I've had a VERY emotionally draining week, so I REALLY need some help here. Thanks everyone!