(Darry's POV)

"Darry? You awake?"

The soft voice next to me, along with the sound of a gravelly cough, were the only sounds that registered in my mind. It took me a second to realize that I was the one coughing.

I opened my eyes and was instantly confused. Why am I lying down? I looked around and discovered that Soda and I were alone in the hospital room, and while he sat on a chair, I was on the bed. To make matters worse, that were things attached to me, which meant I didn't just happen to fall asleep there. "What's going on? Where's Pony?" If Soda's here with me, who's with Pony? Unless… I pushed the negative thought aside and sat up.

"Relax, Dar. You gotta stay stay calm," Soda said gently. "Steve and Two-Bit are with him. He's okay."

I sighed in relief and forced the emerging cough to stay down in my chest. "Why am I here? We should be with Ponyboy."

"Don't you remember? You have pneumonia. The doctor gave you some meds, and you've been out cold ever since." Strangely, a flash of guilt then crossed Soda's face, and I had no idea what he could feel guilty about. "I was with Pony all morning, but I had to come see you. I know you told me to stay with him, but glory Darry, you looked real bad when you left his room. I was worried."

"You don't need to worry about me," I said defensively. I'm the older brother, nobody is supposed to worry about me. Then the rest of what he said hit me. I remembered coughing so hard that I collapsed in Pony's room, Soda rushing to me, and then going with the doctor out of Pony's room. I told Soda to stay with Ponyboy because Pony needed him more than I did and I thought I would be back shortly. Apparently, I was wrong. "I'm sorry Soda, don't feel bad. I'm happy to see you." Then I paused before asking him another question. "How was he after I left?"

"Honestly, he was a little freaked out. We all were," Soda said sheepishly. "But he feels horrible, like it's his fault you're sick."

"His fault?" I asked, utterly confused. "How in the world would it be Pony's fault?" I was almost shouting, so I had to tell myself to dial it back a bit. Soda was the last person on Earth that needed to be yelled at, and he looked so rough, my shouting alone might be enough to knock him down.

Soda sighed. "The doc said you might've gotten pneumonia from when you found Pony in the woods, plus all the stress and not eating or sleeping is just making things worse for you. Pony feels like it's his fault you had to find him in the first place and that you're making yourself sick from how much you're worryin' about him."

I rubbed a hand down my face. "That kid… he can't really believe it's his fault, can he?" One look at Soda told me all I needed to know. "Well, as soon as the doctor comes back it, I'll get discharged and I can go see him and get it through his thick skull that I'm fine and nothing that has happened the past few days are his fault."

Soda bit his bottom lip, and after he met my questioning eyes, he spoke cautiously. "Dar, I don't think this is something you should just dismiss or ignore. You're real sick, even more than Pony… maybe you should stay here for a day or two."

I looked at him, wondering if he went crazy while I was out of it. "Soda, you know we can't-"

"Darry, listen to me," he said, his voice suddenly stronger. "I watched you go down, you couldn't hardly breathe. You never get sick, and suddenly you're so bad off that you needed medication and a hospital bed."

"I'm fine-"

"No you're not!" Soda shouted at me. He stared at me with stormy eyes, and I sat there, stunned in silence. Soda rarely yelled at me, and it was even more rare than it had been when Pony and I butted heads more often than not. In fact, him yelling at me just made me really worried about him.

I cautiously put a hand on the back of his neck to try to comfort him. "Soda, are you okay?"

It was like floodgates opened and the Great Wall of China collapsed all at once. The stern expression he wore when he yelled crumbled, and in its place, my kid brother was an emotional mess. "It's bad enough I got one brother in here after a fucking train wreck, now my other brother is here struggling to breathe, but he's so damn stubborn that he thinks he can just decide when he's okay to leave," Soda continued, starting to cry. I realized all of his pent-up worry was spilling out of him all at once, so I let him keep going. "Our parents are gone, and both of you are laid up in the hospital. Jesus Darry, we almost lost Ponyboy, now you're sick, and I'll need to go back to work to start payin' off these bills, but I don't want to leave either of you. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

Soda was sobbing, and rightfully so. He had seen and been through too much, and it was obvious the stress of everything was practically eating him alive.

I moved over on the bed and motioned for Soda to sit next to me, just like I had done at home. "Come here, little buddy." Just like before, Soda joined me and leaned against my side. I could tell he was being careful not to tug on any of the wires or the plastic tube that led to my nose, but he still rested his head on my shoulder as I threw my arm around him. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but everything will be fine. And don't worry about the money, we'll figure it out. We always do."

Truth be told, my mind was spinning like crazy trying to figure out how we'd pay for not only Pony's medical bills, but the ones I added too. Plus, the truck needed to be replaced so I could get to work. I was starting to realize why Ponyboy would feel guilty since similar thoughts were probably running through his head, but those were things that I didn't want him, or Soda for that matter, to worry about. Sure, Soda had always helped out and he had a decent understanding of our financial status, but he didn't know all of it, and it bothered me that had to know as much as he did already. I'd do anything for my brothers, and I didn't want them to worry about so many things.

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Soda asked.

"Of course I'm sure. It takes more than pneumonia to take me down," I said with a grin.

There was a pause, then he spoke even quieter. "What about Ponyboy? You think he's gonna be okay?"

I sighed at the thought of everything our brother went through and the long road of recovery ahead of him. First the train wreck, then two surgeries, and now pneumonia. Our brother was a tough kid, and I hoped he wouldn't lose his fighting spirit. "He'll be okay, Soda."

"I really thought we were gonna lose him like Mom and Dad," he choked out. I tightened my arm around him a little, trying to comfort him the best way I could. "When he was throwin' up and had to go into that last surgery, I didn't know if we'd see him again. And now that he's sick on top of it… how much can the kid take?"

It had only been a few days since the train incident, and to hear Soda recap it like that was almost torture. I hated picturing Ponyboy scared or hurt, and to remember that he almost died was the worst thing in the world. "He's tough Soda. Even the doctor said he's a fighter."

He let out a long breath. "Yeah, he is." He yawned, but tried to cover it up by talking. "I just want you both to be better so we can go home."

"Me too, Sodapop." I squeezed him and turned my head to look at him. His eyelids were falling, and I suddenly wondered when the last time he had a full night of sleep was. "Get some sleep, little buddy. You don't need to get sick too."

He mumbled something that sounded like he "wasn't even tired" but his eyes closed, and within minutes, his muscles relaxed and he was breathing softly.

Despite Soda's best attempts to deter me, I managed to convince the doctor that I was healthy enough to be discharged early the following morning. Soda said something about me being lucky Dr. Ferguson wasn't around, but I was honestly feeling a little better after the medication, oxygen, and some rest. I wasn't at full strength, and I couldn't imagine going on a roof in my condition, but at least I wasn't having difficulties breathing and standing at the same time. Walking was another thing, but I was taking any small win I could get.

The minute I signed the last paperwork that listed me as "the patient," Soda and I rushed to Pony's room. By then, it was morning, which meant I had been away from Ponyboy for a whole day, and Soda almost just as long since he stayed with me since I had woken up.

As soon as we stepped into the doorway, we froze. A nurse was holding bloodied gauze against Pony's forehead, while Steve stared at him angrily, and Two-Bit looked at Pony worriedly. The nurse pulled the gauze back, glanced at Pony's skin, then reapplied the gauze, making Pony wince.

"Pony!" Soda shouted before rushing to take his spot next to the bed. "What happened?"

"I told ya he's a flight risk," Steve spat.

Pony opened his mouth to respond, but his eyes met mine. "Darry?"

All eyes were on me, but I didn't understand why. It wasn't like I was a celebrity or anything; I was just a guy coming to see how his kid brother was doing. Once Steve and Two-Bit saw me, they exchanged looks, then Steve extended his hand, to which Two-Bit then gave him a bill. A $5 if I had to guess.

"Hey kiddo, what happened?" I asked as I made my way to the chair next to Soda, ignoring the obvious bet Steve and Two-Bit must've made about me.

"I'll tell ya what happened," Steve said angrily. "He was alone for two minutes and he decided to try and make a run for it."

"Did not," Pony shot back.

"Why was he alone?" Soda asked suspiciously. "I thought at least one of you was gonna be in here the whole time."

"Listen," Two-Bit said loudly, as if when he talked anybody had a choice of whether or not to listen to him. "I went to the gift shop, and apparently Stevie here had to use the facilities." I was sure Two-Bit felt fancy and chivalrous using a word other than "bathroom" in front of the female nurse, to which I almost rolled my eyes. "With no adult supervision, the kid here decided it would be a great time to try out his legs for the first time since the wreck."

Pony glared at him. "That's not exactly what happened and you know it."

"Then tell us what happened," Soda suggested.

Pony looked at Soda, then at me, then down at his hands. "I overheard what room Darry was in and I wanted to see him. When the guys left, I thought I could make it there before they came back."

"Pone, you have a broken leg and a head injury, along with a lot of other things. What were you thinking trying to get up and walk around?" I asked, careful of my tone. I didn't want to yell at him and make him feel bad, but even though he was sixteen, Ponyboy still didn't use his head enough.

He shrugged at me. "I kinda forgot. I haven't been up much, and I got a cast on my leg anyways, so I thought I could do it." He must've seen the look on my face because he was quick to add, "I just wanted to see you, Darry. Last time I saw you, you dropped to the floor like a bag of rocks."

"So you got up, and what? Fell?" Soda asked, trying to stop any argument from even starting between me and Pony.

Ponyboy looked embarrassed then. "Yeah. I got a scratch from the bed or something," he said, pointing to where the nurse was checking his skin again. This time, she was satisfied enough to take the gauze away, which allowed me to see a red cut from Pony's eyebrow to his hairline. "Luckily, nurse Megan was already coming in to check on me; she helped me get back up and into bed." I saw the young nurse blush as she gathered her supplies, and I knew Ponyboy had the same charm with the ladies that Soda did. "If it was Steve, he would've pummeled me for it and probably left me on the floor."

"Yeah? Well you would've deserved it for bein' stupid," Steve said with some venom in his voice, but I could tell by the worry lines on his face that he was actually just concerned about Pony.

"That should heal fine on its own, but no more getting up without a nurse or doctor present," nurse Megan said sternly to Ponyboy. "Understood?"

"Yes ma'am, thank you," Ponyboy said politely. The nurse smiled at him, then promptly left the room.

"You okay, kiddo?" I asked Ponyboy softly.

He looked at me like I was crazy. "I'm fine, I've been worried about you."

Here we go again…

I put my hand on his and squeezed. "I'm fine, don't worry about me." Then I leaned forward and whispered so only Ponyboy and maybe Soda could hear me. "And I don't want you thinking anything is your fault, savy? You've done nothing wrong, and I just want you to focus on getting better."

Pony's eyes widened, but after a quick glance at Soda, he looked back at me with a straight face. "Okay." I ruffled his hair and gave him a reassuring grin before I leaned back into the chair.

"Anyone up for a game of poker?" Two-Bit asked, holding a brand new deck of cards in his hand that I was sure he swiped from the gift shop.

We all played a few rounds of poker, using Pony's bed as a table. After only a short time, a new voice appeared. "Hello everyone, may I come in?" I turned my head to spot officer Stanton walking towards us. Great, him again.

"Hello officer," I said as politely as I could, even though I was feeling tired, sick, and annoyed of seeing the cop so frequently. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

The police officer glanced at everyone, then he gave me a look. "I understand that my presence isn't typically welcomed."

"So why are you here?" Soda asked bitterly. From the moment Soda met officer Stanton, I knew he didn't like the cop, and the years of experience we've had with cops supplied him with even more reasons to not trust the man in uniform.

"I have concluded my investigation."