(Soda)
53 minutes. That's how long I was gone. 53 minutes was all it took to blow apart the family we had just stitched back together.
That's all I can think about as Two Bit drives me and Steve to the hospital. How much a life can change, how much damage can be done in just 53 minutes. Less than an hour, less than an episode of 'Gunsmoke'.
I didn't think anything would be able to bring my spirits down today. Not after all the progress we'd had with Officer McMann and that we were one step closer to Darry getting custody of Ponyboy. I was so excited for Christmas, to finally celebrate a holiday with my family, and excited for Pony to open the present I got for him. If I'd had more money I would have gotten him more, to make up for all the Christmases we had missed, but I knew Pony would be happy with what I had managed to get him. I'd even been able to get three of the books on the list that Darry had given me.
Driving back from the store, Steve and I had to take a detour, our normal street was shut down by a blockade of cop cars. It was eerie, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I said a quick prayer as we drove around the back way, that it wasn't one of my friends involved in whatever had gone down near the park.
As I stepped into the house, shopping bags under my arms, I knew immediately that something was wrong. Two Bit was sitting in Darry's recliner, an unfamiliar look of seriousness painted on his face, the usual mischief alight in his eyes extinguished and replaced with apprehension.
He stood up when he heard us come in, his eyes settled on mine.
"What? What is it?" I asked, my words tumbling out.
"Dal just called. We need to get to the hospital, it's Pony"
A stone of dread dropped from my chest and settled in my stomach.
"Wh-what happened?" my suddenly dry mouth made it hard to talk.
"I'll tell you what I know on the way, Dallas said to hurry" Two Bit said, pulling his keys from his pocket and heading to the door.
I dropped the bags onto Darry's recliner and immediately hurried after Two Bit, Steve hot on my heels. We piled into the car and Two Bit filled me in on what he knew.
He'd come home from picking his mom up from work to find his kid sister all worked up and crying, saying some men were attacking Johnny and some other kid in the park. She'd run to our house and got Darry and Dally. As soon as Two Bit had heard, he'd immediately gone to our house to see if everyone was okay but all he found was an empty house. He'd waited there for a few minutes when the phone rang, Dally having called him from the hospital they'd just arrived at.
"Did he say what happened? What's wrong with Ponyboy?" I croaked. Steve reached forward from where he sat in the back seat and gave my shoulder a squeeze.
Two Bit shifted uncomfortably "He said, uh, said it was bad. I guess the Moore's got a hold of Pony and Johnny, were hurting them pretty bad. One of them...got Pony with a knife"
Tears immediately filled my eyes, 'No no no no no. Not Pony, not after I'd just gotten him back'.
Steve had sucked in a sharp breath at Two Bit's words, "They stabbed the kid?"
Two Bit nodded, his knuckles were white from clutching the steering wheel so tightly as he sped to the hospital.
"Is he..? He's not..?" I couldn't even finish the question, couldn't string together the words of my worst nightmare.
Luckily Two Bit seemed to know what I was trying to ask, "No, he's not dead. Dally said he lost a lot of blood, lost consciousness as soon as they got there. But they took him straight back, so I'm sure he'll be okay"
I nodded, pressing my lips into a tight line and trying to keep from breaking down into sobs.
The car was silent, except for the sound of me sniffing.
When we got to the hospital, I jumped out of the car before Two Bit had even stopped it. I heard him yelling after me but I didn't care, I needed to find my brothers. I walked into the hospital and was immediately greeted by the sight of Johnny and Dally sitting in the waiting room. They looked rough, Johnny had an ice pack pressed against his side and Dallas had a blood soaked piece of gauze pressed against his forehead. But as much as I was concerned for my friends, there was only one person I cared about right now. I stormed up to them, realizing Steve had hopped out after me while Two Bit went to park the car.
"What the hell happened? Where is he?" I was yelling but I didn't really mean to. Sometimes my volume goes up without meaning to when I'm worked up.
"Him and Darry are back there, the Doc took the kid straight back. I don't know what room number" Dally said, gesturing to a door labeled "Emergency Department". I nodded, that's all I needed, send me in the right direction and I'd find them.
I barge through the door, facing an L shaped desk with nurses settled around it and curtained rooms running down two different hallways. Staff bustled to and from, a constant flurry of movement, white scrubs hurrying about.
A nurse looks up from the desk, her eyes narrowing at me, "Can I help you with something?"
"I'm looking for my brother. Ponyboy, Ponyboy Cutris" I say, trying to maintain a polite demeanor despite the fact I just want to barrel down the hallway, pulling open curtains until I find my brothers.
She glides her wheeled chair over a few feet, examining a piece of paper.
"Room 21. All the way down the hall on the left"
"Thanks" I mutter as I hustle in the direction she sent me.
And then I see them. Or at least one of them. Through a crack in the curtain I see Darry is sitting in a chair, facing into a small room.
"Darry!" I yell, running down the hall and to the room partially contained behind a flimsy looking curtain. I want nothing more than to crush him into a hug but I contain myself, seeing as a doctor is currently stitching up a cut on his arm and I don't want to mess him up. Darry must see the desperation in my eyes though, because he reaches out his other hand, which is also covered in dried blood, and beckons me over to his side. I grip his hand and he squeezes back just as hard as I lean my head against his shoulder.
The room is oddly empty. The chair Darry sits in faces an empty space, the perfect size for a hospital bed to fit in, but there isn't one.
"Where is he?" I ask desperately, the empty space where a hospital bed should be amping my panic level to new heights.
Darry sighs, looking older than he's ever looked, "They had to take him for surgery"
"Surgery?!" I croaked, "What does he need surgery for? He's gonna be okay, right?"
"He…He got stabbed and he was bleeding a lot and…" Darry stuttered. I've never seen Darry stutter. My brother is never anything but steady and composed. Seeing this crack in his armor scares me.
"I can fill you in on your brother's condition, if that's alright with you Darrel?" the doctor who's currently sewing up my brother's arm pipes up.
Darry nods.
"I'm Doctor Berg, I was your younger brother's emergency room doctor before he was transferred to surgery. Your brother sustained a knife wound and due to the location and profuse bleeding, I was concerned for a punctured kidney."
"His kidney? Aint that important?" I ask, wishing I had paid more attention in school.
Doctor Berg nods, his eyes not leaving Darry's arm as he meticulously puts him back together, "Yes, the kidneys are important. They are also highly vascular, meaning they can bleed quite a bit when injured. I do not, however, think Ponyboy's kidney was damaged beyond repair. I believe the surgical team will be able to repair the kidney, stop the bleeding, and your brother and his kidney should both recover just fine"
"So he's going to be okay?" I ask, the hope in my voice evident.
Doctor Berg looks up from Darry's arm and gives me a warm smile, "I believe so. Barring any complications, your brother should make a full recovery"
I'm so filled with relief that my knees feel weak and I have to lean against the wall to keep myself standing, "Thank God"
Doctor Berg cuts the last line of sutures in Darry's arm and another realization hits me, along with a sense of guilt for not asking earlier, "Wait, what's wrong with Darry? He's okay, right?"
"I'm fine, Soda. You don't have to worry about me" Darry says.
I roll my eyes, "Yeah, you look fine, just having your skin sewed back up like it's any other Wednesday"
The doctor chuckles, "This one will be fine also. He just had a laceration on his arm, but it's all fixed up now. He'll be good to go as soon as the nurse comes in to put some dressings on it"
I nod and hold my hand out to the doctor, "Thank you".
He smiles and shakes my hand, "My pleasure. I take it you boys will be waiting on news of your brother for a while, but let me know if you need anything while you're waiting". And with that he leaves the room, back out into the chaos of the ER. He pulls the curtain all the way shut behind him as he leaves, like that will keep the racket down. It does seem to have gotten louder out there as a new patient is being brought in by ambulance, the gurney rolling past our room and into one directly across from us.
"You okay?" I ask Darry, asking about more than just his arm. Darry nods, flexing his fingers slowly on his newly repaired arm.
"It was awful, Soda. They..they almost killed him. And I couldn't protect him" Darry whispers, not meeting my eyes.
I go over to him and perch myself on the arm of his chair, my arm going around his shoulders and I lean my head against the top of his.
"You did, Darry. You got him here in time. You heard the doc, he said Pony was going to be okay"
Darry shakes his head, "It wasn't just that, Soda. They were drowning him when I got there. He wasn't…he wasn't even breathing. And then, even after all that, I still let him get hurt" Darry's voice cracks, like he's about to start crying.
I suck in a breath. They tried to drown him. My blood boils, those bastards had hurt both of my brothers.
"You didn't let him get hurt, Dar. It's not your fault."
"It should have been me. I should've done more, put myself in front of him" Darry whispers.
I squeeze his shoulders tight, "Don't say that, Dar, I can't lose my big brother too" I whisper, "You saved him, I'm sure you did everything you could. I know that and I'm sure Pony knows that. Everything's gonna be okay"
Darry just shrugs, still lost in his own personal grief and self blame.
We sit there like that for a few minutes, just leaning on each other. Then the room across the hall erupts in noise, a man starts to yell belligerently, his yells answered by gruff yells back.
Darry perks up at this, his eyes narrowing on the closed curtain in front of us. And before I know what he's doing, he's shot up from his chair, ripping the curtain aside and charging across the hall.
I follow behind him, wondering what's got him so worked up. He reaches the room across from us, yanking on the curtain and revealing the room behind it. A man sits up in a gurney, his hands handcuffed to the side rails. Four cops stand around the room, looking at the man with disdain while he yells obscenities at them.
"You" Darry growls, surging forward. He's stopped by the closest cop, who I now recognize as Officer McMannn.
"Calm down, Darrel" Officer McMann warns.
I recognize the man in the bed, Officer Moore. The man who had come to my house in search of my brother. Who had beat him, tried to kill him. I want to kill him, but I doubt I'd be able to with all these cops around. I just settle for glaring at him, giving him my coldest stare.
"You bastard!" Officer Moore shouts at Darry, "It's your fault my brother's dead. You and your hood friends!"
"That bastard hurt my brother. He deserved what he got" Darry growls back.
"Hey!" Officer McMann yells, sounding authoritative, "You don't talk to him, you've done enough damage to this family" He points a strong finger at Officer Moore, who shrinks a little under Officer McMann's strong gaze.
Doctor Berg comes into the room, totally unphased by the amount of yelling and the amount of people in the room. He just claps his hands together and goes over to Officer Moore's injured shoulder and starts pulling off the gauze dressing taped down there.
"So, a gunshot wound, through and through. I see a nice clean entry and exit wound. We'll get some imaging to ensure there's no fragments left behind, clean this up and then a swift discharge to jail" Dr. Berg says with a smile.
I chuckle darkly at Officer's Moore's face, he looks shocked at the nonchalance of Dr. Berg.
One of the cops, one with sergeant stripes decorating his arm, nods, "Sounds good, doc".
Dr. Berg leans to Darry as he's leaving and speaks quietly so only me and Darry can hear him, "Best you leave here, son. There should be an update on your brother soon"
Darry nods, and gestures for me to go but he turns to Officer Moore before he leaves, needing to get the last word in. With an icy glare and an icier tone he tells the man in the bed "I hope you rot in prison, the same way your brother is rotting in hell".
Needing a piece of the action I add with a malicious smirk, "I hear they love dirty cops in prison. I'm sure you'll be real popular"
"Why do you think I went with a non-lethal shot?" Officer McMann says quietly, eyeing Officer Moore with a look of disgust.
And with that, Darry loops an arm around my shoulder and guides me out of the room, both of us ignoring the new barrage of curses flying from the room. Officer McMann follows and claps Darry lightly on the shoulder as we leave, telling him he'll catch up with us later to see how Ponyboy is doing before stepping back into the room and pulling the curtain closed.
I expect Darry to go back to his room, so he can have his arm wrapped up, but he turns and heads back out to the lobby.
"Dar, don't we have to wait for your arm to get dressed before we can go?" I ask, almost having to jog to keep up with his long strides. He waves me off, muttering something about 'not needing a damn band aid" as he goes back to the waiting room.
The gang's all there. Darry walks past them, immediately going over to the front desk clerk, no doubt to see if she has any update on Pony. Steve and Two Bit stand up as soon as they see us, obviously wanting an update. I plop into the seat next to Johnny, a new ice pack sitting on his ribs. I noticed Dally's head has stitches now too, they must have been seen by a doctor while I was in with Darry.
"Any word on the kid?" Steve asks, sitting down in the chair on my other side while Two Bit stands in front of us, his arm crossed tightly in front of his chest.
I shake my head, "He's in surgery. Something about a punctured kidney, but they said he should be okay"
Johnny sucks in a sharp breath and Dally tenses his jaw so tight I'm surprised I don't hear his teeth crack.
"Shit, man" Steve mutters.
And if that doesn't explain how I feel I don't know what will.
Darry comes back over to us and gives his head a small shake at the hopeful glance I send him.
He seems to take in Johnny and Dally's appearances, "You guys okay?"
Dally nods.
"We're good. One of the docs looked us over" Johnny says, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
"Your ribs broke, Johnny?" I ask him concerned.
"Nah, just bruised. Doc said they'd be sore for a couple days. I'm fine though"
Darry's staring down at his hands, which still have blood caked on them. Suddenly I realize it might not just be Darry's blood, some of it is probably from Pony. Two Bit must notice also, because he puts a hand on Darry's shoulder and gently starts to lead him over to the bathroom.
"Why don't you get cleaned up, superman? Then we'll all wait for an update on the kid" Two Bit says softly, sounding more grown up than I've ever heard him.
Darry looks at me and I give him an encouraging nod, "We'll wait right here for you"
Darry nods and lets Two Bit lead him over to the bathroom. As soon as he's out of ear shot I turn to Dallas.
"What the hell happened, Dal?"
Dally sighs, his eyes going to the ceiling, but he fills me in on the fight in the park, the drowning, the gun, the knife. Johnny interjects softly every once in a while, adding what he can.
Darry and Two Bit have rejoined us now, taking the seats across from us as Dally finishes the story, ending with one of the cops helping them load Pony into the back of the car and before speeding over here, lights and sirens screaming. We all sit there quietly. I'm trying to digest everything they've told me, trying to picture how scared my brothers must have been, and feeling guilty that I hadn't been there to help.
"Dal about gave me a heart attack, talking like that when that guy had that gun pointed at him" Johnny says, sending a small glare Dally's way.
"Yeah, what the hell was that Dallas? Why would you taunt a man with a gun like that? You could've gotten us all killed" Darry asks, poorly veiled anger evident in his voice.
Dallas, the king of nonchalance, just shrugs, "I knew the gun was unloaded. He couldn't shoot me with it if he wanted to"
We all turn to stare at him.
"How the heck did you know the gun was unloaded?" Two Bit asks, his eyebrow cocked up to give his face a questioning look.
Looking at us almost smugly, Dal says "Because it was mine".
Darry looks mad, "Why the hell are you carrying around a gun?" Darry seethes.
"You kill people with heaters, Dal" Johnny adds.
Dallas rolls his eyes, "I've been carrying it around as a bluff. Shepherd said the socs have been getting rowdier and knowing those assholes were circling around Pony, I figured it wouldn't hurt to have"
"Oh geez" Steve scoffs with a shake of his head.
"I was trying to get it out, hoping to scare those guys off with it but that son of a bitch got his hands on it" Dally cursed, "I tried to warn you it wasn't loaded, ain't my fault you didn't understand."
Now Darry is the one rolling his eyes. Two Bit just lets out a dry chuckle and mutters affectionately about Dallas being an idiot.
I'm equal parts impressed and mad, but I don't really have time to dwell on it before Dr. Berg is coming up to our group, scanning us until his eyes settle on Darry.
Darry stands up and rushes over to him, the rest of us merely footsteps behind him.
"Boys" Dr. Berg says gently, "I have an update on your brother".
Author's Note: Thanks for reading along with this story! A bit of a calmer chapter after the chaos of the last three chapters but I hope you enjoy!