A/N: Again, please excuse any medical inaccuracies. I'm no Cristina Yang, even though I wish I was.

A steady beeping. Something pushing against my tongue. Pain, then numbness. Someone holding my hand. Voices talking in hushed but concerned tones.

"Should be…soon…wearing off...talk to him…a few hours..."

"…pain? Can you…yes…thank you…"

"…dizzy…out of it…give him time…"

I was suddenly pulled from the void by someone talking to me.

"Can you open your eyes for us, Ponyboy?"

I tried to comply, but I hadn't even realized my eyes were closed, much less knew how to open them. I felt someone dragging their thumb across my forehead, almost as if to encourage my muscles to cooperate so I could open them. It wasn't working. A hand gripped my shoulder firmly, shaking it, but that just annoyed me rather than helping me wake up. I had almost fallen completely back into the void when I heard the voice again.

"Remember Ponyboy, just breathe. Three, two, one."

Something was pulled from my throat, making me gag and cough. I tried to voice my protest, but it just came out as a garbled mess.

"Cough, Ponyboy! Deep breaths, keep breathing."

I coughed with each breath I took, struggling to get in enough air. I wanted to panic but didn't have the energy to. I once again felt someone stroking my hand and head. I was vaguely aware of how differnet the two hands felt and realized that they might be different people.

"You did great, Pony. Just rest now, everything's going to be okay."

I groaned as something was placed over my face, trying to lift my hand to push it off. Someone caught my hand, though, and slowly brought it back down to my side.

"Shhh, go back to sleep now. We'll be here when you wake up."

The voice sounded like someone I should listen to, so I did.

— — — — — — — — — —

"Ponyboy? Sweetie, can you open your eyes for me?"

I opened my eyes to see my mom hovering over me, her hand on my forehead. I felt hot and sticky; my head felt heavy, and my throat felt funny. As if she could sense all of my ailments, my mom wrapped me up tight in my blanket and scooped me into her arms, rocking me back and forth and quieting all my fears.

I could hear my brothers getting ready for school in the other room. They were talking about something, Darry's voice deeper than Sodapop's. I could hear Two-Bit, too, and I wondered when he had come over.

"I'm goin' to school?" I asked my mom.

She chuckled, just as she did every morning when I asked that question. "Just a few more years, sweetie, then you'll go to school with the big kids."

"But I want to go now," I pouted.

"Wouldn't you rather stay snuggled on the couch at home and watch movies with me? I know you don't feel good, baby."

I hummed in agreement, clutching my mom's shirt in my hand and burrowing my head into her neck. I began to whimper as she carried me out of my room, though, and moved to set me on the couch.

"I'm just going to set you down while I help your brothers with breakfast, baby."

I began to cry, not wanting my mom to leave me alone when I felt so lousy. I felt like I had no one when she wasn't holding me, even when she was just in the other room.

My dad suddenly appeared wearing his work clothes, his hair still wet from the shower. He took me from my mom's arms and began to rock me the same way she had. I rested my head on him, closing my eyes and feeling his chest vibrate as he spoke.

"He feels warm to me."

"I think he's got a fever, he's not feeling well."

A hand stroking through my hair. A kiss on top of my forehead.

"You gonna leave me?"

"No Ponyboy, I'm not going to leave you."

I turned to face my dad but was surprised to see Michael instead. It was him who was holding me, and I continued to clutch onto him like a lifeline. I was afraid that if I let go I would be alone, lost in the void.

"You're not alone, Ponyboy. You're gonna be just fine."

My surroundings suddenly faded away, and I found myself alone. The house, my family, everything, gone. But his words continued to echo in my head.

"You're not alone, Ponyboy."

"I'm not going to leave you."

"You're gonna be just fine."

And I believed him.

— — — — — — — — — —

I fought to open my eyes for a long time and fought even longer to keep them open long enough for things to come into focus. It seemed as though every time I was able to force them open they weighed themselves down again.

Everything was sluggish at first as I tried to register my surroundings, but I began to grow frantic when I realized I wasn't on the couch in the living room where my parents had left me. Even worse, I couldn't see my mom or dad anywhere.

I tried to turn my head from side to side, finding that my body continued to not cooperate. I managed to glance to my right and see Michael and Darry, of all people, resting on each other's shoulders, asleep. To my left, I could see Sodapop, Steve, and Two-Bit, all asleep but resting their heads on my bed and looking much more uncomfortable.

My bed. This wasn't my bed. I began to realize that I had no idea where I was and started to panic. I tried to cry out and make a sound, desperate to get my brothers' attention, but all I could manage was a weak whimper.

Good thing Darry's always been a light sleeper because that was all it took for him to be up. His movement jostled Michael enough to wake him up, too, and soon the both of them were hovering over me.

"Hey honey," Darry said gently. "How are you feeling?"

I licked my lips and swallowed painfully. "Ain't you gonna be late?"

He gave me a puzzled look and brushed the hair out of my eyes. "Late for what Ponyboy?"

"For school," I said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Weren't he and Sodapop getting ready to leave when I fell asleep?

"I'm not going to school, Pony. I'm staying here with you," Darry explained cautiously, glancing at Michael.

"I'll go get the doctor, let them know he's awake. He's probably just confused from the medication," said Michael.

Doctor? Medication? "Are Mom and Dad coming back soon?"

Darry looked nervous. "Just try and rest now, Ponyboy."

"But I want Mom and Dad!" I shouted, the effort exhausting me. I fell back against my pillow, feeling sweat trickle down my forehead. The commotion woke everybody else in the room, and suddenly I was surrounded and feeling claustrophobic, which only made everything worse.

"Hey, look who's awake!" Sodapop all but yelled.

I felt my eyes begin to well up as I became even more overwhelmed. "Can I go to school?"

"Huh?" asked Sodapop, giving me a confused look.

"School. Can I go? I think I'm old enough now."

I could see that Two-Bit and Steve were trying to hold back laughter, which just made me angry considering they still hadn't answered my question.

"It's not funny," I snapped. "We're all going to be late if we don't hurry."

Darry shot the two of them a look that took the smiles off their faces real quick before turning his attention back to me. "You don't need to worry about school, Pony, you just focus on resting."

"Yeah Pony, why don't you drink some water while we wait for the doctor?" suggested Soda.

"Okay," I reluctantly agreed, "but I don't wanna go to the doctor."

"Hate to break it to ya kid, but you're kinda already there," Steve snorted.

Sodapop elbowed him while Darry appeared at my side with a cup of ice water and a straw. He held the straw and placed it between my lips, holding it steady the entire time like I was a baby. I didn't know how much control I could have over my arms, though, so I decided to let him.

I managed a few sips, the cool water burning down my scratching throat instead of soothing it like I'd hoped, before turning to Steve. "What do you mean I'm already there?"

Before I could answer, though, the door opened, and in came Michael, a lady in scrubs, and a man in a white coat.

"Ponyboy, it's good to see you awake," the man said. "I'm Dr. Williams, I've been looking after you since you were brought in last night."

It was at this moment that I realized I was in the hospital. The tubes going into my arms, the beeping heart monitor near my head, it all became too much all of a sudden. My breathing became fast and shallow. Voices surrounded me like an echo chamber.

"O2 levels are dropping, doctor."

"Let's increase airflow into the mask."

"What's going on? Why's the monitor beeping?"

Michael suddenly appeared in front of my face, leveling with me and making eye contact. "Hey, hey, you're okay. Look at me, take some deep breaths."

I followed his breathing pattern, slowly taking deep breaths in and out. The chaos surrounding me began to fade as I focused on breathing, vaguely aware of the voices surrounding me.

"Can we give him something to calm him down?"

"We're working on that right now, we just need to access him first."

Suddenly the doctor replaced Michael. "I'm just going to shine a light in your eyes, son, just try not to blink."

A blinding light was soon obscuring my line of sight, causing me to squint despite the doctor's orders. The doctor then began to poke and prod me, which was surprisingly painful. Come to think of it, I felt achy all over, and the pain was only getting worse every second.

"Stop it, that hurts!" I cried out, trying to pull away from him. Hands began to hold me down, though, which only caused me to panic even more. I started to sob and thrash around, doing anything I could to get these people off of me.

"Can we get him something please?"

"Yes, we're getting him some pain meds through his IV right now."

"Soda, can you try and keep him calm?"

Sodapop was suddenly at my side as I continued to cry, shushing me and stroking his thumb on my cheek.

"You're okay, Ponyboy, you're okay," he soothed.

"I want Mom and Dad," I cried. "I want Darry."

Soda shot someone a look and I felt a pair of hands that had been holding me let go, Darry suddenly at my side.

"I'm here, Pony. They're gonna get you some medicine that'll help you feel better."

I felt a cool sensation in my arm, turning to see a nurse pushing medicine into the tube in my arm. It wasn't long before I felt as though I was floating, not a care in the world. I let myself sink deeper into the pillows and allowed my eyes to droop, vaguely aware of the people talking but not caring what they had to say.

I was dozing when I heard a knock at the door of my room. I couldn't tell how much time had passed, but everything around me was noticeably more quiet than earlier. Someone opened the door, and the quietness turned to an uncomfortable silence.

My eyes popped open, curiosity getting the best of me, and saw a woman wearing a woman wearing businessclothes and carrying a clipboard. Her eyes were on me, immediately looking me up and down and taking notes with a clicky pen.

Darry was on his feet in a second, approaching her and sticking out a hand.

"Darrel Curtis, can I help you?"

"You can, actually. My name is Sharon Glass, I'm with the Oklahoma Department of Child Welfare Services. I've been assigned to evaluate Ponyboy's current custody situation given recent circumstances."

I couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter. The idea that this lady from the state had to come all the way down here to try and take me away was so absurd to me so I just laughed. Everyone in the room stared at me as though I had lost my mind, but I couldn't stop. The reality of the situation—how completely and utterly fucked we were—was in the back of my mind, and it wasn't funny at all. But still, I laughed. It was the only thing I could do.

A/N: Genuinely let me know what you guys think of this chapter, it's a bit different than what I usually write and I think I'd enjoy reading it but let me know if it's something you guys like.