In this chapter: Darry and Kate were in a car accident.

"Kate! KATE!"

Someone was shouting and shaking my shoulder, both actions making me groan.

"That's it Kate, come on. Open your eyes, baby," the voice said, sounding a lot softer than before.

Reluctantly, I tried opening my eyes, but something must've been wrong because I thought I'd be sitting in Darry's truck, but the mangled mess I found myself in couldn't have been the truck; it was far too crowded. My head felt too heavy, my entire right side throbbed in pain, and I wasn't entirely convinced that I wasn't still sleeping.

"Kate, look at me," the voice instructed as a pair of hands appeared on my cheeks. The icy-blue eyes could only belong to one person. Darry. "Sweetheart, can you hear me?"

Darry's here, I'm safe, I thought as my eyes drifted shut.

"No no no. You have to keep them open, Kate."

As I slipped into darkness, I heard his voice get more anxious.

"Kate! Catherine!"

The next time I woke up, it was slow and it felt like my head was filled with cotton.

"It'll be okay, Dar-"

"You didn't see her before, Soda. Her eyes only opened for a couple seconds, and she didn't even say anything before she passed out." Darry's voice sounded scared, which scared me. He never sounds like this. Something must be wrong.

"The doctors said she'll be okay," Soda said calmly. "She can even go home soon."

Who are they talking about?

"Glory, this is my fault," Darry said, his anxious voice sounding exacerbated. The direction his voice was coming from seemed like it kept changing, and it made me dizzy. "I should've gone a different way, or hell, I should've let her drive, then it would be me-"

"Darry stop," Soda said sternly. "What do you think she'd say if she heard you talkin' like that?"

"I don't care, she can be mad at me all she wants, I just want her to be okay," Darry said, surprisingly sounding like he was about to start crying.

Is something wrong with me? Is that why Darry sounds so upset? My brain was starting to work faster, but the cotton seemed like it was getting thicker.

"I'll go talk to the guys, let them know she'll be alright and home soon," Soda said softly. "Make sure you get some rest too, Dar."

Darry's voice broke through the brief silence. "Thanks Soda."

"Any time, Darry."

Next, I heard movement near me, and I was pretty sure something wrapped around my hand as the cotton pulled me under.

I opened my eyes, but everything around me was still dark. I was confused and worried that I had gone blind, but as my eyes adjusted, several shapes around me became distinguishable. It became apparent I was lying in a hospital bed with a few machines next to me and making noises. In one of the chairs near me, there was a strange shape that looked familiar; it looked like my boyfriend was resting his head against the wall behind him, and after I focused my eyes a little more, I realized he was holding my left hand.

"Darry?" I tried, although my gravelly was barely a whisper. I cleared my sore throat so I could speak louder. "Darry."

Immediately, Darry was on his feet and leaning forward just enough for the moonlight to illuminate the cuts and dried blood on his skin. "Kate," he whispered as he reached his hand towards me, but he seemed to think he'd hurt me if he touched me, because he placed his hand on the bed next to my shoulder.

I moved my hand so I could reach up and touch a particularly large cut across his forehead, thinking for reason that by touching it, it would provide me with some answers. "What happened? Are you okay?"

He gave me an incredulous look. "Am I okay?" He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, and when he pulled away, I saw tears in his eyes. "Glory, now that you're awake, I'm just fine."

"But you were bleeding," I said naturally. Usually that doesn't mean someone's fine.

"Honey," he started as he used his foot to move the chair impossibly close to my hospital bed without breaking eye contact. When he sat back down, he rested his elbows on the bed and held my hand in his. After kissing the back of my hand, he continued. "Do you remember what happened?"

I thought long and hard about what could've caused Darry to be hurt, and after concentrating, my mind started to put the pieces together. "We were driving back from somewhere, right?" I didn't remember getting to the Curtis house or my apartment, so I figured we never made it to our destination. "Did something happen on the way?"

Darry combed his fingers through my hair and tucked it behind my ear. "Yeah sweetie, something happened. Some drunk was speeding and crashed into the truck."

I felt my eyebrows raise automatically. I remembered the sound of metal scraping against metal, and the crumbled truck surrounding me briefly before darkness took over.

"I didn't see him until the last second," Darry said, his voice breaking. "I'm so sorry, Kate. I should've done something more. Then you wouldn't be laid up in the hospital."

I was suddenly reminded of Darry and Soda's conversation that I overheard, and everything was started to make sense. More than that, I remembered Darry suggesting that it should've been him in the hospital bed, and it made me instantly upset.

"Speaking of which, I need you to understand, Darrel Curtis, that none of this your fault." He seemed surprised by the sudden fierceness of my voice, and I knew that surprise was only going to grow. "And another thing, I don't want to hear you wishing that it was you that got hurt, alright?"

His jaw dropped a little, and once he collected his thoughts, he spoke softly. "You heard that?"

I nodded, and as I did, the stiffness in my neck made a sudden appearance, which I did my best to ignore. "I was only awake for a little bit, but I heard you and Soda talking. He's right, I don't want to hear you saying any nonsense like that, alright? I'm fine."

Darry's eyebrows furrowed. "Your arm is in a sling, you got cut up from the glass and everything, lost a lot of blood, and you're in the hospital. That doesn't sound like you're fine, does it?"

At the mention of a sling, I looked at my right arm, which was being held close to my torso with black fabric.

I heard Darry let out a shaky breath, and when I looked at him, there was a lot of emotion in his eyes. "I was so scared, Kate. I thought I was going to lose you."

"You won't," I said immediately, hoping he'd believe me. Then I put my hand on his cheek and wiped his tear that started falling with my thumb. "You're stuck with me."

He grinned, then leaned forward to kiss me gently. In the warmth of his lips, I felt all of the emotions he was feeling, and I was just as grateful as he was that both of us were going to be okay. When we broke apart, he kept his face close, and I felt his breath on my face as he spoke. "I love you, Kate. I can't lose you too."

I gave him a quick peck on the lips and smiled. "I love you too."

The next day, I was released from the hospital, and the whole gang was in my hospital room to see me and "help" me get from the room to the truck Steve managed to convince the owner of the DX to let Darry borrow for the time being. After the guys practically ran into the room and said how happy they were that I was okay, Darry sent them away and told them that we'd meet them at the house, leaving just me and the three Curtis boys.

When Darry went into the hall to talk to the doctor about my discharge instructions, Pony and Soda said down next to me.

"You really okay, Kate?" Pony asked quietly.

I gave him a reassuring smile. "Yeah, I'm okay Pony. I'm just happy your big brother's okay too." Then I looked at Soda. "I heard you two talking last night. Thanks for being there for him and talking some sense into him."

Soda seemed surprised at first, but when that wore off, he grinned. "Always a pleasure to help Superman." Then his grin changed to a neutral expression. "You shoulda seen him, Kate. He was a mess thinking you weren't gonna be okay."

I could only imagine how Darry felt and acted like from the time of the accident to when I woke up in the middle of the night. Then I looked at his two kid brothers, and I realized Darry wasn't the only one who feared the worst. "How are you two? I know hearing your brother was in a car accident couldn't have been easy on you." Especially since that's how your parents died.

Pony and Soda looked at each other before Soda spoke for the both of them. "When Darry called, I could tell by the sound of his voice something was wrong. It wasn't until I saw him that I knew he was physically okay, but he wasn't concerned about himself at all."

"He never worries about himself," Pony mumbled, which made me smile. He's got that right.

"Done talking about me?" Darry asked as he walked into the room with a wheelchair.

"Not yet, give us five more minutes," Soda said with sass.

Darry smacked Soda on the back of the head, but he was smiling. "Too bad. She's officially discharged, so we're leaving."

I pushed myself up in the bed, and gave Darry a half-hearted glare. "Good, except I'm not going in that thing," I said, motioning to the wheelchair. I knew the wheelchair would be the topic of a battle of wills, and I was determined to win.

Eventually, I allowed Darry to wheel me around the hospital hallways, but once we went through the front doors, I stood on my own feet and walked to the truck… or I would have if Darry would've slowed down enough for me to stand up on my own. Instead, he kept walking so fast that I was afraid to put my feet on the ground for the fear of having my feet dragging on the ground.

"You promised I could walk to the truck!" I said to Darry, looking up at him, while he averted his eyes.

"Changed my mind," he said plainly, although I saw the smile forming on his face.

Before I could counter, Ponyboy jumped into the conversation as he walked towards the unfamiliar red truck. "You stayin' with us, Kate?"

"Yes she is," Darry said. Finally, he looked down at me while I stared at him. "Yes, you are. The doctor gave me your discharge instructions, so I'm going to make sure you follow them."

"Aw, let him take care of you, Kate," Soda said with a smile. "Maybe it'll get him off our backs for once."

"Watch it, Soda," Darry said jokingly once we reached Darry's temporary truck.

Under Darry's watchful eye, I got out of the wheelchair and stood on my own two feet. Then, as Darry brought the wheelchair back to the hospital, Soda and Pony stood next to me, both leaning against the truck.

"I told ya, he was real worried. I hope you're ready for mother hen Darry," Soda said.

I chuckled. I loved how caring my boyfriend was, and even though he'd deny it, I knew he could be quite the mother hen. "You'll owe me one for keeping him occupied and preventing him from nagging you two." Both of the brothers laughed at that.

"Alright, enough talking about me," Darry said as he approached us. "Let's go home."

I was surprised to see Darry give the truck keys to Soda, but it made sense once I realized his plan was to sit with me in the backseat. With Soda behind the wheel, and Ponyboy in the passenger seat, I had enough room in the back seat to stretch my legs and lean against Darry. The moment I closed my eyes, I felt Darry wrap his arms around me and kiss the top of my head. "I won't let anything else happen to you," he whispered into my hair. "You're safe."

"I know," I said, before I started falling asleep, despite Soda's erratic driving.