Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders or any of S.E. Hinton's original characters, nor do I make any money from anything I post on this website.

Pony POV

The nurse drones on and on as we walk deeper into the maze of hallways. But I can barely hear her as worry overtakes my thoughts, clouding over my brain. "Awful lucky he was, coulda been a whole lot worse," she says as if that makes me feel any better. As if it's going to help Darry. Or lighten the load that just crashed upon Soda's shoulders. "Fractured ribs, torn shoulder, concussion, large laceration wound, minor traumatic pneumothorax." "Amazing how minimal the injury is, judging by how he looked when he came in. We're going to have to keep him overnight for observation and if everything goes well he'll be free to go." I can already see Darry's reaction to having to stay overnight in the hospital. Not pretty. My attention flicks back to Soda's heavy footsteps as they pound the tile floor next to me. The twinkle in his eye is hidden by lines of tears he refuses to let fall.

The nurse finally leads us into the room where Darry is lying, asleep. I hear Soda's sharp intake of breath next to me. "Darry." He says, so quietly I'm not even sure it could be classified as a whisper. My throat burns and my stomach twists as I look at Darry. The normally strong, unfazed Darry. His hairline is littered with bruises that continue down his right side. His normal, broad shoulder appearance looks shrunken, his arm in a sling, his head bandaged.

"Shit." Soda mutters under his breath. I couldn't have said it better myself. Darry never got hurt, he was Superman after all, so it comes as a shock to my system to see him so hurt.

Soda settles himself into a chair, and I follow suit. I watch my older brother's injured form and try my best to ignore the impending feeling of dread that seems to be suffocating the very air I breathe.

After about an hour of nothingness, long after the limits of Soda's attention span, Darry begins to stir. "Hey Dar," Soda says in a calming tone I've never heard him use with Darry before. "You awake?" Darry's eyes open slowly and rest on Soda.

"Hey, little buddy." Darry murmurs. His gaze flicks toward me. "Hey, Pone."

I give my best smile, but even I could tell it was half-hearted. "Good to see you awake."

He exhales and almost smiles, but winces in the process. "Well?" He says, exhaustion wringing his tone.

"Well, what?" Soda asks, confused.

"Let's go," Darry says as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Where?"

"Home. I'm awake, aren't I?" He tries and fails to sound convincing as pain laces his voice. I'm not sure if he actually thinks he's supposed to go home or just wants to get out of here as fast as humanly possible. Either way, it's not happening.

"Fat chance. Darry, no way. They need to keep you overnight for observation." I say before Soda gets a chance too.

"Pony, it's too much money. I'll be okay. Let's go home." Darry pleads with Soda and me. I'm taken aback by Darry's abrupt assessment of our financial situation. He normally didn't talk about it in front of me, at least not when he knew I was there. The debate continued before Darry falls asleep mid-argument, something I would never have expected out of my brother who would stay up to all hours of the night waiting for me to get home. I feel bad Darry loses his chance to defend his stance, but at least honestly it was easier to not have to argue, and he was getting some rest that I'm sure was much needed.

—

I wake up to the sound of Darry's heavy breathing and the smell of rubbing alcohol and hand sanitizer. Soda's just starting to wake in the chair beside mine. We converse the situation quietly until the nurse walks in. Darry wakes up with the sound of her voice. The nurse starts explaining that Darry's free to go, pending a few conditions. "You'll need quite a while to get back to yourself. The doctor wants to see you back here on Tuesday to see how you're progressing. Until then, bedrest." I swear I hear Darry snort at that remark. She adds a couple extra instructions, that the bandages on his back should be changed daily, that he'll sleep most of the day for a while, and that he shouldn't be left alone for more than an hour or so at a time. After she finishes the rest of her speech she sends us home with a bag of wound dressings and pain meds and makes Darry ride out in a wheelchair. I'm glad, 'cause I don't think he could walk that far.

We get Darry into the car with considerable effort from all parties involved. On the ride home, Soda pesters him until he reluctantly gives us a broad picture of what happened. He had been roofing a house in Soc territory and decided to walk to the nearest gasoline station for lunch. Some idiot had been drunk, and it wasn't even 1 pm. They'd been riding a motorbike and swerved. The motorcycle smashed toward the sidewalk and collided with Darry. The dimwit hadn't even given a half effort to stop it. Darry is obviously unhappy about sharing. I think he hurt his pride.

Soda parks the truck and hops out. I follow him around the truck and open the door on Darry's side. Soda struggles to maneuver Darry out of the car. This is an event, as the right side of Darry's torso is pretty much useless. Soda manages to get Darry out of the truck and starts toward the house. Darry's leaning heavily on Soda and I'm scared they'll both topple over before they reach the steps. It's not that Soda isn't strong, he is. But he ain't as strong as Darry, and with him practically carrying Darry it makes me nervous. Darry isn't exactly small.

I walk alongside them as they reach the steps. I step in, and together Soda and I manage to half drag, half carry Darry up the steps. Darry is silent through the entire process, but his face is exhausted and contorted in pain. I can tell Darry hates this, needing help, not being able to do everything himself. He'd always been a bit prideful, so this was a challenge, to say the least.

By some miracle, we get into the house and plop Darry onto the couch so everyone can take a breather before moving him to his bed. I have no idea how we're going to manage this, and I can't help but wonder if we've bitten off more than we can chew. I shake away that thought and turn on the television, trying to provide some distraction.

Thank you so,so much for reading and please leave a review with comments, suggestions, or anything else you'd like to add! I'll update soon. Have a lovely day.