Whoa! Thanks for the many reviews! We hit 30, which makes me extremely happy! I look back on how far I have come on this story already. Trust me, it hasn't even begun :) Well, technically it has, but whatever.

Thanks go to Petunia132, Becca-luv, and graybabe for the favorites.

I may not be able to update as often, for the next month or so. I'm probably just exaggerating, but bear with me if I do. The swim season has just started for me and I will be busy with practices and meets and such, and I'm also in the costume crew for our school play and have rehearsals every week. I'm pretty sure I will update at least once a week, but I don't know if I can ever get back to updating every night XD Thank you for sticking with me, and I hope you continue to do so!

Icy: I have never described Shay in any way so I decided to go all out... *shrugs* I also like the name Shay better.

SGFJ: Oh gosh...I sincerely hope you weren't crying...even if you were, I am glad you like it so much (but don't cry anymore xD) As for your demand...I am not liable to answer that. ;)

marauderluv94: I guess the only reason I would call her Alice is when people are forgetting that her name is Shay, or if they haven't been told yet. I don't know why people like the last paragraph so much, I honestly was a little loopy when I wrote it and have never been good at conclusions...I seriously thought it was a terrible way to end...but thanks to you and everyone for liking it so much! You know, thanks for reviews :)

OutsidersFanatic: Another reader! Yay! Thanks for reviewing! Ahhaha, I am just glad people understood that. I wasn't sure if I made it clear enough. I think everyone will have some things to say when they leave the hospital about her new name...and about the hair. Quoting a PM I wrote: In my story, the police were already aware that Johnny and Ponyboy had killed the Soc, as I might have remembered to imply. So I didn't think it was necessary for the two of them to change their hair so they couldn't be recognized.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The Outsiders novel and characters belong to S.E. Hinton.

Chapter 17: Get Well Soon

After we had all reconciled with Ponyboy, we were left to waiting. Reporters were yapping at us like little dogs, they wanted to know what life was like when Ponyboy was gone. I put on a sad smile and answered the questions honestly, telling how awful it was at home.

"And what's your name, miss?" a woman said, flipping to a new page in a small notebook and looking at me with an eager face.

"Uh…Alice Smith." My eyes narrowed as a camera flash went off, making me involuntarily flinch. Yeah, I was Shay now, but my name was Alice at school and things might get funky if I said something different. The woman smiled.

"How do you know these three young heroes?"

"Through the Curtises. I'm a friend of the family," I said, glancing at Soda who was talking to another reporter and laughing. The lady nodded a bit too aggressively and was about to say something else when she was interrupted by another bright flash right in our eyes. We both turned with a slightly murderous expression. That was probably the most I had ever liked this nosy woman.

"A picture, of the pretty miss!"

I hit Soda in the arm lightly and giggled. "Give that back to the nice man." I nodded at a frazzled looking young boy who had just locked eyes on Soda and was stamping over. Soda pouted and shrugged the strap of the camera off of his neck, plopping it in the boy's hand and taking a seat next to me. In the corner of my eye, I saw Steve giving the cold shoulder to a man who was pestering him with questions. He looked extremely annoyed.
"These reporters are awesome. So much stuff to play with." Sodapop grinned and put his arm around me, waving casually at another photographer who jumped at the opportunity to capture the handsome boy and his female friend.

"Nice hat," I commented without enthusiasm, noticing his fedora that he had possibly taken from another person. "Heard anything about Johnny and Dally?"

Soda shook his head and pushed his stray hairs back, looking up at the photographer again but seeming to see through him instead. "We're still waiting. I think we can see them soon, though. Doctors say Johnny got burned pretty bad on one side of his body. Dally, even worse. I hope they make it, Al…Shay."

I sighed, slumping into the nook of his arm and shutting my eyes. We had already been here for two hours, and it was around 9 o' clock. "Soda, I'm tired. I don't want to worry about them anymore. Why can't the doctors just let us see them?" I mumbled this drowsily, shifting in my seat so he could be my attractive pillow.

"I don't know, Shay. I'm tired of this too." He leaned his head against the wall and held me tighter, the shared warmth putting me to sleep almost instantly. The last thing I could see was the dying flashes of light from cameras, still trying to encapsulate Soda's being in one picture.

Someone woke me up by shaking me lightly. My eyes flickered open unwillingly, because I brain still remembered where I was and why I was here. "Can we….see them?" I broke my own speech with a yawn and rubbed my eyes. I felt Soda take my hand reassuringly and pull me gently to my feet, keeping one arm around my waist. "The doctors said we can go in. I think Darry and Steve were going to see Dally first, you wanna go with?" He was handling me like porcelain, so I wiggled out of his arm and smiled.

"If it's alright with you, I wanted to see Johnny first. Can I talk to him for a little bit?" I'm not saying that Dally wasn't important too. Soda showed a little bit of a grin at my defiance and nodded. "Sure, you go ahead. We're in room…328, I think, so we'll come over when you're done. Or you can come over when we're done. I dunno." He shrugged and looked at the ground for a moment, blushing a little. It was my turn to grin. "Okay, see you in a little bit. What room is Johnny in?" I asked, realizing that I had just let go of his hand too early because I had nowhere to go. Poo.

"302. Uh…Shay, I…um, bye." He waved and turned the other way, jaunting down the hall and into 328. I laughed and went the opposite way, peeking into 302.

"Johnnycake?" I timidly stepped in the door, seeing a blackened boy lying in the hospital bed. It was terrible; half of his long black hair was singed and short. His skin was rippled and burned on his left side, looking pink and raw. I moved in and sat on the edge of his bed, reaching out to touch his hand. I felt a surge of sadness come when he smiled up at me, the whites of his eyes standing out in the mess of dark colors. "Hey, Alice! I really missed you. How you doin'?"

I laughed and decided to ignore the name thing for now, it was probably too much to put on him at the time. "Johnny, I know I said you could take care of me, but I think the situation has changed. I want to know how you are. Does it hurt a lot?" I lifted my hand and tucked his hair back, surveying the damage done to his face. He winced when I accidentally poked a burn.

"Not so much, they have me on some painkiller. I ain't seen myself yet, is it real bad?" He looked at me with the most vulnerable expression ever and shifted so he was sitting more upright.

"Well…" I trailed off, sighing with defeat as I looked over his marred body again. "You look normal on the right, but your whole left side isn't too pretty. I'm sure the doctors can do something, though." I wasn't sure if that was true, but I knew that at least in 2012, plastic surgery was far more advanced. "So, how was it at the church?" Ponyboy had already told me the story of where they went and everything.

"Lonely as ever. We ate a lot of bologna. Hate the stuff now." He grinned weakly at me and I smiled, going to take his hand again.

"And? What about…showering and stuff?" He chuckled and shook his head. "Come on, Alice. We're boys, d'you think we showered?"

"But that's disgusting! Oh, by the way, my name isn't-" I decided to start explaining, since he was more energized than I had anticipated, when Soda came in the room.

"Shay, we just got done talking to Dally, so is it alright if we come in here…" His sentence got a little quieter and he seemed to lock on to my hand that was holding Johnny's like wolf on its prey. I smiled awkwardly and stood up, moving towards the door and to Soda's side where I entwined my fingers in his. "That's fine, I can talk to Johnny some more tomorrow. Can I go see Dally, now?" I looked up at him, but he seemed to be more interested in Johnny at the moment and was giving the injured boy a cantankerous stare.

"Yeah, go ahead. Steve and Darry are still there, tell them where I am when you go." I smiled and stood on my tiptoes to kiss his jaw, unlocking myself from him and going to stand in the doorway. "Goodbye Johnny, I'll come back again after school tomorrow!"

I waved to Soda and Johnny before trotting down the hall and entering 328. "Dally! Nice dress!" I grinned at the boy, who was burned even more than Johnny.

"And that's how I got that purple spot on my bellybutton."

I heard just the end fragment of a conversation that I am extremely glad I missed. Steve was grinning widely at Dally, who was in hysterics.

Luckily for him, the flames had only licked the bottom of his chin, leaving a large portion of his face unscarred except for a small patch on his cheek. The fair haired boy looked up and saw me, the corners of his mouth twitched. I saw that most of his arm was covered in red, irritated flesh, and glimpsed a series of lighter burns covering his neck. "Yeah yeah, good to see you too. This thing is killing me." He pulled at the front of the hospital gown, looking more helpless than I had ever seen him.

"How are you? And most importantly, why wouldn't you tell us where they were?" I crossed my arms and sat down in a chair near the bed. Dally made a moaning sound and turned his back to me, fingering a cigarette. I didn't understand how he could smoke after he had just been in a fire. Boys.

"Look, they came to me at Buck's and asked to get away. Just killed a Soc. So I helped them out, said I would come visit when things quieted down. The Fuzz took me in to the station asking where they were. Apparently Dallas Winston has a hand in every crime in this city [not entirely false, I thought to myself]. I told them I didn't know where they were, didn't know nothin', but they still roughed me up a bit until they let me go." Here, he paused and pointed to a yellow discoloration on his temple, which made me hate the police in Tulsa even more. "I thought that was as good a time as any to go visit them. Took 'em out for lunch at DQ, gave 'em some more money for food, and when we was drivin' back there was this huge fire at the church. Of course those two dimwits went in to save some kids or something. And I ain't losing Johnny to some stupid fire, so I went in after them. That really did me some good. I can hardly feel my…my…" Dally seemed to notice me again, and passed off whatever he was going to say with a series of coughs.

"Alright, but I wish you would have told us something. At the very least." I smiled at him and sighed, hearing some sort of loud scraping noise from down the hall.

"Hey, you think I wanted to get my ass handed to me by some angry brothers? No thanks." Dally lit the smoke with some lighter he had pulled out of a hidden niche and rolled back over, smirking at me.

"And you know that's exactly what would'a happened, Dallas." Darry grinned, punching Dally lightly on a healthy spot of skin.

"They wouldn't have been the only ones, though!" Steve piped up, getting into a fighting stance and flexing his muscles. I groaned and shut my eyes, not wanting to be involved in this demonstration of testosterone. "I'm just glad you're okay, alright? Darry, we should be taking Ponyboy home soon. Where is he, anyways?"

"Said he was going to check out some book in the gift shop, and to get him later. You're right, you have school tomorrow." Darry's expression turned into one of concern.

"Aw, girlie was worried about me! Ha!" Dally clapped his hands in amusement, but flinched when he pulled his skin too tightly.

"Whatever. Goodnight, Dally. Maybe I'll visit you when I come to see Johnny tomorrow." As I shuffled out the door after Steve and Darry, I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Seeya, man!" Steve called back. Dally smiled again, folding his arms behind his head on the pillow and settling down.

"Like hell you'd better. Sleep well, kid."

So? How did you like it? For this chapter, I want to hear about the ICness. There was quite a bit of conversation, so if you had any specific comments about people being out of character, I would love to know what I can work on for future chapters. Also, any other characters you want to see more of? It helps a lot to know what you guys like to read about. Thanks for making it this far, I love you all!