An Unlikely Allie

Chapter 9

Phaedra's POV

The next time I woke up, I wasn't in anywhere near as much pain as I had been. My brothers were nowhere to be seen, which concerned me a bit. I touched my face; it was the strangest sensation. I could feel myself touching my face, but my face couldn't feel my fingers. I ran my fingers down, what I assumed was a bandage. It stopped just below my bottom lip.

I remember that horrible pain in my stomach. I explored gently down my right side. There was a bandage there as well. I closed my eyes again, trying to put together the pieces. My eyes flew open. I hit the call button as fast as I could, "What day is it?" I demanded when she walked in.

"It's Thursday," she spoke softly, "You've been here since Monday." She must have noticed my anxiety because she changed the subject," my name is Beth. Are you hungry? You can have anything you like." She leaned down, "we have chocolate cake."

"And coffee," I asked.

"Of course. I'll put the order in," she called down to the kitchen. "It will be a few minutes. Do you want to take a shower?"

Boy, did I ever! She unhooked me from my numerous tubes and helped me stand up. I was very unsteady on my feet. She helped me undress and sat me down in a shower bench. I examined my arms. The bruises on my upper arms still looked fresh. "What happened to me?" I could hear the shakiness in my voice.

"You had your appendix taken out." She responded in a calm, even tone, as she rinsed the shampoo out of my hair.

"Where are my brothers?" I sounded funny.

"On their way. I had one of the nurses call them as soon as your light went on." She paused as she conditioned my hair, "We told them to go home last night. They needed to rest." She rinsed my hair again, "I didn't they would get the youngest boy to leave." She handed me a soapy washcloth so I could was my body.

I giggled a little, making it even more obvious that something in my face wasn't working, "Ponyboy," I murmured, "he's my twin." I finished up and she handed me a towel.

"Hello?" I recognized, Darry's voice.

Beth walked out to tell him I was almost ready. She came back with a bag of clothes. My red gym shorts, one of the most comfortable things in the world and my favorite Rolling Stones t-shirt. Beth helped me get dressed. It was then, that I saw my face in the mirror. No wonder I sounded funny. The left side of my face was bandaged from my eye and covered about half of my mouth, deep bruising peeked out from under the bandage. My right eye was almost swollen shut and I couldn't tell where one bruise started and a other one began, "Phaedra, you're ok. C'mon, honey, I bet your chocolate cake is here." She coaxed me out of the bathroom.

Darry, of course, gently carried me to my bed. He laid me down and kissed my cheek and forehead, "Phae, I thought we lost ya. I was so scared." He cradled me in his arms.

Soda was practically bouncing up and down, "I'm so glad you're awake." He pushed Darry to the side and hugged me hard. He kept kissing the top of my head, "We were so worried. Everyone's gonna be real happy you're awake." I hugged Soda and Darry.

Ponyboy stood off in the corner, he looked like he was ready to break down. I held my hand out to him, "Pone," that was all it took.

As soon as I said his name, He couldn't get to me fast enough. "Phae. I'm so sorry." He sobbed, "I knew something was wrong that morning. I should've told ya to stay home. I'm sorry, Phae."

"It ain't your fault, Pone. I was the stupid one who got jumped."

"I felt sick to my stomach during breakfast, nothing felt right."

I pulled my twin closer to me, "I know. I felt the same way when you got jumped."  I had a flashback to the night that a few Socs tried to drown my brother.  Darry and him got into a fight about 8 months are our parents died.  Darry hit him and he took off.  I tried to follow after him, but Soda held me back.  I remember feeling like I couldn't breath, as if someone was sitting on my chest.

Pony was kneeling on my bed, "move over," He got himself situated in the bed and held his arms out.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back. The last time we sat like this was when mom and died. My face still felt weird, but I didn't care. I had my brothers...and my chocolate cake.

I wanted everything to stay this way, but unfortunately, Beth walked in with two policemen. Fear came rushing back.