Winstons |The Outsiders|

18. Ain't Dead Yet

The hospital was noisier now as the clock struck noon. The constant walking and talking on the other side of the curtain made it nearly impossible to sleep. Hannah straightened her legs and was about to stretch her arms over her head when they collided with something.

True to his word, Dallas hadn't moved from the cot. One arm was tucked behind his head, the other wrapped around his sister's shoulders.

Pushing her hair back, Hannah moved around in her bed until she was sitting upright. From beside her, Dallas opened one eye before throwing his arm over his face. "What are you doing?"

"Someone's tryna see us, I can hear them talking to the nurse," Hannah murmured, trying her hardest to hear what was going on. Dallas rolled his eyes before getting up and pulling the curtain back.

"She just got stabbed, I'm friends with both of them, I just want to make sure she's okay! Really, Jackie, you're not gonna let me in? I didn't mean to fuck your sister, you two are identical for Christ's sake!"

"What the hell are you doing here, Buck?"

The older boy breathed a sigh of relief and threw his arm around Dallas's shoulder before they walked back into Hannah's room. "Oh boy, did I fuck up."

"How's it goin'," he asked Hannah. She shrugged and pulled the blanket up to her waist. "I mean, Tony just tried to kill me, but besides that, I feel fine."

Buck nodded, a smile on his face as he dropped into the metal chair beside Hannah's bed. Dallas stood on the other side of her. "How'd you fuck up this time, genius?"

Buck laughed once and slapped his knee. "So, Tony's in Tulsa, right? Of course you know that, he's the one who tried to kill you." Buck gestured to the girl. 

"Anyway, last night at around one, this dumb fucker comes into the bar, says he's looking for Dal. The thing is though, he's covered in blood. An' I remembered seeing Hannah leave the bar like, an hour before."

He started chuckling again while Dallas rolled his eyes. Hannah however, was grateful for Buck's company. He may be twenty-three, and downright stupid but he was funny.

"An' I remembered that your families were having trouble back in New York so I put two and two together and-"

"The point, Buck," Dallas snapped. "Get to the fucking point."

"I shot Tony."

Hannah's mouth fell open as she stared at him. Dallas held his face in his hands. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I didn't kill him or anything! Just shot him in the leg and let the guys take care of 'im," Buck defended himself.

"What do you mean you let the guys take care of him," Hannah questioned. Buck cracked his knuckles lazily and grinned. 

"Oh y'know, the Shephards love a good fight. The second Tony started talking 'bout you, shit hit the fan. I shot him, Tim and Curly beat the tar outta him," he sighed. "You really had to be there."

"So where's Tony now," Hannah asked. Her voice had dropped to a whisper.

"I don't know," Buck replied. "But damn near all the greasers in Tulsa have their eyes peeled for a black corvette."

Dallas was silent as he gnawed on his lip, ignoring the warm blood that filled his mouth and coated his tongue. "What'd he say to get you riled up?"

Buck shook his head. "Whole lotta gross shit. Mostly goin' on about how Hannah would be dead before morning, and that there was nothin' we could do about it." He swallowed thickly, rubbing his hands up and down his jeans. "He didn't touch you or nothin', right?"