My Knight in Shining Armor

Chapter VI

Dally POV

"Penny, please..." I whispered.

"Don't move her head," an official said as he ran towards us.

"What?"

"Don't move her head. She landed on her neck."

The wail of sirens was heard only moments later, and they rushed her to the hospital, leaving me and the gang behind.

Steve was running his hands through his hair, messing up his carefully created black swirls. "Oh, man. What am I gonna do?" he panicked.

"We're gonna follow that ambulance to the hospital, that's what." Darry jangled his keys, and we all piled into his truck. Darry has always been pretty straightforward, but he was tailgating any car that got in the way and was following the ambulance at high speeds.

There wasn't really anything we could do once we got there. Me and the boys sat in the waiting room at the hospital. We were all a nervous wreck. A doctor walked into the area with a clipboard in hand.

"I'm sorry boys. Miss Randle didn't make it..."

My heart dropped, and I was about to strangle the doc. "You've got to be lying, man. Please say you're lying."

"Alright, boys. I am lying."

"You're just trying to make us feel better," Steve growled, his eyes filled with water.

The doctor put his hand on his forehead and sighed. "No, it was a psychological attempt to make what I'm going to say easier to hear. If I give you extremely bad news, retract it, and give you slightly better news, the actual news won't seem so bad. It seems the experiment was wasted on you folks, though."

I folded my arms and scowled. "Yes, it was. We didn't much appreciate it."

"What's the actual news, then?" Darry asked.

"Well, Penelope broke her neck. We've run a few tests. It appears she has some generalized paralysis. It's hard to tell at this point how permanent it is. Specifically, the fall gave her paraplegia—paralysis in both legs."

Quiet gasps rang out among the boys. "She'll never be able to walk again?" Johnny asked, wide-eyed and quiet.

"It's possible," the doc said. "As I said before, it's hard to tell right now how permanent or temporary it is."

"Oh."

Penny POV

I could hear faint beeping, slow and steady. It's my alarm. It's gotta be my alarm, I thought. I tried to stretch my arms and legs like I did every morning, but I had two problems: one, I had a neck brace in the way; two, I couldn't move my legs.

My eyes flew open, but I quickly closed them—it was insanely bright. "Ugh," I groaned, hoping it was all just a terrible dream.

"Oh, good. You're awake!" a nurse cheered. "We'll contact someone right away."

I had nothing to do, so I tried to go back to sleep. The nurse had left, and I was alone. I started thinking because I had nothing to do and no one to talk to. I must've been there a while if none of the boys were there. None of them would've left unless someone told them to go home.

After a while, the nurse ushered someone in. "Soda!"

"Penny! How ya feelin'?"

My smile faded, and I bit my lip. "Uh, I'm a little worried and confused, I guess."

"Why's that?"

"I, um, can't feel or move my legs."

"Oh, yeah. About that... I don't know how to say this, kid. You're paralyzed, from that fall. You landed on your neck—hence, the brace."

I bit back the tears. "Oh."

"Soda?"

"Yeah?"

"Talk to me. Tell me everything, because I'm extremely bored."

Sodapop sighed. "Alright. Well, right now, Darry is at work... so is Steve. Ponyboy's at home. He and Johnny are reading or something... I'm not sure. Two-Bit's doing who knows what, and Dally's in the cooler for a month."

"Dally's in the cooler?"

"Yeah. I guess someone caught him last week when he beat up those Socs. Anyway, you were the youngest girl to ever win a rodeo event in Tulsa..."

Soda kept me company the rest of the day. He filled me in on all the details I couldn't remember, and kept talking, so I'd be distracted.

One month later...

"Freedom!" we were cheering, as Steve pushed my wheelchair out of the hospital. "Ah, it feels so good to be outside."

"Let's go celebrate!" Two-Bit loudly suggested.

Ponyboy's face lit up. "We could go to the Dingo!"

So, we walked (well, they walked. I couldn't, so Steve just pushed me. It was faster than if I had been pushing myself) to the Dingo. When we walked down the street downtown, someone started running towards us, but I couldn't see who it was. I certainly hoped the Socs weren't gonna bother us again.

"Penelope!"

I got a good look at the figure running towards me. His shaggy blonde hair was blowing in the wind, and his blue eyes were lit up by the sun. "Dally!"

He threw his arms around me. "I'm glad you're okay, I missed you, I feel like it was all my fault, please don't be mad at me, will you go out with me tomorrow night, please say yes..." He went on and on until he ran out of breath.

I laughed. "Dallas, calm down. I'm not dead, so don't freak out. I ain't mad at you, and yes, I'll go out with ya."

Relief washed over his face, and he regained his tough, cold look. Only one thing was different in his appearance than normal—there was a twinkle of emotion in his normally emotionless eyes.

"We're right here," Pony said.

Dallas nearly glared at him. "And that makes a difference because..."

"Okay, so are we gonna celebrate at the Dingo, or not? I'm starving," my cousin spoke up.

"Yeah, yeah. We're goin'."

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Author's note
I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this chapter... anyway, I was absolutely evil, and it was fun. I mean, I probably hold y'all's hearts in my hand, and I can shatter them into a billion pieces with a single phrase. So um... I know a lot of sad things (or one big sad thing?) happened in this chapter, but I mean... anyway...

Your friendly neighborhood greaser, signing off...
Stay gold y'all ⭐️