THE NURSES WOULDN'T let us see M/n. He was in critical condition. No visitors. But Two-Bit wouldn't take no for an answer. That was his buddy in there and he aimed to see him. We both begged and pleaded, but we were getting nowhere until the doctor found out what was going on.
"Let them go in," he said to the nurse. "He's been asking for them. It can't hurt now."
Two-Bit didn't notice the expression in his voice.
It's true, I thought numbly, he is dying.
We went in, practically on tiptoe, because the quietness of the hospital scared us.
M/n was lying still, with his eyes closed, but when Two-Bit said, "Hey, Love," he opened them and looked at us, trying to grin. "Hey, Two and Pony."
The nurse, who was pulling the shades open, smiled and said, "So he can talk after all."
Two-Bit looked around. "They treatin' you okay, kid?"
"Don't..." ---M/n gasped--- "don't let me watch (f/sport)." With a flash of his grin
"Don't talk," Two-Bit said, pulling up a chair, "just listen. We'll bring something for you to watch that next time. We're havin' the big rumble tonight"
M/n's huge (e/c) eyes widened a little, but he didn't say anything.
"It's too bad you and Dally can't be in it. It's the first big rumble we've had--- not countin' the time we whipped Shepard's outfit"
"He came by," M/n said.
"Tim Shepard?"
M/n nodded. "Came to see Dally."
Tim and Dallas had always been buddies.
"Did you know you got your name in the paper for being a hero?"
M/n almost grinned as he nodded. "Tuff enough," he managed, and by the way his eyes were glowing, I figured Southern gentlemen had nothing on M/n middle/n L/n.
I could see that even a few words were tiring him out; he was as pale as the pillow and looked awful. Two- Bit pretended not to notice.
"You want anything besides watching f/sport, love?"
M/n barely nodded. "That book"--- he looked at me--- "can you get another one?"
Two-Bit looked at me too.
I hadn't told him about Gone with the Wind.
"He wants a copy of Gone with the Wind so I can read it to him," I explained. "You want to run down to the drugstore and get one?"
"Okay," Two-Bit said cheerfully. "Don't y'all run off."
I sat down in Two-Bit's chair and tried to think of something to say. "Dally's gonna be okay," I said finally. "And Darry and me, we're okay now."
I knew M/n understood what I meant. We had always been close buddies, and those lonely days in the church strengthened our and Johnny's friendship.
He tried to smile again, and then suddenly went white and closed his eyes tight.
"M/n!" I said, alarmed. "Are you okay?"
He nodded, keeping his eyes closed. "Yeah, it just hurts sometimes. It usually don't... I can't feel anything below the middle of my back..."
He lay breathing heavily for a moment. "I'm pretty bad off, ain't I, Pony?" He had a pained grin
"You'll be okay," I said with fake cheerfulness. "You gotta be. We couldn't get along without you."
The truth of that last statement hit me. We couldn't get along without him.
We needed M/n as much as he needed the gang. And for the same reason.
