Staying Gold

Chapter Four

After the doctors made Em throw up all the pills she took, they told us that she was going to be okay. Only after that, they let people in to see her. We all planned to let Dally go first because she meant the most to him and he meant the most to her. Kat walked in and sat down next to me.
"So I heard what happened to Em. She got pretty hung up, huh? Almost tried to kill herself?" Kat asked.
"Yeah she did. But she is gonna make it. Damn, you should've seen Dally's face when he saw her," I said, laughing at the end.
"Ponyboy Curtis. Not since the day I met you have I heard you use such language," Kat joked.
"Hey, you're starting to act a lot like Two-Bit lately, joking around so much," I smirked.
"Well, I wonder where I got it from?" she laughed.

"Ok, you can now see Emma Cade. Who would like to go first?" the doctor asked as he approached us.
We all stared at Dally as he stood up and followed the doctor to her room. Of course everyone else followed and eavesdropped on them.

"Em," Dally started as tears trickled down his cheek, "how they treating ya here?"
"Hey Dal. I want to say I'm sorry again. I can't believe I almost did that to you. I'm so sorry," I overheard Em cry.
"Don't worry about it, babe. You're here and that's all that matters. Hey, they have your last name down as Cade. Funny huh?" Dally joked.

He doesn't know. Em didn't tell him.

"I have something else to tell you too," Emma started.
"What?" Dally asked. I peered through the small window in the door to see a concerned look on Dally's face.
"Well, I wish I could have told you this earlier but ... I am Johnny's sister. We were twins. I always hated that my folks would fight all the time so one day when I was eight, I decided to run away. Johnny never forgave me for doing that to him. I ... I guess he never talked about me, huh?" Em cried.
"No, no he didn't," Dally said, confused.
"I came back because I saw in the papers that Johnny was being charged for killing someone. I wanted to see if he was ok. But I guess I was too late," Em sniffled.
    "Is that why you didn't tell me why you had no place to stay? You didn't want me to find out that you were Johnny's sister and that you ran away?" Dallas asked.
    "Yes. I wish I told you earlier but I didn't want you to think I was just his sister. I liked you from the start. The way we talked. I just didn't want to ruin my chances with you," Em sobbed.
    "I don't care if you were Soc, even a girl from the country, Em. I love you just the way you are," Dally said back.
    They hugged and Dally stayed in there for a while as the rest of us went home.

**********
Em was released from the hospital two days later. Dally let her stay at our house because it was less noisy and crowded than Buck's. He would stop by every once and a while to check up on her and to make sure she was ok.

**********
The next day, Kat stopped by.
"Hey Pony, you want to go see a movie?" Kat asked.
"Sure!" I replied with a big grin.
The two of us were walking down the street and it was freezing cold out. I forgot my jacket like usual but didn't bring a thing up 'bout it.
"Ponyboy, you 'ought to be freezing in this cold," Kat said, shivering.
"You ain't a wolfin," I replied with my teeth chattering.

Memories popped up when trying to remember the last time I said that. I was walking to the park with Johnny after Darry hit me. That's the night everything went down. Johnny killed a Soc that night.

**********
We got to the movie house and everything was going perfectly. I really did like Kat, and I don't know what it was about her, but her being next to me just made me shake, in a good way.
    The night went just how I wanted it to. She gave me a kiss on the cheek after the movie and she ran home before her dad realized she was gone. I started heading back to my place, with no clue what the time was.
    "Hey, Darry, hey, Soda," I almost whispered, yawning but smiling as I walked into the house.
    "Where the hell have you been? Do you know what time it is? I was worried sick about you!" Darry yelled.
    "I was at the movie house with Kat," I responded.
    I must of had a very scared face because Darry seemed to calm down a little.
    "Hey, cool it will ya? I told you not  to fight anymore. We don't want this to end up like last time," Soda interrupted.