My Uptown Girl

A Hospital Visit

Ponyboy sat on a waiting bench, cigarette in hand, as he waited for a nurse, a doctor- anyone to update him on his friends' conditions. He had watched as the staff wheeled Dallas, Shirley, and Johnny past him and into patient rooms, telling him that when they were done operating, they would tell him. That was over an hour ago.

Johnny and Shirley had been unconscious when he saw them. The paramedics had given them morphine and other narcotics to help with any severe pain the two were experiencing but that meant they would be asleep for quite some time.

The man with glasses, whose name was Jerry, had decided to stay with Ponyboy until his legal guardian showed up. They smoked together for half of the night, barely talking to each other unless about what happened. The soot was still stuck to his face and clothes, cloaking him in a layer of dirt and smoke. His blonde hair was now ashy.

The sound of heavy footsteps caused him to look towards the end of the hallway they were sitting in.

Sodapop and Darrel were making their way towards him, their eyes looking into the rooms they passed by, searching for their brother. Ponyboy stood up quickly, startling the two from the sudden movement, and took off running, barreling into Sodapop's arms in a crushing hug.

"God, Ponyboy." Sodapop whispered as he held on tightly to his brother. He could smell the smoke that was coming off of his clothes. When Ponyboy had called them, telling them what happened at the chapel, he had a small panic attack. His brother, his girlfriend, and his friends had almost killed themselves saving a group of children from a burning building.

"Ponyboy." Darrel's hands were clenched into fists, his whole body shaking from the rush of emotions he was feeling. He was angry at Ponyboy for leaving, he was angry that he allowed Shirley to leave with Dallas, he was angry that he and his now little sister had almost killed themselves, he was relieved they were alright, and he was also scared. Scared for Shirley who was nowhere in sight.

Ponyboy looked to his older brother and rushed to his arms, allowing Darrel to envelop him in a bone-crushing hug.

"I thought we lost you like mom and dad." Darrel wheezed out, sobbing into his brother's shoulder. Sodapop smiled at the sight and joined them, wrapping his arms around the two of them.

They stayed there for a while until Jerry tapped them on the shoulders, forcing them to break apart.

"Are you this young man's guardian?" Jerry asked Darrel as he looked the oldest. Darrel nodded and he sighed, wiping at his eyes. "I'll leave him with you. I need to get on home." With that, he said his goodbyes and stepped around them to leave.

"Just so you know," Jerry looked back to them, "your boy and his friends are goddamn heroes." He left the hospital, finally calling it a night as he headed home.

"Where's Shirley? And Johnny and Dallas?" Sodapop asked, his eyes scanning the rooms. He was expecting Shirley to pop out of one, maybe even try to scare them.

"They're in some rooms. I've been waiting for someone to tell me something but it's been hours." Ponyboy sighed as he looked towards the nurse's station, sitting back down on the bench he was sitting at earlier. Darrel and Sodapop joined them.

"Let's take you home and we'll check on them in the morning, okay?" Darrel smiled as he clapped a hand on Ponyboy's shoulder.

"Yeah. Let's go home."

-

Shirley woke up to an extreme itchy sensation on her right leg. Dazed and slightly confused, she opened her eyes to a harsh white light and immediately shut them again, groaning in pain from the sudden blinding of her retinas.