Shattered

Hello Doctor

"Ponyboy! Wake up!" Someone says while shaking my shoulder roughly. I think it's Darry. Darry has a tendency to be rough without meaning to. I open my eyes slowly, the throbbing pain in my head tempting me to keep them closed again. I blink a couple of times to clear my blurry sight and I see Soda and Darry hovering over me. I knew it was Darry. "What's going on?" I whispered, rolling over so I'm facing them. I wince when I feel a sharp pain shoot up my side but I do my best to hide it. "What's going on!? You're asking us!? Pony, what happened! Tim Shepard called us at eleven o'clock tonight saying that you were passed out at his place! What happened at school today?! We were all worried sick when you didn't come home! You didn't even call!" Darry exclaims, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry." I say but I know it won't ease darry's anger. my eyes going wide when I realize that I'm not at Tim's anymore. The last thing I remember is Tim walking into the bathroom with some whiskey. "Sorry? That's all you have to say?" Darry asks. I sit up slowly and put my head in my hands. I feel like I'm on fire and my headache isn't getting any better. "Darry, lay off for a second. Ponyboy, are you okay?" Soda asks. "You look like shit ." "I'm fine. I just wasn't feeling so hot today so I crashed at Tim's. His place is closer to school anyways." I say. I hold onto the edge of the bed and I push myself up into a standing position. I was so off balance i nearly fell. I notice that Tim had given me one of Curly's old shirts to wear and I silently thank him. "Oh no, young man. You're not going anywhere until you explain exactly what happened!" Darry yells, pushing me back down. I sit down, hard, and I guess I moved too quickly because I feel a rough tug on my side. A strangled noise escapes my throat and I reflexively put my hand where my stitches are. I think a few of them just ripped. I feel something warm under my fingers and my worst fears are confirmed. Blood stains my fingers.
"Whoa, what's the matter?" Darry asks, his expression shifting immediately from anger to concern. I still can't believe how fast his emotions could change. "Nothing! I was just a little surprised when you pushed me, that's all. Darry, I'm sorry for skipping school and it won't happen again. I just really need to do something right now. I borrowed my friend scott's car and I never brought it back. I really need to go." I say, my stomach churning at the idea of Darry finding out about this. "Move your hand, Pony." Soda says, watching me carefully. "What, why?" I ask. I was really starting to panic. Darry reaches over and pulls my hand away from my side and he freezes when he sees the blood on my shirt. Soda looks away. "Soda call the doctor." Darry says, moving to the side so that Soda can't see anything. "Can do." Soda says, and I hear the relief in his voice. Moments like these are hard for him. I think he still gets bad flashbacks. It must be awful for him. He wouldn't have them if he stayed with us. our doctor was a close friend of our parents and he doesn't charge us for our visits. Plus, he's easy to get to because he lives right next door. When Soda is gone, Darry sits down next to me. He gently pushes my hair back so it isn't in my face. "Ponyboy, you're burning hot!" Darry says. I don't respond as I lean back against the pillows and close my eyes. I'm so tired. This has probably been one of the longest days of my life. Darry continues to run his hands through my hair and all I want to do is sleep. I hear the door downstairs open and then I hear footsteps running up the stairs. Each footstep was like a drill in my mind. It was deafening and pure torture. "Ponyboy, how did this happen?" Darry asks. "I was protecting Sherri." I say and Darry goes silent. A few seconds later, Dr. Harvey walks into the room. Darry gets up and he says something to the dotor in a hushed voice. I open my eyes and the the doctor finally turns to me. "Hello, Ponyboy! It's been so long! Gosh the last time I saw you was for your nightmares. Let me have a look at you, okay?" He says, his voice cheerful. He was always to cheerful to be honest. He does the routine checkup and then he puts the thermometer in my mouth. "Pony, you have a 104 degree fever." He says. "Darry, I need you to go over to my house and ask my wife for my black bag. She'll know what I mean." Dr. Harvey says seriously. Panic lied behind Darry's cold green eyes. I watch as Darry leaves the room in a hurry and I suddenly get very nervous. I don't like doctors. Dr. Harvey lifts up my shirt gasp as he was examining the wound on my side. "Oh my , it seems a lot of these stitches have come loose so I'll have to redo them. This will only take a few minutes." He says. Then, he takes some scissors out of his bag and I have to look away. I can't watch this. He cuts away at my old stitches and I suddenly grow very nautious at the strange sensation. Suddenly, Soda comes into the room. "Soda, you shouldn't watch this." I say, doing my best to keep the nervousness out of my voice. "Shh, don't you worry about me, baby." I found it weird thag both soda n Darry called me baby or honey when i was hurt or sick. Soda said quietly before he sits in a chair next to the bed. Soda reaches out and grabs my trembling hand. "Everything will be alright." He says reassuringly and I squeeze his hand tightly. "You're lucky this hadn't started healing yet or this situation could've been a lot worse. I'm almost done closing everything up now." Dr. Harvey says. Soda squeezes my hand back to keep me calm and then, a few minutes later, it was all over. "Alright, I'm all done! We just have to wait for your brother. You did a great job." Dr. Harvey says, putting gauze over everything and taping it down. He gives Darry the needle and told him to sterilize it before he returns it to him. the other things like the old stiches, all of the gauze he used to mop up the blood, and his gloves he put in a small plastic bag before he throws it all in the trash. "You wouldn't believe how many stab wound cases I've seen while working at the hospital. They've been short staffed recently. Now, I hope you don't mind but I'm just going to wash my hands." He says, slipping out of the room. Soda stands up from the chair and lays down on the bed next to me. In a silent gesture of comfort, he puts his arm under me so that I can put my head on his shoulder. "You can go to sleep now, I've got you." He whispers.
"Thanks, Soda." I say quietly and I realize just how grateful I am to have him back. I close my eyes and am about to fall asleep when I hear Darry run up the stairs. "Dr. Harvey !" Darry calls. I listen in on his conversation with the doctor. "Thank you so much." Darry says. "Anytime, you know that. Just make sure to give him one of these pills twice a day so nothing gets infected." "Alright, thanks again."
"Wait. Darry, have you ever thought of a boys' home for Ponyboy? I really think you should consider what's best for him here i mean if the state were to find out about this. You wouldn't have a choice." Dr. Harvey said softly and I feel my stomach drop.