The Outsiders: Nothing Left

Chapter 16

Ponyboy's POV

    I could hear soft voices in the distance and somebody was calling my name. I could faintly recognize the voice but my head was too foggy to place it to one specific face. I tried to focus on the voices around me in order to stay awake but it was becoming increasingly more difficult by the second. After what felt like an eternity, I finally had enough energy to slowly open my eyes. The ceiling in the room that I was in was white with bright lights. In fact, the entire room appeared to look that way and the room reeked of disinfectant. It was obvious that I was in a hospital. My vision was slightly blurred but I could make out a person looking down at me. "Pony?" I heard somebody say quietly. Sodapop? Was that him? I blinked my eyes a few times in attempt to clear my eyesight and fortunately, I was successful in my actions. As I had thought, I saw that it was Sodapop who was speaking to me earlier. His eyes gave mixed emotions of relief, sadness, joy, and there were tears down his face.

    "Sodapop?" I asked quietly. My voice was so hoarse and my throat was incredibly dry.

    "Yeah honey, it's me," He replied in a gentle tone. He cupped a hand around my cheek and let out a light and comforting laugh. Seeing his face again made me wonder how I could ever even consider wanting to leave him. Then, I remembered somebody else that I almost left behind.

     "Where's Darry?" I asked quietly. Almost immediately after I had asked the question, Darry appeared from behind Soda with a sad smile on his face.

    "I'm right here honey," he said in a gentle tone that was used so rarely by him. I gave him a small smile.

     Seeing the two of them standing there, looking down at me with pained eyes, triggered something inside of me and I lost it. "Darry, I'm so so sorry. I was so stupid! I know now that I didn't kill them. I'm so so sorry. I should have never have done this. I-Im so-,"

    "Shh Ponyboy, it's alright. We understand. It's been hard for you ever since Johnny and Dal died. You've just been through a hard time and nobody is blaming you for what happened. We just hate to see you this sad and hurt. But no matter what we will always love you," Darry cooed. I didn't feel like I could respond to him without continuosly apologizing so I just nodded. I looked around and saw Steve and Two-Bit outside of the room, glancing in every once and awhile.

    "When did they get here?" I asked gesturing to the two of them.

    "Steve helped me bring you here and has been here ever since. Two-Bit just got here this morning," Soda responded.

    "How long have I been here?"

    "We brought you here last night," Soda said sadly. I understand why he sounded down about it of course. It's hard to talk about.

    "When can I go home?" I questioned. I really wanted to leave. I've never been a fan of hospitals. Then again, I don't think anyone really is.

    "Well, the doctor is going to have to evaluate you just to make sure that you're okay to have less supervision. But if he says that you're good, then you can probably go home today," Darry said with a bit of enthusiasm in attempts to not upset me. It's not the ideal situation but at least i'm not 100% stuck here in this high tech prison.

Luckily, after my doctor evaluated me, he decided that I was stable enough to go home. He also told me that apparently I was technically dead for over a minute which totally shocked me. I always thought that you would feel something if you died in your sleep but I didn't even notice. Or maybe seeing Dally and Johnny was an effect from my heart stopping. I'll probably never know for sure so I guess that it's best to not dwell on it.

The car ride home was silent but not awkward. I think that we didn't need to speak because we were all just happy to be with each other. We just liked being together. It gave me a sense of normality and it gave me a feeling that eventually, everything would be alright.

The next few weeks were full of emotions. All I wanted to do was go back to my normal self and move on. It wasn't easy and there will always be hard days. I'll always miss Jonny and Dally but I know that they want me to go on. I have my friends and my brothers and that is all I need. I'm going to finish school and do something with my life and I'll be damned if somebody tries to stop me from being happy. I've learned to ignore what the Socs say. I'm going to be known for more than just a greaser. I vowed to never let myself sink so low. I almost had nothing left. But never, ever again. That's a promise.

THE END

(Please see next chapter for an A/N and an important announcement!)