Helpless

Call

Darry POV:

"Darrel!" my friend Memphis yelled from the ground below. I wiped sweat off my forehead and peered down at him.

"What?"

"You've gotta phone call," he gestured to the phone in the front of his truck.

"Can it wait?" I shouted, exasperated, dropping my hammer on top of a pile of roofing.

"'Think you'd better take it," he called after listening for a moment. "Something about your brother."

"Which one?"

"The horse."

"Very funny," I snapped, making my way down the ladder. Memphis laughed, then suddenly stopped, listening intently. He was somber by the time I reached him. I felt my heart jump.

"What's wrong?" I demanded. Memphis bit his lip and held out the receiver without a word. "Hello?" I said, a little louder than necessary.

"Darry?"

"Yeah."

"It's Two-Bit. I'm at the hospital with Ponyboy. Don't freak out."

"Hospital? Why? What the hell happened?"

"I don't know. Look, we were in gym and he just...he sorta passed out. Don't freak..." "What the hell do you mean, 'sorta passed out?'"

"I don't know, okay! We had to run in gym, and he started coughing and...I don't know, I ain't a doctor. But the nurse came and Coach had someone call a paramedic and they brought him here."

I closed my eyes. The sun suddenly seemed brighter. My heart pounded in my chest: I remembered Soda's phone call, his voice shaking, informing me that he was in a police car on his way to the hospital.

"Something's happened with Mom and Dad," he'd told me, "but no one will tell me anything."

"...be here," Two-Bit said.

"Huh?" I snapped back to reality.

"You oughta be here, Dar."

"All right, all right. Just stay with him, okay? I'm on my way." I slammed down Memphis' car phone only to scoop it back up to dial Soda's work.

"I've gotta get out of here," I mumbled to my co-worker as the phone rang at the DX. "Do you mind? Can you cover for me?"

"It's not a problem. Is Ponyboy okay?"

"I don't know," I said at the same time Steve answered with a 'hello?"

"Steve, put Soda on."

"Darry?"

"Yeah. Put him on."

"He's with a customer."

"Cover for him."

"But."

"Pony's in the hospital."

"Glory, you shoulda said so!" Steve put me on hold. I tried to take a deep breath; now was not a good time to go to pieces, not before I knew what was even going on. It's just that Pony didn't deserve this, not after what he'd just been through. This is probably just some leftovers from last time he was sick, I thought, he's still tired, that's all.

"Dar?" Soda's fearful voice came on.

"Yeah. Listen, I'm on my way to the hospital. I'm going to pick you up, okay?"

"What's going on? Is Pony all right?"

"I don't know."

"Don't know? What do you mean? What happened?"

"Soda, I don't know, okay? I'll tell you what Two-Bit told me when I pick you up."

Soda drew a deep breath before telling me to hurry up. I ended the call and bolted for my truck without another word to my co-workers, hoping that this was as simple as I was trying to convince myself it was.