Helpless

Abnormaties

Soda POV:

"We're running a few more tests," the doctor told an anxious Darry, Two-Bit and I.

"What do you mean, a few more tests? What for?" I asked, louder than I needed to. I wasn't taking this well. Pony had just gotten better, we'd just started to move on, why is this happening now? Why does EVERYTHING have to happen to him? He's just a kid still; I forget that sometimes. We all do.

"Because there are some things that concern me," the doctor said coolly.

"What sort of things?" Darry asked. He was trying to stay calm, to act like the adult and keep Two-bit and I grounded. He wasn't doing a good job.

"Let me worry about them for now."

"Hey, no," Two-Bit jumped in, "he's their concern, and if something concerns you they have more of a right to know than you have to test him."

The doctor frowned. "I am concerned with the x-rays of his lungs. I don't think you should worry yourselves with anything more than that until we run the tests."

"But what exactly are you looking for?" I asked, exasperated. I didn't like knowing that my little brother was back there, that we couldn't see him: we didn't even know what was going on.

"Abnormalities," was all the doctor said before he headed off.

"That sonofa..." Two-Bit started.

"No," Darry said suddenly. "He's right. No need to worry us when nothing might be wrong."

"But what's with his lungs? And why can't we at least see him?" I snapped, beginning to pace. I hate this I hate this I hate this.

I thought of the ride to the hospital the day my parents were killed. I'd called Darry from inside the police car, Pony silent and pale beside me. I'd felt helpless. And that's what I was then: helpless.

Two-Bit plopped down on one of the benches in waiting room and hung his head. Darry just sighed and went back to filling out a huge pile of forms. I paced.

"Wish I hadn't made him run," Two-Bit finally mumbled, and it hit me what was wrong: he was blaming himself.

I sat beside him and touched his shoulder. "This ain't your fault," I said softly. "Whatever happened, it wasn't your fault."

"It's like the night Dal and Johnny died," he mumbled. "I knew he'd been running a fever..."

I wasn't used to seeing Two-Bit this serious; suddenly, I felt a lot more nervous than I had before. It was as if reality set in for the first time: my brother was sick again. Maybe really sick.

We're looking . The word made me nauseous. Because it meant Pony might be sick. Inside sick. The kind of sick that could be deadly...

"You can see him now," the doctor interrupted my thoughts.