𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 , 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

seventeen.

DALLAS WINSTON

i groan as i'm stirred out of my sleep by the sound of the phone ringing. the clock on my nightstand reads 12:12.

"hello?" i sit up, throwing my legs over the edge of my bed. i rub my eyes so they adjust to the darkness in my room quicker.

"dally?"

"madeline?" my voice scratches at my throat.

"dally, i'm at the hospital with johnny. he was shot, and darry isn't picking up—"

i'm fully awake now.

"what do you mean he was shot? are you okay?" i ask, standing up from my bed and reaching for a shirt.

"yeah, i'm fine, but johnny's in surgery."

"i'm comin' right now."

"darry won't pick up, i've called the house three times."

"he's probably asleep. i'll be down there in fifteen minutes. give me fifteen minutes, mad, okay?"

"okay."

i slam the phone back onto it's dock; the metal vibrates from the force of it being hung up. my feet thud against the wooden stairs as i run down to the first level.

"buck, can i take your car?" i raise my voice over the soft music he and his few friends are chatting over.

he nods, tossing me the keys.

•

MADELINE WINSTON

my wandering eyes land on a familiar face for the first time since arriving here—dallas.

i stand up from my chair in the waiting room and run to him, throwing my arms around his torso for a hug. it takes him a second to respond, but he finally does, wrapping his arms around me too.

"hey." he whispers.

"thanks for coming."

"thanks for calling." he says, pulling away to look at me. "you ever get in touch with darry?"

i nod my head, "yeah, they're all on their way now."

"good ... good." he mumbles, eyes darting all around the busy hospital waiting room. "how'd you get here?"

"one of the guys drove us here. he was friends with the one who shot johnny."

"he still here?"

"no," i shake my head. "he just dropped us off outside the emergency department and left."

dallas nods his head, "come on."

i follow him to two empty seats along the far side of the room.

"why don't you get some sleep?"

i immediately shake my head.

"get some sleep." he says again. "i'll wake you up when the others get here."

•

the repetitive hospital sounds slowly fill my ears louder the sounds of my dreams. upon opening my eyes, i realize dallas is no longer sitting next to me, but is standing in a quiet corner of the room with the rest of the boys.

i make my way over to them, shoving my cold hands into my coat pockets, "you said you'd wake me up."

dally pauses mid sentence to look at me, "hey, sorry. they just got here. i wanted to let them know johnny's still in surgery."

"madeline!" pony engulfs me in a hug.

"hey, pony." i smile.

"hey, kid." darry's soft eyes land on mine. "you okay?"

"yeah. i'm sorry about your car. it's still parked downtown."

"don't worry about the car." he shakes his head. "we'll pick it up tomorrow, no worries."

"here, mad, why don't you go get somethin' to eat from the vending machines? you must be starving." dallas digs into his pocket, pulling out a few coins.

i take the money and head off down the hall, further away from the waiting room. the vending machines stand near the exit doors where a cold draft from outside can be felt.

i stick the change into the snack machine and press the button for a pack of crackers. it rumbles, the snack i chose moving to the dispenser at the bottom.

a hand brushes my shoulder as i grab my snack out of the machine.

"sorry." soda smiles the second i gasp, startled by him behind me. "didn't mean to scare you. i wanted to check up on you, how you doin'?"

"okay." i nod. "i'm worried about johnny. it was a lot of blood, soda. so much blood. i scrubbed my hands in the bathroom once they took him off for surgery, but—" i look down at my hands where you can still find traces of johnny's blood.

"mad," soda frowns, stepping forward to embrace me. his jacket holds the cold air from outside, but i can tell under all the layers he's wearing, his body is warm. "i'm glad you're okay."

"i'm glad you finally picked up the phone." i smile, breaking away from the hug.

"yeah," he chuckles. "darry's a heavy sleeper. so is pony when he's tired enough."

my gaze slowly travels down the hall, back to the waiting room where our brothers stand.

"dally said we're callin' a rumble." soda fills me in, looking at them as well.

"against the socs?"

"yeah. we'll get shepherd's gang in and then the numbers will be even."

"when's this happening?" i ask.

he shrugs his shoulders, "soon, i bet." he gives me a look at the sigh i just gave.

"another fight." i mumble.

"yeah, i know." he places his hand on my back. "c'mon."