"Dani." I said grabbing her face. I set my fingers in the side of her through under her jaw and waited for a pulse.
I laid her down and started doing CPR. I could hear Opal crying and screaming as Sodapop held her in his arms trying to calm her down. "Come on Dani!" I yelled while compressing her chest. I blew two breaths into her mouth and then leaned close to listen for a heart beat.
"No!!" Opal screamed over and over. I kept pressing her chest. 15. I thought to myself.
"Come on!" I yelled. Two-bit was calling 911 in the background. "I'm not letting you die! Come on Dani please! I screamed through the tears commanding my friend to give life one last try. "I'm not leaving you Dani! Wake up Damn it!" I pounded her chest one time hard and with that she coughed.
"Dani can you hear me?" I asked impatiently. "Dani?"
"I ain't leaving." She replied with her eyes closed.
Opal grabbed her quickly and wrapped her arms around her. Opal was bawling as Dani cling to her best friend.
"Dani, what happened?" I asked still unsure of the whole thing.
"I was drunk and I was walking home and this guy attacked me. Started choking me and that's the last thing I remember." She answered in a softer tone than I was use to her using.
I looked at Dani's arms and chest and they had bruises converting them. I lifted her chin slightly and saw the bruises around her neck. I glanced down at her legs, they were destroyed.
"Dani.." Opal started.
"Yeah." She answered the question we both wanted to know but didn't know how to ask.
I saw a tear slip down her cheek. "Yeah he did.." her voice cracked and Dani began to cry. I never thought I'd see the day that Danielle Jane cried. She cried into Opal's shoulder. And we cried with her, even the boys. The thought of our friend being attacked and raped was unthinkable. None of us, not a single one of us were the kind of kids to cry much. But in that moment we all did. In that moment, the unbreakable broke.
A few hours later, Dani was asleep on our couch with her head in Ponyboy's lap. We had treated her wounds and finally calmed her down. Opal wouldn't take her eyes of her. Opal and Ponyboy stayed close. Pony and Dani were friends in middle school before Dani dropped out. She always had a soft spot for Pony, and it looked like Pony had one for her too.
"Take her to my room." I commanded my little brother and he listened. Opal following behind him, not ready to leave her side yet. They all three stayed in my room for sometime.
Two-bit left shortly after Steve did. Johnny left to get more medicine and bandages we had run out when we were fixing Dani. I sat on the couch next to Soda, my head on his shoulder. I hadn't spoken much. Still upset about everything that had happened. I wanted nothing more than to find this guy. I wanted to kill him. To rip his head off.
I stood up quickly and ran to the door, Dallas grabbed me and I tried to push him away. "Get off of me!" I yelled.
"Kathleen stop." He ordered in a calm and low voice.
"No! I want him dead! I want him dead for what he did!" I screamed fighting Dally away. His grip didn't loosen. I started pounding his chest with my fists.
"Why!" I bawled. "Why!" I cried loudly and stopped fighting and just fell to the floor. Dallas caught me and sat on the living room floor with me in his arms. I just cried into his chest. He held me as tight as he could. Soda stood there not knowing what to do. Darry walked over and Dally passed me to him. He picked me up and carried me to my room. Ponyboy and Darry left, leaving me and the girls to cry. When we finished again. We all fell asleep together holding each other for dear life. And never once thinking about letting go.
