Simply a Greaser

Chapter 13

I sat in the cold hospital for what felt like hours until a cop walked in. The walked up to the receptionist's desk and they spoke in low voices until the receptionist pointed at me.

The cop was an older man but was still in good shape. He had short hair and bright blue eyes with a long scar ran down his face from his left eye to his chin.

He walked up to me and sat across from me in another one of those flimsy hospital chairs, and pulled out a notepad and pen. He sighed and said,  "Officer Charles Brook." He extended his hand.

I swallowed my nerves and replied, "Ava Winston." I shook his hand quickly and leaned back into my seat, crossing my arms. I was nervous. Cops were never good news and most of them hated us, greasers.

"Winston, huh?"

"Yeah, like Dallas," I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

"Well, Ms. Winston-"

"Call me Ava," I asked. I hated hearing my last name. "Please."

"Okay, Ava. I just have a few questions, and don't worry- you are in no trouble of any kind. Understand?"

I nodded, feeling some of my nerves dissipate. I didn't know why, but I trusted Officer Brook.

He got all the information he could from me, then thanked me and went into the kid's room, telling me to stay. I was sure that he just wanted to try and validate my story as best as he could with the kid, and I'd also told him I wanted to make sure she was okay. I wanted to know that someone was going to come to get this kid and not just leave her here like my dad probably would've done.

He came out about a half-hour later and sat across from me again.

"Is she okay?" I asked quickly, tapping my foot on the ground.

Officer Brook nodded and I thought I saw a small smile on his face. "Just some stitches. Mostly scared her, I think. She fell on a piece of broken glass from a pop bottle."

"Thank god. I was just walkin' along and I heard screamin'... well, I told you all of that, I guess."

"She wants to see you."

"What?" I could practically feel my jaw hit the floor. "See me?"

He nodded, then chuckled to himself. "She said, and I quote, 'I want to see the really fast girl who ran to the hospital with me. My brother told me to not ever miss an opportunity to talk to a girl so I'm not gonna.'" He stood up and motioned for me to do the same.

I followed him to the room and he let me in first. The girl was a cute kid, with striking gray eyes, lots of freckles, and rust-colored hair.

Officer Brook didn't go inside the room, but I harbored the suspicion that he was standing outside of it, listening in on our conversation.

I sat down in a chair next to her hospital bed.

"Hi!" she squealed, smiling at me.

"Hi!"

"What's your names?"

"Ava, what's y-"

"No, I said names. Tell me all your names."

I blinked, shocked at the kid's nerve, then fought off a smile. "Ava Rose Winston."

"Do you got any funny names?" She was practically bouncing on the bed.

"Funny names? What's a funny name?"

"Like my brother's name," she explained like it was the simplest thing in the world. "His real name is Keith, but his friends call him Two-Bit! Do you got a funny name?"

"Two-Bit is your brother?" I asked weakly, almost falling out of the chair in surprise.

"Yes! And he's the best big brother in the whole United States! That's where we live, ya know."

"I don't have any funny names, but who else do you know with funny names?"

"I know Dally, and Soda, and Pony, and Darry, and Johnnycake!"

"Do you know Steve, too?" I didn't know why I even asked, but it seemed like a good question at the time.

"Yeah!" She started giggling as she whispered, "He's stupid."

I had to hold back laughter at that comment. "Well, I know all of them too."

She gasped. "You do? Are you the Ava my brother told me about?"

I nodded. I knew I shouldn't ask, but I did anyway. "What's he say about me?"

The kid looked around like there might be spies in the hospital room, then said, "He says you're pretty and that if it wasn't for Dally he would've asked you out by now."

I felt my cheeks turn red. "Oh."

Stupid fucking Dallas.

"Do you wanna hear something he told me?"

I nodded.

"He says that when you see a hot girl, never miss an opportunity to talk to them. I thought you might be hot from all that running you did, so I wanted to talk to you."

I laughed aloud at that, and me and the kid, whose name turned to be Katie, talked for an hour or so.

Eventually, none other than Two-Bit came running into the room and almost barreled into me.

"Katie!" He picked his kid sister up into a bear hug and she started giggling hysterically. "Thank god you're okay!"

I stood up, ready to leave and give them a moment to themselves, but Katie saw me leaving and screamed, "Don't gooo!"

I stopped in my tracks and turned back towards them.

Two-Bit gently put Katie down, then to my surprise, rushed over to me and enveloped me in a hug.

When he let go of me, I thought I saw tears in his eyes.

"Thank you."

I shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I mean, I couldn't just leave a kid cryin' on the ground."

He nodded, wiped his eyes, then almost smiled. "I'm just glad that she's alright," he admitted in a low voice. "I was at the park with the gang, and some cops came... almost ran, but then they said somethin' about Katie bein' at the hospital. They said they couldn't get ahold of Mom or me. Those cops weren't even lookin' for me- just were patrollin' when they saw me. I ran all the way here." He stopped blabbing for a second, then laughed. "I talk a lot when I'm nervous."

I nodded, then said, "I get it."

"I guess you wanna go. How long have you been here?"

"Not long," I lied. I didn't want to complain about the time spent at the hospital. "I'll leave if Katie wants me to."

He nodded and thanked me again. Turning back to Katie, he asked, "What trouble did you get yourself into this time?"

She looked suddenly afraid again.

"You know how you told me cops are mean?"

Two-Bit shrugged and nodded.

"Well, I might've fibbed to the cop."

"About what?" Two-Bit asked quietly. I closed the door behind us quickly.

"About how I got hurt."