Darry followed aside Cathleen down the seemingly empty, sterile smelling hallways. Personally he hated the smell and his enhanced sense of smell from pregnancy wasn't helping him much. The time it took to get in front of Dally's room was agonizingly slow, each step seemed to take a year each. Darry could feel himself getting more and more anxious by the second. His thoughts swam through his mind but he managed to keep them under control. He had to stay together, he was still the foundation of it all. If he fell then everything would follow, crashing down into a million pieces.
This hospital was small compared to others in Oklahoma City and such. It only had 5 floors, not including the basement which was for storage. The first floor was for the E.R where most doctors would see Greasers and Socs alike waiting to get patched up after a rumble or fight or in other cases, someone like Johnny and his home life.
The second floor had the operating rooms and was mostly for minor cases or smaller injuries like if someone had gotten jumped and didn't need to be checked up on all of the time but still needed time to recover or even minor surgeries and such.
The third floor was for pregnant women in labor or recovering and the babies, that floor and the fourth floor were the 2 happiest floors of them all. The fourth floor was the pediatrics ward, ranging in different severities and conditions of children varying in ages.
But the top floor, or the fifth floor was the one Darry knew Dally would be on. The fifth floor was the ICU or Intensive Care Unti, ranging from the most severe jumping someone experienced to the worst state an infant would be in and even to near death patients. It was where people went for around the clock care, where most heartbreak was felt and where the most tears were shed, yet it also was a place where someone gained all of the hope and joy in the world and shed the most tears.
The 2 went into an elevator as Cathleen pressed the button for the fifth floor, she stood beside Darry as the elevator doors closed and the machine began to lift them up towards the fifth floor. Darry turned his head and looked down at Cathleen.
"How bad is he?" His voice was calm, but there was still the slight tone of worry and desperation laced within it. Cathleen looked up at Darry but averted her gaze to the floor, staring at her white nurse's shoes.
"Do you want the truth or do you want me to tell a little white lie?" She looked up at the boy, silently praying she could tell him the lie. She didn't know how she would take it, talking about it and all. She was even more unsure about how the boy would take it when he heard.
"Truth." Darry said, he didn't want to sound intimidating near her or seem scary in this moment but it came off as desperate rather than demanding. He heard her sigh before she answered to Darry's not so demanding demand.
"The first 24 hours are crucial. He lost a lot of blood and he'll be tired until he gets most of it back. He's most likely going to be in pain for a portion of his stay and from the other times I've put up with him he won't like that. He'll be in here for a long time with his femur still shattered. After the femur is realigned he'll need physical therapy to get full use of his leg back. We aren't sure how long the road will be but I know for a fact it's going to be Hell. Like I said before, all we can do is hope and pray." Her voice wavered. Cathleen knew it wasn't everyday a nurse got emotional when they treated a patient but she knew the whole situation the couple was in.
She knew Dally's past and everything he had to see and deal with when he was younger. She was the person talking to Dally in the E.R to keep him distracted so staff could treat him when he first arrived. She even knew that Dally had suspicions that Darry was pregnant again and she agreed he had a right to think that. It made sense from what she was told at the time, and from the sounds of it they were going to be a large family in the long run. It was a hunch most women would get.
She looked up at the top of the elevator and blinked away the tears she knew would try and fall. She hated getting emotional doing her job, it always made people worry every more than they were already. It wasn't everyday she would tear up or cry when she was alone in a room, but some cases were just so sad, so heartbreaking but heartwarming at the same time it was hard to not bawl instantaneously.
"I get why you're upset.....this is one of the many times we've been in this hospital." He started. "It all started when my little brother's friend almost died after saving some kids in a burning church, that's when Dally lost it and spent some time in here for a few GSW's after he robbed a store." The memories quickly returned but soon filtered out as more came after.
"Then a little while later it was because I had an accident at work and told everyone we were together and having the twins. The ultrasounds we went to. When I had the twins and Daisy was in the NICU because of her heart.....and now it's this." Darry finished, resting a supporting hand on Cathleen's shoulder.
He knew this place was depressing and she looked like she could use some comfort. She didn't look too far from Darry's age. Cathleen wiped the few tears on her cheeks away and looked up to stop them from streaming down. By then the elevator was on the fourth floor and rising. The elevator jolted to a stop and opened its doors, revealing the busy hallways of the ICU.
The duo stepped out into the hallway and began walking. As they walked Cathleen said the room numbers in her head.
'523..525..527..529, bingo.' She stopped in front of the door and rested her hand on the cold, metal handle. She looked up at the boy and silently pleaded the water works wouldn't start up again.
"Brace yourself. He's going to be pale, bruised, and scraped up. He still has a tube in his throat so he can breathe. The doctors want him under sedation until tomorrow morning so he can begin the healing process peacefully." She explained, studying the blank but shocked expression on Darry's face.
The boy took in a quivering breath as his eyes flooded with tears he knew he couldn't stop. Cathleen slowly opened the wooden door and allowed Darry to walk in first. She watched as he made his way through the room and stood beside the bed his lover laid on.
"I'll go ahead and leave you alone with him." She said. Darry heard the door softly shut as he continued to stare at Dally's bruised and battered body. He lifted his hand and brushed Dally's matted blonde locks out of his eyes. Darry didn't bother to wipe away the tears as they fell, this was the time where he said Greasers can cry. He didn't care about being tough or tuff nor did he care about how he was supposed to stay strong. He's been strong for so long he needed to let it all out.
Just once...just this once...
YOU ARE READING
Love Who You Love
Fanfiction" It was an average day in Tulsa. The dogs barking, cars passing by old and weathered or new and expensive houses. An occasional person would walk down the sidewalk in clothing determining their social status. Just any other day to a normal per...
