ANNALISE | Dallas Winston

two

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the doctors had me sit in the waiting room. they had to bandage him up, get scans, etc. i don't know how long i was waiting, i had fallen asleep.

that was until my brothers walked in.
"hey, kid. how you holding up?" darry asked while sitting down next to me. soda and pony had gone up to ask if dal was stable enough to have visitors yet.

"i'm alright, just been waitin. what time is it?" i say while leaning up, rubbing my tired eyes.

"nearly 1am" he replies, putting his arm around me, letting me lean on his shoulder.

ponyboy and sodapop come to sit next to us. they say that they'll let us know when dallas wakes.

we sit in silence as we wait for the rest of the boys to get here.

i look over to pony who seems like he's in deep thought.  of course, i don't expect much else. tonight was full of horrible events.

i take his hand in mine and squeeze. he looks up at me and i give him a small smile, letting him know it's okay to be sad.

johnny was a good friend of mine, too. he was always there to talk, he was a real good listener. a kind soul, someone that should have never had this happen to.

he was just a boy.

i don't think it's hit me quite yet. when it does, i'll probably get real distant like i did when mom and dad died.

i guess i just like to cope alone, i'm not good at talking about how i feel, and having the space to let everything sink in by myself is nice.

steve and two-bit walk in, and darrel instantly stands up, motioning them over. he tells them that dallas hasn't awoken yet, but we can go in once he has.

i'm getting real tired of sitting here.

"hey, can i have some money for the vending machine?" i ask darry. he nods and gives me a dollar.

i walk down the hall to the machine, but then i see dallas' room with the door open.

i slowly walk in, being as quiet as i can. i sit on the chair next to his hospital bed. i look down at him, his bandaged up body.

he looks so peaceful while he sleeps, but i'm sure he's in excruciating pain.
i start humming one of the songs i hear play at the bar quite a bit. it's called kiss from a rose by seal.

my leg bounces as i wait for dallas to wake up as patiently as i can.

within a few minutes, he groans. my eyes widen and i grab his hand.

"dallas?" i say quietly, not wanting to bother him too much. he groans again, and begins opening his eyes.

he blinks a few times and then squints when looking at me.

he tries to sit up, but pain shoots through his body. "shit!" he yelps.

"hey, hey, relax. you're safe now..i'm gonna get a doctor" i say as i get up. he grabs my hand, forcing me to get pulled back a bit.

he stares at me for a moment but doesn't say anything then let's me go. with a puzzled look on my face, i walk out.

i tell one of the women at the desk that he's awake. i then walk over to the boys and tell them as well.

we all walk over to his room and wait outside the door, watching the nurse check up on him.

being dallas, he gives snarky remarks. "get out of my face" he shouts as the nurse walks past us.

we all chuckle except for pony and darry. darry walks in first, the rest of us behind.

"what the hell were you thinking getting yourself into that kind of trouble?" he says sternly.

dallas doesn't reply, he just rolls his eyes.

"you sure look like a fool right now. all beat up and for what? you don't just stop livin cause you lose somebody."

"cut it out, dare" i pipe up, pushing him to the side. "he nearly died, he doesn't need no lecture right now."

"i don't need my kid sister telling me what to do, you hear me?" he says with his finger in my face and then storms out of the room.

everyone stands around dal real awkward, not knowing what to say. dal is still pretty out of it, and is on a lot of pain meds too.

i make my way back over to the chair next to his bed. i fold my arms on his bed and put my head down.

"what's up, kid?" i hear him ask. thinking he was talking to me, i bring my head back up.

when i realize he wasn't, i look around the room and see pony trying real hard not to cry.

"i.." his voice shakes "i thought i was gonna lose you, too. i don't think i would've been able to handle that."

soda wraps his arms around pony, pulling him into his chest. pony starts sobbing, letting everything come out.

soda brings him out of the room so that he's not uncomfortable crying in front of all of us.

steve and two are just starin at him, trying to figure out what to say.

"what'd you do to get you into this?" steve asks.

"robbed a store" dal replies with a hoarse voice.

he nods and walks out of the room, two-bit following behind him.

"tough crowd" dal says, looking over at me.

i smile and laugh a little. he sure is humorous after what just happened.

i bite my lips and look into his dark brown eyes for a moment.

"do you want to talk? about what's happened?" i ask.

"i got myself shot, that's it. i'm aware i'm a real idiot" he replies.

"dallas..i know you and johnny were real close..i just wanna-"

"damnit curtis, i said that's it! nothing else to talk about" he shouts as much as he can.

i jump, not expecting that. i get up and shove my hands in my pockets, looking down.

"sorry" i say quietly and walk out.

i know he's hurting real bad, physically and mentally. losing the only person he's ever had a strong connection to can't be good. i feel horrible for him.

the doctor goes in when they saw i came out. soda comes over to me, saying that it's time to go home.

we all gotta get some shuteye, that is if we're able to.