"No offense, Dallas, but I'm not into moody assholes," I fired at him with a smug smirk.
"Yeah, you're not my type either, Diana," he shot back. "Crazy, uptight chics are kind of a turnoff." I narrowed my eyes at him and growled angrily.
...
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As the three of us neared Dally's room, we could hear him scolding the nurse, a daily occurrence now that he was stuck in the hospital. "Get out. Just get out," he told her. Two-Bit, Ponyboy, and I walked past her as she was leaving the room. "You make my stomach sick."
I mouthed an apology to the nurse, who was genuinely trying to help and do her job. I walked over to his side and kissed him quickly on the lips before giving him a look. "That's probably just your conscience telling you to stop terrorizing that poor nurse," I remarked. Dallas laughed at my comment but said nothing else.
"How are you doing?" Two-Bit asked. His mood had been dampened by the reality of Johnny's chances of survival and his drunk mother who yelled at him.
"Hey, how you doing, man?" Dally replied. He seemed to be in a better mood today.
"Swiped you a gift," Two-Bit said. He pulled a random item out of his pocket and tossed it to Dally. I was impressed by Two-Bit's skills. I didn't even notice when we were in the gift shop.
"It's good to see you guys," Dallas said. "This place gives me the creeps." I chuckled softly, relating to that all too well. "I want out."
"We could probably get you out early," I said optimistically. I left the hospital a week before I was supposed to, so I didn't see why it would be a problem. Dally nodded hopefully.
"Tim Shepard dropped by," Dallas said. "Saw my picture in the paper and couldn't believe it didn't have 'wanted dead or alive' written underneath it." I was surprised that my picture didn't have anything about being wanted by the NYPD under it. I still had a bit of time left but not much. "He started rubbing it in about the rumble, man. I hate missing it." Dallas wasn't one to miss a rumble, so I doubt he wasn't going to show up. "How is he? How's Johnny doing?"
The three of us glanced between each other, trying to decide who was going to break the news to Dally. "He says he's fine," I said softly. "But he's not lookin' to good."
"He passed out cold before we left," Two-Bit said. Dallas shook his head in disbelief, but he knew that truth.
"We gotta win that fight tonight," Dallas stated. "We gotta get even with those socs." A fire ignited in his eyes as he spoke. His hatred towards the socs only grew stronger after he attack they made. If it weren't for them or this feud, Johnny wouldn't even be in the hospital now.
Dallas gave each of us one last look before saying, "Let's do it for Johnny, man.. We'll do it for Johnny."
»»——⍟——««
After we said goodbye to Dally—and I gave him a quick kiss—Two-Bit, Pony and I left the hospital for the day. It had been a long and stressful visit that none of us really enjoyed. I could tell that the severity of Johnny's injuries was getting to Ponyboy badly. As we all waited for the bus to pick us up at the corner stop, Ponyboy was quieter than usual. Two-Bit and I watched him with caution.
