From Weakness to Strength

The Domino Effect

Once they got to the hospital, Dally and Darla helped Ponyboy out of the car as the cop left. They got to the lobby as quickly as they can and rushed to the elevator. Once they got to the floor Dally was on, they walked into the hallway and continued to walk, Dallas and Darla still supporting Ponyboy. 
Once they got just out of Johnny's room, they were stopped by a doctor. 
"I'm sorry kids, but he's dying."
Darla froze as her heart started to ache. 
"You're lying," Darla said, her voice shaky. 
"I'm not, miss. He's gotten worse throughout the day.
"We gotta see him, man," Dally said, and flicked out Two-Bit's switchblade. His voice was shaking. "We're gonna see him and if you give me any static you'll end up on your own operatin' table."
The doctor didn't even bat an eye. "You can see him, but it's because you're his friends, not because of that knife."
Dally looked at him for a second, then put the knife back into his pocket.

The three teens entered Johnny's room. His position was changed and he was now laying on his back. What the hell were did they do to him? Darla asked herself. 
"Hey Johnny," said Dallas, approaching Johnny's bedside. "We beat the Socs. We chased 'em right out of our neighborhood."
"It's useless." Johnny said in a voice below a whisper. Darla approached his bedside opposite of the one Dallas was on. She was completely heartbroken. She didn't know what to do or say. She was speechless. 
"Fightin' ain't no good," Johnny said. His eyes were struggling to open. Darla wished she could see his eyes. Just one last time. 
"No. They're still writing editorials in the papers, you know about you being a hero," said Dallas. "We're all proud of you, buddy. It's gonna be alright."
"Ponyboy...Darla..." Johnny's voice rasped. Ponyboy went to Johnny's side next to Darla. 
"S-stay gold, Ponyboy. S-stay gold, Darla...I love you..."
One last breath and Johnny's head sunk into the pillow. Ponyboy and Darla started to cry. Darla collapsed to the floor, covering her mouth to muffle her soft sobs. 
"Johnny, come on," said Dallas, trying to shake Johnny awake. "So, this is what you get, huh. This is what you get for helping people. You punk," Dallas's voice broke. Darla did a whimpering sob. "Come on, Johnny. Don't die," Dallas cried. Come on, Johnny. Don't die on me now...please," Dallas started to sob. He then stood up and punched the wall. "Bastards!" he yelled.  Dallas took one last look at Johnny before leaving the room.
"It should've been me..." Darla sobbed. "I should've saved him!" she screamed. 
"Don't say things like that, Darla. What's done is done. I'll go get the nurse," Ponyboy said before leaving the room, leaving Darla alone with Johnny. 
"Johnny..." Darla sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I never should have gotten you in this mess. I should have died...not you. I never even got to chance to say...I love you too."
Then, without hesitation, Darla stood up and kissed Johnny's cold lips. She released a sob as she let his lips go. 
Just then, a couple of nurses and the doctor came in. 
"No..." Darla said, getting up. 
"Ms. It'll be alright?" said one of the nurses.
"Does this look alright?" Darla asked, enraged. "IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL ALRIGHT?" Darla raised her voice. 
"Come on, kid. He's gone," the doctor said, approaching Darla. 
"-No! No! I won't leave him!" Darla screamed, gripping the handles of Johnny's stretcher. 
"You leave me no choice!" the doctor said. Just then, the two nurses grabbed and tried to pull her away. 
"NO! JOHNNY!" Darla screamed. But, she couldn't keep her grip on the handles that much longer. She eventually slipped and the nurses carried her out of the room. She struggled and tried to fight back, but from all the emotion that slammed her like a brick, she was weakened. They carried her to the elevators where Ponyboy was standing. 
"Ponyboy!" Darla cried. The nurses let got of Darla and walked back towards Johnny's room. 
"I'm right here, Darla," Ponyboy said as the two embraced each other tightly. 
"Where's Dally?" Darla asked as she kept the embrace. 
"He's gone. He left," Ponyboy replied. 
"I can't believe he's gone," Darla cried. 
"I know. Let's go home and tell the others," Ponyboy said, breaking the embrace and putting an arm around Darla. 

The left the hospital and walked in silence. Darla didn't even sob. She felt completely numb. She couldn't digest the fact she had just lost her best friend. Tears continued to run down her face, but other than the tears hitting the ground, you couldn't hear a sound coming from the two teens. 

The got to the house and walked through the door where the other boys were patching themselves up. 
"Where've you been?" asked Darry as he wiped blood from his hand. The two teens stayed silent. Ponyboy closed the door. "Hey. What's wrong?" Darry asked, recognizing that the two kids were extremely silent. 
"Johnny's dead," Pony spoke up, Darla let another few tears run down her face. "Told him about beating the Socs. I don't know he just died. Told us to stay gold."
Two-Bit walked by the two kids, confused by what was going on. "Dally's gone," said Darla. "He couldn't take it he's gonna blow," said Pony.
Darla collapsed to the floor and put her hand over her mouth. Two-Bit, Steve and Soda went to comfort her by approaching her and looking into her eyes with a worried look. 
"I-I-I'm fine," Darla said, getting up. She sniffled. "Let's see what I can do with those wounds."
Darla started to help Steve who had a hole in his mouth. Just as she finished with Steven, she helped Two-Bit. 
The phone rand and Steve answered the phone. Darla could barely hear what was going on. 
"Hello, Darrel?" said the voice. 
"No, it's Steve. Dally?" asked Steve. Darla perked up at Dally's name. She was worried sick about him. 
"Steve. I wanna talk to Darry," Dallas replied. 
Steve gave Darry the phone and once Darry hung up, he had a very worried look on his face. 
"Was that Dally?" Darla asked, standing up. 
"Yes, it was. The cops are after him. We gotta hide him," Darry replied.

 
At the word "Cops" Darla stood up and ran for the door. She knew Dallas had a gun on him and she knew the law and by law the cops would shoot him if they caught him with the gun. 
"Head for the park!" Darry yelled as the others ran out the door. Darla ran as fast as she could. Faster than she has ever ran in her entire life. She didn't care if she was losing her ability to breath or how bad her legs started hurting. She continued to accelerate in speed, aside all the pain she was feeling. 
And just as she reached the park, she knew she was too late. She saw Dallas pull the gun from his pocket, causing the cops to shoot at him. 
"NO!" Darla screamed. 
"It's not loaded! Don't!" Ponyboy screamed. They saw Dallas roll on the grass, but got up again, but the cops shot him again. Darla screamed and ran towards Dallas. 
"Not Dally too!" She screamed. The cops shot two more times and Darla had had it. She ran so fast, her ankle lost balance and she hit the ground only a few feet from Dallas. 
"He's just a kid!" Two-Bit yelled. 
Darla and Dallas were now crawling towards each other. 
"Honeybear..." Dallas moaned. 
"Dally," Darla sobbed. 
"Pony..." Dallas trailed.
"Honeybear...I lo-love..."
Dallas couldn't finish his sentence. He collided with the ground and rolled over. Darla scraped the ground as she approached Dallas, who was no longer breathing .
"No...No! NO!" Darla screamed. 
"Darla, your ankle," said Darry. 
Darla ignored Two-Bit and held Dallas in her arms, rocking him back and forth, sobbing loudly and crying. The cops drew nearer to them. Darla was infuriated. 
"THE GUN WASN'T FUCKING LOADED! WHAT KIND OF COPS SHOOT A KID, HUH?" Darla screamed. "YOU MIGHT AS WELL KILL ME TOO!" 
Darla placed her chin on Dallas's head as the cops exchanged looks that didn't even show the slightest of guilt. 
"Darla..." Darry trailed, outstretching his arm towards her. 
"Don't touch me," Darla hissed. "I've lost too much today."
"But, we don't want to lose you either," said Sodapop.

An couple of ambulances approached the scene. 
"Can you walk?" asked Two-Bit. 
"No. It hurts..." Darla replied. 
Two paramedics approached the children. 
"We'll be needing to take him, miss," said a lady paramedic. Darla kissed the top of Dallas's head and looked up at the paramedics and nodded her head. The paramedics picked up Dallas's body and placed him on a stretcher, covering him in a white sheet. 
Another pair of paramedics approached Darla. 
"Miss, can you get up?" a female paramedic asked. 
"No, I hurt my ankle," Darla replied. They got another stretcher. 
"No. I don't want to go to the hospital," Darla said, panic rising in her voice. 
"It'll be okay, Darla. I'll stay with you," said Two-Bit. 
Two-Bit followed her to the ambulance and tool hold of her hand. She could see the boys stay behind talking to the cops. 
From the corner of her eyes she could see Ponyboy collapse. Hell. What the hell just happened?