Sodapop Curtis sat in the waiting room of the hospital. He was shaking. He couldn't keep his feet or hands still. He could barely hide his tears. Periodically, he'd stand up and pace to the window, then back to his seat. He looked around at the nearly empty waiting room. Thankfully it was almost empty, he was probably annoying. Time was going slow, but how long does it take to check things out? To fix things? To come out and tell the news? 'Maybe the longer it takes, the better,' Soda thought to himself, trying to make himself feel better, 'If there was no chance, they would've already told me, right?' Soda was desperate to go outsider for fresh air, maybe have a cigarette. He fumbled in his pockets. No cigarettes. He wasn't one to usually carry them around. Scratching at his head, he sighed. He didn't want to miss the doctor coming out anyway if he did step out.

He looked up at the sound of the door opening. He had hoped it wasn't more police. He already talked to several officers, and they claimed they would talk to him more tomorrow. Steve Randle walked in and headed towards his best friend. Soda couldn't help himself. As soon as he saw his best friend the tears flew down his cheeks.

Steve pulled him in a hug, "It's okay, man. Calm down. I'm here."

Soda slowly sat back down and buried his face. Steve sat next to him with his hand on his back. "Oh Steve," Soda choked on his tears, "This is all my fault." An announcement over the intercom made Soda jump. He feared any of those codes or requests for assistance could be about his brothers.

"Don't say that," Steve said, "Shit happens, you know?"

Soda looked up at Steve, deciding not to argue over the details, "Thanks so much for coming."

"Of course. Now tell me, what happened?"

Soda wiped his face, "We were just coming home from some pizza. We were celebrating...this big promotion Darry got, so he took us out for dinner. Afterwards, he-he let me drive his truck home." Soda began to sniffle at the thought of what came next.

Steve stopped him, "A car accident?"

Soda hid his face again and nodded. He didn't want to remember. He tried burying the visuals.

"Did you hit someone else or...?"

Before Steve could finish the question, a doctor walked out asking for Soda. He jumped up fast and rushed over. Steve was right behind him. Soda took a breath to brace himself. Steve kept a hand on Soda's shoulder.

"Well, I think we can consider ourselves lucky right now," Dr. Turff began, "We are able to keep them somewhat stable right now. They are both hooked up to ventilators currently. Ponyboy did have some internal bleeding. Due to the trauma his body is already experiencing, we are waiting to see if the bleeding stops on its own, but we may have to do surgery. Darry is pretty banged up. He doesn't need the ventilator as serious as Ponyboy, but he is heavily medicated right now, so we are just being safe. In this current time, our main focus is relaxing their bodies before we do anything else."

Soda placed his hand over his mouth. He didn't know what to say. It was enough news to scare Soda, but not enough to know what was to come next.

"Are they awake at all?" Steve asked.

The doctor shook his head, "No. And unfortunately there is no telling when they will wake up until we keep further examining and if anything else comes up that needs to be taken care of."

Steve looked at Soda, "Maybe it's good news that there isn't emergency surgery going on."

Soda looked at the doctor, "Okay, give it to me straight...you say when they will wake up. Are you saying they will, like no ifs at all?" Steve dropped his head and closed his eyes. He didn't even want to know.

The doctor sighed, "I cannot promise that, son."

Steve looked back up and saw Soda's face lose it's color. He managed to ask, "Can-Can I see them?"

"You can for a moment."

The doctor lead them through some doors. Steve talked quietly to Soda, "Soda, you know they can't promise things like that, because of bullshit legal stuff. They can't promise anything, because they don't want to get sued. So don't worry too much." Soda tried believing his best friend, but had a hard time. They arrived at two rooms right next door to each other. Opening the first door, Soda and Steve walked in to see Darry. It was not right seeing the big Darry Curtis as he was. There were tubed attached to him and a lot of beeping throughout the room. There were plenty of visible bruises, but Soda could only imagine there were more under the sheets. His face was stained with poorly wiped away red streams. Soda got a flashback from the truck. Soda was able to get out of the truck and made eye contact with Darry, who was in the passenger seat. Blood had begun sliding down from his head. His mouth was wide open and he was breathing quickly. It looked like he was trying to scream, or breathe, or both.

"Darry!" Soda yelled trying to figure out where to get Darry out, "Hold on! I'm coming!"

Soda shook himself out of the flashback. He felt his air supply become thin. "I can't breathe," Soda whispered to Steve He turned away and quickly walked out of the room.

Steve followed him out and rubbed his shoulders, "Relax, it's going to be okay."

Steve turned to the doctor who closed the door, "Is he in a coma?"

"They are both in induced comas currently. Their states were uncertain, and we wanted to give their brains and bodies a rest, so we did induce them into a coma for a bit," the doctor explained, "It'll help their bodies and brains relax through the beginning of the trauma."

Next was Ponyboy's room. Steve was on edge for this one. Soda and Pony had such a close relationship. There was no way this was going to be smoother than Darry's. As they entered the room, Steve gasped out loud. He threw his hand over his mouth, wishing he wouldn't had done that. Ponyboy had several more wires going around him. Part of his face appeared multi-colored. The other part was covered in some bandage, including his eye being covered. One of his arms was already in a cast and his leg on the same side was being forced still. Pony's body was more constricted than Darry's.

Another flashback was coming to Soda's head. When Soda was trying to figure out getting Darry out, he got a glimpse of Pony in the back. He was unconscious. His arm and leg were crushed into awkward positions. It made Soda collapse and get sick all over the grass.

"I'm going to be sick," Soda ran out of the room. Steve was right behind him ready to catch him at any second. In the bathroom, Soda collapsed into a stall door. "Steve!" Soda said with a hand over his mouth.

"I got you, I got you," Steve grabbed Soda and leaned him towards the toilet. Soda began dry heaving mixed with crying into the toilet. He had probably already emptied his stomach at the accident.

After a few minutes, Soda leaned back against the wall. "Steve, what have I done?" Soda cried.

"Hey," Steve grabbed Soda's shoulders, "Don't start blaming yourself. Your brothers don't need that right now. I'm taking you home."

Soda shook his head furiously, "I-I can't go-go home."

"Listen to yourself, Soda. You're practically hyperventilating, you have nothing else to throw up, and for God's sake you can't even keep your eyes open anymore. Let's go!"

Steve got Soda out of the hospital and into his car. Soda was exhausted, but couldn't fall asleep. He stared out of Steve's window and began seeing accidents flashing before his eyes. Steve noticed he'd jump out of nowhere. He grabbed Soda's hand, "Shh, it's okay. Nothing's going to happen."

Soda turned his head and just faced Steve, "I'm just not going to look out the window." He kept his eyes on Steve, just watching him drive. It helped Soda relax a little bit. He was almost too exhausted to be scared.

Feeling the car come to a stop, Soda looked out the window and saw Steve's house. "What are we doing here?" Soda asked watching Steve remove his keys from the ignition.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to drop you off at your house and leave you by yourself," Steve smirked stepping out of the car, "I'll be right back."

After about ten minutes, Steve got back in the car with a bag. He tossed the bag in the back seat.

"Steve," Soda began.

"Shut up," Steve replied pulling the car back onto the road. They arrived at the Curtis house. Steve knew it would be hard enough for Soda to go into the house without his brothers. It'd have to be treated like a band-aid.

He walked Soda inside and helped him up to bed. Soda appeared too tired to really care what was going on. Steve dug in his bag and disappeared for a moment. He brought up a glass of water and held out his hand.

Soda grabbed the water and held out his other hand. Steve put a pill in it. "What is this?"

"It will help you sleep, just take it," Steve said changing clothes.

Soda didn't care. He took the pill and chugged some water. "Steve?"

"What?" Steve asked.

"Will you stay in here with me tonight?" Soda asked lying back onto his pillow.

"Of course," Steve replied getting the bed situated. Steve didn't know what to expect of tomorrow. He looked over and saw Soda passing out in no time. Reaching over, Steve grabbed the water and took a pill for himself. He turned the lights off and rested himself into a slumber.