Harsh Reality

Chapter 2

Darry lay Ponyboy on the ground, his heart pounding with terror as he watched his youngest brother seize. Darry didn't think he had ever felt so helpless in his life. What did one do for someone that was having a seizure? Darry didn't know.

"Darry" Soda said tears falling down his face, Soda looked as scared as Darry felt. He knew there was something going on in Ponyboy's brain for this to be having a seizure. Darry only hoped that whatever was wrong could be fixed, Darry had to have the opportunity to make up for how he had treated Ponyboy. His little brother hadn't deserved to be treated so badly.

Finally after what seemed like a year, the seizure stopped leaving Ponyboy still and his chest panting heavily. Without pause Darry scooped Ponyboy up and gently placed him on Soda's lap before climbing into the drivers seat. He didn't want to know what the state would think about both his brother's going to the hospital on the same day. Something told Darry though that Ponyboy's issues were a little more complicated than Soda's had been. Ponyboy probably wouldn't be leaving the hospital today, maybe not for a few days. Darry just hoped that Ponyboy's last days weren't spent in the hospital.

"Is he going to be okay Darry?" Soda asked as he gently stroked Ponyboy's cool cheek.

"I don't know, Soda" Darry answered "I don't know what's going on with him."

"Do you think it's serious?" Soda asked. Darry knew that Soda was asking if he thought Ponyboy had something fatal. Darry hoped not but what did he know?

Tightening his hands on the steering wheel Darry tried to keep his focus on the road. It wouldn't do them any good if they all got killed on the way to the hospital.

"Darry, hurry up!" Soda said, his voice urgent. "his breathing is getting worse!" Darry glanced over at Ponyboy. Soda was right Ponyboy's chest was now barely even heaving.

"Hang on, Pony" Darry said terror filling him at the thought of Ponyboy dying before they could even get him to the hospital.

A few minutes later, Darry pulled up to the emergency room doors. He barely took the time to apply the brakes and park before he threw open his door and jumped out, racing over to Soda's side. Throwing open the door, Darry gently took Ponyboy from Soda and rushed Ponyboy into the ER.

"I need help!" Darry called out to the nurse at the check in counter.

"What happened?" she asked as she jumped up and started towards an empty gurney.

"We found him unconscious and then he had a seizure before we could get him in the truck." Darry explained as Soda joined him.

Laying Ponyboy down on the gurney, Darry felt a sharp bite of terror at the thought of being separated from his little brother during what could be Ponyboy's final moments. Darry clinched his hands into fists, he really didn't want to leave Ponyboy's side, but he knew the doctors were going to need to run some tests to see what was wrong.

"Does your brother have epilepsy?" The nurse asked as she started rolling Ponyboy away. Darry could only watch helplessly as Ponyboy disappeared behind the double doors where Darry wasn't permitted to go. He needed his little brother to be okay, he didn't want to think about what would happen if Ponyboy wasn't.

A few minutes later the nurse returned and handed Darry a clipboard to fill out. "Has Ponyboy ever had a seizure before?"

"Before this Ponyboy was always healthy as a horse" Darry replied "I should have seen the signs that something was going on."

"Has he been diagnosed with any kind of head injury."

"Not that I know of" Darry replied shrugging. Before remembering how Steve had shoved Ponyboy away from Soda in the park. Darry didn't think he would ever forget the sound of Ponyboy's head hitting the truck.

"He did hit his head earlier" Darry said "but I think there was something going with him before that." he could now remember how Ponyboy had stumbled towards Soda, almost like he was drunk, when they had pulled up to the park. Darry supposed he should have known then that something had been wrong, but he had been too worried about Soda to care.

"Go have a seat in the waiting room and we will come and get you as soon as we know something." Darry nodded and headed towards the hard plastic chairs, Soda falling into step behind him.

Sitting down in the chairs, Darry lowered his head into his hands. How had the night gone so wrong that he had ended up at the hospital twice in the same day? Looking over at Sodas, Darry wondered how he could even manage to sit there with his injuries, Soda had to be uncomfortable.

"How are you feeling?" Darry asked softly.

"Sore, but I'm not going anywhere until I hear something about Ponyboy" Soda stated firmly knowing that Darry would likely try to send him home. "your not making me go home."

"We might be here a while." Darry said "I'm not sure what they will be doing with Pony."

"I don't care" Soda replied "Ponyboy needs both of us." Darry nodded and turned to look at his hands. He had always promised to protect his brother's but it looked like he had failed spectacularly tonight. Both of his brother's had ended up in the hospital, one of them possibly dying. Darry didn't know what he would do if he lost either brother. They meant the world to him, so how could he have been so harsh with Ponyboy? Sure, Ponyboy had been careless but it wasn't like he had been out getting drunk or doing drugs. Ponyboy had a good head on his shoulders, so Darry knew he wasn't likely to turn to drugs. Darry was proud of Ponyboy but sadly he didn't often tell him. Darry promised himself that if Ponyboy pulled through this then he would tell Ponyboy every single day for as long as they lived.

"You think something was wrong with Ponyboy before I got jumped?" Soda asked interrupting Darry's thoughts.

"Maybe" Darry replied "I didn't notice the signs but I'm pretty sure he wasn't feeling well at all."

"And you still gave him hell?" Soda asked he could vaguely remember Darry yelling at Ponyboy.

"I'm not proud of it" Darry muttered staring down at the white tiled floor.

"What if we have to say goodbye to him?" Soda asked "You'll have to live with knowing that you yelled at him right before he died."

"You don't think the guilt isn't killing me right now?" Darry asked "I can't stand the thought of how I treated him. I can't stand the thought of knowing that I might not get the chance to make it up to him." Darry frowned closing his eyes. His heart was hurting so badly just thinking about the possibility that he might lose his little brother. What had happened for Ponyboy to end up in this condition? How had he not even noticed?

Hearing the sound of hurried feet coming towards them, Darry looked up to find Johnny, Steve and Two-Bit and Dallas. "Johnny told us what happened." Steve said when the small group had reached them. "Do you know anything?"

"Not yet" Darry replied tiredly. He needed rest but he wasn't leaving until he knew Ponyboy would be alright.

"I probably should have said something earlier, but I'm pretty sure Pony had a migraine or one of those really bad headaches earlier." Two-Bit said "I kept seeing pained expressions cross his face and he kept rubbing at his forehead." Darry frowned. It sounded like Ponyboy had some kind of head injury. Where would Ponyboy have gotten one before Steve had shoved him? Just how long had Ponyboy been feeling bad? And why didn't he say anything to Darry about it? Whatever the reason for Ponyboy's silence Darry didn't think it was possible for him to feel anymore guilty than he did then.

"Of course, Steve didn't help matters by shoving Ponyboy the way he did either." Two-Bit muttered. Steve scowled at him.

"Let's not play the blame game." Darry said "because we all know it's my fault that Pony is here to begin with."

"Darry" Soda said softly, he knew how much this situation was hurting his brother. No matter what happened earlier Soda knew that Darry cared about Ponyboy, more than he ever showed. Soda had never once doubted Darry.

"Don't" Darry told Soda softly "You and I both know that his could have avoided if I had only paid a little more attention." Darry frowned down at the floor. He was always telling Ponyboy to use his head but it looked like he hadn't used his head this time. How cruelly ironic was that?

"Your not perfect" Soda said "it's okay for you to mess up."

"This mistake could cost Ponyboy his life." Darry muttered as he stood and began pacing around the small room. He was ready to hear something about Ponyboy. How long was it going to take to fix him? Darry ignored the small voice in his head that suggested that Ponyboy couldn't be fixed.

After what seemed like years but was actually a few hours. Darry spotted a doctor coming towards them with a grim expression on his face. Darry swallowed his fear and stood to greet the man.

"Curtis family?" The White haired man asked and Darry nodded.

"Can I speak to you in my office?" the doctor asked and both Darry and Soda stood and followed him to the office right around the corner. Darry had the feeling that he wasn't going to like what the doctor had to say.

"First off, I'm Dr. Harris" the man introduced himself, shaking both Darry's and Soda's hands. "I'm in charge of Ponyboy's care." Darry nodded and clinched his hands into fists again.

"No offense" Darry told the doctor "but I have been waiting for a couple hours to hear news on my little brother's condition."

"No offense taken." the doctor told them "I'm afraid the news isn't too good." Darry swallowed hard, feeling a sickness beginning to grow in his stomach.

"I'm afraid your little brother has a mild concussion." Dr. Harris said "but that's not what is really concerning to me right now. What signs was Ponyboy showing before he was brought in?"

"He was stumbling around, like he was drunk" Darry said "and a friend said that Ponyboy looked like he'd had a headache, he was rubbing at his forehead every few minutes. I thought it was a sign of a concussion or something."

"It could have been." the doctor said "how long has Ponyboy had the headache?"

"Maybe a few hours" Darry said "he would taken medicine for it if it had gone on longer than that. What are you thinking?"

"It's not what I'm thinking, it's what I know" Dr. Harris replied "I'm afraid Ponyboy has had an aneurysm in the brain."

"A What?" Soda asked not liking the sound of what the doctor was talking about.

"It's when an artery bursts in his brain." Dr. Harris replied "the vein was weak and filled with too much blood, causing it burst and bleed out onto the brain."Darry felt like throwing up right then. This couldn't mean anything good for Ponyboy.

"Can it be fixed?" Darry asked softly.

"We can go in and drain the blood" Dr. Harris said "but we can't really fix the artery."

"Will Ponyboy be okay?" Soda asked, his face pale and his eyes filled with fear.

"There are chances that Ponyboy, if he comes out of this, will be brain damaged" Dr. Harris said "His speech and movement could be effected, he could come back blind, or unable to walk at all."

"At least he would still be alive" Darry said "I don't care about how he comes back as long as he is alive."

"That's a good way to look at it." Dr. Harris replies "because he is going to require constant care if he is going to be able to make a recovery." Dr. Harris told them. Darry nodded he would do whatever it took for Ponyboy to come back to them.

"Can we see him?" Darry asked, he wanted to spend as much time with his little brother as possible. Dr. Harris nodded and stood, and Darry and Soda followed him out into the hall.

"He is in pediatric ICU for now until his condition stabilizes." A few minutes later, Darry and Soda were standing outside the room looking at Ponyboy.

Darry's youngest brother was hooked up to several machines, each one working to keep Ponyboy alive. Darry hated seeing his little brother like this, but he knew it was for the best.

Before Darry could follow Soda into the room, Dr. Harris pulled him away from the room.

"I want to warn you that we tested his brain activity, the signs weren't good. There is a chance that Ponyboy might not wake up at all." That really made Darry feel like getting sick. He didn't know what he would do.

"I don't believe in giving false hope but there is always the chance that Ponyboy won't recover." Dr. Harris said.

"You don't know Ponyboy" Darry replied "he always does better when the odds aren't in his favor."

After a few more minutes of conversation Darry entered the room and went to stand by Soda. A tube was taped to Ponyboy's mouth helping him breathe, while another tube was in Ponyboy's nose. Darry didn't like that they were there but they were keeping his little brother alive.

"baby, I never meant for the night to end this way." Darry said softly hating that the doctors had to shave Ponyboy's head so that they could drain the blood on Ponyboy's brain. He couldn't stop hearing the doctors words. "There is a chance that he won't ever wake up again, anything to do with the brain is very complicated." Ponyboy was going to prove the doctor wrong, he just had too, Darry didn't know what he would do if if he lost Ponyboy.

Bending down, Darry pressed a gentle kiss to Ponyboy's forehead, not sure if Ponyboy knew that Darry and Soda were with him.

"We're here Pony, and we are rooting for you to get better." Darry said softly. "we won't leave you alone until you are at home again."

Thanks for reading and reviewing. Liz