Reunited | Dally's Little Sister

twenty eight

Chapter 28

Sage P.O.V

Death was something I thought about often. With the life I grew up in, I knew I would go out young and in some reckless way like most greasers did. We spend our young lives running nonstop, partying all night until the sun comes up, and fighting to prove our place in society. I always imagined dying would give me the peace that we all craved for. The moment where I can finally stop and relax, knowing that I didn't have to continue living the way I did.

It was because of those thoughts that I knew I wasn't dead. I could feel pain with every breath and pure terror of what was happening to me. The peacefulness and bliss were nowhere in sight, but I was desperately trying to find it. Part of me knew that I wasn't lucky enough to go out quick and painless. I would have to suffer through whatever happened to me at an excruciating slow pace and even then, death might not be waiting for me.

I became aware of my surroundings little by little and I could tell I wasn't anywhere I wanted to be. The room was cold and filled with sounds of machines. I could hear the squeaking of sneakers on the ground as people rushed to where they needed to go. And the smell reminded me of sterile cleaning supplies and sickness. Opening my eyes and seeing a white, pattern-less ceiling only confirmed that my ass was lying in a hospital bed.

I took a few breaths and started moving different parts of my body to see how bad the damage was. My fingers and toes moved with ease, along with my wrists and ankles. I turned my head to the one side and saw I was hooked up to a few machines. When I looked to the other side, my brother was asleep in the chair next to the bed. He was sporting a black eye and a few others bruises here and there. His hand was wrapped up in a bandage and I could see specks of red bleeding through. I didn't know what was from the rumble and what came after.

I felt my heart sink as I thought back to what happened. I shot Mark without hesitation. I remember hearing sounds of more gunshots after I pulled the trigger. Who else got hurt because of me? The sound of my heartrate jumping on the monitor woke Dally up. I saw panic cover his face as he looked to see what was happening. He got up from his chair and sat on my bed. "Kid, calm down. Getting worked up is only going to make things worse."

I wanted to roll my eyes so bad at him for saying to simply "calm down". Like it was that easy. "What happened?" He looked away from me and ran a hand through his hair.

I saw him favor his left side and figured he must have busted a few ribs during the night. "Look, maybe we should wait for the others to get here." I shook my head. Something happened and he wasn't telling me. I went to protest until a knock on the door stopped me and Tim walked in. He looked as bad as Dally did, but he had his right arm in a sling. He looked me over and asked how I was doing.

I shook my head and looked back to my brother. Dally sighed and sat back in the chair. "First off, you and I are going to have a long talk later about how stupid you were showing up like that."

I looked down at my hands and nodded my head. I knew he was going to be pissed, but how many people were going to die if I didn't show up? "Mark is dead. Took it a little while after you shot him, but he's gone. He managed to get a few shots off before we got to him though. One hit you in your side. The doc said it didn't hit anything major, but you lost too much blood and they gave you some more." I ran a hand over my side and felt the bandage there and some soreness from touching it.

"Steve saw what was gonna happen and jumped at him to try and stop him from killing you. It worked some. He was aiming for your heart and missed. Steve got shot in the leg when he hit Mark's arm down. Doc said he should be fine but has to be off his leg for a few months."

Dally paused and looked up at Tim. "One bullet went wide and caught Tim in the shoulder. As you can see, he's fine."

I was waiting for a "but". With the way he was acting I knew someone got majorly hurt. "Two-bit though. Man, he got shot in the ribs. We haven't heard much, but I know he is still in surgery." There it was. The last shoe to drop. He had to make it out of there okay because I didn't know what to do if not.

Tim must have saw where my mind was going and walked closer to the bed. "None of this is on you. We knew what we were getting into when we went out there. So, stop blaming yourself."

I shook my head and felt the tears start to fall. "I shouldn't have come back. I was dumb to think he wouldn't find me here."

Dally leaned back in his chair and Tim leaned up against the wall. Neither of them said anything and I knew it would stay that way. If I was looking for pity, I wouldn't get it from either of them. I figured they were only in here to make sure I didn't do something stupid, like run.

The next few hours dragged on. I had a few people come see me like Angela and Johnny, but they weren't who I was hoping for. I needed the doctor to come in and tell us Two was fine and he was going to skip out of here like his normal goofy self would.

But I also needed Soda to walk through that door and tell me everything was going to be fine. While I hoped and prayed that gorgeous kid would greet me with a smile, a small part of me knew he wasn't coming.

I didn't see what happened before I got there, but a gun was held up to his kid brother's head and later that same gun was pointed at him. His best friend was shot in the leg and another one was cut open on an operating table.

While we were technically hoods, heaters weren't pulled much around our part of town. Things like this changes a person. That's why Dally and I are the way we are. We accepted that death would find us sooner rather than later.

But for people like Sodapop, life was fully of laughter and loved ones. His family kept him from becoming like Dallas and his joyous nature kept those around him distracted from what is really out there. Hell, Ponyboy might actually go to college and leave this life behind. They all have something Dallas and I would never have.

Hope.

Hope that one day they won't be stuck in this greaser trap forever and life would be worth seeing to the very end. I would like to say I envy them for having this false sense of reality guide them through life. But I know hurt and disappointment is waiting for us around every corner. Tonight, was a prime example of that.

So, that small part of me that knew Soda wasn't coming kept growing until it filled me with dread. I knew things between Soda and I wouldn't be the same again.