Reunited | Dally's Little Sister

forty nine

Ch 49

Sage P.O.V

Soda stood frozen at my question, and it only pissed me off more. I took a step forward, but Tim's hand on my shoulder held me in place. "What the hell do you mean, Soda?"

I watched him run a nervous hand through his hair, a habit he picked up from me. "Like, gone to the hospital. He's in really bad shape, Sage. Steve and I left to go tell you, but you weren't at the bar which made me think you found out somehow. And with how yesterday went at the hospital, I didn't know what to think."

I analyzed every word he said trying to figure out what to ask next. He said Dallas was in bad shape but didn't say he was dead. That had to count for something. "What are the doctors doing for him?"

When Soda told me yesterday that they were keeping Johnny comfortable, it means there was nothing more they could do to save him. "He was in surgery when we left. They haven't told us much. Darry, Pony, and Two-bit are up there now."

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. I left yesterday because I was too selfish to say goodbye to Johnny and now, I will never get that chance again. But Dallas made a decision to leave me behind in this life. While Johnny sacrificed himself to save children from a burning building, my brother tried to take the easy way out without giving me a second thought.

I shook my head, "Let me know if I need to make funeral arrangements. Besides that, I don't care." My answer shocked the two guys enough to let me walk past them. I didn't plan on running this time, not wanting to give my brother the satisfaction of being worried or scared for him.

Instead, I went back to Tim's room, found one of his shirts to change into, and crawled into bed. Sleep wasn't something I knew I was going to have for a while, but I could at least try. I heard muffled voices out in the hall, and I figured it was Tim telling Soda to give me some space. What I wasn't expecting was Soda to walk into the room and lay down next to me. Without any words said, he pulled me into him with my head on his chest and started drawing patterns on my back with his fingers.

Minutes went by with neither of us saying a word until I whispered, "Why do the people I love keep trying to leave me?"

Soda's hand stopped for a second and then laid flat on my back. "Dally isn't as tough as he makes himself out to be. Seeing Johnny die broke him, and I don't think he will ever come back from that. He would be no different with you. He wasn't thinking, just reacting. When he gets out of surgery, he's going to realize how much he almost gave up."

Soda was always the positive one. Something I wish I could have more of, but like Tim said earlier, Dallas and I are cut from the same cloth.

Which is why I said what I did next. "It doesn't matter if Dallas makes it out, he's already lost me."

****

The next morning, I woke up with an enormous headache and an empty bed. Both of which were reminders of what happened last night. After talking myself into getting out of bed, I walked downstairs to try and find someone. Knowing Tim, he wouldn't have gone far.

Sure enough, he was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper, looking more like Darry that I had ever seen. "Morning." I winced at how hoarse my voice sounded, but Tim didn't comment on it.

"There's toast on the side for you." I gave him a quick nod and walked over to the counter to eat it. It didn't take too long after for the newspaper to be folded up and footsteps walking towards the kitchen. I wasn't sure how he was going to approach all of this, but I knew he wasn't going to let everything go like my brother normally did.