𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐜 | 𝐃𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Chapter 52 - Hurt

"Wheres Dal- I mean, everyone else?" I asked. "They're with Johnny." Two-Bit answered. I sat for a moment in silence. "Can I see them?" I asked. Everyone stood silently as they stared at me. "Please?" I asked. "Sure." Matilda quickly replied. I smiled as they all walked out the door.

I sat for a few minutes in the silence of the room. All I could hear was the clock ticking and footsteps coming from the hallway. I felt my stomach burning, it hurt. Every time I made any settle movement it would hurt a lot, but I tried my best to ignore it. I figured it'd be better for me if I didn't pay too much attention to the pain. But there was one thing I couldn't keep my mind off of, and it hurt more.

I sat in disbelief as I reran the night through my head. I couldn't get the thought of Johnny getting punched out of my mind. The image of Bobs tight fist coming at Johnnys face was burned into my mind.

I began trembling at thought of his bruised, cut up face. It killed me inside. He had already been through too much at home, this just made it worse. He was just a kid, he shouldn't have to deal with that kind of stuff. And it killed me even more that I couldn't save him. I was too weak, too small, too scared. I tried and tried but I couldn't save him, it hurt. It hurt more than my stomach, my stomach burned, sure, but this hurt like hell.

The way he kicked his legs in the air to escape the boys grip. The way his eyes widened as Bobs fist came towards his face. The way his eyes shut more and more with every punch. The way he laid weakly on the ground like a discarded dead body. It killed me.

After a few minutes of silence I heard the door open. I looked over to it and saw Soda coming through the door with Pony and Dally following close behind. In Sodas hand was a bouquet of lilies, I smiled at the sight. Soda had a worried look on his face and Pony had tear stained cheeks, Johnny must've looked pretty bad. Dallas however looked normal, not surprised. Nothing broke Dallas. He did look a bit mad though, which was understandable considering what happened.

"Hey guys." I greeted them. "Hey Y/n." Pony and Soda said in unison. "Hey." Dally greeted me quietly while looking down to the floor. "Are you guys alright?" I asked as they came to my bedside. Soda smiled. "We're fine." He responded. I smiled at him. "Oh, these are for you." Soda said as he quickly handed me the bouquet. "Thanks". I said as I admired the lilies. "How are you feeling?" Pony asked with a shaky voice. "I'm alright." I responded as I shrugged. Pony and Soda nodded their heads.

"How's Johnny?" I asked as my smile faded. "He's... ok." Soda answered. I nodded my head. "I tried to save him..." I trailed off as the image of Bob punching him came back to my mind. Dallas looked up to me. "I know." Soda said in a comforting way. I forced a grin as I held my head down. "He's alright though?" I looked back up to them. "Yeah." Soda comforted me. I sighed. "I couldn't save him." I thought.

"What happened to your stomach?" Pony asked in concern. I laughed to myself. "My shitty dad happened." I said. Dallas looked to me with concern. "Ruptured my damn arteries." I answered as I laughed to myself. "Bob's friend just made it worse." I continued. Everyone looked to me with concern.

"What happened with...your dad?" Soda asked slowly. "Well when he figured out Matilda was pregnant he got pretty mad. I assume he was probably drunk again." I answered. "He threw her across the room and I tried to help." I continued. "Clearly, I didn't do much." I said as I threw my hands up in the air, gesturing towards my stomach. "He punched me in the stomach pretty hard." I finished. Everyone stood silently in shock.

"That's why we ran away." I mentioned casually as I shrugged. "You ran away?" Pony asked. "Yep." I replied. "Where are you living?" Soda questioned. "Didn't you see Matilda? She showed up at your door with our bags." I stated. "We were coming back from the DX. That's how we spotted you and Johnny." Soda replied. I nodded my head in understanding as Dallas looked back down to the floor. I understood that he was mad so I didn't question him.

We talked for about thirty more minutes before the nurse asked them all to leave. She began checking on my stomach to make sure it was alright. Thankfully, she said it was okay and I was relieved. After she left I sat in thought. I thought of Johnny. I thought of Matilda. And I thought of death. Death had always scared me, but thankfully I never got close to it.

The thought that scared me most was the fact that I could've died if the guys hadn't seen me. I could've never made it to the hospital and got treatment. I could've been dead.