The Curtis Sister

Glass With Peroxide

Trigger Warning
I brushed my teeth upstairs in the bathroom after everyone went to sleep. I cupped water in my hands and washed my mouth out. My hair was a mess, so I brushed it until it was smooth. When I walked into my room, I saw Johnny laying flat next to Ponyboy. I really needed to get my own room. I went downstairs to try and fall asleep on the couch. Steve was sleeping on the floor without a blanket. I walked over to him and crouched beside him, slapping his shoulder lightly.
"What?", he said sleepily.
"Y'know, we don't require that our guests sleep on the floor.", I pointed to the couch. "Sleep on our perfectly good couch before someone trips over you and breaks something."
He obeyed and plopped down on the couch, immediately falling back asleep. I grabbed a blanket and rested it over him, then sat down on the couch. The TV wasn't on, so I just laid my head on the arm of the chair and closed my eyes. I started to drift away when the phone ringing scared me. I got up to take it before it woke anyone. The phone had stopped ringing by the time I reached it. The person must've hung up. I looked at the clock. Only 1am? I could probably get away with going to Buck's and getting home before Darry woke up.
I put on a jacket and some shoes, then went outside with Darry's keys to drive in his car. I'd had bad experiences walking by myself at night, so I'd never do that again. At least not in Tulsa. It was snowing and I felt happier knowing that. It was Christmas Eve today, and I wouldn't be surprised if Buck had a party going on, he'd definitely have one tomorrow. I didn't feel like walking through a crowd of drunk greasers, so I'd probably just climb through the window. There was a porch with railings on it that I could use to jump onto the roof of the porch, and in through the second floor windows. Dally would be awake, he usually was until 4. I made it to Bucks house and parked across the street, then walked through an alley to the back of the house. The porch looked old, but it'd hold my weight. I knew that Dallas like to drink on the roof, which I had told him to be careful about, even though I knew he would be.
          I jumped on the railing and climbed onto the roof. It creaked, but I wasn't scared by it. The roof looked sturdy and I climbed on. I stood for a second and it didn't creak. I kept slowly walking up, the roof was a little icy too. I managed to get to the third window, which was Dallas' room. The window was a little tinted from the cold, and I could only see my reflection. There was also a large crack spread all over the window that looked like someone had punched it. It was Dallas, he probably had some drunk buddies over, or maybe he was drunk. I opened the window and it flew up with a quiet screech. The sight of Dallas' room almost made me fall back in shock.
             The mirror was shattered and the glass was laying on the floor, nearby was a glass mug, also shattered. The bed sheets were all across the room. The drawers in his dresser were laying out on the floor, the nails still in them. I quickly climbed in his room, not afraid of the glass since I was wearing my steel toe boots. I found Dallas sitting on the other side of his bed, his entire hand covered in blood. I panicked and ran to him, lifting his arms and sitting him on his bed while he obeyed me pulling on him and just sat down without questioning everything. He was silent. His eyes were red and his face was a pale, sick color. He was sitting stiffly on the bed and I sat next to him, I held his face in my hands. He didn't look at me, he just stared off into nothing, his breathing was unsteady and quick.
         "Are you okay? What happened?", I asked, examining his hands.
        He didn't have any glass inside his hands, but he definitely busted open his knuckles and had scratches from the glass. He didn't answer, only started hyperventilating louder. I hugged his head into my collar bones and he held closely onto me, I didn't care that he was getting blood on my shirt. I played with his hair to calm him down.
        "It's okay, you're fine. Everything gonna be okay, I'm here now.", I assured.
         His stunned face and hyperventilating turned quiet. I laid him down on the bed and he rested his head on my chest. I continued to play with his hair until his breathing became quieter, and quieter, and he fell asleep. I laid him down and got up to grab bandages. I ran to the bathroom and looked for bandages, the music echoing through the closed door. I found peroxide, a towel, and medical bandages in the very bottom shelf and ran back to the room. Luckily, he was still asleep. I sat back down next to him and grabbed his hands, looking for glass one more time before I put the bandages on. I wondered how he cut his hands. He woke up more calm, but I knew that it was because he wasn't feeling anything.
"How'd you cut your hands?", I asked.
He didn't answer at first.
"Dal?", I said.
        "The mirror."
        "Did you punch it?"
        "No."
        "Did you get glass in your hands?"
        "No."
        I sighed of relief.
       "Okay, I'm gonna put this on your hand, it's gonna sting a little. And then I'm gonna wrap your hands up.", I reassured.
       He nodded.
       I wet the towel with a water bottle nearby and gently wiped around the cut. It kept bleeding so I wrapped the towel around it for a little while to get all the blood to stop for at least for a few seconds. After I unwrapped it, I used the clean side of the towel and drenched it in peroxide. Then I rang it out a little over the cut. He winced and I apologized. I wrapped the bandages around his hand tightly and he flinched again and quietly groaned. After I finished wrapping the wound I tied it as tight as I could. I ran out of the room and went back into the bathroom to grab soap. When I came back into the room and I washed off the blood around the bandage.
         "Is it just your hand?", I asked.
         "Yeah.", he answered.
         "You won't need stitches, but you have to keep it wrapped up so it doesn't get infected."
         He nodded. I leaned down and kissed his forehead.
         "Are you tired?", I asked.
         "Yeah."
         "Try to go to sleep, I'll be back."
         He turned over and I started cleaning up the mess in his room.