Dally's Girl

Chapter XV

The seconds passed by slowly and everything seemed to be in slow motion.

The gate opened, the bull started bucking, absolutely wild. The buzzer sounded marking the 8 second time off but Dal was still on, until he wasn't anymore. Rory watched as his body was slung harshly to the ground, watched the bull stomp on him angrily. Not once. Not twice. But three times before the bullfighters got its attention. She heard the gasps and shouts.

And the scream. The horrifying scream she didn't realize was coming from her own mouth until she felt pain in her throat. Soda reached out quickly grabbing her around the waist as she tried to run and climb through the bars. She fought against him but he pulled her back, trying to turn her away as Dally's limp body was carried from the arena on a stretcher.

"Dallas!" Her scream was hoarse and hurt her throat but she didn't care.

"Shh, baby-"

"No! No! Let me go!" She cried as the tears fell down her cheeks.

"Rory, sweetheart," Darry's face appeared in front of her.

"I have to go, please, you have to let me go to him! Please!" She begged, her knees buckling under her, Soda tightening his arms around her just in time to keep her from falling.

"No, baby, you can't go. But I can take you okay? Can you come with me? Let me take you to the hospital to see him?" Darry asked, grabbing her face, forcing her to look at him instead of the arena. Their hearts broke when she sobbed loudly. She nodded her head hard and it made her neck her but she didn't pay it much attention.

"Okay. Okay, c'mon," He said gently grabbing her hand, gently pulling her away from Soda's arms.

When they got to the truck the boys loaded up in the back and Rory curled up in the front seat next to Darry still crying and feeling absolutely sick to her stomach. When they got to the hospital she could see the ambulance that brought Dally in. Darry parked, no doubt, somewhere he shouldn't have, she jumped out and he rushed after her holding her back as they unloaded him.

She brought her hands up to her mouth to muffle the sob when she saw him. His body was covered by a sheet and he was completely still but his face was covered in so much blood she couldn't even tell where it was coming from. They had a neck brace on him and his arm was in a sling. The EMT started rolling him inside and Darry led her through the same doors, a nurse stopping them from following through a second set of doors and brought them to a waiting room, and telling them the doctor would update us soon, the boys coming in just moments later.

"Dare, I parked the truck," Soda said quietly, giving the keys to Darry and she noticed he'd been rubbing her back.

Soda leaned down to kiss her head gently and Pony kissed her cheek before they all settled down in a chair. She could sense their nervousness and anxiety, only making hers worse, but just like Dally would never leave them they wouldn't leave Dally, especially not in a situation this bad.

She sniffled as the tears subsided for now laying her head over on Darry's shoulder. The boys sitting quietly for once surrounding her, she just sat there silently staring off and twisting Dally's necklace between her fingers. It felt like hours, like forever of them just sitting there in silence. Nearly jumping out of her seat when Darry tapped her shoulder, the doctor was finally walking towards them.

"Family of Dallas Winston?" He asked looking around as the boys stood up and crowded behind Darry and Rory.

"Yes, that's us. How is he?" Darry asked, keeping his hand on her back. The doctor took a deep breath and it made her feel nauseous with worry.

"We were worried for a while. After running some x-rays we found he had a pretty severe neck injury, a concussion, sprained wrist, two fractured ribs, he needed 15 stitches in his head and his nose was broken. No internal bleeding but we will be keeping him for a few days. He woke up briefly asking for a Miss Rory Curtis, is that you?" He explained, she breathed a sigh of relief squeezing Soda's hand once the doctor finally confirmed Dally was okay.

"Yes, that's me. May I go see him?" She asked eagerly.

"Is your legal guardian here?" The doctor asked and she felt Darry take a step forward.

"I'm her legal guardian," He confirmed, rubbing her back gently.

"I just need your permission for her to go back or to come back with her since she's a minor," The doctor explained calmly, Rory immediately looking up at him.

"Yes, of course she has my permission. You want me to come with you bugs?" He asked, looking down at her smiling when she nodded.

"Please?" She asked, feeling her chin wobble a little.

"C'mon, boys y'all wait here," Darry said quietly, kissing her head and leading her after the doctor. He brought them to the door and told them if they needed anything to press the call nurse button.

"Hey I'll be right out here okay? Come get me if you need me," She whispered a quiet 'thanks', kissing his cheek before pushing the door open slowly.

The room was dim. The only light coming from a small light behind the bed. It was eerie seeing Dally so still surrounded buy all of the white in the room. His head rested on a fluffy white pillow, drawing her eyes to the brace sitting around his neck. His face was bruised up and she could see the stitches in his head. One hand was in a wrist brace, propped up on another pillow and the other was laying on top of the cover that was laid over the rest of his body.

She walked over to the bed reaching out to run her fingers through his soft hair. She felt more tears fill her eyes as she dropped her forehead down against his softly. She felt the silent sobs wracking her body and she fought to keep them back. Rory stood there for, well, for however long she was actually standing there. Just running her fingers through his soft hair and crying. After she calmed herself down once again, she pulled away to sit in the chair beside the bed and grabbed his good hand.

"Oh, Dal..." She whispered, kissing the back of his hand, opening up his fingers and resting his palm against her cheek, his normally warm hands felt freezing cold.

"The last time you were hurt this bad was a few months after we started dating, remember? God it was after that rumble and I thought I was loosing you. Told you I love you for the first time and meant every word of it. So, if you can hear me, listen good," She took a deep breath clutching his hand in hers as she leaned close to his ear.

"Dallas Winston, I love you. I love you more than anyone. I will always love you. I honestly don't think there's anything you could do that would make me stop loving you. My brothers love you and so did- so did my parents. My mama adored you, you were always her favorite but don't tell the other boys. My daddy already approved, I told him I'd marry you one day and he just said 'okay'. What dad just says 'okay' when his baby says she's wants to marry a hood, huh? The kind of dad that knows his baby sees something deeper in that hood. Sees the real person behind the anger and aggression. You ain't just a hood Dally. You ain't your shitty parents. You ain't the shit you went through as a kid. You ain't all the petty shit you do now. You ain't any of the bad shit people know you for. You're-" She sucked in a deep breath and sniffled.

"God, you're everything, Dal. You're the guy that would destroy the heavens and hell to protect the few people you let yourself care about. You're the guy that is rough around the edges but is a big ole softy once you finally let someone in. The one that is forever protecting me from greasers, hoods, socs and sometimes...even myself. I'm young but you've showed me true love and anyone that's ever been in love knows that what we have is real. I wanna be with you forever Dal. I wanna marry you. Have your kids. Wake up next to you everyday and fall asleep in your arms every night. You've grown so much since Ive known you and I can't wait to see who you are in a few years. You're already so good. Once you realize you don't have to hide behind anger, that it's okay to show emotion, everyone else will see the same Dallas that I see. I love you so much, baby."

She kissed the back of his hand as she pulled away and sat down. Everything was gonna be okay, it had to be.