A Beautiful Lie

Aside from the sudden feeling of being jumped on by a herd of elephants, the next morning I was happy to be greeted with the rays of sunlight coming in through the window behind me. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, pushing the elephant off of me and onto the floor. "Goodmorning, Soda," I said.

"Hey!" he sat up, rubbing his head.

I laughed, pulling him to his feet. I tiredly fell into him, and wrapped my arms loosely around his waist. "Sorry," I yawned, closing my eyes.

"Hey now. No more sleep." he ordered, shaking me lightly by my shoulders. "You need to go get ready. We're going in to see Janice soon," he said.

I woke up a little at the sound of my aunt's name, and saluted Soda lazily. "Gotcha," I said, grabbing my stuff and heading for the bathroom. Ponyboy was just walking out when I turned the corner. He smiled at me as we passed each other in the hall, which I returned. Something in my head clicked though, and I stopped in the threshold of the bathroom and swung around. "Hey, Pone?" I called.

He turned. "Yeah?"

"I read that paper you wrote. It's really good." I said.

Ponyboy blushed something fierce and smiled sheepishly. "Thanks," he nodded, then went on about his business.

I laughed lightly to myself, closing the bathroom door. I took a longer shower than intended, but it felt great nonetheless. When I got out, there was a new pile of my clothes folded neatly on the floor by the door, which I didn't put there. One of the guys brought it in while I was showering. Dressing quickly, I didn't much bother with my hair, and just put it behind me in a tight ponytail to keep it out of my face. By now I was fully awake and ready to go, but when I waltzed into the kitchen, the boys were all stuffing their faces full of pancakes. I laughed. "I thought you said we were leaving, Soda..."

Soda looked at me and through a mouthful of food said, "Yeah."

Darry chuckled and motioned me to the chair next to him. "Have some breakfast first," he said, piling some pancakes onto the plate that I assumed was supposed to be mine.
I sat down and he put the plate infront of me. "Thanks," I said, diving in. They tasted great. The more I ate, the more I wanted.

Breakfast with the guys was something I hadn't been a part of for a while, so it was really nice to finally have the opportunity to do so again. It was amazing to be able to listen to Sodapop's wild stories, Ponyboy's rants about school, and Darry's complaints about work. In other words, it was amazing just to be able to listen to somebody else but myself. When we were all finished and the dishes were stacked in the sink, we filed out of the house to Darry's truck. Like always, I was stuck between Soda and Darry. I'd like to say I was annoyed by Darry's elbow jabbing me in the side everytime he turned the wheel, and by the nonstop pushing from Soda while he and Pony messed around, but I wasn't bothered at all.

First we had to drop Ponyboy off at school. It felt kind of weird not getting out with him and going to class. Darry began driving off, but Soda suddenly yelled "Stop!"

"Wait!" Evie's voice called from behind the truck. She rushed up to the passenger side and opened the door, falling into my lap.

I laughed. "What are you doing?"

"Going to see your aunt, what's it look like?" she explained, chucking her books into the back of the truck through the window behind us. "It's been a while since I've skipped school...I think I deserve a break from this place, don't you?"

I didn't say anything, I just laughed and gave her room to sit next to me.

We got to the hospital a few minutes later. It was just me, Soda, and Evie, because Darry had to hurry on to work before he was late. There was no one at the nurse's desk when we walked in, but I took it upon myself to ignore that fact, and I ushered Soda and Evie to the elevator. Janice was sitting up in her bed, reading when we walked in.

"Knock, knock!" I called.

She smiled brightly, setting down her book and holding out her arms. "Hi, honey!"

I hugged her tightly. "Look who else is here," I said.

"Oh, hey you two!" she grinned, waving at my two best friends. "Evie, shouldn't you be at school?" she smirked knowingly.

Evie laughed. "And miss seeing how you're doing?" she said, giving Janice a hug, too.

Soda was next to be embraced and greeted, and then we all sat down around Janice's hospital bed. "So, how are you feeling?" I asked, fluffing her pillows.

She shrugged. "Better than yesterday. I can actually keep things straight now. Yesterday, I was getting apples and oranges confused," she said. "I have a lot of pain killers in me right now, so I'm kind of numb to any feeling in my leg and ribs...don't get me wrong, it still hurts sometimes...but yeah, I'm doing better," she smiled hopefully.

"Well, that's good news if I've ever heard it," I said, kissing her forehead and leaning back in my chair.

"I second that," Soda said. He and Evie nodded.

"You guys are so sweet," Janice mused, laying her head back on her pillows. "So if the three of you are stuck here all day, what do you suppose we talk about?"

That ended up to be a silly question. We talked about a lot of things, most of which I can't remember, but after a while, we just listened to Soda tell these nutty stories about this and that and nothing in particular for just about two hours. He was in the middle of some anecdote about a squirrel when Dr. Kimball walked in.

"Oh, visitors!" he chimed, smiling at us.

"Hello sir," Janice said, sitting up a bit.

"Yes, yes, let's see. How are you today?" the doctor continued, his kind presence flowing through the room.

"Well, like I explained to them, I'm fine for the most part. Pain every so often, but that's expected." Janice explained, sounding really nurse-like.

Dr. Kimball checked her over and wrote down some stuff on his clipboard, exchanging smalltalk and such. Before he left, he stopped and hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Oh!' he exclaimed. "I almost forgot! Riven, the results of your blood tests came in this morning. Even though Janice doesn't look like she'll be needing a transplant of any kind, would you like me to tell you if the two of you are a match?"

I looked at Janice and she gave me a 'why not' shrug. "Sure, thanks Doc," I nodded. He smiled before leaving the room.

"He won't be back for a while. Why don't you kids go get some air or something." Janice suggested.

"Getting tired of us already?" Soda joked.

"Oh, extremely," Janice teased.

I laughed. "Alright, we'll get out of your hair for a while and let you take a nap or something. But we will be back, okay? You can't get rid of us permanantly."

"Darn," Janice smirked. "Be safe, whatever you do," she added before we left the room.

"I'll look after them," Evie winked.

"Are you sure there isn't anything else I can do for you before we go?" I asked.

Janice rolled her eyes. "Honey, I'm fine. Don't be such a worry-wart, okay? Go." she shooed me with her hand.

I sighed dramatically. "Okay..." I said.

"You two make sure she doesn't worry too much," she eyed Evie and Soda.

Soda wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Sure thing!" And with that said, we started down the hall.

"Let's go shopping!" Evie pleaded, pulling my arm in a direction I didn't know it could bend.

Soda scoffed incredulousy. "Absolutely not." he chided. "I might love you guys, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna carry your crap around a whole bunch of stores all day," he snorted.

Evie batted her eyelashes and put her head on Soda's shoulder. "Well, not all day," she said.

Soda shrugged her off playfully. "Nuh uh," he protested. "That's what Steve is for. Let him do it."

I laughed, pulling Evie towards me and hugging her around the middle. "I'll carry anything you want," I said in mock-seductivity. We were looked at funny by a passing older couple, and I let her go. Soda's eyes bugged. "What's wrong?" I laughed as we left the hospital building.

He turned around and walked backwards in front of us. "Picturing the two of you kissing...kind of nice," he beamed.

Evie and I looked at each other and started cracking up. "Not a chance, PepsiCola," I said, spinning him around and leading him forward.

"Pervert," Evie commented, making Soda blush.

We continued to walk down the block, not sure what to do. At some point, Soda decided it would be a good idea to do cartwheel up and down the sidewalk. I tired to remind him of the last time he did that, getting arrested and whatnot, but like most of the time, he didn't listen to me. He did stop, however, when he rammed into a lightpole. After that, he wouldn't stop complaining about the knot on his head, but it was completely entertaining. We never went shopping, despite Evie's begging, which made Soda a happy camper. We decided to head back to the hospital after just walking around outside a while. It was a little after lunch time by then. But then Evie noticed a sign in a shop window that said All Ice Cream: Half Off and she started begging for that instead.

The Tasty Freeze we went into wasn't really busy, considering it was a school day and we were probably the only teenagers in town not in school at the moment. We got our ice cream in record time and sat down at a table near the windows at the front of the store.

"Ya know what..." I began suddenly. I'd been thinking about something really important ever since we left the hospital. It was just now that I had a strong revelation. "I want to be a nurse." I said matter-of-factly.

Evie and Soda looked at me. "Really?" Soda asked, a bit surprised.

I nodded, swallowing a spoonful of my rocky road. "Yeah. Like, I know you guys always say I should be one and you're always teasing me about following in Janice's footsteps...well...yeah. And then after what happened with Johnny...I want to help people. I just...I want to be a nurse." I concluded.

"That's great, Riv!" Evie smiled.

"Yeah," I nodded again. I shrugged, then went back to my ice cream.

Soda was eyeing me from across the table. "Hm," he grunted. "So you'll be doing a lot of schooling after highschool, then."

I looked up. "Well, I guess so." I chuckled. "Why?"

He shook his head. "No reason. I just thought after you got out a of highschool we'd be able to spend a lot more time together."

"We spend almost every day together, Soda..." I started, but he cut me off.

"I know. I'm just saying - um, just nevermind. I don't feel like talking about it." he said, a bit of an attitude to the way he spoke.

Evie's eyebrows shot high on her forehead. She must of noticed his sudden grumpiness as well. I cleared my throat and sat up in my chair. "No, keep talking. What?"

"Nothin', alright? Just forget I brought it up." he said, standing up and pushing his chair into the table next to us.

"Soda!" my eyebrows knitted together. "What's your problem?!"

He didn't answer me. He just threw his unfinished ice cream in the trash and stormed out, the bell on the top of the door jingling obnoxiously. I gawked at him through the windows as he just stomped away down the street, his fists jammed into his pockets. I looked at Evie, who looked like she scared out of her mind.

"Um..." she stuttered.

I teared up. What was up with this kid?! Deciding it would be best not to go after him, I just sat still. I knew him like he was my brother. When he was fuming like this - for whatever the reason was - it was bad to pursue him. If I waited a few hours, he would talk to me. I think. I wiped my eyes before any tears could fall. "Good ice cream, huh?" I stirred mine into a mushy, soup-like state with my spoon and sighed. It didn't look appealing to me anymore, so I pushed it away.

Evie apparently didn't know what to say. She wasn't used to seeing him like this. I mean, I wasn't either, but a strange feeling close to pride swept through me when I recalled she really wasn't that close with Sodapop. I rubbed tight cirlces around my temples and closed my eyes. Sometimes, I got caught up in my head too much. I mentally slapped away all thoughts that swam around in my brain.

Once Evie was finished eating, we walked back to the hospital arm in arm. I didn't say anything the whole way back; just let Evie tell me a story about how she and Steve almost got ran over by a train one day.

When we got back to the hospital, Janice was in the middle of lunch. "Welcome back!" she said, patting her napkin in the corners of her mouth. "Where's Soda?" she asked when it was just the two of us.

"He had something to take care of," I lied.

"Oh. Will he be back? I wanted to give him my mashed potatos," she said, pointing to her plate.

I blew air through my cheeks. "I dunno," I said. Before Janice could ask me anymore questions like she was prone to do, Dr. Kimball popped his head in.

"You're back!" he said. He came into the room, a manila folder hanging in the clip on his clipboard, which I assumed were my blood test results. He wasn't smiling this time though. He had more of a perplexed look, which caused me to worry.

"My results?" I asked, motioning towards the folder.

"Ah, yes." he replied, pulling a piece of paper out of it. He rubbed the side of his nose, and searched for words.

"Is there a problem, sir?" Janice asked, sitting up.

Dr. Kimball held out his hand the way he usually did when he explained things. "Oh, no. No, no, no. You and Riven are a match," he said.

Janice and I exchanged pleased looks. "That's great to know," Janice said. "Thank you."

"Well, I'm not finished, actually," the doctor continued. He looked down at the paper then back up at me. "It seems, Riven, that your blood test came back positive with a rather high reading of human chorionic gonadotrophin hormone, or hCG."

"W-what does that mean?' I questioned, feeling panicky.

"It's nothing bad. High levels of hCG just mean..." he paused for a moment, unsure of how to say whatever it was he needed to say.

I did numerous double-takes between Dr. Kimball and Janice. She had the strangest look on her face that made me worry even more. She was a nurse, so she obviously knew what this hCG thing was. "J-Jan? What -?"

She looked at me in disbelief. "You're pregnant?!" she blurted.

Everything got blurry. "I'm what?" I think I said aloud. I looked at Dr. Kimball and he just nodded.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Evie fidget in her seat. "I knew it!" she gasped triumphantly.

"I'm puh-pre-" I stammered, unable to breathe.

Dr. Kimball hung his head. "I'll leave you alone for a moment," he said, and turned towards the door. When he did so, the figure of someone who'd been standing in the doorway the whole time appeared. I caught a quick glimpse before I fell backwards onto the floor from the lack of feeling in my legs.

Soda stood in the doorway...completely and utterly stunned.