Stay Gold

So this is how I would go--a bullet in my shoulder, bleeding, and most importantly... Alone. I always imagined my death would go down a little bit differently. I had so much on my mind at this point. Mainly my baby. Why does he have to die with me? He doesn't even get a life to live. Now that was sad. It's perfectly fine if I die, I already lived life I thought. Not a great life, of course. But I still lived.

There was blood all over me and everywhere else. If you didn't know any better, you'd think a murder took place here. I lay the with the million thoughts going through my head. Who's gonna be the one to find me? What's gonna happen to Dally? What's the gang gonna do without me? Shit, I didn't wanna die. I was gonna fight this. I struggled to get up, well actually, I struggled to crawl to the nearby phone. Shaking uncontrollably from pain, I dialed Darry's number.

"Hello?" Darry answered.

"Darry, it's Elaine," I panted, "I need you to come to Dally's place right now. I got myself into some deep shit..." I started drifting off into unconsciousness. The last thing I remember was Darry starting to panic when I wasn't answering him. I must've been out for only a few minutes because almost immediately I was woken up to the sound of someone busting down a door.

"Elaine!" Soda called out, running to my side. "Oh my god, she's bleeding really bad... Darry, do something!"

I groaned in pain. The room was starting to spin.

"Elaine, sweetheart, can you hear me?" Darry said sweetly, holding my face. Of course I could hear you, Superman. I thought. I was in pain, not an invilid.

"Where's Dally?" I groaned again.

"Don't worry about him right now, we're taking you to the hospital. You'll be fine, kid," Darry said as he carried me to the car.

Darry must've been driving 120 miles per hour down the road the way we got to the hospital so fast. I was admitted right away. I felt like I had a million doctors and other various hospital staff members surrounding me.

"Miss Williams, do you know where you're at?" one doctor asked.

"Do you know your birth date?"

"Do you remember what happened and who did this to you?"

Oh gee, a round of Twenty Questions, just exactly what I needed right now. I was shot in the shoulder, not the head. "Yes, yes, yes, and no."

"No what?" the doctor asked, writing something down on his clipboard.

"I don't know who did this to me." Of course I wasn't gonna rat Dally out. You know the old rhyme 'snitches get stitches', I had enough shit on my plate for now. "Get me Dilaudid," I groaned again.

"How do you know what that is?" Doctor Mitchell kind of chuckled.

"Do you know how many times I have been admitted into this hospital? A lot. It's a pain medication I was given when I had my appendix taken out. Please give me Dilaudid," groaning in pain, I reached for Soda's hand, squeezing it tightly. He flashed his movie star smile at me.

"You're doing fine, Elaine," he reassured me. "Squeeze my hand as much as you want." I'd take him up on the offer, but I'm almost certain I'd break his hand if I did.

"Miss Williams," Doctor Mitchell began, "I mean... Elaine, the bullet is gonna have to come out. We're gonna give you a partial sedative to help you relax a bit--"

"Can Soda stay with me while the procedure happens?" I begged and pleaded.

"Normally I would say no, but because he's your family and I know you're frightened, he can be in the room as long as he stays out of the way." Doctor Mitchell smiled and then administered the shot of Dilaudid into my IV. After that, I could feel myself starting to drift off into a drug-induced slumber. I tried to fight it as hard as I could.

"Where's Dally?" I incoherently mumbled to Soda.

He brushed the hair out of my face, "I wish I could tell you, but I honestly dunno, Elaine. I'm sure he'd be a mess if he saw you like this." What about if HE was the cause of this? I thought to myself before finally passing out.



I woke up to the sound of sobbing, which was weird because everyone had gone home for the night. I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, but it didn't work. Trying to sit up, I glanced around the hospital room, only to find Dally, of all people, sitting with his face in between his knees.

"How did I let this happen? Why Elaine? Why did I have to fuck up?" he sobbed. It was almost pitiful. I groaned, letting him know I was awake. He rushed to my side. "Oh my god, Elaine!" Dally shrieked, quickly wiping away any tears.

"Hey, Dal," I said quietly, "what're you doin' here this late? What are you doing back?"

"It was all a mistake--leavin' you, leavin' the kid. I couldn't take it. I hated myself. I wanted to off myself, and I would've if you didn't stop me... Thank you for stopping me," he grabbed my hand and kissed it.

"Yeah, I stopped you, but at what cost? A hole in my shoulder? Blood transfusion? Dilaudid coma? Which I'm not exactly complaining about that last one, but still. You done fucked up, boy." Don't get me wrong, I was pissed at Dally for leaving me for dead, but at the same time, I was happy that he was here with me.

"I know, I fucked up. But I'm here now, babe. And I'm not gonna leave you ever again. You and that baby are my life now, and I wanna help out," he smiled his elfish smile and leaned in to kiss my forehead. "How's the baby?"

"He has a strong heartbeat and he kicks all the time," I smiled.

Dally's who demeanor changed to something a little more upbeat, "It's a boy?"

"I hope so, I really want a Dally Jr," I giggled, pulling him onto the bed at this point and snuggling up to him.

"I'm in love with you, Elaine Williams," Dally said, kissing me long and hard.

"Always?" I asked.

"Always."