POV: It's the 1980's and you and Dally have three kids, a baby girl, a boy (14) and a girl (15) who have questions about the past.
"Mom, Dad, we need to talk." Our eldest child, Joan said as her and her brother, Ralph crossed his arms behind her.
"Yeah, what is it? Come on, sit down. We just got your little sister to sleep so be quiet." Dally looked at me with a concerned face as our kids sat at the dinner table.
"So what really happened before we were born?" Ralph cocked an eyebrow while staring both of us down.
"We were kids, we met, we fell in love, we had you. Why do you ask, sweetie?" I began to grow concerned.
"We were sifting through old newspapers at the library, and guess what we found?" Joan slid a stack of papers forward.
I just gazed down at the stacks of paper that read 'Juvenile Delinquent Strikes Again' with a picture of seventeen year old Dallas on the front page and a story about a robbery.
The next one read 'Hoodlum Wanted For Assault Of Three Officers' and once more, Dally was on the front cover.
On and on the stories went as my horrified expression grew, it was only when I turned to face Dally, that I saw how pale he had gotten and how he was not looking very good at all.
"Dallas?" I whispered. No response.
"Dal? Talk to me." I shook him slightly.
"Dad, what do you have to say about yourself?" Ralph raised his voice.
"Ralph, please." I hissed angrily at him. Meanwhile, Joan was picking something up. She knew something was wrong.
"Dad, are you okay?" She went wide eyed when she saw his face become contorted into a form of possibly fear and his breathing speed up.
"I-I think I'm gonna go lay down." Dally tried to stand up, but he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
"Dad!" Joan shrieked as he fell. I, on the other hand was holding his face in my hands and began crying a little, trying to wake him up.
"He's not waking up, but he's still got a pulse." I sniffled somewhat relived before making a decision on how to act. "Ralph, dial zero. We're gonna need an ambulance." I added.
Just then our youngest, Donna began crying and I had Joan take care of her. "Ralph, NOW." I repeated firmly.
He nodded hurriedly as he grabbed the telephone and began raving on about how his dad collapsed and wasn't waking up and how pale he was.
When the ambulance finally came I rode with him and got Joan to call their uncle Johnny to look after them.
As soon as I had gotten to the hospital with Dally they separated us and I phoned home to see how things were going.
"Hello?" I croaked out.
"Jesus, woman! You sound like you've been through hell." I heard the voice of Two-Bit on the other end.
"Wait, Two-Bit? I thought Johnny was coming to help." I said into the telephone. I heard a loud thump as if someone pushed Two-But then heard another voice on the phone.
"Well, Johnny is here, it's just that we all decided to help." Steve called out from the other end of the line.
"You mean...?" I began to ask until I heard the gang in the background.
"Mom, uncle Soda broke a plate!" Ralph whined in the background.
"Mom, hi. Why couldn't I babysit? I mean, uncle Johnny and Ponyboy are with Donna and she's okay I guess but uncle Darry is being the only responsible one!" Joan complained to me.
"Joan, please. Just babysit them all. I'll pay you when I get home, okay? Bye, love you." I hung up as I nurse called for me.
"So he does have quite the case of anaemia, but it was more of an exhaustion and mildly a panic attack case. Low blood pressure played a pretty hefty part in it too. So do you have an idea of any stressful situations that he might have been put through? Marriage issues? Kids? Work?" The nurse walked me down to Dally's room.
"I-I guess he had a bit of an argument with the kids. And the new baby might be some added stress. But we rarely argue and if we do we always come to our senses and make up." I fiddled with my wedding ring anxiously.
"Well that explains a lot. Anyways, he should be fine for release in the morning." She sighed before opening the door to reveal Dally with his eyes closed in the hospital bed, hooked up to a couple of machines.
"Dal?" I breathed out in fear of his paler complexion and dark under eyes.
His eyes snapped open and he tried to sit up to greet me.
"Woah there, stay down. Save your strength." I soothingly pressed him back to the bed as the nurse left us to talk.
"I didn't think the kids would have to know. I didn't even think they would know." He had tears in his eyes and his voice was hoarse.
"Shh, it was gonna happen one way or another. Besides, the kids aren't mad. They're worried." I lightly brushed the hair out of his face that was filled with beads of sweat.
"I-I changed for them. I changed for you. Why does the past have to come back and bite me in the ass?" I sat down on the bed and kissed his forehead gently.
"The past has passed. There's only the future ahed." I assured him while stroking his hand.
"Baby?" He looked up at me with his sunken and sickly eyes.
"Hmm?" I hummed in response.
"Lay down with me, would you?" He begged.
I only smiled and curled up beside him, laying my head on his chest and his arm making its way around me and holding me close.
"I love you, Dallas." I said aloud, not knowing if he was still awake.
"I love you, y/n." He said back to me, before we both drifted off into sleep.
